Chapter 156
Chapter 156
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 156
Chapter Title: Da-jeong Isn't a Fool!
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In the end, it was all because of my foolish mistake.
Chae-yoon unnie and I ended up postponing by a day to today, Thursday.
We decided to head out and see the birthday celebration billboard.
Chae-yoon unnie had said it was fine, that I was making a fuss and we should just go on Wednesday like planned.
But the President overheard and told us to just push it back a day.
And I got a little bit of a scolding.
Woo woo….
Still, the silver lining was that we didn't have any scheduled hiatus anyway.
So no matter which day we switched to, it wouldn't leak to the public.
If it had been otherwise, the moment we changed the hiatus date, people would've thought, "Ah, they're probably going to see the billboard that day."
"Wallet, check. Portable battery, check…."
Before leaving the house, I gave my bag one final check.
I'm not the type to pack cosmetics or a bunch of other stuff like the unnies do.
My bag always has the same set of items, leaving plenty of space.
And for me, a waist pouch is always the most comfortable.
Unnies—and even Yuna—often carry feminine handbags.
But I prefer this plain, rugged waist pouch with no patterns. It's my favorite.
Plus, it's so practical.
It can even fit a small water bottle.
And with all the compartments, it's easy to remember where everything goes.
"Tofu, Mom's heading out. Make sure you eat your food, okay?"
"Nyaang…."
After finishing my preparations, I said goodbye to Tofu.
But for some reason, his meow sounded a bit weak.
I'd heard cats don't get lonely much.
But that doesn't seem to apply to our Tofu.
He gets so sad every time I leave—enough to make me feel guilty.
Is this what they call a dog-cat?
"Sorry, I'll play with you when I get back. Don't be too sulky—just play by yourself, okay?"
"Nyaang!"
I tried to coax him however I could, but it didn't seem to work.
Tofu ended up turning his head away sharply with an indignant meow.
Woo woo, sorry, Tofu.
Mom wants to take you along, but that's impossible.
Instead, when I get back, I'll give you Churu today and play lots with your toys!
"Alright, I'm off!"
"Miyaang…."
Still, our Tofu is such a good boy.
Even when he's upset, he sees Mom off when she says she's coming back.
He's truly the world's best cat!
With Tofu's send-off, I arrived at the meeting spot.
This place was roughly midway between where Chae-yoon unnie and I live.
From here, we planned to head together to Hongdae Station where the billboard was.
"Maaaknae!"
"Ah, unnie!"
As expected, unnie arrived a bit late past our meeting time.
N-Not that I expected her to be late because she's always late or anything.
It just felt like she would be, that's all.
Yeah, there's no way I'd have such mean thoughts about my unnie.
No way.
"Unnie, over here. I got coffee."
"Whoa, you even bought coffee while waiting? Ugh, now I feel really bad…."
"Hehe, it's fine. I was in a café nearby while waiting anyway."
Half true, half lie.
I was only in the café while waiting for the coffee.
Once it came out, I hurried outside.
There were just too many people in the café—it felt awkward sitting there.
"In return, your big sis unnie will treat her maknae to a delicious meal! What do you want to eat?"
As she took the coffee, unnie seemed genuinely sorry.
She thumped her chest and vowed to treat me to a fancy meal.
She's older than me, but that gesture was so cute I couldn't help smiling.
"I'm good with anything. Let's eat whatever unnie wants."
"Nah, can't do that. We'll decide slowly after seeing the billboard. There are tons of good spots near Hongdae Station."
"Okay, sounds good."
Her birthday was coming up soon anyway.
And we were meeting to celebrate that.
So I planned to eat whatever she wanted from the start.
Or I could just casually suggest something she likes later.
Unnie has a pretty manly taste in food….
Like pork cutlet, for example.
Yeah, honestly, she probably likes any kind of meat.
Chae-yoon unnie does.
[Screen doors are opening.]
"Whoa… But I was so shocked when they said a billboard went up at Hongdae Station this time."
"Huh? Why? Is Hongdae Station special or something?"
As we boarded the subway, the spacious interior welcomed us.
Maybe realizing there weren't many ears around,
Chae-yoon unnie glanced around before speaking softly.
"I heard from the President too, but stations with higher exposure cost way more for billboards."
"I see… I had no idea."
I've experienced fans putting up birthday billboards for us Blues plenty of times.
But I never really thought about how much they cost.
I didn't even consider they varied by location.
Well, it makes sense when you think about it.
Hanging a billboard smack in the middle of New York's Times Square
versus some obscure rural spot—the demand is totally different.
Anyway, that means the Black Moon Squad—no, the Pistas really went all out.
Pistas are the best!
"But Da-jeong."
"Yes, unnie."
"People know we're going to see the billboard, right?"
"Y-Yeah…?"
I responded softly to unnie, who called me while keeping her voice down.
Then came a topic that made my heart skip.
