Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 89

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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 89.

“You… want to arrange it?”
“No, that’s not it.”

Dan-ha’s expression was so fierce that I instinctively cowered.

“?”
“I apologize. I misspoke.”
“No, go ahead and say it. You want to arrange this, don’t you?”
“Well, yes and no…”

This damned arrangement obsession of mine.
I should have just kept quiet, but my mouth had other ideas.
Why was I making such a fuss about arranging a song that isn’t even mine?
Am I out of my mind?
Did I think participating in the arrangement would earn me a song in return?
…Would it?
Wait.
Should I ask for a song after helping with the arrangement…?

“I just… wanted to try it a little.”
“I’ve heard you’re interested in composition.”

Who else would come to the Studio at this hour besides people obsessed with composition?

“But I didn’t realize you were interested to this degree. I didn’t expect you to want to touch it the moment you heard it.”

Dan-ha looked distinctly displeased.

“I’m sorry…”
“Go ahead and try.”
“Pardon?”
“I’ve had lingering regrets about this song myself. I was hesitant to give it to someone else, so I was thinking of either including it on our album or uploading it to SoundCloud.”
“I see…”

So she felt it too.
For a composer, a song is like a child.
There’s no way she wouldn’t have felt something about her child.

“If trainee Yun Chung brings the song to life, that’s a good thing for me. Give it a try.”
“Then I will.”

I straightened my posture immediately.

“If I refine this song well, will you give it to me?”

***

After the vacation ended.
The members returned to the Dormitory one by one.

“Wow. Why is our Dormitory so clean?!”
“I cleaned it.”
“…You didn’t rest?”
“I’m the kind of person who feels more uncomfortable resting.”

Apart from sleeping a bit, I hadn’t rested at all.
I’d been at the Studio until just moments ago.

“Unnie… what’s wrong with you?”

Yeon Ju-hong looked almost terrified.

“What.”
“If you don’t rest, people die…! Do you want to become a corpse already…?! You’ll be a walking corpse once activities start anyway…!”
“….”

I decided not to engage.

“Did you have a good time with your family?”
“Yes! I had so much fun. I’m mentally prepared not to see them for about two years this time.”
“Let’s hope it’s not that long.”
“No. I’d actually prefer it that way.”
“Why?”

Is your relationship with your family not good?
It didn’t seem that way.

“If you can’t see them for that long, it means you’re that busy. Being busy means having a packed schedule. And that means you’re popular. I want to be popular.”

So she was just ambitious.

“Your parents are okay with it, though?”
“My mom told me to work hard for twenty years and then travel together for thirty.”
“…Your mom’s pretty cool….”
“My mom’s a total career woman too. She’s busier than I am.”

Like mother, like daughter.

“Ah, I feel like I’m going to burst from eating so much. I’ve been eating since this morning.”
“What did you eat?”
“A full spread of home-cooked meals I made myself?”
“Why don’t you make any for us.”
“This place doesn’t have ingredients. If you want to eat my cooking, go shopping.”

Seeing how her cheeks had filled out noticeably, it seemed the other members had enjoyed their break well too.
I was the only one who looked gaunt again.

“Everyone, sit down.”

At my words, the members gathered around the table.
Ryu Bora naturally picked up an apple and a knife to sit down, while Seo Baek-young started peeling a tangerine.
Yeon Ju-hong pulled out a bag of snacks, and Kim Geum took out a water bottle filled with barley tea.
…Was this an idol dormitory or a girls’ high school?
Since there wasn’t anything I couldn’t eat anyway, I accepted whatever the members offered me.

“Sorry to bring up work right after you got back, but it’s a bit urgent.”
“We’re in a rush too, so just be comfortable about it.”

Ryu Bora responded to my words.
I appreciate her saying that.

“I’m going to play you a few songs now, so listen.”

I pulled out my phone and played the three recorded files in succession.
After approximately eleven minutes, all the prepared songs had finished.

“….”
“What do you think?”

I asked for the members’ opinions with an anxious heart.
Their opinions were the most important, after all.
Yet all the members simply stared intently at their phones.
Why wasn’t anyone saying anything?

“Well? What do you think?”

