Episode 42. Twenties (2)
Kang Yera returned home after finishing her college entrance exam.
Like a triumphant general, she spread her arms wide and shouted to her younger sisters.
“This unnie has returned! All hail―!”
Kang Yebin, who looked at her unnie with an incredulous gaze, immediately pointed out a realistic truth.
“Did you do well on the exam?”
“They said there’s nothing more foolish than dwelling on the past.”
“Who said that?”
“······I did.”
The source was Kang Yera herself.
Kang Yebin let out an additional scoff.
Meanwhile, Kang Yeyoung shook her head as if she already knew without looking, and said,
“You must have messed it up.”
“Don’t just assume I messed it up without even grading it. A miracle could happen, right? Don’t you think?”
“Then let’s do a preliminary scoring right now. I saw the answers were already out earlier.”
“······.”
At the mention of preliminary scoring, Kang Yera showed herself taking two or three steps back unconsciously, with a look of ‘Ugh!’ on her face.
Anyone could see that she blatantly meant, ‘I don’t want to do it.’
“I don’t······ want to.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to enjoy myself until the report card comes out.”
One of Kang Yera’s strengths was her ‘honesty.’
She wasn’t good at lying, so everything showed on her face.
Kang Yera herself was well aware of this.
So, her usual belief was that since she would be caught anyway, she might as well tell the truth.
Regardless of the outcome, the college entrance exam was over.
From now on, Kang Yera was entering a new turning point.
Most importantly, with the shackles of school gone, she now had a foundation to pursue her singing career more vigorously than before.
Moreover,
“This body is now a perfect adult, I tell you.”
Kang Yera had been eagerly awaiting this moment.
The day she would become an adult.
However, at this moment, Min Seung-yeon spoke first.
“As I told you on the way here, no alcohol. The exam is over, but you are still a minor.”
“I know. And I don’t even like alcohol that much.”
She was just happy about the fact that she had become an adult.
Realizing that her twenties were just around the corner, Kang Yera suddenly fell into deep thought.
“It’s too bad to just let the end of my teens pass by.”
Kang Yera began to ponder deeply.
Whenever Kang Dae-oh saw his eldest daughter like this, he felt a subtle surge of fear.
He worried about what kind of mischievous scheme she might be cooking up this time.
Actually, Kang Dae-oh didn’t mind. Every little thing Kang Yera did like this was accepted as cute pampered behavior.
However, there were times when she did things that angered her mother, so he briefly thought that it might be better for Kang Yera herself to be a little more careful in such matters.
Kang Yebin, as if she had telepathically connected with her dad, gave her unnie this warning.
“Unnie. Just in case, don’t think anything strange.”
“I’m having the most wholesome thoughts right now.”
“What is it? Tell me.”
Kang Yebin took on an attitude of needing to check her unnie from a younger sister’s perspective.
The idea Kang Yera shared was very simple.
“Let’s take a family photo.”
Kang Yera’s surprisingly simple answer, unlike her usual self, left the family speechless for a while.
“I want to take a family photo.”
His eldest daughter’s answer, which could be seen as unexpected, left Kang Dae-oh with much to think about.
Just as he was having a moment of contemplation by himself,
“Representative-nim.”
“Whoa!”
When Executive Director Yoo In-seok spoke, Kang Dae-oh was startled.
Executive Director Yoo In-seok’s shoulders also flinched in response.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I knocked, but there was no answer, so I wondered if something had happened to you······.”
“I was just thinking about something for a moment. I’m the one who should apologize.”
Executive Director Yoo In-seok shook his head, repeating that it was fine.
Today was the day to regularly submit reports to Kang Dae-oh.
Although he had visited for work,
Looking at Kang Dae-oh’s facial expression right now······.
“It seems this isn’t the time to talk about work.”
Executive Director Yoo In-seok was right.
Kang Dae-oh put down his pen.
If he couldn’t focus on work anyway,
It was also a good idea to shift his mind elsewhere entirely.
“What is it about today that’s troubling you again?”
Executive Director Yoo In-seok, who had almost become Kang Dae-oh’s professional悩みconsultant, settled into a seat and urged him to speak quickly.
“Yera said she wants to take a family photo.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes.”
“Then······ why don’t you just take it?”
“But for Yera, it’s too ordinary. That’s why I was thinking about it.”
Executive Director Yoo In-seok nodded several times.
If another dad were having this concern, he might have said that he was too sensitive.
However, Executive Director Yoo In-seok also knew that Kang Dae-oh’s love for his daughters was more than ordinary, so he understood.
“Perhaps she wants to capture the last moments of her teens in a photo?”
“I’m not sure if that’s the only simple intention.”
“Wouldn’t it be okay if you didn’t know? Taking a family photo isn’t an impure act, at least. Rather, I think it’s a good thing. So, I don’t think there’s a need to attach too complex a meaning to it.”
Strictly speaking, Executive Director Yoo In-seok was right.
At least it wasn’t a bad thing.
This alone meant Kang Dae-oh had no reason to refuse Kang Yera’s request for a family photo.
“You mean, the more complex it is, the simpler I should think?”
“Yes. That’s it.”
“Thank you. I’ve learned another thing from you, Executive Director-nim.”
Executive Director Yoo In-seok chuckled.
“I’m glad I could help. So, your concern has been completely resolved, right?”
