Episode 31. Strong Supporters (5)
With the appearance of Min Seung-yeon and her daughters, the atmosphere at the Seoul Coffee Expo quickly changed.
Just a few minutes prior, all the audience’s attention had been focused on Fevertime, who had spontaneously cast TIO as their model.
However, the atmosphere completely reversed the moment Kang Dae-oh’s family appeared.
“I heard Kang Yera is at Amare?”
“What? Really?”
“Kang Yebin and Kang Yeyoung are here too! It looks like the whole family came!”
“Where was the Amare booth?”
“Give me the pamphlet! Let me check the location! Quickly!”
When general admission began on Friday.
The situation where people rushed to see Kang Dae-oh was repeated exactly as before.
Kang Yera raised her voice towards the crowd filling the front of the booth.
“Everyone—! We’re not running away, so please move in an orderly fashion! Got it?”
Meanwhile, Kang Yeyoung was busy filming the gathered crowd with her camera.
“I’m currently live streaming on YouTube, could everyone wave their hands once?”
People cheered briefly and actively responded to Kang Yeyoung’s live broadcast.
While Kang Yera and Kang Yeyoung were busy livening up the atmosphere.
Min Seung-yeon and Kang Yebin helped the Amare staff greet visitors.
Kang Dae-oh, still bewildered by the appearance of his wife and daughters, belatedly came to his senses.
He couldn’t just stand there dazed when they were in urgent need of help.
“Honey! There’s a manual under those coffee beans, you can read it and explain.”
“Got it.”
“Yebin, can you do that with mom too?”
Kang Yebin nodded briefly, showing strong confidence.
“Reading scripts is my specialty, you know.”
Kang Dae-oh knew that well too.
Knew it so well it was almost a problem.
At this moment, Kang Yera asked Kang Dae-oh for a microphone.
“Appa! Can you give me a microphone?”
“You can’t sing. You might bother other booths.”
“I know. There are so many people that my voice won’t reach the end of that line, that’s why I need a microphone. Though I might sing a short verse in the middle.”
The eldest daughter sent her appa a charming wink, asking him to overlook that.
At that sight, Kang Dae-oh let out a hollow laugh.
Even though it wasn’t a specific task given to Kang Yera, she stepped forward to promote the Amare booth more diligently than anyone else, as if it were her own work.
As Kang Yera took the lead, people cheered loudly as if they were at her solo concert.
Meanwhile, Kang Dae-oh turned his head towards Fevertime, who had attempted a reversal by hiring TIO.
He was secretly curious about what expressions they would be making.
As Kang Dae-oh expected, they were looking towards the Amare booth with stiff faces.
Of course, they were trying their best.
But to surpass the popularity of the Amare booth, now joined by Kang Yera, Kang Yebin, Kang Yeyoung, and Min Seung-yeon, seemed somewhat… no, very insufficient.
Kang Yeyoung, who had approached Kang Dae-oh, said.
“With a successful idol singer and an actress who appeared as a supporting character in a movie that garnered 8 million viewers, even bringing in a mid-tier idol wouldn’t be a match.”
Indeed, what Kang Yeyoung said was coming true.
Thanks to this, Fevertime seemed quite flustered.
TIO was the same.
However, no one could be blamed.
It was merely a matter of each side taking turns playing the cards they had.
Kang Yeyoung, holding her camera, was ready to head somewhere again.
“I need to film my vlog, so I’ll walk around. If anyone nearby recognizes me, I’ll also tell them the Amare booth is here.”
“Got it. Thank you, my daughter.”
Kang Yeyoung waved her hand gently as she left the booth to carry out her mission.
Thanks to the generous support of his wife and daughters, Kang Dae-oh’s worries quickly disappeared.
The event was scheduled until 5 PM.
Although the atmosphere of slowly closing down booths had already begun 30 minutes prior.
Amare couldn’t do that.
This was because a continuous stream of visitors was still coming to their booth, even as closing time approached.
Kang Dae-oh’s family stayed at the booth until exactly 5 PM, helping their appa and Amare staff until the very end.
Only after closing time could Kang Dae-oh finally let out a sigh of relief.
“Ugh… I’m so tired.”
When Fevertime brought out their ace, TIO, Kang Dae-oh’s mind had been complicated, wondering what to do.
As a result, from Amare’s perspective, the event concluded with the best possible ending.
Lee Seojun showed Kang Dae-oh his smartphone screen and said.
“CEO. Have you seen this?”
“What is it?”
“Articles related to our booth are being updated all over the internet.”
A flood of articles clearly indicated that Amare was the star of this Seoul Coffee Expo.
Not only articles, but also on community sites, reviews from people who attended the coffee expo poured in, praising the Amare booth as the highest quality and best.
In particular, the fact that Kang Dae-oh and his family personally explained things to visitors was a fresh experience for them, contributing to excellent reviews.
