Siblings Work in Business (141)
“Hey! Handsome guy over there!”
“…”
Eun-ji called out, and many male audience members turned their heads.
But her eyes met with only one person.
“M-Me?”
“Yes! Can you come up on stage for a moment?”
Eun-ji smiled brightly, and Shin-il, dumbfounded, just stared at her.
Handsome? Seriously? Even with a shorter haircut, or…
‘Even as he is, he looks like the type who could make anyone cry…’
Shin-il felt embarrassed, regardless of whether she meant it or not.
“Ooh, what’s going on, what’s going on?!”
“You, just come here.”
Shin-il pushed past his excited roommate and made his way towards the stage, pushing through the crowd.
A security guard helped him over the fence, and Eun-ji held out her hand and asked,
“Can you help me out?”
“E-Excuse me? Ah, u-um, yes.”
It would be more awkward to back down now that he was here.
…Using that as an excuse, Shin-il, as if mesmerized, took Eun-ji’s hand and followed her onto the stage.
“Who is he?”
“I don’t know!”
Eun-ho chuckled at Eun-ji’s cheerful reply and looked at Shin-il.
Shin-il, looking back and forth between Eun-ho and Eun-ji, was impressed.
Wow, he’s also… not bad.
“Oh, is that a college jacket?”
“Yes, it is.”
“What’s your name?”
“Jeong Shin-il.”
“This is a common question, but what’s your major?”
“Mechanical engine—”
Just then…
Loud cheers erupted from the audience.
“Oh, Mechanical Engineering? Is that right?”
“Yes.”
As Shin-il gave a simple answer, another round of cheers, “Yes!!!”, followed from the audience.
As expected, they seemed to be from the same department.
“And your age—”
“Class of ’12, 23 years old.”
Eun-ho’s face brightened at Shin-il’s quick answer.
“Oh! ’93, year of the Rooster?”
“Yes, ’93.”
“Oh, we’re the same age!”
“Oh, really? Nice to meet you.”
Shin-il casually extended his hand.
Eun-ho, chuckling at his boldness, shook his hand.
“This is my partner, Lee Eun-ho.”
“Okay, okay.”
Eun-ji, who had been watching the scene unfold, pulled Shin-il’s hand away.
Shin-il, startled, looked at Eun-ji with wide eyes.
Then, Eun-ji smiled brightly and asked,
“Oppa, do you remember what I asked for earlier?”
“Ah, yes. But… what kind of help…”
“The next song is a love song, and it’s hard for me to focus while looking at him.”
As Eun-ji pointed at Eun-ho, he bent her finger.
Laughter rippled through the audience.
“So, I want to invite someone else on stage who can help me focus. Anyone willing to be my partner, raise your hand!”
Hands shot up from the audience.
Some were from men, which made Eun-ho grab the microphone, flustered.
“Whoa, hyungs! Thank you for the offer, but I’ll have to decline. Haha.”
Among the raised hands, Eun-ho chose a woman who seemed to be an E%, the one who was holding the cat doll earlier.
“What’s your name?”
“Kim Eun-jeong!”
“Oh, are you a student at Ihan University?”
“Yes!”
“What depart—”
“Chemistry!”
“Waaaaah!”
Was it intentional?
The cheers were even louder than when the Mechanical Engineering students yelled.
“Oh? We can’t lose. Mechanical Engineering, make some noise!!!”
“Waaaaah!”
Eun-ji egged them on.
Just as a friendly competition was about to start…
Hyun-woo, sensing the atmosphere, gave the staff a signal, and a guitar and piano intro started playing.
“This is our last song! It’s called ‘Footsteps,’ our new song that sounds like a person’s name! Please give it lots of love!”
While Eun-ho spoke, Eun-jeong and Shin-il sat down on the chairs the staff hurriedly brought over.
Eun-ho took a deep breath and prepared to sing, and Eun-ji, holding Shin-il’s hand tightly, started the song.
A darkened night
Light on this path, stillness
Settling down, I close my eyes
Then, Eun-ho also gently held Eun-jeong’s hand and joined in.
Eun-jeong’s face flushed as Eun-ho sang.
Embarrassed, she covered half her face with the cat doll she was holding.
Shin-il’s ears were also bright red.
Even if time itself, which only we know, can’t chase us
Farther, farther away
Besides their faces being so close, their unamplified voices, audible even without microphones, made their hearts pound. Their hands, clasped together throughout the song, were sweaty. Despite that, Eun-ho and Eun-ji interlocked their fingers during the highlight.
Sleep well
May a bright star shine on your path tonight
After the song ended, Eun-ho and Eun-ji let go of the microphones and briefly thanked Eun-jeong and Shin-il for their help.
“Let’s give a big round of applause to our two helpers!”
“Waaaaah!!!”
Amidst the cheers from the friendly Ihan University audience…
Eun-ho and Eun-ji gave Eun-jeong and Shin-il 10,000 won gift certificates as a thank you.
