Episode 59. Our Daughters Were Regressors (1)
Business and broadcasting.
Kang Dae-oh, who was handling both jobs simultaneously, was spending the busiest days of his life lately.
No matter how busy he was, he always used to say, ‘How could I be busier than my daughters?’ But recently, it had become a situation where he couldn’t even say that as a formality, like before.
Objectively speaking, Kang Dae-oh had more schedules than Kang Yera, Kang Yebin, and Kang Yeyoung.
Even just looking at broadcasting, his schedule had increased so much that it was comparable to his three daughters, not lacking at all.
If you add his company work to that, it was literally to the point where 24 hours a day weren’t enough.
Perhaps that’s why.
Kang Dae-oh, in front of his friend Oh Myung-woon, who visited him after a long time, casually let out these words.
“I wish a day was 48 hours… no, 36 hours.”
Oh Myung-woon, hearing his friend’s lamenting wish, let out a chuckle with an incredulous expression.
“Hey, man. What are you going to do, just arbitrarily extend the day because you’re busy? 24 hours is enough for me.”
“Weren’t you busy lately too?”
“I am busy, but I’ve stepped back from the front lines now. These days, I just oversee and confirm. I’m finishing work at that level.”
“Is that so.”
“What about you? I heard just now that you’re still going around inspecting stores one by one, like you used to?”
“Well… that’s right.”
Kang Dae-oh wore a smile more bitter than coffee.
Oh Myung-woon, realizing that what he heard was true, clicked his tongue several times.
“We’re getting older now. You should gradually hand those things over to other people. What was his name… Seo-jun, he started working at the headquarters, not the main branch, since last year, and began managing all the stores, right?”
“Oh. That’s right. It was something I was doing. But now I don’t have the capacity, so I gave it to Seo-jun.”
“You can just tell Seo-jun to regularly patrol the stores too.”
“But, what can I say… maybe because it’s something I’ve always done, I can’t easily hand the work over to others.”
“Is it because you haven’t decided on the next successor to inherit the company?”
“I’ve decided that in my heart.”
“Huh? Who is it?”
“Our youngest daughter.”
Oh Myung-woon seemed greatly flustered, perhaps not expecting Kang Yeyoung’s name to be mentioned here.
“I wonder if Yeyoung will be able to manage the company well.”
“She can. She’s already done it many times.”
“Done it? When? At most, wasn’t it just setting up and running her own broadcasting studio?”
“There’s something to it.”
Before regressing to the past, Kang Yeyoung was both an influencer and a company CEO.
Since she had operated a company that managed money through investments, including real estate, there was no room to doubt Kang Yeyoung’s ability in terms of management.
No, perhaps Kang Yeyoung might even manage the company better than Kang Dae-oh did.
This was because Kang Dae-oh had also received training from Kang Yeyoung several times in the past.
However, as always, the fact of his daughters’ regression had to be kept top secret.
Therefore, Kang Dae-oh vaguely glossed over the secret Kang Yeyoung was hiding again today.
“Yeyoung. Does she intend to do it?”
“Yeah. She’s been coming to our company regularly since last week, learning the ropes.”
“Really? That’s surprising. So Yeyoung had talent in that area too.”
She doesn’t just have it, she excels at it.
This was because business was originally Kang Yeyoung’s main field.
Broadcasting was a side job.
That’s why Kang Yeyoung had previously stated that she wanted to put more emphasis on broadcasting rather than business in this life.
Since she seemed to have done enough broadcasting, to her heart’s content.
It was now time to return to her main profession.
Kang Dae-oh had even considered transferring some of his shares to some of the executives in the company if Kang Yeyoung had decided not to inherit his business.
Thanks to Kang Yeyoung’s decision, Kang Dae-oh’s worries completely disappeared.
Meanwhile, Oh Myung-woon envied Kang Dae-oh.
“That’s nice. I’m worried because my kids don’t seem to have any interest in beauty.”
“Because they’re sons.”
“Even men have a lot of interest in beauty these days. Anyway, it’s a worry, a worry. In that sense, how about we have a soju together today, for old times’ sake?”
Kang Dae-oh said, expressing his apologies.
“I have a shoot later, so I have to go. I’ll definitely make time later. Sorry.”
“Man. Even a popular celebrity wouldn’t be this busy.”
“Tell me about it.”
Kang Dae-oh himself thought the same.
But what could he do about being busy?
Kang Dae-oh apologized to Oh Myung-woon again and reluctantly got up from his seat.
“Hoo.”
Kang Dae-oh, who had spent time at the broadcasting station until late, got into the car driven by his newly hired manager.
The manager looked at Kang Dae-oh and spoke.
“You worked hard, CEO.”
“Tell me about it. I guess I’ve gotten old now. Before, even after finishing filming late at night, I had enough energy to drive home alone. Now, I don’t even have the strength for that.”
The manager let out a small laugh.
“Isn’t this the age where you should pay more attention to your health than work?”
“That’s true.”
When you get older, being healthy yourself is the best consideration you can give to your children.
Fortunately, both Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon had not yet contracted any major illnesses.
Min Seung-yeon was still maintaining her youth to the point where she looked like she was in her mid-30s.
On the other hand, the number of Kang Dae-oh’s gray hairs was increasing day by day.
