Episode 41. The Best Audience (4)
The widely spread sea.
Looking at it, Kang Dae-oh immediately thought of a certain region.
“Isn’t Gangneung’s Coffee Street famous too?”
At Kang Dae-oh’s words, government officials and public servants all nodded their heads.
“Actually, it’s not entirely unrelated to that area as a motif.”
“As expected.”
The sea, and coffee.
Since there was already a famous tourist attraction in Gangneung, they felt that the images overlapped a lot.
Still, it wasn’t that important.
From the perspective of residents near Gyehwado, or those living in Jeollabuk-do, it would naturally be good if a place were created where they could walk along a coffee street while looking at the sea without having to go all the way to Gangneung.
Once word-of-mouth spreads, a coffee street perhaps even more famous than the Gangneung area might be born.
Of course, this is merely a matter of possibility.
There was no guarantee that it would happen.
This is a future even Kang Dae-oh’s daughters don’t know.
Ultimately, its success or failure will depend on how much passion and sincerity Kang Dae-oh and the project stakeholders put into it.
Perhaps because of this, Kang Dae-oh was filled with motivation to work hard.
A public servant informed Kang Dae-oh and Amare executives about the general schedule.
“We plan to distribute press releases to the media when construction begins. We think it would be good to strongly appeal to the public that we plan to create a second coffee street attraction by putting CEO Kang Dae-oh’s name at the forefront.”
It was an intention to borrow the power of Kang Dae-oh’s brand value.
He nodded with an expression that implied it didn’t particularly matter.
“Yes. You can do that.”
“Thank you, CEO!”
They secretly swallowed a sigh of relief.
They had been extremely worried that Kang Dae-oh might inwardly say ‘No.’
Fortunately, since he said okay, the public servants’ faces brightened as much as the sun floating above their heads.
“I’ll try to contact CEO Do Sang-ho today to see if he can join us. But considering that hyung’s personality… I think he’ll probably say okay right away.”
Exclamations of admiration came from the employees’ mouths.
“Oh, really?”
“If the two key figures from Yora-ttae step forward, it would be an honor for us!”
They showed eagerness to proceed with the work immediately.
Coming to the site, conducting a direct survey, and discussing face-to-face with people from related departments definitely sped up the progress.
Kang Dae-oh thought that this alone made his trip down to Gyehwado worthwhile.
Since they were gathered in one place after a long time, a dinner party was arranged for them to unite and resolve to do well in the future.
A piece of sashimi eaten while looking at the sea was truly the icing on the cake.
With alcohol added to the mix, the executives and employees who came down to Gyehwado with Kang Dae-oh honestly said they felt like they were on a trip, not here for work.
Since the employees were happy, Kang Dae-oh also felt good.
In fact, he felt inwardly sorry for making his employees travel to the provinces with him for work.
“Senior Managing Director.”
“Yes, CEO.”
Kang Dae-oh quietly called Senior Managing Director Yoo In-seok.
“It’s getting very late. Please find out if there are any executives or employees who want to stay here overnight, excluding those who must go home today. If there are people who want to go back to Seoul tomorrow after sleeping, I’ll book accommodation for them with my own money so they can stay there and come back.”
“Can you do that?”
“Yes. Tomorrow is the weekend anyway.”
Since there would be no interference with work, he decided to genuinely offer a travel opportunity to the executives and employees, given the situation.
Senior Managing Director Yoo In-seok nodded vigorously and said.
“Understood. The employees will like that. Earlier, I saw that even without you telling them to stay, many were already discussing staying here overnight among themselves.”
“Really? Then that’s even better.”
“How about you join us too, CEO?”
It was a kind offer, but.
Kang Dae-oh shook his head.
“I’m the one who absolutely has to go back today.”
Because he had decided not to stay out overnight if possible, no matter how busy he was.
Because his family would worry.
Senior Managing Director Yoo In-seok replied as if he had known from the beginning that Kang Dae-oh would say this.
“Understood. I’ll keep that in mind then.”
“What about you, Senior Managing Director?”
Kang Dae-oh had thought that Senior Managing Director Yoo In-seok would go back with him today.
However.
“I plan to stay here overnight.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes.”
Did he suddenly feel like taking a trip?
However, a completely different reason from what Kang Dae-oh had thought came out of his mouth.
“I had a minor quarrel with my wife. I’m thinking of making up an excuse that I can’t go home today due to a business trip to the provinces.”
“Ah, I see…”
If it’s a marital dispute, there’s nothing that can be done.
While waiting for a taxi to catch the last KTX train, after gathering the executives and employees who had to return to Seoul today.
Someone looked for Kang Dae-oh.
“CEO! Just a moment.”
A public official cautiously asked Kang Dae-oh.
“If it’s okay with you, we were wondering if you could stay near Gyehwado for a while, timed with the groundbreaking of the coffee street. We will take full responsibility for providing accommodation and meals.”
Given that they even mentioned accommodation and meals, it seemed it wasn’t something that could be done as a day trip.
“How many days are you considering?”
He thought, at most, a day or two?
