Siblings Working in Business (215)
“That Jo Kwang-soo…”
Jo Kwang-soo, or whatever his name was.
How dare he talk about his benefactors like that?!
This was the first time he had been this angry since leaving TaKa Entertainment.
But he was hesitant.
What if what that person said was true?
“No, it might not even be true…”
Eun-ho was busy with the ‘Connection’ project, and Eun-ji was focused on composing.
“Eun-ji is working on songs for three teams: mine, Toxin’s, and E-UNG’s…!”
He didn’t want to be a burden, to distract them with something like this.
‘But if it’s about school violence, it could escalate if I wait too long…’
After much deliberation, Hwa-rang decided to just ask.
[Me ― Eun-ji
― Do you have a minute?]
― I have something to ask.]
10 minutes later…
Eun-ji replied.
[Eun-ji-nim ― Unnie hold on a sec]
Hwa-rang, channeling his inner detective, remembered that Eun-ji used a QWERTY keyboard to decipher her typos.
He guessed that ‘mulmut’ meant ‘water on (my hands).’
Just then, Eun-ji clarified,
[Eun-ji-nim ― Sorry, Unnie!]
― I was washing my hair lol]
― My hands were wet, so it was hard to type lol]
[Me ― Lol I figured out the water part!]
[Eun-ji-nim ― Awesome!]
― What did you want to ask?]
Eun-ji was quite affectionate with everyone except Eun-ho.
Hwa-rang, his lips curving into a smile at her aegyo, continued,
[Me ― Do you know someone named Jo Kwang-soo?]
[Eun-ji-nim ― Jo Kwang-soo?
― Jo Kwang-soo? I think I’ve heard that name somewhere….]
[Me ― Really?]
[Eun-ji-nim ― Why are you asking about him?]
[Me ― Well, someone who recently joined my brother’s company…]
Hwa-rang told Eun-ji everything: that the new employee Ho-rang mentioned was named ‘Jo Kwang-soo,’ and that he had implied Eun-ji was involved in school violence.
[Eun-ji-nim ― Hmm, I’ve hit a lot of people, but…]
[Me ― Gasp…?]
Hwa-rang gasped, covering his mouth in shock.
[Me ― What do we do? Are you going to get in trouble?]
[Eun-ji-nim ― Nah, it’s fine. Most of the people I hit deserved it.]
[Me ― Oh… ]
Hwa-rang thought for a moment and then called the one person who could resolve this situation.
[Eun-ho-nim ― ?]
It was Eun-ho’s first message in the newly created group chat.
[Eun-ji-nim ― Hey]
[Eun-ho-nim ― What]
Hwa-rang had realized one thing from frequently meeting with Eun-ho and Eun-ji.
If three people were together, and two of them exchanged more than two words, it meant a fight had already started.
So…
[Me ― Jo Kwang-soo!]
Hwa-rang blurted out the name without any explanation.
[Eun-ho-nim ― ?]
― How does Hwa-rang know that name?]
He had intended to explain the situation, but Eun-ho’s reaction came first.
And the cold formality in his tone suggested they weren’t on good terms.
“…Don’t tell me.”
Hwa-rang felt a sense of dread.
[Eun-ho-nim ― Did something happen?]
Hwa-rang hesitated, then relayed everything Ho-rang had told him.
[Eun-ho-nim ― Lol]
Eun-ho laughed.
[Eun-ho-nim ― Thank you.]
― I’ll take care of it.]
― Sorry you had to worry about it.]
Before Hwa-rang could reply…
[Eun-ho-nim has left the chat.]
Eun-ho abruptly left the group chat.
[Eun-ji-nim ― Ah!]
Just then…
[Eun-ji-nim ― I was wondering who Jo Kwang-soo was!]
― I remember now, it’s Flounder!]
[Me ― You know him?]
[Eun-ji-nim ― Um, not really know him, but…]
[Me ― Yeah?]
Eun-ji suddenly went silent.
After a long pause, she finally replied.
[Eun-ji-nim ― Lol Lee Eun-ho suddenly came into my room, so]
― I’ll tell you later!]
[Me ― Okay okay]
Would they be okay?
Hwa-rang was more worried than curious or offended.
“Yeah, I thought he left rather abruptly.”
“So I’m thinking of dealing with it like this, what do you think?”
“Sure, do whatever you want.”
“…Eun-ji, you usually say, ‘Isn’t that too much?’ whenever I try to handle things like this, what’s gotten into you?”
“Want me to do it?”
“No. Please always be like this.”
“Haha.”
“I thought you had a change of heart or something since you’re not saying it’s too harsh.”
“Not really. It’s just… I was naive back then, and Eun-ho’s plan is surprisingly good…”
Eun-ji smirked and continued,
“And I’ve always wanted to mess with that Flounder bastard.”
Eun-ji smiled, just like Eun-ho.
A seemingly innocent smile that hid a mischievous glint.
Although Eun-ho had endured it, he had been bullied by that Flounder bastard for at least a year, maybe two.
A little sister’s prerogative was to protect her older brother, and it was infuriating to see him being bullied.
Eun-ji held a deeper personal grudge against Jo Kwang-soo, whom she had directly encountered, than against Aeseul, whom she had only heard about after the regression.
