Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 97

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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 97.

The music video had that refreshing, rookie charm we hadn’t felt in ages, and the fans’ reactions were overwhelmingly positive.
You only get to enjoy this kind of thing when you’re a rookie—when else would you get another chance?

★
Grinning like an idiot while supporting the group
♡(ﾐ ᵕ̣̣̣̣̣̣ ﻌ ᵕ̣̣̣̣̣̣ ﾐ)ﾉ Just sobbing while watching
I liked it because it felt like the kids’ vocals had all become strongerㅠㅠㅠㅠ
The light of my life..
Did Yun Chung’s half-tied hair drive you crazy? Not a baby predator but suddenly turned into a herbivore
Ryu Pyeol… Tassel cut short hair… ㄹㅈㄷ… A baby is seen from a baby deer.
Geum composed, Ryu Bora wrote lyrics, this is a guaranteed hit… I loved the golden Bora…
└Real talk, the girls’ visuals are insane but the song is genuinely so good…
└└Even non-fans around me admitted the song is good
Did you really think I wouldn’t fall for you the moment you showed up with that layered cut, Seo Baek-young? If you thought that, then you read me perfectly
Yun Chung really does sing well, I knew that but… every day feels new, just
Who told Ju-hong to go black hair? I’ll bow in that direction every single day
But can they really reveal all the hairstyles this early?
└Right, it’s a pre-release track, but I didn’t expect them to reveal all the hairstyles
└└They might not even use these hairstyles for the actual promotions
But seriously, the song is so good
The audio drops today at noon, right?? I can’t wait, please release it soon

I watched the reactions pouring in real-time and felt my chest swell with relief.
So far, the response had been nothing but positive.
Most importantly, I found the fans’ reactions to the members’ subtle changes absolutely delightful.

‘…I never expected the half-tied hairstyle to get this much love.’

All the members’ hairstyle changes had come from Yeon Ju-hong’s insistent demands.

‘It’s just a pre-release track—do we really need to make that many changes? Especially since this song emphasizes that fresh, innocent feeling… I thought keeping the hairstyles simple would work just fine.’

That had been my initial argument.

‘Right. We’re already making big changes for the title track anyway… why do the same for the pre-release?’

The other members shared similar thoughts.

‘Absolutely not.’

But then.
Yeon Ju-hong was different.

‘We need to give the fans the most entertaining elements possible. We have to completely overhaul our hair. Everyone’s been wearing the same hairstyle throughout Make a New Color, so the fans must be tired of it. On top of that, we didn’t change our hair for the Color Film to hide the title track concept! How boring! I hate it!’

…So we had no choice but to make some subtle changes.
Honestly, I didn’t expect the reaction to be this strong.
Of course, I figured Ryu Bora would get some attention since her change was quite dramatic.
She’d been stubborn about keeping that long, wavy brown hair throughout Make a New Color.
With the Tesselcut that came up just above her shoulders, the fans naturally found it refreshing.
The Tesselcut was actually Yeon Ju-hong’s suggestion too.

‘You need to shed that actress image.’
‘…Does changing my hair make an actress image disappear?’
‘It can.’

I’d never seen Yeon Ju-hong speak with such conviction before in all my life.

‘Let’s go with the Tesselcut. I think you’ll look pretty with shorter hair.’
‘What kind of logic is that?’
‘Just try it first.’

And the result was a massive success.
Even the real-time trending search rankings on SNS had ‘Ryu Bora Tesselcut’ climbing the list.
Even I had to admit she looked beautiful.
I see her face every day from beside her, but I found myself thinking anew, ‘She really does have a beautiful face,’ so the fans must have felt it even more.
Anyway, now that I’ve confirmed the fans’ reaction….

“W-we made it onto the real-time trending video rankings!”

All that remained was the public’s response.
Of course, I understood that drawing public attention would be difficult since this was a pre-release track.
But this song… it was truly refined and had turned out perfectly as an easy-listening piece.
Kim Geum had ground her teeth making this song.
And it was also Ryu Bora’s debut as a lyricist.
We hadn’t chosen Ryu Bora’s lyrics simply because she was a member.
We didn’t even know whose lyrics were whose.
We’d created the song first, then commissioned multiple lyricists to write lyrics that fit it, and selected the winner through a blind competition.
To avoid bias from voting only among ourselves, we’d sent it to the A&R Team, Lee Sol, and other senior artists from Make a New Color, then tallied the results.
Out of fifty voters, Ryu Bora’s lyrics had won with an impressive twenty-nine votes.
It wasn’t flashy, but people said it felt sincere.
The expressions were fresh, and it matched our album concept perfectly.
Because of all that, I couldn’t help but hope for a good response.
After all, we’d made this song ourselves.

“Everyone, don’t get your hopes up too high.”

Yet I found myself worried by how excited the members looked.
If their expectations were too high and they ended up disappointed, how devastated would they be?
There was no need to obsess over a pre-release track like this.
Since it was a song we were offering to our fans, we needed to let go of our greed.

“Um, um, I absolutely don’t have any greed?! I’m already incredibly satisfied just that you all made such a wonderful song?!”

Turn off OTube or just lie….

“I-I-I-I-I-I-I absolutely don’t c-c-c-c-c-care about v-v-v-v-view c-c-counts…”

Stop talking.
Even though Kim Geum seemed bold, she was just a scaredy-cat.
The fans should know this too….

