Episode 16. The Best School Festival Ever (1)
These days, Kang Dae-oh had one worry.
It hadn’t even been a year since he expanded and relocated his store.
His worry was whether he should move the store to the next location already.
There was a reason.
“There are too many customers.”
At Kang Dae-oh’s words, Lee Seojun nodded, showing deep empathy.
Even though they had hired additional part-timers, the leisure Lee Seojun had hoped for was still gone, with no intention of returning.
Since the interview video of Kang Dae-oh’s family became a big topic online, the number of customers visiting the cafe had increased exponentially.
Kang Dae-oh had thought it would end as a temporary phenomenon and felt relieved, but…
“It seems like the number of customers has increased even more…”
Something was strange.
However, to Choi Sein, it didn’t seem strange at all.
“Isn’t it because of the owner’s coffee taste that the customers have increased?”
Lee Seojun gave Choi Sein a thumbs-up.
“Oh, Sein-ssi. You’re good at social life, aren’t you?”
“It’s not about social life… I genuinely feel that the coffee the owner makes is incredibly delicious. Honestly, I don’t think there’s a better welfare benefit than being able to taste the coffee here as much as you want. It’s that good.”
Choi Sein’s lies are immediately obvious.
She knows this very well too.
So, Choi Sein rarely lies if she can help it.
The same was true when she spoke about Kang Dae-oh’s coffee taste.
She truly thought that way in her daily life, just as she had said.
Customers who had come once drawn by his fame, like Choi Sein, were drawn by Kang Dae-oh’s coffee taste and unknowingly became regulars.
With word-of-mouth added to this, customers had not stopped coming since the broadcast aired.
This was the truth.
Kang Dae-oh scratched his head with an embarrassed expression.
“It seems my hard work and study on coffee have paid off.”
When someone recognizes such efforts.
There would be nothing as pleasant as this.
However, apart from this.
He also had to consider the additional expansion and relocation of the store.
Lee Seojun asked Kang Dae-oh about his worries.
“What will you do about the premium? You haven’t had this store for long, have you?”
“I calculated it assuming customers continue to flock in like now. It would be profitable to move the store to a larger place even if I forgo the premium.”
He would definitely take his regular customers with him.
This was the basic premise underlying Kang Dae-oh’s predictions.
“Anyway, I’ll think about this more. And even if we do move the store, don’t worry too much. We’ll move to the same area as our current store.”
From the perspective of the employees, it was a sensitive issue involving a change in their commuting route, so they would naturally be concerned.
Kang Dae-oh planned to consider the next store relocation issue, taking their circumstances into account.
Of course, before that.
There was a step he absolutely had to go through.
‘I should ask the kids once.’
He felt that if he sought advice from his daughters, who knew memories of the future, about where to move the store, he could make a better decision.
Especially among his daughters.
‘Yeyeong’s words will be very helpful.’
A short while ago, just a few months after signing the contract as his youngest daughter had said, the new city’s reconstruction and redevelopment plan was officially announced.
Thanks to this, the real estate industry was abuzz for a while.
Kang Dae-oh’s family encountered a huge piece of good news as soon as they moved.
The day after the news broke, the real estate agent who had shown properties with Kang Dae-oh contacted him.
Asking if he had signed the contract knowing it beforehand.
Kang Dae-oh drew a clear line, saying it was just a coincidence, but…
He couldn’t completely erase the real estate agent’s suspicion.
There was only suspicion, no clear evidence.
The real estate agent had no further reason to suspect Kang Dae-oh.
Through this incident, Kang Dae-oh realized one thing.
‘It’s good to seek advice from my daughters about future events, but I should refrain from acting too obviously.’
Because there was no need to unnecessarily draw suspicion from people.
Secretly, quietly.
But it seemed best to act in a way that he could take all the benefits.
Kang Dae-oh nodded briefly and stood up first.
“It’s time for customers to decrease, so let’s start preparing to close. Everyone, let’s go home quickly.”
“Yes!”
When the word “퇴근” (leaving work), their favorite word, was mentioned, their expressions brightened.
The owner, Kang Dae-oh, was no different in liking to leave work.
‘I need to go see the kids’ faces quickly.’
His mind was already at the front door of his house.
Even though his daughters came from the future, their bodies were still those of young children.
Because of this, if it got late, they would naturally fall asleep even if they didn’t want to.
So, even when Kang Dae-oh went home, he usually only saw his daughters’ sleeping faces.
That was a bit disappointing, but…
‘Still, what can I do?’
Because he couldn’t force his daughters to stay awake until appa came home from work.
Swallowing his disappointment, Kang Dae-oh stood in front of the front door of their newly moved house and carefully pressed the password.
Ding-dong! With the sound, he slowly, slowly opened the heavy front door.
But then.
An unexpected sight unfolded before Kang Dae-oh’s eyes.
“Huh? What? Kids, you weren’t sleeping?”
The children and Min Seung-yeon were all gathered in the expanded living room.
Min Seung-yeon nodded and pointed at Kang Yera.
“Yera said she has a school festival at the end of this month. She’s practicing for it.”
