Siblings Work in Business (16)
The unexpected jab of a dagger pierced my conscience.
“S-Still, I’d like to do some recording, haha.”
I belatedly added an awkward complaint.
But it wasn’t a lie, so I didn’t feel guilty.
The CEO just smiled at my answer without any further response and focused on driving.
‘Is it because it’s late?’
The bridge, which was usually packed with cars according to my memory, was quite empty.
The peaceful night scenery, somehow, felt desolate.
It felt surreal that just a few minutes ago, I was on a stage filled with cheers, even though they weren’t for me.
I had felt like the world would change once I stepped off the stage, but…
Nothing changed in my world.
‘It wasn’t my stage to begin with.’
Eun-ho’s eyes, looking out the window, darkened.
The still-bright night view, even at midnight, overlapped with the sea of purple light sticks he saw on stage.
At first, I was excited to be back on stage after a long time, but I was more afraid of making a mistake.
I was nervous and trembling because it was the stage of a senior I respected.
But the moment I heard the cheers for the senior…
The nervousness remained, but it cooled down like a calm, deep sea.
「“CEO, please make me so busy with work that I don’t have time for these distracting thoughts.”」
My stage.
My fans.
Everything I had during the year after Lee Eun-ji passed away, when I was constantly busy with performances, recordings, and new songs.
The emptiness that followed after leaving the stage, the days I desperately filled with the next recording instead of alcohol.
Recording studio, performances, events, more events.
Interviews, recordings, monitoring new songs, events, more events.
This wasn’t a weekly schedule, but a daily, hourly one.
Meals in the car.
Rushing to the next location, and then the next, without a moment to breathe.
When my battery ran out, I’d go home for a short nap, get an IV drip at the hospital in the morning, and then start running again.
‘I never imagined I’d miss those days.’
I was suddenly aware of my current position.
Perhaps that’s why…
I felt thirsty.
I wanted to sing.
Not someone else’s song, but my own…
‘No, wait.’
It wasn’t my song anymore.
It was ‘our’ song.
It had been a while since my lips curled up at the thought of Lee Eun-ji.
“Eun-ho, since you feel the same way, that’s good.”
Then…
“Huh?”
Lost in thought, I hurriedly retraced my memory, trying to remember what I had been talking about with the CEO.
But the last thing I remembered saying was…
「“I’d like to do some recording.”」
Could it be?
Eun-ho turned to look at the CEO.
The CEO, focused on driving, couldn’t meet his gaze, but he was smiling broadly, his expression full of meaning.
“Good job, Eun-ho.”
“For… what?”
Flustered by the sudden praise, I asked back.
But the only response was a meaningful smile.
OST
“After the showcase, we received a call from CK E&M Studio.”
The next day, Eun-ho learned the reason for the CEO’s sudden praise in his office, along with Eun-ji.
“CK E&M Studio…”
Eun-ji looked back at Eun-ho, tilting her head at his murmur.
“They’re the tvL drama OST team. It seems Team Leader Min Gi-ho liked your performance yesterday, Eun-ho.”
Eun-ho’s eyes widened.
Eun-ji, surprisingly, didn’t seem surprised.
But at the CEO’s next words, she gasped and covered her mouth.
“They want to entrust you with one of the OST tracks for the upcoming drama, ‘He is 1+1=1.’”
“That…”
“Do you know it?”
“Yes! Of course! I loved the novel, and I was interested in the drama adaptation! Oh my gosh!”
Eun-ho, staring at Eun-ji, blinked his wide eyes in disbelief and asked,
“You read books?”
“I’m not illiterate like someone I know.”
“I’m not illiterate!”
“You are illitawate!”
Smack!
Before the childish sibling fight could escalate…
CEO Park clapped loudly, stopping their bickering.
“Eun-ji, what was it about?”
“Well, it’s about Choi Jin, a CEO with Dissociative Identity Disorder, and Oh Ye-jin, an ordinary office worker, who help each other resolve misunderstandings and integrate Choi Jin’s personalities. Something like that.”
“Was it a romance?”
“Yes. A very passionate one!”
As CEO Park raised his eyebrows in disbelief, Eun-ji continued excitedly, her eyes shining.
“You see, Choi Jin has three personalities…”
‘Hyun,’ a playful personality who has no memory when not in control.
‘Jun-i,’ a calm personality with no will to live, opposite of Hyun.
And lastly, ‘Jin,’ the control tower who knows all the memories of the other two personalities.
Oh Ye-jin accidentally catches the playful Hyun’s attention and starts dating Choi Jin.
But when Oh Ye-jin later finds out about Choi Jin’s DID and decides to break up…
She falls in love with the second personality, Jun-i.
The third personality, Jin, the control tower, desires to integrate the three split personalities into one.
But he wants to be the dominant personality after the battle.
“Hyun eventually disappears, pushed out by the fight between the other two personalities.”
But ‘Jin’ and ‘Jun-i,’ who were fiercely fighting…
The two personalities, split due to their hatred of people, become one when Oh Ye-jin is in danger, driven by their love for her.
