Siblings work in business (1)
Siblings
“How about you two debuting as a sibling duo with this song?”
“Huh?”
In 2014, the “Sibling Musicians” debuted after winning first place in a survival program.
As those two gained immense popularity, our CEO seemed to be tempted.
‘Otherwise…’
Knowing full well that we bicker and fight every day, there’s no way he would have thought of this on his own.
The proposal itself wasn’t bad.
The only problem was that all the prepared songs were love songs.
“Absolutely not! It’s disgustingly nauseating!”
“Hey, I find it utterly repulsive too.”
“A love song looking at this ugly mug? Ugh!”
“Lee Eun-ji, I’m your older bro―”
“Yeah. Go f*** yourself. Older brother, my ass.”
A man and a woman, reflected in CEO Park’s gaze like a mirror, looked exactly alike.
Lee Eun-ho and Lee Eun-ji.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say they were like ill-tempered hounds, only calming down after one of them got bitten.
“Eun-ji, even if I am your brother, saying I make you nauseous…”
“I’m fine with it.”
It’s only natural for a dog to bark.
Lee Eun-ji glared at me, intensely enough for me to feel the reprimanding gaze from the side.
Since it was such a mundane, unworthy occurrence, I ignored Lee Eun-ji and turned back to the CEO.
The CEO, who had brought up the idea, let out a big sigh with a troubled expression.
Rubbing his forehead as if he had a headache, he cautiously opened his mouth.
“You know the Sibling Musicians these days, right?”
“Yes.”
With their innocent looks, they confidently won first place in the audition program, and even debuted together as siblings.
“I thought it would be difficult as siblings, but it seems I was wrong.”
“Well, their oppa isn’t an asshole like this one. And he’s cute, to begin with.”
I hadn’t intended to add anything, but I couldn’t ignore the mad dog’s barking.
“That’s what I should be saying. At least they’re cute, you’re…”
“Say one more word and I’ll rip your mouth apart.”
“Yeah, I said it. Try ripping it.”
Intense sparks flew.
Just as Lee Eun-ji was about to explode…
“Stop, stop.”
As if he was used to it by now, the CEO placed a file between us, sighing.
“With your sharp eyes, you two already have intimidating impressions…”
“Anyway, I don’t want to.”
“If you force us, CEO, we’ll have to do it, but I don’t want to either.”
The CEO removed the file separating us and waved his hand.
“Forget it. Forget it. I’d rather poison the broadcasting station.”
As if he thought a broadcasting accident would be more likely, the CEO let out a sigh of resignation.
Lee Eun-ho and Lee Eun-ji, siblings who, since childhood, didn’t even know if their parents were alive, let alone their names.
It might seem long, but they had been preparing for their debut after a relatively short three-year training period compared to other idols.
3 years ago.
“Middle school graduate… isn’t that a bit…”
“They lack flair, they lack it.”
“They sing well, but…”
“They’re too flashy and have an intimidating impression, making it difficult to put them in a group.”
“Um, they said they didn’t write the song they brought, right?”
“If they write alone, their only ability is singing…”
“They have individuality, but commercially viable songs don’t seem to suit them.”
Harsh criticism poured in every time I stood at an audition.
‘Just in case.’
Even though failure was evident, I forced the corners of my mouth up to look and leave a good impression.
Always bowing at a 90-degree angle, I repeatedly said, “Thank you,” even though there was nothing to be thankful for.
“What did they say?”
As I came out of the TaKa Entertainment audition, Lee Eun-ji, who was waiting in the lobby, ran up and asked.
“What?”
“About my song!”
“They said it lacks commercial viability.”
A fierce wrinkle formed between Lee Eun-ji’s eyebrows.
All the songs I sang during the auditions were composed by Lee Eun-ji.
“Forget it! Oppa, we can try other places. We have plenty of time.”
“Right.”
My tense shoulders from the constant criticism finally relaxed.
Even though I had heard similar criticism countless times during auditions, I was able to endure it largely thanks to Lee Eun-ji.
Like we were competing to see who could bite harder. On the surface, we always seemed to have a bad relationship, but that was also because we were so close.
Fifteen years had passed since we started living in this world alone, without knowing our parents’ names or faces.
We were family, the only ones left in the world for each other, trusting and relying only on each other.
After leaving the magnificent building of TaKa Entertainment…
I filled my stuffy lungs with air.
That’s when it happened.
“Hey, you there.”
Lee Eun-ji and I turned around after hearing the voice.
An outdated suit that looked like it belonged in the 90s.
A middle-aged man who looked to be in his early 40s.
“How old are you?”
“Me?”
The middle-aged man nodded.
“I’m seventeen. Why?”
As Lee Eun-ji answered, the man’s eyes lit up.
Lee Eun-ji looked at him as if she had seen a strange person and craned her neck, showing her displeasure.
“Ah, I am this kind of person.”
He rummaged through something like a wallet and pulled out a small white piece of paper, handing it to Lee Eun-ji.
「NRY Entertainment
CEO Park Chang-seok」
Craning my neck to look, I confirmed that the paper was a business card.
Lee Eun-ji furrowed her brows and stared at him, saying,
“I’m not interested in being a celebrity.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Disappointment flashed across his face, and then…
“But my oppa wants to be a singer.”
The CEO’s gaze, which had been fixed on Lee Eun-ji, shifted to me.
I thought about avoiding his gaze due to a sudden sense of defeat, but I didn’t want to feel like I was losing for no reason.
So I brazenly looked at the man.
“You have good eyes too. If you’re both interested, come to the building on the business card tomorrow. I’ll buy you meat.”
