Siblings Work in Business (70)
“You didn’t know at all?”
PD Kim asked, surprised.
Eun-ji, albeit belatedly, looked around with sparkling eyes.
‘How could I have known…?’
Before entering the building, she had been wary because it looked like an abandoned building, despite being in a residential area.
Then, she was surprised by the unexpected interior, and after that, she was honestly distracted by the lunch boxes…
“Then you two probably didn’t know this building belongs to CEO Park.”
“This building… belongs to our CEO?”
Eun-ji asked, her eyes wide, slowly turning her head.
PD Kim nodded, as if driving the point home.
“Yes. CEO Park is a real estate mogul.”
“…Huh?”
Eun-ho knew that CEO Park wasn’t exactly poor.
Considering the location of the new building they built later…
‘Ah, could it be?’
Eun-ho barely built a pillar, and Eun-ji built a few floors, but the expensive land in Gangnam was solely due to CEO Park’s capability?
‘Then why is he using that old building as our office if he’s so rich?’
Hearing PD Kim’s story, the siblings had the same question.
It meant the CEO wasn’t using the old office building because he lacked money.
Eun-ji slowly turned her head and made eye contact with Eun-ho.
‘Did you know?’
Eun-ji asked with her eyes, and Eun-ho shook his head.
‘How could I have?’
But thinking about it, it wasn’t entirely unexpected.
‘The living expenses, education fees, and lesson fees for two grown children for several years.
And he readily offered that huge sum for the music video shoot…’
The more he thought about it, the more foolish he felt for not realizing it sooner.
Eun-ji seemed to feel the same, her face full of question marks.
“If he’s so rich, why is he using that old, renovated building?”
“He’s probably using the money he would have spent on a new office building to support your activities.”
Unlike Eun-ho, Eun-ji voiced her question.
PD Kim readily answered.
“…”
Eun-ji’s eyes were filled with emotion, as if she hadn’t expected that answer.
Seeing her reaction, PD Kim chuckled and continued,
“Well, you should ask him directly to be sure, but that’s what I think, at least based on the CEO Park I know.”
Eun-ho, listening to PD Kim’s answer, asked curiously,
“Have you known our CEO for a long time, PD-nim?”
“Since Toxin’s debut, when I was a homma… so, yeah, quite a long time.”
“Homma?”
Homma refers to the manager of a website dedicated to a celebrity.
In PD Kim’s case, and even more so, it was the ‘homma’ who uploaded and sold high-quality photos they took themselves.
As Eun-ho seemed to be struggling to process the information, PD Kim smiled and added,
“I’m childhood friends with Ye-chan, so I followed him around, helping him out for pocket money and promotion.”
“…”
“Ah, this is a secret, so shhh.”
PD Kim smiled, placing a finger on her lips.
Eun-ho still looked surprised, and Eun-ji’s eyes sparkled even more at the mention of “childhood friends.”
“Don’t tell me, they—”
Eun-ho, as if anticipating her question, instinctively covered Eun-ji’s mouth.
But PD Kim, seemingly understanding what she was about to ask, laughed heartily and waved her hand.
“Absolutely not. If anything, we were like a crocodile and a plover.”
A crocodile and a plover…
A symbiotic relationship.
“I’m here thanks to that sly bastard.”
“The senior is a sly bastard…?”
As Eun-ho muttered, tilting his head, PD Kim, realizing her slip-up, quickly smiled and changed the subject.
“Forget about Ji Ye-chan. Do you have any other questions about the CEO?”
“Um…”
I wasn’t particularly curious about CEO Park.
But a sudden, random question came to mind, and Eun-ho hesitated for a moment before asking,
“Do you happen to know Yeong-hee hyung?”
“Yeong-hee? You mean Jo Yeong-hee?”
Eun-ho’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Of course, I know him. I’ve known him even longer than Ye-chan.”
“Ah…”
“My name was chosen by my father at a fortune teller’s.”
I wanted to ask why she was suddenly talking about fortune tellers, but Eun-ho just smiled and kept quiet.
PD Kim’s gaze, as she seemed to be reminiscing, was too intense for him to speak.
“My father and Jo Yeong-hee’s family are close. And Jo Yeong-hee’s father went to the same fortune teller as my father and chose the name ‘Yeong-hee’!”
Eun-ji suddenly felt closer to PD Kim, who had seemed so cool until now.
But she also knew when to keep quiet, just like Eun-ho.
“That man named me ‘Yeong-hee’ and then told me I had a connection with that kid, it was so annoying.”
“I-I see.”
“I can imagine.”
“So, when I was in school, I went to a different school to avoid being teased for having the same name as Jo Yeong-hee, and guess what? That school had the ill-mannered Ji Ye-chan.”
PD Kim’s spoon stabbed the rolled omelet in half.
“Ah, hahaha, what am I saying…”
Eun-ho and Eun-ji blinked their wide eyes, as if wondering, “What did I just hear?”
‘Senior Ye-chan is ill-mannered…?’
