Siblings Working in Business (176)
“I told you I’m not drunk.”
“N’ cho’ yoo I’m no’ drungk.”
“Seriously, I swear…”
“Hit me, hit me.”
“I won’t. You’ll throw sand in my eyes again, you psycho.”
“Duh.”
“I’d rather avoid crap because it’s dirty, not because I’m scared of it.”
“Are you calling me crap?”
“Yep.”
“You—”
Just as Eun-ji was about to pounce…
“Whoa!”
“Wh-what?”
As Eun-ho pretended to be surprised, looking past Eun-ji, she flinched and turned around.
There was only a broken streetlight behind her.
As Eun-ji gulped and looked back at Eun-ho, he was still staring past her.
“Hey, be-, behind you…”
Just then…
Eun-ho’s lips twitched, unable to control his expression.
Eun-ji finally realized.
Ah, he was messing with her again.
“Stop it! You crazy bastard!”
Eun-ho, knowing he’d been caught, burst into laughter.
Then, he started running down the alley.
“Hey, wait for me!!!”
As soon as Eun-ho took off, Eun-ji, perhaps scared of being alone, ran after him.
They arrived home, bickering, to find a new black gate.
This was actually one of the reasons they visited Joo-yeon’s shop that evening.
CEO Park, seeing Eun-ho and Eun-ji’s rising popularity, decided that CCTV cameras weren’t enough and reinstalled the gate that had been removed when the building was used as their office.
The sleek black gate contrasted with the white walls, giving it a stylish look.
The problem was that the new gate created some awkward situations for Eun-ho and Eun-ji.
“Where did CEO Park say he’d leave the key?”
“It’s not a key, is it?”
“What was it again?”
The half can of beer had taken its toll on their memory.
Eun-ho and Eun-ji sighed in frustration and reached for their phones.
“Hey, Eun-ho.”
“CEO Park, how do I open the gate?”
“Have you been drinking?”
“…”
CEO Park had to be psychic.
He had tried to enunciate clearly despite his slightly slurred speech, but it seemed to have been in vain.
“I had half a can…”
“It’s amazing how half a can of beer loosens your tongue.”
“Stop teasing me and just tell me how to open the gate…”
CEO Park, after briefly teasing Eun-ho about his low alcohol tolerance, explained how to open the new gate.
Unlike ordinary gates, this one had a high-security keypad hidden within the thick door.
Following CEO Park’s instructions, Eun-ho entered the preset password ‘000000’ and went inside.
“Change the password to whatever you want.”
Following CEO Park’s further instructions, Eun-ho changed the password.
He entered ‘1111,’ the same as the locker password in the living room, and added ‘95.’
Eun-ji’s birthday.
Beep— Beep—
“You can’t enter more than four of the same digits.”
“Ah.”
So that’s what the error message meant.
Eun-ho thought for a moment and entered ‘083093.’
His birthday and birth year.
“Eun-ho, just in case you were thinking about it, don’t use your birthday.”
“Ah.”
CEO Park burst into laughter at Eun-ho’s flustered voice.
After much deliberation, the password became ‘935811.’
At least it wasn’t his full birthdate, so it should be fine, right?
CEO Park was still uneasy, but he seemed to think it was acceptable and ended the call, telling them to hurry inside.
“Come to think of it, Oppa’s birthday is coming up soon.”
“Already?”
“Is there anything you want?”
“Not really.”
After briefly fiddling with the fancy new gate, Eun-ho and Eun-ji climbed the stairs.
Eun-ho followed Eun-ji, marveling at the newly installed security bars on the walls.
“Oh, wasn’t that out yet?”
“What?”
“VR.”
“Ah, I don’t know. Won’t it be a few more years?”
“Really?”
It was moments like these, when they were having a normal conversation, that reminded them of their shared memories from before their regression.
“If it was out, would you buy it for me for my birthday?”
“No. Are you crazy?”
“You’re crazy.”
“Ah, come on! Stop doing that. It’s not funny.”
“I think it’s funny.”
“Oh, man, such an old man.”
“You’re getting older too, you know.”
They reached the brown aluminum door, still bickering.
Eun-ho took the house key out of his pocket and handed it to Eun-ji, who opened the door.
“Anyway, I want to try VR. I was too busy back then and only said I wanted to try it, but I never did. Briquette!”
“Meow.”
As if welcoming Eun-ji home, Briquette, tail held high, ran to her legs and rubbed his head against them.
“Well…”
Eun-ho, now accustomed to Briquette’s antics, clicked his tongue and continued,
“Around this time, weren’t you preparing for your second or third mini-album?”
“Probably the third one? I think so.”
“You were really busy then.”
“Yeah. So when I heard it came out, I was so amazed that I pestered my manager to let me try it.”
“Ah, I remember. My manager complained to me a lot about how you kept nagging him about it.”
“Did you guard the house well? Sorry I’m late~”
When Eun-ji rubbed Briquette’s cheek and spoke in baby talk, Eun-ho plugged his ears with his index fingers, as if he had heard something he shouldn’t have.
Eun-ji responded by quietly raising her middle finger at him with a grin.
Briquette, between the two, rolled his yellow eyes, taking in their faces.
“What?”
“Meow.”
When Eun-ho looked at Briquette, the cat turned away, pretending not to know him, and faced Eun-ji again.
One Family
“If we’re going to merge anyway, let’s make it fun.”
“This isn’t a game, what fun are you talking about?”
“Figuratively speaking, of course. I won’t be satisfied unless Song Nam-chul is taken down as much as he messed with my siblings.”
Across from Ji Ye-chan and CEO Park, who were having a serious conversation, Eun-ji and Eun-ho were sitting side by side, folding boxes.
