Siblings Working in Business (216)
The Curse
“Eun-ho is such a well-behaved kid, but you, with your identical face…”
“Ah, Teacher! You’re ruining my appetite!”
Eun-ji, despite her words, scooped up a large portion of jjajangmyeon with her chopsticks.
“You call that losing your appetite? You just ate half the jjajangmyeon in one bite.”
Eun-ji, her cheeks puffed out like a hamster storing sunflower seeds, chewed for a while.
Bae Jin-soo, forgetting about his cooling jjampong, stared at her in amusement.
Eun-ji’s cheeks gradually deflated as she chewed.
When her mouth was finally empty, she dabbed her lips with a tissue, feigning elegance, and said,
“I said you were ruining my appetite, not my taste for noodles.”
Bae Jin-soo, letting out a dumbfounded chuckle, nodded.
“…Right. You’re something else.”
“OMG, how did you know I was something else?”
“…Never mind. Just… never mind.”
“Come on, you know I’m joking!”
When Bae Jin-soo sighed in defeat, Eun-ji, trying to appease him, said,
“You started it with the weird comments today, Teacher!”
“What did I even say?”
“Calling Lee Eun-ho well-behaved! He’s not just well-behaved, he’s deceptive, ugh!”
“Eun-ho is deceptive?”
“Yes!”
“He seemed genuine.”
Eun-ji’s upper lip curled in a sulk.
“Haha. If you keep making that face, people will be begging you to give it to them.”
“…Hmph.”
“Haha. Okay. Tell me, what’s so deceptive about Eun-ho?”
“What do you mean ‘what’? Everything about him is deceptive.”
“Really? Well, Eun-ji, I think…”
“…?”
“You could use some of that deception—”
Eun-ji made the same sulky face at Bae Jin-soo’s teasing remark.
But this time, she seemed to have something to say and quickly composed herself.
“At least I’m consistent, since I’m not deceptive.”
“Is Eun-ho inconsistent?”
“Of course. He might seem like a decent guy when he’s putting on an act, but when he steps on someone, he’s ruthless.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Even I get scared…”
Eun-ji paused, her chopsticks hovering over her food.
She was remembering something.
It was when she first encountered malicious comments after their debut.
CEO Park told her to endure it, and Eun-ho pestered her, saying they should take legal action.
At first, she followed CEO Park’s advice, reassuring herself, ‘It’s okay.’
But the more she told herself that, the more she started to crumble.
The mirror reflecting her forced smile shattered.
The calm piano melody suddenly shifted to the earsplitting roar of an electric guitar.
Like the changed music, the ‘her’ she saw in the mirror was rotting.
The accumulated wounds festered, and by the time she realized they were infected, it was too late to treat them.
But she didn’t want to give up hope.
So she found her own solution.
Instead of suing the commenters, she decided to do volunteer work with them.
She believed that if they met and talked, they could change their misconceptions about each other.
「“What are you doing? Those people are all the same. It’s just a waste of time—”」
Eun-ho was angry, asking why she was doing such a foolish thing.
But she believed in the good in people.
Although she had been hurt by people countless times since she was young, there were also good people like the bread guy and CEO Park.
So she believed.
She arranged a meeting, hoping to change things through conversation.
Although it was partly for herself, thinking back, she also wanted to prove Eun-ho wrong about his distrust of people.
And so, she met the malicious commenters.
They were surprisingly ordinary, nothing like the people who had hurled curses and sexually harassed her online.
They were just ordinary people, similar to her fans.
That’s where the first crack appeared.
She didn’t know what that crack meant back then.
So she gave them a second chance.
But the malicious comments continued.
A second lawsuit, a settlement, and the same volunteer work.
Was Eun-ho right?
She had thought they would be different people, at least.
But the same people from the first volunteer session were there for the second.
「“That Lee Eun-ji, that fucking bitch, using us for her image, pretending to be nice, it’s disgusting.”」
She only heard them because she started to suspect.
They had no intention of talking.
They were just there to avoid the lawsuit.
The crack widened.
By the third time, she had no energy left to try and change things.
「“Help me, Oppa…”」
So, she left everything to Eun-ho.
「“Okay.”」
Although he seemed to enjoy putting on a friendly face and chatting with people…
She knew what kind of person Eun-ho was, because she had seen him back then.
A couple came to NRY Entertainment, claiming their child’s actions were a ‘mistake.’
They apologized profusely, even kneeling.
It was a scene that could soften anyone’s heart.
Eun-ho, wearing his usual deceptive, kind smile, helped them up.
