Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 59

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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 59.

“Sister, all your killing parts are disappearing…? Are you sure that’s okay? The remaining parts are really boring… sections…”

Huh?
I doubted my own ears.
It wasn’t the other way around?
Kim Ryeo-yu wasn’t taking Yeon Ju-hong’s parts—she was actually giving her own parts away?
Why?

“I’m fine. I want Ju-hong to shine more this time.”

Yeon Ju-hong seemed genuinely struggling to adapt, her expression flustered and uncertain.
It was understandable.
I couldn’t adapt to this either.

“I’ve been selfish for too long. This time, I really want to give way to others with genuine sincerity.”
“…Um… If that’s the case… I’ll gratefully… accept it!”

In the end, Yeon Ju-hong took Kim Ryeo-yu’s killing parts, and in exchange, received some of the more mundane sections.
It was a deal where only Kim Ryeo-yu came out losing.

“But there’s a condition.”
“Yes?”

So this was the real point.
Let’s hear it.

“Ah, could you make it seem like I asked for the part change…? Why would that be?”

She’s unsure about those parts, so she’s just trying to gloss over it as if she’s being considerate.
She’s the type who fragments songs because even performing “The Pendulum” with AR backing is overwhelming for her.
She only sings well within her own vocal range, and the live performance crumbles the moment she steps outside it.
But she probably doesn’t want to carry the image of being unable to sing either.
It’s also a way to avoid giving Yeon Ju-hong a troublesome image.
If it were me, I wouldn’t have accepted such a proposal.
From the start, it bothered me that this wasn’t even in the Practice Room with cameras—it was in the Hallway.
There were no cameras in the Hallway.
Why make such a proposal specifically where there are no cameras?
It was far too suspicious.
The intention was painfully obvious.
But Yeon Ju-hong wasn’t me—she was Yeon Ju-hong.
It was something she had to figure out on her own.

“I’m worried that Ju-hong might seem like she’s showing favoritism only to you, not the others. There’s already that rumor about discord between Yun Chung and me, and I don’t want to fuel it further.”
“…That does make sense…. I understand. But we agreed to this together, right?”
“Right! You asked carefully, and I accepted gladly.”
“That should be fine!”

…Would it really be fine?
I sighed heavily to myself.
No matter how sharp and capable Yeon Ju-hong was, that was only by seventeen-year-old standards.
At the end of the day, she was still just a child.
I couldn’t let my guard down.
Just as I was about to interject into their conversation—

“But couldn’t you share some of the good parts with the other members too?”
“…Why?”
“Well, it feels unfair that only I’m getting parts.”
“Ju-hong.”
“Yes?”

Kim Ryeo-yu spoke with a voice that suppressed her anger.

“The other kids have much higher rankings and are stable. You know that, right?”
“….”

For the first time, Yeon Ju-hong’s mouth closed shut.

“You’re the only one on this team without a clear shot at debut. Everyone else is a strong contender. Why do you look after people stronger than you? Because you do that—”

Kim Ryeo-yu paused for a moment, then sighed.

“You’re still young and don’t understand yet. In situations like this, you just take the opportunity when it comes. Got it?”
“…But.”
“Then don’t give me a part. Just don’t, okay?”
“!”

Yeon Ju-hong’s face showed genuine conflict.
And for good reason.
Debut was everything to her.
How deeply must Kim Ryeo-yu’s words have struck her.
She must have felt them as a jab at her own precarious position.
I decided not to intervene.
…If I tried to say something now, Yeon Ju-hong wouldn’t hear me anyway.
She wanted that part far too desperately—

“No, it’s fine…. Let’s do it that way then.”

She was just a seventeen-year-old trainee, after all.
In the end, all I could do was….
…pray that I could catch her if she stumbled.
Of course, I’d need to prepare some contingency plan of my own.
I fiddled with my phone.
It was a decent phone, so all its functions still worked.

***

“You changed the parts?”

Kim Geum frowned, while Ryu Bora remained composed. I said nothing.
Kim Geum couldn’t accept the atmosphere.
She questioned me with her eyes.

‘Am I the only one who thinks this is strange?’

I answered her with a look as well.

‘No. I think it’s strange too. But what can we do about it?’

Still, Kim Geum soon accepted it.
There was no real basis for objecting.

“I asked for it! It’s a song I really wanted to sing, so… when Ryeo-yu said she’d switch parts with me, I did.”

Yeon Ju-hong said this as well.

“Well… okay. Sure. If the two of you agreed on it… there’s nothing we can say about it!”

Kim Geum conceded with a hesitant tone.

“But, Yeon Ju-hong.”
“Yes?”
“You can actually sing all of it, right? You’ve taken on nothing but the most difficult parts.”
“I can do it!”

Yeon Ju-hong bristled, and Kim Geum simply smiled ambiguously.
…It was my turn to step in.

“Let’s just try singing it. All together.”
“Okie dokie.”

In the end, the five of us each took a seat.
I began the accompaniment on my acoustic guitar.
The sensation of the pick grazing the strings felt wonderfully familiar.
Right. This is why I learned guitar.

