Episode 53. Youth (2)
News that Kang Dae-oh visited the store to commemorate the grand opening of Youth’s first branch quickly spread through SNS.
Hearing this, In Future fans who were nearby flocked to Youth’s first branch in an instant.
Kang Dae-oh decided to hold a simple fan service event for the customers who had gone out of their way to come.
“Elder.”
Kang Dae-oh called Choi Bok-hyun, who was still busy working.
At Kang Dae-oh’s words, Choi Bok-hyun peeked his head out and reacted.
“Yes, Representative-nim.”
“The customers want to take a picture of the Elder and me. Standing side by side. Could you come out for a moment?”
“Oh my, me?”
“Yes. Aren’t you the main character here, Elder?”
Although Kang Dae-oh holds a higher position.
The biggest reason why the senior cafe, Youth, could be so successful from its opening day was precisely thanks to Choi Bok-hyun.
Choi Bok-hyun wore an embarrassed expression but couldn’t bring himself to refuse Kang Dae-oh’s request.
As he came out into the hall, the movements of people holding smartphones became even busier.
Kang Dae-oh posed shoulder to shoulder with Choi Bok-hyun.
“Shall we do something like a finger heart?”
“How do you do that?”
“Like this…… Just follow me.”
“Oh, so there was something like this.”
Since both of them were quite distant from the younger generation’s trends, striking poses that would satisfy them was more difficult than expected.
Nevertheless, they were trying their best to meet their expectations.
The efforts of the two middle-aged men left a deep impression of emotion on the customers.
Even though they could have left the scene quickly at any time, using busyness as an excuse.
Instead, Kang Dae-oh’s actions of staying much longer than scheduled, considering his fans, drew enthusiastic cheers from the people.
Kang Dae-oh smiled faintly at them and said.
“Please take good care of Youth and our Elder Choi Bok-hyun in the future. Please visit us often. This is a promise with me. Got it?”
“Yes―!”
“It’s close to my house, so I’ll come every day!”
“Me too!”
For Kang Dae-oh, they were both his fans and soon his customers.
Watching the people say they would visit the store diligently as Kang Dae-oh wished.
Kang Dae-oh was also moved.
He looked at the sign with the cafe’s name written on it and thought.
[Senior Healing Cafe, Youth]
‘Healing cafe, indeed.’
It was a store very faithful to its concept.
As the senior cafe, Youth, began opening branches one by one in each region, Amare simultaneously launched an aggressive marketing campaign.
When it came to Amare’s representative advertising models, certain people immediately came to mind.
Kang Dae-oh’s three daughters. Kang Yera, Kang Yebin, and Kang Yeyoung.
Originally, they would take turns, with one acting as a solo model for a set period each season.
This time, unusually, they planned to have all three daughters work as models simultaneously during the same period.
As part of the preparatory work, Kang Dae-oh visited the filming location of his three daughters.
All three children were posing in front of the camera, wearing cafe uniforms.
The camera director instructed the three.
“Could you get a little closer? With a friendly feeling.”
“Like this?”
With Kang Yera in the center, Kang Yebin positioned herself on the left, and Kang Yeyoung on the right, pressing their bodies close to their unnie in the middle.
Just from their close physical contact, it was immediately clear how close the sisters were.
“Yes, perfect! I’ll take a few more shots just like that!”
Vice President Yoo In-seok, who was observing the filming site, slowly nodded his head and looked at the three sisters with a ‘just as expected’ expression.
“You all still have such good sisterly affection. It’s nice to see.”
In response, Kang Dae-oh gave a wry smile and revealed an uncomfortable truth that Vice President Yoo In-seok did not know.
“Actually, the kids had a huge fight last night.”
“What? They fought……?”
Kang Dae-oh nodded again towards Vice President Yoo In-seok, who had an incredulous expression.
It wasn’t just a fight. Hearing Kang Dae-oh’s additional explanation that they had fought very seriously, Vice President Yoo In-seok couldn’t believe his eyes and ears.
“Then what on earth is that appearance right now……”
It was obvious.
“They’re acting.”
“They didn’t make up?”
“These days, when the kids fight, they don’t make up right away. When they were little, if their mom stepped in and told them ‘make up’ firmly, they’d reluctantly do it. But now that they’re all adults, they’ve become stubborn…… Even their mom can’t handle them. Haha.”
If things really don’t work out. At that point, their father, Kang Dae-oh, who is the last resort and means, has no choice but to step in directly.
Getting scolded by their mom had become something they were immune to, so it didn’t really affect the daughters much.
But their dad was different.
It’s always scarier when someone who is usually kind and gentle gets angry.
Kang Dae-oh was exactly that case for his daughters.
However, this was merely the very last resort, saved until the very end.
“Usually, they sort things out among themselves within 3 to 4 days.”
“Well, that’s…… By the way, it’s surprising. If they fought that seriously, even if it’s acting, it would surely show.”
“Because they’re all acting professionals.”
They all inherently possessed the passive ability to immediately put on a smile, no matter what they had gone through, as soon as they stood in front of the camera.
Sometimes, watching his daughters like that, Kang Dae-oh would think he wanted to learn it too.
