Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 50

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Chapter 50.

Shoot, shoot
I’m going to shoot you down
Skit, Skit
We swing on the same pendulum
I can’t run away from you

First came the Dance Position A Team’s performance of “The Pendulum.”
All the trainees had gathered in the Waiting Room to watch the other teams perform.
Yet no one was fully focused on the Dance Position A Team’s stage.
Everyone’s attention was fixed on a single team waiting below that stage.

“Wait… wasn’t that Yun Chung just now?”

Lee Ju-seon spoke with bewildered eyes.

“It was definitely Yun Chung.”

Kim Geum answered triumphantly.
See? I told you so. I said she’d come. Her lips curved upward as if to say exactly that.

“Looks like her body recovered after all.”
“Yun Chung isn’t the problem right now.”

Bang Su-in pointed at the monitor with her chin.

“Did something happen to Kim Ryeo-yu today? This is already her second choreography mistake. Earlier she got confused with the positioning and stood in the center when she shouldn’t have….”
“It was when Seo Baek-young was supposed to be center, but she just took that spot. Good thing Seo Baek-young immediately switched positions, or it would’ve been a major disaster. If they’d collided….”
“Someone could’ve gotten hurt….”

It was true.
Kim Ryeo-yu was already making her second choreography mistake.
After receiving feedback from the judges last time, she’d restored the song to a certain degree, if not completely.
Naturally, the stage had become far more difficult than it was during the midterm evaluation.
But Kim Ryeo-yu, who everyone expected would handle that level without issue, was faltering.

“You weren’t like this during rehearsal. Did you get too nervous and lose your nerve?”

Even Shin Yu-hyeon looked puzzled.

“Ryeo-yu, hang in there just a little longer!”

Park Ha-eun shouted, glancing at the camera.

“Baek-young really is incredible, even in this chaos.”

Shin Yu-hyeon shook her head in disbelief.
Though they held the same position, Seo Baek-young was on a different level entirely.

“I mean, she was always an all-rounder, but her vocal ability wasn’t at this level before. Isn’t this practically main vocal caliber?”
“Exactly. Did she go somewhere and get some divine blessing or something?”

The trainees marveled at Seo Baek-young, who remained absolutely unshaken even amid the confusion.

“And surprisingly, Ju-hong is doing well too.”
“That’s not surprising.”

Lee Ju-seon spoke coldly.

“Ju-hong was always good.”
“Since when do you compliment Ju-hong? If you tell Yeon Ju-hong this, it’ll be diary-worthy for like three days….”
“Don’t tell her! If you do, I’ll bring up everything you said about Yeon Ju-hong last time!”

While Kim Geum and Lee Ju-seon bickered, the Dance Position A Team’s stage came to an end.

“Maybe Kim Ryeo-yu won’t be the MVP of the Dance Position A Team after all….”
“But honestly, I always thought it would be Baek-young anyway.”

The trainees whispered among themselves.
The stirring atmosphere was foreshadowing Kim Ryeo-yu’s quiet downfall.
Would that solid core fanbase crumble from just these two mistakes?
Probably not.
However, the public’s perception could shift slightly.
From a trainee with a sharp edge but undeniable skill, to one who merely acted sharp with mediocre ability.

“Oh, here they come. Here they come.”
“Wow. The Vocal Team is coming out.”
“Their hand movements back then were seriously incredible.”

The trainees whispered among themselves.

“Lee Gyeong-a said that during the mid-evaluation, there were concepts and choreography they didn’t get to show.”
“So the main stage will be even more amazing?”
“But will Yun Chung’s condition have fully recovered by then?”
“Exactly. That’s the real question. I mean, the MVP matters so much….”
“Ryu Bora might end up being the MVP.”

Lee Ju-seon and Kim Geum stopped their argument and turned their attention to the monitor.
Yun Chung, who had disappeared, had returned.
Carrying everyone’s concerns with her.
Would she really be alright?

[Vocal Team. I heard you went through quite a bit of hardship. Is that true?]

Do Hee-young, aware of the audience and viewers’ concerns, posed a question that scratched at what everyone was worried about.

[Hmm.]

It was Lee Gyeong-a who held the microphone.

[Yes. Once the broadcast airs, everyone will probably find out, but… Yun Chung was actually really sick.]
[….]

When it aired, captions would likely appear like this.

[Caption: Trainee Yun Chung, who had to be hospitalized for several days]
[Caption: Just before this, she was at the Hospital and barely made it to work!]

[Oh my. Are you feeling better now, Trainee Yun Chung?]

At Do Hee-young’s question, the microphone was passed to Yun Chung.
The camera, the eyes of hundreds of audience members, the eyes of all the trainees—all turned toward me.
Knowing this, I smiled softly.

-Ahhhhhhh!!
-Yun Chung!!!!!!!!!!Yun Chung!!!!!!
-Don’t hurt yourself!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nearly sobbing voices erupted from the Audience Seating.
I laughed softly, waving my hand toward them.

