Siblings Work in Business (109)
“Is it good?”
“Uh-huh!”
Was she the only one who could eat it because she made it herself?
The other seniors were all struggling to eat the kimbap in two bites.
Eun-ji nodded vigorously, her cheeks bulging, her lips barely closed.
Well, she did stuff a ridiculous amount of tuna in there, so it must be good.
‘I want to poke her.’
Her cheeks looked like they would burst if I touched them.
I wanted to, but I refrained, thinking it would be too messy for the camera.
I was about to take another one of Tae-hyun’s thumb-sized kimbap rolls when…
‘…Wait, the camera?’
I suddenly felt a chill.
This was going to be uploaded to YouTube.
I felt a sudden headache.
「I love how Ji-ji and Rangi look even more alike than twins lol」
I remembered a post on E-FAN and the numerous comments agreeing with it.
Of course, I didn’t agree.
I didn’t think I was handsome, but I was definitely better looking than Lee Eun-ji.
But our fans didn’t seem to think so.
「lol Since Rangi doesn’t have many facial expressions, I imagine his face whenever Ji-ji makes a funny one.」
Why would you do that?
I was speechless, imagining the horrifying composite image.
‘Please.’
I already knew.
Eun-ji often stuffed her mouth with food bigger than her bite, saying she liked it.
And then she would spend hours doing extra PT to burn off the calories.
「“Wouldn’t it be better to eat less and exercise less?”」
「“What are you talking about? You have to eat.”」
「“Right, you’ll gain weight.”」
「“Asshole!”」
Just the other day, Eun-ji glared at me as if to say, “How dare you say that in front of fried chicken?”
Anyway.
Having witnessed it every day, I knew.
That hamster-like way she stuffed her cheeks with food…
Lee Eun-ji.
And that was being filmed…?
I suddenly lost my appetite.
Despite my worries, the mukbang and the broadcast continued in a good atmosphere.
Although the “good atmosphere” mostly consisted of “lol” at our ridiculous antics…
‘Well, who cares if it’s embarrassing? As long as they’re entertained.’
I tried to think that way.
I had been too preoccupied while making kimbap, but now, while eating, I could focus on the chat again.
Then, Seung-yeon, pausing before eating his kimbap, read a question from the chat.
“Someone asked, ‘You played the role of a fighting couple in ‘Wise,’ wasn’t it difficult to act?’ I was also curious about that, Eun-ho.”
“Me?”
I wasn’t even in that scene, why was he asking me?
“Oh, right. If it weren’t for Eun-ho, we would have had to stop filming.”
“…Why?”
Eun-ji quickly chewed and swallowed before answering.
“Well, I feel bad saying this, but…”
“It’s okay, tell us.”
“During the couple scene… Eun-ji was struggling to get into character.”
“Ah, right. Haha.”
As Eun-ji nodded, the others chimed in.
“Haha. What did she say again?”
“She asked what ‘boyfriend’ meant, didn’t she?”
“Right.”
I still didn’t understand.
Then, Eun-ji gave me a hint.
“Tteokbokki.”
“Ah, tteokbokki, that.”
Just as I thought, ‘That’s what it was,’…
“Huh?”
“What?”
“Huh?”
“Why are we suddenly talking about tteokbokki?”
Everyone looked puzzled.
It was during the filming of the couple scene in the music video, the so-called ‘swing’ scene.
Eun-ji and Oh Hyun, wearing matching couple outfits, were supposed to be arguing.
「“Imagine you’re fighting with your boyfriend!”」
PD Cheol-soo’s direction only confused Eun-ji further.
「“Fighting with… what?”」
「“Your boyfriend!”」
PD Cheol-soo repeated himself, louder this time.
Eun-ji looked genuinely bewildered.
「“That word doesn’t exist in my vocabulary, so I can’t get into character…”」
「“What? You must have had a boyfriend before.”」
「“I’ve never dated…”」
Although no one believed her, it was true.
Before the regression, Lee Eun-ji only worked, she never dated.
She was so picky that even those who confessed their feelings to her were scared off.
Especially when it came to work.
‘Love blossoms at work.’
That saying definitely didn’t apply to Lee Eun-ji.
Her work environment was so bleak that even her manager struggled to say, “Shall we eat?”
How could he explain romantic feelings to her?
‘Ah.’
Eun-ho, seemingly having an idea, took Eun-ji aside and whispered something to her.
Eun-ji’s eyes welled up, then her expression turned to anger.
“What did you say to her?”
Seung-yeon asked Eun-ho, who had returned, as he approached.
Eun-ho just smiled mischievously and said, “It’s a secret.” Then he turned his attention back to Eun-ji’s acting.
As the director yelled “Action” again, Eun-ji, no longer awkward, showed amazing immersion.
