Siblings Work in Business (32)
“It’s okay, hyung.”
But it was Eun-ho, whose collar was being grabbed, who stopped Hyun-woo.
“Hyung, more importantly…”
“Yes?”
“Did you get the footage?”
Even in this situation, Eun-ho calmly turned to Hyun-woo and asked.
“Yes, I got it, but…”
He’s thinking about the footage in this situation?
That was Hyun-woo’s initial thought.
But at that moment…
Eun-ho smiled kindly and spoke.
“You get punished for using your fists, but you can ruin someone’s life if you use the law correctly.”
Hyun-woo’s hair stood on end at Eun-ho’s quiet words.
“R-Ruin whose life?”
“Hyung, can you call the CEO?”
The drunkard, still intoxicated, asked with half-lidded eyes, as if he hadn’t come to his senses yet.
“C-CEO? What CEO?”
“The CEO who’s going to file a lawsuit against you, of course.”
“Lawsuit?! What did I even do?!”
Despite his confident shout, the drunkard flinched and stepped back.
“Wow, you’re asking that seriously?”
The guy, who had been slowly backing away, quickly scurried away like a rat.
But it didn’t matter.
‘I made sure the footage was good, anticipating this.’
The video clearly captured the guy’s face and voice.
Fortunately, his whispered words, “If you’re going to be a dog, go home,” which he had muttered to avoid being recorded, weren’t captured as intended.
After the guy ran away, I called the CEO and explained the situation.
“I’ll take care of this.”
“Okay.”
“Leave this to me, and focus on your performance today. Do well.”
“Yes.”
“Eun-ji must have been shocked. Eun-ho, take care of her.”
“Yes.”
“I’m okay, CEO!”
Lee Eun-ji replied energetically from behind, seemingly having overheard the conversation.
We continued promoting after that.
We encountered a few more strange people, besides that drunkard.
But at least it wasn’t as bad as the drunkard’s harassment, so it wasn’t too burdensome.
“Lee Joo-yeon!”
“Over here, Seul-gi! Here!”
Three hours before the performance…
Eun-ho returned to Twenties Live Bar with Eun-ji and Hyun-woo.
As they arrived at the bar…
They heard two women’s loud voices in front of the still-closed bar.
“If it’s not here this time, I’m going home, concert or not.”
“It’s really here, I swear!”
“If I hadn’t been tempted by tteokbokki…”
“I even bought you kongbul (stir-fried pork and vegetables)!”
“So, what time does the concert start?”
Seul-gi, seemingly having bought her a lot of food in exchange for coming to the concert, subtly changed the subject and asked.
“The sign says it opens at 5, but the lights are already on…”
“They must be practicing!”
Meanwhile, Joo-yeon seemed to be peeking through the door, checking when it would start.
But then…
“Kyaa!”
Seul-gi, who had been staring at Joo-yeon, screamed and stepped back.
‘What, when did she get here?’
Eun-ji, who had been beside them just a moment ago, had approached them in the blink of an eye.
“Hello, unnies! What’s up?”
“Um…”
Joo-yeon, as if she had committed a crime, cautiously spoke, avoiding eye contact with Eun-ji.
“We came here because Lee Eun-ho is performing here today…”
“You know my brother?”
Lee Eun-ho.
Eun-ji tilted her head at the clear mention of his name.
“Huh? My brother?”
Joo-yeon finally made eye contact with Eun-ji.
Then, as if seeing something unbelievable, Joo-yeon blinked repeatedly, staring at Eun-ji.
And she gasped.
It was a face she had seen several times in pictures and videos.
But seeing her in person, she realized that the pictures didn’t capture even half of her aura.
“Hey, Lee Eun-ho!”
Then…
Eun-ji turned around and waved at Eun-ho.
“Lee Eun-ho! These people came to see our performance today!”
“Oh, really?”
No way.
At the familiar voice, Joo-yeon, following Eun-ji’s gaze, turned around, her eyes widening.
“Holy shit! It’s… Oh my god.”
Joo-yeon, forgetting that she had just cursed, covered her mouth as Eun-ho slowly approached.
“You came to see our performance?”
Eun-ho’s voice was gentle.
Mesmerized, Joo-yeon removed her hand from her mouth and exclaimed,
“Yes! I’m a… fan!”
“Me?”
“Yes!”
I asked again, still in disbelief.
She nodded repeatedly, her face on the verge of tears.
“I saw you at Ye-chan oppa’s showcase and looked for you everywhere, and I found out you were performing here today…”
“…At the showcase, not Suwon Station?”
I hadn’t expected that.
Thanks to featuring on Ye-chan’s song and performing at his showcase, I got the opportunity to sing the OST.
And now, thanks to that, I was able to have this performance.
Since it was still early, I hadn’t expected to have fans yet.
‘But…’
Although I was surprised, it was all the more touching because it was unexpected.
“What’s your name?”
“I-I’m Lee Joo-yeon.”
“Joo-yeon. Thank you.”
Thank you.
