Siblings Work in Business (40)
A few days before the string of back-to-back meetings…
It happened on New Year’s Day.
Bzz.
Hyun-woo, now much more comfortable handling the camera, headed to the second floor of the NRY Entertainment building.
It was the floor Eun-ho and Eun-ji used as their dorm.
Even on days without a schedule, Hyun-woo recorded Eun-ho and Eun-ji’s daily lives every other day.
It was the same on January 1st, New Year’s Day.
“I don’t have a family home, and I’m alone even if I go home…”
“I-Is that so?”
CEO Park repeatedly told him to rest, but Hyun-woo refused.
“Eun-ho and Eun-ji are my New Year’s gifts.”
“…Hyun-woo, you’re quite good at saying cheesy things without hesitation.”
“Huh?”
CEO Park said, shaking his head.
Meanwhile, Hyun-woo tilted his head, seemingly clueless as to why CEO Park reacted that way.
“At least I’m less worried now that they’re not alone.”
“I’m not sure if I’ll be of much help, but I’ll do my best.”
“I’ll pay you well, so I’m counting on you, Hyun-woo.”
“Yes!”
At his enthusiastic reply, CEO Park patted Hyun-woo’s shoulder and left the office with him.
“Then I’ll be going. Happy New Year, Hyun-woo.”
“Happy New Year to you too, CEO!”
“Huh?”
“Ah, I misspoke… Happy New Year!”
“Haha. You too.”
CEO Park left work early, saying he had to go to his family home for the holidays.
And again, on January 1st…
Hyun-woo went up to the second floor and stood in front of the brown aluminum door with a frosted glass window.
Knock, knock.
Creak—
The door opened with a grating sound shortly after Hyun-woo knocked.
“Oh, hyung, aren’t you off today?”
“I came in to film.”
Hyun-woo shrugged, holding up the camera, when Eun-ho asked in surprise.
Although it was for uploading promotional videos to O-Tube, his words about them being his New Year’s gift didn’t seem like empty words, judging by his bright expression.
“Oh, have you eaten?”
“Not yet…”
A rich broth aroma wafted from the open door.
“I made some tteokguk (rice cake soup) for New Year’s, would you like some?”
“Did you make it yourself, Eun-ho?”
“I’ve been cooking for myself while living alone…”
Hyun-woo tilted his head.
CEO Park had told him that Eun-ho always lived with Eun-ji.
“Ah, w-well, I sometimes cook secretly when Lee Eun-ji is not around…”
“Ah.”
Eun-ho added a belated explanation.
Hyun-woo seemed puzzled for a moment, then nodded in understanding.
“Can I turn on the camera?”
Hyun-woo asked, and Eun-ho glanced at Eun-ji’s room, then nodded after a moment of hesitation.
While Hyun-woo turned on the camera…
“Hey, Lee Eun-ji! Wake up and eat!”
Bang, bang, bang.
Eun-ho set the table with three bowls of tteokguk and banged on Eun-ji’s door.
After about ten knocks…
He finally heard rustling sounds from beyond the door.
Crash, thud, crack.
It sounded like something fell and broke.
Then, Eun-ji’s door slowly opened, revealing a ghost-like figure with disheveled hair.
“Why are you waking me up so early…”
“Eat tteokguk.”
“Why tteokguk?”
“It’s January 1st today.”
“So what if it’s January 1st?”
“You’re still half asleep.”
“Damn… my comb broke…”
Eun-ji came out to the living room, brushing off the plastic pieces stuck to her feet.
She slumped against the wall, or perhaps she was trying to stick to it.
Then, she slid down to the floor and seemed to be preparing to go back to sleep.
“Hey, Lee Eun-ji.”
“Yeah…”
“Hyung is here. We’re filming.”
“Yeah…”
“Wake up.”
“Yeah… huh? What hyung…”
Eun-ji’s sleepy eyes suddenly opened wide.
Should he film this, or not?
Hyun-woo smiled awkwardly, waving his hand, his face full of concern.
“Sh…it…”
Eun-ji, still half-asleep, instinctively cursed under her breath, rolling her eyes.
When her pupils finally returned to their normal position, she glared at Eun-ho.
“You should have told me before I came out, you bastard…”
“Haha.”
Eun-ji whispered to Eun-ho, her voice barely audible.
Eun-ho smirked and replied,
“Why should I? It’s your fault for waking up late.”
“Just you wait.”
“Just eat.”
“Suddenly, what food…”
Eun-ji stopped grumbling and stared at the neatly prepared tteokguk on the table, complete with garnishes.
“What?”
“What?”
“What’s the occasion?”
“It’s New Year’s, dummy.”
“Did you make this, Oppa?”
Eun-ji looked at Hyun-woo with a touched expression.
“Huh? No. No. Um…”
Hyun-woo shook his head in a fluster.
He pointed at Eun-ho with his index finger and closed his mouth.
“I made it, idiot.”
“Lee Eun-ho, are you tired of living…?”
Ouch!
Eun-ji screamed as Eun-ho hit her head with a spoon.
