I became the leader of a damned girl group

Chapter 4.

Producer Oh, who was all excited, began to escalate things.

It was so obvious.

Ace Trainee VS Black Hole Trainee. First showdown?!

He was clearly planning to compare Seobaekyeong and me with subtitles like that.

According to Yooncheong’s memories, Seobaekyeong was a certified ace trainee.

She had been a trainee at Colors the longest, and was a true “balanced type” trainee.

Her desired position was main dancer.

But she was also quite good at singing, enough to aim for lead vocalist.

Now, if you make a trainee who’s good enough to be the team’s main dancer dance together with a trainee who completely can’t dance—

Of course, the comparison would be devastating.

It was a situation any sensible person would avoid at all costs.

“…Ah, from the beginning—”

“Yes! I’ll do my best!”

But I was a fool.

“Cheong, you—”

“I’ll work hard and learn by your side, unnie.”

“Uh, well… okay.”

Seobaekyeong looked at me with a flustered expression.

She must have been thinking, Is this girl crazy?

It was understandable. After all, it had only been three days since this choreography had been given out.

A four-minute routine, and a fairly difficult one at that, in just three days?

Even Seobaekyeong, who was confident in dancing, couldn’t guarantee perfection.

Let alone body-clumsy Yooncheong?

“Alright, let’s get started right away!”

At the PD’s words, the trainees cleared the space.

Always we are…

And with one trainee playing the music, this ridiculous matchup began.

“…”

And a few minutes later, when the song ended—

No one opened their mouth.

*

After a moment of silence, people slowly began to come to their senses.

Of course, it wasn’t because I danced so incredibly well that no one could speak.

I knew best that it wasn’t that amazing.

I wasn’t originally a singer famous for dancing.

The real reason everyone was so shocked was…

“Yooncheong… didn’t mess up the choreography?”

“Even standing next to ace Seobaekyeong, she didn’t look out of place…?”

“What the heck…? Seobaekyeong unnie even missed some moves, but…”

“Yooncheong didn’t miss a single move and matched the choreography perfectly…”

“Did she maybe get the choreography earlier than us?”

The trainees were even more stunned than the filming staff.

Because they had seen Yooncheong with their own eyes all this time.

It was amazing enough that I didn’t mess up, but… in some aspects, I even danced better than Seobaekyeong.

That was the truly shocking part.

“Thank you for your hard work!”

I quickly bowed.

There’s something everyone’s misunderstanding.

Yooncheong isn’t good at dancing.

That’s a fact.

But that doesn’t mean she didn’t master the choreography.

On the contrary, Yooncheong had practiced more than anyone else to overcome her lack of dancing skills.

So her “choreography mastery” was good.

…it’s just that her body couldn’t keep up.

Whenever she faced a camera or a crowd, her body would freeze up.

That’s why “Yooncheong” couldn’t dance.

But “Baeknokha” is different.

I didn’t even glance at Seobaekyeong. I only looked at the mirror wall ahead.

You say you’ve been a trainee for nine years?

I endured here for twenty years.

And if you add in Cheong’s memories, it’s thirty years, punk.

A choreography considered difficult for trainees…

Compared to the solo routines I usually had to perform, it was nothing.

I didn’t rise to fame because of dancing. I wasn’t the best dancing singer.

But that didn’t mean I was bad either.

If I were worse than an as-yet-undebuted trainee, I should return my Grand Prize right now!

Above talent is effort, and above effort is experience.

Seobaekyeong surely danced well. Just from her dance lines, you could tell she had talent.

But when it came to things like controlling strength or facial expressions, she was still rough.

And I was confident I wouldn’t lose in those areas.

“…”

Producer Oh was looking at me with a very subtle expression.

Then he whispered something to another writer and stopped the shoot.

“Thank you for your hard work. We’ll now conduct individual interviews with the trainees. Please come in the order we call you!”

*

Before the filming started, there had been preliminary interviews with the trainees.

The production crew had already asked all the trainees about their impressions and evaluations of each other.

For example:

Production team: “What kind of person is trainee Seobaekyeong?”

Geum: “There’s nothing more to say. Just an all-around ace.”

Bora: “She’s like the emotional pillar of the trainees? She helps everyone a lot, especially with dance.”

Production team: “Ah, is she good at dancing?”

Bora: “Yes. Among us, I think she’s definitely the best.”

Production team: “Then what about trainee Yooncheong?”

Juhong: “Cheong unnie? Um… she sings really well!”

Production team: “And her dancing?”

[Ryeoyu]: “Cheong… honestly, she hasn’t been with our company long, so I don’t know her well, but… I got the feeling that dancing wasn’t really her strength?”

Production team: “Ah, so not great at dancing?”

[Ryeoyu]: “No, I didn’t mean it like that! Just… it didn’t seem like her specialty…”

[Baekyeong]: “She’s bad at it.”