There were so many things I wanted to say, but that was all that came out.
Just as an awkward silence was about to settle in, Lee Eun-ji interjected,
“Oh, by the way, unnie, the performance starts at 7.”
It was a great help, as I was wondering how to continue the conversation.
I added to what Lee Eun-ji said,
“The staff is still setting up, so you won’t be able to enter until after 6:30.”
“Ah, that’s why no one’s here.”
“Yes. So, Joo-yeon and your friend…”
“I’m Joo Seul-gi.”
The woman next to Joo-yeon, with short hair and a winter outfit that seemed too thin, spoke.
She had a similar aura to Lee Eun-ji.
“Seul-gi, can you come back at 7 too?”
“We will.”
As Eun-ho smiled kindly, Seul-gi answered, pulling Joo-yeon along.
Joo-yeon was nodding enthusiastically, her face bright red.
The two quickly left, saying they didn’t want to be a disturbance.
I waved at them as they walked away, watching them until they disappeared from sight.
A fan…
“A personal fan! Lucky!”
Lee Eun-ji exclaimed excitedly, even more so than I, who received the confession.
Perhaps because she was the one who interacted with them after being ignored all day and experiencing that unpleasant encounter with the drunkard…
I felt a strange sensation.
‘If it were before the regression…’
Fans visiting, greeting, giving gifts… these were things Lee Eun-ji experienced.
And my role was always that of an extra, watching from the side and saying, “Good for you.”
My mind raced.
I tried to calm myself down and said,
“Let’s go inside and practice. So we don’t make any mistakes.”
“Trying to act calm, huh?”
“Haha.”
Lee Eun-ji playfully pushed my shoulder and said.
She wasn’t wrong, so I just smiled awkwardly and entered the bar with her.
Passing through the entrance, the interior was more like a club or a trendy bar than a typical ‘live bar.’
“This feels like a real concert.”
Lee Eun-ji said, her eyes sparkling.
Flashy lighting and a decent stage.
She seemed excited to see a proper stage.
I looked at her for a moment, then turned my gaze towards the stage and replied,
“It does.”
‘How long has it been?’
I answered nonchalantly, but I was just as excited.
Microphones, decent amps and speakers, and spotlights.
It wasn’t like a concert hall or a music show stage with flashy laser lights and top-notch speakers.
But it was okay.
This was enough for now.
Or rather…
Perhaps because of meeting a fan, I felt even happier, almost undeservingly so.
“Please prepare for rehearsal!”
The staff member’s voice, whom we met again after two weeks, sounded brighter than usual.
Lee Eun-ji and I went on stage and did a brief rehearsal.
♪♬
As if trying to make it a proper performance…
Two more OSTs from the drama ‘He is 1+1=1’ were added to the setlist.
After the brief rehearsal, I asked the staff member from CK E&M who came for the stage setup,
“How was it?”
The staff members gave me a thumbs-up and nodded silently.
Perhaps because we had practiced for two weeks after the second Gangnam Station busking event was canceled…
The rehearsal was perfect.
At least, I thought it was clean without any mistakes.
But…
“Hyung?”
“Yeah?”
“Was there something wrong?”
“N-No.”
Was there something bothering him?
Hyun-woo’s face was stiff.
I only learned this much later, but…
Hyung’s expression hardened like he was angry when he was extremely happy.
“Was I dreaming?”
“You’ve asked that more than ten times already, you idiot.”
“You saw it too…”
“I saw it. I told you, more than twenty times.”
As if not hearing Seul-gi’s reply, Joo-yeon stared at the ceiling lights with dazed eyes and muttered,
“…What am I going to do, I feel like I’m going to heaven.”
“Pfft!”
Seul-gi, who had been eating bingsu, quickly covered her mouth with her hand.
Then, looking at her hand, now dirty from the bingsu, she sighed briefly at Joo-yeon’s sudden mention of ‘heaven.’
“Ah, Joo… sigh”
After cleaning up, Seul-gi sat back down and continued,
“I understand why you’re so crazy about him.”
“Really?”
“He’s definitely handsome. And judging by the ‘He is 1+1=1’ OST, he seems to be a good singer too.”
“Of course!”
Joo-yeon exclaimed, then slumped back in her chair and sighed.
“Ah, I regret not knowing about his performance at Suwon Station…”
“You saw the video, didn’t you?”
“I did. But seeing it in person is different.”
“I guess so.”
Seul-gi said, shoving a mouthful of condensed milk-covered shaved ice into her mouth.
“But I like the sister more than the brother.”
“The sister? Ah, Eun-ji, his sibling?”
“Huh? She looks young, is she older than us?”
“No, she’s 20.”
Seul-gi looked at Joo-yeon with wide eyes.
Joo-yeon just shrugged nonchalantly at her gaze and replied,
“If they’re better than me, they’re all unnie and oppa, right?”
That’s…
“…True. I agree.”
Joo-yeon and Seul-gi looked at each other and smiled brightly.
“Should we go a little early?”
“Let’s.”