Everyone’s hands were busy.
Even Hwa-rang, sitting diagonally across from Eun-ji, was busy.
Hwa-rang was repeatedly checking order lists, placing a random gift like a letter, polaroid photo, mug, or shirt into the boxes folded by Eun-ho and Eun-ji, and then packing them.
Ji Ye-chan watched the scene for a moment, then called out to CEO Park,
“Team Leader Park.”
“When are you going to call me CEO?”
“I’ve called you that for so many years, it’s hard to change. Anyway, Team Leader.”
“What.”
“Why was I suddenly called here to do this?”
Ji Ye-chan smiled and shook the packing material he was holding.
Although he was smiling, he seemed slightly annoyed.
“I came because you said we’d have dinner together, but all I’m doing is working…”
“Eat. After you finish this.”
“…You know you’re the only person in the world who would use the great Ji Ye-chan to pack albums, right?”
“Mr. Great Ji Ye-chan, be quiet and move your hands.”
“I can talk while I work. I’m helping because it’s for E-UNG.”
“I appreciate that.”
“But, I mean, you could just hire someone.”
“I did.”
“Then why are we doing this ourselves?”
“These are limited edition gifts.”
“Wow, such dedication… truly dedicated…”
CEO Park glanced at Ji Ye-chan, Eun-ho, and Eun-ji in turn.
Then, he smiled faintly and said,
“They wanted to do it themselves, so how could I say no? It’s not like it’s difficult.”
“Wow, I wish you’d do half of that for us.”
“Join our company, and I’ll do exactly half.”
“You promised.”
“Yeah, yeah. By the way, when’s the shareholders’ meeting?”
“The week after next.”
“It’s coming up soon.”
“By the way, you’re not going to list the company, are you?”
“What?”
“The stocks.”
“Why, are you planning to hoard them all?”
“Haha, yep.”
CEO Park shook his head and continued,
“I don’t want to run the company while being swayed by others.”
“Oh—. If I sign with you, can I create whatever I want without worrying about what others think?”
“There are already kids doing that.”
CEO Park gestured towards Eun-ho and Eun-ji.
“By the way, I heard rumors that they’re already working on their second EP, is that true?”
“Don’t even get me started…”
When CEO Park shook his head as if exasperated, Ji Ye-chan tilted his head curiously.
“Eun-ji and Eun-ho are piling up files on the cloud these days.”
“Oh, a lot?”
“Over three digits have been approved.”
“Approved? Th-three digits?”
“Eun-ho is working hard on the lyrics.”
“How can there be over a hundred songs? You must be joking…”
CEO Park quietly took out his phone and opened the shared files of Eun-ho and Eun-ji on the company cloud.
Ji Ye-chan took the phone and scrolled through the files.
His expression gradually shifted to one of shock as he saw the seemingly endless list of songs.
“Does Eun-ji do nothing but compose? I mean, even if she only composed…”
To get a feel for the tracks, he played one from the 40s, one from the 70s, and one from the 100s.
“Wow…”
A track based on acoustic guitar.
An exotic Latin-inspired track.
And lastly, a track that began with the sound of a music box winding, continuing with a refreshing vibe before transitioning to a captivating bass rhythm.
Each song had a distinct style, making it even more impressive.
“I kind of want to steal a few.”
“Steal? You, with all your money? At least give the kids some allowance if you’re going to take their songs.”
“I was joking, of course.”
“Since you were slacking off while checking, hurry up and pack the rest. We need to finish to go eat.”
“Yes, yes.”
Ji Ye-chan grumbled but silently helped with the work, knowing it was for his juniors.
Only after loading dozens of boxes onto the truck did CEO Park relax.
“Finally! Done!”
Eun-ji stretched and shouted, and Eun-ho nodded, yawning.
“Good work. Let’s go eat now.”
“What are we eating?”
“Buy us something expensive. You should at least treat us after using us like this.”
“Sushi, beef, pork, duck, chicken. Pick one.”
“Pork.”
“Pork!”
“Beef.”
“P-pork?”
CEO Park looked at Eun-ho and Eun-ji with surprised eyes.
“I understand Hwa-rang, but what’s gotten into you two?”
“We still have some Hanwoo beef brisket in the freezer.”
Eun-ho replied.
This time, it was Ji Ye-chan, who had chosen beef, who asked with surprise,
“Wow, Hanwoo brisket? Did Team Leader buy that for you too?”
“Hehe, no.”
Eun-ji grinned and coughed at Ji Ye-chan’s question.
“Ahem! I won it on Change Partner.”
“You didn’t win anything.”
Eun-ho, frowning, added to Eun-ji’s boast,
“I’m the one who figured out how to win and made the deal with the PD, practically spoon-feeding it to you.”
“So what, I did a lot of the deducing too. And in the end, I was the winner.”
“You wouldn’t have won if I hadn’t voted for you.”
“La la la, can’t hear you~~~.”
“You pumpkin head.”
“Says the rockfish head.”
“I can’t hear you~”
Just as Eun-ji lowered the corners of her mouth, mimicking Eun-ho’s tone…
“Wow, you’re so ugly.”
“Pfft.”
Eun-ho’s usual insult wouldn’t have been a problem…
If Ji Ye-chan hadn’t been right next to them, laughing.
“Sunbae-nim!”
“S-sorry. Haha.”
When Eun-ji looked at Ji Ye-chan with a hurt expression, he lowered his head, his shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter.
“Sunbae-nim is crying because Lee Eun-ji is so ugly.”
“What are you talking about?!”
“Haha, ah, you two are so cute, it’s killing me.”
Eun-ho and Eun-ji looked at Ji Ye-chan, who was smiling elegantly, with identical expressions of bewilderment.