I Became a Member of My Favorite Group! - Chapter 56

Time flew by like an arrow after the last server ended.

I went about my usual routine—streaming, meeting with the members, and spending time normally. Before I knew it, a whole month had passed in the blink of an eye.

“Uhehe….”

And then, this morning arrived.

As soon as I opened my eyes, I couldn’t help but laugh like a fool.

And for good reason….

[CEO] – Hey, everyone.
[CEO] – Today’s the day for the first payment, so gather at the company.
[CEO] – As a treat, I’ll buy you something delicious.

Today is none other than the first settlement day for our Blue LUV.

In other words, it’s the day the money I earned from streaming gets deposited into my account for the first time!

How beautiful is that?

Hehe, once the money comes in today, I’ll buy gifts for the members.

Of course, I’ll also get something for the CEO and So-eun unnie.

There’s so much to spend it on.

“Da-jeong, did you see the message the CEO sent?”

While I was sitting on the couch giggling as I looked at my phone, Chae-yoon unnie who had just come out of her room spoke to me.

“Yes! Hehe, today’s finally the first settlement day.”

“You’re so excited, our Da-jeongie. Are you that happy?”

Chae-yoon unnie, looking at me with a warm gaze, came over to the couch and patted my head.

It wasn’t just today or yesterday—I always let her pat my head, and I nodded vigorously.

“I’m happy! I’ve always been on the receiving end, so I really wanted to give back to Yuna and the unnies too!”

“Oh? So that’s why you’re so excited? Not because there’s something you want to buy?”

“No, there’s nothing specific I want to buy.”

I nodded in response to unnie’s puzzled question.

Honestly, I’m already so satisfied with my life right now.

There’s nothing I particularly want to own, nor do I feel the need for any special experiences.

If there’s one thing I’m greedy for its wanting to drink Frappuccinos every day but once I start earning more money, I’ll be able to do that easily.

At least, I don’t have any greed beyond that right now.

“Unnie, is there something you want to buy?”

“Yeah, I have a lot. I’m thinking of learning the guitar, so I want to buy one….”

“I see….”

Come to think of it, Chae-yoon unnie has always said she wanted to learn an instrument.

Out of all of them, it seems the guitar is her favorite.

“Anyway, let’s hurry up and get ready. The CEO said she’d treat us to lunch so how about we grab a Frappuccino on the way? You like those, right?”

“Gasp! Yes, please!”

I was already craving one!

How does Chae-yoon unnie know me so well?

She’s amazing!

“Da-jeong, you go shower first. I have something to check, so I’ll shower after I’m done.”

“Okay!”

I replied cheerfully and scurried into the shower.

Just the thought of drinking a Frappuccino made me feel like my invisible tail was wagging.

Somehow, I feel even more excited now than when I heard about the settlement.

Swooosh—

“Frappuccino~. Fra, Frappuccino~♬.”

As the warm water poured over me, I hummed a little tune I made up about Frappuccinos.

What should I get today?

Caramel? Java Chip?

I haven’t tried the Vanilla one yet, so that’s tempting too.

Hmm, I’ll have to think deeply about it while I shower.

After taking the subway with unnie, we arrived at the building where our company is located.

We bought coffee for everyone at a nearby café and then headed inside.

Of course, I was holding a Frappuccino.

“Da-jeong, aren’t you tired of that?”

“No! It’s delicious. Plus, there are so many flavors.”

“You’re so cute.”

Chae-yoon unnie pinched my cheeks as I sipped my Frappuccino.

Ugh, she called me cute again.

I don’t think I’ve done anything particularly cute, so why does everyone keep saying that?

Grumbling to myself, we entered the company and reached the meeting room.

After knocking and opening the door, familiar faces greeted us.

Chae-yoon unnie and I waved happily and greeted everyone.

“Were we the last to arrive?”

“Hehe, we brought coffee, so please forgive us.”

Realizing we were a bit late, I apologized and placed the carrier full of coffees on the long table. Everyone’s eyes sparkled.

“Oh, you brought coffee? Nice touch.”

“But who bought it? Don’t tell me it was Da-jeong?”

“Yes, I bought it. I felt bad always getting treated by everyone….”

I managed to stop Chae-yoon unnie from buying it this time and succeeded in paying for it myself.

Unnie said she couldn’t let the youngest pay, but honestly, I feel worse always getting treated by the unnies.

“Oh, and I got everyone’s favorite, so you’ll know which one is yours.”

“Oh, really? Yay! I got the Condensed Milk Latte.”

“Then the Café Mocha must be mine.”

“I think the Americano is mine.”

The coffees quickly found their owners.

Luckily, it seems I remembered everyone’s preferences correctly.

Hehe, I’m glad I kept that in mind.

“Alright. Since Da-jeong bought coffee, I’ll treat everyone to a nice lunch. What do you feel like eating?”

The CEO, holding her grapefruit tea, spoke from her seat at the head of the table.

Honestly, I’m fine with anything, so I was about to ask the members, but…

“CEO! I want sushi!”

“Hey, Yuna, you’re out of the question. Da-jeong gets to choose this time.”

“Right. The person who brought the coffee deserves the right to choose, don’t you think?”

“If you’re jealous, you should’ve brought coffee.”

It seemed like the mood wasn’t in Yuna’s favor.

Watching Yuna pout, I laughed and answered.

“I think sushi sounds good too, CEO.”

“See? Da-jeong knows what’s up!”

Yuna’s eyes lit up, and she raised her hand in agreement.

Her expression was so cute that I couldn’t help but smile like a fool.

The members always call me cute, but Yuna is definitely the cutest.

“Hey, Da-jeong. You don’t have to do that just because of Yuna.”

