Siblings Working in Business (181)
After the repeating verses, “Red” reached its end.
With a single small change like you
On this approaching night
Telling and being told
Eun-ji’s deep voice resonated, the tempo slowing down.
Even if I long foolishly, even if I go crazy, what can I do?
Like a fool, like an idiot
I can’t let go of the end
Eun-ho, after watching the completed music video, hummed along to the song, then fell into thought.
Na na na na Red Light
Na na na na Red Night
Na na na I’m falling apart
He had written the lyrics for “Red,” as he always did.
“Red” was the most suggestive music video Lee Eun-ji and he had filmed for the “TIME” album so far.
It was a shoot that was only possible because it wasn’t about the two of them.
Actually, “Red” was an example of a song where the final mood differed greatly from his initial intention when writing the lyrics.
When he was writing…
Lee Eun-ji had included guide vocals with phrases like “did it, didn’t do it,” suggesting “fickleness.” He decided to write the lyrics based on that theme.
So, he first thought about the fickle things he had done.
As he pondered, he happened to look up at the sky, which was ablaze with the colors of sunset.
And fickleness.
The combination of the two evoked a strong sense of déjà vu, reminding him of a specific time.
The time when he was most confused, unsure whether it was day or night.
The time when Eun-ji passed away.
He wasn’t sure if he should be grateful for it, but listening to “Red,” born from a different feeling…
It felt like he had finally expressed, even if just a little, the most difficult experience he’d had to endure.
The dorm he shared with Lee Eun-ji.
The rooftop room CEO Park had given them.
After the new NRY Entertainment building was built, that rooftop room had long been transformed into Eun-ji’s personal studio while she was still alive.
‘This is our first “real home,”’ she had said.
Eun-ji had a special affection for that rooftop room, often visiting and saying she got more inspiration there.
He hadn’t visited the rooftop room much after it became a studio.
There was no reason to go all the way to that house in a residential alleyway when there was a much better studio in the new building.
That was, until the day he finally accepted Eun-ji’s death.
But the day he visited the rooftop room after a long time…
When he saw the pale Eun-ji at the door, his head spun.
The moment he saw his deceased sister again…
Surprisingly, fear overshadowed joy.
Her pale, still face, devoid of emotion, like a corpse…
It seemed as if she resented him.
As if asking why he hadn’t come sooner.
Why he assumed she would want him to quit broadcasting.
At first, he was afraid, but gradually, guilt tightened its grip around him.
“Can’t you at least talk to me if you’re going to appear before me?”
“No, never mind.”
“Don’t. That would just…”
“…make it harder.”
He was going crazy.
After Eun-ji’s passing…
He couldn’t go to the hospital, even when he was sick, and he couldn’t even look at the building.
After seeing Eun-ji’s pale form, he frequently visited the cherry blossom tree where she was buried.
Hoping that if he went there, the cold expression on her face might change, even slightly.
He was so desperate that he even visited a shaman for the first time in his life, introduced by Do-jin, hoping to see a different expression on her face.
He even held an expensive shamanistic ritual.
But he never saw the changed expression he so desperately sought.
「“She’s already in the arms of the mountain god. Alas, why has this child remained here of her own volition?”」
However, he did hear something strange from the shaman.
‘Remained here of her own volition.’
Those words bothered him.
That’s probably why he did it.
He drank because he couldn’t bring himself to talk about it sober.
‘Even though he can’t hold his liquor.’
Whenever he drank, he rambled, talking to Eun-ji.
Asking why she was still here.
Why she hadn’t left.
…If she resented him.
When the pale Eun-ji stared at him silently, it felt as if she was asking, “Why aren’t you dead?”
Perhaps…
Thinking back, it was a question he was asking himself, not Eun-ji.
In those moments, he sought answers in Eun-ji’s diary.
「Even if I die, you have to live, you idiot.」
Her messy handwriting, as frantic as her face…
Her characteristically rough language…
It felt as if he could hear her sharp voice.
He longed for it.
But at the same time, he wished he would never hear it again.
He wanted her to go to a good place, not be tied to him anymore.
To meet a proper family, unlike having a useless older brother like him.
Please.
He wished for her happiness in her next life.
But those thoughts were fleeting.
Dozens, sometimes hundreds, thousands of times a day…
His mind kept changing.
Even though he knew it was wishful thinking, there were times he begged her not to disappear.
Then, one day…
He briefly opened his eyes and saw the sunset outside the window.
‘Red Light, Red Night.’
The day that became the backdrop for those lyrics.
Whenever he wasn’t feeling well, the pale Eun-ji would be there, watching him.
But that day, she seemed to be looking at him with concern.
He didn’t know how many days he had been drinking on an empty stomach.
His clock had stopped the day Eun-ji left.
「“You’ve finally lost it. Snap out of it, Lee Eun-ho! The living have to live!”」
Do-jin yelled angrily.
He was someone who hadn’t shown anger in the years they worked together.
It was the day that kind-hearted hyung yelled and showed anger for the first time.
He was similar to Eun-ji in many ways.
That’s why it…
Hurt even more.
Do-jin threw away every single bottle of alcohol in the house, expensive or cheap.
Except for a single bottle of whiskey hidden in the closet where he kept the few fan gifts.
After Do-jin left, he stumbled and opened the whiskey bottle.
He must have broken the bottle’s neck in frustration because it wouldn’t open easily.
