Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 74

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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 74.

[Kim Ryeo-yu: We were completely unfamiliar with each other at first, but once we started Make a New Color, we began to genuinely get to know one another. And through that process, I think I’ve freed myself from my own stubbornness… Ah, she was just another trainee like me. I wonder if I closed my heart off to her too much.]

Caption: Kim Ryeo-yu had spent seven years at Colors.
Caption: She’d been there for seven years since entering at age thirteen.
Caption: Make a New Color was the catalyst for her first step into the world.
Caption: But the world she first encountered was bitterly cold.
Caption: It was the same for all the girls.

[Yeon Ju-hong: It was difficult.]

Production Team: What was difficult about it?

[Yeon Ju-hong: I… I discovered for the first time that I was so insignificant and weak. Even the smallest mistake would sweep me away like a wave, and I’d get beaten down. So…]
[Ryu Bora: It’s actually an environment where it’s hard to trust people. A friend you practiced with yesterday could be eliminated today. Someone who loved me yesterday could become my anti-fan tomorrow.]
[Kim Geum: It’s like doing well doesn’t guarantee you’ll get rewarded. You just have to do well as a matter of course. If you fail, it’s completely over.]
[Baek-young: I think what’s saddest is that no one can protect you. No one can protect me, and I can’t protect anyone either.]

Caption: The worries and uncertainties that had accumulated…

[Kim Ryeo-yu: But Yun Chung has such an open heart. Even though I haven’t done anything good for her, she’s always been kind to me. She’s kind to all the other trainees too, so she’s popular. Watching her made me reflect a lot. And then when Hee-on left, I started feeling a certain disillusionment with people. That’s why I became so obsessed with teamwork. I didn’t want to see someone leave like that again.]

Caption: They made mistakes and were still immature…
Caption: But these girls’ hearts were always sincere.
Caption: The girls continue to grow.

It’s not entirely incomprehensible.
Even I’d probably lose my mind if my best friend suddenly left right before my debut lol 😭 I’m not trying to defend them, it’s just how it is.
But what do we know from the outside anyway? They must have their own circumstances…

The interview flow subtly reflected the Production Team’s intentions.
And the viral marketing accounts Director Kim had released beforehand.
This combination of two elements proved far more powerful than expected.
The public opinion wasn’t that Kim Ryeo-yu had done well.
‘She made a mistake, sure, but it was understandable. Kids can slip up, right? The adults are the ones at fault.’
This was the dominant sentiment.
But it didn’t stop there.

Honestly, I wish all those bastards defending Kim Ryeo-yu would just die. But whatever, it’s just hate anyway.
Lol her excuses are so gross and pathetic.
Just shut up already.

By posting ‘extreme malicious comments’ instead.

I mean, she didn’t actually harass anyone directly or kill them, so there are a lot of people crossing the line here.
He didn’t commit a crime… Anyway, there are a lot of netizens in our country who are obsessed with killing people.

They began manufacturing sympathy for Kim Ryeo-yu.
It was an operation to paint even those making legitimate criticism as malicious commenters.

But still, there’s clearly a victim in this situation and it’s a fact that Kim Ryeo-yu lied;;;
└Whether it’s a fact or not, everyone’s going overboard right now, that’s the truth. Why are you being so morally superior about a twenty-year-old who hasn’t even debuted? Know your limits.
└└Wow;;;;; Calm down;;;;;;;
└└└How virtuously were you living at twenty?^^

[Ryeo-yu: Things did go wrong, but honestly, when I gave Ju-hong that part before, it was for teamwork. I wanted to integrate better into a team I hadn’t fully settled into yet. Of course… because I thought about it too lightly, it created misunderstandings instead, and backfired. I was immature about that part.]
[Ryeo-yu: So this time, I wanted to be honest. If I approach my teammates more honestly, those misunderstandings won’t happen, and maybe I can contribute more to the team. That’s what I thought.]

As the interview continued.
The focus began to blur more and more.
Eventually, the whole incident seemed to end as nothing more than a mistake by immature children.

“So Ryeo-yu, what position do you want to do?”
“I’ll just take whatever’s left…!”
“Ah… okay?”

Lee Gyeong-a roughly sensed that Kim Ryeo-yu was trying to show restraint.
So she distributed positions appropriately among the other trainees.
However, she made sure every position received a fair share of parts so no one got too few.

I can’t come this far and face criticism.

With that resolve in mind.
A storm had already swept through once before, and I couldn’t have learned nothing from it.
And so Lee Gyeong-a became the main vocalist, Park Ha-eun the main rapper, while Kim Ryeo-yu, Shin Yu-hyeon, and Bang Su-in took on roughly equal portions as sub-vocalists.
Practice proceeded smoothly enough.
The trainees now understood that one misstep could send them plummeting into the abyss.
Everyone held back, and held back again.
Meanwhile, what of Team Ipansapan?

“…Should we decide on a concept?”

This team had its own complications.

“The song has such an upbeat melody when you listen to it. Something electro-pop.”
“Light and catchy… like a summer song?”
“Let’s do something we’ve never done before!”

At Yeon Ju-hong’s suggestion, the trainees paused for a moment.
A concept they’d never tried.
For trainees who’d performed various stages, an untried concept meant….

“Should we go cute?”
“Yes!”
“Rejected.”
“Why! Come on!”

Despite Yeon Ju-hong’s vehement objection, the cute concept was swiftly rejected.

“Maybe something like a summer downpour. A bittersweet yet refreshing feeling, like first love.”

