Episode 37. Solo Concert (3)
The moment they heard about the guest, Kang Yebin and Kang Yeyoung made bewildered expressions.
“You want us to participate as guests?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re my younger sisters.”
Kang Yebin, who seemed to have expected a complicated reason, sighed deeply and pressed her temples, as if saying she knew it.
On the other hand, Kang Yeyoung, who had initially looked flustered, suddenly changed her attitude.
“Alright. I’ll participate.”
“Are you serious?”
Kang Yebin objected to Kang Yeyoung’s decision.
“What are you going to do on stage?”
And it wasn’t just any ordinary stage, but a singer’s stage.
Furthermore, considering that it was a stage carrying the weight of Kang Yera’s long-cherished dream, it was natural for those invited as guests to feel a great burden.
So, Kang Yebin had intended to refuse Kang Yera’s offer.
But then, the youngest suddenly brought up something different, which made her curiosity grow.
To this, Kang Yeyoung replied very simply.
“We can just pick one of unnie’s songs and prepare a cover performance.”
“You’re going to sing and dance there?”
“Yeah. You know, even though I look like this, I used to hear compliments from dance teachers that I had some talent for dancing.”
“No, those compliments are usually just lip service…”
“Still, if we prepare diligently, won’t it work out somehow?”
“……”
Kang Yeyoung was serious.
Kang Yebin was momentarily confused by her youngest sister’s attitude.
At this moment, Kang Yeyoung began to speak again, as if trying to entice her second unnie.
“Unnie, let’s prepare together. It’s less difficult to do it with two people than to prepare alone, isn’t it?”
“I can’t dance. I can’t sing either.”
“It’s okay. You can just lip-sync for the song. Neither you nor I are singers like our oldest unnie. Just preparing a performance like choreography and showing it to the audience will get us a lot of praise, won’t it?”
“……”
For some reason, Kang Yeyoung’s words sounded so convincing today, and Kang Yebin was truly troubled.
What she had just said made perfect sense.
And in reality, when actors held fan meetings, some actors Kang Yebin knew had learned idol singers’ choreography directly and performed it on stage at their fan meetings.
As Kang Yeyoung predicted, they didn’t even sing live. Despite performing much less impressively than the idol singers who were the original choreographers, the reactions from the attendees at those fan meetings were more enthusiastic than ever.
When Kang Yebin went to her acquaintance’s fan meeting, she thought she had come to a concert, not a fan meeting.
The response was so good that she could make such a mistake.
Watching that, Kang Yebin thought to herself.
‘They prepared well.’
And.
‘I’m envious,’ she thought.
She thought it would be good if she, too, could someday muster the courage to prepare such a stage and present it to people.
But surely not.
She never imagined that opportunity would come in this way.
Meanwhile, as Kang Yebin, whom they expected to refuse immediately, seemed to be gradually swayed by her youngest sister’s persuasive words, Kang Yera and Kang Yeyoung secretly exchanged glances.
“Yebin-ah. Are you going to do it?”
“What are you going to do, unnie?”
At the two people’s urging for an answer, Kang Yebin momentarily fell into a state of panic.
She asked Kang Dae-oh, who was with them.
“Dad… what do you want me to do?”
Kang Dae-oh looked at his second daughter for a moment.
Staring at Kang Yebin, Kang Dae-oh could form a hypothesis.
‘Her heart has already been swayed for a long time.’
Instead, she didn’t seem to have the courage to voice this decision easily.
For his daughter, who was hesitant to step forward.
Kang Dae-oh decided to give her a little. Just a little push.
“If you decide to do it, Dad will be looking forward to it too.”
Her dad’s words, ‘I’ll be looking forward to it,’ solidified Kang Yebin’s decision.
“I’ll prepare diligently.”
Clap!
The sound of Kang Yera and Kang Yeyoung high-fiving simultaneously followed immediately.
Buoyed by the success of her 3rd full-length album, Kang Yera’s solo concert date, time, and venue were finally confirmed.
As soon as the news of Kang Yera’s first solo concert was announced, not only she but also Kang Dae-oh received many congratulatory calls from those around them.
This was because they, too, knew very well that a daughter’s joy is soon a parent’s joy.
To meet their expectations.
Kang Yera frequented the dance practice room within her agency, day and night.
This wasn’t just Kang Yera.
Kang Yebin and Kang Yeyoung also continued their preparation process, no less diligent than their unnie, to appear as surprise guests and perform a special stage.
Late at night.
Hearing that his daughters were still at the practice room, Kang Dae-oh decided to visit the company to encourage them, rather than just going home.
Upon arriving at the company, an employee who recognized Kang Dae-oh immediately guided him to the dance practice room.
“It seems Yera, Yebin, and Yeyoung are all gathered in the same practice room. Yera must have been helping her younger sisters prepare their cover performance.”
“That’s good.”
He thought this was truly killing two birds with one stone.
Before entering the dance practice room.
Kang Dae-oh deliberately made his presence known by knocking on the wide-open door with his hand.
Only then did his daughters, seeing their dad, greet Kang Dae-oh’s surprise visit with bright faces.
Kang Dae-oh handed the bag he held in one hand to his daughters.