At the mention of the school festival, Kang Dae-oh remembered something he had momentarily forgotten.
When they had just moved into their new house.
In the evening, Min Seung-yeon had told Kang Dae-oh this:
That they were preparing for the school festival, and Yera had taken on the main role in the chorus performance that all the children were preparing together.
A chorus performance is an indispensable and essential part of a school festival.
Since her daughter was at the center of it, it was natural for a mother to be happy.
Kang Dae-oh vividly imagined Min Seung-yeon puffing out her chest in front of the kindergarten parents.
The school festival they had talked about back then was already just around the corner.
Kang Yebin fixed the smartphone she had borrowed from her mom onto a small tripod and said,
“I pressed the record button.”
Kang Yebin maintained an expression as if she was having a moment of enlightenment, wondering what kind of nonsense this was late at night.
On the other hand, Kang Yera was still full of enthusiasm even though the sun had set a long time ago.
“Record it well. We’ll monitor it later.”
“Anyone who sees this would think you’re a trainee doing a monthly evaluation at an entertainment agency.”
“It’s not entirely wrong, since I used to be like that.”
“Haa… Don’t take it so seriously.”
Kang Yebin had said it to express her feeling that they should just practice moderately, but…
Unfortunately, it seemed to not reach her unnie.
“Aah.”
After lightly clearing her throat.
She began passionately singing her solo part, which she would perform in the chorus.
Before moving, the soundproofing was almost non-existent, so even if they shouted a little, the neighbors upstairs and downstairs would immediately come over.
Their newly moved house wasn’t like that.
Of course, they still had to be careful, but Kang Yera didn’t seem to have any intention of neglecting her practice.
Kang Dae-oh quietly watched his eldest daughter singing.
Although it was a short part.
‘She sings well.’
He could immediately tell that her skill had improved even more than when she sang the animation theme song with Harin.
He even thought that if a junior singing contest were held nearby, Kang Yera would definitely win.
It wasn’t because she was his daughter.
Objectively speaking, Kang Yera’s vocal skills were in another class.
However, she herself seemed dissatisfied with her recent singing, repeatedly tilting her head.
“There’s a slight pitch error in Part B.”
“Pitch error? Appa didn’t feel anything like that at all.”
It wasn’t because Kang Dae-oh had an unrefined ear.
He truly didn’t notice any such hint.
Min Seung-yeon also showed the same reaction as Kang Dae-oh.
Kang Yera showed her recently recorded self to her mom and appa and began explaining.
“Look. This part here. I was supposed to raise it by about a semitone, but I sang it as it was.”
He could only barely notice it because Kang Yera pointed it out.
Even so.
“At this level, I think people wouldn’t even notice if you just passed it by.”
Kang Dae-oh wondered if there was really a need for such detailed corrections.
If this practice was in preparation for recording the animation theme song he worked on with Producer Na Jun-tae, then a meticulous process of identifying and correcting one’s own mistakes like this would be necessary, but…
“Isn’t it unnecessary to prepare so flawlessly for a school festival?”
Kang Dae-oh’s opinion was that it would be better to just rest during that time.
Kang Yebin also thought the same as her appa.
“Appa, you just said exactly what I was thinking. Please say something to unnie. I can’t even sleep because of unnie. I don’t know what she’s doing.”
Kang Yeyeong, exhausted from her big unnie’s practice, had fallen asleep sitting up, buying a ticket to dreamland.
Despite this, Kang Yera did not back down.
“Because the more feedback you get, the better it is.”
Only then did Kang Dae-oh understand why this situation had arisen.
“There’s still a lot of time until the school festival. So go to sleep for today.”
“No, I can’t. I’m still not good enough.”
“Eum…”
Kang Dae-oh wasn’t cold enough to bluntly tell his daughters off.
Because his heart was especially weak when it came to his daughters.
The fact that the children had gone through all sorts of hardships in the future made it even harder for him to say anything more.
At this moment.
A savior decided to step forward.
“Kang Yera.”
Min Seung-yeon’s gaze, which was usually only gentle and soft, changed.
“Stop now and go to sleep.”
“But I haven’t finished practicing yet…”
“Mommy told you to go to sleep, didn’t she? Are you going to disobey?”
“…”
The disciplinarian of this household was not Kang Dae-oh.
It was Min Seung-yeon.
At mommy’s murderous aura(?), Kang Yera finally lowered her tail.
“Okay. I’ll stop.”
“Don’t forget to brush your teeth before bed. Mommy will check everything.”
“…Yes.”
Thump-thump. Watching Kang Yera walk towards the bathroom, Min Seung-yeon let out a deep sigh.
“Ugh, really. When I see her like this, she truly is just a child.”
Kang Dae-oh secretly swallowed a wry smile while watching his wife shake her head.
When she first learned that her daughters were regressors from the future, she was very confused about how to treat the children.
But now, she seemed to have realized how to control the children.
‘As expected. Mommy is great.’
A mother who has adapted to her children is stronger than anyone.
And scary.
‘I should also be careful not to get scolded like the kids.’
Kang Dae-oh also vowed not to forget to brush his teeth before bed.
