On December 24, aespa’s Ningning shared a message on her Instagram story, expressing gratitude to a fan who unexpectedly paid for her meal at a hotpot restaurant.

Ningning posted on her Instagram story, "To the fan who paid for my meal at the hotpot restaurant without saying a word, thank you so much. I enjoyed the food! If there’s a chance in this lifetime, I’ll treat you to a meal in return. (I feel sorry because I ate so much, it must have been expensive).”

Fans flooded popular online communities with their admiration, commenting on how sweet the gesture was and how sincerely Ningning responded. Many also expressed their envy as Ningning publically thanked the fan.

They commented:

"If she thanks them so openly like this, the fan must feel like their money was well spent."

"Ningning didn't say the gender of the fan but I think it was a female fan. lol."

"If you like someone, you might just feel like treating them. Why is anyone even debating who has more or less money? This binary way of thinking is so messed up."

"I want to buy Karina a meal. I'm a student so I can only afford Tteokbokki. Lol."

"I want to buy her food too."

"This is random, but Ningning is so good at Korean."

"Ningning is so cute."

"I'm really surprised there are fans who would pay for their meals like that."

"Idols make so much money. Why would people need to buy them food?"

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