Siblings Working in Business (175)
I quit my job of several years a while ago.
「“Hahaha, you even quit your job for your fangirling, Joo-Joo.”」
Seul-gi teased me jokingly.
It was true that I lacked personal time, being swamped with work.
But that wasn’t the only reason.
The results of working hard and dedicating myself to one company since my senior year of high school weren’t bad.
The substantial severance pay in my IRP account was proof of that.
‘What should I do with this now?’
With my consistent savings and severance pay combined, I had a large sum of money for the first time in my life.
They say people usually splurge when they come into a lot of money…
But remembering all the hard work I’d put in, I found it harder to spend.
Still, there were things I wanted to spend money on.
One was a custom microphone gift for my singers, and the other was my own ‘shop,’ a dream I had given up on due to practical concerns and family opposition.
I knew it wouldn’t be easy.
So, instead of quitting everything and pursuing it right away, I secured my barista and baking certifications while steadily working at my company.
I worked part-time at a bread factory, helped out at a friend’s shop on weekends, and so on.
For several years before quitting, I took my time to seriously consider if this path was right for me.
Could I realistically sustain myself, not just chase a dream?
This was the result.
And today, my singers, my, our… were at my shop.
My mind went blank for a moment.
“Joo-yeon!”
“Unnie! What do we do?!”
“Hahahaha!”
When I came to, a man and a woman with identical faces were looking at me, asking if I was okay.
‘This is really…’
Seriously, this was bad for my heart.
As Joo-yeon’s face flushed crimson, Seul-gi, who had been chuckling beside her, burst into tears of laughter.
“I-, I’m okay. It’s just…”
“Are you really okay?”
Just then, a glamorous hand reached for Joo-yeon’s forehead.
It was Eun-ji’s hand, still adorned with nail tips from a shoot.
As Eun-ji checked Joo-yeon’s temperature…
Eun-ho watched Joo-yeon with concern.
“Oh my god, I’m so happy.”
Joo-yeon mumbled dreamily, and Seul-gi, Eun-ho, and Eun-ji burst into laughter.
‘I want to turn on a camera right now and film their smiles until the memory card is full.’
But Joo-yeon restrained herself, knowing she would look like a creep.
“I’m sorry. I’m just so happy, I mean, so su-, surprised.”
“We came straight from filming, so we didn’t have time to prepare a gift, but they said they wanted to come with me, so we came together. Did I do well?”
Seul-gi winked at Joo-yeon, and Joo-yeon silently gave her a thumbs-up in response.
When she first heard that Seul-gi had quit CK E&M…
Her first reaction was “Why?”
It was a major company.
Seul-gi was always confident, and Joo-yeon envied that.
Joo-yeon didn’t know what she would do if she quit her job, and she was afraid that if her company disappeared, everything she had would disappear with it.
But Seul-gi reacted to her concerns with disbelief.
「“Are you brainwashed or something?”」
It’s so hard to find a job these days!
…Joo-yeon retorted, but Seul-gi just patted her back and said,
「“Joo-Joo, having a job at a company isn’t the only career path these days.”」
「“If you want to do all sorts of things, just become a freelancer and do this and that.”」
When Joo-yeon asked if she wasn’t afraid of failure, Seul-gi smiled and said,
「“What’s so scary about failure? It’s my life, I’m responsible for it. I can always get back on my feet.”」
It wasn’t wrong, but Joo-yeon was anxious about an unstable life without a fixed income.
That’s why she found Seul-gi so impressive.
She couldn’t understand Seul-gi…
「“Joo-Joo, I-, I passed. I’m a stylist.”」
…Until she heard that Seul-gi became a stylist for an idol group.
「“Wow, whose stylist?”」
「“E-UNG.”」
「“Oh-, uh, what?”」
「“Eun-ji-nim, Eun-ho-nim…”」
「“Uh-, uh-, uh-…”」
「“Yeah. I got into NRY Entertainment…!”」
Seul-gi’s eyes sparkled as she answered, her gaze fixed on some distant point.
「“How much is the salary there?”」
It was a personal question, only because it was Seul-gi.
They were really, really close.
When she asked cautiously, Seul-gi whispered the amount.
Hearing that amount, Joo-yeon finally understood Seul-gi’s words about doing this and that.
It wasn’t a huge amount, like a multi-million dollar salary.
But even though they had signed a contract to separate their fangirling from their work, still!
‘Earning money while doing something I love.’
Forget about stability, wasn’t that the best job?
Thanks to having such a friend, her favorite group was now at her shop…
“Oh, it’s Change Partner today.”
Just then…
Eun-ho was looking at the TV, where Change Partner was playing.
On the table in front of the TV were the cold, cheesy french fries she had made earlier as a snack and a can of beer.
Suddenly embarrassed, Joo-yeon hurriedly tried to get up and clear the table.
“Oh, you barely touched them. Are you going to clear them away?”
When Eun-ji looked longingly at the french fries, Joo-yeon instinctively turned and asked,
“W-, would you like some?”
“Wow, yes! Thank you!”
“Wait, I’ll heat them up and bring them over!”
“It’s o—”
As Eun-ji reached out and tried to say, “It’s okay,”
In the blink of an eye, both the french fries and Joo-yeon were gone.
‘I can eat what I made later. I can’t just give them anything.’
Joo-yeon, now in the kitchen, rolled up her sleeves and checked the ingredients in the fridge.
Since it was a dessert shop, the fridge was full of baking ingredients, dough, and so on.
