Siblings Working in Business (240)
Ripple
The day before Eun-ho and Eun-ji left for their schedule…
PD Yoo gathered the awake members, including Eun-ho, for the opening segment.
“We have a special gift for those of you who woke up early.”
“Ooh.”
The members naturally assumed they would be receiving ‘points,’ as Eun-ho had suggested.
“Please take one from the front.”
A white table was set up, with folded pieces of paper on it, one for each awake member.
“They’re all the same.”
Eun-ho and Eun-ji were the first to rush forward as soon as PD Yoo finished speaking.
Then, Seung-yeon and Tae-hyun took their papers, and lastly, Jikki carefully picked up the remaining one.
Eun-ji, as if not wanting anyone to see, peeked at her paper, her chin doubling.
“They’re all the same, dummy.”
“…You never know!”
Eun-ji, a beat too late, snapped back at Eun-ho’s condescending remark.
The paper had five words written on it:
Wish Fulfillment Ticket
Since they had expected points, everyone’s faces showed their confusion, ‘What is this?’
PD Yoo, pleased with their reactions, continued with his explanation,
“We’ll be setting up a small store here.”
“A small store?”
“Is this for using there?”
“It’s for registering items, to be precise.”
“Registering?”
“The papers you received all say ‘Wish Fulfillment Ticket’.”
“Yes.”
“We haven’t stocked the store with many items yet.”
Eun-ho and Eun-ji exchanged glances, seemingly understanding the meaning of the Wish Fulfillment Ticket.
“The early bird gets to choose the store’s items!”
PD Yoo declared enthusiastically.
“In other words, the ‘Wish Fulfillment Tickets’ give you the right to add items to the store’s inventory.”
Tae-hyun, looking at his ticket, asked,
“So we’re choosing what will be sold, not what we get?”
“Correct.”
“Hmm.”
After Tae-hyun’s question, PD Yoo continued his explanation,
“You’ll be earning points through various missions…”
At Eun-ho’s question, PD Yoo signaled to a staff member, who placed a clear, round, plastic container on the table.
The staff member then filled the container with colorful glass marbles.
The PD, checking the marbles, replied to Eun-ho’s question,
“You’ll be receiving points in the form of these glass marbles.”
“And we can use these marbles to buy things from the store?”
“Yes, that’s right. You’ll be able to see a list of available items later, but…”
PD Yoo took out a new portable burner, not the staff’s one Eun-ho had envied the day before, and placed it in front of them.
“For example, this burner can be purchased for six marbles, and rented for half the price, three marbles.”
“Um, are there a lot of missions?”
Eun-ji raised her hand and asked PD Yoo.
“Yes. There will be a lot of… minor missions.”
“Oh!”
Just then, as PD Yoo’s eyes glinted mischievously…
“Right now.”
Writer Kim, as if waiting for this moment, held up a sketchbook.
Wake up a sleeping member and shout “Good morning!” together in the yard while holding hands.
First two teams get 1 point.
A sudden mission.
The sleeping members were Ryu Seok-hyun, Choi Si-woo, and Aeseul, three in total.
“And the points you earn will continue to accumulate throughout the filming of ‘Let’s Live Together a Bit.’ The accumulated points can be used in future filming sessions, and most importantly…”
“…?”
“Those without points today won’t be able to pay for a ‘room’ and will have to sleep outside.”
Just as everyone was hesitantly waiting for the signal to start, unsure if they could leave…
The words “sleep outside” triggered an instinctive reaction.
Eun-ho and Eun-ji were the first to move, almost simultaneously.
Eun-ji headed towards the left room where Aeseul was sleeping.
Eun-ho went to the right room where Si-woo and Seok-hyun were sleeping.
Jikki, Tae-hyun, and Seung-yeon, naturally, also headed towards the men’s room.
Eun-ji, the first to reach the room, burst in and yelled,
“Aeseul! Wake up!”
There was a problem.
Aeseul, seemingly a heavy sleeper, didn’t even budge at Eun-ji’s loud voice.
Instead, she frowned and burrowed deeper under the covers, as if having a nightmare.
“Not yet?”
Just then, Jikki entered the room.
Meeting Eun-ji’s eyes, she approached Aeseul and lifted the corner of the blanket covering her head.
“Unnie? Wh-what are you doing?”
Just then, as Eun-ji asked curiously…
Whoosh!
“Eek!”
Jikki blew on Aeseul’s ear, and Aeseul’s eyes snapped open.
It seemed to be a weakness she discovered the previous night.
‘Seriously, what the…’
Eun-ji stared at Aeseul, dumbfounded, who had woken up from a single puff of air, and suddenly thought of the fairy tale ‘The Sun and the Wind.’
But there was still a chance.
“Let’s go.”
Jikki smiled gently and extended her hand.
But perhaps because of the way she was woken up…
Aeseul, clutching her ear, her eyes wide, asked,
“Wh-what? Unnie, why?”
She seemed disoriented, still half-asleep. Just then…
“Good morning!”
“Good morning!”
Eun-ho and Seok-hyun’s voices echoed from the yard.
“Lee Eun-ho and Ryu Seok-hyun, pass!”
“What is this…?”
Aeseul heard the voices, but she seemed even more confused.
Meanwhile, a heavy silence fell between Jikki and Eun-ji, a silent tension simmering.
The shouts meant that one team had completed the mission.
And there were only two winning spots.
“Aesulli!”
“Yes?”
Jikki tried to say “Aeseul,” but mispronounced it.
Sensitive about her pronunciation, she paused for a moment, and Eun-ji seized the opportunity,
“Aeseul!”
“Yes? Yes!”
“You heard the voices outside, right?”