…Lee Eun-ji explained the story enthusiastically.
“You have to watch it to understand. It’s a really passionate love story.”
As Lee Eun-ji squealed excitedly, CEO Park and Eun-ho exchanged bewildered glances and shrugged.
‘…It was passionate.’
It was the first time I cried while watching a drama.
Actually, I knew the drama “He is 1+1=1” better than anyone here.
Moreover, I had experienced Lee Eun-ji’s reaction before.
‘Was the title ‘Last Day’?’
Lee Eun-ji’s solo song, the biggest hit among the OSTs for “He is 1+1=1.”
Perhaps because I knew the original story…
‘Last Day’ was even chosen as the best OST by the actors of “He is 1+1=1,” the one that best fit the story.
I wasn’t the type to watch dramas, but because of Lee Eun-ji, I was forced to watch every episode with her, and I ended up enjoying it quite a bit.
“You might not like it, but…”
“Huh?”
“Why?”
Snapping back to reality from my reminiscing, I answered the CEO’s question in a slightly raised voice.
Eun-ji asked the CEO aggressively, as if wondering what there was not to like.
“Huh? It’s a love song, and you two have to sing it together?”
“Ah, that’s okay.”
“I don’t mind anymore either.”
Following Eun-ji’s nonchalant answer, I nodded in agreement.
CEO Park, seemingly touched by their growth, wiped his philtrum with his index finger and chuckled.
Then, he continued with the upcoming schedule and briefings.
“Then, I’ll go upstairs and continue working.”
“Okay.”
Eun-ji bowed her head and said.
After Lee Eun-ji left, only CEO Park and I remained in the office, looking at the “Lee-eung” logo that resembled a power button.
“Eun-ho.”
“Yes?”
“Don’t you feel bad?”
“…?”
“Since you brought this opportunity.”
“Well, we’re a team now, so it’s ‘our’ work.”
As I emphasized the word ‘our,’ the CEO’s eyes widened slightly in surprise.
But he quickly smiled quietly and closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, his gaze shifted to the pile of documents.
“You’ve really grown up.”
Haha.
I chuckled lightly.
If it were the old me, I would have complained about having to share the opportunity I brought with Lee Eun-ji.
‘I was so childish.’
That’s how I was back then.
I swiped through the logos that would be on our album with my thumb.
‘Our team…’
Saying it out loud felt a bit awkward, but not in a bad way.
Embarrassed by my upturned lips, I twisted my mouth awkwardly.
A few days later…
We went to the Seoul CK E&M building, where the CK E&M Studio team was located, for a meeting and recording with the CEO.
“Hey! Lee Eun-ho! There’s a picture of the Sibling Musicians here!”
“Lee Eun-ji, be quiet. Oh, you’re right.”
While the CEO was talking to someone…
Lee Eun-ji and I were looking at the celebrity pictures pinned to the corkboard in the studio.
“Senior Ji Ye-chan is here too! He’s handsome even in Polaroids.”
“He looks best in person.”
“Ah, I want to see him.”
“You mean, you want to meet him.”
“Stop nitpicking. Oh, there’s Senior Ji Ye-chan again.”
“This must be from his Toxin days.”
“Mohawks were trendy back then.”
“Mohawk… remember that time you tried to give me a mohawk with clippers, and the CEO almost fainted when he saw the result?”
“Aha. That hairstyle was my masterpiece.”
“Masterpiece? More like a disaster.”
As if offended by the word “disaster,” Lee Eun-ji opened her mouth wide to shout.
But there was no chance for the sound to escape.
“Eun-ho, Eun-ji, come in here.”
Thanks to the CEO, who had disappeared for the meeting and now returned.
I headed towards the CEO as if running away from Lee Eun-ji’s wrath.
Lee Eun-ji couldn’t disobey the CEO’s order either.
Although she was still fuming, she quietly followed us into the meeting room.
“Team Leader Min kept praising the handsome rookie.”
“Saying he looks like an actor…”
As we entered the meeting room, the seats around the round table were filled with people who seemed to be from the CK E&M Studio team.
“Hello! We are Team Lee-eung!”
“Lee-eung!”
I bowed my head as soon as we entered the meeting room.
Lee Eun-ji, looking flustered, looked back and forth between the staff and Eun-ho before bowing her head and following suit.
Hahahahaha.
Perhaps because of our catchy team name…
Laughter filled the meeting room for a moment.
“The team name is cute, unlike your looks and aura.”
“Why ‘Lee-eung’?”
A male employee in his mid-30s, who seemed to be in a fairly high position, asked.
“It’s from our names, Lee Eun-ho and Lee Eun-ji!”
“And it sounds playful.”
After Eun-ho’s answer, Eun-ji added a short explanation, and laughter briefly filled the meeting room again.
But when the two sat down and the meeting officially began…
“As you said, we’ll do our best to sing it ‘properly.’”
Eun-ho’s reply made the atmosphere in the meeting room turn icy.