But that didn’t mean she had nothing else.
Joo-yeon had stocked up on ingredients for meals and to develop meal-replacement desserts to satisfy her hunger after work.
Joo-yeon rolled up her sleeves, took a deep breath as if fully prepared, and grabbed a kitchen knife.
About 20 minutes passed…
The three of them, sitting side by side watching Change Partner, turned their heads simultaneously as they heard sounds from the kitchen.
“I’ve prepared something simple.”
“…Is this really simple?”
“Wow…”
Eun-ho and Eun-ji were full of admiration, and Seul-gi, knowing what Joo-yeon was thinking, burst into laughter.
“Do you drink beer?”
“Wow, ah, but because of our diet… and besides, Lee Eun-ho, I mean, Oppa can’t hold his liq—, ow!”
“Just one can, please. We’ll share.”
“Why did you step on my foot!”
“When did I do that?”
“Wow. Such a fake!”
As Eun-ho and Eun-ji bickered, Seul-gi calmly spoke,
“You two, if you keep this up, I’ll report it to CEO Park.”
“We’ll enjoy the food.”
“…Thank you, Joo-yeon.”
At Seul-gi’s words, Eun-ho and Eun-ji became as quiet as lambs.
Joo-yeon, flustered by this situation, which was a first for her despite frequently watching their O-Tube content, looked at Seul-gi, who seemed unfazed, as if it was an everyday occurrence.
When she heard Seul-gi had become a stylist…
She wondered if Seul-gi was just working out of fangirling.
Of course, Joo-yeon knew Seul-gi wasn’t that kind of person…
But “fan = employee” didn’t exactly scream “good employee” to others.
As a friend and a fan, she couldn’t help but worry.
However, Seul-gi’s gaze towards the bickering Eun-ho and Eun-ji wasn’t that of a mere ‘fan,’ but more of a ‘manager’ who cared for them.
“You’re really working, aren’t you?”
“Huh? Why?”
“Nothing.”
Joo-yeon smiled warmly at Seul-gi and shook her head.
Eun-ho and Eun-ji split the can of beer and watched Change Partner with Seul-gi and Joo-yeon.
On TV, Eun-ho was shown during the hidden mission, not flinching at all at the scary wig’s movement.
“Wow… he’s not even surprised?”
Eun-ji murmured in amazement.
She had heard about it during filming, but seeing it for herself was different.
“I’m not a scaredy-cat like you.”
Eun-ho scoffed and took a sip of beer.
Eun-ji then glanced at Seul-gi and Joo-yeon and whispered to Eun-ho,
“Just don’t go up to the rooftop and make a fuss about the stars again after drinking that, you lightweight.”
“Hey, Lee Eun-ji.”
“What.”
“Look at that.”
Eun-ho, slightly tipsy, pointed lazily at the TV with his chin.
On the screen, Eun-ji was just entering the ‘waiting room.’
“Hahaha. Seriously such a scaredy-cat.”
Eun-ho, seeing Eun-ji’s nano-sized steps for the first time, commented like Eun-ji had earlier.
“No, you’re the weird one for not being scared of that.”
Just then, as the indignant Eun-ji retorted…
“Hey, look at that.”
Eun-ho pointed at the TV.
When Eun-ji instinctively looked at the screen…
The swaying wig, accompanied by eerie background music, filled the screen in a jump scare meant to immerse the viewers.
—Aaack!
“Aaack!”
Eun-ji on screen and Eun-ji in the shop screamed simultaneously.
Joo-yeon’s shop reverberated with their loud screams.
Seul-gi, Joo-yeon, and Eun-ho burst into laughter.
And the laughter continued, fueled by the TTS censoring Eun-ji’s following string of curses.
“Lee Eun-ho, you—!”
“Hahaha.”
As Eun-ho and Eun-ji bickered about the incident…
“Come to think of it, Seul-gi,”
“Yeah?”
Joo-yeon asked Seul-gi curiously,
“You said you liked Eun-ji because she seemed cool when you first met her.”
“Yeah, I did.”
“How about now?”
“Now?”
“Yeah. Now that you’ve seen her image crumble up close, like on the show just now.”
“Ah, haha… I’ve seen a lot…”
There was a hint of something deeper in Seul-gi’s laugh.
Seul-gi seemed to think for a moment, then smiled brightly and answered,
“Still, she’s still cool and I like her. She’s cute offstage, cool when working or performing, and even though she sometimes, often, makes verbal slips, she’s always honest.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. If anything, I like her even more. My feelings haven’t lessened.”
“I’m envious. It’s nice to see you satisfied with your job this time.”
“There’s a lot to do, but my job satisfaction is 200%.”
Seul-gi offered Joo-yeon a can of beer, and Joo-yeon clinked her can against it.
“Then we both succeeded.”
“We did.”
It was a day that was both exciting because of her singers and comforting because of the lively atmosphere in her small shop.
“OMG.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Hey, be-, behind you.”
“Ah, stop it! You crazy bastard! Come with me!!!”
As their voices echoed from the alley, a human-shaped figure sprawled on the living room floor opened its bright yellow eyes.
“They’re noisy again today.”
The figure gradually shrunk in size and blended into the shadows of the living room.
Then, bathed in the moonlight streaming through the window, a black cat appeared.
It was Briquette.
Briquette twitched one ear and stretched luxuriously.
And feeling the vibrations of the two coming up the stairs, he leisurely padded towards the front door.