Bloodstains, he didn’t know where they came from, covered the floor.
He downed the entire bottle of harsh whiskey in one gulp, the burning sensation a punishment for his madness.
And when he opened his eyes again…
The first thing he saw was flashing red lights.
「“Lee Eun-ho!”」
Do-jin yelled and grabbed him with an icy hand.
If it weren’t for Do-jin’s hand, he would have thought, ‘I’ve finally lost it and set myself on fire.’
His entire body was burning hot.
His head, hands, feet, and around his mouth…
Everywhere was covered in blood.
Perhaps because of the blood dripping down his forehead, even the ordinary, bright full moon looked red.
That day…
Do-jin, tired of waiting for the ambulance that wouldn’t come, carried him to his car and drove.
The flashing red lights he saw were from the siren Do-jin had personally installed.
Thinking back, it was quite impressive that Do-jin carried that around.
On the other hand, it was also proof of how unstable he had been.
The day he was practically forced into the hospital…
He had a seizure just being in the ‘hospital’ and escaped before even a day had passed.
And as soon as he returned home, he clung to Eun-ji’s diary and cried.
He didn’t even know why he was crying.
Just…
Crying.
Crying until he had no more tears left.
「You have to live.」
He kept reading Eun-ji’s diary as he cried.
He remembered the pen strokes of those words even with his eyes closed.
He kept…
Reading and rereading.
And when he passed out and woke up again, he made up his mind.
It was from that day on…
That his clock, which had stopped after Eun-ji’s passing, started ticking again.
It had been three days since then.
「“CEO Park, please make me work like crazy.”」
He begged CEO Park, even kneeling before him.
He had to live.
Like a fool, like an idiot
I can’t let go of the end
Because his damn little sister, who left before him…
Had tethered him to this world.
Thanks to CEO Park, as soon as he returned home every day…
He had a schedule so packed that he passed out without even needing a drink.
A single existence like you
I can’t even sever that
He worked like crazy, so busy that he only had the brief moments in the car to think about Eun-ji.
For half a year…
He lived like that.
He survived.
Red Light, Red Light
I can’t even sever a single existence like you
Red Night, Red Night
The “Red” music video ended with the fading notes of the calm bass.
Although those were his thoughts when writing the lyrics, when creating the music video proposal…
He tried not to think about that time.
‘Because I have to sing a relatable song.’
His emotions back then were too deep and dark, even he couldn’t easily relate to them now.
Besides, he wasn’t as afraid of the pale Eun-ji as he was back then.
“Wow, Ye-chan Sunbae is so hot!”
Because Lee Eun-ji, spouting nonsense next to him, had explained it all.
“Hey, hot? Is that a compliment?”
“Of course! He’s definitely, absolutely number one for singers who look good with lipstick marks!”
“Is that… a good thing?”
“It is. Seriously, really, truly, I almost got a nosebleed. Right, Unnie? Ah, hahaha!”
Just then, Eun-ji looked at Seul-gi.
Seul-gi already had tissues rolled up and stuffed in her nostrils, stained with blood.
Eun-ji giggled at Seul-gi’s appearance.
Looking at the noisy Eun-ji, he became lost in thought.
‘I thought I was getting used to it, but maybe not yet.’
Everything felt like a dream.
This everyday life felt unreal.
Was that why?
He was so happy that he felt anxious.
Afraid that everything would shatter in an instant.
“What the, hey! Lee Eun-ho!”
Just then…
“Are you having those useless thoughts again?!”
Like a true little sister, she was incredibly perceptive.
Eun-ji’s sharp hand flew towards his face.
“Let go while I’m asking nicely.”
“When have you ever said anything nice to me! Ouch!”
He pulled on Eun-ji’s cheek with as much force as she was pulling on his.
“Ow! Let go!”
“You let go first. You grabbed me first.”
“I asked because I could see you were thinking about something useless!”
“So you’re saying your hand is your mouth now?”
“Ow!”
The harder Eun-ji pulled, the harder he pulled back.
“You have a performance tomorrow! Stop it, both of you! You’ll bruise!”
With Seul-gi’s intervention, even Hyun-woo stepped in, quietly placing himself between Eun-ji and Eun-ho.
Thanks to them, they released each other’s cheeks.
His right cheek throbbed.
‘They say it doesn’t hurt if it’s a dream…’
Thanks to his damn sister, reality hit hard.
If that was how you distinguished a dream, this was definitely not a dream.
Eun-ji’s grip had been incredibly painful, enough to make him forget Seul-gi was right there.
“Lee Eun-ji, you crazy psycho! It’s bruised!”
“Mine is bruised too, you rockfish bastard!”
Ji Ye-chan watched Eun-ho and Eun-ji shouting at each other as if he was watching a comedy show.
Seul-gi, however, forced a smile as she watched the purple bruises forming on Eun-ho and Eun-ji’s cheeks.
‘How am I going to cover that up…’
Although her lips were smiling…
A single tear rolled down her cheek.
The Contract
Toxin finally ended their contract with TaKa Entertainment and signed with NRY Entertainment.
But that wasn’t the important part.
“Huh?”
“CEO Park and wh-, who?”
Eun-ho and Eun-ji asked again in disbelief, as if they had misheard.
CEO Park was giving the same answer to the same question for the tenth time.
“I’m getting married to PD Kim Cheol-soo next month…”
“To who?”
“Stop it, you two!”