Episode 4. Baby Model (3)
Early in the morning, Kang Dae-oh arrived at the cafe, quickly tidied up the store, and immediately began packing his belongings.
The owner of the laundry shop, who noticed him belatedly, made a sound of ‘Huh?’ and tilted his head.
“Kang, owner. What’s going on? Weren’t you supposed to open the store?”
However, his appearance looked exactly like someone leaving work.
Kang Dae-oh gave an awkward smile.
“I left my power bank at the store, so I came to pick it up and do a quick tidy-up before closing again.”
“Are you closed today?”
Kang Dae-oh changed the sign on the door from ‘OPEN’ to ‘CLOSE’ and replied that he was.
“I have something to do.”
“What is it?”
“You remember that diaper company that came to us wanting to hire Yera as a baby model? Today is the day of the shoot.”
“Ah······! So that day is today! You should hurry then! And here I was… I came to order a drink as soon as I saw you open the door, Kang, owner.”
“Then, should I quickly prepare just yours, owner?”
“No, no! You have something important to do, so you shouldn’t be late for your appointment because of me. Go quickly.”
Kang Dae-oh thanked the laundry shop owner for his consideration and got into his parked car.
Turning the steering wheel, he headed back home.
Thanks to his call to Min Seung-yeon 5 minutes before arriving, telling her to get ready, he was able to pick up the mother and daughter right away.
Min Seung-yeon, seated next to Kang Yera in the back seat, asked Kang Dae-oh.
“How long will it take to get there?”
“It says 50 minutes. Considering traffic, probably… generously, about 1 hour and 10 minutes?”
“I hope Yera stays quiet during that time.”
Min Seung-yeon had one biggest fear every time she got into the car.
It was the child’s unpredictable behavior, which could happen anytime, anywhere.
Suddenly crying for food, or whining to have her diaper changed after pooping. Or crying again because her seat was uncomfortable.
It doesn’t matter at home, but in the car, it’s difficult to actively respond to all these situations.
That’s because a moving car has many limitations.
Nevertheless, Kang Dae-oh reassured Min Seung-yeon by saying it was okay.
“Yera won’t give us a hard time, so you don’t have to worry too much.”
“There you go again. Aren’t you too lenient when it comes to Yera? Yera is still a baby who hasn’t even had her first birthday yet.
She probably doesn’t even properly understand what mom and dad are saying.”
It’s unreasonable to expect controlled behavior from such a baby.
Of course, from a common sense perspective, Min Seung-yeon’s words are obviously correct.
However.
“Our Yera is different. Very much so.”
Kang Dae-oh spoke in a tone as if he knew something.
Was it because of her husband’s suspicious behavior? Min Seung-yeon’s mind was filled with question marks.
Upon arriving at the set, a person they hadn’t seen during the meeting greeted Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon with a bright expression.
“Hello! Nice to meet you for the first time. My name is Yoon Seonghye. I work as a child education expert.”
At the mention of “child education expert,” Min Seung-yeon expressed her confusion.
“Aren’t you from Becky & Co.?”
Before Yoon Seonghye could explain why she was there.
Han Wooseon, the Team Leader, hearing that the couple had arrived, appeared belatedly and continued the explanation on behalf of Yoon Seonghye.
“Adults follow instructions when we ask them to strike a pose or make an expression, but babies don’t act as we intend. The biggest worry is them crying. Some babies, once they start crying, have cried for 2 or 3 hours straight. Because of that, shoots have sometimes lasted almost an entire day, so to minimize such risks, we specifically invited an expert who works in the field of child education.”
Being a child education expert doesn’t mean one can control a baby as desired.
However, Yoon Seonghye showed strong confidence even before starting.
“My nickname is ‘Ttuk Seonsaengnim.’”
“Ttuk Seonsaengnim? What does that mean?”
“It’s a nickname parents gave me because I make crying children ‘ttuk’ (stop).”
“Aha······.”
Han Wooseon, the Team Leader, laughed heartily and gave Yoon Seonghye a word of caution.
“Anyway, we kindly ask for your cooperation. The Yera I met was a very mature baby, but since the set is full of unfamiliar people, she might get scared easily. Yoon Seonsaengnim… No, I’ll put my trust in Ttuk Seonsaengnim.”
“Don’t worry.”
Yoon Seonghye, laughing hoho and showing strong confidence.
However, Kang Dae-oh thought to himself.
‘Han Team Leader did something useless.’
Because Kang Yera doesn’t need the help of experts like Ttuk Seonsaengnim or anything else.
Meanwhile. Yoon Seonghye carefully approached Kang Yera, who was lying quietly in a baby stroller.
She smiled brightly and slowly made eye contact with Kang Yera.
“Yera. Let’s have fun playing with Seonsaengnim today. Okay?”
“······.”
Kang Yera, who had been staring blankly at her, soon curled one corner of her mouth and let out a chuckle.
At Kang Yera’s unexpected reaction, the self-proclaimed Ttuk Seonsaengnim, Yoon Seonghye, was greatly flustered.
When a stranger first talks to them, babies usually get scared or cry for their mom.
Kang Yera showed no such sign at all.
Meanwhile, Kang Dae-oh seemed to understand why Kang Yera had smiled that way.
‘It seems Yera had a similar thought to mine?’
Kang Dae-oh quietly sought out Han Wooseon, the Team Leader.
“Han, Team Leader. What time did you say the estimated end time was?”
“Just a moment. Director!”
After Han Wooseon, the Team Leader, asked the filming director and returned, she answered Kang Dae-oh’s question.
