Siblings Working in Business (169)
After leaving the souvenir shop, the Blue Team and Yellow Team stuck together almost like one team.
It couldn’t be helped, as Eun-ji persistently followed Eun-ho around.
Whenever Eun-ho tried to do something, Eun-ji would invariably approach and interfere.
“Ah, go away! Seriously! Why do you keep following me like a creep?!”
“Oppa started it!”
“No, you can still do your mission now!”
“Duh, I already did.”
“Hey! Then it’s done!”
“That’s that, and this is this.”
“Wow, you really have a nasty temper.”
“That’s right, who dares interfere with Lee Eun-ji-nim?”
“Ugh.”
Eun-ho ran as if fleeing from Eun-ji.
Eun-ji chased him relentlessly throughout the amusement park.
“Eun-ji!”
“Seo-un Unnie!”
Seo Seo-un, who was on the same Yellow Team as Eun-ho, disappeared for a while and then approached Eun-ji, who was chasing Eun-ho.
Eun-ji, who had been chasing Eun-ho as he hid among the Hanok Village buildings, caught her breath and waved to Seo Seo-un.
“Where were you?”
“I lost Eun-ho, so I was looking for him.”
“Ah.”
“Where did Eun-ho go?”
“He suddenly disappeared here.”
Eun-ji said, staring at a statue of a person being hit in the face with a rice paddle.
Next to it was a statue of a person being beaten by goblins popping out of a giant gourd.
“His childhood hide-and-seek skills haven’t gone anywhere, have they?”
“Did you play hide-and-seek a lot when you were young?”
“Yes. We had a lot of reasons to hide when we were young.”
“I guess you caused a lot of trouble. Haha.”
“Heheh.”
Eun-ji kept her explanation short and focused on finding Eun-ho again.
Just then…
“Oh, there’s Lee Eun-ho!”
She spotted a shadow moving stealthily from the Heungbu and Nolbu corner of the Hanok Village to the Kongjwi and Patjwi corner.
To be precise, the cameraman following Eun-ho got tired and fell behind, giving him away.
Around 7:00 PM…
As the sun set, the ‘free time’ came to an end.
All the members gathered back at the place where they had initially dispersed.
“Did everyone have fun?”
“Yes!”
“Yes.”
Eun-ho and Eun-ji answered the loudest.
Judging by the three connected Gear dolls with wronged expressions in Eun-ho’s hands and the Rock and Roll finger toy in Eun-ji’s hand, it seemed they had enjoyed Everland more than anyone else.
Then, Seo Seo-un playfully grumbled,
“I feel like I’ve done all the running I’ll do for the next few days just chasing those two.”
“Heheh. Sorry.”
Eun-ji replied with an awkward laugh.
Then, the PD spoke with a suspicious smile.
“Before we move on to the next mission!”
“Before?”
“Is there something else?”
“The missions you received are divided into three parts.”
“Three parts?”
“Yes, three parts. Those who correctly guess their teammate’s mission will receive a B-grade hint that will help with the next mission.”
Wary glances were exchanged between those who, until just a moment ago, had been firmly united as a ‘team.’
“What about the Blue Team, which has three members?”
When Eun-ji raised her hand and asked, the PD continued, as if it was a perfect segue,
“The Blue Team only needs to guess one member’s mission correctly to receive the hint.”
“It was good to have more members in this mission.”
“It’s only good if we guess correctly, Oppa. I have no idea…”
Choi Su-min grumbled in reply when Ryu Seok-hyun said to Jeong Bae-chan of the Blue Team, as if envious.
“Now, the person I call, please come forward and tell us what your teammate’s mission was.”
After the others were called, Eun-ho stepped forward when it was his turn.
“Mr. Lee Eun-ho.”
“Yes.”
Eun-ho stepped forward and answered with a confident expression.
“Stretching before riding a ride without your teammates noticing?”
As Eun-ho stepped back leisurely, the PD, to build suspense, spoke slowly.
“Mr. Lee Eun-ho, correct!”
“Wow!”