Kang Dae-oh felt that his three days of hard work had paid off.
However, he also felt a bit sorry towards his family.
“I wanted to handle it on my own if possible.”
As if she had heard her husband speaking nearby, Min Seung-yeon retorted as if to say, “What nonsense are you talking about?”
“What’s the meaning of ‘my line’ or ‘your line’ among family? Your work is my work, and my work is your work. Isn’t that right?”
Lee Seojun also deeply sympathized with Min Seung-yeon’s words.
“This time, what you said is right, ma’am, CEO. We’re family, aren’t we? Isn’t family about overcoming crises together?”
Kang Dae-oh nodded at their words.
This time, Kang Dae-oh couldn’t help but admit he was wrong.
Anyway, it ended well.
“Shall we go eat something delicious? I’ll treat.”
At Kang Dae-oh’s words, everyone smiled brightly and replied, “Yes!” simultaneously.
After all, when something good happens, a company dinner is a must.
Was it thanks to the coffee expo’s promotion?
Immediately after the event ended.
Its effect began to show starting the very next Monday.
Customers began flocking to most stores located in Seoul and the metropolitan area, including the main branch.
Executive Director Yoo Inseok visited Kang Dae-oh’s office, maintaining a bright smile.
He always visited the office on a fixed date and time for regular reports.
But perhaps thanks to the expo, his voice maintained a higher tone today.
“You worked hard, CEO. By the way, I never imagined you’d bring your wife and daughters on the last day.”
“I didn’t ask them to come. My wife conspired with the girls to hide their visit from me, and then on the day, ta-da! she revealed it.”
“No wonder. I did think it was a bit strange.”
Until then, Kang Dae-oh had been trying to find ways to exclude his wife and daughters’ help as much as possible.
So, thinking that he suddenly called his family to the expo site on the third day didn’t make sense.
Only after hearing Kang Dae-oh’s explanation did Executive Director Yoo Inseok’s curiosity about everything get resolved.
Since the outcome of the expo matter was already clear, discussing it deeply today wouldn’t be very meaningful.
Instead, Kang Dae-oh had something else to tell Executive Director Yoo Inseok.
He handed Executive Director Yoo Inseok a business card and said.
“There’s a woman named Manager Yang Hayoung who handles marketing at Fevertime. The business card I gave you is the one I received from her.”
Why would he give this to Executive Director Yoo Inseok?
Executive Director Yoo’s brain cells began to move rapidly.
Not long after. Having finished all his calculations, he opened his mouth.
“Should we scout her?”
As expected of Executive Director Yoo Inseok, he was very quick-witted.
Kang Dae-oh nodded briefly and revealed everything he didn’t know about the expo.
“I talked to Manager Yang Hayoung a few times. She seems like a capable person. Her personality is good too. Looking at her reputation, her leadership is excellent. In addition to all that, she also had another good quality.”
“What would that be?”
“That she has a lot of complaints about her current company.”
Executive Director Yoo Inseok let out a hollow laugh.
“That’s a very important point.”
“Right?”
No matter how capable a person is, if their loyalty to their current company is high, it means nothing.
Because Kang Dae-oh and Amare wouldn’t be able to bring her in.
But given the current situation, it seemed worth trying.
What Amare needs most right now are marketing and public relations personnel.
Although the company was growing day by day, the only effective means of promotion was Kang Dae-oh appearing on broadcast.
If a team capable of developing a more concrete and solid promotional strategy were formed within the company.
Many of Amare’s current shortcomings could be compensated for.
Executive Director Yoo Inseok nodded briefly and replied, “Understood.”
“I will contact Manager Yang Hayoung right away.”
“If Manager Yang has any conditions, tell her we’ll try to meet them all. She’s worth it.”
“Yes, understood.”
The biggest factors that sway an employee’s heart are the working environment and salary.
Kang Dae-oh, having once been an employee himself, knew this better than anyone.
Hoping to hear a positive answer from Executive Director Yoo Inseok at the next regular report, Kang Dae-oh turned his attention to the next agenda item.
Two weeks later.
Executive Director Yoo Inseok, who visited Kang Dae-oh’s office again, answered regarding Manager Yang Hayoung’s case.
“She said okay.”
“Really? I thought it would take more time. She decided faster than I expected.”
“She said she was already thinking of resigning after the expo. But she was struggling to find a suitable place to transfer, so when I contacted her, she must have thought it was the perfect timing.”
The timing was good.
However, there was one problem.
“As the number of employees gradually increases, office space is becoming insufficient. How about we start moving to a new place?”
There was a need to expand the headquarters.
Executive Director Yoo Inseok’s suggestion made Kang Dae-oh ponder deeply.
“That sounds good. Understood. Tonight, I’ll go and ask a real estate expert I know.”
“A real estate expert?”
“Yes. There is such a person.”
He couldn’t bring himself to answer that it was his youngest daughter.
