Episode 47. Scandal (1)
After shedding their high school student status, Kang Dae-oh’s three daughters began to fully immerse themselves in the work they wanted to do.
Until now, their status as students in school uniforms had placed many restrictions on what they wanted to do.
Now that those restrictions were gone, they were literally stepping on the accelerator without hesitation, like driving a car with no brakes, moving fearlessly forward.
Among them, many media outlets recently paid attention to Kang Yebin’s activities.
This was because the movie she starred in, ‘Hello, Bin’, was recently garnering significant attention overseas.
To become an actress active on the international stage. This was Kang Yebin’s biggest goal and wish in her second life.
This wish was finally gradually becoming a reality.
Today, after finishing an interview with overseas media, Kang Yebin returned home and immediately collapsed onto the sofa without even thinking about removing her makeup.
Kang Yeyoung, who had just finished editing and came out to the living room, spanked Kang Yebin’s small bottom repeatedly with her hand and said.
“Unnie. Your makeup will get on the sofa.”
“I’m being careful not to get it on there, so you can stop worrying.”
“Mom—! Unnie is lying around on the sofa without even removing her makeup!”
“Who’s lying around? I’m just lying quietly.” In front of her youngest sister’s relentless exposé, Kang Yebin meticulously argued her point.
Kang Dae-oh, watching the two sisters, chuckled softly.
Usually, Kang Dae-oh tried to remain neutral.
This time, however, he decided to side with his second daughter.
“Yeyoung-ah. Unnie is probably very tired today, so please be understanding.”
When her dad stepped in, Kang Yeyoung shrugged her shoulders as if she couldn’t help it.
Kang Dae-oh also knew why Kang Yeyoung was reacting so sensitively to Kang Yebin’s behavior.
It was because a few days ago, Kang Yeyoung had also gotten makeup on the sofa while lying down just like her second unnie.
She had been scolded a lot by her mom back then, which was why she was acting this way.
Kang Yebin sat up and swept her disheveled hair back with one hand.
Kang Dae-oh looked at his second daughter, who seemed particularly tired, with sympathy.
“You must be very tired from going to America yesterday and coming back. Why don’t you rest today?”
“We have to row hard when the water comes in, just like when Dad opened Amare’s first branch in Japan.”
An awkward chuckle escaped Kang Dae-oh’s lips once again.
Kang Yebin was always a hardworking child.
Seeing her efforts gradually bear fruit after becoming an adult, Kang Dae-oh felt good too.
“Did you say ‘Hello, Bin’ has surpassed 10 million viewers now?”
“Yes, that’s right. They said that the audience numbers skyrocketed because news came out about the good reception overseas.”
When good news comes, stock prices naturally rise.
Movies are no different.
As news quickly spread through the media that the movie was enhancing national prestige abroad, people flocked to theaters, wondering, ‘What on earth is this movie?’
People around Kang Dae-oh, who hadn’t known what ‘Hello, Bin’ was about, often mentioned that they immediately booked tickets after hearing that it had won awards overseas and was doing well.
Kang Dae-oh had already watched the movie with Min Seung-yeon at the cinema on the opening day.
“You said the co-star was Choi Young-woo, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Did you say he was older than you?”
“He’s four years older than me. But in terms of acting experience, I’m his senior.”
Among actors of similar age to Kang Yebin, not many were her seniors.
This was thanks to Kang Yebin starting her acting career very early, when she was young.
The same went for Choi Young-woo.
Kang Yeyoung, who had been listening to the conversation about the senior-junior relationship, showed interest.
“So, does he call you ‘Sunbaenim’?”
“He did at first. But as we got closer while filming the movie, now I call him ‘Young-woo oppa’.”
“Oh my, oh my. What~! Oppa? Now that you mention it, Unnie, you even filmed a kiss scene with Young-woo sunbae.”
“Well, it’s acting.”
Kang Yeyoung’s eyes sparkled as she brought up the kiss scene.
“Even if it’s acting, don’t you feel your heart pound or something like that when you kiss each other? Huh?”
“Why are you so interested in that? Anyone would think you’re going through puberty.”
“I’ve always wondered whenever a kiss scene appeared in dramas or movies. Don’t actors get super excited or something when they film those?”
Kang Dae-oh, seemingly curious himself, perked up his ears to his daughters’ conversation while pretending not to be.
At first, he felt a sense of rejection when he thought about his daughter kissing a stranger, but…
Since it was acting, Kang Dae-oh decided to understand and accept it as much as possible.
Min Seung-yeon, on the other hand, was cool about such matters.
She had even nagged Kang Dae-oh a few times, telling him not to worry so much about their daughter when it came to work, as it wasn’t a romantic relationship.
Kang Yebin let out a deep sigh.
“Do I really have to tell you that?”
“Yes!”
“Why?”
“Because I’m curious!”
“Haa.”
Kang Yebin scratched her head.
“Before I regressed… my heart pounded a lot when I filmed my first kiss scene. But now, I don’t feel anything.”
No matter how heart-pounding something is, if it’s repeated, one eventually adapts to it.
Moreover.
