Siblings Working in Business (183)
The next morning arrived.
On the way to the shop…
Eun-ho recounted the proposal story he’d heard from Ye-chan via KakaoTalk the previous night, as soon as he woke up and his mind cleared.
Eun-ji, after listening to the story, whispered,
“Damn, that’s badass.”
“What’s badass? Haha.”
“Oh my god, I, I…”
I?
“I want to propose like that too when I get married. PD-nim is so cool…!”
When Eun-ji exclaimed with sparkling eyes, Eun-ho replied with a laugh,
“Aren’t you going to date first? You’ve never even been in a relationship.”
“I have dated! And PD-nim is getting married without dating!”
“They’ve known each other for a long time. And PD-nim isn’t a forever-alone like you.”
“What? I’m not forever-alone!”
Eun-ho raised a skeptical eyebrow.
“You’re not?”
Eun-ji’s eyes darted around.
The reason became clear with her following response.
“I have dated! Online, but still…”
“On… what?”
Eun-ji’s voice trailed off, lacking confidence in her own dating experience.
Eun-ho was dumbfounded, as if he’d been hit in the back of the head.
But only for a moment.
“…Ha, haha!”
Eun-ho burst into laughter.
“Don’t laugh! You rockfish head!”
“Hahahaha, seriously, who wouldn’t laugh? Ahaha!”
Since they were in the car, Hyun-woo and Seul-gi, sitting in the front, also overheard Eun-ji’s confession.
“Pfft.”
“Unnie!”
Hyun-woo clenched his jaw, trying to suppress his laughter, but Seul-gi couldn’t hold back.
“Hahaha.”
The van filled with laughter.
“Don’t laugh! Stop laughing, everyone! I-, I was being serious!”
Eun-ji shouted, her face crimson.
But seeing no signs of the laughter stopping, she turned away, completely sulky, her lips stuck out, and glared at Eun-ho.
Eun-ho, perhaps fearing her future retaliation, tried to apologize.
“Sorry, but seriously, uh, hic.”
He tried.
“Ack. This is crazy. Hahaha.”
He couldn’t succeed, his laughter unstoppable…
Eun-ji, exasperated by his reaction, shouted,
“Either laugh or apologize, pick one, you damn seafood!”
“Hahaha, pumpkin, you’ve teased me before too.”
Eun-ho brought up the time Eun-ji had laughed at him after discovering his old online ID.
But it seemed that was then and this was now, as Eun-ji scoffed and turned away.
While Eun-ji sulked, looking out the window…
Seul-gi, Hyun-woo, and Eun-ho tried, but they couldn’t stop laughing.
Their laughter continued for a while, filling the van.
They arrived at Cellas Shop amidst the boisterous atmosphere.
Eun-ho and Eun-ji were led to separate seats.
While getting his hair styled…
Although he had laughed and teased Eun-ji in the car, Eun-ho found himself thinking about the word ‘marriage.’
‘That little rascal getting married…’
It was hard to imagine.
Lee Eun-ji in a relationship…
‘Ugh.’
The thought itself made him queasy, so he quickly shifted his focus.
‘Me getting married…’
The problem was, his thoughts went astray.
It was even harder to imagine.
Although he teased Eun-ji, he himself had no experience in a normal relationship.
‘Calling it a relationship…’
His time with Aeseul was closer to slavery.
But he didn’t harbor any ill will towards her.
Surprisingly, none.
He had held her back once in front of Cellas Shop to prevent her from getting hurt…
He just hoped that was the last time he would ever see her.
That was the extent of his thoughts.
‘Dating or marriage, I still…’
He didn’t know.
He felt the same when he heard PD Kim’s story.
‘Wow, that’s amazing.’
Eun-ji seemed to be having some kind of delusional fantasy, but that was the extent of his reaction.
‘Lee Eun-ji in a normal family…’
Haha.
What kind of person could handle her personality, not be overshadowed by her, and treat her well?
He wasn’t trying to force her into anything.
He just hoped, as an older brother who had been her guardian, that she would meet someone like that.
He wanted Eun-ji to have a normal family, but he himself didn’t know.
He just wanted Eun-ji to be happy and have no regrets in this life.
That was all he wished for.
Because he was happier and more at peace now than at any other time in his life.
Buzz—
Just as he was about to be done with his styling…
“Excuse me, just a moment…”
He seemed to feel his phone vibrating in his pocket.
Eun-ho excused himself and checked his phone.
Just then…
Eun-ho’s eyes widened as he looked at his phone.
“Lee Eun-ji!”
As if it was urgent, he called out to Eun-ji while the stylist stepped away to get some tools.
“What?”
Eun-ji, getting her hair dried, replied from nearby.
“Do we have any songs on our cloud that would be good for a congratulatory song?”
“A congratulatory song?”
“Yeah.”
“To sing at CEO Park’s wedding?”
“Yeah. Ye-chan Sunbae asked if we wanted to record it together.”
“Oh! Great!”
“If you have any recommendations, tell me the number.”
“Hmm, I think there were a few in the 90s, but never mind.”
“Huh?”
“Let’s write a new one after we’re done here.”
“…”
Eun-ho flinched slightly at the mention of writing another new song.
“I have a melody in mind after hearing about PD-nim’s story.”
“…O-okay. Since it’s a special occasion…”
He couldn’t argue with that.
He accepted it.
The Wedding
Standing before Park Chang-seok, dressed in a neat beige tuxedo…
…was an elderly man with strikingly white hair, bearing a striking resemblance to him.
Chang-seok’s parents were both living abroad.
Since the wedding was planned rather suddenly, they had a brief video call for their formal introductions.
