Chapter 161: Da-jeong Finally Changes Her Phone!

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The sudden news of Ra-hee moving—and worse, moving to become neighbors with Da-jeong, the group’s beloved sweetheart—sent the rest of the members into an uproar in seconds.

[Blue LUV Park Chae-yoon] — CEO!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Blue LUV Park Chae-yoon] — EXPLAIN YOURSELF RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!

[Blue LUV Yuna] — CEO, WHAT DO YOU MEAN RA-HEE UNNIE IS MOVING IN NEXT TO DA-JEONG?!

[Blue LUV Yuna] — EXPLAINFASTEXPLAINFASTEXPLAINFASTEXPLAINFASTEXPLAINFAST

[Blue LUV Han Jia] — CEO, I JUST HEARD ABOUT THIS… RA-HEE’S MOVING?!

And the target of their collective demand for answers?

Not Ra-hee herself, but Ha-neul.

It made sense—there was no way she wouldn’t have known about this.

Yet, she hadn’t breathed a word about it during the last meeting.

And that was reason enough for everyone to start protesting.

Thanks to that, the group chat where Ha-neul and their manager So-eun were present quickly erupted into chaos.

“Ugh, these kids, seriously…”

Feeling a headache coming on, Ha-neul got out of bed, sat at her desk, and hammered out a response.

[Me] — What

[Me] — That’s just how it is ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Me] — Ra-hee asked me to keep it a secret, so I did

[Me] — Got a problem? Then you take over as CEO

Ha-neul had her own reasons.

It wasn’t like she wanted to hide it—she just had no choice since Ra-hee asked her to.

Besides, it wasn’t like there had been no hints.

She’d been asking the members for a while now:

“Would any of you consider moving out of your current place and closer to Da-jeong?”

But sadly, each time, they had their own reasons for refusing.

• Jia couldn’t leave her mother alone while her father was away for work.
• Chae-yoon still had time left on her lease, and her landlord wasn’t cooperative.
• Yuna’s parents wouldn’t let her live alone because of her scatterbrained reputation.

So Ra-hee, who had settled everything, was the first to move.

And now they were mad at her for letting Ra-hee go first?

As the CEO, Ha-neul had every right to be pissed.

[Blue LUV Park Chae-yoon] — It’s not that we’re mad…

[Blue LUV Yuna] — But keeping it a secret from us is too much…

[Blue LUV Han Jia] — If we’d at least known beforehand…

[Me] — What would’ve changed if you knew?

[Me] — Stop whining and go stream, you brats

Somehow, she could feel herself starting to sound like her mother.

But her sharp scolding only earned her awkward replies.

[Blue LUV Park Chae-yoon] — My stream’s already over…

[Blue LUV Yuna] — Mine too…

[Blue LUV Han Jia] — I’m off today, CEO…

[Me] — Ahem…

[Me] — Oh. Good work, then.

She almost became the kind of CEO who didn’t even check her employees’ schedules.

Trying to play it off, Ha-neul awkwardly shifted the mood.

“They’ve been handling things well on their own lately, so I just trusted them…”

She mentally justified it, even though it was a weak excuse.

[Me] — Anyway, if you’re that jealous of Ra-hee

[Me] — Wrap up your own stuff and let me know

[Me] — Got it?

[Blue LUV Yuna] — Got it!

[Blue LUV Yuna] — Then I’ll tell my mom I’m running away if she won’t let me live alone!

[Me] — Are you in elementary school?!

Thankfully, the conversation ended on a decent note.

Just as things were calming down—

[Blue LUV Lee Ra-hee] — What’s all this chatter between losers?

[Blue LUV Lee Ra-hee] — lol

[Blue LUV Park Chae-yoon] — LEE RA-HEE, YOU LITTLE—!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Blue LUV Yuna] — Unnie, can I please just hit you once?

[Blue LUV Han Jia] — Yuna, hit her for me too.

The sudden appearance of the troublemaker set the chat on fire again.

Watching the chaos unfold, Ha-neul gave up and turned off her computer.

“Ugh…”

Her deep sigh carried the exhaustion of raising five unruly daughters.

＊＊＊＊＊

About a week later, early in the morning…

Thud— Rumble—

The neighboring apartment was unusually noisy.

Even in my soundproofed studio, I could faintly hear the commotion.

It wasn’t a family fight, a crying baby, or a dog barking.

Just the result of someone new moving in.

Most people wouldn’t care much about new neighbors these days, but I spent the entire morning peeking out my front door, watching the move-in process.

And for good reason…

The new neighbor was none other than Ra-hee unnie, the second-oldest member of our group.

Watching her—elegant, refined—standing in my home, greeting me so formally, felt surreal.

To think that someone like her is my neighbor now…

To me, Ra-hee unnie had always seemed like someone from another world.

Even when we were in the same group, it never felt real and now that we’d be living in the same apartment building?

The lack of realism only grew stronger.

Well, at least knowing she wasn’t in some mansion anymore but a normal home like mine made her feel a little more relatable…

“Miss, we’ve already called the cleaning service. Why don’t you and Da-jeong go to a café for a bit? We’ll handle the rest.”

“Sure, I’ll leave it to you.”

…Yeah, I was an idiot for thinking that.

Nope. Unnie is still from another world.

Better keep my mouth shut and stay quiet.

