Episode 36. An All-Time Wedding (1)
Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon, who returned from their trip and filming, hugged their daughters one by one. Even though they had only been apart for a day, their daughters somehow felt as if they hadn’t seen them in a long time today.
“While Mom and Dad were away, you guys didn’t fight, right?”
“……”
“……”
“……”
An awkward silence flowed.
Sensing a strange atmosphere, Min Seung-yeon took a stance as if she was about to pour out nagging words at her daughters at any moment.
“You guys! Did you fight again just because Mom wasn’t here?”
Kang Yera opened her mouth to make her own excuse.
“It’s not that we fought. It was just… a minor difference of opinion, I guess? A healthy discussion? Anyway, it was something like that.”
“That’s right, that’s right.”
“I think unnie’s words are right this time. Only this time.”
Kang Yeyoung and Kang Yebin also showed agreement with Kang Yera’s assertion.
Min Seung-yeon pressed her temples and sighed.
“Why do you grown-up kids fight each other? Anyway, you guys are really strange.”
Kang Dae-oh almost blurted out, ‘Isn’t it rather because they’re grown up that they fight more?’, but then he quickly shut his mouth.
This was because if he had said those words out loud, he felt he would also be included in his wife’s nagging targets.
‘I held back well, myself.’
Kang Dae-oh felt proud of himself.
This was all a crisis management skill he had learned through experience, thanks to having been married to Min Seung-yeon for quite some time.
For his daughters, Kang Dae-oh decided to change the subject.
“Filming is all done. I’m hungry, shall we eat something? I’ll make dinner.”
“Is Dad the chef today?”
When his youngest daughter asked with sparkling eyes, Kang Dae-oh nodded greatly.
“Yeah. Dad’s going to show off his skills after a long time.”
“Yay!”
Normally, Kang Dae-oh didn’t have the opportunity to cook for his daughters due to his work.
So, whenever Kang Dae-oh had a day off, he tried to cook for them instead of their mom if possible.
This was because he knew well that each of these things would become a page in the book of memories for his children and remain with them for a long time.
‘Let’s see. What ingredients do we have?’
The moment he was about to open the refrigerator door.
“Honey.”
Min Seung-yeon pointed to Kang Dae-oh’s smartphone that he had placed on the dining table.
“I think you have a call.”
“Oh, you’re right.”
Before pressing the call button, Kang Dae-oh first checked the caller’s name that caught his eye.
“Hello? Myung-woon?”
―Yo~ Bro. You had a good filming trip, right?
“Well, moderately?”
―Did you have a hot night with your wife?
“I couldn’t because I was bothered by the cameras.”
―Why? Don’t tell me they filmed even when you were sleeping?
“No. They turned them off when we slept. But just knowing the cameras were installed bothered me.”
Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon had only two experiences filming observational reality shows.
No matter how much more accustomed they had become to standing in front of cameras compared to before, 24-hour filming in the observational reality show format still remained an unfamiliar challenge for them.
Although the couple couldn’t have a satisfying hot night, the filming itself ended well and was fun. So, they considered this alone to be a decent harvest.
“But why did you call? Knowing your personality, you wouldn’t have called just to check if the filming ended well.”
―That’s too much. What if I really called to check?
“Really? Seriously?”
―……No.
“See?”
Since Kang Dae-oh had observed Oh Myung-woon’s patterns for a long time, he could be strongly certain even before hearing the answer.
Oh Myung-woon chuckled.
―You know me too well, that’s the problem.
“You can say that again. I didn’t want to know this much either.”
―Then do you perhaps know why I called you?
“That is……”
It was a question with a decent level of difficulty.
“Is it a subjective question?”
―Why? Is it difficult? Should I give you options? Or a hint?
“It would be good if you did.”
There’s no need to needlessly insist to a professor who says the exam will be open-book, ‘Please let us take the exam normally instead of open-book!’
Because it’s good for everyone.
Oh Myung-woon gave Kang Dae-oh a big spoiler so he could guess immediately.
―You know that thing we do every year.
“Alumni gathering?”
―That’s right, that.
They got jobs, started families. Because of this, they didn’t see each other as often as before.
Then one day, Oh Myung-woon said this at a rare drinking gathering where all his friends were together.
Let’s create an alumni gathering.
So, every year, they collected a certain amount of membership fees to take care of special occasions (like weddings or funerals). They also held regular meetings once a year and used the collected funds to cover the costs.
This was because they felt that even if they did it this way, they could at least meet once a year.
As a result, for five years since creating and leading this alumni gathering, it had been going smoothly without any issues.
Kang Dae-oh believed that the biggest driving force behind the continued maintenance of this alumni gathering was Oh Myung-woon, who was also his caller.
“Myung-woon, it seems like we’re able to have these gatherings because you’ve consistently been the central connecting link.”
―What are you suddenly saying? You’re giving me goosebumps. Anyway, we’re doing it this year too, so just be aware of that.
“Alright. Is there anything I need to prepare?”
―No preparation needed. Just make sure to make time. You’re the busiest among us guys. You know that, right?
Kang Dae-oh couldn’t argue against this.
Because, as Oh Myung-woon said, it was true.
Business and broadcasting.
On top of that, he was taking care of his family’s matters, so Kang Dae-oh hardly had any personal time.
Nevertheless, Kang Dae-oh was much happier now than during his impoverished past.
