Siblings' Woes and a Tense Meeting
“Oppa… Does our house have no money?”
Hearing his child say that would make any parent feel like they’d been bonked on the head with a hammer.
Namhun felt the same way, even though they were siblings—parents in every way.
He wanted to do everything for them with all his heart, but…
… that was impossible in reality.
How was he supposed to explain that to a sensitive middle-schooler?
But he was already in middle school, so no matter how hard he tried to hide it, it was bound to show.
Namhun, lost in thought, decided to tell the truth after all.
“Honestly… you could say our situation isn’t exactly generous compared to your friends around you.”
Yuyeon’s gaze automatically drifted to the new smartphone he’d just bought.
Then it shifted to the old one he’d been using for years.
“I see.”
“Still, that’s not something you need to worry about.”
“Huh?”
“Yuyeon-ah, don’t worry about money. Just do whatever you want.”
There was real weight in Namhun’s voice.
He wasn’t counting on some slim chance of success as a trot singer in the near future.
He had something he could actually rely on—his emergency fund.
Namely, the several high-end violins his parents had left behind.
‘If I sell them all, I’ll have enough money for the kids’ studies.’
For now they were entrusted to Yoo Sera for safekeeping.
When Yuyeon grew up he’d hand them over, or sell if times got hard.
Of course he didn’t want to sell something that carried his parents’ touch, so he worked odd jobs to earn the money himself.
‘But people have to keep living.’
His deceased parents would want that too.
Anyway, he couldn’t tell Yuyeon directly about the existence of his late parents’ belongings, so Namhun said no more.
“Just trust your oppa.”
Yuyeon could only stand there, stunned by Namhun’s unshakable resolve.
No matter how he looked at it, it was just baseless confidence, yet saying anything more felt impossible.
“…Okay. I’ll work hard.”
At that moment, a ghostly figure appeared in the room.
Yoo Sera stumbled out, and Namhun snapped at her.
“Sera! For once, put on proper clothes!”
Of course she ignored him completely and kept talking to herself.
“Hey, Jang Nam… you clueless idiot… the hair’s all messed up… stop yelling… if you have the strength… at least boil some kongnamul-guk for me…”
“How am I supposed to boil kongnamul-guk if there’s no kongnamul?”
“…I bought a bag when I came back yesterday, so boil it. Hurry.”
“What?”
He opened the fridge and found—sure enough—one bag of kongnamul.
“He was seriously planning to sleep straight through this…”
Namhun shook his head even as he pulled out a pot and filled it with water.
“And you bought fresh gochujang too, right? Add both of them… nicely spicy…”
“There really is no boss like you at all.”
Muttering all the while, Namhun moved with surprising speed.
There was no time to throw out any more lines.
They’d be late for school if he didn’t finish.
“Go brush your teeth and get ready for school.”
With a judgment that had zero room for error, Yuyeon felt his oppa was truly amazing.
‘…Will I be able to do it like oppa when I grow up?’
But looking at the person sitting beside him, it seemed adults didn’t do everything perfectly the way oppa did.
“Ah… my stomach hurts…”
On stage he was like a goddess, and when teaching violin he was an expert no one could match.
But at times like this, Yuyeon was nothing but a local nobody.
* * *
Just as the prophecy had said, Namhun quit his jobs at the logistics center and as a vocal trainer.
“Thank you for all the hard work.”
“There’s no one as diligent as you. What a shame. Next time let’s drink.”
After quitting, he finally got to sleep deeply for the first time in ages, but…
The next morning wasn’t any easier.
Today Yesol woke up even earlier and suddenly launched into a full fashion show.
“Oppa, I want to go to school wearing this.”
Although they were twins, Yesol and Yejun had completely opposite personalities—different gender, different everything.
They were equally stubborn, of course.
Was it because she was a girl?
After entering second grade, Yesol suddenly started caring a lot about clothes.
“This one’s too hot to wear now.”
“I hate it~ I’m wearing this one! The yellow one!”
“…”
Namhun was at a complete loss, but Yuyeon, who had been eating breakfast, slammed his spoon down.
The sharp clatter made Yesol jump.
“Hey, Jang Yesol.”
“…Huh?”
“This outfit is confiscated. You’re not wearing it.”
“…Why?”
“Why? I just said it’s too hot. Don’t you remember?”
Yuyeon’s icy stare made Yesol reluctantly set the thick cardigan she was clutching down.
“…Ara… ssao.”
Namhun was utterly bewildered by the sudden change in attitude.
‘What the heck?’
He knew Yuyeon usually listened well, but this was an extreme difference.
And why was Yuyeon so irritable today?
While Yesol chose another outfit, Namhun sat at the table and asked Yuyeon.
“…Yuyeon-ah, you’re not secretly catching mice when I’m not home, are you?”
