Episode 31. Strong Supporters (4)
Kang Dae-oh was completely overwhelmed dealing with the sudden rush of people.
Unlike their expectation that most people would flock to Fever Time and Coffee Angel, Amare became the center of a whirlwind from the first day of the exhibition.
Because too many people gathered, even the organizing staff had to come out and help visitors form lines.
Kang Dae-oh spoke on behalf of his company to the staff.
“Thank you. Our staff alone couldn’t handle it.”
“Not at all. By the way, we never expected the Amare booth to be this popular.”
The organizers had indeed expected a certain number of people to gather at the Amare booth.
However, they did not anticipate that Amare would surpass Fever Time and Coffee Angel.
Of course, the same went for Kang Dae-oh and Amare.
“If we had known this, we should have moved the Amare booth to the wall.”
Then, it would have been easier to form lines.
At the staff’s words, filled with regret, Kang Dae-oh could only let out a hollow laugh.
However, it was too late to hastily adjust the booth’s location.
This was because all the spots were already taken.
“Well then, CEO, please continue your hard work. I should get going now.”
“Yes, thank you once again.”
Realizing he had been away for too long, Kang Dae-oh moved inside the booth to help his staff.
As Kang Dae-oh appeared, the cheers of the crowd once again filled the exhibition hall.
“CEO! Please look over here!”
“Could you please wave your hand this way just once?”
In response to the flood of fan service requests, Kang Dae-oh made efforts to accommodate them as much as possible.
Thanks to Kang Dae-oh drawing attention, the executives and employees of Amare were able to introduce their company more smoothly.
Among the visitors who came to the Amare booth, many were there to see Kang Dae-oh, who had gained celebrity-level recognition.
It was the job of the executives and employees to diligently promote Amare to these people.
Kang Dae-oh also subtly emphasized to people that he was here today as a representative of the Amare booth, not for his own fan meeting.
“You can take photos with me anytime, so please come over here and take a look around. Our staff worked very hard to prepare.”
Thanks to Kang Dae-oh’s active sales pitch, people didn’t just walk past the booth but instead took the time to look around at various things.
And so, the morning passed.
When lunchtime arrived, Executive Director Yoo In-seok, who had heard the news and came, approached Kang Dae-oh.
“CEO. How about you go have a meal?”
Work is important, but it’s hard to keep up the energy when you’re hungry.
That’s why Executive Director Yoo In-seok came to the exhibition to relieve him.
At first, Kang Dae-oh tried to politely refuse his offer, saying he was fine.
“Wouldn’t it be a good idea to casually look around other booths at a time like this?”
This remark from Executive Director Yoo In-seok greatly helped break Kang Dae-oh’s stubbornness.
Although he came as a booth participant, he also wanted to see other booths.
In the end, Kang Dae-oh decided to leave the booth to Executive Director Yoo In-seok and take some free time.
He had a simple sandwich meal at a cafe located within the exhibition.
After a quick meal, Kang Dae-oh immediately hastened his steps to make the most of his rare free time.
Even down to every small booth.
It was too precious to miss.
When Kang Dae-oh visited a sparsely populated booth, the eyes of the staff there widened.
“CEO! Oh my, hello!”
Kang Dae-oh smiled with his eyes and pointed at the coffee beans in front of him.
“This variety is… Liberica, right?”
“Yes, you recognized it right away.”
Kang Dae-oh looked at the container of coffee beans with a curious expression.
There was a reason he showed so much interest in Liberica.
“This is a very rarely used variety. Personally, I like Liberica’s smoky aroma, but its taste is so intense that it’s very polarizing among customers.”
For this reason, Amare does not handle Liberica.
So, Kang Dae-oh often enjoyed coffee made with Liberica beans separately at home with his wife.
The booth staff member nodded vigorously, acknowledging, “As expected of Kang Dae-oh.”
“We set our direction to target enthusiasts. It was difficult at first because there wasn’t much demand, but as we steadily pursued this path, it gradually increased.”
“That’s a good mindset.”
Kang Dae-oh took out his business card and handed it to them.
“If there ever comes a time when we also handle Liberica, I’ll contact you separately then.”
“The honor would be ours! Oh, right. I should give you my business card… Here it is!”
Kang Dae-oh quickly scanned the business card they gave him and smiled.
“Thank you. Well then, I’ll see you again later.”
“Yes, CEO!”
Just Kang Dae-oh’s visit alone naturally drew people’s attention to the booth.
The booths he touched often received a flood of customer interest afterward.
Thanks to this, Kang Dae-oh was enveloped in a strange feeling.
‘I think I understand why clothes worn by popular celebrities sell out the very next day.’
Although Kang Dae-oh himself didn’t think he was in a position to be compared to such top stars, it was also true that he was exerting that much influence at the exhibition, at least.
Soon, Kang Dae-oh headed towards the booths of Fever Time and Coffee Angel.
Although a fair number of visitors were gathered there too, it looked much weaker compared to Amare.
