Episode 43. Rural Cafe (2)
Before returning home, Kang Dae-oh first dropped his friend off near Oh Myung-woon’s house.
“You worked hard today, Myung-woon-ah. And I’m sorry. We should have eaten together.”
“It’s fine. You know it, I know it, and the gods know how much you care about your family, so don’t worry about it. Go eat something delicious with your wife and kids.”
“Thank you. See you later then. Oh, if there’s any place you liked among the ones we looked at today, tell me. When you go look at properties, I’ll find out about real estate agencies nearby and contact you.”
“You know a lot about real estate too?”
“Yeah. Thanks to Yeyoung.”
Thanks to his youngest daughter’s great help, Kang Dae-oh was able to build a strong network in real estate.
Oh Myung-woon was utterly surprised, saying he never knew his friend had such a talent.
“You used to go to PC bangs with us, drink alcohol. Back then, you weren’t even interested in real estate.”
“Things change when you become an adult.”
“Well… yeah. Got it. Anyway, thank you. We’ll have an internal meeting and let you know if we come up with anything.”
“Alright.”
After a brief farewell with Oh Myung-woon.
Kang Dae-oh was finally able to head home, a path he had eagerly awaited.
When he drove home and arrived.
Coincidentally, his daughters also returned home around the same time, having finished their schedules.
“Today’s over, it’s finally over~!”
Kang Yera stretched widely, diligently shaking off her accumulated fatigue.
Kang Yebin also patted her own shoulder, comforting herself for her hard work today.
But.
Unlike her unnies, who showed relief, Kang Yeyoung had a face full of worry.
Kang Dae-oh paid attention to his youngest’s appearance.
“Did something bad happen?”
Kang Yeyoung shook her head.
“No, nothing.”
Contrary to her words, her sigh was quite heavy.
It definitely meant she had something on her mind.
Instead of their youngest, who was reluctant to speak, Kang Yera stepped in to explain.
“It’s the same old worry she always has.”
“About new content?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
The path to becoming a successful YouTube creator is long and arduous.
This is because they always have to provide subscribers with new, fresh, and high-quality content consistently.
In a broader sense, this also falls under the realm of creation.
Because they have to create something new.
Of course, they could also slightly rearrange existing content to create new content.
But among the current trends, there was nothing that suited Kang Yeyoung’s taste.
Given the situation, her worries could only deepen.
His youngest daughter’s content worries were always a recurring thing.
It wasn’t a big deal, but as a father, he couldn’t help but be concerned.
Just then, his eyes met Kang Yeyoung’s.
“Appa. Do you have any good ideas?”
“Wouldn’t it be better to ask Yera or Yebin instead of me? They watch YouTube often. They’d probably know more about content than I do.”
“I asked them earlier, but they only gave me cliché ideas.”
At the word “cliché,” Kang Yera and Kang Yebin simultaneously glared at her.
Kang Dae-oh decided to try to tackle this problem from a different perspective.
“Then how about pre-empting and producing content that’s likely to become popular in the future?”
His daughters were regressed from the future.
They would know exactly what content would be popular on YouTube in the future. They would grasp all these trends.
Moreover, Kang Yeyoung had even worked as an influencer. There was no way she wouldn’t know the trends in that field.
He thought this might be the easiest way.
But Kang Yeyoung’s thoughts were slightly different.
“I don’t think content that will be popular in the future would necessarily become popular if released at this time.”
“Indeed…”
Trends are created when the atmosphere, situation, and various other conditions of that era align.
There’s no guarantee that something popular in the late 2000s would attract people’s attention if brought back to the 1980s.
In fact, it’s more likely to be perceived as content that doesn’t fit the times.
“I plan to use future trendy topics by pre-empting them at the appropriate time.”
“That sounds good.”
It was a wise choice.
Even so, the creative torment currently bothering Kang Yeyoung wasn’t resolved.
Kang Dae-oh nodded slightly and said.
“Appa will also think hard about it.”
“I’ll trust you and wait, Appa.”
If it’s Kang Dae-oh, he’ll surely bring a good idea.
Kang Yeyoung seemed to believe that wholeheartedly.
Seeing his youngest daughter’s expectant gaze.
‘I must live up to this.’
It was time for the problem-solver Appa to step up again.
Kang Dae-oh, who finished his work early on Friday morning, stretched widely and moved towards the floor-to-ceiling window.
Looking at the distant city landscape, Kang Dae-oh unconsciously murmured to himself.
“The weather’s nice today.”
It was perfect weather for a drive.
Suddenly, Kang Dae-oh recalled the time he and Oh Myung-woon looked around areas in Uijeongbu that seemed good for opening a new store.
A small cafe he had seen before heading home after finishing their schedule lingered in his mind.
“……”
Kang Dae-oh, having organized his thoughts, picked up the internal phone receiver.
“Yes, Director. It’s me. I don’t have any scheduled appointments for today, do I? Yes, I understand. No. There’s no particular reason. I just want to leave work early.”
Just in case, Kang Dae-oh asked his chief secretary if he had any appointments he needed to attend today.
