Episode 35. Still, I Like Being Together (1)
Kang Dae-oh, who greeted a new morning sun in Vietnam, felt unusually refreshed today.
There was a reason why he felt light from the morning.
‘This is the last day I’ll be watching the sunrise from this hotel room.’
After a long 2-week business trip.
Finally, today, he was scheduled to return to Korea with the company executives and employees.
It was certain that he had achieved some results and gained a lot from the business trip. But it was also true that he had to endure no small amount of difficulties along the way.
The hardest thing, above all else, was.
‘Not being able to eat proper Korean food.’
The saying that Koreans must eat Korean food wasn’t just for show. Kang Dae-oh was forced to realize the preciousness of Korean food through his long overseas business trip, wondering why those few common pieces of kimchi kept lingering in his mind for two weeks.
Of course, there were several Korean restaurants in the local area.
Recently, thanks to the great success of Korean survival cooking shows through OTT programs, the number of Korean restaurants even increased exponentially in a short period.
Nevertheless, none of them could perfectly satisfy Kang Dae-oh’s and Amare’s employees’ palates 100 percent.
The more they ate clumsy Korean food, the only thought that came to mind was, ‘I want to hurry home and mix rice with warm kimchi stew, its ingredients, and soup, sprinkled with seaweed flakes.’
‘When I go back to Korea, I’ll eat kimchi stew first.’
For a resolution made while watching the sunrise, it was quite meager.
But it didn’t matter.
Because at this moment, nothing was as important to Kang Dae-oh as this wish.
While waiting for his flight to return to Korea, Kang Dae-oh watched a video related to the wrap-up party for ‘Our Home’s Gardener’ a while ago.
After all the final filming schedules were over, the staff and cast rented a separate venue for a company dinner and held a wrap-up party there.
Reporters had been camped out since early hours to capture the celebrities attending the wrap-up party in photos and videos.
‘It’s hard for celebrities to even eat a meal.’
It was a fact he knew all too well through his daughters, but seeing a video with so many reporters gathered, he realized it once again.
The actors playing the main roles appeared first.
After that, supporting actors entered the photo zone one by one.
Among them, Kang Dae-oh saw his second daughter, Kang Yebin, whom he most wanted to see.
“—Yebin! Please look here once!”
“—This time, to the right!”
“—Could you wave your hand once? Yes, good! It would be even better if you smiled slightly!”
“—Like this?”
Normally, Kang Yebin’s default expression was businesslike and blunt.
However, if someone asked her to smile, Kang Yebin would naturally curve up the corners of her lips, just as she was shown in the video.
An actress who could show a 180-degree change in expression anytime, anywhere.
That was Kang Yebin.
Before entering the wrap-up party venue, a brief interview was also conducted.
“—Were there any particular difficulties during filming?”
In response to the reporter’s question, Kang Yebin returned to her indifferent expression and spoke.
“—Not particularly. My seniors were very fond of me and took good care of me. The atmosphere on set was better than ever. Personally, I think it will be a truly memorable experience.”
Despite being the youngest among the actors who attended the wrap-up party, Kang Yebin gave more articulate comments than the adults.
There was no script, and even though it was a spontaneous Q&A session with reporters, her words flowed smoothly.
A natural-born celebrity. No, a natural-born actress. Few adjectives could describe Kang Yebin better than these words.
Finally, a reporter asked Kang Yebin an interesting question.
“—From what I’ve heard, your family came to congratulate you separately on the last day of filming. And you also received many gifts from fans through your agency. Do you have any memorable gifts?”
A very brief silence fell.
After some thought, Kang Yebin gazed at the reporter who had asked about gifts and replied:
“—The bouquet my dad sent me was the most memorable. I didn’t tell him beforehand, but he knew to arrange it with the flowers I like, which surprised me a lot. So, I think it will stay in my memory for a long time.”
The biggest hint that Kang Dae-oh was able to guess what kind of flowers Kang Yebin wanted had actually already been revealed earlier in the story.
When she showed off her coffee knowledge to her older sister, Kang Yera.
It had once been revealed that Kang Yebin’s motivation for studying coffee was due to ‘longing’ for her dad.
Longing. Kang Dae-oh focused on this keyword.
From then on, it was purely intuition.
Because the ‘me’ in another timeline was the same person as the current ‘me’.
If so.
‘The me from another timeline must have given Yebin the same flowers I wanted to give her.’
Telepathy.
Kang Dae-oh realized that his prediction had been perfectly accurate as he watched the video.
In fact, he had already heard through a previous phone call that Kang Yebin really loved the bouquet her dad gave her.
However, seeing her express her feelings about receiving the bouquet while standing in front of the camera like this, it felt new and touching from a father’s perspective.
‘It was good that I prepared it diligently and sent it.’
Perhaps this is the joy of raising children.
Kang Dae-oh suddenly thought that.
Kang Dae-oh felt a sense of regret as he watched Kang Yebin head towards the wrap-up party venue after her short interview.
He couldn’t understand why only Kang Yebin’s interview video felt so short.
As he replayed the video several times, Executive Director Yoo In-seok came looking for Kang Dae-oh.
