I Became a Member of My Favorite Group! - Chapter 10

Kang Ha-neul’s story delivered a shock to the members far beyond what they had imagined.

Of course, it was only natural.

Even if they could reluctantly accept the heartbreaking story of her losing her parents.

How impoverished must her life have been to push her to such extreme circumstances?

‘I knew it.’

Meanwhile, amidst all this, there was one person who remained calm and nodded along.

It was Han Jia.

She had spoken with Da-jeong a bit during the interview, so she had a vague idea.

She already knew about Da-jeong’s parents being gone from that conversation.

‘Her bag looked really worn out too.’

Even now, thinking about the waist bag Da-jeong had carried makes her heart heavy.

She doesn’t know if Da-jeong was aware of it herself, but she carried it anyway.

The faint mold on the buckle.

The faded, whitened patches on what should have been a black bag.

Every little detail added credibility to Kang Ha-neul’s story.

“Ah, then maybe…?”

“Ra-hee, did something come to mind?”

In the midst of the heavy conversation, the exchange of words paused for a moment.

Ra-hee clapped her hands and muttered as if she had figured something out.

Everyone’s attention turned to her.

“Yes, actually, earlier at the restaurant, Da-jeong was fidgeting behind me. I wondered what she was doing, so I glanced over, and she was looking around at the people nearby before lowering her head.”

“Lowering her head?”

At the unusual content, Kang Ha-neul’s expression momentarily twisted.

“Yeah, she looked really down. So, I thought something might be wrong and called out, ‘Da-jeong, come here quickly,’ and reached out my hand… but she just followed me in with a dark expression.”

“Why do you think that was?”

“I think…”

Chae-yoon cautiously raised her hand and spoke toward Kang Ha-neul, who was expressing doubt.

“Um, maybe she felt intimidated because it was her first time there? The restaurant you took us to earlier was really fancy, after all.”

“Ah…”

Kang Ha-neul let out a low sigh at the plausible reasoning.

It made perfect sense.

Of course, from Kang Ha-neul’s perspective, she had taken them to such a luxurious restaurant because she wanted to treat them to more expensive and delicious food.

But from Da-jeong’s perspective, it was her first time in such a place, so it wouldn’t be strange if she felt intimidated.

“I think that might be it too. Plus, the customers there were dressed really fancy…”

“Now that I think about it, Da-jeong did seem to check her outfit for a moment.”

“…I see.”

Following Yuna, Ra-hee’s testimony added to the conversation.

Only then did Kang Ha-neul realize her mistake and wore a blank expression.

When she had told Da-jeong that she would bring her to such places again, she suddenly wondered if the faint shadow that had crossed Da-jeong’s face was because of this.

After several rounds of reasoning and discussion.

The conclusion Kang Ha-neul and the members reached was simple. For now, there wasn’t much point in just discussing it among themselves.

The most important thing was to let Da-jeong open up, and once they knew more about her situation, they could discuss it again. There was no guarantee that she would be happy if they just tried to help her without understanding. Sometimes, careless pity or sympathy can hurt more than any criticism.

“Then, I’m sorry, but guys, please take good care of Da-jeong. I’ll help from the inside and outside too, but since I’m the boss, there’s a chance she might feel uncomfortable around me.”

Even from what Kang Ha-neul had observed of Da-jeong today, that seemed to be the case.

After all, as the head of the company and an employee, Da-jeong seemed to keep her at a slight distance.

That’s why Kang Ha-neul had deliberately created this opportunity to enlist the members’ help.

“Don’t worry, boss. As her same-age friend, I’ll take good care of her.”

“We’ll do our best as her older sisters too.”

“Right, how could we not help such a cute kid?”

“We’ll keep in touch often and try to get closer before debut.”

At the reliable responses from the members, Kang Ha-neul smiled with satisfaction.

Even though they were about to debut together soon, they didn’t seem to mind the bothersome request.

It was truly heartwarming to see them all willing to cherish Da-jeong without hesitation.

“Alright, I’ll leave it to you. If you have any difficulties, don’t hesitate to tell me. Got it?”

“Yes!”

Watching the four of them answer in unison, Kang Ha-neul left the room.