“Considering the time for babies to adapt to the set, wouldn’t it end around 3 PM?”
“Really? Well, it’s 10:30 now, so… it should be over before lunch.”
“What? Th-that fast?”
“Just take a few pictures. And then it’s over, right?”
“Yes, that’s true. But babies always cry, so if we have to wait until they calm down…”
“It’s fine. Yera is always in her best condition.”
His trust and conviction toward Kang Yera.
Han Wooseon couldn’t understand at all what basis Kang Dae-oh had for being so confident.
Perhaps it was because the advertising model for the shoot was a baby who hadn’t even had her first birthday yet.
Not only the costume team changing her clothes, but also the lighting team, camera crew, and all other personnel showed great care to avoid making Kang Yera even slightly uncomfortable.
However, contrary to their expectations, Kang Yera didn’t cry at all.
Instead.
Tap, tap.
She even tapped the arm of the young costume team member who was changing her clothes and playfully initiated interaction with a smiling face.
Every time that happened, the staff were startled.
Not because they were surprised, but…
‘They must have been scared that they might accidentally make Yera cry by touching her.’
Kang Dae-oh’s prediction was precisely correct.
Nevertheless, Kang Yera was still all smiles.
The bewildered filming director asked Han Wooseon, the Team Leader, and Yoon Seonghye.
“Can we… start filming?”
Han Wooseon, the Team Leader, turned her head towards Yoon Seonghye.
However, Yoon Seonghye was equally confused.
How to put it.
“Looking at Yera, it feels like she’s incredibly skilled at this.”
All the staff nodded as if agreeing with her opinion.
At this moment, Kang Dae-oh expressed his opinion.
“I think you can start. Yera seems to be urging us to do it quickly, actually.”
Kang Yera flapped her arms energetically, as if agreeing with her dad’s words.
As Kang Dae-oh suggested, they decided to commence filming.
“Yera, over here!”
The staff and Yoon Seonghye called out to Kang Yera, waving toys around.
But Kang Yera didn’t look at them.
The child’s gaze was fixed on the camera.
That wasn’t all.
She subtly curled up the corners of her mouth and maintained a mischievous smile.
Perfect eye-line and even more perfect facial expressions.
The filming director, not wanting to miss this moment, diligently pressed the shutter button.
The filming director asked Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon.
“Could you possibly change the baby’s pose to a crawling one?”
As soon as she heard that, Kang Yera changed her pose on her own, as if to say ‘request received.’
At this, the filming director was greatly surprised.
“Oh my goodness… Surely Yera doesn’t understand what I’m saying, does she?”
Yoon Seonghye shook her head, saying that couldn’t be.
“A baby at this stage wouldn’t possibly understand adult words…”
Regarding this, Kang Dae-oh left a meaningful remark.
“Well, she really might understand.”
Han Wooseon, the Team Leader, who had been quietly observing all these scenes from a step away, finally understood.
The reason why Kang Dae-oh had been so confident.
As Kang Dae-oh had confidently predicted that Kang Yera would finish all filming before lunch.
“It really finished before lunchtime.”
Han Wooseon slowly opened her mouth, saying she still couldn’t believe the small miracle Kang Yera had shown.
On the other hand, Kang Dae-oh spoke as if it was something he had already expected.
“Wasn’t I right?”
“Indeed. Anyway, thank you very much for today. If there’s another request for Yera to shoot next time, we’d kindly ask for your cooperation again. It’s so comfortable working with Yera. Would it be alright for the next time too?”
“Of course. Yera will be very happy too.”
Kang Yera’s appearance in front of the camera was like a fish in water.
After finishing all the filming, Kang Dae-oh got back into the car with his wife and child.
Seeing Kang Yera, who seemed tired and fell asleep as soon as she lay down in the infant seat, Min Seung-yeon gently stroked her child’s head.
“How clever she is. We really owe it to Yera today, don’t we?”
Kang Dae-oh, who briefly nodded, spoke to his wife as if he had something to say before starting the car.
“Honey. About Yera. Perhaps…”
“Huh? Yera. What?”
“…It’s nothing.”
He then closed his mouth and gripped the steering wheel.
As if it wasn’t yet time to step on the accelerator.
He drove the car slowly.
Thanks to Min Seung-yeon’s plan to go out with her friends, Kang Dae-oh was left to take care of Kang Yera alone today.
He quickly scrolled through Kang Yera’s first birthday photos from a few days ago on his smartphone.
“This photo is my favorite, you see.”
While he was selecting photos to send to his parents.
Kang Dae-oh’s gaze turned towards Kang Yera.
His daughter was currently playing with word cards featuring English words like ‘apple’ and ‘banana,’ while listening to a K-pop song playing on a smartphone, not a children’s song.
During that time, Kang Yera had shown too many differences from ordinary babies.
Through this, Kang Dae-oh was able to form a hypothesis.
Because it was an absurd hypothesis.
He wanted to step forward and confirm it himself.
“Yera.”
“Awoo?”
“Perhaps, I mean…”
Kang Dae-oh, half-doubting, asked his daughter this.
“Do you know about reincarnation or… regression?”
It was a question to test Kang Yera.
At that moment, Kang Dae-oh saw it.
His daughter’s expression, which had become incredibly serious.
It was not an expression a baby could make.
Kang Dae-oh was flustered by the child’s unfamiliar reaction, which he had never seen before.
But it was still too early to be surprised.
Kang Yera directly picked up one of the English word cards.
The English word card she showed read:
[YES]