“Here. I bought some snacks. You must be hungry, so eat them together during your break.”
“Wow!”
“Thank you for the food, Dad!”
“I was just getting hungry. You’re the best, Dad.”
He had been a father to his daughters for over 10 years now.
At this point, it was normal for him to know exactly what his daughters wanted.
“Is your stage preparation going well?”
Kang Yera said, giving a thumbs up.
“It’s perfect. As long as Yebin and Yeyoung don’t make any mistakes.”
Kang Yebin said, glaring at her.
“You praised us for doing well earlier.”
“No matter how well you do in practice, it means nothing if you make a mistake during the actual performance.”
“True. You’re right.”
Although their fields were different, Kang Yebin was also a professional.
She knew very well how important the actual stage performance was.
Still, Kang Dae-oh was simply proud of Kang Yebin and Kang Yeyoung.
Both of them were deliberately taking the time to practice like this for their unnie’s monumental first solo concert.
Kang Yera also seemed to appreciate her younger sisters’ thoughtfulness, as her gaze towards them looked infinitely warm.
“Oh, right. Dad. Are you coming to the concert?”
Kang Dae-oh nodded, replying in an obvious tone.
“Of course I’ll go. No matter what, I will. Mom will be coming too, so don’t be too nervous. Okay?”
Perhaps emboldened by the words that Mom and Dad would be watching, Kang Yera nodded vigorously.
“Yes. I’ll do my best.”
At her reply, not only Kang Dae-oh but also Kang Yebin and Kang Yeyoung.
Everyone smiled.
He sincerely hoped that the moment his eldest daughter’s unfulfilled dream finally became a reality would shine brighter than anything.
Kang Dae-oh sincerely wished for it.
Kang Yera’s solo concert, for which the entire family had diligently prepared, was finally scheduled to be held this evening.
Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon, who visited the concert venue early, simultaneously gasped in amazement at the long line of people.
“Oh my goodness. I can’t believe so many people came to see our daughter.”
Min Seung-yeon continuously expressed her astonishment as she looked at the seemingly endless line of people.
Kang Dae-oh felt the same way.
While long queues forming was a sight he often encountered while operating Amare.
That queue and Kang Yera’s solo concert queue were on a completely different level.
There were even people who had set up tents and stayed up all night from the previous evening to watch the concert.
He could fully realize just how popular Kang Yera was.
The fact that an idol singer enjoying such popularity was his own daughter was even more astonishing to Kang Dae-oh.
‘I knew Yera was popular.’
It became an opportunity for him to realize it was beyond his imagination.
Upon arriving at the venue, Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon went to the waiting room to support Kang Yera and their two daughters.
Seeing her daughters dressed in their stage outfits, Min Seung-yeon raised her voice, exclaiming how pretty they were.
“Even though they’re my daughters, how can they be so pretty?”
Kang Dae-oh said with a wry smile.
“Should I take a picture?”
“Yes!”
Min Seung-yeon handed over her smartphone, urging her husband to take the picture quickly.
As Min Seung-yeon spread her arms, her daughters rushed to embrace their mom.
Kang Dae-oh couldn’t help but smile at the sight of his wife, as if she were holding beautiful flowers in both her arms.
Returning to their seats, Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon sat down to watch the concert, which was about to begin.
As all the lights in the venue went out, the expectant cheers of the crowd filled the space.
A moment later.
Lights came on, and in the center, Kang Yera, whom Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon had longed to see, was illuminated.
As their daughter slowly, slowly walked forward, singing her debut album’s title track arranged in a ballad style, Min Seung-yeon searched for her handkerchief.
“I shouldn’t cry already.”
Watching Min Seung-yeon press the corner of her eyes with the tip of her handkerchief to keep her makeup from smudging, Kang Dae-oh lightly patted her back.
“It’s okay. It’s perfectly understandable.”
Kang Dae-oh also felt something well up inside him the moment he saw Kang Yera’s first appearance.
How difficult must it have been for her all this time?
How much torment must she have endured, working as an unknown singer who couldn’t rise to fame?
And watching other successful singers, how much envy must she have suppressed?
‘I can do it too.’
‘If only I were given a chance, I’m confident I could sing and dance diligently.’
Kang Yera’s wish, which she couldn’t even grasp a chance for.
Finally came true through her regression, through her second life.
Knowing all these underlying circumstances, Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon couldn’t help but feel emotional.
However, Kang Yera herself didn’t cry.
Because to cry.
There was still too much concert time left.
After her first performance ended, as the show continued, Kang Yera personally introduced the guests.
When Kang Yebin and Kang Yeyoung came out and performed a stage with their unnie’s song, the crowd cheered once again.
‘They practiced a lot.’
The two of them also worked hard as if it were their own task, for their unnie.
Receiving this effort and support from her younger sisters.
Kang Yera stepped onto the stage once again.
“Everyone! You can still enjoy yourselves more, right?”
“Yes—!!!”
“We’re going to have fun and enjoy ourselves here until the very end, together with me!”
Kang Yera shouted with an excited expression, like a child.
At this moment.
Kang Dae-oh found Kang Yera’s appearance to be dazzling.
His daughter’s appearance, having taken a step closer to her dream, shone brighter than ever.