“You little… I make this for you, and you…”
“No…”
Eun-ji closed her eyes tightly, clutching her head where she was hit with the spoon.
Tears welled up in her eyes, as if it really hurt.
“You were doing so well, I thought you went crazy again.”
Eun-ji said in a much smaller voice than before.
“Ah, that time.”
Unwanted kindness is a nuisance, was it?
I seemed to know what she was talking about.
「“Why are you doing this to me?!”」
「“Why, my dear sister? What has angered you so?”」
「“You! You bastard! Lee Eun-ho, you son of a bitch! If you have a problem, just curse at me directly! Don’t mess with my mood with this bullshit!”」
She was talking about the ‘Good Older Brother Project,’ which I started, thinking it was all a dream, back when I couldn’t believe I had regressed.
“I’m not crazy, and I made it because I wanted to eat it, and I made too much, so just eat quietly.”
“Yes, thank you for the food.”
Hyun-woo, as if not expecting Eun-ji’s compliant response, chuckled quietly while blowing on his tteokguk. He lost control of his breath due to his laughter. Fortunately, he didn’t spill any of the soup or rice cakes.
After that, only the clinking of spoons against bowls filled the quiet house.
“Ah, about the upcoming meeting…”
Eun-ho spoke, eating the last of his tteokguk.
Eun-ji, putting a rice cake in her mouth, answered a beat later,
“What meeting?”
“The CEO said we have a meeting with the director of Dark Ocean Production soon.”
“Ah, right. He did.”
Eun-ji said, focusing on a piece of dumpling.
“He said you’re in charge of the presentation.”
“Phew. Ah, that. Yeah, I prepared a concept video. The CEO is editing it for O-Tube.”
After answering, the dumpling he was looking at disappeared into Eun-ji’s mouth.
“So that’s taken care of. And then, he asked us to discuss the music video concept and any scenes we want.”
“Did he?”
“Yeah. Any ideas?”
“Hmm.”
Eun-ji closed her eyes tightly, then opened them after a moment and answered,
“Not really.”
“If you’re going to answer like that, can you at least pretend to think about it?”
“You’re the one who told me to pretend!”
“I didn’t mean literally pretend… sigh Forget it.”
“But I really don’t have any ideas.”
Eun-ho tilted his head, as if he couldn’t understand.
“Why?”
Lately, Eun-ji’s work pace had accelerated; it took her as little as 20 minutes, or at most a day, to compose a song.
She spent most of her time selecting and editing the songs she created.
Considering her speed, ‘not having any ideas’ didn’t make sense.
“You churn out songs like crazy.”
“Songs are different.”
“Why are they different? They’re both creative work.”
“It’s just… ah, how do I explain this?”
Eun-ji leaned back, resting her body on one arm, with a spoon in her mouth.
She casually brushed her bangs aside and pouted with the spoon still in her mouth.
I watched her quietly, wondering how she would answer, and she took the spoon out of her mouth and spoke again.
“If you told me to ‘film’ a song, I’d understand, but imagining images or writing… I can’t even imagine it, it’s just difficult.”
“What are you talking about? You wrote the lyrics for ‘DUO,’ didn’t you?”
“That’s why my head almost exploded when I wrote them.”
Eun-ho sighed and then stopped.
‘Ah?’
He suddenly realized where Eun-ji’s genius in composing came from.
‘I didn’t know that.’
So that’s how it was.
Before the regression, we weren’t in the same team, and I had no talent in composing, only enough knowledge to give opinions…
Our conversations about Eun-ji’s music were limited to giving feedback, like “It’s good” or “It would be better if this part was stronger.”
‘Musical imagination…’
This was something I didn’t know about her.
“Well, if you made the song, that’s enough. Finish your food. I’ll take care of the rest.”
“Okay.”
Eun-ji seemed satisfied with Eun-ho’s decision, grinning.
Then, she put the spoon, which had been at her lips, back into her tteokguk.
‘Music video… what kind of concept would be good?’
The video taken that day was uploaded to O-Tube as is, after CEO Park, with a fatherly smile, edited out the curse words and Eun-ji’s disheveled appearance.
[This is supposed to be a daily vlog, but why is the art style so different there?]
└ [I know, right? Lol]
└ [Lol I get what you mean.]
└ [Art style lol That’s a perfect description lol]
[3:22 She’s so pretty without makeup.]
Ji Ye-chan’s showcase, the OST, the outdoor performances…
Despite the accumulated videos and activities…
The O-Tube channel barely surpassed 1,000 subscribers.
[What’s with the ‘Just eat’ and Lee Eun-ho’s expression! His face! His smile!!!]
[Him saying ‘You little…’ and then giving her a spoon is so cute.]
[Oppa, want to sign a document? What document? Just a marriage certificate, nothing much.]
However, despite the fact that they were about to become public figures, Eun-ho and Eun-ji’s rough language…
And their playful banter…
Kept the comment section lively, despite the low subscriber count.
CEO Park enjoyed managing the O-Tube channel as a hobby, smiling at the compliments for Eun-ho and Eun-ji, and quietly deleting malicious comments.
“I can’t wait to show them.”