Episode 16. The Best Ever School Performance (3)
Kang Dae-oh’s cafe, Amare, was bustling with many people today as well.
Especially during lunch and dinner hours, a particularly large number of people flocked in.
At these times, everyone, including Kang Dae-oh, the owner, and all the part-timers, remained on edge.
This was because there were so many customers that it was utterly chaotic.
If they didn’t stay alert at times like these, mistakes would occur one after another.
At first, Kang Dae-oh also made mistakes, such as confusing orders, several times.
Now, however, he seemed to be very accustomed to such situations, performing everything smoothly.
“Welcome!”
Five women entered the cafe, greeted by Kang Dae-oh’s energetic welcome.
One of them was Kang Dae-oh’s wife, Min Seung-yeon.
The rest were parents who often socialized with Min Seung-yeon, so Kang Dae-oh was familiar with them.
“Hello! Just in time, there’s exactly one seat left by the window over there. You timed it perfectly.”
“Oh my! You’re right?”
“Thank you for letting us know, Yera’s father.”
Kang Dae-oh knew very well that whenever they visited the cafe, they always insisted on a window seat as their top priority.
That’s why he deliberately recommended those seats to them.
Thanks to Kang Dae-oh’s thoughtful comment, smiles spread across the parents’ faces.
Min Seung-yeon decided to gather all the orders at once.
Perhaps because she was among the youngest of the parents, Min Seung-yeon often played the role of the youngest wherever she went.
Not long after.
The red light on the vibrating pager began to illuminate.
Min Seung-yeon and another parent came to pick up the ordered items.
Lee Seo-jun handed over two trays, taking over for the busy Kang Dae-oh.
“Your ordered drinks and desserts are ready.”
The parent who came with Min Seung-yeon tilted her head.
“Excuse me. We didn’t order cake.”
“Ah, this is a complimentary service from our owner.”
“Oh my, really? Yera’s father, thank you!”
From a distance, Kang Dae-oh sent a gentle smile and called out for them to chat to their heart’s content before leaving.
Since they were his wife’s acquaintances, not just anyone.
As a husband, he could do at least this much.
The other parents, who belatedly realized that Kang Dae-oh had given generous service, also sent him grateful looks.
“Yera’s mom is lucky.”
“Pardon? Why?”
“Yera’s father earns good money, doesn’t he? Every time we came to Amare, there was never a seat, so we’d stand and barely manage to drink a cup of coffee.”
Another parent added a spoonful of envy.
“And didn’t you move to a nice place? I heard the housing prices there skyrocketed this time.”
“It seems Yera’s father also has a talent for real estate.”
Min Seung-yeon could only manage an awkward smile at the showering praises for her husband.
Strictly speaking, the real estate success was thanks to Kang Yeyoung’s foresight, but if Kang Dae-oh hadn’t first realized and accepted his daughters’ true identities, they wouldn’t have received such benefits.
Considering everything, Kang Dae-oh’s contribution wasn’t small either.
In that sense, the saying ‘she married well’ was not wrong.
When mothers meet, no matter how the conversation starts, it always ends up revolving around their children.
They were no different.
“These days, Yoonseok seems tired when he comes home and falls asleep right away.”
“Oh my, my daughter is the same!”
“Seomin’s mom too? My kids are so quiet when they come home, it’s unbelievable.”
“I hear the kindergarten is really preparing for the school performance this time. From our perspective, it’s nice because the kids are tired, so we don’t have to play with them extra and can put them to bed right away.”
“But isn’t it a bit strange? The director of Heutsal Kindergarten has never been this serious about the school performance before.”
“That’s right. It felt like they were just preparing to show the parents a bit of the kids’ talents…”
The mothers repeatedly said it was strange, given the director’s 180-degree change in attitude.
Meanwhile, one mother spoke to Min Seung-yeon, who was unusually quiet today.
“Yera’s mom. Are you feeling unwell? Why are you so quiet?”
“Pardon? Oh, no. I just had something to think about.”
Min Seung-yeon knew perfectly well why the director’s attitude had changed.
The reason was none other than her own daughter, Kang Yera.
However, it felt like an atmosphere where she shouldn’t speak, so Min Seung-yeon decided to keep quiet.
“Well… maybe the director also has something in mind?”
“Is that so?”
The other mothers didn’t seem to quite understand.
However, not everyone failed to understand.
“Even if we don’t understand, they’re preparing diligently for a school performance that only happens once at this age. From our perspective, there’s nothing to lose, right?”
“Exactly. Just wait until the kids grow up a bit. They’ll replay the photos and videos from the performance infinitely. Wouldn’t it be better if the quality was good?”
“That’s right, that’s right.”
“And the kids seem to be enjoying it too.”
Fortunately, the other mothers tended to view this phenomenon positively.
Perhaps that’s why.
Min Seung-yeon felt less guilty (?).
Finally, the day of the school performance arrived.
Kang Dae-oh put his two daughters in the car, excluding Min Seung-yeon, who had contacted him saying she would go to the kindergarten first with the other mothers.
Unlike Kang Yebin, who now got into the car by herself without any fuss.
Kang Yeyoung still wasn’t used to walking by herself, so she needed some help from her dad.
“Here you go.”
“Thank you, Dad.”
“You’re welcome. Buckle up tightly. Yebin too. Got it?”
“Yes!”