I wasn’t typically an impatient person, but when it came to music, I tended to become rather eager.

“Um….”
“Uh….”
“It’s just….”
“Why can’t you say anything!”

It seemed I also had a tendency to become a bit irritable.

“All three are so good that we’re at a loss for words. All three… they wouldn’t seem out of place even as title tracks from senior artists.”
“Right. When exactly did you receive songs like these?”

After hearing their positive response, my heart finally eased.
Thank goodness.
They genuinely liked my music.
I’d been worried they might not mesh well with it.
In truth, my musical style had already been established, making it difficult to change.
I needed to continue developing, but shifting direction entirely was hard.
Yet fortunately they liked it… so everything worked out.

“So which song was your favorite?”

At my question, the members’ mouths clamped shut like clams once more.
I played the songs again in order for them.
This was a decision that required careful consideration, after all.

“Ah, this is difficult. All three songs have such different vibes… Yun Chung, you want one of these to be the debut track, right?”
“That’s not quite it.”
“…?”

The members’ eyes widened.

“I’ve done the math.”

I retrieved a calendar and spread it out before them.

“It’s September now.”
“That’s right.”
“But if we release an album now… even if it does well….”
“We can’t be sure we’d win a rookie award.”

Seo Baek-young immediately grasped my intention.

“Exactly. I really want to win a rookie award. To do that, if we release the debut album at the end of this year, another one next summer, and another in the second half… it would be ideal.”

I marked out roughly December this year, May and September next year.

“Of course, all three songs need to get good responses, and even if they do, we can’t be certain… but still, it increases our chances of winning a rookie award.”

The members all seemed to be deep in thought.

“You all… want to win a rookie award if possible, right?”
“Of course we do.”

Seo Baek-young’s reaction was particularly strong to my words.
I thought it would be the ambitious Yeon Ju-hong, but this was unexpected.
Rather, Yeon Ju-hong remained quiet.
Or rather, she seemed to be gauging the atmosphere.

“Ju-hong, is something bothering you?”
“Everything sounds good, but… that means we’d have to prepare for debut in three months…?”

At those words, the atmosphere in the Dormitory grew tense once more.

“No, I… I also really want a rookie award… and that’s why… the schedule you mentioned sounds great, but… I’m worried whether the Company will actually do what we want… Colors is famous, after all. For not releasing albums very often….”

That was certainly true.
Colors was notorious for its brutal activity gaps.
Of course, that wasn’t solely due to Colors’ decision.
The idols under the label also harbored perfectionist tendencies and anxiety, so they couldn’t promote unless they were absolutely certain the songs they’d created were flawless.
It was a common phenomenon among groups that composed and wrote their own lyrics.

“Ju-hong made a good point.”

Noticing Yeon Ju-hong’s restlessness, I tried to soothe her.

“I’ve been a bit concerned about that part too. But it seems like something we can resolve if we put in the effort.”
“…! Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I’d be so happy!”
“Good. What about the others’ thoughts?”

Kim Geum glanced at the calendar for a moment, then let out a deep sigh.

“It’s going to be incredibly busy.”
“Yeah. It’ll be really tough too.”
“Are you confident about this, Yun Chung?”

Confident, she asked.
Hmm.

“I’m not sure I’m confident, but I do think this is the best we can do.”
“That’s more than enough, leader.”

Kim Geum grinned and shoved two tangerines into her mouth at once.

“Let’s go for it.”

Those are pretty sour tangerines. Underripe…
Now only Ryu Bora remained.
All four of our gazes turned toward Ryu Bora.
Ryu Bora had been quietly peeling an apple without saying a word.
…And she was carving it into the shape of a rabbit.

“What’s that? Some kind of self-portrait?”

Kim Geum tossed it out with obvious displeasure.
Right.
It kind of looks like a slightly vicious rabbit… something like that.

“As for me.”

Ryu Bora began arranging the rabbits side by side on a plate.
Five rabbits in total.
Arranged like this, they’re actually cute.
Anyway, she even peeled apples for the members. Unexpectedly, she has quite a tender side—

“I hate it.”

Never mind.
This one really is a gangster rabbit.

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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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