I Became a Member of My Favorite Group! - Chapter 27

I slowly opened my eyes, trying to gather my blurry consciousness.

The first thing that hit me was a pounding headache, as if my head was about to split open.

“Ugh…”

As I groaned and tried to gather my thoughts, an unfamiliar scene came into view.

A thick, fluffy blanket and a clean room.

The stark contrast snapped me out of my daze.

Wait, where am I?

I definitely remember eating chicken with the members yesterday, but after that…

“……!”

As I slowly pieced together my memories, my eyes widened.

Now that I think about it, I drank beer yesterday.

I remember gulping down the apple beer Chae-yoon unnie ordered like it was juice because it was delicious, but I have no idea what I did after that.

“Ah, Da-jeong. You’re awake?”

“J-Jia unnie…?!”

While I was frozen in place,

The door opened, and a familiar face appeared, startling me so much that I reflexively leaned back.

What’s going on? Why is Jia unnie here?

Where even is this place?

“You got really drunk yesterday, so I brought you to my place. Were you surprised?”

“Ah… This is Jia unnie’s house?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

Seeing Jia unnie nod with a smile, I finally understood the situation.

Jia unnie had brought me to her place after I got completely wasted.

“S-Sorry, unnie. I must’ve been such a bother…”

Enduring the intermittent headaches, I quickly apologized.

If I blacked out, what kind of embarrassing things did I do?

I must’ve looked like a complete mess to the members.

Ugh, I’d rather they’d just left me there than have to face this level of shame.

I can’t even look unnie in the eye.

“No, it’s fine. You said yesterday was only your second time drinking, right?”

“Y-Yes… that’s right.”

“Then it’s natural to overdo it a little. With alcohol, you only figure out your limits after drinking a few times.”

Jia unnie waved her hand dismissively, completely unfazed by my embarrassing state.

Then, in her gentle tone, she added, “Just make sure to drink in moderation next time, okay?”

She was practically an angel descended from heaven.

While it was good that Jia unnie accepted my apology,

There was one thing that still bothered me.

The fact that I had completely lost my memories from yesterday.

I had no idea what happened during that time, and it scared me.

“Um, unnie. Did I… do anything embarrassing yesterday?”

“Em…barrassing?”

“Yeah. Like, did I suddenly hit someone or do something crazy…”

In anime and stuff, people who get drunk often turn into completely different people.

Even though I thought that wouldn’t happen, I was worried that some hidden bad personality might’ve come out.

So, with a nervous heart, I asked, and Jia unnie, who had been blinking at me while watching me quietly…

“N-No, nothing like that.”

As if something suddenly came to mind, she shook her head so fast it felt like a gust of wind.

Her reaction definitely seemed like she was hiding something.

“Really? You’re stuttering, though…”

“I-It’s true…! Really.”

“If you’re just saying that to make me feel better…”

“No way. There’s no way our Da-jeong would do anything bad to her unnies, even if she’s drunk.”

Is that really true?

Looking at Jia unnie’s flustered expression, I couldn’t help but doubt her, however without any concrete evidence, it was hard to press further.

Maybe it’s better to just assume nothing happened for both our sakes.

Unnie doesn’t seem to want to bring it up either.

“I’m glad, then. I was worried I might’ve caused a scene or something…”

“…Da-jeong, your knowledge is a bit skewed, huh?”

“I thought everyone acts like that when they’re drunk.”

“Well, usually not. Some people just fall asleep when they’re drunk.”

I see.

I didn’t know because I’ve never really drank with people before.

So there are people who actually become calmer when drunk.

The world of alcohol is truly fascinating.

“Anyway, now that you’re up, let’s go eat. I made some bean sprout soup.”

“Wow, I love bean sprout soup.”

It’s cheap and has a refreshing taste, so I really like it.

The fact that Jia unnie made it herself…

Even though I’m not particularly hungry, my mouth is already watering.

Thud—

Hehe.

With a silly smile, I got out of bed and followed unnie out of the room.

As soon as we stepped out, I saw a neatly set table in the kitchen and…

“You’re awake? The food’s ready, so come eat.”

“…Huh?”

A unfamiliar woman was standing there.

W-Who is that?

“Ah, I forgot to mention. This is my mom. Right now, my dad’s working overseas, so it’s just the two of us living here.”

“Y-Your mom…?!”

Gasp.

I swallowed hard as I watched Jia unnie casually introduce her mom.

It wasn’t the fact that her mom was home that surprised me.

When we all got together before, Jia unnie mentioned that she lived at home, saying, “I live with my parents.”

What shocked me was the fact that her mom must’ve seen me completely wasted when I came in yesterday.

“You’re Da-jeong, right? I’ve heard a lot about you from Jia. She said you were such a cute friend, and now I finally get to meet you.”

The woman waved her hand warmly and greeted me.

But I wasn’t mentally prepared to respond.