I remembered a neighborhood ahjussi telling me not to follow strangers when I was young.
But I was almost an adult, and Lee Eun-ji was so violent that I wasn’t too worried.
“Is this it?”
“Seems like it.”
The next day.
Lee Eun-ji came because of the “I’ll buy you meat” promise, and I came, lured by the entertainment company.
The company we arrived at, reeking of the smell of a jjimjilbang (Korean sauna), was a bit disconcerting.
“This is the company?”
A back alley in an ordinary residential area.
Lee Eun-ji tilted her head, looking at the ‘building,’ which was just an old house painted white.
I wondered if we had come to the wrong place, but the 「NRY Entertainment」 sign under the address confirmed that this was the right place.
“I guess so.”
As I answered, looking at the sign, Lee Eun-ji pouted, subtly expressing her dissatisfaction.
To be honest, the first impression of NRY Entertainment and CEO Park Chang-seok wasn’t good.
‘Is he a scammer?’
I genuinely suspected that.
But for us, accustomed to a life of just surviving each day, meeting CEO Park Chang-seok was a turning point in our lives.
“Being a middle school dropout will make life difficult. Let’s start with the GED.”
“What about vocal lessons?”
“We’ll do that too.”
He seemed to notice my concern about whether it would be too difficult. The CEO’s eyebrow arched meaningfully.
“If you can’t even do this, forget about being a singer.”
At the CEO’s words, I shouted back.
“I’ll do it! Who said I wouldn’t?”
“Good. That’s the spirit. Eun-ji, Eun-ho’s doing it too, you’re not going to say you can’t, are you?”
A subtle provocation, stimulating my competitive spirit.
CEO Park knew exactly how to handle us.
“I was going to do it from the beginning!”
‘3 years.’
I studied until I had nosebleeds.
I didn’t neglect practice or lessons. It was the time in my life where I felt I lived the most diligently.
“Look at this, I got a present! A letter and stickers, it’s freaking cute!”
“You debuted, so watch your language.”
“Are you jealous?”
“Ugh, get it away from me.”
“You’re jealous, right? Be honest.”
“F*** off.”
“I’m going to tell the CEO. Oppa said ‘F*** off.’”
“Go ahead.”
The CEO’s proposal fell through, and we ended up debuting separately.
My initial results were neither good nor bad, just ambiguous.
But Lee Eun-ji…
“Unnie, I love you!”
As we each headed to our respective vehicles…
A scream-like voice was heard.
Fans had even come to this company, which was a renovated house.
‘Of course, they’re always Lee Eun-ji’s fans…’
In my case, most people didn’t even know my name or that I was a singer.
Even if they did, they only recognized me as ‘Eun-ji unnie’s oppa.’
“Oppa!”
Lee Eun-ji, who was running towards her car, came back to me.
“What.”
“Give me your hand.”
“Why.”
“Just give it to me.”
Lee Eun-ji placed something that made a crinkling plastic sound onto my open palm.
Then, without a word, she smiled and ran back to her car.
Looking down at my hand, I saw a chocolate bar I’d never seen before, written in a foreign language, probably a gift from a fan.
‘That kid.’
I unwrapped the chocolate and popped it in my mouth. The sugar forcibly lifted my sinking mood.
No matter how much we fight like cats and dogs, seeing things like this makes me realize we’re family.
Following Lee Eun-ji’s continued success, the CEO moved out of the renovated house and built a new company building.
If I contributed one pillar to the new building, Lee Eun-ji built the land and the higher floors with her level of success.
Lee Eun-ji’s success story was expected to continue, just as it always had.
Accidents always happen unexpectedly.
“Eun-ho.”
“Yeah?”
“We got a call from the hospital.”
“Hospital? Why the hospital?”
The day I made my comeback on a music show with my second album.
The manager’s face was grim as he delivered the news.
“Eun-ji, she had an accident.”
Drop dead.
Die.
Those were common jokes we threw at each other during our daily squabbles.
At least, I thought they were.
But I could never have actually wished for it.
No matter how awful she was, we were the only family each other had in the world.
“Mr. Lee Eun-ho, please wait. You’ll be on next!”
“Eun-ho…”
As the staff member relayed the message and closed the door, my manager called my name worriedly.
“It’s okay. I’ll do it and go. Lee Eun-ji would curse me out if I slacked off.”
I couldn’t process it, so I think I was able to laugh somehow.
But the more I laughed, the more my manager seemed to grimace, as if his stomach hurt.
“I’ll be back.”
Saying that, I headed to the stage.
I spoke confidently, but…
Honestly, I don’t even remember what I was thinking during the performance, or if I even sang properly.
“I’ll have to leave first!”
“Mr. Eun-ho!”
There was one last filming left for the ranking announcement, but I couldn’t stay any longer.
“Eun-ho, get a grip.”
“I know, hyung.”
I know.
Standing in front of the hospital room where Lee Eun-ji was, my heart pounded painfully hard.
Opening the door to the hospital room, the strong smell of disinfectant made it hard to breathe.
She looked so normal on the outside.
If it weren’t for the bandage around her head, she would have seemed fine.
“Lee Eun-ji…”
“Oppa…”
As I called her name, Lee Eun-ji opened her eyes.
She’s alive.
She’s alive.
With Lee Eun-ji’s response, my tense body relaxed.
Thank goodness.
But…
Was that her last greeting?
Lee Eun-ji slowly closed her eyes.
“Hey, Lee Eun-ji.”
“Eun-ho!”
That…
Was the end.
Well, that’s a sad start
What the flip?