Siblings Working in Business (229)
Jjom(A Bit)
“JJom” (좀) literally means “a little” or “a bit,” but it’s also commonly used in a more emotional or informal way, especially when whining or pleading. For example, if I say “아, 좀!” (“Ah, jjom!”) or “쫌!” (“Jjom!”) to a friend, it can come across as “Oh, come on!” or “Please!”—basically a way to express mild frustration or insistence in a casual tone.
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
“…”
“Ah, Lee Eun-ho.”
“…”
The walk back to the dressing room was agonizing for Eun-ji.
Eun-ho hadn’t said a word since they left the stage; she almost wished he would yell at her.
In the hallway, at least, he maintained a polite smile for the sake of the other artists, staff, and juniors.
But the moment they entered the dressing room, even that fake smile vanished.
“I’m sorry. Really, I’m sorry.”
Eun-ho’s expression was icy cold.
His gaze, devoid of emotion, finally landed on Eun-ji.
Eun-ji flinched.
Meeting his eyes, she realized the gravity of the situation.
‘Wow, he’s seriously pissed.’
She guessed there were two main reasons.
First, when Eun-ho was singing…
He was usually lenient about ad-libs.
Although he would tell her not to interrupt after they finished, as long as the performance went well, it was fine.
But today…
“I’m sorry.”
“Haa…”
Eun-ho turned towards the window and sighed deeply.
“Hey.”
“Yes.”
Perhaps because of her immediate, almost subservient, reply…
Eun-ho’s lips twitched, trying to suppress a smile.
“You’re smiling, you are!”
“I’m not.”
“You were!”
Eun-ji, seizing the opportunity, exclaimed, her eyes gleaming.
“I wasn’t.”
“Don’t lie. I saw you.”
“Seriously, is this really the time to be nitpicking about whether I smiled or not?”
“Why not?”
“…”
Eun-ho stared at Eun-ji, who never conceded a single point.
“What’s with that look?”
“What.”
“That ‘why am I even arguing with this child’ look!”
“Oh, you’re good at reading those.”
Eun-ji started growling, and Eun-ho, his temper rising, seemed ready to fight back.
Seul-gi and Hyun-woo, seeing the siblings’ escalating tension, exchanged glances, as if saying, ‘Here we go again,’ and assigned their roles.
“Should we stop them?”
“I’ll take Eun-ho.”
“I’ll take Eun-ji.”
After deciding, Hyun-woo stepped between them.
“Seriously, every time he looks at me like that, I just want to…”
Eun-ji made a ‘V’ sign with her fingers and pointed at Eun-ho’s eyes.
“Stop it, let’s go. CEO Park will scold you again if he finds out.”
At Seul-gi’s not-so-subtle warning, Eun-ji calmed down instantly.
“Let’s go say goodbye to the PD.”
“…”
Eun-ho, who had also been about to lose his temper, quickly regained his composure at Hyun-woo’s words.
They left the dressing room and joined the line to thank the PD.
‘Did this all start because I wanted to make a good impression on the PD?’
He didn’t understand, but there were things you had to do as part of the job.
The line seemed longer than usual today, perhaps because they were late.
While artists from powerful agencies would often cut in line, they weren’t big enough for that, nor did they want to.
“Thank you for today.”
“Thank you.”
After a long wait, Eun-ho and Eun-ji entered the PD’s room.
They both bowed simultaneously.
“Ah, wait a minute.”
Just as they were about to leave, the PD stopped them, as if he had something to say.
“You’re with NRY, right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Are you working on anything with DI lately?”
The PD turned to another staff member, as if asking them, but loud enough for Eun-ho and Eun-ji to hear.
However, the staff member just looked at Eun-ho and Eun-ji.
His gaze seemed to ask, ‘What are you doing? Answer him.’
“We haven’t heard anything specific yet.”
“Really?”
The PD chuckled after Eun-ho’s answer.
“I wasn’t really asking you.”