“Yeah. You’re spoiling Yuna.”

“What do you mean I’m spoiled? Unnies, I hate you!”

After bickering for a while, we finally decided on sushi for lunch.

Sitting around the long table, we moved on to the main topic of the day.

The topic, of course, was the monumental first payment.

“Alright, everyone. You’ve all worked hard this past month since debut. It’s been tough, right?”

“It was a bit confusing at first, but once I got used to it, it became fun.”

“Same here. Especially talking with the fans—it’s really enjoyable.”

In response to the CEO’s understanding question, everyone gave similar answers.

I felt the same way.

Even though there were quite a few incidents at the beginning, things got better as I became more comfortable with streaming and creating content.

It’s both joyful and amazing to know that there are people who love someone like me.

“Good. I’m glad you’re all enjoying it. Keep having fun, because if you’re not enjoying it the viewers won’t either.”

“Yes! I’ll keep that in mind!”

“That’s the spirit. Our Yuna.”

Yuna’s lively response made everyone laugh.

The CEO looked around at us for a moment, then suddenly stopped hergaze on me.

And with a casual remark, she said:

“By the way, there’s something really special to celebrate today. Do you all know what it is?”

“Oh, what is it?”

“Is our solo song coming out?”

“Well, Da-jeong probably knows, right?”

Huh? Me?

I couldn’t think of anything particularly special to celebrate.

Everyone already knows it’s the first settlement day.

But since she singled me out, it must be something related to me… What could it be?

“Da-jeong is the first in Blue LUV to reach 50,000 subscribers on YouTube and 50,000 followers on Twitch. Let’s give her a round of applause!”

As I was trying to figure it out, the CEO’s announcement left me in a state of confusion.

Fifty thousand? No way.

It’s only been a month since my debut.

And to think I’m the first among the Blue LUV members to achieve this.

“Wow!”

“Wait, seriously?”

“Da-jeong, you’re amazing…!”

“That’s our youngest for you!”

Clap clap clap—

Amidst the members’ exclamations and the thunderous applause filling the meeting room, I was still in a daze, unable to process what was happening.

“Da-jeong, did you really not know?”

“N-no… I wasn’t paying attention, so I didn’t notice….”

Still stunned, I nodded at the CEO’s question and quickly pulled out my phone to check.

Gasp, it’s true.

I must’ve hit the milestone early this morning.

In fact, the numbers have already gone up a bit, slightly surpassing 50,000.

Already 50,000…

It feels strange.

Of course, back when I was running my clipping channel, I had well over 50,000 subscribers.

However that was thanks to the Blue LUV fans, not me and honestly, it’s not that different now.

If I weren’t Lulu of Blue LUV, I probably wouldn’t have reached this number so quickly.

This achievement is also thanks to the CEO, the staff, and the members.

But still…

It feels different from when I hit 50,000 as just a clipping channel.

Thinking that this number represents people who like me…

I feel a strange flutter in my chest, and I can’t help but squirm.

“Da-jeong, how does it feel? Did I tell you?”

“Huh?”

While I was staring blankly at my phone, the CEO came over and patted my head.

She looked at me with crescent-shaped eyes, like she was gazing at a child who had done something remarkable.

“You’re more amazing than you think. Do you finally see how many people out there love you?”

“Ah….”

That’s right.

Back when I first found out I had passed the Blue LUV auditions, I asked the CEO:

“Why did you choose someone like me?”

And she answered:

“I’m confident I can see the charm in you that you don’t even realize.”

At the time I didn’t understand what she meant but now, I think I have a vague idea.

“…Yes! Thank you so much CEO. I’ll keep doing my best!”

“That’s what I like to hear. Ah, our youngest is so precious.”

As I clenched my fists and expressed my determination to live up to her expectations, the CEO gently patted my head one last time, pinched my cheek, and returned to her seat.

“Da-jeong, here’s your Paycheck. Take a look and let me know if anything seems off.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you….”

Like a baton pass, So-eun unnie handed me a piece of paper after distributing copies to the other members.

I thought these kinds of financial matters were usually kept private, but…

“Gasp! Unnie, how did you earn so much? Buy me something delicious!”

“What are you looking at? Let’s see how much you earned!”

“Guys, shouldn’t we keep this kind of thing a bit more private…?”

…Yeah, I guess that concern was unnecessary.

Sometimes, our members feel more like family than actual families.

No, even families probably don’t get along this casually.

[Total Amount – 24,763,487 KRW]

“…Huh?”

As I absentmindedly scanned the statement, my eyes landed on the number at the bottom.

The moment I saw it, my mind went blank.

Wait, isn’t this total amount a bit… off?

This is just for one month, right?

Even if it includes YouTube and donation revenue, how is it this much?

“Oh, and Da-jeong. The donations from your clipping channel were given to you in full after taxes, so keep that in mind.”

“Huh? W-wait, the clipping channel revenue isn’t split with the company?”

“Yeah, of course. That’s not something you earned through Blue LUV activities. It’s more like freelance work.”

“Wha—?!”

So that’s how it is.

I thought the donations from the BlueOshi channel were also split with the company.

But they’re separate.

If I roughly calculate just the donation revenue… it’s around 6 million won.

That’s a lot too.

Honestly, I tried to stop accepting donations but the viewers went wild and even broke the rules so I had no choice but to leave it open.

I never expected it to add up to this much.

“By the way, Da-jeong, what are you planning to do with your first settlement?”

“I’m not sure. I have something in mind for the donation money, though….”

“Huh? Just the donation money?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded at the CEO, who tilted her head in confusion.

Yes, this is something I’ve been wanting to do for a while.

I might need a little help from the CEO, but…

I really want to do it this time.