Siblings Work in Business (49)
At dawn, with the sun barely peeking over the horizon…
Hyun-woo stood in front of the brown aluminum door, staring at his digital watch.
[6:30 AM]
The moment the number 2 changed to 3, Hyun-woo raised his fist.
It was the time he had waited out of courtesy, assuming they would be ready by now.
He knocked politely, but the thin aluminum door rattled loudly, echoing through the neighborhood.
“Yes, coming!”
Perhaps because of the loud knocking…
A short scream followed from inside before the door opened.
“Good morning, hyung.”
As usual, it was Eun-ho who opened the door.
“You’re always up early, Eun-ho.”
“I’m used to it.”
“You’re diligent.”
“You too, hyung.”
Eun-ho smiled meaningfully and shrugged.
Waking up early had become a routine for Eun-ho, thanks to the repeating schedule.
In fact, 6 am was a relatively late wake-up time for him.
Before the regression, when he was obsessed with work, there were countless times he didn’t sleep for days.
‘Eun-ji is improving, but…’
Hyun-woo sighed briefly, looking past Eun-ho.
Eun-ji, her eyes half-closed, was sprawled out like a pile of seaweed.
True to her character, she was no different than usual, even on a special day.
‘But that’s good.’
Hyun-woo was secretly relieved that Eun-ji was at least ready to move, even if she was sprawled out.
Meanwhile, Eun-ho stepped outside.
“Let’s go before we’re late.”
Eun-ji, struggling to fight off her sleepiness, stumbled out of the house like a zombie.
“One hour… still shleepy…”
As they went downstairs, Eun-ji mumbled something to Hyun-woo, a mix between a yawn and a question.
‘What is she saying?’
Even Eun-ho, her sibling, couldn’t understand her.
But Hyun-woo, somehow understanding, answered kindly,
“You’re asking why we’re leaving so early when we have an hour left? The CEO told us to.”
Eun-ji stopped rubbing her eyes and quietly got into the car.
“Aren’t you nervous, Eun-ji?”
After the car entered the road, Hyun-woo asked Eun-ji, looking at her still-drowsy state with a curious gaze.
‘I would have been too nervous to sleep if it were me.’
Eun-ji, leaning her head against the cold window, tilted her head with half-open eyes.
Then, she pointed at herself with her index finger, as if asking if he was talking to her.
“Yes.”
As Hyun-woo smiled and answered, Eun-ji stretched and opened her eyes wide.
“Well, it’s a stage I’ve been waiting for, and we practiced a lot…”
Eun-ji’s gaze was directed outside the window, but she wasn’t looking at the scenery.
Lowering her hand from stretching, she calmly added,
“I believe I can do it.”
Eun-ho, hearing Eun-ji’s quiet reply, stopped writing in his notebook and looked at her.
His gaze lingered on Eun-ji for a moment, then returned to his notebook filled with words.
「“What’s there to be nervous about?”」
Lee Eun-ji’s reaction before our debut before the regression was similar.
‘Some things never change.’
Back then, I thought it was calmness from practice, but she simply believed in herself.
Her mindset was so admirable and surprising that I couldn’t believe we were siblings, as I would get nervous just imagining being on stage.
There were countless stars who, despite having talent, couldn’t fully showcase their abilities because of the pressure to perform perfectly and the momentary nervousness on stage or in front of the camera.
‘This industry is like that.’
Having such confidence was a huge advantage in this field.
Especially in creative fields, where even a single word could shake the creator’s conviction.
‘Sometimes, those words can be helpful, but…’
Often, they hindered the creative process itself.
‘Right.’
Actually, this was my story.
I was the one who was hindered.
‘My first stage.’
My terrible first stage.
I was so nervous, so obsessed with performing perfectly, that I added excessive vibrato and ended up cracking my voice.
And then, flustered, I messed up the choreography as well.
I made so many mistakes on a single stage.
‘And it was my debut stage…’
The CEO, surprisingly, didn’t yell at me that day.
He didn’t give up on me either.
He just quietly said, “Let’s strengthen your foundation,” and guided me to focus on practice.
He focused on Eun-ji, who showed better results in external events and broadcasts.
I resented his decision back then, but…
‘Honestly, thinking about it now, the CEO is a saint.’
Around that time…
Eun-ji started composing seriously.
Although it was a later start than now, Eun-ji showed a faster growth rate back then.
It was thanks to the experience she gained from her solo activities, which became her inspiration.
‘And I also started composing.’
Back then, I tried to show the CEO that I could do it like Lee Eun-ji, even though I had no basic sense of composing.
The result was obvious.
Trying so hard to be like Lee Eun-ji, I ended up plagiarizing her songs.
‘I dissected and analyzed Lee Eun-ji’s songs down to the nanosecond and copied them…’
It was bound to be similar.
