Siblings Work in Business (151)
After Hwa-rang left, we were having a meeting about our “break time” trip to the sea.
After deciding on a beach vacation and renting a vacation home owned by an acquaintance of the CEO’s…
…the discussion naturally shifted back to Hwa-rang.
The CEO highly valued Hwa-rang’s talent.
“I like it. I fully support Unnie Hwa-rang joining our company!”
Eun-ji seemed genuinely happy about the prospect of Hwa-rang joining NRY Entertainment.
But I was still suspicious of Hwa-rang.
“Shouldn’t we observe her a bit longer?”
So I suggested waiting.
What if she recorded something and leaked it, just like she did with those recordings? It was a malicious thought, but not entirely impossible, so it was better to be safe than sorry.
Then, the CEO said,
“Then why don’t you two assess her yourselves?”
“Assess what?”
“If you’re willing to accept her as a trainee, promise to give her a song.”
“Us?”
“Give her a song?”
“Yes.”
Eun-ji and I exchanged glances.
‘Can we do that?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Me neither.’
Honestly, we weren’t confident.
We could write songs for ourselves, but for someone else…?
“It would be good to collaborate with other artists too, not just for your own songs, like you did with Toxin.”
“…”
It was tempting, but… could we do it?
“Think about it.”
“Okay…”
I assumed we’d discuss it further in another meeting, but then came the day of our vacation.
As we were loading the car, I turned around, and there was Hwa-rang.
I was surprised, but then the CEO said,
“She’s coming with us.”
“Huh? With us? Where?”
Eun-ji asked, flustered.
“To the sea.”
“The sea?”
“Yes.”
The CEO winked, but we still didn’t understand. He sighed and explained briefly,
“You can decide whether to give her a song after spending some time with her.”
That’s how our second encounter and first trip with Hwa-rang began, a rather unexpected situation.
From the short time we spent with her at the vacation home, carrying luggage and unpacking… Hwa-rang seemed like a kind and agreeable person.
For now.
She was always eager to help whenever we seemed to be struggling.
But Eun-ji and I refused her help.
Eun-ji seemed to be avoiding her out of disinterest, and I deliberately avoided her, not wanting to give her any leverage to ask for a song. I wasn’t confident in writing songs for others, and I was also wary of her.
After unpacking, I changed into a black shirt and shorts, which I didn’t mind getting wet.
“Hey! Put on sunscreen!”
“It’s a hassle.”
“Just put it on. You need it for promotions—”
“Okay, okay! Stop nagging!”
“If you took care of yourself, I wouldn’t have to—”
“Aaaaagh!!!”
I almost smacked Eun-ji on the back of her head as she whined, covering her ears. Thankfully, seeing Hwa-rang’s startled expression stopped me.
“Just put it on!”
I tossed the sunscreen at Eun-ji, half-hoping it would hit her, but she caught it effortlessly and smirked.
‘Annoying.’
I was wearing a t-shirt and shorts because it was comfortable, but even Eun-ji, who insisted on a bikini, was dressed similarly.
“What happened to the bikini?”
“What about your underwear?”
“I said I’d wear it if you wore a bikini. Were you… looking forward to it?”
“Do I look crazy? I’m not wearing one because I don’t want to see that.”
“Oh.”
“What ‘oh’? I’m worried about my eyesight.”
“Bullshit.”
“Yeah.”
Eun-ji flipped me off as she replied.
Hwa-rang, who had been watching the entire exchange, looked even more bewildered.
Just then…
“If you two are going to keep fighting—”
“We’re not.”
“We’re done with the sunscreen, so we’ll be going!”
The CEO suddenly appeared.
Although I didn’t hear what he was about to say, my instincts screamed at me to run.
Eun-ji and I rushed outside.
The beach was less than a two-minute run from the pension.
As I looked up, feeling the lukewarm water on my feet…
‘What’s that?’
There was a long stick in Eun-ji’s hair.
“What’s that long stick in your hair?”
“It’s a binyeo (traditional Korean hair ornament), don’t you know anything?”
“That’s a binyeo?”
It looked like a plain stick. Eun-ji seemed to have used it to tie up her hair.
“Aren’t you hot in that black t-shirt?”
“It’s lukewarm, not really.”
Eun-ji asked, standing knee-deep in the water.
‘I have a bad feeling…’
And I was right.
“You look hot, here’s some water!!!”
Eun-ji suddenly started splashing water at me.
“Ah, seriously—! Ptoo! Hey!!!”
Since I was only ankle-deep, my splashes were no match for hers.
“Stop it!!!”
“Hahaha!”
Eun-ji burst out laughing and continued splashing. I retreated from the sea, warning her,
“You’re dead, damn it.”
