Chapter 159: Karma comes for Lulu!

Ｒｅａ​ｄ ​ｏｎ ​Ｋａｔ​Ｒｅａｄｉｎｇ​Ｃａｆｅ

After spending time together at the café, we went our separate ways.

I did want to hang out a bit longer, but even if I didn’t have anything scheduled, unnie had an early broadcast and needed to get home.

[Chae-yoon unnie] – I went on a date with Da-jeong today!

[Chae-yoon unnie] – Jealous? kekekekekekeke

[Chae-yoon unnie] – (Photo of the two of us together)

When I got home and checked my phone, I saw the messages and photo Chae-yoon unnie had posted in the group chat.

I always feel this way, but when Chae-yoon unnie talks, it’s like I can hear her voice. Yuna’s a bit like that too—her uniquely lively voice buzzes and echoes.

On the other hand, Ra-hee unnie and Jia unnie are more like… I don’t know how to describe it. It’s less like hearing their voices and more like seeing their actions? Even as I say this, I’m not sure what I mean, but there’s this weird distinction between the two groups.

[Yuna] – Once again, I’m the only one who didn’t get to go on a date. Once again, I’m the only one who didn’t get to go on a date. Once again, I’m the only one who didn’t get to go on a date

[Jia unnie] – Yuna, unnie didn’t get to go either…?

[Yuna] – But unnie, Da-jeong came over to hang out at your place before!

[Yuna] – Don’t try to sneakily include yourself in this!

[Yuna] – This is a victim mentality!

[Jia unnie] – Haha…

Anyway, thanks to that one message from Chae-yoon unnie, the group chat instantly descended into chaos.

Jumping into the conversation now feels awkward.

If I send even one message here, Yuna will probably pounce on me, demanding to know why I didn’t hang out with her.

B-but our schedules just didn’t line up! What was I supposed to do?

And, uh… am I imagining things, or does Jia unnie’s last message give off a weirdly smug vibe?

[Ra-hee unnie] – Oh?

[Ra-hee unnie] – Glad you had fun, haha

[Chae-yoon unnie] – Ra-hee unnie, pretending to be cool?

[Chae-yoon unnie] – Don’t cry, just say it, unnie

[Chae-yoon unnie] – Admit you’re jealous I went on a date with Da-jeong!

[Ra-hee unnie] – Hm?

[Ra-hee unnie] – Not really jealous, though? Haha

[Ra-hee unnie] – I just think Chae-yoon is cute, that’s all

[Chae-yoon unnie] – That kinda hurts my feelings

[Chae-yoon unnie] – (Staring intensely emoticon)

And now, somehow, a fight’s breaking out here too. Sometimes I can’t tell if our members get along or not. Well, of course they get along, but… every now and then, they’ll argue over the dumbest things.

And for some reason, I always feel like I’m being dragged into it…

…Yeah, must be my imagination. That’s just my self-consciousness talking.

[Jia unnie] – Anyway, everyone work hard on your broadcasts today!

[Jia unnie] – Love you!

[Yuna] – Love you too!

[Chae-yoon unnie] – (Cat holding a heart emoticon)

[Ra-hee unnie] – (Fox girl doing finger heart emoticon)

Luckily, the argument fizzled out quickly, and our group chat wrapped up as warmly as ever before everyone scattered to prepare for their broadcasts.

[Ra-hee unnie] – By the way, Da-jeong’s been reading the chat this whole time without saying anything.

[Ra-hee unnie] – Guess her love for unnies has cooled down.

[Me] – I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!

In the end, I—who had been too embarrassed to reply—got caught by Ra-hee unnie, hastily sent a response, and then fled.

Ugh.

Back when I was just a normal Star Piece, saying “I love you” was easy. But now that we know each other’s faces and have gotten closer, those words feel ticklish and harder to say.

***************

Today, a meeting with the BlueOshi staff ran long, so I posted a notice in advance and started my broadcast about 10 minutes late.

And of course, the moment I turned on the stream and put up the waiting screen…

• (Cherry gang hitting their heads on the door emoticon)
• (Cherry gang hitting their heads on the door emoticon)
• MODS OPEN THE DOOOOOOOOR
• I’m cold… where’d Lulu-chan go…?

…It was absolute pandemonium.

Sorry, cherries. I won’t be late again. I had no idea you’d suffer this much over a measly 10-minute delay—it’s not like I canceled the stream.

“Hi-Lu, everyone! Sorry for being late. The meeting ran long… hehe.”

• IT’S OOOOOOPEN
• Lulu-chan, we were so coooold…
• Punishment: aegyo, now
• Punishment: Zero Two dance, now

Ehh? Aegyo and Zero Two? Sure, I deserve some punishment for being late, but that’s way too harsh!

But if I stay quiet, public opinion will burn me to a crisp. I’ve gotta toss them a little carrot. No choice—time to pull out the cheat code.

“Nyaaa~”

“Everyone, Tofu says she’s sorry too. So can’t you forgive us just this once?”

• Tofu’s here
• Using the cat card, impressive lol
• The butler is late, but the owner is the one apologizing
• Uuugh, evil cat owner uuugh

Tch, they’ve gotten immune to this trick after I used it a few times lately. Fine, if I have to show real sincerity, even if it’s embarrassing…

“Nyaaa~, cherries. My owner Lulu is sowwy, nya~. So pwease forgive us just this once, for the cute Tofu’s sake, nya~?”

