Siblings Work in Business (67)
“That’s a packed schedule.”
“We have to work while we can.”
Hyun-woo replied with a wry smile.
After the dance video filming, we had a celebratory performance scheduled for a company’s 5th anniversary, even though it was lunchtime.
‘We have to sing at least three or four songs…’
It seemed like lunch would have to wait.
And then, radio in the evening.
And new song recording after that.
Today wasn’t the only busy day; in fact, it seemed like the least busy day, judging by the increasingly packed schedule on the following pages.
It was almost frantic.
“Promotional…”
I read the first schedule again.
‘Promotional…’
That word bothered me.
The evening I told Lee Eun-ji about the regression…
I suddenly became curious about the performance of “DUO.”
I wanted to know where Lee Eun-ji’s current skills stood, and how ‘our’ results compared.
The first article I saw was good news.
‘DUO’ had briefly entered the top 50 on a music chart.
But that was short-lived.
The blue arrow next to “DUO” on the music chart, pointing downwards, was dismal.
‘DUO’ barely made it into the top 100 on most charts after just a day or two.
‘I don’t want to call it ‘barely’ from the start, but…’
It was a shock that our new song couldn’t even surpass “Last Day,” which was an OST.
This was 2015.
That’s what I had missed.
Even though I knew the future, I couldn’t remember everything.
There were many things I only remembered after they happened.
A popular variety show from a month ago, a nostalgic program.
And a famous idol’s comeback at the same time.
The rise of another, previously unnoticed idol group.
And things that were supposed to happen didn’t.
One of them was Lee Eun-ji.
‘Wasn’t this around the time Lee Eun-ji released her third single?’
Before the regression, Lee Eun-ji was a music chart monster, her songs always ranking high.
And now, she was at the bottom with me.
‘It’s my fault.’
Guilt gnawed at me.
There were areas of talent and intuition that couldn’t be replicated by simply imitating.
That’s how Lee Eun-ji was back then.
I chuckled wryly.
‘If I could have caught up to her by imitating, I should have succeeded back then.’
I was the one who tried harder than anyone to follow in Lee Eun-ji’s footsteps.
But even after Lee Eun-ji passed away, I couldn’t reach her level.
It was the realm of innate talent that I couldn’t replicate.
This morning, when Lee Eun-ji asked me to sing her past songs in the car…
I initially refused, but I ended up singing the entire second verse of “RED CARD.”
‘Because it was a hit.’
Lee Eun-ji didn’t want me to copy her past songs.
They were from a different time.
The songs Lee Eun-ji needed to create now were for this time, this era.
I sang “RED CARD” hoping it would inspire her.
And I also hoped that the song, inspired by that “bait,” would in turn inspire the lyrics I had to write.
“Hmm, hmm, ooh, ooh, hmm—”
I turned my head at the humming beside me, and Lee Eun-ji was bobbing her head to an unfamiliar rhythm, her eyes closed.
‘Come to think of it…’
If I had swallowed my pride and learned directly from Lee Eun-ji…
Or followed the CEO’s intuition…
‘Would things have been different?’
I remembered moments of regret from the past.
I chuckled wryly at the thought and covered my mouth with my hand, pretending to rest my chin.
‘Could I have done better if I had a status window like in those webtoons…?’
Before the regression…
There was a trending webtoon that even my colleagues were into.
The “regressors” in that webtoon were granted all sorts of abilities…
‘This is also regression, but I don’t have any of those?’
Human greed is endless. I should have been satisfied with just the regression itself, but I couldn’t help but clench and unclench my hand, even though I knew it was pointless.
Of course, nothing happened.
Lee Eun-ji
I was humming along to a melody in my head when the white noise of the car wheels lulled me to sleep.
When I opened my eyes, I was walking precariously on a railing, my gaze low, as if I had jumped over a fence.
At the end of my gaze was a fluffy black paw.
‘It looks like a cat’s paw…’
I was looking at my hand, but it was moving involuntarily, as if I was watching a recorded video.
I looked up, and a familiar building came into view.
A white, renovated old house.
The paint on the exterior walls was peeling in places, as if it needed a new coat.
My gaze shifted to the stairs.
I jumped, putting strength into my black, paw-like hands and feet.
After hopping up the stairs, I saw our house…
The dorm Lee Eun-ho and I shared.
The black fluffball, as if it were its own home, headed towards the box we had left by the door.
A fluorescent green cloth was spread inside the box.
It was my old clothes, which I had given to the cat as bedding.
The cat curled up and fell asleep.
And I watched the sleeping cat.
‘Wait a minute.’
Watched?
