Siblings Work in Business (22)
CEO Park glanced at Eun-ho through the rearview mirror and spoke.
“Busking.”
“Busking…?”
“Every weekend.”
“Every week?”
Even Eun-ji, who had been asleep, opened her eyes wide at the word “busking.”
“Busking? What busking?”
Eun-ji asked, turning around.
I, too, was speechless at the unexpected news.
“So, the frequent meetings you’ve been having recently…”
“Haha, yes. I’ve been busy securing locations, coordinating with the site managers, trying to secure at least three performances a week.”
“Wow…”
“You two still have rough personalities, but you have the looks and the talent.”
I guess so.
It had been a short time, but Lee Eun-ji and I had made progress, even if it wasn’t noticeable.
We no longer had the bad habits masked by excessive techniques, and we could now sing even love songs, which we thought were impossible.
We could now harmonize with each other’s voices effortlessly.
So, we were confident we could handle busking.
Good.
This is great.
‘But…’
My head was telling me not to miss this opportunity…
But why…
Did I feel a heavy weight on my chest?
“It’s before your debut, but it’s not bad to get some exposure beforehand. More than anything, you two enjoy singing in front of an audience more than in a booth.”
The power of word-of-mouth couldn’t be ignored.
The CEO was right.
While we liked good songs, Lee Eun-ji and I loved ‘singing’ itself.
What we loved as much as singing was the audience listening to our songs.
When we were young, we were so starved for attention that we played “concert” every day, imagining an audience.
Eun-ji’s eyes sparkled with excitement, as if this was what she had always wanted.
‘But why?’
While Lee Eun-ji was purely happy, I couldn’t share her excitement.
I quickly realized where this anxiety stemmed from.
‘I thought I was okay…’
The malicious comments that poured in after Lee Eun-ji passed away.
The malicious articles about ‘me.’
The honest interviews that were edited and twisted to hide the truth.
Back then, I brushed it off.
But now, revisiting that time, I finally realized.
I was hurt.
And during the time I didn’t acknowledge those wounds, they seemed to have festered.
“Eun-ho, are you not happy about it?”
“No, I like it.”
“Anyway, I’ll tell you about the weekend performances next week.”
“Okay.”
Despite my complicated feelings, I tried my best to force a smile.
But did Lee Eun-ji notice something?
‘What’s wrong?’
Eun-ji tilted her head and asked with her eyes.
I shook my head silently, saying it was nothing.
As if not wanting to dwell on it, despite feeling uneasy…
Lee Eun-ji grinned, her face lighting up at the busking schedule.
She seemed to have forgotten all about her anger at Payoff, completely single-minded about the busking offer.
‘Busking…’
Since we weren’t known yet, there probably wouldn’t be many people.
I thought that, completely unaware of what was about to happen.
A week had passed since CEO Park’s proposal.
“You have a knack for frustrating people! Why can’t you follow one simple instruction?!”
Payoff sighed and rubbed his forehead, looking at Eun-ji in the recording booth.
‘She’s a beauty, but…’
Seeing her sing made him sigh involuntarily.
“You’re just a trainee, stop interpreting it yourself and follow my directions! Are you an idiot? Why can’t you understand what I’m saying?”
He disliked her.
He had been waiting for a chance to put her in her place, but…
‘It’s obvious she’s trembling with suppressed anger…’
Whenever he cornered one of them, that Lee Eun-ho always stepped in and made them apologize first.
“I apologize.”
‘I dislike him even more.’
Acting like a guardian just because he’s a few years older.
When he first met the two…
Their sculpted, actor-like faces and relaxed demeanor.
He vaguely remembered hearing something about them during the meeting with CEO Park, but his memory was hazy from the all-night drinking session.
Because of that, he was fooled by their aura, thinking they were already debuted but unknown singers, or singer-actors…
That’s what he initially thought.
So, he treated them with utmost respect at first.
The younger sister was quite pretty, and honestly, he treated them well because he found her attractive.
Of course, he was soon proven wrong.
To make an excuse, anyone would have been fooled.
‘Because Lee Eun-ho was so brazen.’
He spoke as if he knew the industry and the working process inside and out, like a seasoned artist, so who wouldn’t be fooled?
‘Not even a rookie, but a trainee about to debut…’
Ha!
Even now, his pride was hurt at the thought.
‘I was completely fooled.’
And that’s when it started.
From the moment he realized Lee Eun-ho was just a trainee, he found him annoying every time he opened his mouth.