• Gasp
• LOL okay, I’ll allow it LOL
• Was anyone even mad? ? ?
• If Tofu says so, I guess we have no choice LOL
• This damn girl, I swear…

Hehe, that’s more like it. Borrowing Tofu’s name makes it less embarrassing—I’m just imitating her speech, not acting cute or anything.

Luckily, the mood shifted back to normal, and I lightly steered the conversation with the cherries through superchat readings. Now that I think about it, I’ve got a lot of fun stories to share today.

And if I had to pick one highlight…

“Oh yeah, cherries! Today, I went with Lilith unnie to see the billboard!”

• Huh?
• Today?
• Didn’t you go yesterday?
• No wonder it was so quiet yesterday LOL

Right— the only choice for highlight would be about going to see the birthday billboard together.

The moment I brought it up, the chat was instantly flooded with question marks.

Since the cherries only knew about the schedule I’d mentioned before, they must’ve assumed I’d deliberately held off on talking about it, even though I’d gone yesterday.

“Hehe, well, since I already talked about it on stream, going right away felt a little risky. So I postponed it by a day and went with unnie today instead.”

• That makes sense
• Can’t blame you for being careful
• So you went to Hongdae?

“Yeah, that’s right! We went to Hongdae. Wow, it was my first time there, and it was so crowded. I felt dizzy just from the subway station.”

• It’s packed there LOL
• Well, it’s where all the young kids hang out
• Lulu-chan’s never been to Hongdae before?
• You live in the metro area and this is your first time? That’s wild LOL

Ugh, why are they saying the exact same thing as Chae-yoon unnie? Just because I live in Seoul doesn’t mean I’ve been to Hongdae before. Don’t make me sound like some country bumpkin—that’s so mean.

“Hehe, unnie looked so pretty on the billboard. After we took pictures together, I took a few more of just the billboard by itself.”

• Lulu-chan will look just as pretty too
• Holding out for Lulu-chan’s birthday
• Can’t wait for your birthday, Lulu-chan

“Aww, no, it’s not like I’m expecting anything like that.”

Did they think I was jealous of unnie being on the billboard? The cherries rushed to assure me that I’d get a billboard for my birthday too, but I just shook my head and brushed it off.

It wasn’t empty modesty—I genuinely meant it.

To me, birthdays were never special in the first place. I’ve never had anyone celebrate mine before.

Honestly, I didn’t even remember July 7th was my birthday until I had to fill out the application form for Blue LUV. Before that, my birthday was just another day—one I’d only remember ten days later with an “Oh, that was my birthday, huh.”

So things like getting a billboard or receiving grand celebration videos from other streamers like some do—I don’t really wish for that.

“Anyway, after that, unnie and I went to eat tonkatsu together, just the two of us, and then we went to a café.”

• Tonkatsu LOL
• So on-brand for Lilith LOL
• Bet Lulu-chan got a Frappuccino again

“Ah, no. It wasn’t a chain café, so I couldn’t get a Frappuccino. I had a chocolate latte instead.”

I flinched slightly at the cherries’ assumptions, but it was true that I’d ordered a chocolate latte. I was carefully toeing the line between not lying and not telling the whole truth when—

[‘Lilith’ has thrown a 10,000 KRW snack donation!]

Lulu, why lie? You tried to drink espresso, spat it out because it was bitter, and then stole my chocolate latte. Be honest.

“…Huh? Wh-what, unnie?!”

• ?
• Li-ha
• Li-ha
• The boss has arrived LOL
• Wait, what’s this about?

I froze, eyes wide, as Chae-yoon unnie suddenly appeared in chat.

Wh-why is unnie here?!

[Lilith] – Cherries
[Lilith] – Today, Lulu tried to act all mature and ordered espresso at the café with me
[Lilith] – Then she spat it out because it was too bitter
[Lilith] – I saw it coming, so I’d already ordered a chocolate latte for her

Unnie went full speed ahead without giving me a chance to recover. The cherries, now understanding the full story, filled the chat with laughter and began roasting me mercilessly.

• LMAOOOOOOOOOOOO
• Are you actually a child? lolol
• Lulu-chan’s too baby for espresso, fr lol
• Boss has 200 IQ foresight, no cap lol
• Pathetic Lulu, smh…
• Couldn’t you just add sugar?

And out of all the roasting, that last innocent question hurt the most.

“Ugh… I-I thought adding sugar would make me seem like a kid, so I tried drinking it plain…”

• Omg lololol
• That’s so fucking cute lol
• I can picture it lmao
• Dummy Lulu… Even Italians add sugar to espresso…

H-how was I supposed to know that?! I don’t even care about coffee! I’d rather have an extra Frappuccino than waste time on that stuff.

Why would I bother learning about it?!

[Lilith] – But the date was fun
[Lilith] – Right, Lulu?

“Y-yes. It was fun. The tonkatsu place unnie recommended was really good too…”

• Glad you had a good time LOL
• Lulu-chan, stick to Frappuccinos for life
• This is the Lulu-chan we know and love~
• This is her charm, fr LOL

Tch. You mock me all day, and now you think a few kind words will make me happy?

Hmph! As if!

LegoMyEggo