The siblings Do Business Together (21)
“Skillful.”
The method the Ajussi taught was surprisingly very effective.
Whether it was Lee Eun-ji’s blood or someone else’s blood, the instances of seeing blood noticeably decreased to the point where it seemed almost nonexistent.
“Is this just the beginning?”
Eun-ji skillfully picked out transparent plastic bottles from the recycling area, peeled off the plastic wrap, and opened the caps for quite some time.
Afterwards, she satisfactorily looked at the flattened, plump plastic bottles and soon began her actions.
Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!
As Lee Eun-ji crazily flattened the transparent plastic bottles,
I watched and burst into laughter as if I was watching a comedy show.
“Are you done?”
“Not yet. One last task left.”
The ‘last task’ was to close the plastic bottle caps again.
I don’t know why, but she said the Ajussi told her to do it that way, so she does.
After fully closing all the caps again, Lee Eun-ji dumped them back into the plastic recycling bag.
“It’s been a while.”
Perhaps it was thanks to seeing Lee Eun-ji’s special organizing show for the first time in several years.
Even my consistently frustrated heart felt much more at ease.
“You’re so funny.”
“Yeah, your face is funnier.”
Eun-ji also seemed to be in a better mood, teasing me as usual.
“You’re picking a fight again.”
“Yuh pickin ay fite agin.”
“Let’s stop this…”
“Hehe, I won.”
“Oh my.”
* * *
“Hey, when you get to the station, go to the bathroom and wash your hands.”
“Ah, of course.”
Now that we finished organizing, we were really on our way home.
Maybe it was a problem that I casually mentioned Eun-ji’s dirty hands because they bothered me.
The moment I anxiously raised my gaze to see Eun-ji’s expression,
“Oh no, darn it!”
My instincts were correct.
“Ewww!”
Eun-ji comes running while sticking her dirty hands in my face.
“Ahhh! Don’t do it! Jerk!”
“Do it! No! Hahaha!”
Eun-ho, who was genuinely disgusted, ran with all his might to the subway station to avoid Eun-ji’s hands.
Eun-ji also sped up, equally determined to harass him somehow.
“I’ll go wash up then.”
“Please do.”
Fortunately, as soon as we arrived at the subway station, Eun-ji, who must have also felt icky, immediately found a restroom and came out after washing her hands.
–The train is now arriving. Please move to the inner side of the boarding area…
Right then, as Eun-ji came out from washing her hands,
The timing was good.
We got on the train that happened to be arriving.
“There are a lot of seats.”
Luckily, the seats facing each other by the pole were all empty, so we took them.
Perhaps it was from running around and playing,
Or maybe it was from suddenly getting warm after being in the cold,
But I couldn’t resist the overwhelming drowsiness.
–This stop is XX. XX Station. The doors will open on the…
I don’t know how long I slept.
Upon hearing the unfamiliar station name announced, I instinctively opened my eyes with a start.
No wonder things seemed to be going suspiciously well…
“Oh no. Hey, hey! Lee Eun-ji, get off!”
“Mmnh.”
There was no time.
In a hurry, I grabbed the still half-asleep Eun-ji by the back of her neck and threw her out the door like a piece of luggage.
“Ahh!”
As I followed and got off the subway, Eun-ji, now awake from the shock, stomped over angrily.
“That hurt!”
“Where are we?”
“What?”
Eun-ji huffed and puffed, then belatedly turned around to look at the blue sign behind her.
Then she asked back with a pale face.
“What? Why did we get off here?”
The subway had passed eight stops beyond the station we were supposed to arrive at.
“When’s the next train? As long as it’s not the last one, we can take the next one back…”
I quietly showed my cell phone to Eun-ji, who was trying her best to stay calm.
A dark shadow fell over Eun-ji’s face.
“We’re screwed.”
“Yeah, we’re screwed.”
The last train had stopped running.
* * *
An hour later.
In front of the darkened subway station.
A fierce-looking man and woman are crouching down miserably.
“Because of you guys, I…”
The two looked up at the man with sparkling eyes, as if seeing a savior at the welcome voice.
“Because of you two, I’m going to have no heart left. Huh? You know that, right?”
“Hehe.”
Representative Park sighed deeply, holding his throbbing forehead at the sight of Eun-ho and Eun-ji’s grinning faces.
“You need to either quickly find a new manager or… You’ll catch a cold. Both of you, get in the car now.”
“Yes!”
The moment Representative Park pointed to the car and spoke,
The siblings barely held back their twitching lips and immediately jumped into the back seat as ordered.
Representative Park followed and got into the driver’s seat only after seeing both of them obediently fastening their seat belts.
“So…”
After a while, Representative Park began to speak in a calm voice as he held the steering wheel.
At that moment, the shoulders of the two, which had loosened in the sleepy and cozy warmth, flinched.
“I heard from the recording earlier that you finished it satisfactorily for both of you. So why were you two on the subway at this hour?”
Representative Park had been very busy recently with debut-related meetings.
“Well, that’s…”
We fell asleep on the subway and missed our stop.
That’s what I originally intended to say.
It was the truth, after all.
However, today was an opportunity to have a proper conversation with the Representative for the first time in about a month.
I paused for a moment, thinking about what to say, then spoke.
“In a way, I think it was a form of rebellion.”
