Siblings Work in Business (126)
A Different Feeling
The manager chuckled, looking at Aeseul’s excitement at the notification, and asked,
“I thought you weren’t interested in E-UNG anymore.”
“Huh?”
“Didn’t you say you were done with them after posting on that… E-PAN or whatever?”
“Th-That was… I meant I wasn’t interested in their past anymore. A-And unnie, you explained why I was wrong, remember? So I understood…”
A few days ago, Aeseul had posted two comments on E-FAN.
「Is there anyone among E% who knows about Eun-ho-nim’s past?」
└ Why would you want to know that?
└ Are you an anti-fan?
└ Respect his privacy.
└ These ♥♥s are the problem.
The responses, like the question itself, were harsh.
「It’s just curiosity… is that such a bad question?」
└ Yes.
└ You must hear a lot about not reading the room.
└ Don’t you know why other E% aren’t asking?
Aeseul had been angry at the other E%’s comments.
She quickly typed another post, also filled with negativity.
“Unnie, unnie.”
“Yeah?”
“Look! Isn’t this too much?”
Aeseul showed her phone to her manager, asking for support.
The manager took the phone and read Aeseul’s posts and the comments.
Her expression hardened as she read.
“Aeseul.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t you remember what you said to me before?”
“Huh? What did I say?”
“You said something like, ‘It seems like they’re avoiding talking about E-UNG!’”
The manager mimicked Aeseul’s tone.
“Pfft. What, is that my voice?”
Aeseul, still not understanding, burst out laughing.
Then, she slowly stopped laughing.
“Ah…”
It was because of her manager’s stern expression.
“Why… were you so curious about Eun-ho’s past, Aeseul?”
“W-Well, if you like someone, you’d be curious… wouldn’t you? I-Is it that wrong to…”
Aeseul, flustered by her manager’s anger, blinked her wide eyes and answered cautiously.
“Really?”
The manager forced a smile and continued,
“Then Aeseul…”
“Yeah?”
“Your fans also like you, so it’s okay for them to dig up the fact that you wet your bed and cried when you were in middle school, or… was it more than just wetting the bed?”
“W-Wait a minute, unn—”
“Or the time you were caught stealing cigarettes from the CEO because you thought smoking was cool.”
“Unnie, I was wrong.”
“And after that, you tried to imitate smoking by lighting a cigarette-shaped chocolate and burned your bag and some clothes! It’s okay for them to find out about that too, right?”
“Th-That’s…”
“Oh, and there’s also the time in middle school when you were obsessed with being a vampire and wore plastic fangs to school! It’s okay for them to find out about that too, right?”
Aeseul’s face flushed crimson as she lowered her head.
“Wow, amazing. Your fans digging into your past… you’re okay with that, Aeseul?”
“No…”
The manager stopped teasing her.
“It’s fine to be curious if you like someone. But what if you force that curiosity on someone who doesn’t want to share?”
“It’s… wrong…”
Aeseul pouted and looked up at her manager.
The manager’s expression was neither smiling nor angry.
She just looked at Aeseul calmly.
“Aeseul.”
“Yeah.”
“You were wrong, weren’t you?”
“Yes…”
“Mistakes can be forgiven, but there’s no excuse for doing something knowingly.”
“Okay… but unnie.”
“Yeah?”
“My uncle said admitting mistakes is stupid, so if I don’t admit them from the start…”
The manager rubbed her forehead, wondering where to even begin.
“Aeseul, Aeseul, Eoiseul.”
“Y-Yeah.”
“Just remember this one thing.”
“What?”
“The moment you think your CEO is right, I’m quitting.”
“…Huh?”
The manager sighed, looking at Aeseul’s teary eyes.
Then, she composed herself and continued,
“Your CEO is a successful adult.”
“Yeah.”
“But being successful doesn’t make him a good adult.”
“…”
“And Aeseul, I want you to become a good person, unlike your CEO. Do you understand what I mean?”
It was a turning point.
[E-UNG – ‘Hot Afternoon’ feat. YN, M-IN M/V Teaser.]
The teaser for “Hot Afternoon” was paused on Aeseul’s phone.
“Are you still curious about their past?”
Her manager asked, remembering their conversation from a few days ago, and Aeseul shook her head.
“Not anymore.”
“Really?”
“…I’m still curious, but… if Rangi oppa doesn’t tell me himself, I’ll just… I’ll just pretend I don’t know.”
The manager smiled at the dejected Aeseul.
“Good. Now, play the teaser, I’m curious.”
As her manager tapped the play button on her phone, Aeseul quickly pressed the pause button and yelled,
“W-Wait! I need to wash my hands!”
“Huh?”
The manager stared at Aeseul, dumbfounded, as she left.
Aeseul returned, wiping her slightly damp hands, as if she had actually washed them.
“Why did you wash your hands?”
The manager asked, bewildered, and Aeseul looked at her as if she was asking a stupid question.
“I have to watch Rangi-nim with clean hands!”
“Right… of course…”
The manager sighed and shook her head, as if giving up on understanding.
“Can I watch it now?”
