Siblings Working in Business (193)
In the deserted NRY Entertainment office…
Buzz.
A message notification vibrated, and Chang-seok, his face serious, took out his phone.
But only for a moment.
His lips curled into a smile as he saw who the sender was.
‘Honey♥’
A wide, uncontainable grin spread across his face.
[Honey♥ ― When are you coming home?]
[Me ― The kids added more work, so I think I’ll be very late.]
― Is there anything you want for a late-night snack?]
[Honey♥ ― Lol Aigoo~]
― Hmm… something I want…]
― Your kimchi jjigae?]
[Me ― I’ll buy the ingredients on my way home]
[Honey♥ ― Hurry up and finish work]
[Me ― Yes~]
― Your Highness, please rest well.]
[Honey♥ ― Lol okay~]
After the lovey-dovey exchange with Cheol-soo…
Chang-seok turned his attention back to the letters to expedite his departure.
He quickly scanned the letters, reversed the colors to black and white, and lightly dabbed at the ‘ㅅ’ Eun-ho had asked him to erase, increasing the eraser’s transparency. It wasn’t completely gone, but it was faint.
Eun-ho was awkward about the word “love.”
But any attentive fan would understand the meaning behind his attempt to write it.
Although Eun-ho was still wary of people, seeing this reminded him of when he first met the two.
The two, who were like wary stray cats, had become much, much, much gentler compared to when they were younger.
Chang-seok, proud and impressed by this small change, left the ‘ㅅ’ as proof of Eun-ho’s growth.
‘It’s cute.’
Chang-seok looked at the finished letter, then turned to his computer.
It was tedious work.
The sound of keyboard clicks continued for a while.
The black envelope and red wax seal Eun-ho requested…
He even had to create a mold for the EG logo.
Chang-seok wrote a request form, attached the file, and sent a long email along with the file to the vendor Boyoung had contacted before leaving work.
“Ahh.”
Chang-seok stretched and slowly tidied up his desk.
It was already two hours past closing time.
“More work has piled u~p♪”
Chang-seok hummed to himself.
But before he could leave, there were still things to do.
He swept the floor, mopped it briefly, and emptied all the trash cans.
Only after finishing these chores did Chang-seok finally start preparing to leave.
Although the employees all left at 6:00 sharp…
It was past 9:00 PM when Chang-seok locked the office door.
He had employees now, but he couldn’t easily break the habit he’d had for decades.
‘Perhaps…’
Was this workaholic side of him the reason Eun-ho and Eun-ji were also workaholics?
Chang-seok, although he worked long hours himself, wished his kids wouldn’t do the same.
But they were stubborn from the moment he met them and were unlikely to listen.
He had made them promise to rest after every schedule.
He had tried to enforce it.
He actually did, for a while.
That was, until an unexpected side effect emerged.
They started hiding their work to avoid being scolded.
That was the problem.
Since Eun-ho wasn’t good at lying…
He would avoid his phone or change the subject whenever he was contacted.
Meanwhile…
Eun-ji, knowing she would be caught if she opened her mouth…
Would deliberately talk nonsense, pretending not to know anything, creating a smokescreen.
It might seem like her usual behavior, but the fact that she ‘hid it until the end’ was the problem.
Lying wasn’t good.
Especially in the entertainment industry.
When an issue arose, if the company’s response was delayed, the repercussions could spread like wildfire.
So, maintaining trust wasn’t just a good thing, it was a necessity.
Moreover, since Eun-ho and Eun-ji didn’t come from ordinary families, Chang-seok didn’t know everything about them.
If something happened unexpectedly…
The situation could escalate beyond control.
That’s why…
Chang-seok had to take a step back.
「“But!”」
「“Yes!”」
「“After you finish what you’re currently working on, or when you’re really exhausted…”」
「“After we finish or when we’re exhausted!”」
Eun-ji repeated after Chang-seok.
「“Rest properly. Don’t push yourselves.”」
「“Yes.”」
「“And don’t hide anything!”」
「“Yes…”」
「“Heehee…”」
「“Don’t just laugh, promise me. Eun-ji too.”」
「“Oka~y.”」
That was when they made a new promise.
After becoming close with Toxin…
Since they had become skilled at avoiding his nagging… Chang-seok came up with a different approach.
This was it.
「“Pinky promise.”」
When CEO Park held out his pinky finger, Eun-ho smiled faintly, as if he hadn’t expected it.
Eun-ji also smiled brightly, her eyes crinkling.
And they obediently linked their pinky fingers with his.
“Okay. Sign, copy, paste.”
Right in the middle of the company hallway, the three of them fidgeted…
Drawing a sign on each other’s palms with their fingers, pressing their palms together to “copy,” and then clapping to “paste.”
「“Promise, okay?”」
「“Yes! Haha, that was fun.”」
「“Yes.”」
This childish method, surprisingly, was the most effective way to make a promise with Eun-ho and Eun-ji.
