Siblings Working in Business (210)
“Eun-ho.”
“Yes, Hyung.”
Tae-hyun, after finishing his call, was checking a message he received.
“Looks like we’ll be having this for a late-night snack, not dinner.”
“Why?”
“The restaurant’s busy.”
Perhaps because it was dinner time…
The restaurant replied that the delivery would take about two hours.
“A late-night snack…”
It was fine; he wasn’t that hungry.
“That’s okay with me.”
“Alright. I’ll tell them to deliver it later, then.”
“Okay.”
“I need to make a quick call.”
“Go ahead~”
Tae-hyun simply raised his hand and left the room.
Now, what should he do for two hours?
The Game
Green laser lights crisscrossed the Toxin members’ dedicated PC room, illuminating the corners.
Two large monitors sat on each of the modern black desks lined up against the walls.
The Toxin members’ names were etched in white on clear acrylic plates atop the sleek, white computer cases that looked like they belonged in a sci-fi movie.
“Eun-ho, turn on my computer.”
“Okay, Hyung.”
Tae-hyun shouted, his voice louder than usual, as if he was talking from another room while on the phone.
Eun-ho turned on the computer in the middle of the left side, labeled ‘Choi Tae-hyun.’
‘Wow.’
These guys were serious about gaming.
He had thought, ‘Wow, this is fancy,’ the moment he entered the PC room, but turning on the computer confirmed it.
Rainbow-colored lights flowed along the contours of the case.
The lights extended to the mouse and keyboard, and then the monitor turned on.
The lights continued to cycle through colors, illuminating the entire setup.
It was clearly a gamer’s computer, radiating a vibrant glow.
Eun-ho, both excited and conflicted by the sight of multiple such computers, one for each Toxin member, wondered…
‘Whose computer should I use?’
He turned to KakaoTalk.
Even during his brief tour of the apartment, the Toxin and E-UNG group chats had been lively.
[Seo ― Joo Song-min, you bastard]
― No conscience?]
[Joo ― (A smug-looking historical drama character emoticon saying, “Indeed~”]
― Just realizing that now?]
Why were they fighting again?
Eun-ho sighed and scrolled up to see what had happened.
[Ye-chan ― Lol reminds me of the old days.]
[Joo ― Whatever you’re about to say,]
― Hyung, be quiet.]
― Please.]
[Ye-chan ― Lol no.]
[Joo ― Ah, Hyung, pleeeeease.]
[Ye-chan ― Remember when we lived together at E-UNG’s current dorm?]
[Joo ― Ah, Hyung, pleeeeease]
― Pleeeeease.]
[Ye-chan ― Remember when Seung-yeon’s new pants disappeared? All hell broke loose.]
[Seo ― Yeah, it did]
― I’m still pissed about that.]
[Joo ― ;;;;;;]
[Ye-chan ― Song-min was the culprit.]
― I saw him wearing Seung-yeon’s pants when I was leaving.]
[Seo ― ? Really?]
― That bastard?]
[Joo ― Ah, Seung-yeon, there’s a reason, listen, damn it.]
[Seo ― A reason doesn’t justify wearing them]
― You son of a—]
[Joo ― No, but seriously, I’m also frustrated.]
[Seo ― What’s a thief got to be frustrated about?]
― I should be the frustrated one! You son of a—!]
― (An emoticon with nostrils the size of its face, yelling)]
[Joo ― No, but]
― When you were doing laundry, you put my pants in with your… what was it, the one with the metal decorations?]
[Seo ― My belt?]
[Joo ― Yeah, you ripped all my clothes with that damn thing. Don’t you remember?]
[Seo ― So you stole my new pants?]
[Joo ― Yeah.]
[Seo ― What?]
― So you’re still a thief.]
[Joo ― Yeah, who said I wasn’t?]
[Seo ― (A pathetic-looking dog emoticon saying “Are you confused?”)]
― Is he seriously an idiot?]
[Ye-chan ― (A ‘Ji-nyang’ emoticon wearing 3D glasses and munching on popcorn)]
― Lol]
The culprit was Ji Ye-chan.
He had subtly brought up an old story and instigated the fight between Joo Song-min and Seo Seung-yeon.
