Team Leader, You're an Idol Now - Chapter 32
Gasps could be heard from all around. Only Jung Seong-Oh didn’t seem to notice—he just looked happy.
‘Does he think he won this fight?’
Woo-Gyeom gave Seong-Oh, who was completely obvious, a small smile.
Dan-Woo asked quietly,
“What are you trying to do? Does it even make sense to hand the team over to someone like him? He’s just picking a fight with you.”
Dan-Woo was uneasy about a team led by Seong-Oh. A leader should guide the team—but he clearly wasn’t that type.
But Woo-Gyeom looked completely relaxed. Seeing Dan-Woo anxious, he whispered—
“Just watch. This is one of the better ways to handle it.”
He smiled at Seong-Oh.
“That guy’s going to get hit with backlash anyway.”
***
Woo-Gyeom introduced Seong-Oh as the leader and pretended to encourage him.
“I didn’t know you were this passionate. If I had, I would’ve asked you to take the role earlier. Go ahead—lead us.”
At that, Seong-Oh puffed up immediately and started acting like a leader.
“Alright, alright. Let’s start practice.”
And he didn’t pick fights with Woo-Gyeom anymore.
Since he thought he had “won,” he now saw Woo-Gyeom—who stepped down—as beneath him.
‘Yeah… go ahead. Power-trip all you want.’
Woo-Gyeom played along, acting clueless, and didn’t warn him about the problems coming.
“Leader, we need to plan the choreography.”
“Leader, when’s the arrangement coming? We need to record.”
“When are we syncing live?”
There were many things a leader had to decide—but Seong-Oh had no idea.
As nothing progressed, the members started speaking up.
“You said you’d plan the choreography!”
“The arrangement—uh… the company…”
“Why are you asking me?! You guys should step up too!”
Of course, he couldn’t answer properly.
“…Damn it.”
And whenever things went wrong, all eyes turned to Woo-Gyeom.
“Want me to help?”
Each time, Woo-Gyeom stepped in casually.
‘As expected.’
He handled everything:
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- Concept photos and outfit proposals
-
- Stage mood and background visuals
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- Checking arrangement schedules
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- Selecting stage props
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- Assigning positions and parts
‘This is what I always did anyway.’
Back when he was team leader of Enbeat, he had to do all this himself.
‘Back then, they couldn’t even voice opinions… now they manage on their own.’
He glanced at the members glaring at Seong-Oh.
Then he met Dan-Woo’s eyes—full of sarcasm.
“If he’s this bad, why did he insist on being leader? He’s terrible.”
Dan-Woo muttered.
Woo-Gyeom gave a hollow smile.
“Let’s just watch for now. We’ll handle our part. I’m leading vocals anyway.”
Dan-Woo still looked uneasy.
Woo-Gyeom watched Seong-Oh—too busy struggling to even pick a fight now.
‘He needs to feel how hard being leader is.’
A small, dark smile formed.
***
“Alright, parts are assigned. Let’s focus on practice until the mid-check.”
Woo-Gyeom sat at the keyboard with the sheet music.
“You can play piano too?”
“A bit. We need to match pitch. Let’s run through once, then practice by parts.”
The vocal practice flowed smoothly under Woo-Gyeom’s lead.
Meanwhile, Seong-Oh practiced rap with the 11th-place trainee—but things looked tense.
“Let’s start. Dan-Woo opens, right?”
Woo-Gyeom played the starting note.
‘Dan-Woo and Yu-Chan are solid. Just need technical training.’
Then he looked at the “slug.”
“That part needs more power. If it falls flat, the whole stage loses impact.”
The trainee stayed silent, embarrassed.
Woo-Gyeom sighed.
His vocals were seriously weak—even for a dancer.
“Mid-check is soon. Let’s work hard.”
Next came choreography, led by Yu-Chan.
“There are only two group formations. During the ad-lib, Woo-Gyeom hyung stands center.”
Woo-Gyeom stood inside the formation, then stood alone during the drop.
“For rap, move forward in rhythm.”
Yu-Chan showed talent not just in dance, but stage design.
‘He’s good.’
Woo-Gyeom watched him proudly—until Yu-Chan shot him a sharp look.
Meanwhile, Seong-Oh stayed quiet, just following.
‘Serves you right.’
Days passed. Mid-check arrived.
***
“Thank you!”
The stage ended.
Judges—including the CEO—were present.
‘Didn’t expect them to make us sing live without effects.’
Only Woo-Gyeom remained calm.
“…Well. You worked hard… I guess.”
The atmosphere was bad.
“The leader here—Woo-Gyeom?”
“No… it’s me.”
Seong-Oh answered.
Everyone was surprised.
“Isn’t Woo-Gyeom first place? Why aren’t you leader?”
Seong-Oh said nothing.
Yu-Chan spoke—
“He really wanted to do it.”
Woo-Gyeom almost laughed.
‘He used my advice perfectly.’
Dan-Woo lowered his head—clearly holding back laughter.
‘He really planned this far ahead…?’
The CEO sighed.
“So what did the leader do?”
Harsh criticism followed.
“You all look like you practiced separately. The stage has no cohesion.”
“This is below expectations.”
“There’s no center.”
Woo-Gyeom looked at Seong-Oh.
‘You deserve it.’
Then—
“What’s your plan going forward?”
Seong-Oh couldn’t answer.
Finally—
“We’ll restructure the stage… practice together…”
Woo-Gyeom stepped in smoothly.
“Well said.”
Then—
“I’ll support the leader.”
Now everyone looked at Woo-Gyeom.
The CEO sighed again.
‘He’s more of a leader than the leader…’
***
After the evaluation, the team was crushed.
Only Woo-Gyeom remained composed.
Yu-Chan looked between him and Seong-Oh.
‘He should start fixing things by now…’
Woo-Gyeom spoke first.
“The feedback wasn’t great.”
Everyone looked troubled.
“But we still have time. They didn’t say we’re bad—just that our teamwork is weak. We can fix that.”
He explained specific improvements in detail.
“How about it? Two more practices like this, and we’ll be fine.”
The members stared at him like he was a savior.
“How do you even know all this?”
“I learned it before.”
‘He left out: in my previous life.’
‘This is literally what my job used to be.’
His role had always been solving problems like this.
“This is easy.”
“Let’s do it.”
The team stood up again.
Then—
“Ugh…!”
Seong-Oh suddenly ran out.
Woo-Gyeom blinked.
‘…Is he crying?’