It seemed that Blue Love had brought in far more amazing and kind-hearted kids than she had worried about.

＊＊＊＊＊

Huff, huff. This is tough.

Walking on flat ground is fine, but why is climbing a hill so hard?

Ever since I became a girl, nothing seems as daunting as the walk back home.

Still, the boss personally called a taxi for me, so I got to the bottom of the hill easily, but the hill was too steep, so the driver said he couldn’t go up, and I had no choice.

By the way, the taxi fare must have been really expensive. Is that okay?

Once I have some money, I’ll pay the boss back for this first.

“Ugh…”

Plop—

I let out a groan like an old lady and flopped onto the bed.

No, don’t think about anything else right now. Just rest.

So much happened today that my mind is foggy.

I should wash up since I’m all sweaty, but I’ll take a nap first…

Ding—

“…Huh?”

The sudden notification sound made me lift my face from the pillow.

Is it spam?

[Yuna] – Hehe.

[Chae-yoon] – (Cat raising its paw emoji)

[Ra-hee] – Did everyone get home safely?

[Jia] – Yeah, I’m at my door.

As I woke up my foggy mind and opened my eyes, I saw a chat room on my screen. For the first time, a conversation with people appeared in my notification bar, which usually only had ads and the people chatting were none other than our members.

[Ra-hee] – Yuna, did you invite Da-jeong?

[Yuna] – Huh? I did. It’s written up there.

[Ra-hee] – Ah, you’re right.

Oh, right.

If the number disappears, it means I’ve read the message, right?

Since I only used texts and not KakaoTalk when I worked part-time, I had forgotten about it.

The number disappeared, and since I was the only one who hadn’t responded, they must have thought I wasn’t there.

I need to reply quickly…!

[Me] – Sorry.

[Me] – It’s my first time using KakaoTalk, so I got a bit lost.

It’s not like I’ve never used it before.

When I was a guy, there were a few times I had to use it out of necessity, but later, I didn’t need it anymore so I naturally deleted it from my phone making me almost like someone who’s never used it.

Plus, I haven’t used it at all since becoming a girl.

It’s not a lie, okay?!

[Jia] – So, Da-jeong, it’s your first time using KakaoTalk.

[Jia] – Then you probably don’t have any custom emojis, huh?

[Me] – Yeah….

Uh, what do I do?

Emojis are like a must-have for cool people’s conversations, right?

Are they thinking I’m some loser who doesn’t even have emojis?!

Even though I know our kind Blue LUV members wouldn’t think that, I couldn’t help but fidget with my phone.

[A gift has arrived from ‘Yuna’!]

[A gift has arrived from ‘Chae-yoon’!]

[A gift has arrived from ‘Ra-hee’!]

[A gift has arrived from ‘Jia’!]

Huh?

What’s all this?

The sudden flood of notifications made me think my phone had glitched, but upon closer inspection, all the messages were from the members.

Wait, no—they were actually emoji gifts.

[Yuna] – Da-jeong, go to the gift section, press the one you just received, and then hit the “Use” button!

[Chae-yoon] – Huh? Yuna, did you send an emoji gift too?

[Ra-hee] – ? You guys too?

[Jia] – Looks like we all had the same idea. I sent one too.

It seems the four of them didn’t coordinate this; it just happened to align perfectly.

It’s both funny and heartwarming, and I couldn’t help but let out a silly laugh.

[Me] – (Cat saluting emoji)

[Me] – (Purple-haired character waving emoji)

[Me] – (Fox saying “I love you” emoji)

[Me] – (Mochi character rolling around emoji)

Following Yuna’s instructions, I pressed the “Use” button for each one and registered them.

Then, I used the emojis the members sent me, one by one in order.

[Ra-hee] – Da-jeong, are you confessing to me right now? When should we set the date?

[Me] – Huh?????

Ra-hee unnie suddenly said something weird.

Flustered, I checked the emoji I sent, and—oops.

I had casually picked the cutest one without realizing it had that kind of message written on it.

[Me] – I’m sorry.

[Me] – That wasn’t what I meant.

[Yuna] – LOL Ra-hee unnie got rejected before she could even confess~.