Production team: (everyone surprised)

Subtitle: Firm Baekyeong… a scary side?

[Baekyeong]: “But it’s okay. Cheong sings better than anyone.”

Production team: “But her dancing is not quite there?”

[Baekyeong]: “She needs a bit more work.”

*

After the Baekyeong VS Cheong face-off, the production team asked the trainees for their reactions.

Geum: “I was shocked.”

[Ryeoyu]: “When did she even practice all that? I never saw her practicing.”

Juhong: “Insane, seriously. Look—goosebumps! Chills.”

[Haeun]: “I bet there’s no one who wasn’t shocked.”

Production team: “Why were you surprised?”

[Suin]: “Cheong unnie… got an F in dance during the last evaluation. Colors scores everything, from A to F. Cheong unnie was A in vocals, F in dance.”

[Juseon]: “We used to joke that if she had just danced a little better, she would’ve debuted at 16.”

[Yuhyeon]: “Cheong unnie’s a good person, but…”

Production team: “But?”

[Yuhyeon]: (awkward laugh)

[Yuhyeon]: “During evaluations, she was someone you wanted to avoid… because her dancing just didn’t click at all.”

[Ryeoyu]: “And if we got paired with her, we’d all get scolded too, so she was like the number one to avoid.”

Subtitle: Harsh evaluations of trainee Yooncheong…!

Bora: “Really? I wasn’t that surprised, though.”

Production team: “Oh, you’re the first trainee to say that, Bora!”

Bora laughed and continued.

Bora: “I mean, even if I didn’t know much else, I could tell. Cheong unnie really wanted to debut. More desperately than anyone.”

Production team: “But doesn’t everyone?”

Bora: “Of course.”

Bora: “That’s why it wasn’t surprising. If you really want it, you’ll find a way.”

*

When it was Baekyeong’s turn for the interview, the production team started slyly laying traps.

“You spoke to trainee Yooncheong earlier, saying you were worried about her dancing.”

“Ah, yes.”

Baekyeong nodded nervously.

Even if you’re the longest-running trainee, you’re still just a trainee.

Facing so many cameras alone was a first for Baekyeong too.

Especially for an interview like this.

“Why were you worried?”

“Ah, well, Cheong…”

“Was there some kind of choreography conflict during evaluations?”

“Huh?”

Of course, she was bound to fumble.

“We heard from other trainees that Yooncheong used to completely mess up choreographies and drag the team down. Is that true?”

“Drag down… would be too much.”

“Then what was it?”

“Just…”

Baekyeong was flustered.

She hadn’t expected them to ask so directly about Cheong.

And it was unsettling to hear that other trainees had said such things.

“In your preliminary interview, you said Yooncheong was bad at dancing. Was that based on your experience during team evaluations?”

“Well… yes.”

“How was she today? Same as usual?”

The production team began pressing harder.

Desperate to catch something.

“She danced much better than usual today.”

Actually, though everyone was shocked, the most surprised was Baekyeong, who danced right next to her.

At first, Baekyeong had only planned to dance the chorus, helping Cheong through it.

But after four minutes, Baekyeong was almost thinking—

Maybe I’m the one who needs help here?

“So, she was bad before but suddenly improved today?”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

“Ah, then maybe she was hiding her skills?”

“Well, I’m not sure about that—”

“If not hiding, can anyone improve their dancing that much overnight?”

Baekyeong couldn’t answer easily.

Could someone suddenly dance well overnight?

It made no logical sense.

Someone bad at dancing can improve—with time and effort.

But in a single day?

That was impossible.

“That would be hard.”

“Ah, then can you please say this, looking into the camera?”

The production team smiled sweetly.

“Please say, ‘I even wondered if Cheong had been hiding her skills.’”

Of course, the intent behind that smile was not sweet at all.

*

Naturally, the last interview was mine.

They must’ve collected plenty of juicy material by now.

A dark horse rookie suddenly getting good at both singing and dancing?

Any producer would drool over that bait.

“Now, trainee Yooncheong.”

“Yes.”

Producer Oh started the interview in a tone unusually sweet for him.

Creepy.

“Do you know how the other trainees see you?”

“Hm, I’m not sure.”

“We’ve just finished the interviews, and everyone’s very puzzled.”

Here comes the setup.

“Ah, really?”

“They say a trainee who struggled so much with dance that she scored an F is now suddenly A-level.”

“Ah. I think it’s understandable they’d be confused.”

I replied with an unwavering smile.

If my expression hardened even for a second, they would splice that and air it.

“Really? Then could you clear it up for us?”

“Of course.”

I answered brightly, smiling as widely as I could.

“Baekyeong unnie and I practiced like crazy. It’s all thanks to her help.”

Bait?

I’ll chew it up first.