Siblings Working in Business (178)
—Toxin leaving TaKa? Haha. They’re still human, after all.
—(Sound of a bottle opening)
—When shit hits the fan, everyone gets buried the same.
—Did Toxin do something wrong?
—Something wrong? No. Those guys are way too meticulous.
—Then how are you going to make it happen?
—Ha! If it doesn’t exist, create it! The easiest way is, you know…
—What?
—Th-, th-, ah! Right! Drugs like marijuana, and whatchamacallit, that guy who likes cars, who was it?
—TAE?
—Yeah, yeah. Choi Tae-hyun. We can spread rumors about him having an unregistered car. See, you can just make up the crime.
The words spoken on the way to the restaurant that day…
…returned like a devastating storm.
Actually, dealing with TaKa and CEO Song Nam-chul wasn’t that difficult.
CEO Park’s connections with TaKa’s major shareholders, and especially the bomb Hwa-rang brought, were incredibly powerful.
—Hahahaha, what if we get caught?
—Hey, kid.
—(Sound of a lighter igniting a cigarette)
—Don’t joke around. There’s no way we’ll get caught. The public is stupid, they’ll see it and go, “Ah~ so that’s the truth~.”
—(Sound of several people laughing)
—And what if we do get caught?! Fucking hell, what can those pathetic losers do?
The power of words was strong.
Countless guns were pointed at Song Nam-chul, not just from Toxin’s fans, but also from the general public, outraged by his dismissive attitude.
Surprisingly, there were no repercussions from the illegal recording.
Due to the gravity of the situation, the person who recorded it was hailed as a hero.
“I’ll say I did it. I mean, it was your recorder, but I was the one who recorded it!”
‘Assistant Manager Jo,’ who had given Hwa-rang the recorder pen…
After the recording was released, he wanted to sever his ties with Song Nam-chul.
He asked for Hwa-rang’s permission and used his own voice in the recording to grab the spotlight.
「“When Toxin tried to leave TaKa, CEO Song Nam-chul…”」
「“After the release of the recording of TaKa Entertainment CEO Song Nam-chul…”」
「“Toxin fans’ reactions to CEO Song Nam-chul…”」
With TaKa Entertainment’s stock prices plummeting, the shareholders were determined to oust Song Nam-chul.
He had to either cover the shareholders’ losses himself or resign as CEO.
Meanwhile, Assistant Manager Jo’s calculation to sever his ties was accurate.
Although he was held accountable, he at least avoided being fired because he acted quickly.
Moreover, this incident earned him the favor of the new CEO, leading to a promotion.
The truth about the recording was buried, but it wasn’t a bad choice.
Song Nam-chul, letting go of everything, left TaKa Entertainment, its name now tarnished and rebranded as “Atroca Distraction.”
He left with plenty of baggage.
Namely, a pile of lawsuits for the lies he had spread.
[Is it true that Toxin went to E-UNG’s agency?]
[ㅠㅠ I’m so happy our Oppas went back to their hometown!]
[ㅠㅠㅠㅠ So happy ㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
Toxin’s fans called CEO Park’s NRY Entertainment their ‘hometown’ and celebrated with them.
Meanwhile, the fans were on fire again, this time for a different reason.
[Go to NRY Entertainment’s website ㅠㅠ Real-time updates are crazy!!!]
[What’s happening on NRY’s website? Are those five hands Toxin’s?]
Toxin and E-UNG.
And even Hwa-rang, who was promoting solo.
A little over a week after the news of Toxin’s contract renewal broke…
A prominent video was released on NRY Entertainment’s website.
Eun-ho and Eun-ji, holding hands with a woman wearing a black lace veil, walked towards the light.
Hwa-rang followed them, crossing into the light together.
The screen then suddenly showed the sky.
The sunset sky was dyed a deep purple, like a spreading cloud of poison.
Just then…
Shatter.
A black crack appeared on the screen, accompanied by the sound of shattering glass.
Shards fell from the crack and scattered on the floor like shattered glass.
However, the moment the shards touched the floor, they vanished as if they never existed.
Just then…
Five hands reached out, and the black crack shattered completely.
Five shadows appeared, and a single sentence filled the screen:
‘Coming soon.’
The day Ji Ye-chan helped pack E-UNG’s limited edition “TIME” albums.
As they were settling down at the restaurant and the meat was grilling, Eun-ho suddenly brought up an idea.
“What if we combine our worldviews?”
“Worldviews?”
“Instead of just announcing that Toxin Sunbaenims joined NRY Entertainment, wouldn’t this be more interesting?”
CEO Park’s eyes sparkled.
It was the look of someone who had discovered a gem of an idea.
“Tell me more.”
“Ah, well…”
Eun-ho calmly explained the worldview concept.
E-UNG’s current worldview was ‘cat people.’
Referencing their difficult childhood to stray cats, they created ‘Ji-nyang’ and ‘Ho-nyang,’ and as humans, they sang about those painful times.
That was the gist of it.
As fans had speculated…
The person wearing the black lace in the music video was E%.
But since they didn’t know their fans, and the fans only saw them from behind a veil…
They used the lace to express the barrier that kept them apart.
The album they packed today would start shipping, and the “Same day, Same time” music video would be released soon.
This story was also connected to the worldview of “This Road.”
But since it was about their personal stories, expanding the worldview wouldn’t be a problem.
That’s why he made the suggestion.
