Episode 18. First Vlog (1)
Due to preparations for another store expansion and relocation, Kang Dae-oh called together his part-time employees, including Lee Seo-jun, who had just become a full-time employee, and informed them of his future plans.
“The interior construction will be finished by the end of this month, so everyone can rest well until then and come to the new store on the 1st of next month.”
One of the part-timers raised their hand.
“Boss! What’s the location of the new store?”
Kang Dae-oh pointed beyond the store’s glass wall.
“See that intersection over there? If you turn right from there, it’s right there.”
“It’s really close!”
“Because there’s no need to move far away and abandon all our existing regulars.”
It was no exaggeration to say that Amare had almost completely taken over the commercial area in this vicinity.
In this situation, there was no need to take the risk of moving to an unfamiliar place.
Because in the world. No, in South Korea, there are still many large cafe brands.
To start as a neighborhood cafe and grow enough to compete with them, he first needed to expand his scale.
He knew from his daughters from the future that his rash judgments could lead to the worst outcome, scattering his family.
Because of this, he had no choice but to act even more cautiously.
Choi Se-in lightly clapped her hands, jjjak!, and said.
“I saw it every time I commuted. The new store building. It looked really good, boss? It seemed like you spent a lot of money.”
“If it’s an investment for a better future, it’s not a waste.”
At Kang Dae-oh’s words, the employees nodded simultaneously.
“You don’t know when you’ll get another long break like this, so everyone should plan a trip. Or you can just stay home with the air conditioning on and lounge around as much as you want.”
The employees’ faces were already filled with excitement and anticipation.
Lee Seo-jun, in turn, asked Kang Dae-oh about his vacation plans.
“Boss, what are your plans for your break?”
“I’m going to Jeju Island with my wife and kids. I’ve already bought the plane tickets. And… oh, right, there was something important.”
“What is it?”
Kang Dae-oh gave a wry smile.
“There’s something our youngest wanted me to buy.”
Since he had decided to participate in Kang Yeyoung’s Nertube plan.
He had to actively cooperate as promised.
The first day of the holiday.
Before leaving for Jeju Island tomorrow, Kang Dae-oh took his youngest and Kang Yera to a camera specialty store near his home.
“Oh…”
An exclamation, perhaps the umpteenth, flowed from Kang Dae-oh’s lips.
He had never seen so much filming equipment displayed in his life.
Perhaps because of that, everywhere he looked was full of wonder.
Unlike their father, the two daughters maintained an attitude as if this place was very familiar to them.
Especially for Kang Yeyoung, a place like this was almost like a place of memories.
“When I first started Nertube, I used to come to this store often.”
Kang Yera also remembered and briefly recounted old stories… from Kang Dae-oh’s perspective, she was unraveling a bag of future stories.
“When you first came here, didn’t you come with me?”
“That’s right. When I didn’t have money to buy equipment, unnie bought it for me.”
“That’s right. You did. I remember now.”
Kang Dae-oh patted the head of his admirable Kang Yera.
“You’re amazing, our Yera. You wouldn’t have had money back then, right?”
Where would an unknown idol have money?
Thinking of Kang Yera, who must have emptied her pockets for her younger sister despite being in a difficult situation, he felt a deep lingering emotion of gratitude.
But this emotion didn’t last long.
“Later, when I started earning some money from Nertube, she did tell me to pay her back three times the amount, including interest.”
“……”
Kang Dae-oh almost blurted out something in that moment.
‘Give me back my feelings!’
Kang Yera started her own defense.
“E-even between family, money matters need to be, um, handled clearly.”
That’s true, but.
Still, the wry smile spreading across Kang Dae-oh’s face was unavoidable.
When Kang Yeyoung expressed her desire to restart Nertube activities to Kang Dae-oh, she had something additional to say.
Kang Dae-oh, who was looking around the display shelves with his daughters, brought up a related topic.
“You said you’d film videos in Jeju Island, edit them, and upload them to your Nertube channel, right?”
Kang Yeyoung nodded several times.
“Yes. That will probably be the first video on my channel.”
If Kang Yeyoung had been able to communicate like this from birth, she would have told Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon to film many parenting vlogs of her since she was a newborn.
This is because there’s a considerably high demand for parenting Nertube videos.
Furthermore, parenting vlogs are time-limited.
Because they can only be filmed when the child is in their cute infancy or toddler years.
So, Kang Yeyoung intended to diligently capture her cute self and her unnies on video, starting now, through Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon.
The reason they came to the store today was to prepare for this.
A staff member approached Kang Dae-oh’s group and asked.
“Are you looking for anything in particular?”
To the staff member, he probably just looked like an ordinary father who came to buy equipment to film his children’s growth as a 기념.
If it were an amateur unfamiliar with equipment, the staff member was confident they could persuade them to buy the most expensive product.
However, the staff member didn’t realize.
That while Kang Dae-oh was indeed an amateur.
There was an expert right nearby who had more knowledge than the staff member.
Unaware of this, the staff member pointed to the camera placed on the main display shelf.