“I apologize.”
Although a sense of annoyance rose at the subtly condescending tone, Eun-ho replied calmly.
Eun-ji also tried to maintain her composure, but the slight twitching of her lips betrayed her irritation.
“Well, it can’t be helped if you don’t know. You can go now.”
“Okay.”
As if he had nothing more to say since they didn’t know anything, the PD gestured for them to leave.
Eun-ho and Eun-ji bowed.
“We’ll be going, then.”
The PD remained silent as they left the room.
“Hello! We are—!”
Then, the other artists waiting behind Eun-ho and Eun-ji entered the PD’s room, greeting him energetically.
Although it had been an unsettling conversation, Eun-ho and Eun-ji seemed unfazed after leaving.
There was one reason for their nonchalance.
That PD would be replaced soon anyway.
“That PD, you know.”
“Yeah.”
“Doesn’t he get caught up in a sex scandal later?”
“Yeah. A big one.”
To Eun-ho and Eun-ji, who remembered their past lives, that PD was a familiar face.
He was someone who became infamous for a sex scandal.
“When was it again?”
“It’s coming up soon. Early 2016.”
Thanks to that villain, Eun-ho and Eun-ji, forgetting their earlier argument, chatted about their shared past memories as they got into the car.
As they drove home…
Eun-ho, focused on their first-place win, had completely forgotten about his argument with Eun-ji and instinctively opened the E-FAN app.
He wanted to see the reactions to their performance.
└ Today’s performance was legendary lol
└ Lol I burst out laughing thinking Ji and Rangi were going to start fighting backstage
└ But the veins on Eun-ji’s hand looked scary.
└ Seriously lol
└ I think this is the first time I’ve seen Eun-ho mess up on stage lol
└ Really?
└ Yeah, it’s usually Ji-ji who messes up lol
Eun-ho, reading the comments on E-FAN, his ears turning red, suddenly remembered the ending stage.
“What are you looking at?”
Eun-ji, seeing his red ears, glanced at his phone with a puzzled expression.
Eun-ho desperately wanted to smack her, but he held back and turned off his phone screen irritably.
‘It’ll be forgotten soon, just like Eun-ji’s blunders…’
He hoped so.
Eun-ji would sometimes improvise on stage.
The perceptive E% had noticed something from these performances.
That Eun-ji usually did that when she was so caught up in the moment that she missed her timing for the choreography.
It was quite obvious if you watched a compilation of those moments.
However, it wasn’t a big deal.
Eun-ji was a good singer, and Eun-ho usually covered for her, so their performances were always successful.
But this ending stage, where Eun-ho was attacked, was different.
Eun-ji’s headlock and Eun-ho’s groan were a rare and precious moment of “Lee Eun-ho” crumbling.
Perhaps because it coincided with their first win…
The moment was quickly turned into a meme, with GIFs and even fan art of ‘Ho-nyang’ and ‘Ji-nyang’ recreating the scene.
As a short epilogue, for the next year…
Eun-ho would sulk and refuse to talk to Eun-ji whenever he saw the GIF or pictures.
And Eun-ji would grumble, “Ah, seriously! Get over it! Are you going to be like this every time you see it?”, which would only provoke him further, escalating into their usual bickering.
A few days after the music show…
Eun-ho and Eun-ji visited Chang-seok’s office for a meeting about their upcoming variety show appearance.
“So, about Dongdoo Ggaebi Noleum…” (Comrade Goblin Play)
Eun-ho’s brow furrowed every time he heard the title of their upcoming variety show, ‘Dongdoo Ggaebi Noleum.’
Unable to bear it any longer, he spoke,
“CEO Park.”
“Eun-ho, what?”
“Do we really have to go with that… ggaebi or whatever, that title?”
“Why? Isn’t it okay?”
“No, it’s not.”
Chang-seok, pouting at Eun-ho’s blunt assessment, said,
“CEO Uh liked it.”
“He likes everything you say.”