“How about around 5 days…?”
“5 days?”
“Yes.”
It was more than twice what he had expected.
Kang Dae-oh tilted his head and asked him back.
“Is there a reason why I would need to stay here for 5 days, by any chance…?”
No matter how he thought about it, the period was too long.
“The mayor said he has a regional project he’d like to personally ask you about, in addition to the coffee street project. It doesn’t mean you absolutely have to take it on! You can take a look first and then decide slowly, so please don’t feel too pressured.”
“Hmm…”
Kang Dae-oh’s thoughts deepened.
“Then when should I come down here?”
“Around the 21st of next month? You can roughly come around that time. I will inform you of the exact date and time separately through an internal meeting. If it’s difficult, we can adjust to your schedule, so please let us know if you have a preferred date.”
“Understood. I’ll keep that in mind for now.”
“Thank you, CEO!”
If there was an opportunity for Amare to establish roots in the region.
Kang Dae-oh intended to maximize that opportunity.
Because it was naturally better to open a store with extensive promotion to local residents, supported by the city hall or public offices, rather than just opening it raw.
If he also utilized the recognition Kang Dae-oh had built through broadcasting.
‘It would be perfect.’
There were many elements that could be used for business.
There was no need to filter these out.
All for myself. No, we can bring them in as ours and utilize them.
This is the attitude of a profit-seeking company.
Having arrived in Seoul, Kang Dae-oh took another taxi to his final destination, home.
Normally, he would have used public transportation.
However, since it was already past the last subway train, he had no choice but to rely on a taxi again.
Thanks to this, Kang Dae-oh was able to return home relatively comfortably.
‘It’s too late.’
1:50 AM.
He had already contacted Min Seung-yeon to let her know he would be home late today.
He had also told her to go to sleep first since she would be tired. Thanks to that, his steps towards home felt a little lighter.
Kang Dae-oh cautiously opened the front door.
The sensor light turned on, being the first to greet his late return.
Judging by the living room lights being off.
‘Everyone must be asleep.’
Min Seung-yeon, and his daughters too, had long since departed to dreamland.
No, not everyone was asleep.
Only one place.
A faint light leaked from second daughter Kang Yebin’s room.
Just in case, Kang Dae-oh cautiously knocked on Kang Yebin’s room door.
Knock knock knock.
He controlled his strength to make the sound as soft as possible so she wouldn’t be startled.
Thanks to this, Kang Yebin turned her head towards the door without much surprise.
“Appa. Did you just get here?”
“Yeah. Why aren’t you sleeping?”
“Because of this.”
Kang Yebin held something up and showed it to Kang Dae-oh.
It was the script for the musical ‘Placebo’ that she was scheduled to appear in.
“When did you say the performance was?”
“From the middle of next month.”
“If it’s mid-month…”
It overlapped with the period Kang Dae-oh was asked by a public official to come down and stay for a few days, before he came here.
Still, it’s only 5 days at most.
‘Surely, because of this, I won’t miss our daughter’s performance.’
As if she had read Kang Dae-oh’s mind, Kang Yebin cautiously asked him.
“Appa… can you come to the performance?”
“Of course. I must, no matter what.”
Kang Dae-oh was the very person who encouraged Kang Yebin to try out for the musical.
But if Kang Dae-oh couldn’t actually see the performance, wouldn’t that be a contradiction?
Kang Dae-oh reassured Kang Yebin, telling her not to worry too much.
“I’ll watch the performance and eagerly tell you my thoughts.”
“Yes!”
Perhaps because she heard that Appa would come to see it.
Despite it being late at night when she should have been very sleepy, Kang Yebin’s eyes sparkled brightly.
Kang Dae-oh, having welcomed a new month, was informed by Senior Managing Director Yoo In-seok that the provincial business trip period had been finally confirmed.
“They decided on the 21st.”
“It turned out to be the same date we initially discussed.”
“What would you like to do, CEO? Is your schedule alright?”
Just in case, Kang Dae-oh checked the table calendar once more.
“Yes, setting it for the 21st is fine. It doesn’t overlap with any broadcast schedules, and there are no meetings scheduled then, are there?”
“There are minor business meetings, but they aren’t important enough for you to absolutely have to attend, CEO.”
Kang Dae-oh nodded at Senior Managing Director Yoo In-seok’s opinion.
“I’ll go, finish things up quickly. I’ll also hear about the regional project they want to propose, grasp it quickly, decide whether to do it or not, and then come back.”
Senior Managing Director Yoo In-seok nodded at Kang Dae-oh’s words and didn’t raise any particular objections.
“Are you also going down with me, Senior Managing Director?”
“I should.”
“Surely you’re not intentionally coming down with me because you’re still in a cold war with your wife, are you?”
Senior Managing Director Yoo In-seok laughed heartily, denying Kang Dae-oh’s guess.
“We reconciled last month.”
“That’s a relief.”
It’s a trip to discuss important matters. Going with a heavy heart could potentially hinder the work.
Kang Dae-oh could only feel relieved after hearing Senior Managing Director Yoo In-seok’s confirmation.