“I guess nothing lasts forever in this world. Before, if a gray hair appeared, I’d just pop! it out, and that was it. But now, the first thought that comes to mind is, ‘If I pull all these out, won’t I go bald?’”
Kang Dae-oh had quite a lot of hair.
So he had never worried about hair loss before.
There’s no business against age. (Meaning: Age catches up to everyone.)
Kang Dae-oh, now in his 50s, felt the passage of time while looking in the mirror.
While conversing with his manager like that.
Before he knew it, he arrived at the house where he lived with his family.
As he opened the door and went inside, his daughters, along with his wife, greeted their dad.
“You worked hard, dad.”
“Surely you didn’t work until this hour again today, did you, dad?”
Kang Dae-oh nodded awkwardly at Kang Yeyoung’s nagging.
“It’s not company work. It’s broadcasting.”
“Broadcasting is work too, isn’t it?”
“That’s true.”
“Oh, really. You should be reducing your work, why are you increasing it?”
“Tell me about it. As I kept doing it, it just kept increasing.”
The company had been on a stable trajectory for a long time.
Amare, which had completely dominated the coffee brand industry in South Korea.
Now, it was extending its influence freely beyond Japan and China, to the United States and Europe.
Amare was always mentioned as the most successful South Korean franchise business in the US. This passage immediately showed how significant their overseas expansion achievements were.
Nevertheless, what should he say?
Kang Dae-oh didn’t want to stop like this.
He wanted to run forward until the very end, as long as he could.
Min Seung-yeon asked Kang Dae-oh.
“Do you want some coffee? Come and watch TV with the kids for a while…”
“Sorry. I have a schedule tomorrow morning too. I’m going to bed first.”
“…Alright.”
Min Seung-yeon suppressed her regretful feelings and let Kang Dae-oh go.
Kang Yera, who was quietly watching the scene, clicked her tongue.
“Our dad is a workaholic. Speaking of which, Yeyoung, you recently started taking over work from dad, right? How is it?”
As soon as the topic of handover came up, a deep sigh escaped Kang Yeyoung’s lips.
“I was so surprised as soon as I went there.”
“Why?”
“Well, you wouldn’t believe it. There was even more work piled up than when we just became adults. Dad wasn’t just busy for nothing. So I told him he didn’t need to do all these things personally. But our dad, he’s subtly stubborn, you know?”
“Of course I know.”
All the daughters nodded.
Meanwhile, Min Seung-yeon checked the calendar and spoke with a ‘just in case’ tone.
“Your dad. Surely he hasn’t forgotten that next week is his birthday, has he?”
“Dad could totally do that.”
“That’s right.”
The daughters replied with their own conviction.
At this moment, Min Seung-yeon uttered a meaningful remark.
“That’s a breach of contract.”
“Huh?”
“Breach of contract?”
To her daughters’ questions, Min Seung-yeon smiled brightly as if nothing had happened and said.
“It’s nothing.”
Today, too, Kang Dae-oh was having a hectic day.
Perhaps because of his age, he couldn’t help but feel that his stamina wasn’t recovering easily.
Nevertheless, Kang Dae-oh somehow dedicated himself to work to complete the tasks assigned to him today.
It was then.
Knock knock.
Along with the sound of knocking, Vice President Yu In-seok came to Kang Dae-oh’s office.
“CEO. I’ve brought what you asked for.”
“Thank you, Vice President.”
“……”
Vice President Yu In-seok silently looked at Kang Dae-oh.
Kang Dae-oh thought he still had something to say to him.
“Do you have anything else to say?”
“CEO. How about taking a break next Tuesday?”
“Tuesday?”
“Yes.”
“Is something happening then? It’s not the anniversary of the company’s founding…”
Kang Dae-oh re-checked the tightly packed schedules written on his calendar.
He wondered if he had missed any important schedules.
However, on this calendar, where letters and numbers were densely written.
There was one schedule that was uniquely not written.
That was.
“That day is your birthday, CEO.”
“……Ah.”
Only after Vice President Yu In-seok told him when his birthday was, Kang Dae-oh realized it belatedly.
“I didn’t even know it was my birthday.”
An awkward laugh escaped his lips.
However, Vice President Yu In-seok did not want to let this atmosphere pass with just a laugh.
“As I just said, it would be good for you to rest that day.”
“It’s fine. As I’ve gotten older, I don’t really have any strong feelings about my birthday. I’ll just come to work normally that day, so just like usual…”
“Your wife and daughters will be disappointed.”
“……”
For Kang Dae-oh, there was something more important than his own work.
It was about his wife and daughters.
Vice President Yu In-seok knew that well.
That’s why he intentionally mentioned his family.
“A birthday isn’t just an event for yourself. It’s a precious process of building memories with those who care about you, while receiving their congratulations. CEO. Didn’t you always tell me that family is your number one priority?”
“…That’s right.”
“Human time is not infinite. Once this time passes, the same time and situation will never come again. So please, cherish the opportunities you have to spend with your family.”
Kang Dae-oh, upon hearing Vice President Yu In-seok’s words, felt as if he had been struck hard on the back of the head with a heavy hammer.
Soon, Kang Dae-oh slowly opened his mouth.
“Thank you. Vice President. Thanks to you, I’ve come to my senses.”
You shouldn’t just walk looking straight ahead.
Sometimes, it’s necessary to look around you.
