Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 12

All the trainees moved to the practice room next door.

Like we’re actually being kicked out.

After they all left, several key staff members and judges rushed into an emergency meeting.

“No, what’s up with her?”

The first person to open their mouth was Director Kim.

“Wonho -ssi [1] , was she always that good?”

Director Kim asked dance trainer Jo Wonho with a slightly unpleasant face.

“Her dancing used to be bad, seriously.”

“I was surprised.”

Do Heeyoung also looked surprised.

“She seems better than me”

“…If it’s like this, She might be better than the CEO….”

Kang Sunhwa, the vocal trainer, also said in a bewildered tone.

Everyone here was in shock.

“Ey, it’s not to that extent. Since he was so bad at it to begin with, it just makes him look better at dancing now.”

If you don’t have any expectations, it might seem like they’re doing better.

Everyone nodded to Jo Wonho’s words.

But even considering that, it was such a huge improvement.

“Though…. She wasn’t even in the debut group.”

“She was in the debut group. We didn’t have a main vocalist, so I was going to put it in as the last judge’s pick.”

“No, that’s our pick. Originally, the plan was to use her as a scapegoat and casually insert her to divert the controversy away from the others.”

Director Kim casually made a provocative comment that would easily provoke Yun Cheong.

“If things continue like that, it seems likely that she will debut smoothly as a debut pick [2] .”

Public eyes are sharper than anyone else.

If your skills are overwhelming like that, of course-

“… It seems like she could be voted as number one?”

She has no choice but to debut.

Just now, Yun Cheong’s performance was truly a masterclass.

It was only natural, considering they brought in a top idol with 10 years of experience among the trainees.

‘Baek Nokha’ is famous for her skills among idols in their 10th year.

However, these individuals were unaware of that fact.

“No, I thought she was using some sort of drug. She wasn’t nervous at all.”

“…Did she drink a little bit of soju?”

Do Heeyoung murmured next to him.

It was a method that I used from time to time when I first debuted.

Director Kim gave a meaningful look to Do Heeyoung, meaning to not talk nonsense.

“If it goes on like this, it will be a bit of a problem.”

Director Kim was very displeased.

There was no other option.

Director Kim’s plan was like this. Yun Cheong, who is likely to be the least popular, will be included in the debut group.

Which one did the public bite best?

Selecting the one they didn’t choose.

Sometimes, it was even more scrutinized than personality controversies or other disputes.

Director Kim was confident that Kim Ryeoyu would make her debut.

Of course, it was much more advantageous if the PD picked the editing points well and built up the narrative on his own.

In addition, Kim Ryeoyu is not particularly ugly, but rather quite outstanding among the trainees.

However, Kim Ryeoyu had only one disadvantage.

Her past.

The fact that she was the perpetrator of school violence.

No matter how much they prodded, Director Kim knew.

Some things can never be probed with ordinary methods.

So, Director Kim was thinking of using another scapegoat to question Kim Ryeoyu instead.

And he chose Yun Cheong as the scapegoat.

A trainee who is weak, shaking when on stage, and who has been in the debut group a few times but always falls short.

Desperate and earnest, but not enough.

She was a perfect trainee to use.

However,

‘You’re admitting it right away’

‘Yes, because it is a fact.’

the confident response from earlier,

the almost perfect performance,

there was nothing that wasn’t astonishing.

She looked much more like an ace than ace Seo Baek-young.

Why didn’t we know about her, to the point of questioning.

“…What shall we do?”

Producer Oh sneakily asked.

“The debut lineup has to remain the same. With Kim Ryeoyu, Seo Baekyoung, Kim Geum, Jo Heeyon, and Yun Cheong.”

Director Kim said flatly.

“First of all, let’s reduce the amount of Yun Cheong’s screen time. Please edit all of that performance.”

“What?”

Producer Oh’s eyebrows are starting to rise a lot.

Even for him, who had been directing music shows for three years, the stage she had just performed was a legendary stage.

It was unbelievable that the trainee only prepared that within three days.

If it appeared on the broadcast, the stage was guaranteed to become a sensation.

What’s the big deal about a sensation? PD Oh even had the confidence that if he set his mind to it, he could make Yun Cheong take the first place.

With that level of talent, the ratings will go up.

Originally, broadcasting is about a standout star grabbing hold and pulling up the rest.

Especially if it’s an audition program like this.

But asking to edit a stage like that through cross-cutting?

“That’s a bit unreasonable. Even if we edit the mid-term evaluation through cross-cutting, we won’t be able to edit the stage during the final evaluation. All final stage performances will be uploaded on O-Tube.”

On O-Tube, all the stages are uploaded raw and without editing.

You can’t hide it then.

If they find out that we edited a stage like that through cross-cutting, they’ll definitely criticize us, and it’s clear that those people at the broadcasting station are crazy. We’re bound to face criticism

In the worst case scenario, there will be suspicion of manipulation.

There were one or two people who ended up losing everything trying to manipulate things.

While Oh PD might consider some level of manipulation acceptable, he had no intention of engaging in such blatant manipulation.

Especially, it’s not by his own will but someone else’s will.

