Siblings Working in Business (232)
“Um, Sunbae-nim.”
“Yeah?”
“What do you think of Aeseul?”
“…Suddenly?”
What kind of question was that…?
He must have given him a bewildered look.
“Ah, s-sorry. Sorry. That was out of the blue.”
“It was.”
Si-woo’s face paled at Eun-ho’s blunt reply.
But despite the coldness of his response, Eun-ho answered Si-woo’s question calmly.
“I don’t really think anything of her.”
“Ah.”
Si-woo, surprised that he actually answered, looked at Eun-ho.
‘He seemed fine on the train…’
He had sat next to Eun-ho, hoping to learn something about his relationship with Eun-ji before the regression, but he was bombarded with questions about Aeseul as soon as he sat down…
He felt drained, his curiosity overshadowed by exhaustion.
‘Or am I just carsick?’
Eun-ho craned his neck and looked at the back seats.
Perhaps because of their heated debate on the train…
Tae-hyun, sitting right behind Eun-ho, had his eyes closed, as if trying to ignore Seung-yeon’s chattering, determined to sleep even if he wasn’t tired.
Eun-ji, who seemed to have been talking with Aeseul earlier, was now asleep, leaning against the window, although slightly more composed than when Hyun-woo drove.
Aeseul was sitting upright, her eyes closed, and Seok-hyun seemed to be looking over a script he received from the staff.
It was quiet, a stark contrast to the boisterous atmosphere on the train.
‘Everyone’s asleep.’
Eun-ho also closed his eyes.
How much time passed?
‘It felt like I just closed my eyes…’
He had heard the ride would take over an hour, but he woke up when the bus stopped.
“We’re here!”
PD Yoo boarded the bus and announced.
Everyone woke up groggily and started getting off the bus one by one.
Eun-ho, who was sitting in the front, naturally got off first.
After Aeseul got off…
“Si-woo Oppa!”
Aeseul, her face lit up, approached Choi Si-woo, who was standing next to Eun-ho.
She bowed to Eun-ho and then pulled Si-woo aside.
“Did you ask him?”
“Yeah.”
“How?”
“I asked, ‘What do you think of Aeseul?’”
Aeseul looked dumbfounded at Si-woo’s answer.
“You… asked him like that…? You’re making me look weird!”
“Why? You told me to ask him.”
“No, I didn’t! I asked you to find out if he thought I was acting weird at the fan signing, since I was so nervous!”
“It’s the same thing.”
“It’s not!”
Eun-ho, who had sharp hearing, overheard their conversation despite the distance.
So that was why he asked such a random question.
“So, what did Sunbae-nim say?”
“He said, ‘I don’t really think anything of her’.”
Si-woo imitated Eun-ho’s blunt tone.
“Oppa, don’t imitate Sunbae-nim.”
“Why? I thought I sounded similar.”
“You didn’t! You sound nothing like him!”
“Guys.”
Aeseul and Si-woo, who had been bickering, turned their heads simultaneously at Ryu Seok-hyun’s call.
They exchanged glances and then approached Seok-hyun.
Meanwhile, Eun-ho was watching Eun-ji stumble off the bus.
“Seriously, she’s going to face-plant on the dirt.”
Eun-ho chuckled, watching the still sleepy Eun-ji.
“She’s out of it.”
“…”
Eun-ji, shielding her face from the camera with one hand, flipped Eun-ho off with the other.
Since the cameras were rolling, Eun-ho just smiled instead of using the ‘jjoom’ signal.
“What were you talking about?”
Eun-ho asked.
He had seen Aeseul and Eun-ji chatting as soon as they got on the bus.
“What do you mean?”
“You seemed to be talking about something earlier.”
“Well, you were talking to Si-woo too, weren’t you?”
“Use proper honorifics on broadcasts, please.”
Eun-ji sighed at Eun-ho’s reprimand, glancing at PD Yoo and the camera director.
“Fine. So, what were you talking about with Si-woo?”
“Ah, well, he suddenly asked me what I thought of Aeseul, so I said I didn’t think anything of her.”
“He asked you that too?”
From Eun-ji’s casual reply, it seemed Aeseul had asked her the same question.
“He asked if I thought he acted weird at the fan signing, if he was too nervous.”
“And what did you say?”
“I said he wasn’t weird. I even said he was cute.”
“…”
Eun-ho made a face at the word “cute,” as if he couldn’t comprehend it, and Eun-ji chuckled and continued,
“I still hate her for what she did back then, but she is cute now, isn’t she?”
“I guess.”
He didn’t care if she was cute or not.
That was Eun-ho’s stance.
He didn’t want to get involved, he was only participating because he had promised to.
He wanted to maintain a distance from the other cast members and just focus on the show.
That was, until they met the eighth member.
“Woman, power, rap, gyopo, hot topic, easygoing, tan.”
During the second opening shoot, as they stood side by side, Seo Seung-yeon recited the hints they had received so far.
“So far, the candidates have been narrowed down to Koo Soo-won and Appling, right?”
“Now the question is, comedian or rapper.”