Watching three burly men enter unnie’s apartment, I snapped back to reality when someone gently tugged my hand. Turning my head, I saw Ra-hee unnie gazing at me with that vampire-like, bewitching smile.

“Since we have time now, shall we go change your phone?”

“Huh? Ph-phone?”

“Mhm. We promised, didn’t we? That after I moved, we’d go change phones together.”

“Ah.”

Right, we had made that promise.

Unnie’s sudden move had been so shocking I’d forgotten.

Thankfully, I’d already showered, so heading out wasn’t an issue…

But wasn’t unnie tired from moving?

(Though the movers had handled most of it.)

“I’m fine, but… unnie, aren’t you exhausted?”

“Of course not. How could I be tired going on a date with you?”

“Ehehe…”

The word “date” made me blush.

Well, if unnie was fine, so was I.

Today was my day off anyway.

Might as well enjoy some fun time with Ra-hee unnie for the first time in ages.

“I’ll just change quickly and be right out!”

“Take your time—no need to rush.”

“Okay!”

Despite her words, I scrambled to get ready, not wanting to keep her waiting.

(Not that I had many clothes to agonize over anyway.)

＊＊＊＊＊

The place Ra-hee unnie took me?

A phone store she recommended.

Unlike the small local shops near home, this one was spacious and pristine—the kind that inspired trust.

Typical unnie—even her go-to phone stores feel different.

Oddly, there weren’t any other customers.

Wasn’t this peak hours? Just a coincidence?

“Welcome, Miss—ah, I mean, valued customers.”

The employee greeted us with a 90-degree bow the moment we stepped in.

It felt less like a phone store and more like a high-end department boutique.

(Not that I’d know—I’ve never been to one.)

Did the employee just fumble unnie’s title?

…Probably my imagination.

“Are you looking for a specific model?”

“Yes, actually. We’re thinking of switching to iPhone 12 Pros. For both me and my little sister here.”

“Understood. For the iPhone 12 Pro, the demo units are over—”

My heart fluttered when unnie called me her little sister and subtly pulled me closer.

(I’m too embarrassed to admit it, though.)

That said, I hadn’t planned on getting a 12 Pro.

I’d just come to browse and decide.

“Um, unnie? I don’t have to get the same one…”

“Hm? You like another model? Have one in mind?”

“N-No, it’s just… it’s kinda expensive…”

I’d wanted something affordable and functional—this felt like overkill.

Noticing my hesitation, unnie paused, then slung an arm around my shoulder.

“If price is the issue, don’t worry. Why do you think I brought you here? It’s cheaper than other places.”

“Eh? R-Really?”

“Obviously.”

Unnie shrugged confidently. I blinked, then accidentally locked eyes with the pretty employee beside us, who nodded awkwardly.

Oh.

So places with heavy discounts do exist.

I’d heard rumors, but never expected this much of a difference.

“The iPhone 12 Pro is compact—ideal for female users.”

“Wow, it really is.”

Hmm, it was pretty.

Not too big for my small hands, and VTubers often praised iPhones for versatility.

But the price…

The regular iPhone 12 I’d seen yesterday was ~1.5 million KRW (~$1,000)

And the Pro is nearly 1.7 million KRW (~$1,160), and then with add-ons, it could hit 2 million KRW (~$1,360).

Ugh… 2 million for a phone?

I barely use mine beyond watching videos—I don’t even play mobile games.

“Uuu…”

I glared at the phone like it owed me money.

Unnie, watching me, suddenly called the employee.

“Ms. Ah-young—ahem—ma’am. I’ve heard long-term users get higher trade-in discounts. Is that correct?”

“Pardon? Ah, yes! Absolutely.”

“My sister here used her last phone for five years. What would the final price be?”

“Let me check. Please have a seat.”

After some hushed jargon, we were seated at a table.

“May I see your ID?”

“Ah, here.”

“Thank you.”

The employee typed furiously, whispered to a colleague, and finally slid a tablet toward us.

“The iPhone 12 Pro’s base price is 1.68 million KRW. But since Jeong Da-jeong has used an A6 model for over five years, the discount is substantial. Combined with current promotions… it’ll be around 100,000 KRW (~$68).”

“Huh?! One hundred thousand?!”

My voice cracked like a Chihuahua’s yelp.

One hundred thousand?!

Didn’t they just say 1.68 million? How does it drop to this?!

“See, Da-jeong? Told you it’d be cheaper.”

“I… guess I didn’t know, unnie.”

Unnie winked as I stared, dumbfounded.

So this is why she insisted we come in person.

Online prices were nothing like this. More like highway robbery.

(Though I’d heard some stores lure customers with “discounts” only to scam them with hidden fees.

But no way unnie would take me to that kind of place.)

“So, want this one?”

“Y-Yes… sounds good.”

“Great. Since I introduced you, let’s get matching colors—couple phones.”

After such a steal, her request was laughably simple.

I couldn’t help but grin.

“Hehe, okay. Let’s go with purple—your favorite.”

“How’d you know I wanted purple?”

“Because it is your favorite.”

Nuzzle nuzzle—

Unnie pressed her face against mine without hesitation.

Embarrassing with the employee right there, but… sweet.

“Oh, and these are the new wireless earbuds—a free gift with the iPhone 12.”

“Da-jeong, they’re giving us freebies. You needed wireless earbuds, right? Perfect.”

“Wow…! Yes!”

We left the store, arms full of bonuses—and shiny new couple phones.