Episode 45. Strike While the Iron Is Hot (5)
Kang Yera and Kang Yebin arrived at the venue with their respective managers to attend the premiere of Director Kim Jisuk’s film ‘My Diva’.
Normally, at premieres, lead and supporting actors would primarily go on stage with the director.
However, uniquely, Kang Yera was also scheduled to go on stage today.
Kang Yera continued to doubt herself endlessly until the premiere began.
“Is it okay for me to be on the premiere stage?”
In response, Kang Yebin retorted, asking what her unnie was talking about.
“We decided to make an important announcement at the premiere. It can’t happen without unnie.”
The ‘important announcement’ Kang Yebin mentioned was…
…that the fictional project group appearing in the movie ‘My Diva’ would actually debut.
The members of the group were Kang Yera and Kang Yebin. If the sisters’ idol debut were revealed, countless media outlets would inevitably show interest.
Even for this announcement,
as Kang Yebin said, Kang Yera’s participation was essential.
Nevertheless, Kang Yera repeatedly agonized over it in her mind.
At that moment, welcome guests arrived in the waiting room.
“Appa!”
Kang Yera was the first to embrace her appa.
Kang Dae-oh smiled brightly at his eldest daughter’s charming behavior.
“I thought you’d be very nervous. But it’s a relief you look bright.”
“I’m actually super nervous right now.”
“Really?”
To Kang Dae-oh, she didn’t seem nervous at all.
But since she claimed to be, he decided to just accept it.
Not only Kang Dae-oh but also Kang Yeyoung and Min Seung-yeon came to the waiting room.
As always, a cam was in Kang Yeyoung’s hand.
“We’ve arrived at the waiting room where our unnies are~! Please say hello.”
Kang Yera was the first to stand in front of the camera, giving a light wave.
“Hello! I’m Kang Yera, a rookie actress who just debuted!”
“According to rumors, you learned acting while getting scolded a lot by Yebin unnie, didn’t you?”
“I got scolded a lot! Everyone. Please know that Yebin is really scary when she’s angry. Got it?”
Kang Yebin glared sharply at Kang Yera.
Whenever the three sisters gathered, no matter the place, it always became lively like this.
Kang Dae-oh quite liked these sides of his daughters.
The premiere was one thing, but…
Kang Yebin had something she was curious about, specifically for Kang Dae-oh.
“Appa. What did you decide about what you told us last time?”
“Ah, that? It was finally approved in the executive meeting, and all your agency needs to do is let us know how to coordinate the schedule. If you have any personal thoughts, you can tell appa right away.”
“No. There’s nothing like that. I just asked because I was curious about the progress.”
Kang Dae-oh gave a short nod at Kang Yebin’s words.
Then, he conveyed the atmosphere at Amare.
“People are really looking forward to it this time. There’s talk that our first venture into Japan will be a huge success.”
“I hope so.”
It wasn’t flattery.
Kang Yebin genuinely and strongly wished that they could make a significant contribution to their appa’s first overseas business venture.
Kang Dae-oh had done a lot for his two daughters.
So this time, they wanted to help Kang Dae-oh.
The content of that help was…
“It’s a relief that the internal reaction seems good for unnie and me doing modeling work as the project group for the Japan expansion.”
“It’s more than just good. People are saying there’s no talent like you two, what are you talking about?”
Kang Dae-oh felt it himself when he went to Japan.
The Hallyu wave. Especially, the enormous influence of Kang Yera’s presence even in Japan.
It wasn’t just Kang Yera.
He also realized that there were a considerable number of Japanese fans who tried to watch Korean dramas and movies starring Kang Yebin, no matter what.
Furthermore, there were many passionate fans who even studied Korean to watch video content featuring Kang Yebin, despite the lack of Japanese subtitles.
The fact that the two sisters, who could be called the protagonists of the Hallyu wave, would form a team and engage in idol activities, even if it was a one-time event, would become a huge talking point in Japan.
Kang Dae-oh and the Amare executives and employees had no doubt that it would happen.
“Don’t worry too much. For now, just focus on finishing the movie premiere well. Understood?”
“Yes, appa.”
Kang Dae-oh would watch his two daughters’ proud performance from the best seats, along with their eomma and youngest daughter.
The movie ‘My Diva’ was able to garner high scores from critics and enthusiastic reactions even from the premiere stage.
This reaction continued even after its release.
On the first day of its release.
Perhaps because the fact that it was Director Kim Jisuk’s first film in a long time, coupled with the opportunity to glimpse Kang Yera and Kang Yebin’s idol activities, created a significant promotional effect, it recorded a large number of viewers.
The success of a movie can usually be roughly predicted from its initial performance, giving an idea of what its final box office will be.
In the case of ‘My Diva’, the number of daily viewers exceeded 600,000.
As soon as they saw the first day’s results, all film industry officials unanimously said:
“This is going to hit ten million!”
Public interest burned even hotter at the news of a ten-million-viewer movie, expected to appear after a long time.
Buoyed by this, the insert song that Kang Yera and Kang Yebin actually sang in the movie also climbed to number one on real-time music charts, clearly demonstrating the box office craze.