“What? How did you know?”
“I have my ways.”
To avoid being caught by Eun-ho, Seo Seo-un had pretended to get lost, slipped away, and stretched before riding the rides alone.
And only after completing her mission did she return to the Hanok Village, pretending to have lost Eun-ho.
Therefore, Seo Seo-un looked back at Eun-ho with a bewildered expression.
Meanwhile, looking at the surprised Seo Seo-un, Eun-ho thought,
‘It was a gamble.’
Even if she was the spy, it wouldn’t be bad. He wouldn’t get a reward in this mission, but he would get an S-grade hint in the final mission.
Fortunately, since Seo Seo-un wasn’t the spy, his answer was correct.
While the other members were called…
Eun-ho quietly whispered to the others and asked.
He started with Ryu Seok-hyun.
“What did you say your answer was, Sunbaenim?”
“Huh? Sa-rang suddenly suggested we go on a ride, and then she started stretching out of the blue, so I said that.”
Next, Eun-ho asked Jo Sa-rang.
“He suddenly bought a bunch of churros and ice cream and ate them without me noticing, so I thought his mission might be about buying something.”
Perhaps because Eun-ho had lowered their guard by revealing the correct answer first, Ryu Seok-hyun and Jo Sa-rang were also honest.
Seemingly mindful of the following votes, Eun-ho subtly passed hints to the other team members, except for Seo Seo-un, and gathered information.
Despite this, it seemed they missed the mark by a hair, as only Ryu Seok-hyun, Jo Sa-rang, Lee Eun-ho, and Lee Eun-ji received the B-grade hint, the reward for this mission.
While the next shoot was being prepared…
The members spread out a mat in a corner of Everland where the crowds were thinning and ate the prepared dinner boxes.
“Come to think of it…”
“Hmm?”
Just as Eun-ho put a small piece of kimchi pancake in his mouth…
Choi Su-min tilted her head and asked,
“Where did you do your mission, Eun-ho? Did you spend it all on food like Seok-hyun Oppa?”
Gulp.
Eun-ho swallowed the kimchi pancake in his mouth and answered.
“Well, not exactly. Don’t you think there’s something strange about these dolls?”
“Something strange about the dolls…? Huh?”
Choi Su-min stared at the Gear doll Eun-ho was hugging and exclaimed in shock,
“Bae-chan! Didn’t you buy him two dolls?”
“Huh? There were two.”
“Eun-ho has three.”
“What? Since when?!”
Seo Seo-un, who heard about Eun-ho’s dolls late, stormed over to them.
“Eun-ji was chasing me around the whole time.”
“Ah, haha. Lee Eun-ji’s on the other team, so it doesn’t count. Thanks to her, I was able to buy it.”
“Wha-, what? Weren’t you two fighting?”
Although they appeared to be fighting while running around, Eun-ho and Eun-ji had actually been helping each other since Space Express.
That is, since they left the souvenir shop.
When Eun-ji pretended to chase Eun-ho and led Seo Seo-un and the entire Blue Team elsewhere, Eun-ho secretly went back into the shop and bought another medium-sized Gear doll for 20,000 won.
And he naturally attached one to the top of the large Gear doll and the other to the bottom.
「“Did you buy it?”」
「“Yeah. Let’s start the operation.”」
「“Okay.”」
「“Ah, go away! Seriously! Why do you keep following me like a creep?!”」
「“Oppa started it!”」
In other words, the seemingly precarious sibling fight was all method acting.
Seo Seo-un, Jeong Bae-chan, and Choi Su-min, who had witnessed the situation firsthand, were understandably shocked and amazed.
Eun-ji gulped as she watched the amusement park rides, one by one, turning off their lights after sunset.
‘Oh, please, no, don’t tell me they’re filming here.’
The theme of this Change Partner was ‘horror.’
This meant that the real filming started now, as darkness fell.
She had heard beforehand that there would be evening filming at the amusement park.
But, but…
‘Ah! PD-nim!!! You didn’t say it would be in an amusement park with all the lights off!!!’
