Siblings Working in Business (203)
“What if that person, while you’re gone, breaks down all of Aeseul’s carefully constructed walls, and she crumbles?”
Countless thoughts flooded CEO Uh’s usually impassive face.
No one had ever spoken to him so directly.
So, each of Chang-seok’s simple questions chipped away at his firmly held beliefs.
He wanted to protect her, so he cherished her.
He wanted to give her everything because he cherished her.
But the idea that this could cause her even greater pain was a concept beyond Uh Seok-bae’s comprehension.
Meanwhile…
The part-time worker, awkwardly standing between the two CEOs, felt suffocated.
Should he continue grilling the meat, or not…?
He wished they would just tell him to leave.
‘Ugh, Boss, please save me…’
Side Story: Empty Space
‘That crazy bastard, drinking and driving!’
Eun-ji’s manager, driving cautiously, might have been able to avoid it under normal circumstances.
Under normal circumstances, he would have grumbled along with Eun-ji and driven past.
If they hadn’t been rushing due to someone’s whim…
Would the manager have had time to react and avoid the drunk driver?
Could Eun-ji have at least survived?
Eun-ji’s accident was undoubtedly the drunk driver’s fault.
However, there was a small change before that, which would have been insignificant if the accident hadn’t happened.
Several years had passed, enough for Aeseul to get married and divorced.
After a long time, Eun-ji and Aeseul’s schedules overlapped.
‘I’ve been keeping my promise with Eun-ho…’
Eun-ji’s schedule was originally more relaxed than Aeseul’s, as she was the closing act.
Aeseul was displeased.
So she acted out of petty spite.
The consequences of that spite were devastating.
“An… accident? Eun…ji?”
Aeseul’s face paled upon hearing the news.
“Is this… me, is this because of me? Did this happen… because of me…?”
Aeseul blamed herself for Eun-ji’s accident.
She hadn’t intended for this to happen.
But it did.
Because of her.
‘It’s all my fault.’
She regretted it.
Especially when she heard about Eun-ho’s breakdown, the man she loved, even though she had hurt him deeply before leaving.
“Aeseul!”
“Uncle, I…”
“Aeseul, why are you doing this? I told you it’s not your fault! This won’t bring her back!!!”
“But… I, I, I… what should I do? Uncle, I, I feel so sorry for Oppa, I’m so sorry for Eun-ho Oppa…”
She couldn’t even bring herself to drink.
Guilt consumed Aeseul.
She was in as bad a state as Eun-ho, even contemplating suicide.
And whenever she heard bad news about Eun-ho, like him collapsing or bleeding, she blamed herself, her condition worsening.
Aeseul repeatedly told herself…
That she was a curse, a villain, a nemesis to Eun-ho and Eun-ji.
‘Why, why did I have to be so spiteful to Eun-ji Unnie?’
‘Where did I go wrong?’
She wanted to undo the time she met Eun-ho and Eun-ji.
CEO Uh Seok-bae of DI Music felt the same.
Only after Aeseul crumbled and nearly destroyed herself with guilt, did Uh Seok-bae realize and admit his mistake.
He hadn’t known.
Although he had money and power, he was ignorant and powerless when it came to matters of the heart.
He hadn’t anticipated Aeseul’s self-destructive behavior.
In the end…
He failed to protect his niece, despite his sister’s repeated pleas.
He foolishly realized, only after facing the worst-case scenario, that money wasn’t everything, that giving Aeseul everything she wanted was useless.
Seeing his beloved niece suffering and in pain, Uh Seok-bae’s heart ached.
He regretted it deeply.
He thought he could do anything with money and power, but he couldn’t.
Even with money and power, he didn’t know what to do.
He had never learned how to apologize.
So, he just…
Apologized and begged forgiveness, not knowing who to pray to.
Even though he knew it was a wish that would never come true, he desperately wished he could go back and undo his mistakes.
That was all he could do.
Aeseul and Uh Seok-bae’s time stopped with Eun-ho.
Ironically, their stopped clocks started ticking again when they heard that Eun-ho was returning to music.
In our house, where I’m left alone after you left
I, today and tomorrow too
But the passage of time didn’t guarantee a happy future.
Even with Eun-ho’s return, the shadow didn’t lift from Aeseul and Uh Seok-bae.
Because the songs Eun-ho sang after his return were filled with the pain of endless suffering and longing for his lost family, for Eun-ji.
How is it there, where you went first?
Embraced by the fully bloomed cherry blossom tree
Eun-ho always poured his longing and grief for Eun-ji into his music.
All that’s left is a single notebook you left behind
That’s the only thing that reminds me of you
Trying to keep his sister’s dying wish, Eun-ho worked hard to survive.
He pushed himself to the limit, his health suffering, dedicating himself to his work.
I miss you
My sister
Perhaps because of the emotions embedded in his songs…
Many were moved to tears.
The more Eun-ho tried to move on, to live… the deeper Aeseul sank.
