Siblings Work in Business (50)
Inside the changing room, unlike Eun-ji’s flashy outfit, there was only a simple white shirt with black stripes and black jeans.
Unlike Eun-ji, who was decked out from head to toe, my outfit felt very plain.
It seemed they toned down my outfit to balance Eun-ji’s flashiness.
‘Hmm.’
I was puzzled at first, but it wasn’t unreasonable.
Besides, I didn’t prefer flashy clothes, so I actually liked this better.
After finishing our preparations at the Cellas shop, we headed to Hongdae with Hyun-woo.
It was for our upcoming showcase.
“CEO!”
“Oh, seeing you all dressed up makes it feel real. Hyun-woo, you’ve worked hard since this morning.”
CEO Park, who was already at Hongdae, patted Hyun-woo’s back and said.
Hyun-woo smiled faintly in response.
“About O-Tube…”
As we were heading to the showcase venue with the CEO, he brought up O-Tube after a long while.
“You know we’ve been uploading the daily life videos you and Hyun-woo filmed, right?”
“Oh, you’re still doing that?”
Eun-ji muttered in surprise, and the CEO sighed.
“Aren’t you curious about the comments or people’s reactions?”
“We’ve been a bit busy.”
“I guess so.”
As Eun-ji shrugged, CEO Park nodded calmly, as if he agreed.
Eun-ji usually watched animal videos or listened to music on O-Tube.
‘The rest of the time, she’s either practicing, sleeping, composing, or arranging.’
Eun-ji’s hobbies, work, and even her imagination revolved around music.
In other words, she was doing what she loved.
‘But still…’
From CEO Park’s perspective, their schedule was incredibly hectic, even before their debut.
And Eun-ho was also swamped with writing lyrics for the songs Eun-ji churned out…
CEO Park sighed, seemingly giving up on the idea of them showing any interest.
“Anyway, many of our O-Tube subscribers will be coming today.”
“How many subscribers do we even have?”
“A few thousand?”
Eun-ho and Eun-ji asked nonchalantly, and CEO Park’s lips curled into a satisfied smile, as if waiting for this question.
“We’ve passed ten thousand.”
CEO Park’s plan to tell them when they reached 10,000 subscribers had been achieved a few days ago.
‘It was a bit unexpected, but…’
Until recently, the subscriber count had been increasing by a few dozen a day.
Then, the video we filmed and uploaded on January 1st suddenly got caught in the ‘tteokguk’ algorithm.
And after that day, the subscriber count increased by hundreds a day, quickly surpassing 10,000.
It literally blew up.
“CEO.”
“Yes?”
Just then, I had a good idea.
“Can we ask people to leave comments on our latest video, asking anything they’re curious about, before the performance starts?”
“Why?”
“Why?”
Eun-ji and the CEO asked, their eyes full of curiosity.
“It’s like a fan meeting, in a way. I think it would be good to do a Q&A session based on the comments.”
“Oh…”
CEO Park’s eyes lit up as he nodded, seemingly liking the suggestion.
“That’s great! Eun-ho! How did you come up with that idea?”
I didn’t answer the CEO’s question.
Actually, this was something Lee Eun-ji often did during her performances before the regression.
“Even when we had less than a thousand subscribers, the comment section was lively, with many people showing their support.”
Eun-ji’s eyes sparkled at the mention of fans.
Lee Eun-ji’s love for her fans was well-known.
I was relieved that she was still the same.
“Is that okay?”
“Of course! I brought this with me for O-Tube promotion, so it’s perfect.”
When I asked again to confirm, the CEO smiled and handed me a panel.
“Now, let’s go! We have a lot to prepare.”
We followed the CEO like chicks following a mother hen.
Hyun-woo followed behind us.
And we arrived at… Hongdae Playground, near Twenties Live Bar.
Simple chairs, speakers, and an acoustic guitar on top.
This was our stage for today’s showcase.
「 E-UNG
Busking!
2015. 2. 8
Sunday 5:00 PM 」
A simple signboard in front of the small stage announced the upcoming performance.
And when I looked to the side…
There was another signboard with a large print of our photo from the CK Music Life Magazine photoshoot.
‘Using that here…’
It was the embarrassing photo of us in that awkward pose when Eun-ji almost fell.
Eun-ji also seemed to notice the photo as she walked towards the stage, pausing for a moment.
But she quickly dismissed it, seemingly thinking of it as ‘work,’ and continued walking.
Lee Eun-ji was definitely cool when it came to work.
‘This feels strange.’
Watching the stage from a few steps away brought back memories.
Would I have felt differently if I didn’t have the past experience?
I didn’t expect a flashy debut stage like before.
Having already messed it up once—even if it was before the regression—I didn’t think I had the right to ask for one.
But Lee Eun-ji was different.
