Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: I Got My First Settlement Payment!
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Time had flown by like an arrow since the Last Server ended.
As usual, I did broadcasts and met up with the members sometimes.
Before I knew it, a whole month had slipped by while I was spending my days so ordinarily.
"Wuhehe…."
And then this morning greeted me.
The moment I opened my eyes, I ended up grinning like an idiot.
And it was totally understandable….
[President] - Kids
[President] - Today is our first settlement day, so gather at the company
[President] - To commemorate, the president will treat you to something delicious
Because today was none other than Blue LUV's first settlement day.
In other words, the day my broadcasting earnings would finally hit my bank account for the first time!
How beautiful a day was this?
Hehe, once the money comes in today, I should buy gifts for the members.
Of course, I have to get something for the President and So-eun unnie too.
Looks like it'll go toward all sorts of things here and there.
"Da-jeong-ah, did you see the message from the President?"
While I was sitting on the sofa, giggling at my phone…
Chae-yoon unnie came out of her room and spoke to me.
"Yes! Hehe, she said today is finally our first settlement."
"You're so excited, our Da-jeong? That happy about it?"
Chae-yoon unnie looked at me with warm eyes and came over to the sofa, stroking my head.
This wasn't anything new from yesterday or today; as always, I leaned my head toward unnie and nodded vigorously.
"Yes! I've only ever been on the receiving end, so I really want to give back to Yuna and the unnies!"
"Oh? That's why you're excited? Not because there's something you want to buy?"
"Yeah, nothing in particular I want to buy."
I affirmed it to unnie, who asked with a puzzled look.
I'm already so satisfied with my life right now anyway.
I don't have any specific things I want or desires for some special new experience.
If I had to name one selfish wish…
It'd be wanting to drink frappuccinos every single day.
But if I make a lot of money, that should be more than doable.
At least, I don't have any greed beyond that right now.
"Does unnie have something she wants to buy?"
"Yeah, quite a few. I've been thinking about learning guitar, so maybe get one…."
"I see…."
Come to think of it, Chae-yoon unnie had always said she wanted to learn an instrument.
And out of them, guitar seems to be her favorite.
"Anyway, hurry up and wash up so we can head out. Lunch is on the President, so how about we grab a frappuccino you like on the way?"
"Gasp! Yes!"
I wanted one anyway!
How does Chae-yoon unnie know me so well?
She's amazing!
"Da-jeong, you go first. Unnie has something to check real quick, then I'll wash up."
"Yes!"
I replied energetically to unnie and scurried into the shower room.
Just thinking about the frappuccino made me feel like my nonexistent tail was wagging already.
For some reason, I felt even more excited than when I first heard about the settlement.
Shwaaaa—
"Frappuccino~. Fra, fra-frappuccino~♪."
Under the pouring warm water, I hummed a frappuccino song to a weird rhythm I'd composed myself.
What flavor should I get today?
Caramel? Java chip?
I haven't tried vanilla yet, so that's tempting too.
Hmm, guess I'll think deeply about it while showering.
We took the subway together and arrived at the building in front of the company.
We bought coffee from a nearby cafe for the company folks, then headed inside.
Naturally, what I held in my hand was a frappuccino.
"Da-jeong-ah, aren't you sick of that yet?"
"No! It's delicious. And there are so many kinds."
"You're just too cute."
Chae-yoon unnie pinched and pulled at my cheeks as I slurped away at the frappuccino.
Uu, I got called cute again.
I haven't even done anything particularly cute, so why does everyone say that?
I grumbled inwardly as we entered the company and reached the meeting room.
With a knock, we opened the door and went in, and familiar faces appeared.
In response, Chae-yoon unnie and I waved happily and greeted them.
"We're the last ones, huh?"
"Hehe, we brought coffee, so forgive us."
We apologized, knowing we were relatively late.
When we set the coffee carrier on the long table, everyone's eyes sparkled.
"Oh, coffee? Nice touch."
"But who bought it? No way, Da-jeong?"
"Yes, I did. I felt bad always just mooching…."
Today too, I managed to stop Chae-yoon unnie from buying and succeeded in getting them myself.
Unnie said something about not mooching off the maknae, but.
On the contrary, I always mooch off the unnies buying for me, and that makes me feel worse.
"Oh, and I got everyone's favorites, so you should know which is yours."
"Gasp, really? Score! Mine's the brown sugar latte."
"Then the cafe mocha's mine?"
"Americano must be mine."
The coffees quickly found their way to their owners.
Fortunately, I nailed everyone's tastes.
Hehe, good thing I remembered.
"Alright. Da-jeong bought coffee, so for lunch, the President will take you all somewhere nice. What do you want?"
The President said this, holding her grapefruit tea and sitting at the head of the table.
Honestly, I was fine with anything and was going to ask the members, but.
"President! I want sushi!"
"Hey now, Yuna, you stay out of it. We have to let Da-jeong choose here."
"Right? The one who brought coffee gets the say, obviously."
"If you're jealous, you should've brought coffee."
Guess it's not that kind of atmosphere.
I watched Yuna pout and deflate with a "Hing," then answered with a smile.
"Sushi sounds good to me too, President."
"See? Da-jeong knows what's up!"
At that, Yuna's eyes lit up in an instant, shooting her hand up and agreeing with me.
She was so cute, it made me grin like a fool.
The members always call me cute, but Yuna's the cutest, hands down.
"Aww, Da-jeong-ah. You don't have to say that just because of Yuna."
"Yeah. Yuna's getting spoiled."