“Did he…?”
While Chang-seok was lost in thought…
Eun-ho also pondered.
He was sure there was a better title.
Eun-ji, as if knowing what he was thinking, suggested,
“How about ‘Living Together’?”
“There’s already a show with a similar title.”
“Hmm.”
Eun-ji thought again at Eun-ho’s objection.
Just then, Eun-ho spoke,
“‘Starry Night’?”
“That sounds like the name of a bar I’ve heard of.”
“Ah…”
This time, Eun-ho thought again at Eun-ji’s objection.
Then Eun-ji said,
“‘This Countryside Sucks’?”
“‘Sucks’ isn’t a good word for a title.”
“Ah, oh? Ah!”
Eun-ji, realizing her mistake, her eyes sparkling as if she had a good idea, immediately suggested,
“Then how about ‘Let’s Live a Bit’? How about ‘Jjom Salja’?”— Salja (Let’s live)
“Jjom?”(A bit)
Eun-ho tilted his head at the sudden appearance of the word ‘Jjom.’
“The house we’re filming in, CEO Park’s hometown, it’s near Daegu, right?”
“Ah, yeah. It is.”
“We’re also from that area, so we use the word ‘jjoom’ a lot.”
“Do we?”
Eun-ho scratched his cheek, trying to recall their conversations.
Come to think of it, even CEO Park seemed to use the word ‘jjoom’ often…
Eun-ho, seemingly agreeing with Eun-ji, nodded.
“I think so, but ‘Jjom Salja’ isn’t good.”
Although he agreed, he still didn’t like it.
Eun-ji’s face, which had brightened at his agreement, fell again at his objection.
They both fell into thought.
“Together…”
-“Jjom.”(A bit)
-“…Salja.”(Let’s Live)
Huh?
They had exchanged those words almost unconsciously.
Although it was an accidental combination, Eun-ho and Eun-ji looked at each other, their expressions saying, ‘This is good.’
Chang-seok, who had been quietly listening, also liked it.
He thought emphasizing ‘jjoom’ in the title design would be a nice touch.
Chang-seok immediately picked up his phone and made a call.
The call connected quickly.
“Let’s Live Together a Bit!”
It was CEO Uh Seok-bae of DI Music.
Uh Seok-bae, taken aback by the sudden outburst, didn’t reply.
Chang-seok, who seemed to have planned it as a joke, laughed heartily and asked,
“How about this instead of ‘Dongdoo Ggaebi Noleum’ for the countryside variety show title?”
“Ah, that’s what it was… I see.”
A brief silence followed.
Uh Seok-bae thought for a moment, then replied,
“Anything is fine with me. It’s better than before.”
Chang-seok, seemingly having received the answer he wanted, smiled.
And so, the variety show title was changed from the universally disliked ‘Dongdoo Ggaebi Noleum’ to ‘Let’s Live Together a Bit’.
Busy days followed.
Eun-ho and Eun-ji were juggling promotions and meetings for Let’s Live Together a Bit.
“So, a famous PD will be joining us for ‘Let’s Live Together a Bit,’ and…”
“A famous PD? Who?”
Eun-ji raised her hand and asked during the meeting.
Chang-seok, chuckling, replied,
“‘Famous Person’ is the name, Eun-ji.”
“Ah? Wow, that’s awesome.”
Eun-ho sighed at Eun-ji’s sincere admiration.
“Seriously, Lee Eun-ji, please.”
“Ah, w-wow, that’s a-amazing!”
With their upcoming variety show appearance, Eun-ji had recently been undergoing ‘mouth training.’
To fix her instinctive cursing and inappropriate language for broadcasts.
But as you could see, it wasn’t very effective.
It was a constant cycle of making mistakes and then correcting them, like fixing a barn after the cow had already escaped.
‘Who can even control her?’
Chang-seok chuckled and shook his head.
Then his gaze landed on Eun-ho.
‘…There’s one person who can.’