Episode 12. The Third Princess (2)
Ahead of the expansion and relocation, Kang Dae-oh decided to close the shop for a week.
Anyway, a preparation period was needed to move equipment and belongings.
Since there were many things to do paperwork-wise, he thought it would be better to set a 1-week period and close the shop rather than ambiguously opening and closing it.
The person who liked the news of the shop closing the most was the part-timer, Lee Seojun.
“I wanted to work hard, sweating profusely. It’s a shame, boss.”
Kang Dae-oh made a bewildered expression.
“You don’t seem to know that your eyes are smiling, unlike what you’re saying.”
“Is it that obvious?”
“Yes, you rascal.”
However, Kang Dae-oh had no intention of scolding Lee Seojun much.
This was because if he were in Lee Seojun’s position, he would have obviously reacted the same way.
“Don’t forget to come to the shop next Wednesday. You know it’s the shop next door, not this one, right?”
“Yes, of course.”
“If anything happens, I’ll contact you right away. So don’t turn off your smartphone.”
“How can one live with a smartphone off these days? I can’t stand it.”
“Indeed, that’s true.”
Smartphones have become an indispensable necessity for modern people.
Thanks to them, there are advantages, but disadvantages were also clear.
‘My kids try not to sleep because they watch variety shows, dramas, and movies with this.’
Since he knew the true identities of his two daughters, he couldn’t tell them not to watch.
He found himself in a somewhat ambiguous position.
Lee Seojun packed his personal belongings and left the shop first.
“Then I’ll be going first, boss!”
“Alright. See you next week.”
“Yes!”
After sending Lee Seojun off first.
Kang Dae-oh looked at the boxes piled high in one corner and fell into deep thought for a moment.
When he first quit his company and opened the cafe, there were certainly days when he regretted not just living quietly as a salaried worker, as flies were the only customers.
However, his thoughts had completely changed now.
‘I did well to do it.’
Like Kang Yera and Kang Yebin, Kang Dae-oh also decided not to regret his choice and to run towards his goal until the end.
On the fifth day since deciding to close the cafe for a week.
Perhaps it was because he would be starting fresh in a new store in two days.
From the morning, Kang Dae-oh had to sweat profusely, going around everywhere in the hot weather for paperwork-related tasks.
As soon as he arrived home, Min Seung-yeon, who was diligently vacuuming, greeted her husband.
“You worked hard. Shall I get you something to drink?”
“I’d appreciate that.”
“What do you want to drink? Coffee?”
As a cafe owner, he usually drank coffee until he was sick of it.
However, the coffee his wife made had a special taste incomparable to anything sold in any other shop.
He didn’t know if it was because her affection for her husband was added as a seasoning.
But it was definitely delicious.
“Coffee sounds good. Please.”
“Alright. Just a moment.”
It wasn’t the kind made by putting capsules into a coffee machine.
She began to roast green beans (raw material) herself and prepare coffee just for her husband.
Min Seung-yeon started folding the paper for hand-drip extraction.
In the middle, her hands stopped.
“Honey. You taught me how to fold it into a conical shape, not a rhomboid. Can you show me again?”
“Just a moment.”
Still, in terms of expertise, Kang Dae-oh was a cut above Min Seung-yeon.
“See the seam edge here? You press this inwards to fold it, align the ends, and then fold it inwards again… and complete it with a pointed tip like this.”
“That’s amazing. No matter how much I try to follow, mine doesn’t fold this well.”
“You’ll get it after practicing a few times. You have good dexterity, so once you master it, you’ll probably do better than me.”
“Oh, come on. Still, I can’t beat a professional in the field.”
Both Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon are people whose hobby is coffee.
Just as Kang Dae-oh liked the coffee Min Seung-yeon made, Min Seung-yeon also liked her husband’s coffee.
This was also why she didn’t object but immediately expressed her approval when he first brought up the idea of quitting his company and starting a cafe.
“Now, you could take over the shop work instead of me, couldn’t you?”
Watching his wife extract the coffee beans, Kang Dae-oh subtly revealed his inner thoughts.
Then a bitter smile spread across Min Seung-yeon’s face once again.
“Don’t say such scary things. Both you and I. We have to live long while doing our work. That’s good for our babies too, isn’t it?”
“Of course.”
Thinking about it, Kang Dae-oh had never heard from his two daughters what his future self would be like.
Whether he lived a long and prosperous life.
Or if he met a miserable end.
In fact, there were plenty of opportunities to ask.
Nevertheless, the reason he didn’t bring it up was….
‘It was because I was scared.’
Just by hearing about how his daughters regressed, it seemed he hadn’t had a happy family life.
In this situation, whether the future Kang Dae-oh would have a happy ending as he usually imagined.
If you think about it simply, the answer comes quickly.
So he couldn’t bring himself to ask.
‘And I don’t intend to hear it.’
His future self and his current self are separate individuals.
Recalling that they were the same yet different, Kang Dae-oh was trying to find a path to a happy ending that he couldn’t find in other timelines.
One part of that effort was.
Having a third daughter.
Once he knew about the existence of the youngest daughter, Kang Dae-oh somehow wanted to have a third child.
So he had been agonizing for days.
About how to persuade his wife.
At this moment.
An unexpected remark came out of his wife’s mouth.
“Honey.”
“Huh? Why?”
“When you’re done with your coffee, shall we go for a drive?”
“Now?”
“Yeah. We finally have some time just for the two of us. It would be a waste to just let it pass, wouldn’t it?”
After their daughters were born, the two had never had a proper date.
If it wasn’t now, while the cafe was closed, it seemed unlikely they would easily get another chance in the future.
“Let’s do it. Is there anywhere you want to go?”
“Hmm… then let’s go there.”
“Where’s ‘there’?”
“Yongin. The place with the lake park. You remember, right?”
Yongin was the place where Kang Dae-oh first took Min Seung-yeon for a drive when he bought his first car.
It wasn’t extremely far from Seoul.
It seemed optimal to return in time for the children’s dismissal from school.
“Shall we leave right away then?”
“Okay. I’ll put the coffee in a thermos and bring it.”
“Alright.”
With this, Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon somehow felt like they were going on an outing together.
As they moved around following the date course, Kang Dae-oh naturally recalled old memories.
“Do you remember that place? That cafe.”
“Of course, I remember. That’s where you first told me you wanted to open a stylish cafe like that.”
That became the catalyst for him to walk the path of a self-employed person until now.
Min Seung-yeon stared intently at Kang Dae-oh and asked.
“Do you regret that decision now?”
“No, not at all.”
“Really? That’s a relief. I was more worried that you might regret making the wrong choice in the past, rather than the business not doing well or not making money.”
His wife’s words sounded exceptionally gentle today.
After enjoying their date at the lake park, eating a meal, and spending time at a cafe, it was soon time to go back.
Kang Dae-oh, who had gotten into the car, spoke with regret.
“Shall we come again later?”
“Again? When?”
“It would be good if we left the kids with our parents, picked a day, and went somewhere else to play for about a day.”
At the mention of spending the night, one corner of Min Seung-yeon’s mouth turned upwards.
That smile looked endlessly alluring.
Her slender finger suddenly poked at a sensitive (?) part on the inside of Kang Dae-oh’s thigh.
“If you want to, just say so.”
“No, even if we did, isn’t the time a bit awkward to get a motel?”
“Is there a need to even get a motel?”
“Huh?”
Min Seung-yeon said, unbuttoning one of her top buttons.
Then her fair skin was revealed.
“The car windows are properly tinted, right?”
“……”
Was it since they got married?
The time when his wife became more proactive than him, and the frequency increased.