And understandably so—the reason it got out was me, after all.
"So we changed the date, but after thinking it over, unnie feels like that might not be enough."
"Gasp…! N-Not enough?"
"Yeah. It probably won't happen, but like the President said, what if something does go down?"
"R-Right."
I got absorbed in unnie's gentle explanation.
Before I knew it, I was nodding along vigorously.
"And if someone really shows up at the site looking for us, do you think they'll just blindly believe we said Wednesday on stream?"
"Th-That means…?"
"There might be people camping out the whole time the billboard's up."
"That serious…?!"
Ah, no way there'd be people like that, right?
The billboard's up for a whole week, not just a day or two.
But on the other hand, I couldn't just dismiss it.
In Japan, the mecca of Virtual YouTubers,
even crazier cases pop up sometimes.
I don't think any Pistas would be that bad….
But unnie's point wasn't wrong.
Even so, what should we do?
"So here's the thing—I have a good idea."
"Wh-What is it…?"
"Fans know our voices, so we'll just modulate them a bit in front of the billboard."
"Gasp…! U-Unnie, you're so smart!"
"Hehe, right?"
Right, exactly.
Fans only know our voices, not what Red Pill looks like.
So if we just change our voices, they won't recognize us.
"And one more surefire way!"
"There's more?"
"Yep, change our speech patterns."
"Huh? Sp-Speech patterns?"
This time, I couldn't help blurting out my confusion.
Speech patterns? Speech patterns….
Sure, that'd be the most effective.
But are speech patterns that easy to change?
Unless you're deliberately acting dumb, habits come out naturally.
"For example, I won't call you 'maknae'—just your name. And I'll use standard language as much as possible."
"Th-That makes sense. Unnie has a bit of dialect mixed in, so that alone should be enough."
But hearing her explain, it sounded plausible.
Especially for Chae-yoon unnie—among us members, her speech is the most distinctive.
Maybe because of her unique dialect mix.
The problem is me, though.
What speech patterns do I even have?
Nothing stands out.
"And for you, Da-jeong, there's a perfect method. No honorifics."
"No honorifics…?"
"Yeah, everyone knows you use honorifics with us now, right? Pistas included."
"Right…?"
It comes up a lot in storytime streams.
Ra-hee unnie even complained about it on broadcast once.
Saying I think of unnies as too distant or something.
I cleared it up saying that's not the case….
But anyway, Pistas know my honorifics are a habit.
"So when we get there, no honorifics. Say something like, 'Chae-yoon unnie, want me to take a photo?' How's that?"
"N-No way…! S-Sudden casual speech…."
Her idea was tempting in that sense.
But the issue is I'm not ready to casually switch to informal speech with unnie.
Our age gap isn't that big, sure.
You could say casual speech is no big deal.
But after nearly a year together, it's become so ingrained it's harder to change.
It might've been easier if I'd started that way.
"Come on, just close your eyes and do it. Like 'Chae-yoon unnie, let's eat this' or 'Unnie, I love you.'"
"……."
And what's with 'Unnie, I love you'?
It's not a weird line or anything.
But did she have to use that as an example?
Then, thinking it over, something hit me.
Do we even need to chat there?
Unnie talks, and I just nod or shake my head—that's it.
We're not spending all day at Hongdae Station.
Just look at the billboard, snap a few photos, and leave.
Now that I think about it, this feels off?
Like the point got muddled.
Unnie's worried about getting caught as Blue LUV members.
If we don't make noise, we won't get caught.
Voice tone or speech patterns don't matter.
Just don't talk—that's all.
"Um, unnie… I have a sudden question…."
"Yeah, what?"
"We don't really need to talk a ton, right? We're just gonna look around quickly and leave, so no need to go this far…."
So I voiced my doubt.
Unnie blinked at me for a long while,
then suddenly looked away and started fiddling with her phone.
Wh-What's that reaction?
It's like she's saying 'I know nothing.'
N-No way…?!
"…Unnie, you didn't come up with this ridiculous solution just to hear my casual speech, did you?"
"……Ahem. Huh? Da-jeong, we get off at the next stop. Wanna search for restaurants in the meantime? What do you wanna eat?"
"Unnie…!"
I asked half-jokingly, half-suspiciously.
And Chae-yoon unnie blatantly changed the subject, staring at her phone like her life depended on it.
My guess turned to certainty as I scolded her.
Seeing her now avoiding even eye contact,
I finally sighed and whispered softly in her ear.
"…Dummy. I would've done it if you'd just asked. Chae-yoon unnie's a dummy. I'm not talking to unnie anymore. Hmph."
Whoosh—
Unnie's head snapped toward me in an instant.
Her eyes bulging as she urgently demanded,
"Ma-Maknae…?! Record that, just one more time…!"
"No way I'd do that!"
Of course, that was out of the question.
Hmph hmph.