Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail – Chapter 7

Chapter 7.

The ambitious new project from Mnet and Colors, “Make a New Color.”

Commonly referred to as “Menucol,” how did people react?

During the teaser phase, it garnered moderate expectations.

Fans of Colors’ idols had mixed reactions upon hearing about “Make a New Color.”

Some were excited, while others expressed dissatisfaction.

But there was still some curiosity about which individuals would be part of this project.

Why create new idols when the existing ones are doing well? Yet, there was a baseline level of interest.

Let’s take a look at their faces and get a real taste through their self-introduction videos—

★

Ryu Bora: “I’ll be pretty.”

Me:”I’ll die.”

# Today’s weather is a purple rainbow.

I can’t look at Kim Geum anymore. Kim Geum looks like a woman to me. And I’ve fallen in love with that woman. Knowing that it can never happen, I’m tearing my heart apart that loves Kim Geum.

Ryeo-yu, I’m turning sixty. How can I live without you?

The reactions completely flipped.

As expected, Colors knows how to pick their idols.

Most reviews praised their choices as impressive as the idols themselves.

For those who don’t want to watch all twelve members (unless you’re a Colors fan), here’s a summary:

Ryu Bo-ra – Her face is on point, honestly the visual center. Just looking at her face for a minute makes time fly by. Her skills are decent too.

Seo Baek-young – As expected from someone with 10 years of trainee experience, she’s superb. However, she seems more likely to attract female fans rather than male fans.

Yeon Juhong – She’s not particularly outstanding, but she has a certain charm. She’s cute and tugs at the heartstrings of fans.

Kim Geum – Rap skills are solid. Not sure about general idol fans, but she’s attracting some unexpected hip-hop fans.

Kim Ryeo-yu – Despite the controversy over her being center, she did well. Her skills are solid, honestly in the top three.

Jo Hee-on – Balanced type, definitely worth watching.

★★Yoon Cheong★★

– Apologies, but I intentionally stirred things up with this one.

She’s undoubtedly the main vocalist.

She dances and has a face that fits the main vocal role.

But what’s most surprising is her talent for composing.

She sang a self-composed song, and it’s genuinely good.

Honestly, most self-composed songs fall flat, but hers stands out. I don’t even know why—it’s just great. The Mnet folks quickly released the full version; I hope it does well.

Try listening to it; give it a shot.

Colors seems to have found their next main vocal.

What is this, you ask? Well, it’s not something regular fans pay attention to.

└ㄹㅇ, probably only Colors fans will watch it. (Colors fans)

But honestly, Yoon Cheong is incredibly talented; that’s irrefutable.

And among them all, the most positive reaction was undoubtedly—

This time, it’s Yoon Cheong. I watched without any expectations, but she impressed me.

It was me.

★

How can someone who didn’t expect anything perform so well? As expected, Colors knows how to pick their main vocals…

Have you seen Yoon Cheong’s 1-minute self-introduction? It’s amazing.

In her self-introduction, she even sang a self-composed song.

***

Today was a rare day without any filming.

Of course, that didn’t mean it was a day off.

Days without schedules were practice days.

That was an unwritten rule.

And considering the upcoming filming, preparations needed to be made.

“Hello.”

I greeted as I opened the practice room door.

“Oh, Cheong, hello.”

“Hello!”

The atmosphere in the practice room had definitely changed.

Previously, they had barely acknowledged my greetings, but now everyone responded.

I could feel their attention on me. This was the power of OTube, SNS, and community forums. Reactions came in real-time, raw and unfiltered.

And the trainees couldn’t help but see them. Their debut depended on it.

I acted as usual. Just because I got a little attention now, it didn’t mean much. This was only the beginning.

A single misstep here and I could easily become a candidate for the bottom again.

After warming up, I played the choreography demonstration video again. It was the choreography for the first main song of ‘Make a New Color’.

The main stage that would open the first episode.

Of course, they chose a rainbow theme for the first song.

“A center is really important for something like this.”

I heard that the center had been decided without any discussion. It was Kim who decided, without any reason, very unfairly.

“Isn’t that too much? You know how important the center is, yet you choose so unfairly…”

“This isn’t the first time. It’s so obvious that they’re pushing someone, it’s annoying.”

“Hey, someone might hear.”

No wonder the trainees were quite dissatisfied. I overheard it on my way here.

“Unnie!”

It was Yeon Juhong.

According to Yoon Cheong’s memories, she was the epitome of the ‘perfect maknae.’ Full of aegyo, lively, and very attached to her older sisters.

But there were times when she was strangely scary.

…Why she was scary, I still had to find out. It seemed like it wasn’t really fear, but something else.

“Yes?”

“Did you hear who the center is?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Isn’t it crazy? How could they decide the center without even a word to us?”