"What do you mean spoiled! I hate you unnies!"
We bickered like that for a while, but in the end, lunch was decided to be sushi.
We gathered around the long table and got down to the main topic.
Which was, of course, the monumental first settlement.
"Anyway, you've all worked hard for the past month since debuting. It was tough, right?"
"It was a bit rocky at first, but once I got used to it, it was fun."
"Same here. Especially chatting with the fans."
Everyone gave similar answers to the President's question, as if she understood our struggles.
Same for me.
Sure, the beginning had all sorts of incidents and was pretty tumultuous.
But as time went on, I got used to broadcasting, and doing various content became enjoyable.
It made me happy and amazed that people liked someone like me this much.
"Good. You each had your hardships, but… I'm glad you're enjoying it. Please keep enjoying it from now on. Broadcasting only works if you girls are having fun—otherwise, the viewers won't either."
"Yes! I'll keep that in my heart!"
"That's right, good answer. Our Yuna."
The room burst into laughter at Yuna's spirited reply.
The President looked around at us for a moment, then suddenly stopped her gaze on me.
And tossed out a casual remark.
"Plus, there's something super commemorative today that we're all aware of, right?"
"Oh, what is it?"
"Is it our solo songs coming out?"
"Well, Da-jeong would know if it was."
Eh? M-me?
Was there something special worth commemorating?
Everyone already knows it's the first settlement day.
But she's singling me out, so maybe it's something about me… What could it be?
"Da-jeong is the first in Blue LUV to hit 50,000 Mityube subscribers and 50,000 Twitch followers. Everyone, give her a round of applause!"
I was still guessing when…
The President announced it loudly, and I fell into a state of confusion.
F-Fifty thousand?
No way.
It's only been a month since debut?
And on top of that, I'm the fastest in Blue LUV to achieve it.
"Woooow!"
"No way, for real?"
"Da-jeong-ah, that's amazing…!"
"As expected of our maknae."
Clap clap clap—
The meeting room filled with the members' exclamations and thunderous applause that nearly shook the walls.
But I was still in a daze, unable to grasp the reality.
"Da-jeong, you didn't know?"
"N-No… I wasn't paying attention, so…."
I nodded blankly at the President's words.
Then I belatedly pulled out my phone to check.
Gasp, it's true.
Probably hit it sometime early this morning.
Now it's even gone a bit past 50k for both subscribers and followers.
Already 50,000.
It felt kinda weird.
Of course, back when I was running the Clip Channel full-time, it had way surpassed 50k.
But that was thanks to the Blues, not me.
Of course, it's not that different now.
If I weren't Blue LUV's Lulu, I probably wouldn't have hit this number so fast.
This is only possible thanks to the President, the staff, and the members.
But still.
It felt different from achieving it purely as the Clip Channel.
Seeing that 50k stamped here as the number of people who like me…
It made me all fuzzy and tingly inside, hard to contain myself.
"Da-jeong-ah, how's it feel? See what I told you?"
"Huh?"
While I was staring blankly at my phone…
The President came over, stroked my head, and spoke.
Looking at me with crescent-moon eyes, like she was gazing at a very proud child.
"You're even more amazing than you think. Now do you get how many people in the world like you this much?"
"Ah…."
That's right.
The day I first learned I'd passed for Blue LUV.
I'd asked the President.
Why she'd chosen someone like me.
And she'd answered.
'I have confidence I can discover the charms you don't know about yourself. And I saw it.'
Back then, I didn't understand what she meant.
But now, I think I have a faint idea.
"…Yes! Thank you so much, President. I'll keep doing my best!"
"That's the spirit. Whew, such a good kid. Our maknae."
I clenched my fists and vowed to live up to her expectations.
She gently stroked my head again, pinched my cheek one last time, and returned to her seat.
"Da-jeong-ssi, here's your settlement statement. Check it over and let me know if anything looks off."
"Ah, yes. Thank you…."
Then, like passing a baton, So-eun unnie came over with papers and handed one to each member.
I thought money stuff like this was usually kept confidential, but…
"Gasp! Unnie, why'd you earn so much? Buy me something yummy!"
"What are you looking at! Let's see how much you made, missy!"
"Kids, even so, this is kinda something you keep private…."
…Yeah, no need to worry about that at all.
Sometimes, our members feel more like family than actual family.
No, even families probably don't get this close.
[Total - 24,763,487 KRW]
"…Huh?"
I glanced at the statement without much thought, and the bottom line jumped out at me.
The moment that number registered, my mind blanked out.
Wait, isn't this total a bit off?
For just one month?
Even including all the Mityube and donation money?
"Oh, and Da-jeong-ah. The Clip Channel donations are yours after taxes, so keep that in mind."
"Huh? The C-Clip Channel doesn't split with the company?"
"Nope, of course not. That's not from Blue LUV activities; if anything, it's like freelance work."
"Ugh…?!"
I-I see.
I'd assumed even the donations to the Blueoshi channel were split with the company.
Turns out they were separate.
Roughly calculating just the donations… about 6 million won.
That's a ton too.
Honestly, I'd tried to block donations, but viewers broke the rules and went wild, so I had no choice but to leave them open.
I never expected this much.
"Come to think of it, Da-jeong-ah, what are you gonna do with your first settlement?"
"Not sure. I do have something in mind for the donations, though…."
"Oh? Just the donations?"
"Yes."
I nodded to the President, who tilted her head in confusion.
Yeah, this is something I've wanted to do for a while.
I might need a little help from the President….
But I want to do it this time around.