At least that bitch had mellowed out somehow, even if she didn’t know what was different in this timeline…
‘But that bastard is still a piece of trash.’
Just like Eun-ho…
In Eun-ho’s way…
“Do what you want.”
“Okay.”
Eun-ho and Eun-ji, their identical faces wearing unusually mischievous smiles…
‘Let’s carve it into his bones.’
That messing with these seemingly harmless siblings would be a bad idea.
“Thank you for your hard work!”
“Thank you for your hard work!”
Eun-ho and Eun-ji greeted Bae Jin-soo, the owner of the studio, energetically, and he smiled brightly in return.
“Good work. It turned out well. You two are going to hit it big this time.”
“With our Master’s golden touch, of course!”
“Saying that while trying to sneak away?”
“Run!”
“Eun-ji, you still have work to do, don’t you?”
“Gah!”
Just as Eun-ji was about to leave the studio with Eun-ho, Bae Jin-soo quickly grabbed her hoodie’s hood.
Eun-ji coughed, the hood tightening around her neck, but she still looked around, as if looking for an escape route.
“I can hear your eyes rolling, Eun-ji.”
Not just anyone could be Lee Eun-ji’s master. Despite his kind appearance, Bae Jin-soo had a firm grip on her.
Eun-ho, watching them with amusement, hurriedly prepared to leave, as if he had an urgent appointment, and said goodbye to Bae Jin-soo.
“I’ll be going now before I’m late.”
“Okay. Good work, Eun-ho.”
Bae Jin-soo gave Eun-ho a warm send-off.
“Ah! Lee Eun-ho! Me! Take me too!!!”
“You have to finish what you started. You can’t just leave it all to me.”
“Aaaagh. Master!”
“No. Sit down.”
After Eun-ho left the studio, Eun-ji’s desperate voice could be heard through the slowly closing door.
Eun-ho chuckled and left the noisy studio.
He looked up at the darkening sky and checked his phone.
It was past 8:00 PM.
“Am I going to be late?”
Eun-ho adjusted his white mask, properly put on the ivory cardigan Eun-ji always teased him about, calling it his “uniform,” since it was getting chilly, and walked towards the main street.
Even while putting on his cardigan, his other hand was busy making a phone call.
“Are you off work? Where are you?”
He skipped the greetings and went straight to the point.
Eun-ho’s lips curled into a smile, the response on the other end seemingly what he had hoped for.
“It’s okay. I’ll come to you.”
Eun-ho hailed a taxi.
Although there weren’t many people around, some glanced at him curiously.
But before they could approach him, he quickly got into a taxi.
The call seemed to have ended.
“Please go to the CK building in Gangnam.”
“Okay.”
He gave the driver the destination as soon as he got in.
Some drivers liked to chat to pass the time.
But Eun-ho needed silence today to organize his thoughts.
By the time they arrived, Eun-ho’s expression had lightened, as if he had come to a conclusion.
“Keep the change.”
The driver, as Eun-ho had hoped, hadn’t spoken a word during the entire ride.
The driver’s face brightened as Eun-ho handed him cash, expressing his gratitude.
“Have a good day.”
The driver returned Eun-ho’s farewell.
Looking up at the CK building, it seemed many employees were working late.
Even past 9:00 PM, the lights were still on.
“Why did you come all the way here?”
Just then…
A familiar voice.
“It would be a bother for you to go back to the company, CEO Park. Did the meeting go well?”
“It went well. I finalized your appearance schedule. Anyway, stop being so sly and get to the point.”
Eun-ho smiled at Chang-seok’s pointed question.
“Can I cause some trouble?”
“…Huh.”
Chang-seok looked like he’d been hit in the back of the head.
“Our Eun-ho wouldn’t suddenly go rogue, would he? Even if you did…”
“…”
Eun-ho smiled, and Chang-seok, seemingly exasperated, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let out a frustrated puff of air through his nostrils.
He seemed to be holding back a lecture.
“Let’s hear your reason.”
“Jo Flounder. I mean, you know Jo Kwang-soo, right?”
“The guy you had a run-in with back in school, the one you met during the pension shoot?”
“Yes. You remember well.”
Chang-seok had heard about the incident Eun-ho and Eun-ji had with Jo Kwang-soo in front of the store a while ago, so he knew about him.
“What about him?”
“He’s been running his mouth.”
“You…”
CEO Park was taken aback by Eun-ho’s sharp tone.
“Why are you so angry?”
“Ah, I just got a little carried away.”
“That sounds very… unsettling.”
“Haha.”
CEO Park sounded like a grumpy old man.
Thanks to that, Eun-ho continued in a more relaxed tone,
“That guy is spreading rumors at his new workplace, saying Eun-ji was involved in school violence.”
“What?”
CEO Park’s expression hardened.
Eun-ho, trying to calm him down, continued,
“I was thinking we could use this to our advantage. I think it would be beneficial.”
“What are you planning?”
“Noise marketing?”
“Hey, that’s dangerous. What about your image?”
“Since we’ve already established that concept with this album, why not play the villain for once?”
Despite Eun-ho’s nonchalant reply, CEO Park’s face was still filled with worry.
He sighed deeply and pressed his car key.
A loud ‘beep’ sounded, and his familiar sedan flashed its headlights.
“Get in the car. Let’s talk on the way.”