“Yes? Ah, yes.”
“Just do what I do! You and me both! Okay?”
“Yes?”
Eun-ji ended her brief explanation there.
“Kyaaa!”
Eun-ji then jumped up, scooped Aeseul into her arms, and ran outside.
Jikki, too stunned to speak, just stared at Eun-ji, dumbfounded.
Meanwhile, a similar scene seemed to be playing out in the other room, as Seung-yeon yelled,
“Ah, Hyung! That’s cheating!!! I woke up Si-woo!!!”
“…!”
Tae-hyun, carrying Si-woo in a similar fashion, appeared before Eun-ji.
“Excuse me.”
Tae-hyun calmly walked past Eun-ji and into the yard.
Eun-ji hurriedly followed him, shouting at Aeseul,
“Aeseul! Just do exactly what I do!”
Tae-hyun put Si-woo down on the platform.
Si-woo, disoriented, collapsed into a mermaid pose, his legs giving way.
‘Where am I? Who am I?’
Countless question marks seemed to float above Si-woo’s head.
This was their chance.
Eun-ji, barefoot, hurriedly carried Aeseul into the yard.
But perhaps feeling bad about getting Aeseul’s feet dirty, she put her down on the platform, took her hand, and raised both arms in the air.
When Eun-ji raised her arms, Aeseul, after a moment of blankly staring, seemed to remember Eun-ji’s instructions and raised her arms as well.
“Good morning!”
“G-good morning!”
“Lee Eun-ji and Aeseul, pass!”
“Waaaaah!”
Eun-ji jumped for joy as PD Yoo announced the winners.
“Wow…”
Just then, as Aeseul also expressed her surprise and delight…
She looked at Eun-ji with a mix of surprise, sadness, and other complex emotions, as if something was bothering her.
“…!”
“Good job!”
When Eun-ji turned to Aeseul and smiled brightly, Aeseul’s eyes welled up with tears for some reason.
“Huh? Aeseul, are you crying? Why are you crying?”
“I-it’s not that I’m crying…”
Aeseul didn’t have time to make excuses.
Eun-ji pulled her into a hug and whispered,
“The cameras are rolling, so stop.”
Thanks to Eun-ji’s hug, the cameras didn’t capture Aeseul’s tears, but rather, a scene of her celebrating with Eun-ji.
During the short break after the mission…
As everyone was relaxing on the platform…
Eun-ji sat down next to Aeseul and asked with concern,
“Why were you crying earlier? Is something wrong?”
“Ah, w-well, I-, I just woke up, so I’m still dreaming, maybe…”
“Dreaming? Hmm?”
Eun-ji narrowed her eyes, looking at Aeseul suspiciously, who was stammering and flustered.
Embarrassed by Eun-ji’s stare, Aeseul looked away, her gaze fixed on the dirt ground.
Just then, as Eun-ji was about to speak…
“Hey, Lee Eun-ji!”
“…”
“Come here for a sec.”
Eun-ho, who had been checking his phone, called out to Eun-ji, as if he had something to say.
Eun-ji looked away from Aeseul and glared at Eun-ho, who was on the other side of the platform.
“You come here! I mean, Oppa come here!”
“She always corrects herself after saying everything she wants to say, dummy.”
“Dummy—!”
“Stop messing around and come quickly. CEO Park called about tomorrow’s stage.”
“Ah… I have to go if it’s CEO Park.”
Eun-ji, about to explode at the word “dummy,” quickly changed her demeanor at the mention of CEO Park.
“I’ll be back.”
Eun-ji said to Aeseul and stood up.
“Ah, hurry up!”
“Ah! I just woke up! Don’t rush me! I have to find my shoes!”
“Jjom—!”
Although not technically a curse, Eun-ji’s tone was… pointed.
Eun-ho, taken aback by her unexpected attack, glared, and Eun-ji grinned, holding up her slippers.
“That wasn’t a curse. I was talking about my shoes.”
“…”
“Shoes.”
Just then, as Eun-ji glared at Eun-ho pointedly…
“Hyung, hyung, they’re fighting again.”
Seung-yeon, amused by the siblings’ imminent clash, called out to Tae-hyun.
Round two had begun.
“Where’s Hyun-woo?”
Tae-hyun sighed, looking for the E-UNG manager to intervene.
Hyun-woo was already approaching them.
Eun-ho and Eun-ji’s faces paled as Hyun-woo whispered something to them, and they both shook their heads.
“Don’t fight.”
“Yes…”
“Okay.”
“Ooh…”
Seung-yeon and Tae-hyun, impressed by how quickly Hyun-woo subdued them, let out a low whistle.
Aeseul, her eyes filled with complex emotions, watched Eun-ho and Eun-ji being scolded by Hyun-woo.
Her gaze, once filled with excitement and admiration for Eun-ho, was now calm and subdued.
“…”
Aeseul sighed softly and stood up.
Seok-hyun, who had been talking to the staff nearby, seemed to notice her movement and turned around.
“Aeseul, where are you going?”
“Just need to use the restroom.”
“Oh, okay.”
Seok-hyun nodded and went back to his conversation with the staff.
Aeseul left the noisy courtyard and headed towards the bathroom attached to the main room.
But once inside, she closed the toilet lid and sat on it, as if it were a chair. She didn’t seem to need to use the toilet.
She pressed her cold hands to her burning forehead.
“I didn’t do it. I never did…”
Seeing Eun-ji Unnie standing right in front of her had made her heart stop.
Not from fangirling, but from shame and a crushing sense of guilt.
“It’s all because of that strange dream…”
Aeseul, burying her face in her hands, muttered to herself,
“I… killed Unnie…”