Siblings Work in Business (12)
‘Eun-ho and Eun-ji are on a different wavelength from the rest of the world.’
Lee Ha-neul chuckled, looking at the siblings through the transparent door of the soundproof booth, as if it were a picture frame.
Eun-ho and Eun-ji were somewhat pretty children when they first met.
However…
Perhaps because they had lived on the streets for a long time and experienced many hardships, their distrust of people ran very, very deep.
But thanks to CEO Park, who started acting as their father figure despite being unmarried, they slowly began to open up.
As they grew into adults under CEO Park’s thorough care and education…
Lee Ha-neul often flinched whenever she saw them for lessons.
Well-managed, Eun-ho and Eun-ji looked more like actors than idols.
Although they were siblings, they resembled twins of different genders.
Even their subtly different auras…
Eun-ji and Eun-ho had great synergy just by existing.
Not many people disliked beautiful things.
What if these two sang easily accessible love songs?
‘Commercially and artistically…’
It was a chance to catch two birds with one stone.
The theme of love was a common subject in this industry, but it also had infinite possibilities.
Because it was common, it had the advantage of easily resonating with people.
Giving up on that advantage would be a huge loss.
‘Besides, CEO Park is the producer responsible for everything, so it would be even harder for him to give up on that ambition.’
NRY Entertainment was still finding its footing, and unlike TaKa, the large agency Lee Ha-neul had worked for, the tasks and departments weren’t clearly separated.
Perhaps that’s why…
Lee Ha-neul understood the CEO’s feelings.
That was, until she realized that it was her, their vocal teacher, who had the special mission of persuading or educating them.
‘Hopefully, with this method, I can at least break down their barrier against love songs.’
When Lee Ha-neul returned to the booth…
Oblivious to her return, the two were engrossed in a heated discussion, flipping through the stack of A4 papers they had been holding since they arrived at the academy.
“How about this one?”
“That one looks too much like a power button.”
“Then how about this?”
“Hmm, that one’s just… no.”
“Ah, then Lee Eun-ji, why don’t you choose yourself!”
“But, when I try to choose, they all look okay, but… none of them really click.”
“Damn it.”
Lee Ha-neul placed her tumbler on the tea table, catching Eun-ho and Eun-ji’s attention.
“Guys.”
“Ah.”
“Choose the team logo at home later, shall we start again?”
“Yes.”
Eun-ho quickly organized the stack of papers and answered Lee Ha-neul.
Eun-ji glared at Eun-ho, her eyes narrowing as he snatched away the A4 paper she was looking at.
But only for a moment.
As if meeting Lee Ha-neul’s gaze behind Eun-ho, Eun-ji put on a forced smile.
Lee Ha-neul chuckled at Eun-ji and took away the papers filled with sweet lyrics.
She handed them new lyrics, saying,
“This time, it will be less difficult than before.”
People often attempt and fail at extremely difficult things.
But in those moments of failure…
When they encounter something manageable, something that makes them think, ‘I think I can do this…’
Rather than hesitating, they blossom, using the experience gained from tackling the difficult task.
“The lyrics are about separation, unlike the previous song, and you don’t have to look at each other this time if it’s too difficult.”
This method was often used in Lee Ha-neul’s teaching.
In dance, practicing slowly at 0.25x speed might make you feel like you can’t keep up when the speed increases, but conversely, practicing at 2x speed and then returning to normal speed makes it feel slower.
‘Phew.’
The reverse effect worked here as well.
Eun-ho sighed in relief at the mere mention of not having to make eye contact.
Like siblings…
Eun-ji also sighed deeply, then looked at Eun-ho in surprise.
Honestly, how many siblings in this country could sincerely look at each other ‘lovingly’ with ‘immersion’ while singing a ‘sweet’ love song?
‘Or rather, do any such siblings even exist?’
If they did, they wouldn’t be siblings, but incestuous beasts.
At least, I couldn’t do that while looking at Lee Eun-ji.
In the realm of ‘don’t do’ and ‘can’t do,’ this belonged to the ‘can’t do’ category.
After numerous attempts, I was impressed by Lee Eun-ji, who had managed to do it so professionally on the radio before the regression.
But perhaps because of the repeated failures…
‘This time, just this time…’
My competitive spirit and stubbornness kicked in.
The moment I saw the lyrics the teacher gave us this time…
‘I can do this!’
I was certain.
I looked at Lee Eun-ji, and she seemed to be thinking the same thing.
She smiled confidently.
As the teacher played the song, a mischievous wobble bassline added a rhythmical tone to the acoustic piano melody.
The hi-hat sound signaled the end of the intro. 4, 3, 2, 1.
I counted the beat and opened my mouth to the melody.
I hated you for leaving me
I filled a glass while badmouthing you
Sadness filled the glass
Then…
As Eun-ho started the verse…
Eun-ji looked at him with slightly surprised eyes.
