Siblings Working in Business (228)
“Collaborate with NRY?”
“Yes.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
DI Music.
Uh Seok-bae, imagining Aeseul’s delight, waited for her in his office.
And the moment he told her…
“Th-then, I…”
“…Are you crying?”
Uh Seok-bae’s pale face turned even whiter.
‘What do I do?’
Although he cherished and adored Aeseul, he was incredibly clumsy at expressing his affection.
Perhaps because of that…
“I-I’m s-sorry.”
There was nothing to be sorry about…
Uh Seok-bae thought so, but he didn’t bother correcting her.
But then…
He remembered something Chang-seok had said during their dinner.
「“What good is it if you just think you’re showing affection? Kids won’t know unless you tell them.”」
He had been practically stalking CEO Park of NRY lately, and they often had dinner together.
During those dinners, Uh Seok-bae was constantly subjected to Chang-seok’s lectures, disguised as casual conversations.
Uh Seok-bae, to Chang-seok’s surprise, was the only person who could listen attentively for hours while he rambled on.
Thanks to that…
Chang-seok had recently been having a significant influence on Uh Seok-bae, and even DI Music.
Uh Seok-bae wasn’t interested in his employees.
But he was interested in the ‘money’ spent on them.
He only saw the numbers on paper.
To him, employees were just expendable resources.
So…
He thought, ‘Money is being wasted even when they’re just breathing,’ whenever he saw his employees resting, and as a result of his subtle warnings…
The tea tables in the DI Music headquarters’ break room disappeared.
That was CEO Uh Seok-bae.
That was, until he became close with CEO Park Chang-seok of NRY.
After befriending CEO Park, CEO Uh slowly started to change.
First, the tea tables returned, and then the sofas in the break room were replaced with more comfortable ones.
The employees’ usual 8:00-9:00 PM closing time was changed to 6:00 PM sharp.
He even ordered them to leave by 7:00 at the latest.
And if they had to work late, he would give them the company card for meals.
The employees, bewildered by the changes, seemed confused at first.
Some even wondered if CEO Uh was on his way out.
“…Aeseul.”
“Yes?”
“I…”
“You…?”
“I want…”
“You…?”
Aeseul, both anxious and impatient, waited for him to continue, her heart pounding in her chest.
Uh Seok-bae clasped his hands on his desk and then spoke slowly, carefully enunciating each word,
“I, your uncle, I want… you…”
“Yes…?”
“To be… happy.”
“…”
“Our Aeseul, you look the most… when you’re smiling.”
“…”
“So… lovely.”
Aeseul shuddered, goosebumps rising on her skin, as if she had seen something she shouldn’t have.
It wasn’t because she disliked it.
It was because she was so flustered and surprised, it was so unexpected…
‘Uncle, are you feeling unwell…?’
Since her studio was right next to his office, she had naturally heard the recent rumors.
One of them was, ‘The CEO is acting strange.’
Even the usually serious department head had said, “Is he trying to die young or something?”
But she hadn’t thought it was a serious issue.
The uncle she knew, although slightly more lenient lately, still had his usual cold demeanor.
But today, witnessing the strange rumors firsthand, Aeseul was so flustered that she wanted to run away.
“You said you wanted to work with the E-UNG siblings.”
“…”
“You seem to like them a lot.”
It was something she had mentioned in passing.
Her manager probably told him, and it would have been impossible for him not to know, considering how many albums she bought, obsessed with the ‘Behind the Scenes Photobook.’
While Aeseul was frozen in shock, CEO Uh calmly projected a PPT presentation onto the white wall.
Aeseul followed his movements with her eyes, wondering, ‘Why a PPT all of a sudden…?’
Her eyes widened the moment she saw the screen.
She carefully read the title under the logo, which resembled a traditional Korean house.
“Dongdoo… ggaebi… noleum?”
Uh Seok-bae flipped to the next slide and continued,
“It’s the title of a variety show we’re planning.”
“…!”
Aeseul gasped, her lungs expanding with a mixture of surprise and admiration.
‘The retreat sounds great, but the name… it’s so cheesy, Uncle!’
Aeseul bit her lip, suppressing the words threatening to burst out.
Around the same time…
Eun-ho and Eun-ji, having finished their performance of <Curse> on a music show, were waiting in their dressing room for the closing remarks.
“We’ll tell them that for now, and the company will give a more detailed explanation later.”
“Okay.”
“Do a good job.”
“Okay.”
Chang-seok had called.
After hanging up, Eun-ho’s expression darkened noticeably.
“A retreat…”
Eun-ho said flatly, and Eun-ji added,
“A retreat with your ex-girlfriend?!”
“Shut up. I’m already annoyed enough.”
Eun-ho, seemingly irritated, shoved a dumpling into Eun-ji’s mouth.
Eun-ji, amused by his reaction, giggled and chewed on the dumpling, her cheeks puffed out.
Despite its size, she swallowed it whole in an instant.