This momentum continued until Amare’s expansion into Japan.
On the seventh day since Amare Tokyo’s first branch officially opened.
Director Yang Hayoung rushed towards Kang Dae-oh, who was overseeing the Amare store in Japan.
“Representative! Yera and Yebin just arrived at the airport!”
“Really?”
Kang Dae-oh immediately pulled out his smartphone.
He watched his two daughters’ arrival at the airport live via YouTub*.
Was it perhaps because the news of Kang Yera and Kang Yebin’s arrival in Japan spread like wildfire?
The airport was already packed with Japanese fans waiting for them.
It was so crowded that it was difficult to push through the crowd and move forward.
Realizing how popular his daughters were, he also hoped that the girls would arrive safely without getting hurt.
As soon as he confirmed that his daughters had safely boarded the vehicle, Kang Dae-oh left a text message for them.
He wished he could hear their voices over the phone.
‘They must be completely overwhelmed right now.’
That’s why he deliberately only left a text message.
Shortly after, a reply immediately came from Kang Yera.
[We’re heading straight over there by car now. See you later, appa!]
After sending a reply telling them to come carefully, Kang Dae-oh looked for Director Yang Hayoung.
“Since the girls are coming now, let’s start preparing.”
“Yes, Representative!”
Under Director Yang Hayoung’s leadership, the staff began to move busily.
Meanwhile, as news spread that Kang Yera and Kang Yebin had arrived in Japan, Japanese people gradually began to gather around Amare.
They all knew why the two had come to Japan.
It was because there was an event scheduled to celebrate the opening of Amare’s first branch.
They had deliberately sent out articles beforehand to attract as many people as possible.
‘At this rate, it seems like we didn’t even need to send out articles.’
In fact, they were worried because too many people were gathering.
Eventually, the surrounding situation could only be managed after even department store staff joined in crowd control.
After that period of waiting continued.
Finally, the sight of his daughters, whom Kang Dae-oh had longed to see, began to appear.
Kang Yera first stood before the crowd and held the microphone.
“みなさん、こんにちは (Hello, everyone)!”
When Kang Yera greeted the people in Japanese, their cheers grew so loud that it was reminiscent of a concert.
Both Kang Yera and Kang Yebin could speak simple Japanese, but not enough for conversation, so they decided to rely on an interpreter.
Director Yang Hayoung took on the role of interpreter herself.
Thanks to Director Yang, who works at Amare, taking on the interpreting role, they were able to convey more specific and detailed information about the event to the local fans.
After the short greetings.
A simple performance by Kang Yera and Kang Yebin followed.
Originally, there were no plans for a stage performance. But perhaps thinking it would be a shame to just show their faces and leave, the two daughters spontaneously decided to sing a ballad and conclude the event.
Kang Dae-oh also listened intently to his two daughters’ clear voices echoing through the department store.
Indeed. Listening to it live like this was much better than listening to a recorded version.
Moreover, considering that the people singing the song were his daughters, it would literally sound like a heavenly song.
Watching his two daughters doing their best for their appa, Kang Dae-oh felt a lingering deep emotion.
After the short performance.
“This has been Kang Yera!”
“And Kang Yebin!”
“ありがとうございます (Thank you)!”
“またね (See you)~!”
The two daughters bid farewell to their fans.
Before exiting.
Kang Yera, with a look as if she had forgotten something important, raised the microphone again.
“Please give Amare lots of love too! It’s a cafe run by our appa, so please visit often! Got it?”
When Director Yang translated for her, the people responded loudly with ‘はい (Yes)!’.
His two daughters had firmly imprinted the three characters of ‘Amare’ into the minds of the local fans.
Today, Kang Dae-oh owed a great debt to Kang Yera and Kang Yebin.
The result that Kang Dae-oh, along with all Amare executives and employees, had expected came true.
Amare Tokyo’s first branch recorded unprecedented sales.
Its sales were higher than any other cafe in Japan.
Although it was only based on one month’s data, it was still a very significant result.
This was because it meant Amare had been properly promoted in Japan.
Thanks to the outstanding performance of the Tokyo Branch 1, Amare’s stock price also sharply increased.
Economic news continuously reported only on Amare’s stock hitting daily limits.
Some articles even stated that Kang Dae-oh had become an overnight millionaire thanks to his success in Japan.
Although he had already been wealthy before.
However, it was also true that Kang Dae-oh had seen significant profits in a short period, so he just laughed it off.
Executive Director Yoo Insuk, who visited Kang Dae-oh’s office, looked through the articles and said:
“We should immediately prepare for the 2nd and 3rd branches in Japan.”
“That would be good.”
Kang Dae-oh also nodded, agreeing with Yoo Insuk’s words.
Executive Director Yoo mentioned Kang Yera and Kang Yebin’s excellent performance.
“Your daughters have done a great job.”
In response, Kang Dae-oh smiled faintly.
“They’ve always been like that.”
For Kang Dae-oh, his daughters were truly goddesses of fortune who brought him wealth and happiness.
