Fans feel that IVE member Jang Wonyoung has finally gotten the “Unnie Disease” after seeing her recent updates on Bubble.
“Unnie Disease” refers to the phenomenon where the older member of the group is very fond of and attentive towards her juniors. Since Wonyoung used to be the maknae of IZ*ONE, she has probably been at the receiving end of it in her career. Though she is still very young, the disease has finally caught on to her, thanks to the even younger member of her new group, IVE.
After the KBS Song Festival on December 16, Wonyoung sent a series of messages on Bubble where she couldn’t stop gushing about her dongsaeng and IVE’s maknae Leeseo. Like a proud elder sister, she kept praising Leeseo’s performance during her collab stage with Hyein and Minji from NewJeans, Eunchae from LE SSERAFIM, and Sullyoon of NMIXX. She then had a realization that now she fully understands the feeling of being an unnie.
Wonyoung: Did you guys see our Leeseo yesterday?
Wonyoung: She did really well even when she performed alone.
Wonyoung: Even when she came for the interview
Wonyoung: I could only see Leeseo among so many people.
Wonyoung: My cutie😣
Wonyoung: I’m really
Wonyoung: An unnie
Wonyoung: Ha 🤦♀️
Wonyoung: Why are you like that unnie?
—Wonyoung’s Bubble messages
But she didn’t hold back her appreciation for the other members either. After Leeseo, she mentioned Liz, who is the same age as her, commending her stage presence. Wonyoung said she was watching her from the MC seat all along while she performed a collab stage with STAYC‘s Yun and (G)I-DLE‘s Yuqi.
Wonyoung: Did you see our Liz yesterday?
Wonyoung: I rooted for her before she went on stage.
Wonyoung: She’s a shy cutie❣️
Wonyoung: She was so pretty on stage and nailed the performance, right?
Wonyoung: I was watching from the MC seat
Wonyoung: I was smiling with so much happiness hehe
—Wonyoung’s Bubble messages
And finally, she praised her other same-age member Rei, along with her unnies Yujin and Gaeul, calling them “the best” for their fantastic performance on stage,
Wonyoung: And our Gaeul unnie and Yujin unnie and Rei
Wonyoung: They were amazing during the main performance. The best.
Wonyoung: They’re all the best! Love you 🥰🤍
—Wonyoung’s Bubble messages
Netizens couldn’t help but applaud Wonyoung for this heartfelt gesture towards all her members. Fans who have followed her since her IZ*ONE days also felt nostalgic that the once maknae has grown up to be such an attentive and warm older sister to Leeseo.
- “No matter how much people try to make her look bad, Wonyoung is still that person who thinks of every single of her teammates preciously and mentions them all.”
- “The fact that she mentioned every single of her teammates, she has a great sense.”
- “Wonyoung was like a puppy who followed her unnies everywhere back when she was still in IZ*ONEㅋㅋ She grew up really wellㅋㅋ.”
- “If you look at Wonyoung’s messages, they’re either showing her affection toward her fans or her teammates. I can’t imagine how tough it must be for her because of all the fabricated stories about her.”
- “Even while sending those messages, she was careful about every little thing.”