So, he didn’t particularly feel stressed just because he had a lot of work. There was none of that.
Besides, he had started the business in the first place because he liked coffee.
Even if it’s the same task, the amount of stress one receives varies depending on whether it’s something they genuinely liked from the beginning or not.
This wasn’t just a story that applied to Kang Dae-oh.
Oh Myung-woon was the same.
“Aren’t you busy these days too?”
―I am busy. Thanks to Yera spreading rumors about her uncle in the entertainment industry, celebrity clients have started coming a lot. Once the rumor started that it’s a hair salon frequently visited by famous clients, customers started coming on their own without us even needing to hand out flyers for promotion.
This is why word-of-mouth is scary.
―The conversation almost strayed again. Anyway, back to the main point. Can you make time?
“Even if I don’t have it, I’ll try to make it somehow.”
―Okay. Make sure you do. Because the person you want to see might also come this time.
“Who is it?”
―You’ll know when you come. It’s not confirmed, so I can’t tell you right now. Anyway, look forward to it. I’m hanging up then.
Click.
Perhaps because he had many calls to make? Kang Dae-oh muttered to himself words that would never reach Oh Myung-woon, who had unilaterally hung up the phone.
“You should tell me what it is before hanging up so I can decide whether to look forward to it or not.”
He felt a little resentful towards his friend who didn’t even give him time to look forward to it.
While the alumni gathering schedule was being adjusted, two weeks passed.
Kang Dae-oh went to work and watched “Soulmates,” which had aired last night.
As it was the Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon couple’s episode, public interest was high thanks to numerous reporters already picking up on the buzz and continuously uploading related articles even before the broadcast.
Most viewers who watched the broadcast left many comments saying that they felt unnecessarily happy seeing Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon’s affectionate and warm-hearted 모습.
‘There was a reason the PD filmed us so closely.’
Even Kang Dae-oh himself thought there were many good scenes.
How should I put it? It might be a bit embarrassing to say this in front of others, but…
‘It’s like watching the male and female leads of a romance drama.’
Kang Dae-oh drew an awkward smile and scrolled down the mouse again.
While he was in the middle of reviewing comments about the Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon couple’s episode.
With a knock-knock sound, Managing Director Yoo In-seok, with a serious expression, visited the CEO’s office along with Director Shin Young-joon.
Kang Dae-oh felt an inexplicable ominous feeling at their appearance.
“Did a big problem perhaps occur?”
“It might be ambiguous to call it a big problem… Strictly speaking, it doesn’t cause an extremely significant negative impact on the company.”
“What is it?”
“There’s a problem with one of the stores we were supposed to open this time. The prospective franchisee we were going to contract with suddenly said they couldn’t do it, saying they received a job offer elsewhere and would be working there.”
“Hmm… Is that so?”
“Yes.”
He seemed to understand why Managing Director Yoo and Director Shin had come with such grim expressions.
Surprisingly, however, Kang Dae-oh and Amare had already experienced such cases several times before.
It was a similar situation back then too.
Instead, this time, time was very tight.
“When was the scheduled opening date?”
“It was originally the end of this month.”
“Then, first, please post a notice that the opening date has been postponed to next month due to internal issues. And put the same notice in front of the store so that residents in the vicinity can see it. Those living nearby must have had the highest expectations. The sooner we inform them, the better.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Kang Dae-oh also tends to feel unnecessarily excited when a famous cafe franchise opens near him.
But then, at some point, if he heard the news that the opening was suddenly canceled, he would feel a strange sense of emptiness.
Thinking that others would probably feel similarly, he ordered Managing Director Yoo and Director Shin to take these measures.
“Director Shin, please look for a new prospective franchisee.”
“Yes, I understand. I will finalize it as soon as possible.”
Kang Dae-oh rolled his pen and fell into thought.
Business has a knack for making every day dynamic.
Instead.
‘There’s no particular need to make it dynamic in a bad way, though.’
That’s just a bit regrettable.
While additionally solving other problems, Kang Dae-oh was spending busy days.
At this time, his chief secretary knocked on the CEO’s office door.
“CEO.”
“Yes. What is it?”
“A visitor has arrived.”
“A visitor?”
Kang Dae-oh checked the desk calendar.
After checking today’s date, Kang Dae-oh tilted his head and asked.
“I don’t recall any meetings scheduled for today.”
“Well……”
While the chief secretary was flustered.
The person introduced as the visitor poked his head inside and said with a displeased expression.
“What is it, Kang Dae-oh? Have you become such a precious person that one can’t meet you unless they schedule an appointment in advance?”
Oh Myung-woon, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, poured out arrows of criticism at Kang Dae-oh.
Kang Dae-oh gave a wry smile and let him in.
He separately asked his chief secretary for something to drink and slightly blamed Oh Myung-woon.
“If you were coming, you could’ve contacted me beforehand.”
“I didn’t originally plan to come either. But since I was in the neighborhood, I came to tell you about what I mentioned last time, as it’s been confirmed.”
“What was it you mentioned last time?”
“I said the person you want to see would be coming.”
“Ah, right.”
He had forgotten.
Oh Myung-woon shrugged, saying he knew that would happen.
“Don’t be surprised when you hear this. I barely got in touch with them at the end of last year. It’s……”
Kang Dae-oh’s ears perked up.
