Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 62

—————

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

—————

Chapter 62.

The hectic guerrilla concert had finally come to an end.
With such a massive crowd, it took considerable time just to make our way out.
Now that I thought about it, it had been an incredibly demanding performance.
The rushed preparation time, the subpar stage conditions.
Despite the relatively modest number of spectators we’d anticipated, the actual crowd was staggering.
Even more nerve-wracking was performing for so many people who didn’t know us.
Yet not a single trainee voiced any complaints.
Instead, we were all too overwhelmed to speak.
Though the intense stage lights made it difficult to keep my eyes open, I didn’t miss a single placard the fans held aloft.
Amid the countless cheers, I heard my name called out with unmistakable clarity.
Even from a distance where they appeared small, the affection in their expressions shone through vividly.
We’d all vaguely imagined it based on the staggering vote counts.
Ah, so we’re receiving far more attention than we realized.
But feeling it so tangibly for the first time—that was something else entirely.

“…It was incredible.”

Yeon Ju-hong’s dazed voice.

“I still can’t believe it….”
“Wow, I’ve never seen that many people in my entire life.”
“Were they all really our fans!?”
“Probably not. Most of them were likely just passing by.”
Ryu Bora, no cold water.
“I’m just being realistic.”
“No cold water!”

Following Yeon Ju-hong’s lead, the trainees’ voices erupted.

“Ugh, what a shame. We only performed three songs. Couldn’t we have done about ten more?”
“Right? We could’ve performed every competition song we’ve ever done!”
“An opportunity like this won’t come around again. For all eleven of us to perform in front of so many people….”

At Lee Gyeong-a’s words, we all fell into a solemn silence.
Right.
Chances for all eleven of us to perform together would be rare indeed.
Especially in front of so many people… it would be difficult.
That’s why the regret cuts deeper.
Without saying it aloud, we’ve all grown attached to each other.
Whether it’s bitter affection or tender affection.
We’ve synchronized our movements with desperate determination, facing each other all day long.
Intellectually, I know that I have to beat her to debut.
But emotionally, I can’t help thinking—why can’t we all debut together?

“Everyone should debut.”
!

…Was my words really that surprising?
All the trainees’ gazes turned toward me.

“Five of us debut here. The other six debut elsewhere. Whether it’s a special stage or whatever… we can synchronize again. All together.”

It was the most realistic and hopeful thing I could say.
At least among the words available to me.

“Right! I mean, there’s no law saying we have to debut here, right? We could debut somewhere else and do even better!”

Yeon Ju-hong raised her hand excitedly among the stunned faces.

“That’s true.”

Lee Ju-seon quietly nodded in agreement.

“Honestly, that’s right. You’re all talented people. You’ll do well wherever you go.”
“Exactly. If Colors drops us, we’ll show Colors what we’re made of!”

In truth, everyone’s hearts must have been restless.
With only the final mission and the final ranking announcement left.
This stage must have ignited that feeling.
After experiencing such cheers, it’s difficult to give up on debuting.

“So… let’s just focus on doing our absolute best.”
“Without regrets!”

Yeon Ju-hong said that and stretched her hand forward.
Was she trying to get us all to cheer together?
I felt oddly embarrassed and stayed still, but then—

“Without regrets.”

Seo Baek-young placed her hand on top of Yeon Ju-hong’s.
Then Kim Geum quickly added her hand on top as well.
Once three hands came together, everyone else added theirs.
Even Kim Ryeo-yu, who had been silent the entire time.

“…Without regrets.”

How could I not add mine?
That’s right.
This was a moment to savor the warmth between us.
Soon enough, we’d be heading into battle.
I had been deliberately ignoring the messages from Cotton Ball Entity that had been pouring in relentlessly since earlier.
I know. I’ll handle it. It’ll be fine once I do.
Is it really so unbearable to let me enjoy a moment of peace?

[※DANGER ALERT※]
[Check SNS! Keyword: #YeonJuHongScreenTimeHogging]
[Check SNS! Keyword: #YunChungHate]
[Check SNS! Keyword: #KimRyeoYuBullied]

***

Meanwhile, Make a New Color’s fan communities and SNS were in absolute uproar.
The guerrilla concert had been far too successful.
But the real reason lay elsewhere.
As more fancams and previews were released, questions began to arise among ‘someone’s’ fanbase.
Specifically, Kim Ryeo-yu’s fans.

“No, I get it, but why is Ryeo-yu’s screen time like this lolol”
I counted the exact seconds for each solo part
Yeon Ju-hong: 39 seconds
Yun Chung: 29 seconds
Kim Geum: 28 seconds
Ryu Bora: 28 seconds
Kim Ryeo-yu: 18 seconds
“Like, from the start, how does it even make sense that there’s only a 21-second difference between the member with the most parts and the one with the least?”
└└I mean, if Yeon Ju-hong were the main vocalist, maybe, but what—
Time to bring up evidence of Yun Chung being the ringleader of bullying.jpg
Yun Chung’s character is science
“Why is Yeon Ju-hong getting all the screen time? Did they steal Ryeo-yu’s scenes to give to that brat? lol”
Chinese fan spoiler: ※When the song was decided, Kim Ryeo-yu wasn’t there※ Yun Chung decided it all on her own
“Lol why do they just decide things on their own when one member isn’t there? If this is true, their character is legendary bad lol”
└└Is it real…? I liked Yoon Cheong.
└└└You can choose the song however you want and divide the parts however you likeㅠㅠㅠㅠ Ryeoyu…
But seriously, Yeon Ju-hong’s part is so good, why are you suddenly dragging in Yun Chung lol
“You know what I’ve seen so far; lol if he took it himself it’d be obvious, so he probably gave it to his lackey instead.”
└└Wait, are you saying she’s using someone else as cover?
└└└Stop making excuses
We thought we were seeing Colors’ character, but we were actually seeing their true nature

