Episode 41. The Best Audience (5)
The 21st.
Kang Dae-oh, who was packing his bags for a business trip to the provinces, encountered Min Seung-yeon, who had just returned home with Kang Yera and Kang Yeyoung.
“Where’s Yebin?”
Min Seung-yeon asked, placing her handbag down with a tired expression.
“She said she’s having a company dinner with her team. She’ll probably come home a bit late.”
Since last week, Placibo, the musical stage performance starring Kang Yebin, finally began to make its debut to the public.
Placibo started receiving many favorable reviews from its very first performance.
Among them, it was widely praised, especially for the actors’ outstanding performances.
Kang Yebin’s excellent performance also played a significant role in this.
Kang Yera expressed her regret.
“I wish Dad could’ve come with us, too.”
“Me too.”
Kang Dae-oh had originally planned to go with his family today to see Kang Yebin’s performance.
However, due to a sudden work matter, Kang Dae-oh was inevitably unable to attend.
Still, he couldn’t stop the rest of his family from going just because he couldn’t make it.
They had already made time with great difficulty, despite their busy schedules.
No one could guarantee when they would be able to set a date like this again after today.
Furthermore, there was a bigger problem that couldn’t be postponed.
Just then, Kang Yera mentioned this point.
“They said that after this week’s performances, they’ll start performing in the provinces, not Seoul, from next week.”
They could barely make time to go because the performances were in Seoul. If the venue changes to the provinces, the difficulty increases.
So, the family reluctantly decided to go see the performance, excluding only Kang Dae-oh.
Kang Yeyoung untied her hair and said,
“Unnie was very disappointed. She said, ‘I wish Dad could have come, too…’”
“I guess so.”
After all, Kang Dae-oh was the main contributor who enabled Kang Yebin to stand on the stage she was on now.
From her perspective, she must have really wanted to show her father, more than anyone else, her performance on stage.
But since her father was the only one who couldn’t come due to work, Kang Dae-oh could fully imagine how great her disappointment must have been.
‘It’s okay. They said the business trip would be about 5 days. If I go and come back to Seoul, I should still be able to make it just barely within the deadline.’
When he returned to Seoul, he would have about two days left.
Within those two days, no matter what, he had to go see his second daughter’s musical performance.
Then, he could somehow keep his promise to Kang Yebin.
‘I need to tell Yebin I’m sorry before I leave for my business trip tomorrow.’
Kang Dae-oh’s hands felt heavy as he started packing his bags again.
The next morning, Kang Dae-oh woke up early, placed his suitcase near the front door, and finished all preparations to leave the house.
No, it wasn’t over yet.
Because he still had something left unsaid to Kang Yebin.
However.
“Yebin must have come home late yesterday.”
Kang Dae-oh clicked his tongue in disappointment.
Min Seung-yeon, who was preparing breakfast, nodded.
“She tried to leave in the middle, but Director Jun Yu-tae wouldn’t let her go. He kept praising Yebin’s acting, saying it was so good, so it was an awkward atmosphere to leave, and she ended up staying until the first round was over.”
The second round was a gathering for adults to drink alcohol, so it would be a bit difficult for Kang Yebin, who was still a minor, to join.
However, because the first round of the company dinner ended so late, Kang Yebin barely managed to get home at a critical time, just before the date changed.
Conversely, Kang Dae-oh had to leave early this morning, so he had to go to bed early last night.
‘It feels like we keep missing each other.’
Min Seung-yeon untied her apron and asked Kang Dae-oh, just in case.
“You’re going to be able to see Yebin’s performance, right?”
“Yeah. You don’t have to worry about that.”
“Yebin didn’t say it to me, but I could tell she was hoping you’d come to see her performance.”
“I guess so……”
“So, please go see her even if you’re busy. Even if I don’t say it, I feel like you’d do it anyway. But I’m just saying it just in case.”
Kang Dae-oh nodded vigorously, speaking as if making a vow to himself.
“I will. Definitely.”
He decided to quickly resolve the business trip matter, return to Seoul, and see the performance.
Kang Dae-oh was slightly shocked when he heard about the new regional business project.
“You’re saying you’re going to hold a coffee festival, Mayor?”
“Yes. If possible, we’d like Representative Kang to promote it by appearing on Ms. Yeyoung’s Nutube channel, your youngest daughter.”
It was a proposal linked not only to Kang Dae-oh but also to Kang Yeyoung.
“Of course, we will pay a fair price for it. If you have any conditions, please just tell us, and we will grant them all.”
The person who first proposed this coffee festival project was the mayor standing before him.
Perhaps that’s why. The speed of implementation, the enthusiasm, every aspect was extremely passionate for something done by civil servants.
It was the mayor’s direct order, so there was nothing they could do.
“If this succeeds greatly in the future, we plan to hold a coffee festival steadily at least once a year. Then our region will be promoted a lot, and furthermore, we will be able to attract many tourists.”
To respond to the problem of regional decline, various public offices were coming up with diverse solutions.
Among them, there were surprisingly many opinions that were not very meaningful.