Koo Soo-won, a comedian known for her tough, American-born persona, and Appling, a rapper who fit most of the keywords, although they weren’t sure if she was a gyopo.
Although other names were mentioned, most didn’t fit the criteria, leaving these two as the final candidates.
“Can we choose both?”
“…”
PD Yoo, at Eun-ji’s brazen question, smiled awkwardly, his expression asking, ‘Do you think that’s possible?’
“Let’s take a vote. Those who think it’s comedian Koo Soo-won, go to the right, and those who think it’s rapper Appling, go to the left.”
Eun-ji, Aeseul, and Seo Seung-yeon went to the right.
Eun-ho, Tae-hyun, Seok-hyun, and Si-woo went to the left.
Neither seemed like the right answer, but Eun-ho wasn’t familiar with artists he hadn’t worked with, so he had no other options.
‘A gyopo artist who raps…’
A rather absurd thought crossed his mind.
‘Don’t tell me.’
Many things had changed since before the regression.
But could it have affected someone else?
Someone who was promoting overseas?
She was a brief connection he had worked with for a year after Eun-ji’s passing, when he was obsessed with work.
「“Woman, power, rap, gyopo, hot topic, easygoing, tan.”」
Eun-ho compared the keywords Seung-yeon recited to someone who came to mind.
‘Woman, check. Power…’
Despite her slender frame, she had well-defined muscles, and the power in her vocals, originating from her core, was impressive.
So “power” seemed to fit.
Next, ‘rap.’
Although she had recently gained attention with her sing-rap, she had originally been a rapper and artist for a long time.
‘Gyopo…’
Was it her mother?
He vaguely remembered her mentioning having a Korean mother. The ‘tan’ keyword also fit, as she regularly tanned.
‘She even recommended it to me. Lastly…’
Easygoing.
If the keyword referred to personality, it might fit.
She had a similar personality to Eun-ji.
That’s why he remembered her name so clearly, despite their brief collaboration during that busy year.
‘She’s more… chaotic than ‘easygoing,’ though.’
Just as Eun-ho glanced at Eun-ji…
Eun-ji, sensing his gaze, looked back at him.
As if knowing instinctively that he wasn’t looking at her approvingly, Eun-ji raised her eyebrows and stuck out her chin.
‘What.’
Eun-ho ignored her with a fake smile.
‘Now, what were the remaining keywords?’
He went back to his thoughts.
‘Hot topic…’
The last remaining keyword was ‘hot topic.’
Eun-ho’s biggest weakness.
‘I’m not interested in anything besides our music.’
Since he was in charge of most of the music video stories for NRY Entertainment, he had been avoiding listening to or watching other artists’ work.
‘Being influenced is good, but…’
He didn’t want to be accused of plagiarism.
He also wanted to see the stories he created come to life.
So he refrained from consuming other content as much as possible.
As a result, he wasn’t interested in new songs or releases, and…
‘I don’t know. I have no idea.’
He had no idea who was currently a ‘hot topic,’ or who had been.
He felt like he was stuck in the time when Toxin was at their peak.
‘I should at least keep up with these things from now on.’
It was the first time he felt the downside of being too focused.
Eun-ho, looking around for help, turned to the only person he could rely on.
“Hyung.”
“Yeah.”
Tae-hyun, who had been spacing out, looked at Eun-ho, startled.
“Do you know an artist named ‘Jikki’?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Is she a hot topic?”
“Well, she’s… a hot topic. She turned down offers in the US and recently came back to Korea…”
Just then, as Tae-hyun was thinking…
“Ah.”
He let out a short exclamation as if he remembered something.
“Huh?”
Tae-hyun’s eyes widened, as if he had a realization.
“Wait a minute.”
He walked past Eun-ho towards Seok-hyun.
Seok-hyun, who had been about to conclude that ‘Appling’ was the eighth member by majority vote, turned around in surprise when Tae-hyun suddenly grabbed his shoulder.
“I don’t think it’s Appling.”
“Suddenly? Then who do you think it is, Tae-hyun?”
“Maybe ‘Jikki’?”
“Huh?”
The whole group stirred at Tae-hyun’s words.
‘Why did I forget about her?’
Ryu Seok-hyun, who had worked with the CEO of DI for a long time, seemed to know something and reacted strongly.
Perception
CEO Uh Seok-bae of DI Music.
He was a businessman.
Despite his respect for Chang-seok, he wasn’t going to reveal DI Music’s secrets.
Those undisclosed secrets included bringing in an artist from overseas and signing a contract with her.
Jikki was a young indie artist, but she had gained recognition after featuring on a song by a famous singer from her hometown, at the singer’s personal request.
Even before the regression, she had gained fame through that song, but her talent was undeniable, and she stood out.
However, she wasn’t interested in promoting in the US, where she had become famous.
Although it was partly because her mother was Korean… for some ‘reason,’ she was incredibly eager to promote in Korea, even being called an ‘oddity’ because of it.
As a result, for Jikki’s Korean debut…
Eun-ho became her first collaborator.
At the time, Eun-ho hadn’t known anything about it, as he was only interested in his own music, his fans, and Eun-ji’s diary.
Even now, after the regression…