“Yes. Deep breath”
Aeseul took a deep breath, put the video on full screen, and pressed play.
The sound of high heels clicking on a marble floor.
Long, short, and curly hair, but their faces were hidden, crossed paths.
A bell jingled as they left a store.
♪♪♬♪
The cowbell started playing. It sounded like glasses of different sizes being struck with a stick. The sound, although slightly muffled, was bright and clear.
The 12-second teaser was filled with the cowbell rhythm.
Just like the women crossing paths earlier, men also appeared, but unlike the women whose faces were hidden, the men were facing the camera directly. They had their heads down, and then they looked up, one after another. Seo Seung-yeon, Joo Song-min, and then Lee Eun-ho.
The screen faded to black, and white letters appeared, as if falling like dust.
[2015. 4. 9.]
[PM 7:00 (KST)]
After the surprise teaser release, E-FAN exploded.
[Teaser… quickly… release the MV…
I can’t breathe! CEO Park!!! Hurry!!!]
└ I feel you lol
[Saw YN (Seo Seung-yeon), and he’s~
Saw M-IN (Joo Song-min), he’s handsome.
Made eye contact with Rangi and held my breath.
Still holding it.]
└ I can relate lol I also held my breath lol
└ Holding it until the MV release! CEO Park, release it quickly if you don’t want to kill us!!!
[Is there any E% working at NRY Entertainment?]
└ Why?
└ Accidentally press Enter.
└ It’s okay if you disappear for a day, we’ll cover for you…
└ LOL
[E-Percenters… I imagined marrying Rangi, growing old together, and even being buried together the moment he looked up.
Was I the only one?]
└ Beep, that’s normal.
└ Where did you go for your honeymoon? I went to Guam lol
└ We went to Venice, rode a gondola, and ate steak.
└ LOL
[Why!!! Other groups release articles and interviews and promote their comeback all day!!! Why aren’t you promoting Ji-ji and Rangi, CEO Park!!!]
└ I agree!!!
└ You tell him!
└ CEO Park, you’re responsible!!! I watched it 2 hours late!!!
└ I’ll accept the light stick as compensation.
└ That’s a good idea.
└ LOL
[OMG E-Percenters, did you know? I thought I was staring at Rangi’s face for a long time, but it was only 2.17 seconds…]
└ ♥♥ I lived 60 years, died with Rangi, and played patty-cake with the Grim Reaper, but those 2.17 seconds felt like a lifetime.
└ Wow, she regressed lol
└ Regression lol
On their way to Longing Project for the ‘Footsteps’ music video production meeting…
Eun-ji chuckled, looking at the E% reactions.
“I’ll never understand this.”
“What?”
Seul-gi, tilting her head, looked at Eun-ji, who then showed her a post.
[Rangi, you’re responsible for my hair loss. I can’t get over you.]
└ Kyaa
└ ♥♥Lol
└ LOL
Seul-gi chuckled, then felt a strange sense of defeat.
“You don’t understand this post?”
Seul-gi asked, and Eun-ji shook her head.
“Then what don’t you understand?”
“I don’t understand why everyone is praising Lee Eun-ho’s looks.”
“Ah.”
You don’t understand that.
Seul-gi sighed and smiled.
Eun-ji turned to the side.
“What.”
Eun-ho, seemingly feeling her gaze, asked curtly, and Eun-ji clicked her tongue.
“He’s so ugly.”
“I’m better looking than you~”
“Says the rockfish head.”
“Stop using ‘rockfish’ already. It’s getting old.”
“You’re the one who’s getting old.”
“You’re trying to act like my equal again.”
“What.”
“I’m two years older than you!”
“Two yearsh… bullshit.”
“Ah… you’re annoying.”
Eun-ho closed his eyes, annoyed by her teasing.
Just then…
Something clattered, and Eun-ji yelled,
“Ah! Unnie! Lee Eun-ho is hitting me!”
“Is he insane?”
“This is all his fault!”
Eun-ji yelled, picking up the spilled items and putting them back in her bag.
“Don’t lie, you weirdo. You dropped everything yourself and now you’re blaming me!”
Eun-ho said, looking at her incredulously.
Seul-gi and Hyun-woo, sitting in the front, just smiled.
‘Mountains are mountains, fields are fields, roads are roads, and these siblings are siblings.’
Their smiles were serene, almost enlightened.
The van came to a smooth stop, its tires screeching slightly against the asphalt.
“We’re… here.”
It was eerily quiet.
Hyun-woo, turning around after parking, saw Eun-ho pulling Eun-ji’s hair with one hand, the other gripping her wrist.
Meanwhile, Eun-ji’s free hand was pulling at Eun-ho’s sideburns, as if trying to rip them off.
And both of them were gritting their teeth, not saying a word, as if competing to see who would give in first.
“Stop it…”
Hyun-woo sighed, and Eun-ho and Eun-ji, glancing at each other, waited for the other to let go.
“If you don’t let go right now, I’ll tell the—”
He didn’t have to finish his sentence.
They both raised their hands and blinked innocently, as if nothing had happened.
He thought they were maturing and fighting less in public, but… they were still the same.