But Eun-ji always came up with different styles of music.
They were experimental, but the kind of songs only Lee Eun-ji could make.
When Eun-ji released her second mini-album, I finally admitted that Lee Eun-ji and I were different.
‘Why was it so hard to admit that…’
I think that now, but back then, it was so difficult to admit that ‘my younger sister, whom I raised and cared for, was more talented than me.’
It took me years to swallow my pride and accept it.
It was ridiculous.
Only after admitting that I was different from Lee Eun-ji could I find my own style.
And I came to my senses and stood on stage again.
Although I didn’t become a star right from the beginning like Eun-ji, I grew at my own pace, step by step.
Time passed.
That day, my song was competing for first place against a rapidly rising idol group called ‘Violet Apple.’
‘I can finally face Lee Eun-ji confidently.’
That day, the day I thought that, Eun-ji passed away.
Immediately after Lee Eun-ji’s death, I turned to writing lyrics instead of composing.
I started writing my own lyrics because no lyricist could capture my feelings.
Of course, there were many comments accusing me of ‘emotional manipulation.’
But perhaps because it was sincere, it resonated with the public.
My new songs always charted in the top 10, as if filling Lee Eun-ji’s absence.
Ironically, I was burdened by the good results and suffered from insomnia due to guilt.
‘I didn’t know the tricks I learned back then would be so helpful…’
With a wry smile, Eun-ho turned the page of his filled notebook to a clean one.
“This way, please.”
We arrived at the Cellas shop in Cheongdam-dong, where we had reservations for makeup and wardrobe.
‘This is intimidating.’
It was an unfamiliar, luxurious shop with a grand atmosphere.
Even the signboard exuded luxury, and Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake played softly inside.
The designer and the staff all had strong, almost intimidating auras.
“Are you rookies?”
“Ah, yes! We are.”
About 5 minutes after we sat down…
A staff member who was styling my hair asked, and Eun-ji answered.
Then, the staff member smiled and said, “One moment,” and left.
He returned with a plate with two sandwich halves.
“You must be hungry. Help yourselves.”
As the staff member offered the sandwiches…
Eun-ho and Eun-ji’s eyes widened, having been intimidated by the unfamiliar, luxurious atmosphere.
The hunger they had forgotten because of the upcoming showcase debut suddenly hit them.
‘People who give delicious food = good people.’
‘Places that give food = good places.’
Their initial intimidation was instantly replaced by a favorable impression, thanks to the sandwiches.
Just like our first meeting with CEO Park, this was the result of that formula.
“Is it good?”
“Very!”
“I’m glad.”
The sandwiches from the shop disappeared in an instant.
By the time we finished the sandwiches, most of our styling was done.
Eun-ji checked her reflection in the mirror.
Subtle, shimmering eyeshadow and downturned eyeliner, seemingly to soften her strong features.
A gradient lip color with a hint of burgundy, contrasting with the light eye makeup.
A black camisole, an unbuttoned shirt over it, a black leather skirt, and edgy high-heeled boots.
It was the second outfit she wore during the music video shoot.
“Wow.”
“Pretty, right?”
Eun-ji’s nails were decorated with long, flashy nail tips, making me wonder how she could even function in daily life.
As I stared at her ridiculously long nails in surprise, Eun-ji wiggled her fingers playfully, showing them off.
“You look like Wolverine with jewels.”
“Wolverine…?”
Eun-ji’s head tilted at my half-joking, half-serious comment.
A moment later, her expression hardened, as if she finally remembered the character with the blades coming out of his hands.
“Wolverine had blades between his fingers, not nails like me…”
Just as I was feeling uneasy about her muttering…
“Just wait until bedtime, Oppa.”
I flinched at her sudden use of “Oppa,” when she usually called me “Lee Eun-ho.”
“Why?”
“I’ll put on real blades like Wolverine and turn that rockfish head into a deep-sea creature overnight.”
Eun-ji smiled sweetly, almost too kindly for her.
If it were before, I would have retorted with something like, “I’ll turn you into pumpkin pie,” but Lee Eun-ji was in my palm now.
“Then give me some sparkles too.”
I smiled calmly, mimicking Eun-ji.
“And preferably, the day after tomorrow.”
“Why?”
Eun-ji asked, startled by the unexpected request.
“It’ll look good on camera on Music Bank.”
“Ah, I see what you mean.”
Eun-ji rolled her eyes and rubbed the back of her neck.
“You’re so annoying, Lee Eun-ho.”
Then, as if giving up on dealing with me, Eun-ji shook her head and turned away.
“Eun-ho?”
“Ah, yes.”
“Your outfit is ready, you can change in there.”
“Okay.”
I followed a staff member to the changing room.