“Ah, ah, ah, ah…”

Like a broken doll with a recorder stuck on repeat, I kept stammering the same syllable.

For a moment, my vision spun, and I couldn’t figure out what to say.

S-Should I apologize first? Since she greeted me first, maybe I should respond to that first?

What do I do?!

“H-Hello… I’m Jeong Da-jeong. I’m sorry for causing trouble yesterday…”

Torn between the two options, I decided to greet her first.

I bowed as politely as I could, and the woman smiled warmly at me.

“Oh my, everything about your voice and actions is just so cute. The complete opposite of my daughter.”

“W-What did I do…!”

Then, out of nowhere, she started roasting Jia unnie, who was just standing there quietly.

Unnie tried to protest with an indignant expression, but it seemed like parents just don’t listen.

Clicking her tongue, the woman frowned and shook her head.

“Look at her. The moment her mom says something, she immediately talks back. Ugh… Instead of that, just take Da-jeong and go eat, you brat.”

“You’re always like this with me…”

Wow, this is refreshing.

Jia unnie has always been the reliable, mature, and calm eldest sister in our group, but seeing her throw a tantrum and get angry like a child is new.

It’s even more interesting because it’s different from her on-stream persona.

The VTuber “Erin” I remember would throw tantrums and get angry, but it wasn’t like this.

How do I put it… it’s just cute.

“Da-jeong, let’s eat first. You must be really hungry, right?”

“Yes, unnie.”

Muttering my thoughts internally, I sat down next to Jia unnie.

“Wow…”

At that moment, the sight of the neatly set breakfast table made me gasp.

I think this is the first time I’ve seen a breakfast table with so many side dishes.

This alone could last me a week.

“Let’s eat…”

“Yeah, eat up.”

I carefully said my greetings and picked up my utensils.

The warm gazes of the woman and unnie were a little overwhelming, but…

The breakfast table with others felt so fresh and joyful that I didn’t have time to feel overwhelmed.

One bite of the bean sprout soup.

One bite of the freshly grilled mackerel, carefully deboned.

One bite of the sweet and spicy stir-fried fish cakes with onions.

Everything was so delicious that I couldn’t bear to miss a single bite.

Or maybe it was because I was sharing the meal with others that it felt even more special.

“Ugh…”

“Huh? Da-jeong, what’s wrong? Did a fishbone get stuck?”

“Ah, no… It’s just, it’s so delicious.”

Feeling a sudden surge of emotion, I picked up my utensils again.

It really is delicious.

＊＊＊＊＊

After finishing breakfast, I took the subway back home.

Jia unnie said I could stay longer, but…

Well, I couldn’t impose on her any further.

If I had actually gone over to hang out, it would’ve been one thing, but showing up drunk as an uninvited guest and then overstaying my welcome was out of the question.

“Hmph, hmph~”

As soon as I got home, I hummed a tune and turned on my computer.

I wasn’t planning to prepare for a stream just yet.

I just wanted to check on my clipping channel for a bit.

“Hehe, it’s grown a lot.”

The subscriber count, which was just over 4,000 yesterday, had surpassed 5,000 in a single day.

I couldn’t help but smile at how proud I felt.

Wow, there are so many comments too.

The last time I checked, the latest video had a little over 100 comments.

Now it’s already past 200.

Does that mean people are really passionate about our Blue LUV members?

“I should give them some hearts.”

When the subscriber count is low, it’s important to put effort into these small gestures of appreciation.

So, I sorted the comments by newest and started reading them one by one, giving hearts to the ones I hadn’t seen yet.

Of course, any malicious criticism or hateful comments about Blue LUV were immediately blocked and deleted.

But…

“…Huh?”

As I read through the comments with the hope of finding praise for Blue LUV,

My eyes widened at a few of them.

They said things like:

• Why was my comment deleted?
• I asked for a Lulu-chan clip, and my comment got deleted?
• I didn’t even say anything weird, why was it deleted?
• Owner, please explain.

Huh? What’s this about?

I deleted comments?

I’ve never done that!

Well, actually, I have deleted comments, the only ones I’ve deleted were hateful or malicious comments about Blue LUV.

I swear to God, I’ve left all other comments untouched.

Even the ones like, “Lucretia, I want to be stepped on by you!”—those stayed.

So what’s going on here?

“Is this trolling…?”

After some thought, a reasonable suspicion came to mind.

Could these people be part of some malicious group trying to stir up trouble by making up stories? However there are quite a lot of them.

It’s unlikely that this many people suddenly banded together to target this small clipping channel.

And it’s not like there’s some higher-up ordering them to do this.

So, under one of the noticeable comments, I replied with my frustration and opened my editing program.

Ugh, I don’t have time to waste on this.

I need to edit yesterday’s debut broadcast of our Blue LUV members as soon as possible.

Tap tap—

I started typing on the keyboard.