“Oppa, you think I’m some gangster? My role model is noona Sera. House mode, not external activity mode.”
That sentence sent a sudden wave of unease through Namhun.
He knew Yuyeon’s past well.
The runaway train at Hyeon Middle School.
In high school she’d become more composed, either because of puberty or to focus on her studies, but…
‘What was I thinking? Yuyeon would have no idea how Sera was back then.’
A fourteen-year gap.
Recalling the age difference made his chest feel tight all over again.
If Yuyeon turned thirty, he’d be forty-four.
If Yesol and Yejun turned thirty, he’d be forty-nine.
‘Guess I should’ve gotten married earlier so the twins would still be kids…’
His vision suddenly went hazy.
Besides Yuyeon he also had twins.
They were still second grade, so it was still manageable, but in a few years the expenses would skyrocket.
‘I really have to go all out.’
Otherwise he might have to sell the violins sooner than he wanted.
* * *
After sending Yesol and Yejun to school, Namhun drove toward the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province.
The destination was none other than Mubibro, Kang Seokho’s advertising agency.
He had a 10:30 a.m. meeting for an ad narration script.
‘Good thing I wasn’t late.’
If Yesol had woken up even earlier today or Yuyeon hadn’t suppressed her immediately, he would’ve been in serious trouble.
Exactly at 10:00 he arrived at the parking lot and calmly pressed the call button in front of the building.
It was fingerprint-secured at the main entrance.
But the moment the inner connection linked, he felt an unusually tense atmosphere.
‘What’s going on?’
A moment later a voice came through.
“Um… who is this?”
“This is Jang Namhun. I have a 10:30 meeting with President Kang Seokho.”
The voice suddenly brightened.
“Ah! President! Namhun-ssi is here!”
“Really? Tell him to come up quickly!”
“Yes! Namhun-ssi, we’ll open the door. Please take the elevator straight to the fourth floor!”
“Ah… thank you.”
Was something bad happening?
Had the contract fallen through?
The money was already spent.
Namhun stepped inside with a bad feeling.
* * *
At the exact moment Jang Namhun left home for Mubibro, Kang Seokho was on the phone with their client, Horse Entertainment, voice full of excitement.
“No way. You’re suddenly telling me you can’t sign the contract?”
“Director Kang, sorry. But we got a public-broadcast ad that came in. What am I supposed to do? I didn’t think that cameo in the drama would blow up so big.”
“Even if this field is a battlefield, basic decency exists. You promised to do it first—don’t you have to honor that?”
“Director Kang, let me flip the situation around too. The amount is ten times bigger, the contract isn’t even signed yet, and on top of that this side is the top in the industry with room to grow even bigger. Which side are you choosing?”
That was business.
Friendship and honor crumbled the moment a sudden opportunity appeared.
But he had no choice.
He knew survival in the entertainment jungle meant paddling harder when the tide rose.
Miss the timing and nothing would pan out.
Weighing the new Dongnam Food product—top in the coffee-mixing market—against the startup brand Belly Coffee, the answer was obvious.
But public-broadcast ads and YouTube inserts?
There was no comparison.
Even if he signed, he’d have to pay a penalty and cancel.
“Still, you should have said something sooner. What if you just scrapped it on the day the contract was due?”
“That was my fault. But in return, I’ll let you direct the next music video for our kids. This time please give me a break.”
Kang Seokho immediately read between the lines.
‘The model was decided today.’
No wonder they kept delaying the signing.
The other side had been weighing two options.
Once it was confirmed they dumped this side.
It was pure bullying.
“I’ll handle the aftermath myself, President.”
“Good. Thanks for understanding. President Kang.”
After hanging up, Kang Seokho let out a deep sigh.
He was tired.
The guy sounded like he didn’t know how to think for himself.
People like that should just disappear.
But the world didn’t work that way.
In fact Horse Entertainment’s future looked bright.
Not only the male idol group Centaurus, but the newly debuted female idol group Siren were receiving reactions like “miracle of the small industry.”
If the male-female idol punch worked out, they could grow into a large agency.
“What happened?”
The ad team leader’s question made Kang Seokho shake his head.
“Nothing really. It’s all gone.”
“Then what do we do? The Belly Coffee person is arriving in twenty minutes.”
“Hmm… I need to talk to them.”
This wasn’t a problem he could solve alone anyway.
“New startups face this kind of thing all the time. Probably starting to notice after Satoshi of Centaurus went viral.”
“Still, we should prepare for the worst.”
“Yeah. We’re the ones who made the final selection anyway.”
The atmosphere stayed grim as the Belly Coffee representative finally arrived, breathless.
They hadn’t even reached the promised time, so he must have heard the situation.
“Satoshi, what’s going on here?”