Unlike me, she had a brilliant debut, standing at the top from the very beginning.
Knowing that, I felt a mix of emotions.
Eun-ji was tuning the acoustic guitar placed on the stage.
Unlike Lee Eun-ji’s showcase in my memory, there were no flashy lights, spotlights, or a giant screen in the background.
Watching the calm Lee Eun-ji before the showcase, just like before the regression, made the unfamiliar feeling even stronger.
At least, it seemed like the audience wouldn’t be smaller than back then.
‘10,000 subscribers wasn’t just an empty number.’
As I looked around, just as the CEO said, quite a crowd had already gathered, even though there was still time before the performance.
“Excuse me!”
I turned around at the familiar voice.
My vision was filled with yellow flowers, accompanied by a rustling sound.
A strong floral scent filled the air.
“A g-gift for you!”
I accepted the bright yellow bouquet from a woman, still feeling a bit dazed.
“Freesia, to support your new beginning!”
A bouquet.
The texture of the rustling transparent plastic and thin paper wasn’t bad.
The yellow flowers, surrounded by white baby’s breath, seemed to be the freesia she mentioned.
“Thank you.”
As I thanked her and looked up…
I recognized her face.
‘Ah, I remember.’
The woman I saw before the Twenties Live Bar performance…
“Your name is… Joo-yeon?”
“Holy…”
Haha.
She seemed surprised that I remembered her name, her eyes widening.
As if “holy” was her instinctive exclamation of surprise, she quickly covered her mouth.
“You gave us the clothes before, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Thank you. I couldn’t properly thank you back then because of the performance…”
“No! I heard you mention it on stage!”
Joo-yeon waved her hand, her voice excited.
“I’m glad you were watching. Did you come with your friend today?”
“Ah, Seul-gi couldn’t make it because of work… She wanted to come, but CK…”
CK?
“Lee Eun-ho, what are you doing?”
Just as I was getting curious about the familiar company name, Eun-ji, frowning, walked towards me.
“What’s with the bouquet, huh?”
Eun-ji’s gaze shifted from the yellow bouquet to Joo-yeon’s face.
“The unnie from before!”
“This is Joo-yeon.”
I quickly introduced Joo-yeon before Eun-ji could make a mistake.
“Oh, right! Joo-yeon unnie! Did you come to see Oppa again today?”
“No, I saw on O-Tube that you were having a showcase here, so…”
“Hmm. So you came to see Oppa sing?”
Eun-ji asked, adding a playful tease.
“Ah, haha.”
Joo-yeon chuckled lightly, seemingly understanding what kind of answer Eun-ji wanted.
“Of course, I came to see E-UNG’s debut showcase.”
“Wow! Really?”
“Yes!”
This time, Eun-ji seemed pleased with her answer, smiling brightly for the first time in a while.
“That’s great! Do you have any song requests, unnie?”
“Song requests?”
“Yeah! We’re performing for about an hour before our debut song.”
“Don’t you have a setlist?”
I mostly followed Lee Eun-ji’s lead for the busking setlist.
Since she was the performer and arranger, I had no choice.
I had no complaints.
She had a good ear for these things.
“Hehe, we have a few songs planned, but we’re also going to choose some on the spot.”
O-On the spot?
I looked at Eun-ji in surprise, and she avoided my gaze.
“Do you have any requests?”
“Well, then…”
Joo-yeon, as Eun-ji stared at her expectantly, glanced at Eun-ho and then cautiously spoke,
“Co-Sign. Is that possible?”
“Senior Ji Ye-chan’s song?”
“Yes.”
Hmm.
Eun-ji hummed the familiar melody, as if recalling the song.
“Hey, Oppa, are you okay with that?”
She was definitely about to call me “Lee Eun-ho.”
Fortunately, “Co-Sign” was an unforgettable song, since it was my first featuring experience, so there was no problem.
I nodded, and Eun-ji, taking it as an okay, smiled and turned to Joo-yeon.
“Okay, Co-Sign. We’ll sing it for you later, unnie.”
“Wow! Thank you!”
“We have to prepare now. Sorry, unnie.”
“Oh, no problem!”
Joo-yeon clutched her chest, her shirt wrinkling, as if her heart was pounding with excitement.
“I-I’m looking forward to it!”
I sat down, encouraged by her support.
After finishing our preparations and looking up, I realized how many eyes were on us.
This wasn’t just busking; it was our showcase.
Besides the audience, there were also people with large cameras, clearly reporters, vying for good spots.
While we were preparing for the performance, Hyun-woo and the CEO greeted their acquaintances and handed out drinks.
Lee Eun-ji and I, after checking the microphone connection, warmed up our voices and yelled,
“Hello everyone! We are E-! U.N.G! E-ung!”
It was the greeting we had practiced for the past few days.