237: Chapter 223 Aespa is doomed~

The grilled meat at the restaurant was finally served.

The thick-cut beef short ribs were grilled until crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, brushed with a secret sauce, and sizzling on the iron plate. The fat dripped onto the charcoal fire below, stirring up a puff of white smoke and an even richer aroma. It was accompanied by grilled vegetables, potato wedges, and several dishes of Korean side dishes.

But after the food was served, the actions of Jiang Zhiyu, Choi Yena, and Assistant Xiao Zheng were surprisingly consistent—

The three of them took out their phones at the same time.

"Click."

"Click."

"Click."

Three shutter sounds rang out almost simultaneously.

Jiang Zhiyu took a photo of the overall plating, his angle as professional as a food blogger's. Choi Yena took a photo of the portion in front of her, even making sure to arrange the utensils neatly. Assistant Xiao Zheng took a close-up, the details of the sauce clearly visible.

After taking the photos, the three of them looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh.

Jiang Zhiyu raised his eyebrows, his tone teasing: "So everyone follows the 'phone eats first' rule!"

Assistant Xiao Zheng's face turned slightly red as he whispered, "Reporting to my girlfriend... She said she wanted to see what I'm eating..."

Jiang Zhiyu raised an eyebrow: "Oh? Your girlfriend keeps a tight leash on you."

"It's not a tight leash..." the assistant quickly explained, "It's... it's just caring..."

His face turned even redder.

Choi Yena also nodded: "Me too... I have to send it to my members. They must be waiting."

Her fingers flew across the screen as she sent the photo to the IZ*ONE group chat.

Sure enough, as soon as the photo was sent, the group chat immediately exploded.

Jang Wonyoung: [Wow! It looks so delicious!]

An Yujin: [Yena Unnie! Did PD Jiang make things difficult for you?!]

Kwon Eunbi: [That's not the point! The point is Yena, hurry up and report the situation!]

Watching the messages flash by, Choi Yena couldn't help but smile. She quickly typed a reply: [Everything is going smoothly! The project is very interesting! Currently eating~]

After sending the message, she looked up and saw that Jiang Zhiyu was also looking at his phone.

His expression was a bit... subtle?

With a mischievous smile at the corner of his mouth, his fingers tapped quickly on the screen as if he were sending some interesting message.

Who was he sending it to?

Choi Yena was curious, but too embarrassed to ask.

In reality, Jiang Zhiyu was engaging in "sinful" bragging in a group chat named "Secretly Eating Girl Group aespa."

This group was privately created by the four members of aespa, and the name was given by NingNing—because they often secretly ordered takeout during their weight management periods, "covering" for each other.

Jiang Zhiyu being pulled into this group was a complete accident.

Once, after he coached aespa's training, Kim Minjeong accidentally sent a screenshot of the group chat into the main group he was in. Although she retracted it within seconds, Jiang Zhiyu had already seen it.

Later, someone (most likely NingNing) simply pulled him into this small group, under the guise of "mutual supervision."

But in reality, this group often became a scene for "bragging about food" and "late-night food porn."

And at this moment, Jiang Zhiyu had just sent a high-definition close-up photo of the grilled meat.

Caption:

[Little Jiang is spicier than the old ones (Jiang Zhiyu's username): @All Members, I watched Minjeong's livestream today and heard her say you're still in the weight management stage. Oppa's heart aches for you! So I'm sending some food for you to look at, just think of it as spiritual sustenance~ (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧]

Almost immediately, there was a reaction in the group.

Kim Minjeong, who was resting in the dorm, was the first to see the message.

She was sitting on her bed holding a pillow, scrolling through her phone, when she saw Jiang Zhiyu's message and that photo of the grilled meat—

"Ah!"

She gave a soft cry, her face turning red in an instant.

It wasn't a blush of shyness, but rather the embarrassment of being "caught red-handed."

Zhiyu Oppa... actually watched my livestream?!

And he even remembered me saying we secretly order takeout?!

She quickly clicked on the livestream replay to check if she had said anything she shouldn't have...

Then she realized that she indeed had.

Not only did she say it, but she also described in detail the whole process of "ordering takeout, being discovered by Ningning, and her snitching."

Kim Minjeong covered her face and buried herself in the pillow, letting out a muffled, shameful yet slightly delighted laugh: "Hehe... Oppa actually watched my livestream..."

That feeling was like a small bad deed being discovered by someone important; it was both embarrassing and... a little happy?

At least it meant that Oppa was paying attention to her.

Meanwhile, the other members in the group also saw the message one after another.

NingNing replied almost instantly: [Master did it on purpose, definitely on purpose!! [Angry][Angry]]

Her tone was full of "accusation," but if one looked closely, that message was followed by a "drooling" emoji.

Giselle sent a string of ellipses: [...I'm going to hypnotize myself. This isn't grilled meat, this is a vegetable salad, this is a vegetable salad...]

But immediately after, she sent another one: [Hypnosis failed. [Crying]]

Karina's reaction was the most direct: [Oppa, if you keep this up, I'm calling the police! Late-night food porn is illegal! [Knife][Knife]]

She sent "knife" emojis, but anyone could see it was a joke.

The reactions of the several girls were intense and hilarious, clearly stimulated quite a bit by this late-night grilled meat photo.

But the most special reply came from Kim Minjeong.

She didn't speak in the group right away.

According to Ningning's later revelation, the situation in the dorm at that time was like this—

In the aespa dorm living room, the four girls had just finished practice and returned to the dorm, slumped on the sofa resting.

Kim Minjeong's phone went "ding."

She lazily picked it up to take a look, and then—

"Ah!!!"

A short exclamation.

The other three were startled: "What's wrong?!"

Kim Minjeong suddenly sat up from the sofa, her eyes wide and round, her cheeks turning red at a speed visible to the naked eye.

“Op-Oppa...” she murmured softly, “actually watched my livestream...”

Her fingers slid across the screen, repeatedly looking at the beginning of Jiang Zhiyu's message—"I watched Minjeong's livestream today."

Oppa watched my livestream.

Oppa watched my livestream.

Oppa watched my livestream.

This realization looped infinitely in her mind.

Ningning leaned over to take a look and understood immediately: "Oh~ I see~ Minjeong-ah, PD Jiang watched your livestream~"

Her tone was full of mischievous teasing.

Kim Minjeong's face turned even redder, and she buried her face into a throw pillow, making a muffled sound: "Mmm..."

But a few seconds later, she peeked out again, her eyes sparkling, and a silly smile unconsciously appeared on the corner of her mouth.

"Hehe..."

That look was adorably dorky.

And the most interesting thing was Kim Minjeong's own reply.

She hesitated for a long time before carefully sending a message in the group:

[winter: Oppa... I want to eat too ૮₍ ˃ ⤙ ˂ ₎ა]

It was followed by a cute emoticon of a little dog looking longingly at food.