Eun-ji wanted to cry.
Her tear-soaked dinner box, oblivious to her feelings, was still delicious.
Side Story: Sleeping Lion
A few days after deciding on Eun-ho and Eun-ji’s variety show appearance…
CEO Park stopped by his house just as the sun was beginning to set.
He came out of his apartment looking sharp in a suit.
He got into his car and held the steering wheel in a relaxed posture, unusual for him.
‘The siblings are taken care of…’
Trusting his capable staff, he had, for the first time, completely entrusted Eun-ho and Eun-ji’s work to them.
He thought he wouldn’t have to step in for a while, but…
CEO Park turned on his phone and checked his packed schedule.
Each and every meeting ahead…
These meetings would bring about a great change, like a huge storm.
「Prosecution indicts Toxin’s Oh Hyun for marijuana use」
「Toxin’s Choi Tae-hyun, known as a classic car enthusiast, is actually using an unregistered car?」
「Korea’s top group, Toxin’s Choi Tae-hyun and Oh Hyun, both involved in unregistered car fraud and marijuana use? ‘What’s going on?’」
What set CEO Park in motion were some rumor-filled articles that someone had published.
Was it fate that for every good thing, several bad things happened?
With CEO Park’s connections, it wasn’t difficult to find out the truth behind these false rumors.
That the source of the rumors was TaKa Entertainment, the agency Toxin belonged to.
“…That damn Song Nam-chul, blinded by his stupidity, has finally done it.”
Although they couldn’t compare to Eun-ho and Eun-ji, who were like his own children, Toxin, who he had spent a long time with, were also precious to CEO Park.
Screech.
CEO Park’s car stopped in front of an apartment building.
As if waiting for someone, CEO Park leaned forward and looked at the apartment, then put a cigarette in his mouth.
He had quit smoking years ago.
But they say you don’t quit smoking, you just endure it.
He couldn’t help but crave one when something this frustrating happened.
CEO Park lit the cigarette he had quit and inhaled deeply, as if he was going to burn it down to the filter.
“Haa…”
He had hoped this smoke-filled sigh would relieve his stress, but…
Instead, an unpleasant, dry feeling filled his mouth and lungs.
Cough.
Perhaps because he had quit for so long, the smell of cigarettes, which he hadn’t been very conscious of before, now felt incredibly strong.
CEO Park crushed the remaining cigarette, pack and all, and tossed it into the trash bag in his car without a second thought.
Knock, knock.
Just then…
Someone knocked on the passenger side window.
As if it was the person he was waiting for, CEO Park opened the window with a welcoming face.
“Ugh, cigarette smell!”
However, as the window opened, the other person frowned and complained.
“Haha. Sorry. Get in quickly.”
It was PD Kim Cheol-soo, holding Badugi’s carrier, who got into the passenger seat.
His short hair was still wet, clearly having just showered.
“Sorry, I didn’t have anywhere to leave the kids in a hurry.”
“It’s fine. They’re Badugi’s family. It’s better for me to watch them than to leave them at some strange hotel.”
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it. By the way, if you’re really sorry, give me another music video for the kids instead of the cats later.”
“Haha, alright.”
When CEO Park replied with a wry smile, Cheol-soo stopped joking and looked at CEO Park with concern.
“What are you going to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“That Hwa-rang kid, I heard he’s from there too.”
“Now that Hwa-rang’s joined NRY, I’ll just destroy them. Haha.”
“Have you become like E-UNG’s father, even in personality? You know it’s difficult. They’ve grown a lot compared to before.”
“Even if they’ve grown, that idiot Song Nam-chul is still in charge. You know he’s in the palm of my hand.”
Cheol-soo was about to say, ‘Don’t joke around,’ but when he saw the look in CEO Park’s eyes, he held back.
“Don’t do anything that could jeopardize the company. Think about Eun-ho and Eun-ji, at least.”
“Our NRY won’t be in jeopardy. TaKa’s fate… haha, will depend on how Song Nam-chul acts.”