Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 14

It’s break time…but the camera is running.

 

It seems that due to the constant pressure of the camera being on, there was no trainee who took a proper rest.

 

Yeah, this is the exhausting aspect of reality TV broadcasts that claim to depict ‘reality.’

 

Even the break times are all being recorded.

 

“Cheong unnie.”

 

Sure enough, there was a trainee who approached right away.

 

Who is this time

 

“Can…..can you perhaps look at my performance for a bit?”

 

Ah.

 

I nodded right away.

 

“Of course, what should I help you with?”

 

Yeon Juhong.

 

It’s surprising, butIt wasn’t very surprising since she has a personality that easily connects well with people.

 

“Just… my pitch…. I haven’t got a clue what the trainer told me yet….”

 

“Alright, then let’s try singing it together.”

 

I listened attentively to Yeon Juhong’s voice.

 

I want to sincerely help her.

 

Because –

 

“Now, relax your neck here-“

 

As you know, I’m a debut candidate

 

I certainly didn’t plan to go with the original lineup of Still Blue

 

It had already happened in my past life and it failed once. Is there a reason to go through the same thing again?

 

Especially if the reason for the previous failure was due to the members not getting along, then there’s even more reason to change the members.

 

Kim Ryeo-yu definitely needed to be excluded, and the other members too… If necessary, they should be replaced.

 

Then the issue was who to replace them with.

 

And she’s the one I picked as the most promising candidate.

 

“Wow, by following your advice, unnie, I’m improving!”

 

It was Yeon Juhong.

 

“I’m glad it helped.”

 

It’s not because Yeon Ju-hong was a popular member in my past life.

 

Yeon Juhong has her own unique ‘position’.

 

Although she dislikes being labeled as ambiguous in terms of position, when you look at it the other way around-

 

“How does Cheongcheong unnie know about these things?”

 

She can fit into any position.

 

…But where did Cheongcheong unnie come from… Is it some kind of nickname?

 

I, Baek Nokha.

 

A Thirty year old woman.

 

Has been an idol for 10 years.

 

I’ve heard all sorts of nicknames, but when someone other than a fan uses such a nickname, it makes me feel young for no reason.

 

“I’m not sure, since I’ve been a trainee for a long time, I just… seemed to have learned it.”

 

Yeon Juhong was a member who could effectively hold her ground amidst members with wildly diverse personalities.

 

Trainees from Colors… It’s great that they have talent and strong individuality

 

but there isn’t much of a sense of chemistry among them.

 

Yeon Juhong was the perfect member to create that kind of ‘chemistry.’

 

“You’re really amazing, unnie. I should get along with unnie.”

 

It’s not just because she’s sociable.

 

While she does get along well with everyone and has good social skills-

 

“If we go into the dorm, let’s share a room!”

 

“I’d love to.”

 

Yeon Juhong has something unique about her.

 

“What? Are you two close already?”

 

This trainee who secretly intervenes is Jo Heeyon.

 

She was also one of the members who were originally supposed to debut.

 

She don’t have any particular characteristics, but if there’s one thing that stands out-

 

“Ah, Cheong unnie was looking at my vocal!”

 

She is Ryeoyu’s best friend.

 

Perhaps that’s why the two had many similarities.

 

“Are you standing on her side as soon as Cheong’s skill improves? Juhong-ie how clever you are.”

 

For instance, they skillfully make people subtly irritated.

 

Not to the extent of really picking a fight… Very subtly.

 

The moment I tried to refute,

 

“Oh my, unnie, you’re smarter than me. You sided with Ryeo-yu unnie way before I did!”

 

Yeon Juhong stepped forward one step faster.

 

“…What?”

 

“Oh my, seriously. I should learn from you, unnie! I’m completely clueless, so I’m not good at things like noticing social cues and siding properly… I mean, I didn’t even know about things like being the niece of the company president! Sigh… I really need to learn from you, unnie. I’m really not good at things like socializing….”

 

…that’s really strong.

 

“Your words-“

 

“Ah, did I somewhat make another mistake?”

 

Shine, shine

 

Yeon Juhong talked with a very good-natured smile.

 

Jo Heeyon was about to get angry, but suddenly, she glanced at the camera.

 

Then, she bit her lips tightly and smiled.

 

“That’s not it, Juhong-ah. But why are you talking like that~ What kind of side unnie is…”

 

“Huh? I was joking though”

 

“What?”

 

“Unnie, you weren’t saying that as a joke? Unnie, you can’t be serious, right? I mean, who picks sides among trainees?”

 

Suddenly, Yeon Ju-hong’s expression had changed.

 

While her mouth was clearly smiling, there was a hint of a distant look in her eyes.

 

“Of course not~ that’s not it….”

 

“Ay, let’s not get stuck with things like! Let’s do it with a smile!”

 

“Hahahaha….”

 

… I made a mistake in my evaluation.

 

She’s not a friendly kid.

 

She’s just a scary kid!

 

Jo Heeyon didn’t talk to her anymore, but quietly returned to her place.

 

And Yeon Juhong looked at me again with a bright face as soon as Jo Heeuon disappeared.

 

“Then, can I perhaps ask the next question?”

 

“Y-yeah.”

 

…Will it be okay to debut with her?