Because if there was even a minor collision on the way, it would be a big problem.
From a parent’s perspective, raising children means safety first, and safety second.
While driving, Kang Dae-oh finally brought up a question he hadn’t been able to ask due to being busy until now.
“But how did Yera persuade the kindergarten teachers?”
Kang Yebin asked back, surprised.
“Dad, you haven’t heard yet? I thought unnie told you, so I deliberately didn’t say anything.”
“No, not at all. Whenever I asked, she just said, ‘I’ll tell you later.’”
Kang Yera has a subtle tendency to like surprise events.
The eldest daughter, full of secrets.
Because of this, her dad occasionally couldn’t sleep properly due to curiosity.
Kang Yeyoung also seemed to just realize that her unnie still hadn’t told their dad, showing a surprised reaction just like her second unnie.
“Anyway, unnie is amazing.”
Compared to her first and second sisters, Kang Yeyoung’s pronunciation was still not precise.
However, Kang Dae-oh could roughly understand her, so he didn’t specifically comment on it and moved on.
And besides, he was more curious about Kang Yera’s secret method for persuading the kindergarten teachers.
Kang Yeyoung tried to pass the baton to her unnie, saying it was hard for her to speak because her pronunciation kept slipping.
“This is when you should practice speaking.”
“……”
She was, on the contrary, hit with a counter from her unnie.
Kang Yeyoung sighed deeply and began to explain, diligently moving her cheeks.
“She persuaded them to film the school performance for the YouTube channel and upload it for promotion.”
“So that’s why the director is putting so much effort into the school performance?”
“Yes.”
For her struggling youngest sister, Kang Yebin began to elaborate.
“It seems unnie’s strategy is to create a never-before-seen school performance and get it featured on the algorithm. She’s even thought of a title already.”
“What is it?”
“It’s ‘The Best Ever School Performance, Revealed!’”
“But with YouTube algorithms, it’s not like it just gets popular just because you want it to, right? As far as I know, AI considers various factors to recommend videos, and so on…”
“An expert will take care of that.”
“Who is that expert?”
Kang Yebin pointed to Kang Yeyoung, who was next to her.
Kang Yeyoung herself was pointing to herself with her small hand.
“Yeyoung will personally tell them about things like thumbnails, keywords, video length, and editing points.”
“But even if Yeyoung tells them, will the teachers really accept it?”
It’s fine for Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon because they know their daughters are regressors.
But the kindergarten teachers aren’t like that. They wouldn’t listen to a baby who was born not long ago.
So Kang Yera decided to use her wits.
“Unnie lied and said that her uncle used to work as a YouTube editor and told them to entrust the video to him.”
“Ah… really?”
“Mom also went along with unnie’s words.”
“Indeed. They can’t just proceed by believing the kids’ words. So, my unemployed brother suddenly became a YouTube expert.”
A hollow laugh escaped him naturally.
Since things had come to this, he began to seriously consider whether to tell his youngest daughter to learn YouTube video editing and escape unemployment.
Having learned the full story of the incident, Kang Dae-oh was able to arrive at the kindergarten quickly while chatting with his children.
Was it because of the school performance?
“There’s nowhere to park.”
Perhaps because all the parents of the kindergarten students had come out, the surrounding traffic was pure chaos.
Just then, a mother of one of the children recognized Kang Dae-oh’s car and waved her hand, signaling his location.
“Yera’s father! Here, a spot just opened up! Park quickly!”
“Thank you, um… you’re Seomin’s mother, right?”
“That’s right!”
“You saved me thanks to that.”
“No problem. Last time when we visited the cafe, Yera’s father gave us a lot of cake as a service. Please think of this as a return for that.”
Kang Dae-oh realized once again that you have to give to receive.
Kang Dae-oh and his two daughters parked the car and headed towards the school performance venue.
In the middle, Kang Dae-oh called Min Seung-yeon.
“Honey. I’ve arrived at the kindergarten with the kids now, okay? Where should I go?”
―Come inside the kindergarten and follow the left corridor. Then you’ll reach the auditorium, okay? Come in and follow the seats down the left side, and you’ll see me.
“Alright. I’ll be right there.”
Perhaps because it was his first time seeing the kindergarten so chaotic, Kang Dae-oh was utterly overwhelmed.
At times like these, it’s best to be careful not to lose sight of the children.
“Yeyoung. Dad will hold you. Yebin, hold Dad’s left hand and follow.”
“Yes.”
Kang Yeyoung clung to her dad as if she wouldn’t leave his side.
Kang Yebin also held her dad’s rough hand, which was several times bigger than hers, and moved her small feet as quickly as possible, walking along.
Walking along the path Min Seung-yeon had told him about, the entrance to the auditorium appeared.
“That must be it.”
The moment he stepped inside.
“……!”
Kang Dae-oh doubted his eyes.
Along with all sorts of fancy decorations visible everywhere, there were even lighting equipment that looked like they belonged in a broadcasting station.
The quality seemed too good to be a school performance stage.
Kang Yebin also seemed dumbfounded, saying with an incredulous expression that she hadn’t known Kang Yera would make them prepare to this extent.
“To do it this much… unnie really went all out.”
To make up for the cost, it seemed like they’d need at least 500,000 views on YouTube.
Kang Dae-oh felt as if he could already hear the sound of his youngest daughter’s small shoulders getting heavier.