I immediately sent an apology, but for some reason, Yuna burst out laughing.

Soon after, Ra-hee unnie’s messages followed.

[Ra-hee] – So, you don’t love me?

[Me] – Huh?

Wait, how did the conversation go there?

Me not loving my beloved Blue LUV?! That’s impossible!

Of course, I love them more than anything in the world!

The problem is, saying “I love you” to their faces is a little embarrassing.

But if I don’t say it, Ra-hee unnie might get upset.

[Me] – Unnie….

[Ra-hee] – Yeah?

[Me] – I love you….

[Ra-hee] – I love you too, hehe.

In the end, I gave in and confessed to Ra-hee unnie.

Immediately, Ra-hee unnie, who had been sulking just moments ago, changed her attitude and spammed a bunch of heart emojis.

I think I just fell into a trap.

[Chae-yoon] – Da-jeong, you’re so cute.

[Yuna] – Unnie, why are you calling her “Da-jeong-ssi”?

[Yuna] – Just call her Da-jeong. It feels too distant.

[Yuna] – Jia unnie too!

[Jia] – Me too…?

Meanwhile, Yuna seemed unhappy with the formal way Chae-yoon and Jia were addressing me.

Yuna’s tone was so strong it felt like she was scolding them.

Even Jia, who had been quiet, got dragged into this sudden title adjustment.

[Chae-yoon] – I’m fine with it if Da-jeong is okay.

[Jia] – Me too.

They’re leaving the decision to me.

These people are so sneaky.

Of course, my favorites couldn’t possibly be sneaky, but still.

[Me] – Then I’ll call you unnie too.

[Me] – Please take care of me, Chae-yoon unnie.

[Me] – Jia unnie too.

After a brief moment of thought, I decided it would be weirder to keep calling two of them formally while being casual with Ra-hee and Yuna, so I unified it to “unnie.”

While I was at it, I also changed their names in my contacts.

[Chae-yoon unnie] – Hehe, I have a younger sister now!

[Jia unnie] – I’ve always wanted a cute younger sister.

[Jia unnie] – So I’m really happy.

When I returned to the chat, I saw the two of them expressing their joy.

Just calling them “unnie” made them this happy.

Our members are truly kind people… huh?

Oh, a cockroach.

It’s been showing up a lot lately.

[Yuna] – Where did Da-jeong go again?

[Chae-yoon unnie] – Maybe she went to wash up? She just got home.

[Jia unnie] – She might have fallen asleep from exhaustion. Let’s leave her be.

The chat was buzzing, but now was the time to focus on the enemy in front of me.

I rolled up some tissue and aimed at the passing critter… take this!

Thud-

Hehe, where do you think you’re going, little guy?

I’ve lost count of how many cockroaches I’ve caught by now.

[Me] – Sorry.

[Me] – A cockroach showed up, so I had to deal with it.

After flushing the cockroach down the toilet.

I tapped on my phone again to brag about my achievement.

Then, a brief silence fell….

[Yuna] – ????????????????

[Ra-hee] – Da-jeong, there’s a cockroach in your house?

[Chae-yoon unnie] – What do we do? Should we call someone?

[Jia unnie] – Da-jeong, do you have cockroach spray or something at home?

Huh? Why is everyone reacting like this?

Oh, are they worried I can’t handle a cockroach?

I’m not a kid, you know.

[Me] – No, I caught it right away.

[Me] – Cockroaches and mice show up a lot at my place.

[Me] – I’m used to it now, so I can catch them on my own.

Honestly, I used to find them gross, but now I’m used to cockroaches.

Mice are too fast, so I can’t catch them as often, but I’m not scared of them.

I’d be more scared of something like a snake that could bite me to death.

[Yuna] – There are mice too?

[Chae-yoon unnie] – Da-jeong….

[Ra-hee] – Ah….

[Jia unnie] – (Mochi character crying emoji)

But for some reason, even though I announced my victory, the members’ reactions were strange.

Maybe they misunderstood and thought I was trying to act tough.

I’m really fine, though.

I’m not scared of mice or cockroaches anymore.

Everyone’s worrying too much.