“CEO-nim. You should start preparing for boarding.”
“Ah, I understand. I’ll go right away.”
So engrossed was he in the image of his cute and beautiful second daughter that Kang Dae-oh had even forgotten that boarding had begun.
Kang Dae-oh, letting out a sigh, tucked his smartphone deep into his pocket with a sense of regret.
Was it because he was stepping on Korean soil after a long time?
Kang Dae-oh already felt as if he could fly.
However, unlike the clear and refreshed feeling in his heart.
Swaaaahhh…!
Heavy rain was pouring down in Korea.
The sky had clearly been fine until they landed at the airport.
After collecting his luggage and exiting the gate, a storm of rain and wind was raging as if it were a lie.
Executive Director Yoo In-seok asked Kang Dae-oh.
“Did you bring your car?”
“No. A friend dropped me off when I came here.”
“When you say friend······.”
“Executive Director-nim knows him well. Myung-un.”
“Ah. He’s the one who used to run a hair salon next to our building before we moved. I know him well.”
Since he was Kang Dae-oh’s best friend, Executive Director Yoo In-seok couldn’t possibly not know Oh Myung-un.
“Myung-un happened to have something to do near Incheon Airport on the day we were departing, so I hitched a ride with him. We had planned to just take a taxi on the way back. So, I’ll manage on my own.”
“Still, with this much rain. I’m worried about sending CEO-nim off alone. How about taking my car?”
“Shall we do that then?”
As Executive Director Yoo In-seok said, it’s usually better to travel by car when there’s a lot of luggage and it’s raining.
Because if he unnecessarily insisted on his pride, his luggage could get completely soaked.
However, Kang Dae-oh’s plan to ride in Executive Director Yoo In-seok’s car crumbled due to the appearance of an unexpected person.
“Honey!”
“······???”
He heard his wife’s voice, which he thought he wouldn’t possibly hear at the airport.
Kang Dae-oh looked at his wife with surprised eyes.
“How did you······ get here?”
“I was waiting, matching your arrival time.”
“No way. Did you drive here?”
Kang Dae-oh asked his wife, just in case.
Then Min Seung-yeon grinned and nodded.
“Yeah. But you don’t have to worry too much. Someone rode with me and watched me drive.”
Kang Dae-oh had a rough idea of who that person was.
Turning his head, he looked at his eldest daughter, who had come with his wife and was half-dead.
“Appa······ I, I think I’m gonna die······ Ugh!”
He patted his eldest daughter’s back as she was about to dry heave in a crowded place.
Given this situation.
“Executive Director-nim. Please give us a ride.”
Kang Dae-oh suddenly thought that to survive, he needed to get not only himself but also Kang Yera into Executive Director Yoo In-seok’s car.
However, Executive Director Yoo In-seok, who received Min Seung-yeon’s sharp glare head-on, could only offer an awkward smile and say:
“Well······ S-since Madam has come all this way for once. I think it would be best if you returned home in Madam’s car.”
“Executive Director-nim! Are you betraying me?”
“Not at all, CEO-nim. I am always loyal to CEO-nim and Amare. Then, I’ll take my leave now. Excuse me.”
Watching Executive Director Yoo In-seok quickly leave the scene as if fleeing, Kang Dae-oh despaired greatly inside.
Knowing or not knowing her husband’s feelings.
“Honey. Hurry, put the luggage in the trunk.”
“······.”
Min Seung-yeon was full of enthusiasm for driving.
It seemed that any hope of returning home comfortably was lost.
Kang Dae-oh, who somehow managed to return home alive(?) from the airport, collapsed onto the living room floor just like Kang Yera as soon as he arrived.
Kang Dae-oh whispered to Kang Yera in a small voice.
“Does your mom drive so aggressively in other timelines too?”
“I think so too······.”
Min Seung-yeon, who wasn’t confident driving alone, remembered Kang Yera’s words that she had obtained a driver’s license before regressing, and forcibly seated her eldest daughter in the passenger seat.
This was the behind-the-scenes story of Kang Yera’s sacrifice (?).
“When she drives······ she’s practically a racer. Mom, shouldn’t you be a racer instead of a model?”
“I sometimes think that too······.”
It was just a joke, after all. Being a racer is actually very difficult if you try it.
So Kang Dae-oh wished his wife would drive more gently, smoothly, and carefully.
If this was a wish that seemed hard to come true.
‘Then I’ll just have to hope autonomous cars become widespread quickly.’
Because then, Min Seung-yeon would rarely have to get behind the wheel.
Kang Yera, who had barely managed to cling to her life, slowly began to regain her senses.
Then, like someone who had remembered something, she clapped her hands together and spoke to Kang Dae-oh.
“Oh, right. Dad. A writer I know said they want to request your appearance on a broadcast.”
“Just you and me, the two of us?”
“No.”
“Hmm? Then?”
Since the writer had first spoken to Kang Yera, Kang Dae-oh naturally assumed it was an offer for a joint appearance by father and daughter.
But it turned out that wasn’t the case.
“It’s Dad and Mom, the two of you.”
