Episode 11. Child Actor Debut (3)
The cafe run by Kang Dae-oh was bustling with many customers from the morning, perhaps because it had recently gained popularity thanks to Kang Yera.
“Sajangnim. We’d like… one iced Americano and one pistachio frappe, so two drinks in total. And… are the Java chip cookies already sold out?”
“Yes. I apologize. All the stock went out this morning.”
“Then there’s nothing we can do.”
The female customer reluctantly consoled her disappointment and ordered a different dessert than the one she originally intended to eat.
What happens when an order is finished?
Another order comes pouring in.
Kang Dae-oh was so busy that he felt like he had become a machine that only took orders.
It didn’t end there.
After taking orders, he now had to prepare drinks and desserts accordingly and serve them to customers.
Just a few days ago, Kang Dae-oh had handled all of these tasks by himself, but today was different.
“Seo-jun! Look, those two by the entrance, you see them? You can take this tray to their table.”
“Yes, Sajangnim!”
A tall young male student carried the tray Kang Dae-oh handed him and walked towards the hall.
“Excuse me. Your drinks have arrived.”
“Oh my, is he a new part-timer?”
Lee Seo-jun gave a short nod in response to the customer’s question.
“Yes. I haven’t been working here long.”
“Does the sajangnim here treat you well?”
Lee Seo-jun nodded again and replied that he did.
“He’s kind when teaching me the work. He teaches me everything meticulously, so I understand it right away. I’ve worked at many cafes myself, but I think this place with Kang Dae-oh sajangnim is better than famous cafe brand stores.”
“You can tell right away that the sajangnim here is a good person by how he raises his children.”
The mothers sitting at the same table also nodded, repeatedly saying, ‘Exactly, exactly.’
The most common thing Lee Seo-jun had heard while working here was that ‘the sajangnim is a good father.’
“I haven’t met the sajangnim’s children yet… I’d really like to meet them someday.”
At that moment, Kang Dae-oh chuckled and said to Lee Seo-jun.
“You’ll see them soon anyway. They said they’d come later.”
No sooner had Kang Dae-oh finished speaking.
Ding-a-ling! With a sound, Min Seung-yeon and Kang Yebin appeared in the store.
“Oh my, Yera’s eomma!”
“Did she come with Yebin?”
Min Seung-yeon, who had unintentionally become a central figure among mothers thanks to Kang Yera, said yes and picked up Kang Yebin, who had toddled behind her.
“Yebin. Say hello, okay?”
“Hello—!”
Kang Yebin’s cute greeting melted the hearts of the mothers.
“Oh my! How can she greet so smartly?”
“As expected of Yera’s dongsaeng.”
“Didn’t you say Yebin also learned to walk and talk really fast?”
“Aren’t both sisters geniuses? Our second child was born a month before Yebin, but she still only says ‘this, that, this one!’”
Kang Yebin used many words and expressions, no less than adults.
Both Kang Yera and Kang Yebin. Since they both showed the same growth rate, it was only natural for the mothers to find it amazing.
They firmly believed that the driving force behind the sisters’ rapid growth was Min Seung-yeon and Kang Dae-oh’s child-rearing methods.
“Yera’s eomma. Please tell us later what kind of education you gave your children while raising them.”
“We want to learn your secret.”
Min Seung-yeon showed a troubled expression.
Because.
Her daughters had grown up well on their own, without any special secrets.
Min Seung-yeon, who had unintentionally become the mothers’ ‘wannabe’ again today.
Kang Dae-oh stepped in to help his flustered wife.
“Yeobo. Isn’t it almost time for our appointment?”
“Ah, yes. That’s right.”
“Then shall we go? We have an appointment, so we’ll be leaving first. Please enjoy yourselves comfortably. If you need anything, just tell Seo-jun.”
Kang Dae-oh, after excusing himself to the mothers, took off the apron with his cafe’s name embroidered on it and left with Min Seung-yeon and Kang Yebin.
The place Kang Dae-oh led his family to was another cafe a few minutes away.
Even though it could be considered a rival store for Kang Dae-oh.
“Let’s go in.”
He rather said that this place was better in the current situation and led his family inside the store.
Then.
“Oh, over here!”
A man who had arrived earlier and secured a spot, waiting for them, raised his hand to indicate his location.
At the table, not only the man but also three men and women who came with him stood up from their seats to greet Kang Dae-oh’s family.
The man handed Kang Dae-oh his business card and introduced himself.
“You must be Yebin-yang’s abeonim, correct? Nice to meet you. I am Kim Gab-young.”
Director Kim Gab-young had previously suggested that he wanted to have a serious discussion about Kang Yebin later and asked if Kang Dae-oh could spare some time.
This was why this meeting was arranged today.
Originally, he had said he wanted to visit Kang Dae-oh’s cafe, but the store was quite small. And since it seemed like an important conversation would take place, Kang Dae-oh’s side, just in case, first suggested to Director Kim Gab-young that there was a larger cafe nearby and they should meet there.