「“It seems your child has made the same ‘mistake’ three times.”」
At first, they repeatedly denied it and apologized.
「“The first time was a mistake, yes. Even the second time, I could understand. But the third time…”」
But they eventually snapped at Eun-ho’s relentless “stating the obvious.”
「“You little twerp! Do you think you can ruin my child’s life and still live comfortably, showing your face on TV?!”」
She had been a fool to be swayed by their initial apology.
Just then…
「“That fucking bitch. I hope she slams her face into a toilet and dies, that fucking bitch.”」
Eun-ho, with his kind face, started cursing.
It was chilling.
「“You, you little punk, talking to adults like that!”」
The parents’ faces turned red with anger as they shouted.
It was a natural reaction.
But Eun-ho just smiled calmly and said,
「“Oh, I think you misunderstood. I was just reading the comment your child left on my sister’s post.”」
「“And you’re getting angry like this, but why does my sister have to endure such words in silence?”」
The parents were silenced.
「“Let’s do this by the book.”」
Although they tried to argue, Eun-ho calmly and systematically shut them down.
And Eun-ho really did do it by the book.
He used the CCTV footage and audio recording from the day the parents came to the company and hurled insults as evidence, cornering them completely.
As a result…
The initial fine for the malicious commenter, which would have been a few hundred thousand won, ballooned to over ten million won thanks to Eun-ho.
「“That’s too much!”」
Eun-ho back then was like a sharpened blade.
He had only intended to give them a warning, but they ended up cutting each other, drawing blood.
She felt both relieved and guilty.
Public opinion was divided as well.
Some praised him, saying the commenter deserved it for repeating the offense three times, while others criticized him for going too far.
She felt the same.
So, she had gotten angry at Eun-ho.
Eun-ho, with a hardened expression, said to her,
「“That’s too much! I never asked you to go that far!”」
「“If you can handle it, it’s just a slap on the wrist. This is the real ‘punishment.’ And Lee Eun-ji, you should have handled it yourself. Why did you ask me for help?”」
「“That’s…”」
「“You knew your methods didn’t work, so you asked me for help.”」
She had nothing to say.
As Eun-ho said, she asked him for help because her methods didn’t work.
Then Eun-ho smiled and continued,
「“Eun-ji, don’t pretend you don’t know.”」
「“You asked me for help because you knew what I was capable of.”」
The cracks in her wall finally crumbled completely.
「“Fine! I won’t ask you for help anymore!”」
She was angry.
Angry at herself for still needing to ask Eun-ho, who acted like a condescending adult, for help.
「“And you! Unless it’s related to you, don’t interfere with my business, no matter how I’m treated! Y-you, aaaagh! You’re annoying!”」
Eun-ho’s reply was the same as always.
「“Okay. Dummy.”」
She wanted to prove him wrong.
She wanted to tell him off.
But she was so frustrated that she couldn’t think of anything to say and just stormed off to her room, feeling foolish.
She even missed the chance to thank him for handling it.
After that incident…
Eun-ho kept his promise.
Even after her death.
Even after his regression.
When she was being belittled by Payoff, unaware of her past memories…
Eun-ho had kept his sharpened blade sheathed, even though he could have easily intervened.
Anyway…
The day she heard about Jo Kwang-soo from Hwa-rang…
「“Sure, do whatever you want.”」
She told Eun-ho to unsheathe his blade.
She knew Eun-ho was subtly pulling strings behind the scenes.
But even then, he was an angel compared to Eun-ho with his blade unsheathed, even with his nasty temper.
Jo Kwang-soo, who had tormented Eun-ho for two years, deserved whatever he got.
Eun-ho’s plan was a bit of a gamble, potentially damaging their image.
‘…CEO Park will probably hate it…’
But she liked it.
She thought it might make it easier for the fans to forgive them if she made a mistake on a broadcast or if something from the past resurfaced.
It was like that, wasn’t it?
A good person making a mistake was labeled a fraud, while a bad person doing a good deed was praised for having a kind heart.
‘Besides, if not now, when will we have the chance to reveal our past?’
The E% had recently become interested in their past, piecing together stories from their unguarded moments on broadcasts.
An O-Tube video analyzing their song lyrics based on those stories had become incredibly popular, and the fans were digging deeper into their past.
The fact that even she, oblivious to such things, noticed it meant it was a hot topic among E-FAN.
And it tied in with the meaning of their upcoming song.
‘The timing is perfect…’
The problem was, would Eun-ho be able to get CEO Park’s approval?
‘Will he even agree…?’
“No.”
“Come on, CEO Park, just hear me out.”
“No. There’s nothing to hear. Absolutely not.”