Eun-ho, who had met Ji Ye-chan in person, seemed even more confused.
PD Kim, as if snapping back to reality at their gazes, chuckled awkwardly and lowered her head.
“Please keep this a secret from Ye-chan…”
“Okay…”
Eun-ho and Eun-ji exchanged bewildered glances and nodded.
Outcome
After the shoot ended, it was time to part ways with PD Kim.
PD Kim, seemingly reluctant to let them go, saw them off personally.
“Let’s meet again if there’s a chance.”
“Thank you for all the interesting stories today, PD-nim!”
“You’re welcome. And remember, shhh, about what we talked about. Okay?”
“Haha. Yes. We’ll be going then.”
“Take care.”
Eun-ho bowed his head, and Eun-ji, after a moment of hesitation, followed suit.
PD Kim waved until their car was out of sight.
Hyun-woo’s navigation system guided them to their next schedule.
Judging by the long, winding road ahead, it would take a while to get there.
Perhaps thanks to the satisfying meal, I felt drowsy as I sat in the warm car seat.
“Hmm, mm, doo-reu-tteu shi shet set tteut teu-reu-reut tteut.”
Eun-ji, feeling sleepy but not wanting to sleep, took out her phone and recorded the melody in her head.
Following her lead, Eun-ho also started writing lyrics in his notebook.
Eun-ji had firm, almost incomprehensible standards when it came to music.
‘It doesn’t please my ears.’
Whether it was common or unique, the first condition was that the melody had to be something she wanted to keep listening to.
‘This is trash. There’s no feeling in it.’
The second condition was feeling.
She had to feel her own emotions and thoughts in the song.
[Save recording file?]
[Cancel | Don’t Save | Save]
Eun-ho, listening to Eun-ji’s recording from beside her, liked the melody, but Eun-ji, without hesitation, chose ‘Don’t Save.’
‘It’s not coming together.’
There were always many melodies floating around in her head.
But most of them didn’t meet her criteria.
They all felt lacking.
Eun-ji, lost in thought, glanced at the notebook Eun-ho was holding.
Besides the one he was currently using, Eun-ho always carried another, older notebook with him.
When Eun-ji asked if it wasn’t heavy…
「“That’s why I leave it in the car.”」
Eun-ho had replied nonchalantly.
“Oppa.”
“What do you want now?”
Eun-ho asked without looking up, spinning his pen between his index and middle fingers.
Eun-ji stared at him, her eyes wide with surprise.
“Creepy, how did you know?”
“Because you only use honorifics when you want something.”
Eun-ho chuckled at Eun-ji’s reaction.
“Do I?”
“Yeah.”
Lee Eun-ho, who had been focused on his notebook, looked up at me.
I felt embarrassed as our eyes met.
Did I really do that?
「“Hey, Lee Eun-ho!”」
「“What, Lee Eun-ho.”」
「“Hey!”」
「“Lee Eun-ho!”」
Hmm, thinking about it, maybe I did, maybe I didn’t…
“Just say what you want.”
“Well, um, the lyric notebook.”
“This one?”
Lee Eun-ho asked, holding up the notebook he was using as a support.
“Yeah, that one.”
“Why?”
“I’m curious.”
Honestly, I thought he wouldn’t show it to me.
I wouldn’t show him my ‘Trash’ folder with all my failed attempts or my ‘Perfect’ folder with my successful ones.
“Here.”
“Huh? Really? Can I see it?”
“Yeah.”
Contrary to my expectations, Lee Eun-ho readily handed me the notebook.
He even raised his eyebrows and made a face, as if my question was strange.
After I took the notebook, Lee Eun-ho seemed to focus on his other notebook.
Every page of the notebook was wrinkled, showing how much he had written in it.
The first few pages were filled with strange symbols, making it difficult to decipher the words.
The next page seemed to be the same content, but with slightly fewer symbols.
As I turned the pages, the symbols gradually decreased, and the lyrics became more visible.
But it wasn’t until after five pages that I could actually read them properly.
‘His handwriting is terrible.’
I wasn’t one to talk, but my handwriting was better than his chicken scratch.
‘…Probably.’
Ignoring my guilty conscience, I read the lyrics.
There were many other songs, but this one caught my eye first because it didn’t have any English words.
「I told you every day. (Ho)
I always told you. (Ji)」
‘Ho’ and ‘Ji’ seemed to be taken from Lee Eun-‘ho’ and Lee Eun-‘ji.’
Did it mean, I should sing it this way, and Lee Eun-ho should sing it that way?
There was a [Change] mark next to it, so it seemed like it wasn’t finalized yet.
Just reading the lyrics felt like reading disconnected verses, since I didn’t know the melody.
“Lee Eun-ho.”
“Now that you’ve gotten what you want…”
As I called Lee Eun-ho, taking out my phone, he glared at me.
“…Oppa.”
“Yeah.”
Why do I feel like I lost?
This is annoying.
“…Damn it.”
“Are you calling me now just to hear you curse?”
Eun-ho said, looking at Eun-ji with a bewildered expression.