This was Ryu Bora’s opinion.

“What are you talking about? This has to be energetic and powerful! We need to emphasize the rhythm with girls’ hip-hop and sporty vibes!”

This was Kim Geum.

“I want to go with a sophisticated concept. Colors’ girl groups traditionally have that refined, timeless, never-tacky feel. Refined yet glamorous. What do you think of that?”

This was Seo Baek-young.

“Summer means! A showdown of cute and playful girl groups, right? We need to appeal with energy and freshness! Our youth!”

This was Yeon Ju-hong.

“…Maybe something slightly pure, but subtly dewy. That kind of vibe would be nice. Pure and sexy. Like a fairy in the forest….”

This was Lee Ju-seon.
Yun Chung found herself thinking.
She was definitely a little insane for trying to debut with this rowdy bunch.

“What do you think, Chung? You like sophisticated concepts! Restrained glamour! Let’s show the idols’ sparkle!”
“What are you saying! Chung unnie loves powerful appeal!”
“Unnie understands the power of emotion. Right? Remember that fingertip stage from before.”
“Chung, Chung! We need to challenge something we haven’t tried! Something cute! We need to repay our fans!”
“…Doesn’t everyone realize that what really stands out is pure and sexy?”

Should I just run away?
Yun Chung paused as she watched this chaotic group.
Every argument had merit.
So.

“Let’s do all of it.”
“?!”

Doing everything didn’t seem like such a bad idea after all.

***

The second stage began that way.
The first to perform was Team Winners, which included Kim Ryeo-yu.
Black outfits that were slightly ethereal yet conceptual.
They matched the “little devils” concept well.
The audience response was much better this time.
Oh PD’s desperate emotional appeal of “girls who are still inexperienced but trying their best” had worked reasonably well.
Not everyone was favorable toward Kim Ryeo-yu, but at least they weren’t openly boycotting like before.
Moreover, Lee Gyeong-a and the other members were so earnest that the response was enthusiastic.

“The response is great.”
“Thank goodness. Everyone worked hard for this.”

Ryu Bora stared at me with an extraordinarily peculiar expression.
This is uncomfortable, honestly.
Suddenly, Ryu Bora turned off both her microphone and mine, then shoved me into the restroom.
Anyone watching would think you were bullying me….

“…Aren’t you upset?”
“No.”

Whether it was MEN or Colors, both were desperately trying to save Kim Ryeo-yu.
She was asking if that didn’t upset me.
I wasn’t upset.
I couldn’t fully deduce what Hong President’s true intentions were.
But I could sense that he didn’t want to completely abandon Kim Ryeo-yu as a card to play.
…Well, that makes sense.
She’s been a trainee who received tremendous attention from the very beginning.
Finding someone with that much star potential is difficult enough.
He probably didn’t want to let her go entirely.
If there’s a problem, it’s this….

“If things continue like this, you and Ryeo-yu could debut together. Are you really okay with that?”
“No.”

That’s the problem.
To be honest, I have no desire to debut alongside Kim Ryeo-yu.
It’s not simply because I dislike her.
It’s because I know that if I debut with her, we’ll eventually go down together.
In my past life, she caused a scandal right after debut and destroyed the group.
What about this life?
This time, she didn’t even debut, yet she tried to ruin someone else’s life.
Will she fix her attitude if she debuts?
Absolutely not.
She’ll think, “Oh, so I can debut even doing this? The world is really that easy?” and become even more brazen.

“No. I’m not okay with it.”

I spoke honestly.
Ryu Bora’s eyes widened.
…She asked me herself, so why is she surprised?

“Then… how can I help you?”
“Bora.”
“Yes?”
“Why do you try so hard to help me?”

I was genuinely curious.
Why, exactly?

“….”

Ryu Bora thought for a moment, then lifted her head.

“I… never intended to debut originally.”
“….”
“You’re not surprised?”

Well, I didn’t debut in my past life either, so I’d guessed as much.
Though I didn’t know the detailed circumstances.

“But then, I wanted to try debuting. With you, unnie.”
“Why?”
“The reason I didn’t want to debut was because I knew I wouldn’t be able to endure it, even if I did.”

So that was it.
I remembered what Ryu Bora had confessed before.
She’d quit acting as a child actress because of dyslexia.
But ultimately, she’d returned to trainee life as an idol to support her family.

“But now I have someone who will forcibly lift me up and crack the whip for me. Someone who won’t let me quit, even if I try to leave.”

I looked into Ryu Bora’s eyes.
Those eyes that had made her a successful child actress.

“That’s why I want to debut. But not alone.”
“…With me?”
“Yes.”

Those eyes that could persuade away any conviction, any argument.

“Bora.”

It would probably be difficult.
But.
Still… I found myself wanting to try.
I had wavered, if I’m being honest.
No matter how much we explained, persuaded, and insisted we were right.
The way our voices were silenced under the guise of adult circumstances—it seemed no different than any other era.
So I had grown weary.
I wanted to save my mother, and I could give everything I have to do it.
I knew I couldn’t give up.
But separate from that, my heart had simply grown tired.
The thought of repeating all those things I’d endured in Baek Nok-ha’s life.
It made me feel sick.

“Why?”

But Baek Nok-ha’s life and,

“Let’s try.”

Yun Chung’s life were different.

“…Yes. Let’s do this. Us. Let’s try.”

Going forward, Yun Chung wouldn’t seem like she’d face those things alone.
Not like Baek Nok-ha.
She wouldn’t be alone.

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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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