“Composer, wouldn’t it be better to break that part like…”
“Hey, you shouldn’t be talking like that. Do you even know how much longer I’ve been in this industry than you?”
“…I apologize.”
“Instead of giving useless opinions, just follow my directions properly. Again.”
What these kids were asking for was simple.
To sing a whole track through just once?
It wasn’t a difficult request to grant during a long recording session.
‘But…’
He didn’t want to, because he found it impertinent that mere trainees were trying to challenge him.
He found it ridiculous that a trainee, relying only on his looks, dared to contradict him.
If what he said was completely wrong, he would have just dismissed him as an idiot, but he kept making accurate points every time he opened his mouth, which annoyed him even more.
Besides, it was obvious they would be lacking, so why bother?
“You two have a performance in Suwon tomorrow, right?”
Trainees who haven’t even debuted, putting on a show with their half-baked skills.
“Be careful not to make mistakes like you did here.”
Then…
Lee Eun-ji gritted her teeth so hard that he could hear the grinding sound.
A little girl who couldn’t say a word without her brother, acting all high and mighty.
“I’ll go if I have time.”
“Please do come. It would be a great encouragement to have you there, Composer.”
He said that mockingly to provoke them, and that Lee Eun-ho, surprisingly, took it well.
“Really? Haha. If Eun-ho’s asking me like that, I definitely have to go.”
“Then, we’ll be going now.”
“Okay. Go safely.”
The moment Eun-ho and Eun-ji left the studio…
Payoff wiped the fake smile off his face and scowled.
‘Stubborn bastard.’
A trainee who couldn’t even sing a single line properly, having to repeat it countless times.
Forgotten Scars
“It would be a great encouragement to have you there, Composer.”
I barely managed to say those words, feeling like I was spewing filth.
Honestly, I didn’t want to see this guy on my day off either.
But there was one reason I said that.
My desire to pierce his closed ears with our voices was greater than my dislike for him.
My stomach churned.
I wanted to shout at him, to tell him how ridiculously unfair his standards were.
And at the same time, to show him how we ‘sing’ when we’re not working with him.
I took a deep breath to calm my agitated mind, and Lee Eun-ji turned to me, tilting her head.
“Why?”
“I’m nervous.”
I desperately wanted to use the busking opportunity to properly show people what kind of music we made.
But was it because it had been so long?
Whenever I thought about the stage, or rather, the eyes of the audience, my chest tightened, and I felt breathless.
‘It’ll be okay.’
Since it was a pre-debut busking event, there probably wouldn’t be many people coming to see trainees.
Just as Eun-ho was trying to suppress his anxiety…
At 6 pm that evening, NRY Entertainment started actively promoting the event through various social media channels, along with a press release.
NRY Entertainment was a small agency, so they didn’t have much influence in terms of promotion.
But the next morning…
‘E-ung,’ ‘Suwon Station,’ and ‘Rodeo Street’ briefly appeared in the real-time search rankings.
「My beloved Eun-ho, who helped me with the featuring, will be having his first performance with ★E-ung★ at Suwon Station Rodeo Street tomorrow! Please show them lots of love! I’ll be there too!」
This was the result of a short post by Ji Ye-chan on his social media.
And on Saturday…
Suwon Station Rodeo Street was bustling with people choosing their dinner menus.
Then…
“What’s happening here today?”
“I saw it on Ji Ye-chan’s Minsta, a team called E-ung is performing.”
“Who’s E-ung?”
“The team with the rookie who featured on ‘Co-Sign.’”
“Oh, are they idols?”
“I don’t know.”
The staff, who had arrived earlier, listened to the conversations and diligently set up the stage.
Calling it a stage was generous; it was a simple setup with two flimsy chairs, speakers, and microphones under a banner…
Meanwhile, people gathered around, some having heard about the performance beforehand, others stopping by on their way. Like the saying, “Where there’s a crowd, a bigger crowd gathers,” a sizable crowd had formed.
“Wow.”
Meanwhile, a black sedan stopped near the subway entrance, not far from the stage.
A woman with wavy, dark hair got out of the car first, looking around and smiling.
A white shirt and neat black slacks.
A simple outfit with no eye-catching accessories.
But her strong aura drew the attention of most people around her.
“Hey, get out of the way.”
“Just get out of the car already.”
“Move!”
A man got out of the car after her, pushing past the onlookers.
He had the same white shirt, neat black slacks, and a face that mirrored hers.
If the woman had a sharp aura, he had a similar impression, but with a colder demeanor.