My vision suddenly heightened, unlike the previous low perspective.
The scenery in front of me changed as I blinked.
Was this the continuation of the car accident nightmare?
I had been terrified of that dream at first, but thanks to what Lee Eun-ho told me, I wasn’t afraid anymore.
It was already in the past.
Or at least, it hadn’t happened yet.
I reassured myself repeatedly, blocking out the rising anxiety.
I opened my eyes at the annoying, rhythmic beeping sound.
‘This time…’
A white ceiling, and the pungent smell of disinfectant, too vivid for a dream, filled the air.
‘A hospital.’
‘I’ thought, looking at the IV drips attached to my arm.
It was so hard to even breathe.
As my eyes started to close, I heard hurried footsteps approaching from outside.
My head throbbed.
I felt like I was trying to remember something, but the thought wouldn’t form.
Then…
At the sound of the door opening, I forced my heavy eyelids open and looked towards the sound.
“Lee Eun-ji…”
Ah, he’s here.
It’s Lee Eun-ho.
Lee Eun-ho.
I usually just called him that, but at this moment, I wanted to call him “Oppa,” like when we were young.
“Oppa…”
Lee Eun-ho’s face was filled with relief.
He sighed and slowly approached my bed.
But unlike the calm Lee Eun-ho, I was struggling.
Everything was difficult.
Keeping my eyes open.
Breathing.
Sleepiness washed over me.
An unpleasant yet comforting drowsiness that slowly enveloped my heart, as if I would never wake up again.
“Hey, Lee Eun-ji. What are you doing? Hey, wake up. Wake up!”
Sorry, Lee Eun-ho.
I’m too sleepy right now.
“Lee Eun-ji!!!”
“Hey!!!”
I heard a distant, desperate scream.
It didn’t last long.
I couldn’t move, as if a heavy blanket was covering my entire body.
It was so heavy.
And warm.
The suffocating feeling slowly faded.
When I slowly sat up and opened my eyes, I was back in a familiar place.
The ‘old office building,’ which was being used as a practice room, studio, and dorm after the new building was built.
‘My old room,’ which I still visited occasionally to work, even though I had my own place now.
‘What?’
I looked around. It was my current room, although a bit worn down and with a different layout.
‘The old office building, my old room? Old…?’
It felt like my memory, yet not my memory, a strange situation.
I placed my hand on the familiar keyboard and finally noticed my clothes.
I was still wearing the hospital gown.
The dorm was quiet.
Too quiet.
Perhaps because I was always with Lee Eun-ho…
I wanted him to be in the next room, even though I hated seeing his face.
‘But I would have been annoyed if he was actually there…’
It was a difficult feeling to describe.
‘I’ went outside.
To confirm if this was really my studio, and also because I didn’t like being alone in the house.
‘Oh, it’s Lee Eun-ho.’
I saw Lee Eun-ho.
I smiled, happy to see him after being in the empty house.
But unlike my happy heart, my lips wouldn’t move.
Lee Eun-ho was wearing a black suit, as if he had just come back from a funeral.
‘Was he crying?’
His eyelids were more swollen than I had ever seen them.
He didn’t even cry this much when he broke up with his girlfriend.
‘Did Lee Eun-ho have a girlfriend?’
‘I’ seemingly didn’t realize I was dead, only wondering ‘Why is he crying?’
Then, Lee Eun-ho looked up and saw me.
His usually half-closed, unfocused eyes widened in surprise.
But only for a moment. He then lowered his head, a shocked expression on his face.
He turned around and left the alley, as if he was about to enter the building, but then changed his mind.
‘Where is he going?’
I followed Lee Eun-ho.
Time flew by rapidly.
Too fast for my eyes to follow.
And the memories flowed into my mind.
When I opened my eyes again, ‘I’ was looking at the black cat again.
The cat slowly opened its eyes.
And it spoke.
“Wake up!”
The cat yelled.
It was the same scream Lee Eun-ho let out in the hospital room, at the very last moment.
My eyes snapped open.
The unsettling, dream-like experience made me instinctively look around.
Thump.
The car, going over a speed bump, shook despite slowing down.
‘What was that dream?’
It was a strange dream, the smells still vivid in my memory.
As if it had actually happened…
Actually…
“Are you cold?”
The manager asked as I rubbed my arm, feeling a sudden chill.
“Oh, n-no. Just a bit… chilly…”
As I answered in a slightly hoarse voice, the manager turned his gaze back to the front.
“There’s water next to you. Did you sleep well?”
“I had a strange dream…”
“What kind of dream?”
A dream where I died.
…I couldn’t say that, of course.
Oh my gosh so it was her??