Chapter 166
Chapter 166
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 166
Chapter Title: Lulu-chan Will Grow!
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Kang Haneul had been looking forward to Da-jeong's stream today, in her own way.
Da-jeong did have a slight lack of confidence in herself.
But she knew her members' charms inside and out, and she cherished them all so much.
So when the stage was set like this, Haneul had no doubt Da-jeong would pull it off perfectly.
'She's doing great.'
And her prediction seemed to hit the mark, more or less.
Da-jeong's merch promo stream kicked off soon after, and it was pretty solid.
Just hyping the deadlines or basic facts might've felt too salesy.
But maybe because she was so genuine about fanboying—er, fangirling—over her members.
She dove into each item's highlights, spotlighting what made the members shine, explaining in detail why they were so great. She drew everyone right into the story.
Yeah, up to that point, it was perfect.
The ideal way to run it.
But then Kang Haneul sensed something off, at some point.
'...Huh?'
Did I just see that wrong?
Or was I distracted and missed something?
The thought crossed her mind unbidden.
And for good reason—Da-jeong had definitely been introducing the acrylic stands just moments ago.
Da-jeong's—Lulu's—was the last one up.
But for some reason, she skipped right over it.
And jumped straight to the next merch item.
Haneul blinked, wondering if Da-jeong had messed up.
'Well, it happens.'
But even while watching the stream, she didn't call it out right away.
Not just her—plenty of viewers felt the weirdness too and were chatting about it.
Her basic policy was to interfere as little as possible in the Blues' streams.
So she kept watching, figuring she'd see how it played out.
『Heh, that'll wrap up the keychains. On to the next!』
"Huh?"
Da-jeong skipped her own merch again in the second category and wrapped it up.
A baffled sound slipped from Haneul's lips before she could stop it.
Thankfully, a viewer donated to point it out.
Da-jeong finally seemed to realize she'd skipped herself... but then...
『S-Sorry, Cherries. I didn't buy my own merch... so I can't show it off today.』
"Ugh..."
Thud—
Da-jeong's excuse blew up the chat.
Haneul felt her own composure crack as she pinched her forehead.
Of course, she got it—nobody really wanted to buy their own merch with their own money.
Haneul sold hers too, but she'd never bought any personally.
The issue wasn't that she hadn't bought it.
It was that she had it... and deliberately skipped showing it.
If you're wondering how she had it without buying—
When the merch samples first arrived at the company, she'd handed out a few of each member's to the whole Blue LUV group.
『S-Samples?! I do have them... but...』
She hadn't thrown them out, thank goodness.
But she clearly had them... and still wouldn't show them on a merch promo stream?
The reason was obvious. Haneul felt a vein throb in her forehead.
'Nope. Time for the stick today.'
She made up her mind.
Da-jeong had seemed more confident lately, come so far.
But here she went relapsing again.
Time for a little shock therapy.
As Da-jeong scrambled to wrap up the promo and end the stream—
Haneul ordered her to keep it going.
And nagged her to pick up the Discord call she'd sent.
This needed to be addressed officially, on stream.
P-President... is she super mad...?
Discord out of nowhere.
Eek, scary...
"H-Hello...?"
『Yeah, hey. Lulu-ya. Good stream today?』
She steeled herself and picked up. The President's voice came through.
Way calmer than she'd feared.
Like the calm before the storm—gentle, warm, almost too serene.
"Y-Yes... President. We played games with the Cherries today, had a blast."
『Good job. What'd you expect? Our Lulu's always a pro, no notes needed.』
"Ehehe..."
Yeah, I know.
I'm not smiling 'cause I'm happy. It's a nervous laugh.
I can tell she's mad.
『I caught a bit of your merch promo earlier. It was great. We made the right call handing it to you, Lulu.』
"Th-Thank you..."
『But Lulu-ya, why'd you deliberately skip your own merch earlier?』
She'd braced for it.
But the sharp callout still made her heart drop.
And deep down, she knew: the President already saw through her.
She wouldn't lie. Time to be honest.
"I-It was kinda embarrassing to hype my own merch... and..."
『'Nobody's gonna care about mine anyway.' That's what you thought, right?』
"...Yes."
How'd she know?
The President's words pierced right to her core.
She winced, ducking her head.
The chat got chaotic.
Was the President watching this?
A long pause... then she spoke again.
『Lulu-ya, see what the Cherries are saying?』
"Yes..."
『I get that you're not super confident. And channeling that into drive to improve is fine. But you can't do that in front of the people who love you. Get what I mean?』
"Y-Yes... I do."
Her words were soft, steady... but laced with chill.
Listening quietly to the nonstop pointers—
Da-jeong finally realized her careless slip had hurt the Cherries.
She didn't see herself as worthless anymore, like before.
She'd promised the President, Line-chan, Yuna.
She tried to approach everything with confidence.
But separately—
Comparing herself to the coolest, shiniest Blue LUV members she loved most...
She always ended up undervaluing herself.
Just like today.
With all their stunning merch right there...
Who'd care about mine?
No point showing it anyway.
Unconsciously assuming that.
She slammed her own lid shut, refusing to look.
And for the Cherries, who adored her most?
That hurt worse than anything.
Like the President said—no-go in front of fans who love you.
"I-I'm really sorry, Cherries. I thought I'd changed, but I guess I still have a ways to go. If I hurt any of you, I sincerely apologize. I didn't think about how my fans who like me would feel. Sorry."
She poured her heart into the apology.
But anxiety lingered.
Would words alone get her real feelings across?
Would the Cherries get tired of her repeating these dumb mistakes?
As if telling her not to worry—
Cherries responded with donos and chats, heartfelt messages flooding in.
A little shiver ran through her.
Like an epiphany.
Or maybe inspiration—less grandiose.
Feeling their love crash over her like waves—
What she'd always wanted to tell the Cherries welled up inside.
Somehow, she could do it now.
That one thing missing from her lyrics.
The story for the Cherries sharpened into focus.
"P-President...! Sorry to spring this, but... could you tell the composer I want to meet tomorrow?"
Before this feeling and memory faded.
She yanked open a notepad, hammered the keys.
Begged the President in a rush to schedule it.
She'd never met the composer in person.
Planned to wait till lyrics solidified, after the track was done.
But no—she couldn't.
『Suddenly? Uh, yeah, I think we can... Why?』
"Lyrics just came to me! A story I have to share with the Cherries!"
On July 7th, her birthday.
To one of the most precious beings in her life.
Her first true feelings, her changed heart—
She had to sing them out now, as lyrics.
One last apology to the Cherries.
End it with this song.
Show them everything in her heart.