“Is there really a need to upload the evaluation stage on O-Tube when it’s not even a live performance yet?”

However, director Kim was also stubborn.

“It’s already been agreed at the planning meeting. It’s not easy to draw attention unless it’s on O-Tube these days.”

Who watches live broadcasts anymore? These days, everyone watches on OTT platforms [3] and O-Tube.

Producer Oh clicked his tongue inside. It’s because as a director of the entertainment industry, he has no sense.

Producer Oh actually had a lot of complaints. He didn’t know what Director Kim bribed his superiors, but it was clear that he bribed them properly.

Didn’t the director openly tell him to listen to Director Kim.

However, that was within the boundaries of ‘limits’.

This has certainly gone far beyond the limit. Producer Oh had no intention of ruining his career because of an old-fashioned person who doesn’t understand the ways of the world.

“Still-“

“Director Kim.”

Producer Oh raised his hand to stop Director Kim’s words.

“If the ratings don’t come out or if there’s a controversy over manipulation, will you take responsibility instead of me?”

“….”

“Should I say that everything is Director Kim’s orders? I should not, should I?”

Producer Oh stood up as if there was nothing more to say.

“No matter how you evaluate it, it’s up to the judges.”

“!”

“If Director Kim wants to put pressure on Yun Cheong, you can give a low evaluation once. You can say it wasn’t great, well, you can criticize heavily if you want. I will definitely put that on the broadcast”

It’s a win for me.

Comments will flood in with Director Kim’s criticisms.

Swearing is also a way to generate buzz in this world.

Producer Oh laughed heartily.

“But I’m going to feature Yun Cheong’s trainee performance the longest. I’ll include it in the teaser as well.”

If you have eyes, you can naturally tell that she will stand out.

And while Oh PD might lack character, he’s not blind.

***

Filming resumed, and the trainees returned to the practice room.

There was tension not only among the judges, but also among the trainees.

Most were quite exhausted or depressed.

There weren’t a lot of people who got good reviews.

And,

“….”

Yun Cheong did so overwhelmingly well.

In fact, from their point of view, it’s much better if none of them does it well.

Rather than just me being unable to do it, it’s somewhat comforting if none of us can

Of course, that’s impossible.

Then it’s better for someone who was originally good at it to do well.

Kim Ryeoyu, Kim Geum, and Ryu Bora were originally strong candidates for their debut.

Kim Geum was the only one in the rapper position, Kim Ryeoyu was a relative of Director Kim, and Ryu Bora was known to be unique.

but

Yun Cheong wasn’t like that.

Everyone seemed a bit bewildered.

Let’s say they managed to handle the intro choreography before.

Let’s even assume they were lucky to excel in just one thing despite their expectations.

However, the recent stage was not luck.

The trainees who experienced it firsthand knew it best.

Everyone was completely overwhelmed by Yuncheong.

In an instant, Yun Cheong rose from last place to the first place candidate.

That held a lot of significance.

“…We’ll be starting the evaluations of trainee Yun Cheong.”

Firstly, people find it hard to accept that someone who they believed was less skilled than them turns out to be better.

It’s fine when those who are already good at something excel. That’s inevitable.

But when someone you thought was less capable than you ends up doing better?

That’s something you just can’t come to terms with. It’s frustrating.

“Trainee Yun Cheong. Please come forward.”

“Yes.”

Secondly, this was another opportunity.

The trainees were actually somewhat aware.

Their agency was going to debut Yun Cheong through the judge’s pick.

Since they thought that her popularity might not be that high anyway, they planned to debut Yun Cheong as the main vocalist through the judge’s pick

“…It was terrific. Honestly, it was flawless. It wouldn’t be strange if you debut right away.”

But what if Yun Cheong does better than anyone else?

Rather, it meant that there would be a vacancy for the judge’s pick.

“Thank you. I will work harder.”

“I hope you can show off your skills during the main evaluation.”

After a few more compliments, the mid-term evaluation was all concluded.

Director Kim also didn’t say a word.

It was only trainers and Do Heeyoung who praised her.

Then it was time to meet the mentor.

But at that moment,

“Originally, you were scheduled to meet your mentor today.”

Director Kim grabbed the microphone again.

“But there’s been a slight disruption in our schedule, so we’ll have to postpone it to next time instead of today. Thank you all for your understanding.”

The trainees glanced at each other.

Everyone already anticipated that what Director Kim referred to as a ‘disruption’ was about Yun Cheong.

Even Yun Cheong herself.

“I’ll announce only the mid-term evaluation rankings.”

Do Heeyoung announced the rankings of the trainees one by one.

“First of all, I will announce the 12th and 1st place at the end. In 11th place is Park Haeun.”

Alongside Do Heeyoung’s announcement, the rankings of the trainees were gradually revealed on the screen.

Each time their names were called, the trainees stepped forward.

11th place, Park Haeun

10th place, Lee Juseon

“And… 9th place, trainee Yeon Juhong.”

1. a way to address someone formally
2. debuting as someone picked by viewers
3. OTT stands for “over-the-top,” the term used for delivering film and TV content via the internet, without requiring users to subscribe to a traditional cable or satellite pay-TV service (vodlix.com)