Siblings Working in Business (247)
Joo-yeon found the student’s innocent excitement endearing.
And as the owner of this newly designated “holy ground,” she felt a surge of pride.
“Unnie, Unnie, where did E-UNG sit when they were here?”
“Ah, they sat over there.”
Joo-yeon, suppressing a smile, pointed to the spot where Eun-ho and Eun-ji sat when they visited.
“Kyaa, awesome. Can I sit there for a bit?”
“Of course.”
The student, upon receiving Joo-yeon’s permission, ran over and sat down, taking dozens of selfies with her phone.
Joo-yeon, charmed by her enthusiasm, offered her some leftover macaron shells.
“Here’s a little extra.”
“OMG, thank you so much!”
Every reaction from her was adorable.
The macaron shells Joo-yeon gave her also became part of the student’s photo collection.
“This is so good!”
“You like it?”
“Yes! It’s the best! Seriously!”
The student looked at the macaron shells with adoration, then, as if suddenly remembering something, exclaimed, “Ah!”, and turned towards the counter.
“Unnie!”
“Yes?”
Joo-yeon jumped, startled, and the student giggled and approached her.
“Did Eun-ho Oppa and Eun-ji Unnie eat the macarons here too?”
“Yes, they did. It’s the pride of my shop.”
Just then, the student, looking at the macarons displayed on the counter, asked,
“Wh-which flavor did they like?”
“Ah.”
Joo-yeon thought for a moment, recalling Eun-ho and Eun-ji’s visit.
「“Because of our diet, we don’t really like sweets. Do you have any nutty flavors?”」
「“Of course. The injeolmi (Korean rice cake) and pistachio flavors are nutty and delicious. Which one would you like? No, wait! I’ll give you both.”」
「“Haha, it’s okay. She’ll just eat all the sweets anyway…”」
Eun-ho had glanced at Eun-ji as he said that.
Then, after carefully considering the injeolmi and pistachio flavors, he pointed to the light green pistachio macarons and asked,
「“Is this the pistachio flavor?”」
「“Yes, it is.”」
「“I think I prefer this one. Please pack this for me.”」
Joo-yeon, remembering their visit, pointed to the pistachio macarons and said,
“Eun-ho doesn’t really like strong sweetness, so he preferred the pistachio flavor.”
“Wow! What? Eun-ho Oppa and I have similar tastes! What about Eun-ji Unnie?”
“Eun-ji…”
Joo-yeon chuckled, remembering Eun-ji glaring at Eun-ho when he chose the pistachio flavor.
「“OMG, brownie with chocolate chips, Unnie, you have good taste!”」
「“Didn’t you already have the chocolate one?”」
「“I did. But brownie is different.”」
「“…You’re going to get diabetes.”」
Slap.
Eun-ji had smacked Eun-ho’s back at his quiet mutter.
「“Our lovely brownie is listening!”」
Eun-ho, at Eun-ji’s retort, just stared at her as if she was crazy.
Joo-yeon, remembering that moment, giggled and then replied to the student’s question,
“Eun-ji really liked the chunky chocolate chip brownie.”
“Wow! Is that the same brownie I bought?”
“Yes.”
Joo-yeon replied with a smile to the student’s question, her eyes sparkling.
The student then bought the pistachio macarons that Eun-ho liked.
“I’ll come again!”
“Take care.”
Joo-yeon waved to the student, and only after she was out of sight did she sit down on a chair in the corner of the counter.
― These are freshly harvested, so they should be delicious.
― Wow, thank you!
Just then, Joo-yeon, hearing a familiar voice, turned towards the TV, where Let’s Live Together a Bit was playing.
Eun-ho’s preference for nutty flavors was also evident on the show.
A few days after returning to their rural home…
The caretaker handed the members a bag of large walnuts, saying he had recently harvested them.
― Don’t we need a hammer to crack these?
They had walnuts, but no tools to crack them. Just then…
The scene froze, with a caption that said “Crack?” as the members looked at something off-screen, surprised.
The camera then showed Eun-ho happily munching on walnuts.
― Wow, how did you crack them?
― Huh? I, just…
Eun-ho, flustered by the sudden attention, looked around and mumbled an answer.
After finishing one…
Eun-ho, seemingly enjoying the walnuts, took out three more from the red mesh bag.
This time, everyone watched him intently, curious to see how he would crack them.
― It’s nothing special…
Eun-ho’s ears turned red, embarrassed by their stares.
Then, another ‘crack’ sound.
― Wow, he’s just… eating them whole.
Eun-ho simply crushed the walnuts in his fist.
While Ryu Seok-hyun expressed his amazement, Eun-ho picked out the walnut pieces from the crushed shells and ate them.
His slightly crinkled eyes showed his enjoyment, without him having to say anything.