“Haha, try me!”
“I warned you.”
Eun-ho, dripping wet, headed back towards the pension. Eun-ji, watching him leave, relaxed and floated in the water.
“This is nice… Gulp. Cough, cough.”
I knew I wasn’t supposed to talk, but I was so relaxed that I blurted out something and ended up swallowing a mouthful of seawater. My nose burned as I coughed and sputtered, trying to get rid of the salty water.
Just then…
Splash!
“Wh-What?”
Eun-ji hadn’t been looking towards the beach, so she was caught off guard. Startled by the sudden coldness on her back, she turned around… and saw a stream of water heading straight for her face.
“You…!”
The water hit her squarely in the face.
“Haha! I told you you’d regret it, dummy!”
“You bastard! How old are you?!”
“I’m twenty-two!”
“You…! Splash! Hey! Stop it! Splash! That’s cheating! Splash!”
Eun-ji tried to block the water gun stream aimed at her face with her hands.
But Eun-ho deliberately aimed at her face from all directions.
“Agh!!!”
She was getting increasingly annoyed.
Just then, the water stream weakened; he must have run out of water.
Eun-ji, seizing the opportunity, splashed him relentlessly before he could refill it. As waves of water crashed over Eun-ho…
…he dropped his water gun and started splashing back.
They spent the next hour splashing each other with all their might.
As they returned from the beach…
Hwa-rang, who had been clearing the tables outside, paused as she saw them approaching.
‘They look just like… that day…’
Their first encounter, on that rainy day.
They looked like drowned rats.
But unlike that day, they both seemed utterly exhausted, their eyes vacant as they trudged across the sand.
Eun-ho stopped at a hose, presumably for watering the lawn.
“You go shower first.”
“Okay.”
Eun-ji went inside, and Eun-ho turned on the faucet.
The water from the hose looked cold.
Hwa-rang thought she shouldn’t be watching, but… she couldn’t help herself as she stared at Eun-ho, who was rinsing off his wet clothes with the hose.
Eun-ho, seemingly indifferent to the cold water, poured it over his head and body.
Then, he brushed his wet hair back.
“Ah, that’s refreshing.”
As he spoke, steam rose from his body. The water must have been freezing.
‘Wow.’
Just as she was about to exclaim in admiration…
“Hey, Lee Eun-ho, I’m done.”
“You’re already done?”
“I just rinsed off and changed. I’ll shower properly later.”
“Oh, okay.”
Eun-ho wrung out his wet clothes and went inside.
They could enter the pension while wet because of the unusual layout. There was a frosted glass door on the left side of the entrance that led directly to a shower room. Although there was a bathroom inside the pension as well, this was more convenient. However, there was one major drawback to its location.
“Hey, Lee Eun-ji.”
“What?”
“My clothes.”
“Get them yourself.”
“How did you even get your clothes?”
“I packed them beforehand, idiot.”
“…I didn’t think of that.”
“Haha, dummy.”
I hadn’t thought of that. ‘Lee Eun-ji is smarter than I thought,’ I realized, although it might also just mean I was the idiot.
If I showered here, I would have to either walk out naked or put my wet clothes back on.
And I didn’t want to do either.
“Hey, bring me my clothes.”
“No.”
“Bring them.”
“No.”
“If you don’t…”
“If I don’t, what?”
I thought for a moment, wondering what would motivate her. Then, it hit me. I still hadn’t given Eun-ji her share of the 100,000 won the CEO gave us for chicken. 50,000 won for a change of clothes was a lot, but I didn’t want to walk to the bathroom dripping wet, and I definitely didn’t want to stay in these wet clothes, or worse, take them off. So, I decided to sacrifice the 50,000 won.
“I’ll give you 50,000 won.”
“From the 100,000 won the CEO gave us?”
“Yeah. You still remember? I thought you forgot.”
“How can I forget when you haven’t given it to me yet?”
“It’s been over a month.”
“You said you were going to give it to me anyway. You just haven’t!”
“Huh? I never said that. It’s my money.”
“You bastard.”
“Buuuut, I’ll give you 50,000 won if you bring me my clothes now.”
Eun-ji, initially annoyed, hesitated.
“Fine. Hurry up and give it to me now.”
“I only have 20,000 won in my wallet.”
“Give me that, and then you can transfer the rest online!”
“You’re smart. Okay.”
I agreed.
“Ugh, so annoying.”
Eun-ji grumbled and went to my room, which I shared with the CEO.
A moment later…
She returned with my faded sky blue shorts and a linen shirt.
And… of course, I wasn’t actually going to give her the 50,000 won.
Why go fishing when you have a bigger fish right here?