Siblings Work in Business (29)
New Face
Inside a small cafe in a corner of Suwon Station Rodeo Street.
“Hyun-woo.”
“Yes, Manager.”
“Clear the table with the empty cup.”
“Yes!”
He went to the table the manager pointed at, and there was an empty cup sitting on it.
‘How long has it been here…?’
Only dried coffee stains remained at the bottom of the cup.
So he assumed it was left by a customer who had left without cleaning up.
Just as he was about to return to his original position after clearing the empty cup…
“Hey, you.”
A customer’s voice called out to him, and he had a bad feeling about this.
“Did you clear the cup from this table?”
“Ah, yes.”
The customer’s face crumpled at his answer.
“Why did you throw it away when I wasn’t even finished?!”
“Huh? I checked that it was empty before I…”
“Don’t talk back to an adult! Get me the owner.”
“I apologize, sir.”
He had a lot to say.
He wanted to sigh deeply.
But he was just a part-timer, and all he could do was lower his head.
“You should have done that from the beginning.”
The customer, seemingly intoxicated by his victory, said with half-closed eyes.
“You threw away my coffee, so bring me another one.”
He wanted to refuse.
But from his experience, customers like this usually acted this way from the start, looking for something.
So, Hyun-woo just lowered his head and turned away without answering.
He wanted to ask his manager what to do.
“You should have checked if the customer was still there before clearing the table.”
You told me to clear it, you bastard.
He wanted to yell that and quit, but he had to endure it.
Arguing would only make things worse, and he would be the one who looked bad.
“Hyun-woo, pay for the coffee yourself.”
“Yes.”
Hyun-woo paid for an Americano with his card and placed the coffee on a tray with trembling hands.
His instinct to crush the cup and his reason to not get worked up over a customer…
He was deeply conflicted.
“Go out and have a cigarette.”
“Huh?”
“It’s almost your break time anyway, so I’ll take it to the customer.”
“…Thanks.”
He took off his apron, feeling suffocated.
“It’s my last day, so I can do this much.”
“Thanks.”
It was also the last day for his colleague, his only support at the cafe.
He felt relieved as he stepped out of the cafe.
‘Should I quit too…?’
In a corner of the Rodeo Street alley…
He rummaged through his pocket and opened his cigarette pack.
‘Just two left.’
He took out one of the two remaining cigarettes and put it in his mouth.
‘I missed the bus this morning, encountered a difficult customer at the cafe, and the manager is a jerk…’
Nothing was going right today.
“Damn it.”
A life without any joy.
“This is what you’ve always wanted.”
Startled by a voice, he quickly looked around.
‘A drunkard?’
He rubbed his eyes and lowered his arm, and he saw a decent-looking guy with his head down, standing near the entrance of a building not far away.
‘His girlfriend?’
A woman with long hair was watching the man with her back to Hyun-woo, her arms crossed.
Although he could only see her profile, he was impressed by the man’s picture-perfect side view.
‘With a face like that, he’d be successful as a celebrity…’
That was the extent of his observation.
Envying others was something only those with the luxury of other thoughts could do.
He took a last drag of his almost finished cigarette and flicked the ashes.
Just as he was crushing the end of the cigarette butt with his foot, intending to throw it away later…
“Lee Eun-ho, if you don’t want to do it, don’t.”
“What?”
“You don’t have to. Don’t do it. If you can’t do it, let’s just quit.”
At first, he wondered what they were talking about.
“We worked our asses off for years to get here, but it can’t be helped. If Lee Eun-ho doesn’t want to do it, we should quit. Right?”
“Ha… haha.”
When the woman spoke sharply, the man suddenly burst out laughing like crazy.
Honestly, his first thought was, ‘Is he really crazy?’
“Are you going to collapse on the street again like before?”
“If I collapse, I can sing lying down.”
Sing? Sing what?
He then noticed a larger than usual crowd gathered at the center of Rodeo Street.
‘Oh, so he really is a celebrity.’
It was a makeshift stage, but judging by the crowd, he must be famous.
He was briefly impressed by seeing a celebrity in person, but…
The woman, as if she still had more to say, spoke with a defiant posture.
“Bullshit. Did those people come here to see you lying down? I said quit if you can’t do it. If you really can’t do it, just watch me do well from the side.”
“Wow, me? How can I just watch? I’m not quitting, I’m not lying down, I’m not giving up.”
“If you collapse again, I’ll stomp on you.”
“Make sure you don’t crush my face.”
“No, I’ll only stomp on your face.”
“Hahaha.”
Haha.
He thought they were rapping.
He burst out laughing along with the man, forgetting about the difficult customer, at the woman’s heavy, rhythmic tone.
Then, the two headed towards the stage.
Hyun-woo checked his watch and followed them.
“Greetings! I’m from E-UNG…”
E-ung.
When he first heard it, he thought it was an odd team name, completely different from their aura.