“That’s a good idea.”
CEO Park was very receptive to the idea.
“How about… Eun-ho, how about you write it?”
“Huh?”
Eun-ho asked, flustered.
“No, you don’t have to if it’s too much, but I feel like no one else could do it as well as you, since you brought it up.”
CEO Park continued with a warm smile,
“And you know Hwa-rang’s family situation well.”
“Include Hwa-rang too?”
“Of course, he’s family.”
“B-but I don’t know Toxin Sunbaenims’ worldview…”
Just then…
Ji Ye-chan quietly raised his hand and smiled.
“I created our team’s worldview, so don’t worry, I can explain it to you.”
The flustered Eun-ho looked at Eun-ji.
Eun-ji’s face was frozen in surprise.
Her expression clearly said, ‘We had a worldview?’
Eun-ho sighed, judging that she wouldn’t be of any help.
Expanding the worldview wasn’t difficult in itself.
But there was a big difference in the atmosphere between Toxin, with their long career, and E-UNG.
And now he had to include Hwa-rang too…
“I can do it, but I think I need a trigger…”
A trigger.
‘It’s too much to ask Toxin Sunbaenims to work on a song right now, and they haven’t signed the contract yet…’
He was pondering when…
The image of a shimmering sunset flashed through his mind.
“Ah.”
Eun-ho let out a short gasp as if he had an epiphany.
All the songs from the “TIME” album had been pre-released.
And although the budgets varied, every song had a music video.
This was the result of CEO Park’s personal ambition.
Since it was their first album, he wanted every single one of his kids’ — Eun-ho and Eun-ji’s — songs to receive attention, regardless of the cost. It was an ambition born of deep affection.
However, there was one song that didn’t have a music video yet.
To be precise, it was still in production.
“Red,” a song about sunset, featuring Toxin’s leader, Ji Ye-chan.
“I don’t think we can expect much profit…”
CEO Park frowned at the mention of profit.
It was a warning that it wasn’t Eun-ho’s concern.
Eun-ho, understanding CEO Park’s expression, smiled and continued,
“You said you wanted to make music videos for all the songs on our album, right?”
“I did.”
“But there’s no music video for ‘Red’ yet, is there?”
“We’re working on one using the lyrics, but—”
“Oh, it’s in production?”
“It’s fine. We can scrap it. Go ahead.”
The schedule would become very tight.
But there was no better trigger than this.
“How about a story where the Sunbaenims and Hwa-rang cross some kind of space and gather in one world, like they’ve joined our world, in ‘Red’?”
CEO Park seemed to consider it for a moment, then turned to Eun-ji and asked,
“Eun-ji.”
“Yes?”
Eun-ji, frozen in the middle of putting meat in her mouth, answered.
“Can you sing the chorus of ‘Red’ briefly?”
“Huh? Now? Suddenly?”
CEO Park, also agreeing that it was ‘sudden,’ simply nodded, embarrassed.
“Ah, well… hmm.”
Eun-ji put the meat down on her plate and hummed the melody.
One shot of the whiskey hidden in the closet
Drunk on the fleeting Red Sunset
Was this a problem?
As soon as Eun-ji started singing, she sang it much more seriously than expected.
And the moment she started humming…
Open my eyes to the moon Light
The plan I made
Crumbled with your single appearance
Ji Ye-chan, sitting across from them, joined in, adding harmony to Eun-ji’s song.
Na na na na Red Light
Na na na na Red Night
Na na na I’m falling apart
Although CEO Park was the one who asked, he was the most embarrassed, unable to bear it.
It was mostly because their impromptu performance in a barbecue restaurant was unexpectedly high quality.
“O-okay, that’s enough.”
“Okay.”
Eun-ji immediately stopped singing at CEO Park’s words and stuffed the meat from her plate into her mouth.
The corners of her eyes crinkled as she savored the delicious meat.
“Is it good?”
“Totally.”
“It looks like it.”
When Eun-ho teased her, Eun-ji poked his side with her chopsticks in annoyance.
“Ah, you got oil on me!”
“Idiot, I poked you with the handle. I don’t want to eat meat with Lee Eun-ho on it.”
“Hahaha.”
Ji Ye-chan and Hwa-rang burst out laughing at Eun-ho and Eun-ji’s natural bickering.
Thanks to them, CEO Park was finally able to shake off his embarrassment.
Meanwhile, Eun-ho seemed lost in thought, as if Eun-ji’s song had been quite helpful.
“You’re going to base it on that?”
“Wouldn’t that be okay?”
“Are you going to do it?”
“Team Leader told me to.”
“Alright. Eun-ho, if you’re going to do it, do it that way. But don’t worry about the money like you did earlier.”
“Haha, okay.”
“I don’t want to rush you, but you should at least have a basic framework within three days.”
“Three days is plenty.”
Ji Ye-chan looked at Eun-ho in surprise at his casual reply.
“It took me quite a while to create Toxin’s worldview. Are you sure?”
“Considering how many songs someone here churns out in a day…”
Eun-ho looked at Eun-ji, who was placing three pieces of meat on a lettuce leaf.
“Pig, only put one.”
“Ah!!!”
Eun-ho lightly flicked Eun-ji’s hand, and the two pieces of meat she had just placed on the lettuce fell back onto the grill.
Only then did Eun-ho continue speaking to Ye-chan,
“So three days is more than enough.”