The conclusion was ‘none’.
Kang Dae-oh, ending the call with a bright expression, immediately looked for his car keys.
Getting into his car, Kang Dae-oh recalled the memory from a few days ago and entered the address into the navigation system.
‘It was around here, wasn’t it? Probably.’
After setting the destination, he immediately took the wheel and headed there.
Perhaps because there was still a lot of time left until closing, he was able to arrive at the destination without any traffic.
‘Parking… I can park over there.’
Coincidentally, there was a small vacant lot next to it.
Kang Dae-oh got out of the car and walked towards a small commercial building.
An old, two-story building.
Judging by the English word ‘coffee’ on the sign, it was presumed to be a cafe.
However, he wasn’t certain yet.
Because.
‘It looks like it’s not open for business?’
All the indoor lights were off.
The door was also locked.
‘Should I try going to a real estate agency nearby?’
Kang Dae-oh recalled the small real estate agency he had seen on his way here.
It was a distance he could easily walk.
He started walking aimlessly along the quiet country road.
‘The scenery’s nice.’
Perhaps because there were no tall buildings around, the view was wide open.
There was also a stream nearby.
It felt as if he had come to a resort.
However, the surrounding location wasn’t exactly ideal for opening a cafe.
‘It would be hard to get here without a car.’
It was also far from the city center.
That’s why Kang Dae-oh found the cafe building, standing alone here, curious.
Someone unfamiliar with the area might think the location was chosen poorly.
But.
‘The more I look at it, the more I like it.’
For some reason, Kang Dae-oh kept being drawn to this place.
Arriving at the real estate office, Kang Dae-oh carefully opened the entrance door.
The first sound he heard wasn’t “Welcome.”
Slurp!
It was the sound of someone slurping noodles.
A middle-aged man, presumed to be operating this real estate agency, made eye contact with Kang Dae-oh while slurping Jjamppong noodles.
Kang Dae-oh gave an awkward smile.
“You were eating. I came at a bad time.”
“Oh, no, I… Cough!”
He was already eating spicy food, and trying to speak in a hurry made him choke.
Kang Dae-oh quickly found the water dispenser, poured water, and handed it to him.
“Are you alright?”
“Gasp! …Phew, that was a close call. Thank you.”
“No, it’s nothing. You were startled because of me. I apologize.”
When Kang Dae-oh apologized honestly, the man vehemently shook his head, repeatedly saying there was no need to apologize.
“Customers rarely come at this hour. So I didn’t even think about it. Wait a minute. But you look familiar?”
Kang Dae-oh’s appearance was familiar.
He took out a business card and handed it to the man.
“My name is Kang Dae-oh. I operate a coffee brand called Amare.”
Kang Dae-oh, CEO of Amare.
As soon as he checked the business card, the man’s eyes widened.
“Yes, that’s right! Kang Dae-oh! Oh my, how did such a famous person come here?”
“I saw a building that caught my attention while passing by. I checked it before coming here. The door was locked… so I came all the way here to ask you about it.”
“A building that caught your attention… Ah, is it that one?”
The man reacted as if he knew what Kang Dae-oh was talking about.
“The building you saw, that’s the coffee shop, right? The two-story property painted blue.”
“Yes, that’s right. You know it well.”
“A young couple who opened a cafe there entrusted the property to me because business wasn’t good. That was… about 3 months ago, I think?”
“The property hasn’t been sold even since then?”
“Oh, don’t even mention it. Not even a single person came to see the building. CEO, you’re the first, the very first.”
Just as Kang Dae-oh expected.
It seemed business wasn’t doing well.
The man immediately began preparing to go out, as if he couldn’t miss Kang Dae-oh, who showed even a slight interest in the place.
“Let’s go. I’ll show you the property right away.”
“What about your meal?”
Kang Dae-oh asked, pointing at the remaining Jjamppong.
Then the man clicked his tongue briefly.
“It’s fine. I tried ordering delivery from a different place than usual, and it had no taste at all.”
“Haha…”
He didn’t know which Chinese restaurant it was.
Kang Dae-oh offered a small condolence to the unnamed restaurant owner who had lost a customer.
Following the real estate agent back to the building, Kang Dae-oh re-examined the surroundings while the agent opened the building’s entrance with a password.
“Sajang-nim. You mentioned earlier that a young couple listed this property, right?”
“Yes. What was it again? They said they opened a cafe in the countryside after watching YouTube. Something about the quiet atmosphere looking nice, or whatever.”
However, the outcome wasn’t as good as on YouTube.
Business requires various conditions.
The most important thing is to check if this location has good conditions for business.
However, when you consider it, the location conditions here could be said to be truly terrible.
The real estate agent also seemed concerned about this point and spoke honestly to Kang Dae-oh.
“If you’re thinking of acquiring the store, personally, I’d like to… dissuade you. I’m saying this because I like CEO Kang.”
“Thank you, Sajang-nim. But you don’t have to worry. Because…”
Kang Dae-oh curled one corner of his mouth upwards.
“I have a trump card.”