“Are you going to be okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? She’s not the same person she was back then.”
Eun-ho and Eun-ji, remembering the timid Aeseul from the fan signing, spoke.
“She was completely different. Then what’s bothering you?”
“I knew we were going to be on a variety show, but I didn’t know it was a retreat.”
“It sounds fun.”
“That’s you.”
Eun-ho, remembering his makeup, leaned back against the sofa instead of rubbing his face.
CEO Park had two properties in Gyeongsang Province, or to be more precise, North Gyeongsang Province.
The pension they stayed at with Toxin, and his old family home, a traditional Korean house.
The proposed filming location was Chang-seok’s ancestral home, currently unoccupied.
“Dongdoo ggaebi noleum…”
“What’s that?”
“I don’t know…”
“Ah, I looked it up, it’s a Gyeongsang dialect word for ‘playing house’.”
“Ah.”
Eun-ho, having heard the title from Chang-seok, let out a groan of understanding at Eun-ji’s explanation.
It was the name of a variety show where celebrities lived together in the countryside, with ‘playing house’ as its concept…
‘The name… it’s terrible.’
Fortunately, it was just a working title and could be changed.
The problem was, judging by what CEO Park said, the two CEOs who were the main sponsors seemed to like the cheesy name…
“Haa…”
“…?”
Just as Eun-ji tilted her head, looking at Eun-ho with a puzzled expression…
Knock, knock.
“Yes!”
Eun-ji called out cheerfully at the knock on the door.
The door opened, revealing Hyun-woo and a staff member.
“We’ll be going for the closing remarks soon, so please get ready and come out.”
The staff member gave them a brief heads-up and left.
Perhaps because they had performed two stages earlier…
They had enough time to rest, and they weren’t as disheveled as they usually were after a performance.
“Let’s go.”
“Okay.”
Eun-ho and Eun-ji finished their touch-ups and headed out into the hallway.
“Congratulations, Sunbae-nim!”
“Ah, thank you.”
An unfamiliar idol group, whom they only knew were from DI Music, bowed deeply and congratulated them.
“What are they congratulating us for?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why did you thank them?”
“What else am I supposed to say?”
“You should have asked, dummy.”
“It’s fine, we’ll find out when we go up there anyway.”
“…”
Eun-ho and Eun-ji, bickering as usual, headed towards the stage.
Although they thought they had come out early, there were already many artists there.
“Hello.”
“Hello.”
Eun-ho and Eun-ji bowed to everyone, regardless of seniority.
“Hi.”
“Great performance.”
Some seniors greeted them warmly, while some juniors bowed so deeply that their backs bent like folding chairs.
Meanwhile, another group was subtly ignoring them.
Eun-ji didn’t care, and Eun-ho tried not to let it bother him.
There were always people like that, even before the regression, and he himself had been one of them.
Besides, he didn’t have the mental capacity to worry about others, his mind preoccupied with the cheesy name of the variety show and the upcoming retreat with Aeseul.
As the red light of the camera turned on, Eun-ho and Eun-ji instinctively put on polite smiles.
“The number one nominees for the first week of November, E-UNG’s Curse!”
“‘Save me’ by Carat Sway!”
“‘Ane, Mone’ by Elfin!”
The cue came, and the actors and idols hosting the show introduced the nominees.
The MCs then announced the scores for each category.
Tae-hyun’s house…
Eun-ho had completely given up on his ambition for number one.
They had been nominated before, but it never happened.
‘It’s not going to happen this time either.’
Eun-ho was getting ready to clap when…
“Inkigayo! The number one song for the first week of November is!!!”
“8108 points! ‘Curse’ by E-UNG!!!”
“Congratulations!”
The MCs showered them with congratulations.
Eun-ho, having had no expectations, froze mid-clap.
Eun-ji seemed just as surprised.
Just then…
Eun-ho and Eun-ji looked at each other, and…
They both burst out laughing, their identical faces mirroring the same beautiful smile.
Eun-ho, who had been ready to clap for another group, was now holding a trophy and a microphone, like a child at their doljabi (first birthday celebration).
“I’m really surprised, I wasn’t expecting this, um… Thank you to our CEO Park, all the hyungs and noonas at NRY, and most importantly, our E%, for always supporting us, I, I love you.”
“Say it properly!”
“I love you!”
Eun-ho, startled by Eun-ji’s sudden nagging, yelled.
A moment later…
It happens sometimes
Every day I open my eyes
Just as the familiar beat of <Curse> started playing, as Eun-ho regained his composure and began to sing…
Eun-ji, overcome with excitement, jumped and clung to his neck.
The good are rewarded
“Kyaaa, E%! We won an award!”
Perhaps because the lyrics mentioned awards and trophies, Eun-ji playfully interrupted Eun-ho’s part.
“Ugh!”
Eun-ho, momentarily losing his balance under Eun-ji’s weight, let out a groan into the microphone.