However, the coffee festival project proposed by the mayor sounded like a good idea to Kang Dae-oh.
Moreover, a coffee street would soon be created in Gyehwado.
There was an expectation that if they pushed forward with this in conjunction, it would create a good synergy effect.
If Amare had a hand in both places.
‘It would definitely help us too.’
It was something he could tell without even doing the math.
At first, he had only intended to listen to this matter lightly.
Unexpectedly, it was a quite important case.
Thanks to this, Kang Dae-oh’s thoughts and attitude also changed.
But there was a problem.
Excluding the coffee street-related schedule. To handle meetings, site visits, and other schedules related to the newly proposed coffee festival by the mayor.
‘There isn’t enough time.’
Executive Director Yoo In-seok seemed to share Kang Dae-oh’s thoughts, as he discreetly whispered to him.
“Representative. I don’t think 5 days will be enough.”
Kang Dae-oh nodded slightly and asked,
“Executive Director, how many more days do you think we should stay here?”
“Shouldn’t we stay 2 or 3 more days?”
“……”
This was difficult.
He had planned to go back to Seoul to see Kang Yebin’s performance.
If this happened, there was a very high possibility that his plan would fall through.
What should he do?
Kang Dae-oh asked for a moment and then re-examined the performance guide for the musical Placibo, in which Kang Yebin was appearing.
This was to confirm the exact period and time slots of the performances in Seoul.
That’s when.
‘Hmm?’
Kang Dae-oh’s eyes sparkled.
‘Right. There was also this method!’
He found it.
A secret plan that could take care of both work and his second daughter simultaneously.
Ultimately, until the Seoul performance schedule ended, Kang Yebin could not see her father in the audience.
Because he was busy, Kang Yebin tried her best to fully understand her father’s situation.
Still, she felt like she was acting too much like a child by insisting he come see her performance.
Kang Yebin was an adult.
Of course, she might still look like a child on the outside, but as Kang Dae-oh well knew, she was a grown-up on the inside, so she was trying to act mature, at least in front of her father.
Nevertheless.
“Haaah……”
She couldn’t help but let out a sigh.
Director Jun Yu-tae, who had gotten a ride in the car with Kang Yebin and her manager, turned his head at the sound of her sigh.
“Yebin. Why? Is there something you’re worried about?”
“No. Not really……”
“Are you nervous because it’s your first provincial performance?”
As he said, today, the Placibo performance team was going to have their first provincial performance.
Their first destination was Iksan City.
It happened to be the area where Kang Dae-oh was staying nearby.
The thought of ‘Should I go see Dad after the performance?’ briefly crossed her mind.
If Dad couldn’t come, then the daughter could go see him.
There was nothing fixed about who had to go and who had to come.
The person who wanted to see someone could go visit.
Right now, Kang Yebin really wanted to see her father.
Still, it was proper procedure to first deal with the performance schedule in front of her.
As soon as they arrived at the destination, she took a short break with the other actors. Then, she slowly began to prepare for Placibo’s first provincial performance stage, which would be in the evening.
Perhaps because they had already performed several times in Seoul.
She didn’t feel any significant difficulty with the provincial performance.
Instead, she just had some difficulty adapting to the changed stage environment.
Don’t be nervous.
Kang Yebin once again etched into her mind and heart that it was an actor’s duty to always deliver the best performance to the audience, no matter the venue.
After a short rehearsal.
The actors finished preparing to greet the audience.
Before that.
Director Jun Yu-tae gathered the actors in one place.
“Everyone, you all seem very nervous because it’s your first provincial performance. There’s no need to be nervous at all! Just do it exactly as you did in Seoul. Okay?”
At this moment, one of the actors jokingly said to Director Jun Yu-tae,
“Director, you seem to be the most nervous one!”
Loud laughter erupted among the actors and staff.
Director Jun Yu-tae laughed along with them, saying there was no way that was true.
Still, if people could laugh thanks to his sacrifice, Director Jun Yu-tae seemed perfectly satisfied.
Thanks to him, the actors’ tension was greatly relieved.
One by one, the audience started to arrive at the venue, filling the seats.
Kang Yebin, who was quietly watching them from backstage, momentarily doubted her eyes.
Her manager tilted her head at her reaction.
“Why? Is something wrong?”
“Oh… no. Just…”
Her confusion lasted only a moment.
A very deep smile spread across Kang Yebin’s lips.
A little later.
The curtain for the main performance rose.
Accordingly, the actors went on stage and began their performance.
Just as Director Jun Yu-tae had wished. They perfectly recreated the stage that had received favorable reviews from the audience in Seoul.
The audience’s response was also enthusiastic.
Finally.
It was Kang Yebin’s turn to go on stage.
At her appearance, people cheered enthusiastically once again.
Among the many audience members, one presence stood out with an exceptionally loud voice.
Kang Yebin, looking at that man from the stage, couldn’t help but smile.
Kang Dae-oh. He was looking at his second daughter with the warmest gaze in the world.
‘Cheer up, Yebin. Dad will be watching.’
Kang Yebin’s performance, which he had so longed to see, finally began.
