Siblings Working in Business (204)
As Eun-ho yelled, the sound of something scurrying came from behind Eun-ji’s door.
“It was you, you damn cat!”
“You’re blaming Briquette because you have no other excuse?”
“You don’t know, but that little shit talks and eats like a human and causes trouble just like you.”
“Wow, now you’re pretending to be crazy to hide the fact that you ate the ice cream. Lee Eun-ho, you’re a~mazing.”
“No, damn it, it wasn’t me!”
Just then, as Eun-ho ran his hand through his hair in frustration…
‘Huh?’
Eun-ho, staring at Eun-ji’s room, stopped mid-sentence, his eyes fixed on something.
“What’s that?”
“What now?”
“No, hey, Lee Eun-ji, did you leave something, like a human-shaped object, in your room?”
“No?”
“Really?”
“…Fuck.”
Slap!
It sounded like a wave crashing.
Eun-ji’s hand came down like lightning, smacking Eun-ho’s back.
“You idiot, you know I’m scared because you accused me of eating the ice cream, and now you’re saying there’s a ghost in my room?! Why are you being so creepy!!!”
“No, look! It’s there!”
At Eun-ho’s shout, Eun-ji finally looked towards her door.
And froze.
Eun-ho was right.
A human-shaped shadow was clearly visible through the gap under Eun-ji’s door.
“Lee Eun-ji. How long has it been since you left your room?”
“How long? I went to the bathroom and then checked the fridge, so…”
“Over an hour, then.”
“…Yeah.”
Eun-ho strode towards Eun-ji’s door.
He was more scared of humans than ghosts.
Think about it.
What’s scarier, a ghost under your bed, or a person?
A ghost was preferable.
That was Eun-ho’s thinking.
So, wondering if it was actually a person…
Eun-ho nervously reached for the doorknob.
Just then…
“Aaaaagh!!!”
Eun-ji suddenly screamed behind him, and Eun-ho clutched his chest, startled.
He turned and glared at Eun-ji, more annoyed than ever.
“You almost gave me a heart attack. Why did you scream?”
He wasn’t exaggerating; he really thought his heart was going to stop.
“Huh?”
Eun-ji, flustered, replied to Eun-ho’s annoyed question,
“J-just… surprised…?”
“Come here. You open it, damn it.”
“No! I’m sorry! I’ll be quiet!”
“Keep your mouth shut.”
“Okay.”
Eun-ji covered her mouth with both hands.
Eun-ho sighed and carefully opened Eun-ji’s door.
“…”
“…”
The moment he opened the door…
“What?”
All that was inside was Briquette, sprawled out in the middle of the room in a strange pose, looking larger than usual, as if he had gained weight.
“What are you doing?”
“Meow.”
“Was someone here?”
Briquette avoided Eun-ho’s gaze.
“No one?”
“No. No one.”
Eun-ji finally approached the door after hearing Eun-ho’s answer.
However, perhaps afraid something might jump out, she was holding two 2-liter bottles of water in each hand, ready to throw them.
“Seriously, that was scary. What the hell.”
Eun-ho glanced at Eun-ji and muttered,
“Your face is scarier.”
“Shut up, or I’ll throw these at you.”
“Go ahead. You’ll just soak your own bedding.”
Eun-ji, seemingly having lost the will to argue, just flipped him off and crouched down.
Perhaps because she had clearly seen a human-shaped shadow earlier…
Eun-ji couldn’t bring herself to step inside, even though she knew there was only Briquette in the room.
“Briquette, come out here.”
“Meow.”
She had wanted to sleep in the living room with Briquette tonight…
“…Wait a minute.”
Just then…
Eun-ho slowly tilted his head and looked at Briquette.
“You…”
“…”
Briquette, as if realizing something, subtly avoided Eun-ho’s gaze.
Just then…
Rustle.
A suspicious crinkling sound came from under Briquette whenever he moved.
‘That little…’
He was hiding something under his butt!
“Hiya—!”
Eun-ho, his eyes glinting, darted into Eun-ji’s room, swiftly grabbed the struggling Briquette by the scruff of his neck, and moved him aside.
As expected…
Two empty ice cream wrappers and three ice cream sticks were on the floor where Briquette had been sitting.
“You…”
As Eun-ho glared at him, Briquette quickly scrambled up the cat tower.
Eun-ji had been out of the room for an hour.
Knowing Eun-ji’s… digestive issues, it could have been even longer.
But the ice cream evidence…
Eun-ho smiled.
But his eyes were more furious than amused.
“Come here, Lee Eun-ji.”
“Yeah?”
“If you ate them and forgot and yelled at me, I’m not going to let you off easy.”
“What are you talking about! I didn’t eat them!!!”
“Then why is this in your room?! Do you think Briquette ripped open the wrappers with his paws like a human?”
While Eun-ho and Eun-ji were fighting, pulling each other’s hair…
Briquette flinched at their loud voices and frantically tried to clean the sticky ice cream residue off his paws.
Eun-ho initially thought Briquette had eaten the ice cream, but the cleanly ripped wrappers clearly showed signs of human interference, so he dismissed the suspicion.
But despite their heated argument, the mystery of the eight missing ice cream bars remained unsolved.
They had no idea that Briquette, although able to speak human language, could also transform into a human.