“When you film a kiss scene in front of countless staff members, the pounding in your heart just disappears.”
“What? There’s no romance.”
“I’m sorry for telling you an unromantic story.”
Saying she had nothing more to say, Kang Yebin lay back down on the sofa.
His daughters would also one day get married and start their own families.
When that time came, Kang Dae-oh wondered what emotions he would feel, and at the same time, he felt a pang of sadness,
He hoped that day would come as late as possible.
Kang Dae-oh refocused his gaze on the TV.
To celebrate ‘Hello, Bin’ surpassing 10 million viewers.
Kang Yebin stood in front of the camera with Choi Young-woo to film an interview.
Choi Young-woo, who had arrived at the scene first, greeted Kang Yebin.
“Yebin-ah, long time no see.”
“You came early, oppa. What time did you arrive?”
“Me? Not long ago. About… 10 minutes ago?”
Choi Young-woo always tended to arrive early on set.
The same went for Kang Yebin. Thanks to the two lead actors arriving promptly on set without delay, filming was always completed on time.
Like Kang Yebin, Choi Young-woo also took great pride in his work as an actor.
And he was diligent.
Because the two shared similar tendencies, there were only slight differences in opinion regarding acting during the filming period, but no major troubles beyond that.
Soon after, an interview shoot targeting them began.
The reporter first posed a question to them regarding ‘Hello, Bin’ becoming a 10-million-viewer movie.
“Before the movie was released, did you anticipate that it would achieve the milestone of 10 million viewers? Mr. Young-woo, please answer first.”
“Honestly… I didn’t anticipate it. Of course, I always thought it would be wonderful if it did well. But to surpass 10 million? I couldn’t even imagine that. And it’s not easy for a romance movie to exceed 10 million viewers, is it? I think that’s why it was even harder to predict.”
This time, the microphone was passed to Kang Yebin.
Kang Yebin gave a completely different answer from Choi Young-woo.
“I expected it to surpass 10 million from the very beginning.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes.”
“In what way did you feel that?”
“The filming process itself was incredibly smooth. And the director was delighted, saying that he got almost 99 percent of the picture he wanted. I also monitored the footage after each shoot, and I had a really good feeling about it. There wasn’t any physical evidence or concrete proof that it would surpass 10 million, but I was pretty confident.”
Actors sometimes get a rough idea of how well a movie will perform while filming. There’s a moment when they get a feel for it.
Kang Yebin felt that moment.
That’s why she could speak with such confidence.
“Ms. Yebin, you’ve already appeared in many 10-million-viewer movies. How do you feel about it? Is it familiar, or is it new every time?”
“I think it’s the latter. Regardless of the box office performance, filming a movie can’t be the same every time. The filming methods vary depending on the genre, and the process is also completely different depending on the directors’ styles. That was the case with this project too. Plus, it’s getting good reactions overseas. I think it will be remembered as a very meaningful work for me in many ways.”
“Since we’re on the topic of overseas, I wanted to ask something. You’ve been sweeping awards at various ceremonies and frequently interviewing with international media. Ms. Yebin, your English skills are incredibly good, aren’t they?”
Kang Yebin smiled shyly and thanked the reporter.
Just then, Choi Young-woo pointed at Kang Yebin as if he had something to say.
“Yebin’s English pronunciation is also amazing. I thought she was a native speaker.”
“Surely, Ms. Yebin, did you study English with overseas expansion in mind?”
Kang Yebin revealed her thoughts with a meaningful smile and the answer, ‘Well, I wonder.’
While they were having such an enjoyable interview shoot, the reporter posed an additional question to them.
“There’s an opinion circulating among overseas fandoms. They’re saying, ‘Aren’t Kang Yebin and Choi Young-woo actually in a romantic relationship?’”
The two shook their heads simultaneously.
“That’s not true.”
“Yebin is right. We are not in that kind of relationship. But why are such rumors spreading?”
The reporter continued, looking at her cue sheet.
“Many people think your acting looks so real that it’s not acting. That’s why rumors are circulating that you might actually be dating.”
Kang Yebin chuckled softly and revealed her thoughts.
“I’ll take that as a compliment that we acted that well.”
From an actor’s perspective, there was no greater praise.
However, the problem was that this story didn’t end there.
Having achieved successful expansion into Japan, Kang Dae-oh focused on aggressively increasing branches by investing more human resources.
Thanks to this, Kang Dae-oh’s already extensive workload doubled.
Despite this, Kang Dae-oh didn’t feel tired at all.
‘Being frantically busy like this is a hundred, a thousand times better than when I was running the cafe by myself.’
Back then, he was consumed by worries about whether he should close the cafe and look for a new job.
It’s better for the body to suffer than for the mind to suffer.
‘Should I start wrapping things up and head home?’
Before that, Kang Dae-oh checked the chat room where his family gathered.
Suddenly, Kang Yeyoung posted an article with the phrase, ‘Breaking News!’
The moment he saw the article title, Kang Dae-oh’s pupils widened.
[Kang Yebin, Choi Young-woo. Could they actually be in a romantic relationship?]
That one thing that every celebrity is mentioned for at least once.
It was a scandal article.
