Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
With all the hag girl groups making their glorious return, us hag fans get the most relatable content from them, like KARA members Gyuri and Jiyoung being utterly confused by the existence of paid-messaging app Bubble.
During Instagram Live streams, both idols were unfamiliar with the app when fans asked them about it, and both also basically said to not bother with that chicanery.
When Jiyoung found out about the app through her fans, her first reaction was: “Bubble? Oh~ A messenger app. But why? I’m on the official fancafe a lot, aren’t I? Is it like UFO (an app that used to be similar to Bubble but messages are sent privately to individual fans)? The thing we used to do back in the days? I see, so there’s an app version now. I should ask someone about it. So, I guess it’s like UFO TOWN. Okay. I need to check, though. To see if it’s worth it.”
But when she found out that the app wasn’t free, Jiyoung responded: “What? You have to pay for it? You all? Then, I don’t want to do it. Why pay? I can just [communicate] here like this.”
Jiyoung was most upfront, being confused by it and saying she can just do streams like she already was on Instagram.
(버블) 돈내고하는거야 그대들이? 그럼 난 안 하고 싶은데? 뭘 돈을 내! 여기서 이렇게 하면 되지 그치? 😑 https://t.co/RaWBGB6I3y pic.twitter.com/fg0gGkk4tK
— 뮤즈 (@onjyone) December 7, 2022
Meanwhile, Gyuri promised to provide great value at least.
Similarly, Gyuri expressed her mild shock after finding out that Bubble was a paid subscription. She reacted: “Bubble is not for free [for you]? I did not know that. Hm … then I need to think about it more.”
Then, she added that even if she were to be active on it, she would return the favor to the fans with something that is worth much more than 4,500 KRW (average fee). She said: “I will give you 10,000 KRW (worth of messages)! Or 20,000? I will talk about this. That’s our motto: to give back more than what we are paid for. I always think that being a professional is all about doing more than what you are paid for.”
She really started running the numbers live.
버블이 유료야? 음.. 그럼 좀 생각해 봐야겠네.. 유료면.. 글쎄..#역시최수종저리비켜아이돌 https://t.co/yCVXUDYUsc pic.twitter.com/Kb66kR30cM
— 뮤즈 (@onjyone) December 9, 2022
Granted, I’m sure many other idols wish they could do the same in terms of not having a company forcing them on these apps and also not really needing the money, but it’s still refreshing to hear a celeb say it cause it is indeed ridiculous that it’s normalized to pay for them to promote themselves to you.