“Yes.”
At that moment, Executive Director Yoo In-seok’s eyes changed.
“That’s good. Now, I will begin the work report.”
“······.”
Was there a switch built into Executive Director Yoo In-seok’s mind?
The speed of the change was astonishing.
Following Kang Yera’s wish to commemorate the end of her teens, Kang Dae-oh and his family decided to set a date separately.
However, since they were all so busy, setting a date itself wasn’t easy.
Still, they managed to set a date somehow.
But there was a problem.
The incident occurred the day before the family photo shoot.
Kang Yeyoung, who was exchanging messages with someone with a serious expression during a rare family dinner out, looked troubled.
Kang Yebin, sitting opposite her, asked her younger sister what was wrong.
“Is there bad news?”
“······Correct.”
She probably wanted to shout ‘Incorrect,’ but unfortunately, her bad premonition turned out to be exactly right.
“The photographer seems to be very unwell. They said they went to the hospital this afternoon and got an IV drip. But their fever still hasn’t gone down.”
Kang Yebin was in charge of arranging the studio, and Kang Yeyoung was in charge of arranging the photographer. But now, a problem had arisen on Kang Yeyoung’s side.
This made things very difficult.
They had reserved a decent studio for a change. But if there was no photographer to take the pictures, what good was a great location?
Kang Yera held up her smartphone and said,
“I’ll ask if there’s any photographer available tomorrow.”
“Me too.”
Not only Kang Yera and Kang Yebin, but also Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon decided to mobilize all their connections.
However, unfortunately, it was not easy to immediately secure photographers with the skill level they desired.
It was because their schedules were already fully booked.
And it would be too disappointing to just go to a neighborhood photo studio.
This was to commemorate Kang Yera’s last teens.
Ideally, they wanted someone who could capture the family’s appearance more vividly on camera······ their wish was strong.
“It’s difficult.”
“Indeed.”
Haa.
Sighs leaked from various family members.
Kang Dae-oh forced his mouth to move to comfort his family.
“Alright, alright. We came all this way to eat something delicious. Stop sighing and let’s eat. The food will get cold at this rate.”
At Kang Dae-oh’s urging, the family reluctantly picked up their spoons and chopsticks.
At that moment, Kang Dae-oh heard a familiar male voice.
“Here’s your ordered duck bulgogi.”
“Oh······?”
Kang Dae-oh pointed at the male staff member who had come to serve.
“Aren’t you the one who took our photos before?”
The male staff member also seemed to recognize Kang Dae-oh’s family only then, and he was greatly surprised.
“You’re Representative Kang Dae-oh, right? Yes! I took your pictures a few times when you came to the resort! I used to boast about it to my friends, but they never believed me.”
At that time, Kang Dae-oh and his family were not as famous as they were now.
So, the male staff member used to be very amazed whenever Kang Dae-oh and his family appeared on TV.
The family whose pictures he took back then had now become famous celebrities in Korea.
After hearing Kang Dae-oh’s words, the family also recalled their memories of the male staff member.
Min Seung-yeon, in particular, was happy to see him.
“I still cherish those photos you took back then. Look, it’s still my smartphone wallpaper even now.”
“It’s an honor. By the way, everyone has been sighing since earlier. Is something wrong?”
Suddenly, an idea flashed through Kang Dae-oh’s mind.
Kang Dae-oh exchanged glances with his family.
The family nodded, as if they knew what their dad, their husband, was thinking.
Having secured his family’s consent, Kang Dae-oh formally requested the male staff member.
“Could you take our pictures tomorrow?”
“What?”
At the sudden proposal, the male staff member was even more surprised than before.
Although it was sudden,
Ultimately, the male staff member agreed.
Following the instructions of the male staff member holding the camera, the family adopted various concepts and took family photos.
Sometimes, they wore animal onesies.
Sometimes, they wore work uniforms.
And finally,
“Alright, shooting. One, two, three!”
Click!
They concluded with a normal family photo, with Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon in front, and their three daughters positioned behind them.
Kang Dae-oh checked the photos, nodded with a very satisfied expression, and said,
“As expected. You still take great photos.”
“Thank you.”
“But you take photos so well. Why are you working at a restaurant? It seems like you could switch to being a photographer.”
The male staff member smiled meaningfully and said,
“There’s a reason for that.”
“······?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I should get going soon. If I’m late, the boss will scold me. I can just leave the camera here, right?”
“Yes. The studio will develop and retouch the rest themselves.”
As soon as Kang Dae-oh uttered words of appreciation for his hard work, the man quickly left the studio.
Kang Dae-oh looked in the direction the man disappeared for a while, then tilted his head.
‘What a strange person.’
Still, thanks to the man, they were able to get good photos.
It was a huge relief.
Meanwhile, a smile bloomed on Kang Yera’s face as she re-checked the photos.
Kang Dae-oh seized this opportunity to ask Kang Yera why she wanted to take a family photo.
Kang Yera replied,
“We’ve all been so busy lately that we barely had time to eat together. So, I wanted to take this opportunity to do something together. It would be even better if it remained as a lifetime keepsake in the form of photos, right?”
“So that was it.”
His eldest daughter simply wanted to create good memories with her family.
As Executive Director Yoo In-seok had said, there was no complex meaning.
But,
The intention contained within was so cute,
And lovely.