Please Save Me
Sometimes, reality shows aren’t so real.
Like today.
“Where are you going?”
Eun-ji was putting her long hair up with a large butterfly hairpin, packing a small bag.
“I was thinking of going camping.”
“Suddenly?”
“There’s a place we can go, even if we leave now.”
“Where?”
“It’s not far. Want to come?”
“Sure.”
Their conversation was incredibly stilted.
How many viewers would notice?
That’s right.
It was a sponsored segment.
A product placement.
‘A campsite.’
He had wanted to go camping.
Not like before, being dragged off to a fishing spot, but…
A real vacation, somewhere he could actually relax.
He had many opportunities to go.
He knew CEO Park would pack everything for them if he so much as mentioned camping.
But setting up tents and all that wasn’t his thing…
…he used that as an excuse, but honestly, it was just a hassle.
In that sense, he was quite happy with this sponsorship.
‘Glamping, was it?’
It was a place with luxury tents, and the interiors looked like regular houses — judging by the photos.
He was looking forward to it.
‘This would have been nice back then.’
Back when he lived in that abandoned house with Eun-ji…
The house had a yard.
Large rocks were scattered in the dirt, and smaller, fist-sized rocks were near the walls.
They were lucky enough to find two matches inside an empty birthday cake box.
Since it was getting colder, they decided to build a fire near the wall, careful not to burn down the house.
They gathered rocks together and built a small fire pit.
They spent two hours searching the neighborhood for anything flammable: flyers, twigs, cigarette butts, and so on.
And with anticipation, they lit a match.
Fizzle.
The match flared.
He had only seen adults using matches.
It was his first time lighting one, and startled, he dropped it.
Fortunately, it landed, somewhat precariously, in the makeshift fire pit.
And the fire caught.
It was warm.
For a brief moment.
The problem was, they didn’t know anything about balance, having no one to teach them.
The haphazardly piled rocks tumbled down.
Perhaps it was because they were damp from the rain a few hours earlier.
“Oh, oh no!”
To make matters worse…
He dropped the remaining match into a puddle.
He tried to relight it…
But the wet match was useless.
The paper and wood they had gathered were also damp.
The few dry flyers quickly turned to ash, and the flames flickered and died.
That day, he hugged Eun-ji, who was much smaller then, and cried.
He felt a surge of frustration.
He didn’t even know why he was crying back then.
Because the wet match wouldn’t light.
Because the damp wood wouldn’t burn.
Because the painstakingly built rock fire pit collapsed.
Because his foot was scraped by a flying rock.
Because the cold wind after the rain chilled him to the bone.
Everything was frustrating back then.
“Haha.”
He had been so sad, hurt, and frustrated back then, but looking back, it was a memory — although he wasn’t sure if he should call it that.
Like the saying, “Life is a tragedy when seen in close-up, but a comedy in long-shot.”
It was a memory he could now laugh about.
“Why are you laughing?”
Eun-ji, packing, asked curiously.
“Camping reminds me of when we were young.”
“Oh? What part?”
“Building a fire.”
“Fire? Ah, ah. The abandoned house?”
Did she remember?
He waited for her answer, curious about her reaction.
“Ah, right. Was that in the yard of the abandoned house? We spent so long gathering branches and flyers near the wall, trying to build a fire. Haha.”
“Yeah.”
“And, ha, all the kindling we gathered was wet, so it wouldn’t light. We didn’t know why back then, and you cried, Oppa—”
“Why do you remember that?”
“I remember that time clearly. You hurt your foot when our mini rock wall collapsed.”
“Right.”
“And you dropped the only match we had left in a puddle, picked it up, and tried to light it, but it wouldn’t light, so you cried and got mad. Haha.”
“You remember it so well. Haha.”
“Right?”
“Yeah, I thought you were too young to remember.”
“You rarely cried, Oppa. That’s probably why.”
They ended their reminiscing there.
If they were alone, they would have talked more, but they were being filmed.
Eun-ji seemed aware of this and blinked, silently saying, ‘Let’s talk later.’
He nodded in agreement.
Eun-ji, lost in thought, looked at her bag and chuckled as if remembering something, then continued packing.
He also started packing his gym bag.
His belongings consisted of a change of clothes, paper soap, and…
A juice box from the fridge.
Surprisingly, that was all.
Eun-ji would have packed her own toiletries.
‘I’ll just use hers.’
And they could buy most necessities at the campsite anyway.
Honestly, he just didn’t like packing, and his main thought was, ‘I’ll just buy it there.’
Lately, he had been swamped with work…
He needed some time to relax, even if it wasn’t a long break.
Just lying around was nice, but he needed a nice environment…
A change of scenery.
He needed that.
He had been squeezing his brain dry for lyrics for their next album, and now he was struggling to come up with anything.