[Wow, trainee Yun Chung. You’re already incredibly popular.]

Even Do Hee-young spoke with a surprised expression.

[Thank you for your concern. Fortunately, thanks to the Colorists and my teammates, I’m doing fine now.]

My voice came out slightly husky, different from usual.
That voice only made the fans’ hearts ache more.
Especially the “color ducks”—Yun Chung’s devoted fans in this section—were nearly on the verge of tears.
I appeared noticeably thinner and more gaunt than usual.

[Excellent, trainee Yun Chung. And the Vocal Team. I look forward to the stage you’ll present today, “Fingertip.” We have high expectations.]
[Yes!]

***

“Yun Chung really doesn’t look in good condition today.”

Prism’s manager watched me with concern.

“But it looks like it’s an East Asian concept. The costume is absolutely gorgeous.”
“Right. It’s such a unique concept that it stands out.”
“That’s 100% Yun Chung’s strategy to captivate the fans’ hearts….”

Though I hadn’t been a fan of Yun Chung for long, I could sense it instinctively as a Prism fanmaster.
My girl was born to be an idol.
She was sharp enough to know exactly what points made fans go crazy.
Under normal circumstances, I would have brought a camera to capture our Yun Chung’s delicate charm, but this stage was a strictly confidential, closed broadcast.
With such strict embargo restrictions in place, the bag searches were thorough.
In the end, I gave up on bringing a camera inside.
But I was confident I could document the audience experience more vividly than anyone else.
Who was I, after all?
A fanmaster with seventy-eight thousand followers, no less.
Experience proven by sheer dedication!
If photos won’t work, I’ll do a live commentary in writing!

“I just hope Kim Ryeo-yu doesn’t mess up the stage like last time….”

Another fanmaster who came with me spoke up.
This fanmaster was the fanmaster of ‘Over the Rainbow’, Do Hee-young. She was commonly known as Rainbow fanmaster.
And she was also my college classmate.
The real reason I came here today was to see Do Hee-young.
For the Make a New Color trainees, it was merely curiosity.
That’s why her assessments were nothing but ruthlessly cold.

“Don’t worry so much. Fans always react even more when that delicate charm comes out anyway.”
“That’s not the problem right now. What if her vocal cords are damaged?”
“It’s fine. She can shield it by saying she’s in pain. Actually, by that logic, Kim Ryeo-yu could also shield it with pressure.”
“You cold-hearted bastard…. You only stan Hee-young….”
“I wouldn’t have come if it weren’t for Hee-young. The trainees haven’t even caught up to her fingernails yet.”

I ground my teeth involuntarily.

“You’re going to regret saying that.”
“I doubt it.”
“When you become a Yun Chung fan later, you’ll wish you could take back those words.”
“Your next Yun Chung era.”

Rainbow fanmaster scoffed and turned her attention back to the stage.
No matter how talented the trainees were, they couldn’t match Do Hee-young.
My Hee-young was just that incredible.

“The stage is starting. What do I do? I think I’m going to lose it.”
“You’re being dramatic.”

Of course, naturally—

Oh, my love,
On this night when even the full moon fades away,
Where are we heading?

The moment the stage began, Yun Chung regretted her own words.

***

Yun Chung had shed weight far more drastically than usual, arriving armed entirely in melancholy itself.
Her opening alone was enough to captivate the audience’s very souls.
Makeup that emphasized the tear mole beneath her eye.
Black hair pinned halfway with a modernly-interpreted hairpin, cascading down one side.
And in her hand, a crimson pipa.
Yun Chung appeared alone on the stage and began to sing.

Oh, fallen leaf,
Rather than bloom, you chose to wither,
My beloved,
How far have we come?

Yun Chung dragged her finger across her tear mole in one smooth motion.
As if tracing a tear.
Then, whether she had applied black makeup to her hand beforehand or not, the black eyeliner began to smudge slightly as if her eye makeup had run with tears.

A bond I could not comprehend,
I thought.

Then came Ryu Bora’s entrance.
But the stage composition was unusual.
Ryu Bora sat perched on a stage prop that resembled a stone, on the opposite side from Yun Chung.

A bond that could not be continued,
I thought.

In her hand, she held a red ball of thread.

Stretching out fate
What touches is your fingertip
Stretching out connection
If only we could be entangled, fingertip

Lee Gyeong-a’s continuing refrain, leading the chorus.
Lee Gyeong-a sat on a swing positioned well behind Yun Chung.
In her hand, she held a red spider lily.

Eyes that sway like a weeping willow
I saw it, your swaying
Fingertip

Then, Jo Hee-on appeared on the opposite side of Lee Gyeong-a.
In her hand rested a red butterfly.

Stretching out fate
What touches is your fingertip
Stretching out connection
If only we could be entangled, fingertip

This time, all four sang the refrain simultaneously.

A promise left unfulfilled
With a heart that tears apart
You
I

Just as I thought it might be a ballad flowing so gently.

I will hold on
Even within any delusion
I will hold you

The mood of the song shifted.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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