Eun-jeong and Shin-il, still dumbfounded, seemed to need a moment to process what had just happened.
“Waaaaah!”
‘I was worried it would be a gloomy atmosphere since it’s a ballad, but…’
Thankfully, the mood was upbeat.
After the song, Eun-ji and I bowed deeply and headed backstage.
“Awwww—”
Sighs of disappointment followed.
It was strange to hear people being sad that we were leaving.
As we were heading backstage…
“Encore, encore, encore!”
“Encore!! Encore!!! Encore!!!”
The scattered calls for an encore grew louder and louder, reaching even backstage.
“Uh…”
“…”
Eun-ji and I looked back at the stage.
We felt a strange mix of emotions.
It was because of what the Toxin seniors told us earlier.
「“It’s rare for rookies to get an encore.”」
「“If you do get an encore…”」
It means you did really well.
So we hadn’t expected it at all.
At the continuous calls for an encore, Eun-ji burst into tears and sat down.
“Get up. We have to go.”
“Y-Yeah, I know.”
Eun-ji stood up and was about to leave.
“Where are you going?”
“We have to go!”
Eun-ji yelled, her eyes red and puffy.
I pointed towards the stage.
“Let’s do an encore.”
“Huh? I thought we were going home?”
“They want us to.”
“Seriously… why didn’t you say that earlier?!”
Eun-ji wiped her tears and said with a determined expression,
“…Let’s go.”
The calls for an encore continued.
Before going back on stage, we asked the staff to play “Wise,” since we wanted to end with an upbeat song.
And the moment the cymbal sound echoed through the speakers…
“Waaaaaaaaah!!!”
The loudest cheers yet erupted from the audience.
It was a truly heartwarming moment.
“This will be our last song!”
I announced, our faces still hidden backstage.
Meanwhile, the familiar intro played: the reverb after the Wurlitzer piano faded, followed by the 808 bass.
Eun-ji, tapping her microphone against the sparkling jewels, nodded to the rhythm.
And as we walked onto the stage, we started singing.
Careless words
Become chains that bind him
Two near-screams, ‘Kyaaa!’ and ‘Waaaah!’, erupted from the audience.
I force a smile
For you, who wants to see me cry
Eun-ji, immersed in the song, smiled sharply, like a villain.
Contrary to my thought, ‘She looks so evil,’ the cheers from the audience only grew louder.
While Eun-ji dominated the stage, my part arrived.
Three monkeys dancing
Above my head
A loud cheer, as loud as Eun-ji’s, made me smile.
But that was short-lived.
What are you doing now!
As Eun-ji started singing seductively and then yelled “now!”, the audience roared along.
—Hear no evil!!
Haha, cover your ears if you hear their voices!
—See no evil!!
Close your eyes if you see them!
—Speak no evil!!
Cover your mouth lest you make a sound!
Then, the entire university echoed with their singing.
It was a surprisingly powerful sing-along, despite most of them hearing the song for the first time, perhaps thanks to the repetitive “evil” lyrics.
Whoaaaa—
Yeeeee, oh, yeah!
Whoo!
Eun-ji stared at Eun-ho, impressed by his high-note ad-libs, which he seemed to have been inspired to do by the atmosphere.
Not to be outdone, Eun-ji also showed off her skills.
They both sang and danced with hand microphones. Thanks to Lee Ha-neul’s training, their performance was stable and powerful.
Actually, I’m not okay
Rewind sound
The playful sound effect signaled the end of the song.
“Gasp… huff…”
It felt like a real performance, a performance where I gave my all.
The field was now packed with people.
“Huff… huff… That was E-UNG, Lee Eun-ho and Lee Eun-ji!”
Eun-ho, wiping his sweaty forehead, bowed deeply.
“Thank you!!!”
Eun-ji, after smoothing back her hair, gave a brief final greeting.
Although there were more calls for an encore, we had to leave, as promised.
It was for the next performer, the actual headliner of today’s show.
And so, Eun-ho and Eun-ji left the stage.
Perhaps because they had dominated the stage so thoroughly…
The famous idol group that followed had to work even harder to satisfy the excited Ihan University audience.
Later, videos of Eun-ho and Eun-ji’s performance flooded various social media platforms.
(Ihan University E-UNG encore performance video)
[Dude, they killed it. I now understand what ‘slaying the stage’ means.
#E-UNG #IhanUniversity #Stage #Video]
└ Wow, those high notes;;; amazing;;;
└ How did the speakers not explode?
└ I heard their voices were so loud that they could be heard even in the girls’ dorm, even though the speakers cut out midway.
└ Who are they?
└ E-UNG
└ That’s insane.
[#IhanUniversity #Performance I was there, it was amazing even before the encore.]
└ Was there more??? I arrived late and only saw the encore.
└ A guy from Mechanical Engineering and a girl from Chemistry went on stage and sang their new song “Footsteps” while holding hands.
└ OMG… fan service lol
└ Those two are hooked now lol
└ I hope their hearts are okay lol