‘Cute.’
Joo-yeon stared at Eun-ho on screen, her heart melting.
She continued watching until the end of the third episode.
Then, E-UNG’s “Curse” music video played, marking the end of the episode.
With no customers…
Joo-yeon was about to rewatch Let’s Live Together a Bit from the beginning when…
Tinkle.
The door opened, and the bell chimed.
“Welcome.”
She greeted them instinctively, then froze as she turned towards the door.
“Hello!”
“Wow, this place is so cute!”
“E-UNG came here?”
Although Joo-yeon forced a smile as customers entered, she couldn’t hide her surprise, her eyes wide.
Her small shop usually had only six or seven customers a day.
Even on busy days, it was only a couple more.
But the number of students in uniform who entered the shop far exceeded her usual average.
Her small shop was suddenly packed with students.
Just then, Joo-yeon’s eyes landed on their navy blue uniforms.
‘That uniform…’
She recognized it.
‘Ah, that student from earlier…’
They were wearing the same uniform as the student who had visited earlier.
“Unnie! Where’s the pistachio one?”
“I’ll take… the Chunky Chip Frappuccino? Wait, is that right? I think it was a bit different.”
“Dummy! Hahaha! It’s Chunky Chip Brownie!”
“Unnie! What kind of filling is in the vanilla one?”
“Kya, look at this! The pink one is so cute! It’s a bunny!”
Joo-yeon felt her soul leaving her body at the barrage of questions from the students.
Even trying to answer them was a problem.
“Ah, that’s vanilla, and the cream inside is peanut butter…”
“Excuse me! What’s in this one?”
“Unnie, what kind of filling is in the injeolmi one? Not the frappuccino, this one.”
“Kya, does it have a cookie on top? So cute!”
“Excuse me, can you pack these for me?”
“Yes! I’ll pack them right away!”
She was so overwhelmed that she had to grab her escaping soul and force it back into her body just to keep up with the orders.
Just then, as Joo-yeon was frantically taking orders…
Her phone, which was on a chair in the corner of the counter, started vibrating.
Buzz.
Buzz.
The continuous buzzing stopped, and a missed call notification appeared.
[Seul-gi♥ Missed call x1]
“Are you okay?”
“…Do I look okay?”
Eun-ji, lying face down on the desk, glared at Eun-ho and snapped, her tone sharper than usual, at his awkward attempt at concern.
There were dark circles under her eyes.
“Do you think you can handle the recording session today…?”
“I have to, damn it.”
“That language—”
“What?”
Eun-ji glared at him, and Eun-ho waved his hand dismissively.
“That damn Mother Nature…”
Eun-ho couldn’t use ‘jjoom,’ his usual cheat code for stopping Eun-ji’s cursing, today.
He had a feeling he would lose his hair if he did.
As Eun-ji’s state made clear, today was that time of the month.
She was usually a bit irritable for a week, sometimes even ten days. After a few days, her sharp edges would soften.
But today was, unfortunately, the second day, when she was at her most sensitive.
“Ah, I want to bite something…”
“Calm down. You’re human.”
“…”
Eun-ji just glared at him silently.
It was a predatory look, as if she was about to bite him.
“Ma-, maca-, macarons.”
Eun-ho, sensing the threat to his life, offered a bribe.
“Want me to get you some macarons?”
“Are you going to buy them for me?”
“Why else would I ask?”
“…”
Eun-ji, her eyes narrowed suspiciously, tilted her head.
Just then, as expected…
Eun-ho held up his hand, palm open.
He was indicating the number ‘5.’
Eun-ji stared at his outstretched hand, then, as if exhausted, rested her forehead on the desk and raised a single finger.
“Hey, that’s not fair. It’s not chocolate, it’s macarons.”
“…”
Eun-ji raised another finger at Eun-ho’s indignant outburst, her displeasure evident.
Eun-ho shook his head, his hand still showing five fingers.
“Seven days is too much.”
“Then don’t buy them.”
“Two days. Please.”
Eun-ji, about to lose her temper, then slumped back down, exhausted.
But her fingers were still forming a ‘V.’
When Eun-ho refused to budge, Eun-ji silently raised her other hand.
‘7?’
Two fingers plus five.
Eun-ho’s voice rose in excitement at the sudden jump in number.
“You’ll be good for a whole week?”
“Are you crazy? I meant two and a half days.”
“Hey, it’s either two days or three days. What’s with the half day?”
“Whatever.”
Eun-ho, frowning at her nonchalant reply, said,
“I’m not buying them.”
The negotiation had failed.
Just then, Eun-ji smirked and spoke,
“Fine. Don’t.”
“Okay.”
“Your recording’s screwed today, Lee Eun-ho.”