But after their introduction, Lee Eun-ji and Lee Eun-ho, the name seemed fitting, considering their names.
At first, he was drawn to their sharp eyes, and then his ears opened to their pleasant, low voices.
As the streetlights came on one by one, Lee Eun-ji’s light brown eyes sparkled.
Even when some people turned away, saying they didn’t know the celebrities, Hyun-woo remained frozen, staring at Eun-ji.
Then, Lee Eun-ji held the guitar and settled into a comfortable position.
‘Wow…’
It felt like they were from different worlds.
If this was a four-panel comic with chibi characters, they were from a romance manga with all sorts of sparkles.
As if she wasn’t a beginner…
She showed off a sensual, skillful performance to the people who were about to leave.
He listened to the rhythmical, jazzy melody, the kind you might hear in a bar, in awe.
‘…When was it?’
When was the last time he enjoyed music like this?
Music was always playing at the cafe.
But being busy with work made it almost impossible to properly ‘appreciate’ it.
He didn’t listen to music at home either.
After work, he was too tired and just collapsed on his bed.
The past few months of working at the cafe, even though he didn’t even like coffee, flashed before his eyes.
The meaningless time spent just to earn money.
The guitar performance that had stopped.
Hyun-woo sighed regretfully.
Then, as if understanding his regret, she naturally changed chords and continued playing.
It was a different song from the one she played earlier.
This time, she sang along with the music, and Lee Eun-ho held the microphone.
The Last Day we shouted, claiming each other
He was truly surprised the moment he heard Lee Eun-ho’s voice.
Perhaps because he overheard their conversation before they went on stage…
The first thing that came to mind were her words.
「“You don’t have to. Don’t do it. If you can’t do it, let’s just quit.”」
It wasn’t easy for a man to find another man’s voice ‘sweet.’
But Lee Eun-ho’s singing was different.
It was beyond sweet; it was ‘ear-melting.’
‘Telling someone who sings like this to quit…’
What a waste of talent.
Lee Eun-ho’s part seemed to have ended, as the melody changed, accompanied by the keyboard and a bright instrument.
Our Last Day whispered, drunk on your scent
Lee Eun-ji continued singing, playing the guitar, with a deep, resonant voice that suited R&B.
‘It’s good.’
The song, like a Christmas present, made him feel strangely emotional.
Their harmony, like their identical faces, was perfect, as if they were one from birth.
‘A singer like this isn’t famous…?’
He couldn’t help but question the words of the people who were about to leave earlier.
“Wow…”
Many people, including himself, exclaimed in awe at their singing.
‘It’s understandable…’
The instruments in the music stopped playing as the song reached its climax.
But the music didn’t stop.
Because the two continued playing, using their voices as instruments.
Don’t forget Last Day
As the lyrics suggested, it seemed like an unforgettable performance.
After the song ended…
Only when Lee Eun-ho lowered the microphone did Hyun-woo realize the song was over.
Clap, clap…
Immersed in the music, he started clapping unconsciously.
Then, the sound of applause gradually grew like a wave.
Seeing her shy smile, he felt a warmth spreading through his chest after a long time.
‘She has this side to her too.’
Looking at Lee Eun-ji, he wondered if she was the same person who had spoken so sharply earlier.
And that day was the beginning.
The day he unconsciously started ‘stanning’ them, something he had never done before.
On the bus home after work, Hyun-woo searched for ‘E-ung’ on his phone.
It wasn’t difficult to find them again, thanks to their memorable team name.
He replayed the video of their performance uploaded on Minsta, reliving that day countless times.
A few days later, as the drama ‘He is 1+1=1’ started airing, E-UNG’s music was released.
Although it was just an OST track, Hyun-woo was happy to start his mornings with clear audio instead of noisy video recordings.
Just as he was habitually checking for news about them…
‘What’s this?’
He stumbled upon a familiar face on NRY Entertainment’s O-Tube channel.
‘It’s the Lee-eung siblings.’
He recognized them at a glance.
There was no way he could forget those faces.
—Why are you wasting your talent on this?
Lee Eun-ho asked, looking at the fish head shape on the music program window.
‘Lee Eun-ho’s face…’
Haha.
He burst out laughing at the caption.
—Draw a pumpkin next to it.
—Why?
—Because it’s your face. Ouch!
“Hahahahaha.”
The chaotic scene, the cat video inserted in the middle…
Hyun-woo laughed out loud for the first time in a while, watching Eun-ho run away.
He checked for other videos, but unfortunately, there weren’t any.
He scrolled down, curious about the reactions of other fans like himself, but there were no comments yet.
[Hyun-woo]
His disappointment was short-lived.
At the manager’s sudden text message, Hyun-woo’s face hardened.
[The owner is closing the store…]
A sudden dismissal notice via text, saying they would pay him his wages within the next week.
He tried calling, but neither the owner nor the manager answered.
Oh my gosh, was Hyunwoo the one who commented first? Ayeee