As soon as she saw him, Manager Yang Ha-young, whom he had greeted that morning, welcomed him warmly.
“I saw the Amare booth this morning, and it was incredible, wasn’t it? Congratulations, CEO.”
“Thank you.”
Manager Yang Ha-young was sincerely congratulating Kang Dae-oh and the Amare booth on their success.
Kang Dae-oh was quite pleased with her attitude, as she could frankly offer congratulations despite their companies being rivals.
Due to the unexpected Kang Dae-oh syndrome, Fever Time and Coffee Angel immediately held an emergency meeting.
Manager Yang Ha-young subtly dropped a spoiler about this to him.
“Our CEO just came by earlier and said that they’ve lost a lot of visitors to Amare, so he told us to take immediate action.”
Kang Dae-oh asked Manager Yang Ha-young if she should be telling him such things.
Manager Yang Ha-young then gave a short nod and replied that it was fine.
“Honestly, I’m fed up with our CEO’s methods. I mean, suddenly telling us to do something unplanned should only happen once or twice. He just throws out commands every day and tells us to figure out the rest ourselves, so the stress is immense… Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that in front of you, CEO.”
“It’s alright. I completely understand. I was like that too in the past.”
Manager Yang Ha-young seemed to have a lot of complaints about Fever Time.
Kang Dae-oh was rather pleased with this side of her.
‘Should I subtly bring up a job offer at a time like this?’
Kang Dae-oh quite liked her.
However, he couldn’t decide rashly, so for now, he decided to save the conversation about a job transfer.
More than that, his interest was now drawn to the spoiler she subtly dropped.
‘I’ll find out what kind of trick they’re planning for tomorrow.’
The exhibition has only just begun.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the real battle starts tomorrow, on the weekend.
This is because weekends see far more visitors than weekdays.
Saturday morning.
Kang Dae-oh, who came to the exhibition again today, immediately understood what Manager Yang Ha-young had meant yesterday.
“This is Fever Time!”
“Just take a quick look before you go!”
In front of the Fever Time booth, four beautiful women were personally handing out flyers, drawing the attention of visitors.
At first, he thought they had hired models.
But upon closer inspection, they had very familiar faces.
Choi Se-in, who attended the exhibition with Kang Dae-oh, exclaimed in surprise.
“Aren’t those people idols? I think I’ve seen them on TV.”
Another staff member satisfied Choi Se-in’s curiosity.
“They’re an idol group called TIO. They’re not super famous, but they are idols with a certain level of recognition.”
“No wonder. I felt like I had seen them somewhere before.”
Was it thanks to the support of the idol group?
People’s attention was gradually shifting towards Fever Time.
Even if Kang Dae-oh had raised his recognition through broadcast programs.
There were still some shortcomings in surpassing the popularity of an idol group.
If Kang Dae-oh had been appearing on multiple programs, it might have been different.
But now, he only had Yorattae.
‘I feel like we could find a way to counter this.’
Is there no good idea?
Kang Dae-oh’s mind began to get more and more complicated.
Kang Dae-oh’s worries continued even as he returned home after the second day of the exhibition.
As soon as Min Seung-yeon saw her husband with a slight shadow on his face, she tilted her head.
“What happened? You seemed to be in a good mood this morning.”
“Well, you see.”
Kang Dae-oh confessed the truth to his wife.
He realized that hiding it would only make his wife worry and wouldn’t be helpful.
Min Seung-yeon also preferred her husband to tell her things straightforwardly.
That Fever Time had ultimately pulled out the celebrity card to compete against Kang Dae-oh.
Hearing this, Min Seung-yeon briefly commented.
“That’s cheating, isn’t it?”
“Well… you can’t really call it cheating. If you think about it, I’m participating in the event too.”
“But you’re not a celebrity. …Wait. Should I call you a celebrity?”
Kang Dae-oh gave a wry smile at his wife’s confused expression.
“Anyway. Still, you participated as a company CEO, so that’s fine. But isn’t it cheating to openly use a celebrity as a promotional model?”
“The exhibition rules never said not to use celebrities as promotional models, so technically, it’s not cheating.”
“Really?”
Min Seung-yeon’s eyes suddenly lit up.
It was as if she had thought of something after hearing her husband’s words.
Kang Dae-oh didn’t know why Min Seung-yeon was reacting this way.
His curiosity was strongly piqued by his wife, who seemed to have something up her sleeve.
However, because she kept it a secret until the end, Kang Dae-oh could only feel a sense of regret.
Day 3 of the exhibition.
When he arrived at the venue to complete the last day’s schedule.
Kang Dae-oh couldn’t help but be astonished when he saw another visitor who came to his booth.
“Hello.”
“Appa, we’re here!”
This was because Min Seung-yeon had come accompanied by their daughters.
In an instant, people swarmed around them.
Kang Dae-oh asked Min Seung-yeon what was going on.
“Why did you bring the kids here…?”
Min Seung-yeon pointed to herself and the children and said.
“I came to boost my husband’s spirits.”
There would be no stronger supporters than these.