“Haha.”

“In my next life, I’m definitely being born with a silver spoon.”

Yeon Juhong didn’t seem to expect an answer from me; she just chattered away before leaving.

She was like a storm.

“…Did you hear?”

This time, it was Seo Baek-young.

Why were they all suddenly acting so friendly? Then I realized.

It was because I had become a strong candidate for debut.

“What did you hear?”

“About who became the center.”

“Oh, right.”

Seo Baek-young sighed.

“You don’t seem very upset.”

“Well, I wasn’t really a candidate for the center anyway.”

In my honest words, Seo Baek-young flinched. At least you were a candidate; Yoon Cheong wasn’t even considered.

“Right, what good does it do to tell you this? Sorry. Let’s get back to practice.”

I nodded vaguely and continued practicing the choreography.

Oh, and who was the center, you ask?

Of course, there was only one person it could be.

Kim Ryeo-yu.

***

“Let’s do a mic check!”

This was one of Mnet’s studios.

The place was usually used for music broadcasts, but today it was specially set up for ‘Make a New Color.’

They had put together a pretty set.

The song title was ‘Rainbow,’ so naturally, the set was rainbow-themed. It could have easily looked tacky, but it didn’t. Instead, it felt fresh and vibrant.

As expected from a big company, they covered any tackiness with their budget.

I suddenly thought of my original agency.

I wasn’t originally from a big company. I came from a small agency. No, calling it a small agency was too generous.

…But now, it was considered a mid-to-large agency.

Of course, that was thanks to me.

When I debuted, it was just a tiny company. I was the only artist there.

We had no money, and even less business acumen. The agency’s CEO, Director Seo, had nothing but grit and determination.

No, maybe he had a good eye since he picked me out.

“We’re going to do a rehearsal, so everyone knows the basics, right? Look at the cameras with the lights on.”

PD Oh was waving a rolled-up script at the trainees.

Typical behavior…

I glanced at the camera.

The light was on, so this was being filmed too. I had to stay sharp.

“Alright, check your positions! Watch your space. The set is different from the practice room.”

I nodded and looked at Seo Baek-young.

It seemed it was her turn to step up.

“Everyone, our stage is a bit dangerous, so be careful. There’s a ledge here, so make sure not to step out of it. You know if you twist your ankle here, there’s no coming back, right?”

Sure enough, Seo Baek-young, the veteran, was advising the other trainees.

“Kyunga and Cheong, you’re at the ends, so be extra cautious. Got it?”

“Yes.”

“Suin and Hee-on, check your spacing. Your spacing is off. You can’t blame the lack of mirrors for that.”

Seo Baek-young started from the edges and gradually moved towards the center.

“Ryeo-yu, you know you have to do the best since you’re the center, right?”

Ooh, there was some bite in those words.

PD Oh seemed to think the same and called a camera to focus on the two of them.

Annoying person.

Honestly, I was puzzled when I first heard that Kim Ryeo-yu was appointed center without any discussion.

Selecting the center was a great topic for the show.

The trainees’ competition and passion, and the skills they showed during the selection process.

All of that was content.

Yet they gave up on this great topic and just appointed Kim Ryeo-yu as the center?

That PD Oh? Why?

But I soon understood why.

“Of course, I’ll do my best. Thanks, unnie.”

PD Oh planned to milk this ‘appointment’ for content.

It was strange. I thought PD Oh would be in cahoots with Director Kim. Maybe not?

Then again, PD Oh was the type who couldn’t stand having someone above him.

Pride over money, huh? I wondered which of these prideful people would win, then decided to stop.

Whoever won, it wouldn’t feel good.

“There’s no need to thank me. Just do well.”

The two of them smiled brightly in front of the camera, but their words had thorns.

It was understandable.

If the center was decided based on dancing, it should have been Seo Baek-young.

If it was based on visuals… Well, visuals are subjective, but even then, Kim Ryeo-yu wasn’t the choice.

I looked around at the twelve trainees.

Yeah.

If it was based on visuals, it should be Ryu Bo-ra.

She had the best physical appearance, and maybe because she was an actress, her expressions were great. And above all, her face was stunning.

An ideal center.

“Are we ready? Let’s start the rehearsal!”

Well, Yoon Cheong wasn’t yet in a position to be the center anyway.

Even if she was considered a main vocalist, the current evaluation of her was that everything else was dismal.

It wasn’t easy to change people’s evaluation of you with just one performance.

…And I didn’t need to be the center right now.

Actually, I’d rather not.

Being the center was good. It was the perfect spot to grab attention right away.

But the first center was a double-edged sword.

If someone deserving held that position, it would shine—

But I knew how easy it was to tear apart an undeserving center.