That place was here.
Director Kim Gab-young introduced the people who came with him to Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon.
“These are the writers who work with me. When I told them about Yebin, they insisted I was a liar, asking how a child not even two years old could know about filming techniques like mise-en-scène. So, to clear my name, I brought them here directly.”
Kang Dae-oh nodded, as if fully understanding, and said.
“It’s natural for ordinary people not to believe it.”
But Kang Yebin was different.
Kang Yebin smiled brightly and asked the writers.
“What should I tell you? I told you about mise-en-scène last time… dissolve? montage?”
“……???”
The writers couldn’t believe their ears.
Because it wasn’t an accent of someone just casually blurting out words they happened to hear.
Kang Yebin acted as if she truly knew directional techniques like dissolve and montage.
“Excuse me, um… you said she’s not even two years old yet, right?”
Kang Dae-oh nodded in response to the young writer’s question.
“Yes, that’s right.”
“No, how on earth…”
When one witnesses something thought impossible with their own eyes, they are engulfed in great panic.
Director Kim Gab-young had already experienced this during the stage greeting, so he knew very well how shocked the writers must be feeling now.
“See? I told you it was true, didn’t I?”
“Perhaps Yebin’s abeonim and eomeonim were people who worked in the film industry?”
Then there’s a possibility that the child learned film-related terms through them as she grew up.
However, Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon shook their heads simultaneously, as if they had agreed to it.
“I’m just an ordinary housewife.”
“I used to work at a company, and now I’m a self-employed business owner.”
They thought asking about Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon’s professions would provide an answer.
But the difficulty of the riddle only increased.
Director Kim Gab-young continued the conversation towards the writers, who still had question marks lingering, as if to say it wasn’t a big deal.
“The important conversation starts now. Let’s just skip the minor details.”
“Yes, understood.”
Director Kim Gab-young drained the half-finished iced Americano in one gulp.
At his sight, Kang Dae-oh’s gaze narrowed slightly.
Before coming here, Kang Dae-oh had heard several pieces of information about Director Kim Gab-young from Kang Yebin.
One of them was this:
Director Kim Gab-young would empty his drink in one gulp and wet his throat like that before changing the subject of conversation.
‘It seems like the main topic is about to come up now.’
He was curious why they had been asked to meet.
No, to be precise, why Kang Yebin had been asked to meet.
“To be straightforward… I’ve received investment from an OTT company this time and decided to produce a piece of content. I plan to film the work as a season series, and I contacted you, abeonim and eomeonim, because I want to cast Yebin as a child actor in it.”
At the mention of ‘child actor,’ Kang Dae-oh and Kang Yebin’s gazes quickly met.
Kang Yebin subtly curled one corner of her mouth.
It was as if she was saying:
‘My prediction was right, wasn’t it?’
Before coming here, Kang Yebin had predicted that Director Kim Gab-young would request this meeting to cast her.
Her daughter’s prediction had been 100 percent accurate.
However, he was also curious about something else.
Kang Dae-oh had also done his own research on Director Kim Gab-young.
But one peculiar detail in his resume caught his eye.
It was this:
“From what I’ve researched, Director-nim is famous for not using child actors.”
He had already confirmed this with Kang Yebin as well.
So it was even stranger.
Why did he offer a child actor role to his second daughter?
And knowing this, how did Kang Yebin predict that Director Kim would cast her?
Kang Yebin had answered this way:
‘Wouldn’t it be better to hear that directly from the Director-nim?’
A wry smile spread across Director Kim Gab-young’s face.
“Yes, that’s right. Then I should first explain why I don’t cast child actors.”
That would be the correct order of things.
Director Kim Gab-young subtly gave a look to one of the writers.
The writer then, as if accustomed to it, stood up to order an additional drink for him.
They also knew Director Kim’s habit of finishing his drink whenever he changed the subject.
“It’s not for a grand reason. Child actors, especially those as young as Yebin, are hard to control. That causes filming to be constantly delayed… and I’ve been badly burned by this a few times.”
Director Kim took a large gulp of his drink, then gave an example of something he had actually experienced during filming.
“I set aside a day, but I had to film the same scene for three days straight, so I ate humble pie from the location staff and actors, apologizing for days on end. At that time, it was truly… a living hell. And because I experienced this when I was a rookie director, the word ‘child actor’ has remained a trauma for me ever since.”
Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon both nodded simultaneously, expressing understanding as if it was completely plausible.
Director Kim said with a determined expression.
“But during the stage greeting, seeing Yebin speak so articulately gave me courage. I thought, ‘If I work with Yebin, perhaps I can overcome this trauma related to child actors.’”
Kang Dae-oh exchanged glances with Kang Yebin once more.
After confirming Kang Yebin’s reaction, a short nod.
He replied to Director Kim:
“You will certainly achieve that.”
A bright smile spread across Director Kim’s face upon hearing Kang Dae-oh’s words.