Seung-yeon, perhaps out of consideration for the confused fans, briefly explained the situation and then asked Eun-ho,
“During the swing scene…”
“Yes, the scene where the couple is fighting?”
“Yeah. What did you say to her?”
Eun-ho tilted his head, as if trying to remember, then said,
“I think I said, ‘Think about your favorite tteokbokki.’”
The studio suddenly felt cold.
It was hard to believe, but it was true.
「“Do you remember your favorite tteokbokki?”」
「“What tteokbokki?”」
「“The one from before the regression, a few years from now, with a strong curry and pepper flavor…”」
The tteokbokki sold near our house, with a strong curry and pepper flavor, which Lee Eun-ji was obsessed with before the regression, as if she was in love.
「“Sounds delicious.”」
Eun-ji gulped, seemingly salivating just from the description.
Eun-ho used that as an analogy for the ‘boyfriend’ she was supposed to be acting with.
「“Right. You have nothing to worry about, you can eat it happily from now on. Oh no! You spilled it on your keyboard.”」
「“What?!”」
「“I don’t know what you did wrong! Well, the bowl was a bit precariously balanced, but if you had been more careful, you could have saved both… ”」
「“This is so annoying…”」
「“And so what?”」
「“I’m sad. And annoyed, and angry. At myself, at the spilled tteokbokki, at everything. But I don’t want to waste it, so I’d try to save it somehow.”」
「“Right. And then?”」
「“The sauce is already spilled, and it’s all over my keyboard.”」
「“Okay. Now, use that emotion and get angry.”」
Eun-ho recounted the conversation verbatim.
“So, that amazing performance was all because of tteokbokki?”
“Eun-ji, you’re really serious about tteokbokki…”
“Is this impressive or pathetic…?”
While the maknae line commented, the chat was flooded with question marks.
“Was the analogy that weird?”
“No, it was perfect…”
It seemed like only we understood our conversation.
[Why are the other members here today, besides the two who are performing in ‘Wise’? Are they here for support?]
After the kimbap feast, as we were cleaning up…
Ji Ye-chan, having finished his task quickly, read a comment from the chat and smiled.
“What are you looking at?”
“Why?”
Just then, Tae-hyun and Eun-ho also returned after finishing their tasks.
“Someone asked why the other maknaes are here, if it’s for moral support.”
“Ah.”
Eun-ho nodded in understanding and looked at the camera.
“It’s a secret for now.”
Actually, it was the same during the music video shoot, not just today’s live broadcast.
Only Oh Hyun and Tae-hyun, who were participating in “Wise,” needed to be at the pension.
As you know, only the two of them appeared in the music video.
But besides “Wise,” which represented evening, there was another unreleased song, “Hot Afternoon,” which represented lunchtime.
And Seung-yeon and Song-min participated in that song.
So, the pension trip was also for filming the music video for “Hot Afternoon,” not just “Wise.”
Of course!
The CEO of TaKa Entertainment had nothing to do with this.
As if to prove that we hadn’t gotten permission in advance, the day after we arrived at the pension…
Perhaps inspired by the new environment…
I finally finished the lyrics that had been blocking me and went to the CEO’s room to ask for his approval.
But the timing was bad.
The CEO’s phone was ringing non-stop, making it impossible to even have a conversation, let alone talk about the lyrics.
It wasn’t a ringtone, but the CEO of TaKa Entertainment yelling.
“What?! A pension trip with all the members?! What are you talking about?! You said you were only filming one music video!”
“Hey, CEO Jeong, why are you being so sensitive?”
The CEO’s brazen reply to the yelling was even more ridiculous.
Although he was on our side, his tone was provocative.
“When did I say ‘one’ music video?”
“Park Chang-seok! That’s so unfair!”
“Did I say that? CEO Jeong, I have a recording now. Haha.”
“You’ll regret this—”
Just as the CEO of TaKa was about to assert his authority…
Our CEO wasn’t going to let him have the upper hand.
“Hey, hyung, why are you being like this between us?”
The best way to deal with someone trying to overpower you was to bring them down to your level.
That was the first step.
The CEO casually dropped the honorifics and called the CEO of TaKa ‘hyung.’
“You’re the one being unfair, Chang-seok. You said you were done with this industry, and now you’ve started a company!”
The CEO of TaKa, unaware of the trap, stepped into the CEO’s territory.
Perhaps because he was used to being lectured…
It sounded familiar.
Once the opponent had lowered themselves, it was easy.
The CEO tried to ‘persuade’ him.
“Ah, so that’s what’s bothering you, hyung! Haha, okay!”
“You don’t know anything!”
“I should visit you again to catch up!”
“Wh-What?”
The CEO of TaKa’s voice wavered.