 

***

 

“Well, you’re going to meet your mentors now. You just need to follow the staff members who will guide you to the respective meeting rooms~.”

 

At last.

 

It’s the long-awaited encounter with a mentor.

 

The staff began to call in the trainees one by one and guide them.

 

And… I was last in line.

 

Something about this is unsettling

 

Why do I keep getting the feeling that they’re leaving me for last?

 

Sure enough, my ominous feeling was right.

 

After all the trainees left, in the empty practice room, only I was called by Director Oh.

 

“Now, trainee Yun Cheong.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Originally, a member of Purple Apple should be your mentor, right?”

 

It felt ominous.

 

Director Oh had a vague expression. It wasn’t like he seemed pleased, nor did he appear dissatisfied.

 

What’s with that expression?

 

“But the CEO is currently overseas.”

 

…I don’t think so? I checked that the boss is in Korea on my way here.

 

“But now, it’s kind of hard to recruit another member of Purple Apple all of a sudden. You understand, right?”

 

“Yes, of course. I was overdoing it in the first place. I’m sorry….”

 

“Oh, there’s nothing to be sorry about.”

 

Producer Oh shook his hand naturally.

 

“Anyway, so!”

 

Producer Oh smirked.

 

It’s a bad sign if that human smiles.

 

“At this point, I thought it would be nice to give the benefit of being first place in the mid-term evaluation.”

 

“…Pardon?

 

“I’ll give you a choice.”

 

…as expected.

 

“It’s calleeeedd~! Taking other trainees’ mentors away!”

 

“…Taking…it away?”

 

“Yes. I’ll tell you all the mentors assigned to the other trainees. You can take one of them and make them your mentor.”

 

Ah, damn it.

 

“But then…what about that trainee…?”

 

“They will just go without a mentor!”

 

He’s like a master of both charm and manipulation.

 

Inside, I had no choice but to grit my teeth.

 

“Well, here’s the list of mentor-mentee assignments. I’ll give you 10 minutes to look at it and decide which trainee’s mentor position you want to snatch!”

 

Director Oh left the room, leaving the list, me, and the camera.

 

In the end, I became the person who had to stare at the paper in the room, with only the camera as company.

 

Roughly, everyone got assigned within the expected range of members.

 

if you look only at the things that stand out.

 

Kim Ryeoyu – Do Heeyoung (Greyish)

 

This much.

 

Even so, isn’t assigning a judge as a mentor a bit biased?

 

Revealing favoritism so blatantly might not be good for that trainee, either.

 

…No.

 

I corrected my thinking.

 

This is bait.

 

It’s obvious to anyone, this was a message meant for me.

 

A message to take Do Heeyoung away from Kim Ryeoyu.

 

I felt like I understood Director Oh’s intentions.

 

You’re trying to make a confrontation between Kim Ryeoyu and me.

 

“Hmm.”

 

I remembered the filming so far.

 

Perhaps viewers know by now.

 

That Kim Ryeoyu is the niece of Director Kim, and is secretly favored.

 

And someone will look forward to it. That I’m driving out such a ‘villain’ Kim Ryeoyu.

 

Producer Oh, for example.

 

That’s unexpected.

 

I’m talking about him deciding to turn Kim Ryeoyu into a ‘villain.’

 

I thought he would be together with Director Kim, but he isn’t?

 

First, I had to read Producer Oh’s mind.

 

However, that didn’t mean I was going to go along with everything Producer Oh wanted

 

***

 

“Have you decided?”

 

After 10 minutes passed, Producer Oh came in like a sword.

 

He was smiling so much that it seemed like his gums would blossom.

 

What a sly fellow.

 

“Yes, I’ve decided.”

 

“Oh, really?”

 

Producer Oh was surprised because he didn’t know I would decide right away.

 

But it was a pleasant surprise.

 

“Okay, then trainee Yun Cheong.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Whose mentor would you steal?”

 

“I…”

 

***

 

Staff: Do you like your mentor?

 

[Suin: Of course I really like it. She’s a senior that I respect a lot]

 

[Bora: Being a trainee of Colors is the greatest advantage.]

 

[Baekyoung: that is, touching?]

 

Staff: But the mentor could be taken away.

 

[Ryeoyu: …What?]

 

[Juhong: What?!]

 

[Geum: Oh]

 

Staff: We failed to recruit the CEO, so instead, we gave Yun Cheong the right to steal other trainees’ mentors as a reward for winning first place in the mid-term evaluation.

 

[Juhong: You’re saying that Chung-ie unnie might steal our mentor?!]

 

[Juseon: Awesome]

 

[Heeyon: That’s too much….]

 

[Kyungah: …I didn’t show any dislike to Chung-ie, right?]

 

[Yuhyeon: THAT CAN’T HAPPEN!!]

 

Staff: Who do you think she picked?

 

[Baekyoung: …Ryeoyu?]

 

[Geum: I think the fact that she has a judge being assigned as a mentor….]

 

[Suin: It’s surely a bit attractive]

 

[Ryeoyu: It’s probably me. Ah…. I’m doomed.]

 

[Juhong: Who did you pick unnie?]

 

Saff: Trainee Yun Cheong chose….

 

Subtitle: In a minute, it will be released!

 

[What’s Yun Cheong’s choice?]