It had been a long time since the family had gathered like this.
But, true to form, Park Chang-seok’s parents…
…were surprisingly cynical.
“Seok.”
“Did you stop by the hotel?”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
Chang-seok’s father, Park Cheong-ryong, met his son after several years.
“What happened to you? You seem to have lost more hair than me.”
“Isn’t it a bit much to talk about my hair first thing after seeing your son after so long?”
“Make sure you eat plenty of seaweed.”
“…One of the kids I mentioned before keeps sending me messages about products and things that are good for hair loss, so I’m taking good care of it.”
“Oh! Are those kids coming today too?”
“Of course. They’ll be here soon. You seem more interested in them than your own son.”
“Well, they’re practically my grandkids, aren’t they? Better than looking at your ugly mug.”
Chang-seok laughed at Cheong-ryong’s heartfelt joke and turned his gaze.
Next to him was Mrs. Shim Sun-ja, Park Chang-seok’s mother, dressed in a fine hanbok made of luxurious blue fabric.
Although she had wrinkles around her eyes, she looked at least seven years younger than Cheong-ryong, as if she took good care of herself.
Her white hair, held in place by a hairpin, complemented the blue hanbok, enhancing her elegant aura.
“I had given up, thinking you’d never get married, but you brought home such a lovely girl.”
“Haha.”
“Are you that happy?”
“Yes, I am. Haha.”
When Chang-seok replied with a grin, his mother chuckled and nudged his side.
“Treat your wife well. Don’t get nagged at when you’re older, like your father.”
“Hey, what about me!”
“Be quiet, dragon tail.”
“Th-, th-, that woman, calling me a dragon tail… look at her…!”
Just then…
The air around Chang-seok’s mother turned icy cold.
Sun-ja smiled and looked at Cheong-ryong.
“Wife? Honey, what did you just say? I think I misheard. Can you say that again?”
Cheong-ryong, sensing the danger, shut his mouth.
“S-sorry, Mrs. Shim.”
“I warned you on the plane, a sharp stone will get hit…”
“H-hey, Mrs. Shim~. Joke, joke.”
“Joke? What freezing joke?”
“H-honey~ I’m sorry.”
Park Chang-seok burst into laughter, watching his bickering parents.
“You haven’t changed at all.”
“Not changed? If I haven’t changed, he still thinks he’s above me. If he keeps this up, I’ll leave him in the outback.”
“Haha, is there an outback on the way home?”
Chang-seok’s mother answered his question with a straight face,
“In a country with a vast landmass, there are outbacks everywhere once you leave the city. It’s easy to ask a driver to abandon an old man.”
“Honey…”
Just as Cheong-ryong carefully reached for Sun-ja’s hand to appease her…
Sun-ja swiftly swatted his hand with her fan and turned towards the entrance.
Just then…
“Oh my, how lovely.”
Sun-ja murmured brightly, her previous annoyance forgotten.
As if they had just arrived…
It was because of the two siblings, who looked like twins, entering the wedding hall.
“Oh!”
The siblings, who had been looking around, spotted Chang-seok and approached him with a bright smile.
“Wow! CEO Park, you look amazing!”
“Oh…”
Sun-ja looked at Eun-ho and Eun-ji approaching Park Chang-seok with surprised eyes, then back at Chang-seok.
Chang-seok, as if this was perfect timing, turned Eun-ho and Eun-ji towards his parents.
“Huh? Why?”
“Ah, hello.”
While Eun-ji tilted her head in confusion, Eun-ho bowed politely.
“Oh my…”
Not only Chang-seok’s mother, but his father also exclaimed in admiration.
“These are your grandmother and grandfather.”
Just then, as Eun-ho looked surprised…
“Wow, hello! I’m Lee Eun-ji!”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Lee Eun-ho.”
“Oh my, oh my…”
A slapping sound echoed from somewhere.
“Ow, Mom, that hurts!”
It was Sun-ja, hitting Chang-seok’s shoulder repeatedly in excitement.
“If you have kids like these, you should at least show us pictures! My goodness. Are they models? Or actors?”
“Neither. They’re singers. I’m managing them as an idol duo.”
“Oh my. Good heavens, they’re like precious gems. And they sing well too?”
“They’re good dancers too. They compose their own music, and Eun-ho writes lyrics too…”
Park Chang-seok boasted about Eun-ho and Eun-ji’s talents to his mother.
“You have a good eye for people, just like me.”
“Haha.”
Sun-ja naturally transitioned from Chang-seok’s boasting to her own.
Although she enjoyed the praise, Eun-ho and Eun-ji felt a bit awkward.
After boasting about them for a while, Chang-seok finally seemed to realize and turned to Eun-ho,
“Oh, right, Cheol-soo is waiting for you. Go talk to her.”
“Okay!”
That was welcome news.
Eun-ho and Eun-ji bowed and were about to head towards the bride’s waiting room when…
“See you later, my grandkids.”
“…Yes.”
“See you later, Grandma!”
“Oh, you sweet things.”
Eun-ho, after calmly saying goodbye and turning around, felt a lump in his throat.
Grandkids.
It wasn’t an unfamiliar word, but perhaps because it was the first time he’d heard it directed at him…
He felt a surge of emotion.
“Hic! Sniff.”
Just then, he heard a sniffling sound next to him and turned around.
Eun-ji was tearing up, her chin wrinkled like a peach pit.
“Your makeup will smudge, Lee Eun-ji.”
“Sniff, it’s waterproof, idiot.”
“Look who’s talking, haha.”
Before entering the bride’s waiting room, Eun-ho and Eun-ji wiped their teary eyes as if they hadn’t been crying just moments ago and stepped inside.