“….”

Seo Baek-young just sat there with bloodshot eyes, saying nothing at all.
We’re going crazy.

“Everyone, turn off your phones.”
“Hahahaha—but the comments are coming in real-time right now….”
“Off.”
“Ugh.”

I collected everyone’s phones and stuffed them into my bag.

“If it goes well, that’s great. If not, we just pour more effort into the title track. Everyone, let’s be a bit bolder about this.”

I spoke calmly.
Honestly, it’s not like I haven’t released a music video once or twice before.
I’ve been doing this for ten years.
This much is child’s play…

“Then why can’t you put your phone down, unnie!”
“….”

Child’s play, indeed.

“Enough of that. Let’s practice, everyone. Looks like you’re all ready?!? Seems like you could debut tomorrow at this rate?!”
“…That’s mean….”
“Thug….”
“Bad person.”
“….”

Seo Baek-young’s silence is far more terrifying.
Real madness radiating from that girl.
Either way, everyone finally put their phones down and could begin practicing.

“Ugh.”

Several hours passed like that.
Just when I sensed everyone’s stamina was reaching its limit.

“Let’s take a break.”

As I said that and glanced at the clock on the wall, I realized two hours had already slipped by.
No wonder everyone felt exhausted.

“Sister, please, just once—can’t you check your phone?!”
“No.”
“Please. Just once.”
“No.”
“Then the manager might have called, so at least you check your phone, unnie.”

That was actually persuasive.
At Ryu Bora’s words, I finally pulled out my phone.

“Why are the view counts so… huh?”
“?!”

Huh.

“Why do I have so many missed calls?”

Thirty missed calls were logged on my screen.
Ten were from my manager, sixteen from Lee Sol, and four from Lee Ju-seon, Lee Gyeong-a, Jo Hee-on, and Hong President respectively.
Had something gone wrong?

“Um… did something… happen?”
“Gasp.”

They all pushed me aside and grabbed my phone to turn it on.
But at that moment.

“You guys!”

The Practice Room door burst open.

“Senior?”

It was Lee Sol.

“Why didn’t you answer my calls?!”

Lee Sol’s face was flushed crimson as she huffed indignantly.
She must have rushed over in quite a hurry.
I felt terribly sorry about this.

“I’m sorry. I felt like we couldn’t just sit around watching the reactions, so I didn’t get a chance to check my phone.”
“Why didn’t you check it!”

?
It’s not like Lee Sol doesn’t understand how I feel….
Did she debut with such massive success that she doesn’t really know what this feels like?

“Um… what if the response wasn’t very good….”
“Your view count broke a million!”

Wait.

“In record time for a rookie group!”

Wait wait wait.

***

“Someone please slap my cheek.”
“Isn’t it supposed to be a pinch, normally?”
“Do whatever… I still can’t believe this is real….”

Kim Geum dutifully pinched Yeon Ju-hong’s cheek.

“Ow!”
“Does it hurt?”
“This is a dream… it’s not a dream….”
“It’s reality.”

I’ll leave those two to their antics for now.
I focused on grilling the pork belly.
It was pork belly we could enjoy thanks to the gift card Lee Sol gave us with tears of joy.
Why didn’t we buy beef instead of pork belly with a senior’s gift card?
We all decided to go big and buy enough for twenty servings anyway.
Beef felt a bit too presumptuous, so we figured we couldn’t eat that much of it.

“Everyone, please finally admit it now.”

Bang.
Seo Baek-young set down her chopsticks with a sharp clatter and spoke.
Her expression was so fierce that we all couldn’t help but feel a chill run down our spines.

“What, what are you talking about?”
“We….”

Seo Baek-young swallowed a piece of grilled kimchi in one gulp.

“I think we might actually have a shot at first place this time.”
“….”

A brief silence settled over us.

“…That’s a bit much.”
“Based on the preview track’s OTube views alone, it’s premature to predict first place….”
“We haven’t even released the album yet. Don’t count your chickens before they hatch….”

They all spoke without mercy, yet smiles bloomed across their faces.
I understood the heart behind Seo Baek-young’s words.
Even I could barely hold back my tears.
Even I, who had achieved first place dozens of times before…. I truly felt tears welling up.
It wasn’t even proper chart performance yet—just strong preview track views.
But it reminded me of my very first number one.
Back then, I remember sobbing uncontrollably.
Still, experience had taught me to hold back tears.

“I understand everyone’s joy.”

I calmly placed a piece of meat in front of each of them.

“But let’s not get complacent. The title track hasn’t even been revealed yet. The title track is where the real game begins. And even if we do manage first place with the title track, absolutely.”

I took a deep breath.

“Don’t let your guard down, and don’t let arrogance take root. Remember—this isn’t because we’re talented. It’s because our fans believed in us.”

I learned this lesson the hard way around my fifth year in the industry.
Back then, I thought I was the most talented person in the world.

“And there’s something like a law of the entertainment industry.”
“What is it?”

I hesitated for a moment.
Would saying this make me sound like a jaded veteran?
But it seemed worth mentioning.

“Just when you think things are going perfectly…”

Right then,

Ding!
Ding!
Ding!

Notifications bombarded the members’ phones.

“Something’s gone wrong.”

Just like that.

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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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