Although it was hard to listen to Eun-ho’s songs, she forced herself to.
She couldn’t take away his pain, but she had to bear witness to it, because it was her fault.
Aeseul told herself she didn’t deserve to be happy.
In reality, Aeseul had been close to death several times.
CEO Uh Seok-bae, with the money and power he was so proud of, could only barely keep her tethered to this world.
He thought he had everything, but that was all he could do.
The shadow lingered, consuming Aeseul and CEO Uh.
Many wished…
Eun-ho, CEO Park Chang-seok…
Aeseul, CEO Uh Seok-bae…
And the countless others connected to Eun-ho and Eun-ji… wished…
For Eun-ho to overcome his pain, and for Eun-ji’s soul to rest in peace.
For some, forgetting was a blessing.
It allowed them to move on, even forgetting the pain.
But not for Eun-ho.
He didn’t even try to overcome his pain.
He didn’t want to forget Eun-ji.
He couldn’t.
Eun-ji, the only person he trusted, who had been with him for so long, was more than family, she was his life’s companion.
So he read and reread Eun-ji’s notebook.
To remember her vividly.
To never forget.
There was no way for Eun-ho, who refused to forget, to overcome the pain of losing Eun-ji.
He didn’t want to.
He just wished for another chance.
He wished for that, like a dream.
“Whether it’s the one who could leave but chose to stay, or the one who has no intention of leaving, they’re both incredibly stubborn.”
Although the shadow was large enough to engulf the entire rooftop room, at the edge of the shadow sat a black cat, holding a white ice cream bar seemingly out of nowhere.
The cat chuckled and looked up at the night sky.
Sometimes, a small act of kindness could shake the world.
And time, no matter how shaken, always repeated itself.
This time was no different.
Whether humans lived or died, whether someone prayed or not…
Time didn’t care.
It only brought greater trials to those who meddled with cause and effect.
The price for interfering with causality was coming soon.
So, when time tried to fill the void, someone would have to be sacrificed.
Who would it be?
‘But still…’
At least you will survive.
Only you.
The Zelkova Tree
A giant zelkova tree, seemingly hundreds of years old, swayed in the wind.
He closed his eyes and opened them to the familiar interior of a car.
Just then…
Screeeech.
His body lurched to one side at the earsplitting sound of tires scraping against asphalt.
The acrid smell of burning rubber filled the air.
Just then…
Crash!
Something slammed into his field of vision.
Beeeep—
Eun-ho winced at the deafening ringing in his ears.
「“Lee Eun-ho!”」
Once.
He heard Eun-ji’s scream as if she was right next to him.
‘I need to check if she’s okay…’
Gasping for breath, his vision blurry, Eun-ho reached out blindly, searching for Eun-ji.
His hand touched something wet amidst the cold metal.
Looking closer, the red liquid was blood, flowing from his own body.
It was his own blood, so it was fine.
Finding Eun-ji was more important.
‘Where are you, Lee Eun-ji?’
Just then…
“Lee Eun-ho!!!”
Eun-ji’s voice, much closer now, reached him.
‘I’m here. Here—’
He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
“Hey, you little shit, wake up!!!”
Just then…
His hazy senses suddenly sharpened into reality.
“Ugh. Hey, you…”
“You should have woken up when I told you to.”
“What kind of little sister stomps on her older brother’s solar plexus?”
“I’m right here! You little shit!”
Eun-ji, putting all her strength into her words, started throwing pillows, seemingly summoned from thin air.
Just then, as his head spun from the onslaught of pillows…
Eun-ji’s forehead suddenly loomed large in front of him.
Smack!
It wasn’t a ‘thwack,’ but a ‘smack.’
Eun-ho, clutching his throbbing nose, yelled,
“Are you crazy?! Doing this first thing in the morning?!”
“It’s not morning, it’s the middle of the night!!! Crazy? You’re the crazy one!!!”
“Wh-why are you doing this?”
Eun-ho, seeing Eun-ji’s rage, instantly regained his composure and asked calmly.
Eun-ji was genuinely furious today.
“You ate them!”
“Ate what?”
“My eight ice cream bars!!!”
“What the…”
What nonsense, you crazy bitch.
Although he didn’t say it out loud, Eun-ho’s eyes conveyed his thoughts.
“And why are you even craving ice cream in the middle of the night?”
Although he didn’t remember the dream clearly, he did remember struggling, even bleeding, to find… that (?).
“I wasn’t going to eat them right away!”
“Then what were you going to do with them, pig?”
“Shut up, you look like seaweed.”
Seaweed…
“How dare you!”
“I opened the fridge to get some water, and all the ice cream I bought on my way home was gone.”
“So? Why are you asking me? You know I rarely eat dairy snacks because I don’t want to work out more.”
“Rarely, not never! And who else would open the fridge in this house?! I’m asking you because there’s only one culprit!”
He finally understood.
Why he had been pummeled with pillows in the middle of the night.
“Briquette!!!”