The truth is, everyone except Seo Baek-young was a misogynist lolol
Honestly, Seo Baek-young has always been known for having good character
Do Hee-young and the senior idols testified too lol
Only Seo Baek-young seems uninvolved^^

Haha, sudden seriousness?
Baek-young?
Baek-young’s fans caught on^^;
└Is this person a real Baek-young fan? Probably just someone trying to stir up drama
“Kids these days are ruthless lol they just push aside their fellow trainees to debut”
└Honestly, when each stage is this important, shouldn’t part distribution at least be fair…?
Even the song was apparently decided on a whim when Kim Ryeo-yu wasn’t around lol Of course, you’d have to watch the Broadcasting Program to know the details…
Facial features are science

(Yun Chung photo)

From the way the eyes were raised haha, it wasn’t unusual. Doesn’t it look a bit like three hundred eyes?
Now that you mention it…lol
└Fans called her cute and mischievous, but it turns out she wasn’t mischievous—she was sinister
“Lol he really seems like a total jerk… wasn’t he kicked out of his previous Entertainment Company because of his personality too?”

Every online community was buzzing with talk about Yun Chung, Yeon Ju-hong, and Kim Ryeo-yu.
Even people who normally had no interest in Make a New Color.
But there was something peculiar—all the criticism was directed at Yun Chung.
Despite Yeon Ju-hong being the one with more screen time, Yun Chung had somehow become the perpetrator.
Director Kim’s influence was significant in this.
Running Colors, Director Kim understood well how crucial “viral marketing” was for idols.
And she understood equally well how important “reverse viral marketing” was.
The method she employed this time was reverse viral marketing.
She commissioned a reverse viral company she regularly used to target Yun Chung.
Netizens didn’t even think to suspect such reverse viral campaigns.
Even if suspicion arose, they dismissed it lightly.
Because it was entertaining.
There was nothing more fun than throwing stones at a villain.
A talented, beautiful, young girl.
Was there any game more entertaining than destroying one such girl?
Malicious commenters generated hateful posts like madmen.
And communities and SNS consumed those posts like madmen.
The only ones who stayed silent in the midst of it all were Yun Chung’s fans.

★
No, why on earth is this B’s fault…? ㅇㅈㅎ What is the logic behind saying that even the large amount of content is Yunbl’s fault…? The interlude jump doesn’t even jump like this;
They wouldn’t have done the part distribution without consulting Ryeo-yu… realistically, would the production crew have overlooked that?
Why was there no criticism of Ryeo-yu in the first place…? Everyone else had it when choosing the song, so why didn’t she?
Ugh, I’m so disillusioned; they just want to destroy one person

However, they couldn’t openly shield Yun Chung.
Of course, there were those who tried.
But most simply waited and held their breath.
One of the cardinal rules of the online community was that excessive defense only invited greater backlash.
Fearing it would only stir up more opposition, fans lodged their protests solely with MEN and Colors.
The malicious rumors about Yun Chung were spiraling out of control—they pleaded for some kind of statement.
Yet both MEN and Colors remained silent.
【We are currently investigating the situation. We appreciate your patience.】
That was the only message fans received.
The outside world continued to spiral into chaos.
But what was happening behind closed doors?

“Um… sister…?”

Yeon Ju-hong hung her head as though she were a traitor to the state.
Even though she hadn’t done anything wrong.

“I’m sorry… It’s all because of me… You’re the one caught up in these strange rumors, sister…?”

Yeon Ju-hong fidgeted with her fingers, her voice trembling.

“It’s fine. It’s not your fault. Did you ask Kim Ryeo-yu about it? To mention in an interview that she was the one who asked to reduce her own parts?”
“I tried…?”

Yeon Ju-hong couldn’t even lift her head.

“If you reveal the truth now, sister… won’t people just end up blaming you instead…?”

Yeon Ju-hong squeezed her eyes shut.
As the situation spiraled out of control, she had wanted to lay out the facts plainly.
She’d even told Kim Ryeo-yu that they should come clean together.
But the response she got was—

‘Why should I?’
‘What? No, sister Yun Chung is being treated unfairly—’
‘That’s exactly it. This isn’t my fault either… so why should I be the one to tell the truth? And if I do and get caught in the backlash, are you going to take responsibility for me?’

Yeon Ju-hong was left speechless by those words.
It was only natural—Yeon Ju-hong had no idea that all of this was a collaboration between Director Kim and Kim Ryeo-yu.
She didn’t know that Kim Ryeo-yu had orchestrated this public sentiment.
Who could possibly have suspected something so calculated?

‘But… if things continue like this, Yun Chung won’t just fail to debut—she’ll never be able to work in entertainment again…’
‘I feel terrible too, Ju-hong. I really do feel for Yun Chung. But… what about my future? What happens if I can’t debut?’

In the end, Yeon Ju-hong had no choice but to return in defeat.

“I… I didn’t even realize that Ryeo-yu’s proposal was strange. I should have refused…”

Yeon Ju-hong’s voice wavered.
I reached over and patted her shoulder gently.

“It’s okay, Ju-hong.”
“But… because of me, if you can’t debut…”
“I’m going to debut.”
“What?”

Yeon Ju-hong looked up at me with a bewildered expression.

“Well, debut does depend on the fans’ hearts, but… at the very least, I won’t fail to debut because of this situation.”
“Is that… is that really possible?”
“Yes.”

Because I had my own preparations ready.

—————

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

—————