Especially when he had to attend a meeting or conference feeling unwell.
If he learned that skill from his daughters, Kang Dae-oh thought he could put it to good use.
That was a bit regrettable.
As soon as the filming ended, the daughters, as if nothing had happened, turned their backs on each other, pretending to be strangers, and walked in different directions.
From the perspective of the staff, who had no idea the sisters had fought, they couldn’t help but wonder, ‘Why are they like that?’
Kang Dae-oh swallowed a bitter laugh inwardly and approached Kang Yera first.
“You worked hard, my eldest daughter.”
“It’s what I always do. It wasn’t difficult at all.”
“Filming together while fighting with your younger sisters was different from what you always do, wasn’t it?”
“That’s……”
Kang Yera trailed off her words.
Seeing Kang Yera let out a deep sigh, Kang Dae-oh silently patted her back.
“In times like this, it’s good for the eldest unnie to step forward and show by example. They are all your younger sisters, after all. Aren’t they?”
In terms of maturity, Kang Yebin was more mature than Kang Yera, but Kang Yera always properly showed her unnie-like qualities at important moments.
That’s why Kang Yebin and Kang Yeyoung both usually trusted and followed Kang Yera.
Although minor complaints always seemed to arise.
Still, the feeling that unnie is unnie was strong.
At this moment, Kang Dae-oh was hoping for this side of Kang Yera to emerge.
Eventually, Kang Yera nodded heavily.
“Alright. I’ll be the first to suggest making up.”
“That’s a good thought. Shall Dad go with you?”
“No. This is our matter. We’re not children, we can’t rely on Dad forever, can we?”
She was right.
As Kang Yera left, Vice President Yoo In-seok, who had been quietly overhearing the father-daughter conversation, reacted as if he understood how Kang Dae-oh led his daughters to reconcile.
“So, Representative-nim’s gentleness moves your daughters’ hearts.”
“Gentleness…… Honestly, I don’t really know. I always feel sorry that I haven’t been able to pay much attention to my children due to work. So, I try to always be gentle with them whenever possible.”
“That’s a common concern shared by all fathers working in South Korea.”
“Is that true for you too, Vice President-nim?”
“It’s true for me too. Even now that my children are all married off. This feeling probably won’t disappear for my entire life.”
Vice President Yoo In-seok’s words left Kang Dae-oh with much to think about.
Lately, Kang Dae-oh had been feeling a slight sense of doubt about getting older.
The same went for Vice President Yoo In-seok.
Perhaps because he had recently been pushing the senior cafe project, he clearly realized that his current self was very different from his younger self.
There were things that started to become visible as he aged.
Conversely, the things he couldn’t do were also gradually increasing.
Later on, he might even lack the energy to mediate between his daughters like this.
This thought made Kang Dae-oh feel a slight sense of melancholy.
‘I guess I’ve definitely gotten old.’
He never imagined his emotions would fluctuate because of something like this.
After his daughters’ commercial shoot, Kang Dae-oh returned to the company and handled the remaining work.
“Vice President-nim. How is persuading the Elder going?”
“You’re talking about the commercial shoot, right?”
Originally, he thought it would be good if Choi Bok-hyun also came forward as a representative for Youth’s promotion.
Since his face was well-known through broadcasts, people wouldn’t wonder, ‘Who is that old man?’
However, Choi Bok-hyun himself refused this matter.
His reason was that his dream was to start a business, not to stand in front of a camera.
Vice President Yoo In-seok nodded briefly.
“It seems his thoughts are gradually changing recently.”
“That’s a relief.”
“It seems he’s slowly coming around after I had a few drinks with him.”
“You’re going through a lot of trouble, Vice President-nim.”
“Not at all. It’s not easy to meet friends while getting old together. He even says he’s glad he met me and that we should be friends in private.”
“That’s good.”
He hoped that Choi Bok-hyun would not regret joining hands with Amare in any way.
Vice President Yoo In-seok, who was looking at Kang Dae-oh, suddenly dropped these words.
“How about leaving work early today?”
“Me?”
“Yes. You seem to be deep in thought today. It’s best to rest when you feel like this.”
Kang Dae-oh quietly accepted Vice President Yoo In-seok’s words.
“That would be good. Understood. I’ll head home then.”
“See you tomorrow, Representative-nim.”
Kang Dae-oh, having left the company, headed straight home.
As Vice President Yoo In-seok said, it seemed better to do nothing and rest today.
However.
As soon as he entered the house, his daughters greeted Kang Dae-oh.
“Dad!”
“You came at just the right time. We’re having a party tonight to celebrate making up. Dad will join us, right?”
“Because it would be sad if Dad wasn’t there!”
Looking at his energetic daughters, Kang Dae-oh suddenly had a thought.
Although Kang Dae-oh had felt a slight sense of lethargy about getting older.
This current situation, where he could see his daughters’ bright smiles, might be a blessing rather than a misfortune.
There’s no need to feel depressed about getting older.
What does it matter when his daughters are smiling so brightly right before his eyes?
“Of course. I’ll go change my clothes.”
“Yes!”
Kang Dae-oh’s heavy footsteps became light again, as if he were young.