They wouldn’t find out until around November, Eun-ji’s birthday.
In September, they couldn’t even imagine it.
A few days before Chuseok…
They had a filming scheduled.
It wasn’t a long shoot, just a short video to send Chuseok greetings to the E% and a concept video.
The filming location was a traditional Korean house in Gyeongju, facing a giant zelkova tree that looked like it had lived for hundreds of years.
Eun-ji, having finished her preparations first, was walking along the wall, admiring the building.
The wall, made of packed earth and stones, was so high that she had to stand on her tiptoes to peek over it.
Eun-ji’s eyes sparkled as she curiously poked at the roof tiles with her long nails.
Perhaps because of her height, over 170cm…
Her hanbok, an ivory jeogori (jacket) and a deep navy chima (skirt), made her look like she was wading in a deep, endless sea.
Although the outfit could have looked plain, the ivory butterfly and flower embroidery on the hem of the skirt and the jeogori added a touch of elegance.
“Wow, Eun-ji-nim, you look like a noblewoman from a yangban family!”
Seul-gi, seeing Eun-ji, couldn’t hide her admiration.
“Ah…”
Eun-ji usually wore her long hair down.
But since a neat hairstyle suited the hanbok better, Seul-gi quickly bought a blue mother-of-pearl hairpin that matched the skirt and styled Eun-ji’s hair in a neat updo.
Dressed in the hanbok, she truly looked like a noblewoman.
“Doesn’t it look weird?”
Eun-ji, feeling awkward in the hanbok, fiddled with her hair.
“Not at all! It suits you perfectly.”
“Heehee, that’s a relief. This is my first time wearing a hanbok.”
She had worn a modern hanbok for a sponsorship before the regression, but this was her first time wearing a traditional one.
Perhaps because of that…
Eun-ji’s awkwardness, combined with the elegant hanbok, created a surprisingly sophisticated look.
Seul-gi clutched her chest and took a deep breath.
‘So cute…!’
Perhaps because it was a rare sight, seeing Eun-ji, usually so bold and energetic, looking so demure…
It was a precious moment.
But even in a hanbok, Eun-ji was still Eun-ji.
“Ah, where’s that Lee Eun-ho… Oppa?”
Eun-ji, almost slipping and calling him “Lee Eun-ho punk,” quickly corrected herself and asked Seul-gi.
“Haha, he’s almost done changing, so he’ll be here soon.”
Seul-gi chuckled, as if expecting such a slip-up from Eun-ji.
“Ah, here he comes.”
Just then, Seul-gi looked past Eun-ji and spoke.
As she said, Eun-ho was walking towards them.
Matching Eun-ji, he was wearing an ivory inner garment and a blue gwanbok.
“Oh, what? Lee Eun-ji, it actually suits you.”
The moment she heard his familiar teasing tone…
Eun-ji’s awkward expression transformed into her usual playful grin.
“Oh, Mr. Rockfish, looks like you’re off to the Dragon King’s palace.”
“There it is. You ruin the mood the moment you open your mouth.”
“Haha.”
When Eun-ho poked Eun-ji’s side with a twig he picked up from somewhere, she dodged effortlessly and looked him over.
“Oh, wow, even the gat (hat) is perfect.”
“Yeah. But it’s kinda hot.”
Eun-ho said, touching the tall hat.
Just then…
“Lee Eun-ji!”
“Ah, yes!”
A staff member called out to Eun-ji.
It seemed they were going to film her scenes first.
After Eun-ji left for filming, Eun-ho looked around, then stopped a staff member and asked,
“Can I sit on the floor here?”
“Yes, please make yourself comfortable.”
After getting permission, Eun-ho sat down on the wooden floor, enjoying the serene atmosphere of the hanok, and looked at the giant zelkova tree.
He had felt a strange sense of déjà vu since arriving, whenever he looked at the tree.
‘I’ve definitely seen this somewhere before…’
But the memory was hazy.
“Eun-ho!”
“…?”
Seul-gi, who had approached him unnoticed while he was staring at the zelkova tree, lost in thought, spoke, holding up a camera.
“I’ll take a picture for CEO Park’s project. One, two!”
“S-suddenly? Ah.”
Click.
Without giving him any time to prepare, Seul-gi took the picture.
Eun-ho’s face turned noticeably red when Seul-gi handed him the camera to check the photo.
“Um, Seul-gi, can we take another one? It looks awkward…”
“No. CEO Park said he wants to use the first photo.”
This was because the ‘Behind the Scenes Photobook’ had been much more popular than expected.
As if inspired, CEO Park recently came up with a project to create a photo album of the ‘first’ photos taken at every shoot and schedule.
「“We’ll sell it as merchandise if it’s good enough, and if not…”」
「“If not?”」
「“It’s a record of your growth, so I’ll keep it.”」
Who could stop CEO Park, who had even charmed the CEO of DI Music?
‘It’s not like I have any complaints, since there are benefits, like this filming location, but…’
Lately, whenever they visited the NRY office, they kept running into the CEO of DI Music, who was so brazen that anyone who didn’t know him would mistake him for an employee.
He couldn’t understand why the CEO of DI Music was so eager to support their company.
‘Both Aeseul and CEO Uh…’
Everyone in that family was strange.