‘Lee Eun-ho, his damping seems stronger, is it just me?’
Until now, there had been a lot of sweet songs and recent hits with singing rap or bright tones.
So, Eun-ji had only vaguely thought that, since there weren’t many opportunities to hear Lee Eun-ho’s low-tone voice.
‘It wasn’t just me.’
The moment the song entered the separation theme, emphasizing the low tones…
Certainty dawned.
Lee Eun-ho’s strength shone in the high notes.
His clean, powerful high notes always gave a refreshing feeling.
But, conversely, Lee Eun-ho’s weakness was his low notes.
He lacked damping in his vocals.
His voice wasn’t heavy enough to resonate through the speakers, nor was it powerful enough to leave a lingering impression.
Knowing this, I had placed most of Lee Eun-ho’s lyrics in the high notes when composing.
On the other hand, since my strength was the strong damping in the mid-low range, I had concentrated my parts in that range.
But…
‘What the hell, this rockfish bastard…’
Should I be happy about this?
Or should I be furious at this betrayal?
I was confused.
Eun-ji’s head was spinning so much that she even missed the beat entering the hook.
I didn’t know it would be this hard after losing you
Another drink today
Clinking glasses under the moon, every night is a drinking night
I didn’t have time to care about the teacher’s warning gaze.
I couldn’t even hear the beautiful melody playing during the interlude.
I don’t know what I was thinking, I just opened my mouth and sang when it was my turn, following my instincts.
Meanwhile, my ears were completely focused on Lee Eun-ho’s voice.
Talking about the same things over and over again, as if we’ve forgotten we’re strangers
I keep waiting for you to come back—
I wondered if his high notes had weakened because his low notes had become stronger.
But I was wrong.
His high notes had become even cleaner.
Even Lee Eun-ho’s characteristic excessive techniques seemed to know when to push and pull back.
He chewed, savored, and stretched the lyrics before cleanly letting them go.
‘It gives me goosebumps.’
And it annoys me.
The lyrics marked on the paper the teacher gave us clearly indicated that the next part was Lee Eun-ho’s turn.
Honestly, I was afraid of the high notes.
‘Because I knew I would fail.’
‘Because I knew it was a range I couldn’t reach.’
‘Because I knew better than anyone that it was highly likely to lead to my failure.’
But this time, I snatched Lee Eun-ho’s part and belted it out.
Without holding back, focusing on my pride, which was greater than the fear of failure, the desire to not lose to Lee Eun-ho.
Now we’re really strangers
This was also a love song.
‘What, you can do high notes.’
‘Shut up, Lee Eun-ho.’
But we were looking into each other’s eyes.
Although it wasn’t with the ‘affectionate’ feelings the teacher requested.
This fading day
The next lyrics were supposed to be Eun-ji’s, but Eun-ho naturally took over and continued singing.
Eun-ho’s voice, raised an octave higher than the original key, and Eun-ji’s calmly subdued voice…
Their voices blended together like a well-mixed cocktail.
This is the last glass
Lee Ha-neul was momentarily speechless with pleasure.
The two finished the song in perfect harmony.
Clap, clap, clap.
The teacher’s applause, which began with a slow rhythm, quickly found its tempo and continued.
“You can do it.”
Indeed.
“I didn’t think you could…”
We could.
I couldn’t bring myself to say the rest out loud.
The teacher said that, but we, the ones who actually sang, were bewildered.
It was like a completely new realm for both of us.
‘We did it? What?’
Lee Eun-ji also looked dazed, as if confused.
We didn’t focus on the lyrics, but we were immersed.
At the end, we even made eye contact affectionately, following our breathing.
Or rather…
‘Should I even call this “affectionate”?’
I had known for a long time that Lee Eun-ji was afraid of high notes.
Lee Eun-ji envied my ability to sing high notes, and I envied her strong damping in the mid-low range.
Before the regression, Lee Eun-ji was the embodiment of my inferiority complex.
Facing something that had frustrated me countless times wasn’t easy.
After I sang my heart out and failed auditions one after another, the CEO decided to cast Lee Eun-ji without even hearing her sing.
Perhaps it was from then on…
‘I’m better than Lee Eun-ji, I can do better.’
I tried to prove it.
Back then, I didn’t know.
That everything I did to show off was actually becoming ‘excessive’ and eating away at me.
「You’ll never know it yourself, but others can see your talent.」
It was when I read Lee Eun-ji’s diary after she passed away.
I realized it too late, but from that day on, I stopped trying so hard to be better.
Instead, I relaxed and tried to work hard rather than just be good.
That’s how I spent the past year.
‘You did it, Lee Eun-ji.’
Although she cut in…
I didn’t know what Lee Eun-ji was thinking.
But Eun-ji overcame her fear and made a sound.
I was proud of her.
So I looked at her.
My little sister, you did well.
Whaaaa 😭