As the conversation continued, their argument seemed to be escalating into a ‘real’ fight.
‘Seriously, how are these guys in their 30s…?’
Eun-ho sighed and called out to them in the group chat.
As one of the leaders of the ‘Connection’ project within NRY Entertainment’s planning team, he had to change the subject to avoid problems with their upcoming group filming.
The popcorn moment was entertaining, but if they actually fought, it would make things difficult for the staff during filming.
[Eun-ho ― Sunbaenims]
[Joo ― What’s u- ]
― Yeah?]
Joo Song-min, about to retort to Seo Seung-yeon, immediately changed his focus and replied to Eun-ho.
[Eun-ho ― I’m at Tae-hyun Sunbae’s house, and his PC room is insane.]
At the mention of Tae-hyun’s PC room, Joo Song-min, Seo Seung-yeon, Oh Hyun, and Ji Ye-chan started chattering excitedly, like fish in water.
[Joo ― Lol see?]
[Seo ― Our PC room is awesome, right?]
[Ye-chan ― It cost a pretty penny.]
[Joo ― Yeah]
― Just the computer cases cost over 10 million won lol]
[Seo ― Lol yeah]
[Oh ― If you’re going to play, use Song-min’s computer.]
[Seo ― Yeah, Joo Song-min secretly upgraded his.]
[Joo ― Well, duh, I’m the one who paid for the PC room at hyung’s house lol]
[Seo ― Tae-hyun hyung will flip if he hears you say that lol]
[Joo ― I wouldn’t let anyone else do it, but since he’s our maknae, I allowed it lol]
He hadn’t actually asked for permission, but he wasn’t going to refuse either.
[Joo ― But on one condition.]
[Eun-ho ― What condition?]
[Joo ― Let’s play Formica.]
[Seo ― Lol]
― Aren’t you tired of being a Formica parrot?]
[Joo ― Nope.]
[Seo ― Such a loser.]
[Joo ― Says the one who sucks at games]
― Calling good players losers.]
[Seo ― Bullshit, I’m better than you.]
[Joo ― No way ㅗ]
― I can’t hear you, you trash KDA~~~]
[Seo ― Wow~ Joo Song-min talking about himself.]
[Joo ― ㅗㅗ (Fuck you)]
This was the level of conversation among men in their mid-30s?
Eun-ho, watching his immature hyungs bicker, chuckled and shook his head.
[Seo ― I’m going to post your underwear pic on E-Per.]
[Joo ― You crazy bastard [email protected]@@@]
[Seo ― ㅗㅗㅗㅗ (Fuck you)]
[Joo ― Seriously, you’re such a Seo-troll.]
[Seo ― Yeah, shut up, Joo-troll ㅗ]
[Eun-ho ― Stop fighting lol]
― I’ll play Formica lol]
[Joo ― (A pathetic white blob emoticon biting its fist and crying)]
― As expected of our maknae ㅠㅠ]
Eun-ho, seeing the delighted Joo Song-min, thought to himself,
‘They keep calling me maknae…’
He wasn’t actually the youngest, since he wasn’t even a Toxin member.
‘And there’s Lee Eun-ji, who’s two years younger than me…’
But for now, he focused on stopping Seung-yeon and Song-min’s fight and kept his thoughts to himself.
‘Whose computer…’
Joo Song-min’s spot was right next to Tae-hyun’s.
He could tell who the owner was just by looking at the computer case, which was even flashier than Tae-hyun’s.
Eun-ho turned on the computer to play.
But in his entire life…
Both before and after the regression, Eun-ho had barely used a computer, let alone played games. Even creating an ID for the voice chat program ‘Skycode’ was a struggle.
“Oh, it’s done. Can you hear me?”
“I can hear you, I can hear you! It’s working!”
Joo Song-min, who had suffered through the ordeal of helping Eun-ho create his ID, was overjoyed when the call finally connected.
Joo Song-min then gifted Eun-ho the game ‘Formica’ on ‘Downtime,’ a digital game distribution platform.
“I have to do this much for our maknae, who’s going to play Formica with us.”
“Haha. Thank you. But Sunbae-nim…”
“Yeah.”