“Rebellion? What kind of rebellion?”
It was different from what I initially intended to say, but it was something I really wanted to say and had to say at least once.
“Although we’re trying our best to match it, there are frequent dissonances in the work style.”
I then delivered the recording situation of the past week to him as coldly as possible, emphasizing only the ‘work’-related aspects.
Representative Park was thoroughly strict in separating public and private matters with people other than us siblings.
That’s how much Representative Park wanted Lee Eun-ji and I to be as well.
“Although we’re trying to match it, there are frequent dissonances with the composer in the work style.”
“Dissonances…?”
“Yes. At this rate, the results of Composer Pae-op’s songs may fall short of what you planned, Representative.”
It was only natural.
It’s difficult for a composer who neither understands nor trusts the singer to bring out that singer’s charm.
“Since it’s a song that will be included in our album, we will always do our best, but as rookies, we can only sing properly if you allow us to.”
I am now a completely different rookie from before the regression, when I had at least some recognition.
That was also part of the reason I brought up this kind of conversation.
The Representative listened to the story while silently looking ahead.
“I knew the vocal recording time was longer than what you had been doing…”
“We did our best, but since the flow wasn’t connecting, we inevitably felt more fatigued. Especially Eun-ji, who relies heavily on feeling, had an even greater difference in concentration.”
“Normally, I would have been there to coordinate on-site, but I couldn’t be by your side because I was busy.”
“The atmosphere on-site itself was fine. I’m just a bit disappointed.”
When the traffic light turned red, Representative Park slowly brought the car to a stop.
In the short gap, he checked the condition of Eun-ho and Eun-ji through the rearview mirror.
“What were you disappointed about?”
“Both Eun-ji and I are confident we can do even better if given the chance, but they won’t give us the opportunity, so we have no way to show ourselves…”
At the Representative’s question, Eun-ho appeared lost in thought for a moment.
Eun-ji seemed to have fallen asleep, unable to resist her drowsiness, leaning on Eun-ho’s shoulder.
The light turned green again, and Representative Park shifted his gaze and looked ahead to resume driving.
“Well, that’s about it.”
We can do better in our own way.
Eun-ho subtly revealed his ambition while keeping his eyes on the passing scenery outside the window.
Representative Park took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
It was a breath closer to organizing his thoughts than a sigh.
“I don’t know if you’re aware, but my approach is to follow the director’s opinion on-site.”
“Yes.”
That was something Eun-ho, who had worked with Representative Park longer than Representative Park himself through the regression, naturally knew very well.
So it was an answer he sufficiently expected, and thanks to that, there was no disappointment or regret at all.
“So, for now, it seems difficult to change it to the way you want.”
To be honest, it wasn’t a conversation brought up with the intention of wanting him to change the situation right away.
It was just to express that ‘we are uncomfortable with this method’.
So for me, just bringing up the conversation was already akin to achieving the purpose.
However, there was still something left to be clearly stated.
“You mean ‘on-site’ is like that, right?”
“What do you mean by that question?”
Representative Park frowned but still kept his eyes forward due to driving.
“If the results are different, I was wondering if there might be even the slightest chance.”
Pae-op’s song was clearly a good song for targeting the public.
The work style would also be welcomed by singers who match well with him.
Repetitively connected, easy-to-memorize hooks and melodies.
Simple lyrics and the latest trend of a calm yet lively atmosphere with trap beats.
Even from my experience of coldly knowing the future, it indeed had a high probability of ‘hitting it big’.
“Are you saying you’ll half-ass it?”
“Eh, of course not.”
I had opposed Pae-op’s song when selecting the title track.
So I understood why the Representative said that.
However…
“Just as I said earlier, since it’s a song that will be included in our album, I will always do my utmost best, and Lee Eun-ji is the same.”
After pointedly emphasizing the word ‘utmost’ twice, Representative Park finally let go of his suspicion.
No matter how much we disliked Pae-op, in the end, it was ‘our’ song that the ‘E-ung’ team consisting of Lee Eun-ji and I would sing.
So I meant that whether Pae-op made it or Lee Eun-ji made it, I would do my best just the same.
“And I wish for and hope to have that kind of environment.”
The difference in work styles.
When I first encountered Pae-op’s song, I opposed it despite having no personal feelings at all.
There was a reason.
Should I say it wasn’t our color?
It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t quite suit us perfectly either.
So I had hoped that if our opinions were reflected during the recording, there would be at least a small chance to bring out our feelings.
The conclusion?
‘Pae-op didn’t even give us a chance.’
He was holed up in the studio with us for nearly 20 hours every weekday.
Even though the time wasn’t even 4 minutes including the intro and outro.
Pae-op didn’t give us a chance.
It was because we were ‘unproven rookies’.
‘It’s not a good look, but…’
I understand.
Pae-op is a composer famous for producing quite a few hit songs.
He had the career, so maybe it made sense to take ten steps back and look at it.
However…
I wanted to prove to him, who had no intention of even trying to figure out what kind of color we had as singers,
That we are not lacking ‘trainees’ compared to what he thinks, at the very least.
“That’s good. I have something I’m working on these days. Eun-ho, you’re saying you want to prove yourself, right?”
“Th… That’s right. Yes.”
Representative Park curled his lips and continued.
“Pae-op is a composer who has a lot of interest in the public.”