Let us depart
Without a single worry or care

The lyrics were truly about having no worries.
This team was full of them.
Kim Geum performed well when singing alone, but still struggled to build harmony with the other members.
Her tone was so distinctive that when everyone sang together, only her voice stood out.
Ryu Bora couldn’t convey warmth in her emotional delivery, remaining stiff.
She did well singing with others, but when singing alone, her tension was visible.
She was so focused on pitch and rhythm that the soul seemed to vanish from her performance.
Yeon Ju-hong’s pitch wavered constantly in that difficult vocal range.
Kim Ryeo-yu was the best of them.
Since she barely stood out and only took the easier parts.
Her only flaw was singing too quietly during the group sections, making her voice inaudible.
…What was I supposed to do with this team?
How could I explain this kindly?

“Listen, everyone.”
“…Yes?”
“If we go out like this, we won’t debut.”

I couldn’t think of a gentle way to say it.
I decided to be honest instead.

“We won’t debut.”
“!”
“Everyone, let’s practice until we drop today.”

***

The next day.
We ended up pulling an all-nighter.
It wasn’t just “Let’s Go” we had to practice—we also needed to work on “Rainbow”.
After so long, everyone had forgotten parts of the choreography.
Moreover, since Jo Hee-on was absent, we needed to revise the formations and movement patterns.
Even with just one person missing, the changes were enormous.
Practicing two songs simultaneously consumed a lot of time.
In the end, we had no choice but to stay up all night.

“…You pulled an all-nighter?”

6 a.m.
We ran into Seo Baek-young’s team on our way back.
It was the first time we’d seen them since practicing “Rainbow” yesterday morning.
But judging by the fact that they were wearing the same clothes, it seemed they’d never left.
Looking at them, it was clear they’d pulled an all-nighter just like us.
…They must be exhausted.

“What song are you guys doing?”
“Let’s Go Together. What about you?”
“I can tell what vibe you’re going for. We’re doing Go Go Beach Girl.”

Go Go Beach Girl….
An incredibly upbeat summer idol song. It was a massive hit about five years ago.

“I can tell what kind of direction you’re going with that one too.”
“Pretty standard, right?”
“Think you can pull it off?”

Seo Baek-young looked energetic.
Actually, only Seo Baek-young looked energetic.
The other five members looked like they were on the verge of collapse….

“…We gave it our best shot. How about you?”
“Ha. I did my best too….”

You too?
Me too.
We two nodded at each other, feeling a kinship.
It looked like their team hadn’t fared much better either.

“Next time….”
“Let’s team up, just the two of us.”
“Just us two.”
“Agreed.”

We reached a dramatic agreement and headed back to the Dormitory.
To get even an hour more of sleep.

***

Ding!

★
Notice│Surprise! 【Meet your color】 Meet your colors! #SurpriseGift #HintIsHangangPark #MeetUsNow #MakeANewColorStartsAt9:30PM
What?!
What is this?????
Oh wow, they’re doing a guerrilla concert
Insane… busking…?
Haha, you can see that Make a New Color’s guerrilla marketing is a real-time trending topic—it’s climbed up to 11th place on the real-time trends.
But which Hangang Park? You need to tell us or I’ll have to flip the entire Han River from its source
└What’s the solution?
Fill the Han River
“What’s gotten into you bastards doing something so thoughtful like this? Just for today, I’ll admit you’re not such jerks.”

The sudden official announcement from Make a New Color’s SNS account sent fans into a frenzy.
Make a New Color was at their hottest right now—they were coming outside?
But the outside world was already so chaotic?
Some fans were excited, but others were worried.

★
Seriously, if anyone hurts our Yun Chung, I’ll beat them with a cool bat
Please, haters, just shut up for one day #HatersBeAware

Or there were entirely negative reactions.

Ugh, Yun Chung is really something else—trying to use our kids to gauge public opinion.
Ryeo-yu… if those Colors guys are giving you a hard time, of course shake things up a bit.
Making them do a guerrilla stage when they’re already exhausted preparing for the final mission is a bit much, isn’t it?
Are you trying to destroy the kids’ stamina?

But all these reactions were soon buried beneath two photographs.

★
Team 【Midsummer Afternoon】│【Baek-young/Gyeong-a/Ju-seon/Ha-eun/Yu-hyeon/Su-in】 Hello♬ Colorists! Today is the day we run straight to you to paint your hearts blue! Please wait just a little longer♥ See you soon!
Team 【Early Summer Night】│【Yun Chung/Ryeo-yu/Geum/Bora/Ju-hong】 Ta-da! Today is finally the day we splash☆ straight into your hearts, Colorists! A splash in the Han River, a splash into your hearts! We’ll come to you with a song that will melt your hearts like an early summer night >< We're so excited! See you soon~

Group selfies from both teams.
Seeing the trainees looking so happy and excited, the fans finally fell silent.

Everyone's already caught on today ^^
We're going to endure this miserable reality with our girls
You don't have to tell us where—once the silhouette drops, we're going anywhere. We'll bike there

No fan has ever surpassed their idol, no matter what
The hearts of fans who love idols are all the same in the end
And so the time for Make a New Color's guerrilla stage drew near

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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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