The problem was, Eun-ho still had a long way to go before he could actually play.
“Um, how do I see the gift you sent?”
“…You, haa…”
Joo Song-min sighed, a mix of emotions in his voice.
“You can share your screen on Skycode, right? Turn it on.”
“This is—”
Just then…
Eun-ho’s voice disappeared.
He seemed to have accidentally left the call.
Joo Song-min facepalmed and sent an SOS to Seo Seung-yeon.
By the time Eun-ho managed to rejoin the call, Seo Seung-yeon, who had heard about the situation, had joined.
“The gift box! That one!”
“That one!”
“Yeah!”
“Go in!”
“No, Eun-ho! Not that one!”
“Oh, oh. That one.”
“There!”
Seo Seung-yeon and Joo Song-min helped Eun-ho navigate the menus, guiding him every step of the way to accept the Formica gift.
“He did it!!!”
“Yes!!!”
Seo Seung-yeon and Joo Song-min cheered as if they had scored a goal in the World Cup when Eun-ho finally accepted the gift.
“What are you doing?”
“Ah, Hyung, are you done with your call?”
“Yeah. CEO Park called.”
“What did he say?”
“He said he saw my car and asked why I was here, so I told him you left home and I came to kidnap you.”
“Haha, good job.”
“You’re on Skycode?”
“Yeah, I was talking to the other hyungs, trying to play Formica—”
“Oh, oh. I want to play too.”
Just like that, another party member was added.
As Tae-hyun joined the Skycode call, Joo Song-min and Seo Seung-yeon unleashed their pent-up frustration, saying, “Hyung, why are you so late?”, and “Eun-ho, he doesn’t look like it, but he’s a computer illiterate!”
Fortunately, with Tae-hyun’s help, Eun-ho and the other two were finally able to connect to Formica.
“I never imagined he would be computer illiterate.”
“Eun-ho is computer illiterate?”
Just as they were about to start the game…
Ji Ye-chan, somehow having heard about it, joined the Skycode call.
“Hi, Hyung. All five of us are here, so we don’t need to matchmake.”
“So Eun-ho is computer illiterate?”
Ji Ye-chan asked again after casually greeting Joo Song-min.
“It’s surprising, isn’t it?”
“It is.”
“Sorry. Haha.”
“Nothing to be sorry about.”
Seo Seung-yeon replied, and Eun-ho apologized with an embarrassed laugh.
Ji Ye-chan reassured him.
The atmosphere wasn’t too awkward, since it was just a joke.
“Eun-ho, is Eun-ji also computer illiterate?”
“No. I think Eun-ji would be good at it.”
“Well, she taught herself how to compose.”
Seo Seung-yeon gasped as Ji Ye-chan replied.
“When she’s into something, she becomes obsessed…”
“Obsessed, haha.”
While Seo Seung-yeon was laughing, Ji Ye-chan asked,
“But Eun-ho is similar, isn’t he?”
“That’s why they’re siblings.”
Tae-hyun, who had been quiet, finally spoke, agreeing with Ji Ye-chan.
“Tae-hyun hyung, are you connected?”
“Yeah, the update’s finished.”
Joo Song-min subtly changed the subject.
“It’s been a while since we played games together like this.”
“It has.”
“Lately, we’ve been drinking more than playing games at your place, Tae-hyun.”
“Eun-ho saw the fridge we filled with alcohol and said, ‘Hyung-nim, aren’t you a disgrace to humanity?’ And when he saw the PC room, he asked if I was running a workshop…”
“A workshop? Hahaha.”
As Choi Tae-hyun spoke, feigning innocence despite his deadpan expression, the Toxin members burst into laughter.
“Hey, that’s not fair!”
“Haha, what’s not fair?”
Ji Ye-chan asked with a chuckle.
“I said filling the fridge with only alcohol and water is a disgrace to humanity, I didn’t say he was a disgrace to humanity…!”
A brief silence fell over the call at Eun-ho’s retort.
Ji Ye-chan broke the silence.
“Eun-ho.”
“Yes?”
“It’s the same thing…”
“Ah? Oh, is it?”
“Seriously, haha, that’s ridiculous.”
The members’ laughter resumed.