“The best-selling product these days is this one. It’s called the TC-104, with 33 megapixels, a full-frame sensor, and up to 10 fps AF/AE tracking. With this, even an ordinary person can casually shoot professional-level videos or photos.”
They even used technical jargon, trying to win Kang Dae-oh over.
However, Kang Dae-oh intended to prioritize Kang Yeyoung’s opinion over the staff member’s words.
Kang Dae-oh subtly glanced at Kang Yeyoung, who was nestled in his arms.
Kang Yeyoung, with her short, chubby index fingers, which had gained some weight, secretly made an ‘X’ sign to the staff member.
It meant there was no need to look at it, nor to buy it.
Kang Dae-oh offered the staff member a wry smile, containing his refusal.
“I’m sorry. I already have a product in mind.”
“Ah… I see. Which product might that be?”
Before coming here, Kang Dae-oh handed the staff member the list he had received from Kang Yeyoung.
“Here it is.”
“……?”
It didn’t matter that the products were written on a list.
But.
The handwriting was very shaky.
How to put it. It was as if.
“It feels like a young child wrote it… Oh, my. I’m sorry.”
The staff member belatedly realized something and apologized to Kang Dae-oh.
It was because they thought it might be Kang Dae-oh’s handwriting.
It was no different from insulting his handwriting right in front of him.
Kang Dae-oh didn’t really care.
Because.
‘Yeyoung really did write it.’
Since the staff member’s guess wasn’t wrong, there was no reason to be angry.
After buying all the filming equipment Kang Yeyoung had asked for, it cost almost 3 million won.
Nevertheless, Kang Dae-oh didn’t regret the money at all.
Because thanks to the stock information Kang Yeyoung had given him, he had earned a vast sum that couldn’t be compared to 3 million won.
This much investment in his youngest even made him think, ‘Did I buy too little for her?’
He said he could buy more, but Kang Yeyoung said there was no need for that.
Because eventually, many better models would come out later.
When that time came, she would simply ask her appa for more.
On the morning of their departure for Jeju Island.
While packing the filming equipment Kang Yeyoung had bought into the suitcase, Kang Dae-oh suddenly became curious about her goal.
“Yeyoung, what goal are you aiming for in this life?”
“Me?”
“Yeah. Your eldest unnie said she wants to succeed as an idol. Your second unnie said her dream this time is to become a global actress beyond Korea. I realized I’ve never heard our youngest daughter’s goal.”
Kang Dae-oh had one philosophy in life.
That a person should, by all means, have at least one goal.
Because only with a destination can one run towards the goal.
So, he wished that his daughters, who had already seized the opportunity of regression, would each set a goal and live their lives.
It could be success, like his eldest daughter and second daughter.
Or, if they only worked themselves to death in their last life, it’s fine to live this life doing what they want.
Either way, Kang Dae-oh intended to actively believe in, support, and cheer for Kang Yeyoung.
She just needed to tell her appa what she wanted to do.
The answer Kang Yeyoung gave Kang Dae-oh took a form slightly different from his expectations.
“This time, I want to focus on Nertuber activities.”
“So, you want to focus on being a Nertuber, an influencer, rather than business activities, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
That’s why she had said she wanted to slowly restart her Nertube activities.
Her goal was to become the influencer with the most subscribers in the world.
At her words, Kang Dae-oh recalled the current No. 1 Nertuber’s subscriber count.
“As far as I know, the world’s No. 1 has 300 million subscribers. Was it an American Nertuber?”
“I can surpass them.”
At the sight of his youngest daughter displaying such strong confidence, Kang Dae-oh also felt motivated.
“Alright. I understand. Appa will also help diligently.”
If there’s one thing he’s more confident about than anyone else, it’s supporting his daughters.
No sooner had her appa finished saying he’d help than Kang Yeyoung pointed to the camera.
“Then, let’s start with filming practice.”
“Is there a need to practice? Can’t you just hold it and shoot?”
“Depending on the camera work, even the same scene can look different. We have some time, so I’ll teach you the basic filming techniques, appa. First…”
The youngest daughter’s sudden lecture on filming techniques began.
He thought it would just be a few words and then end.
Even after 10 minutes, even after 20 minutes, his youngest daughter’s passionate lecture showed no sign of ending.
And he couldn’t stop her midway.
Because just a moment ago, Kang Dae-oh had said he would try his best to help his youngest daughter.
A promise once made must be kept.
In the end, he stopped packing his bags and had to listen to his youngest daughter’s filming lecture for nearly 30 minutes.
Just as drowsiness was about to set in.
Bolkeok!
The door opened, and Min Seung-yeon appeared.
“Honey. Have you finished packing the bags?”
“Huh? Uh… well, you see…”
He couldn’t bring himself to say that he couldn’t do it because of his youngest daughter.
He was afraid his youngest daughter might get scolded by her mom for no reason.
In that case, it was better to just stay quiet.
Min Seung-yeon, who had no idea of the real situation, carried their youngest daughter with a bewildered expression and started nagging her husband.
“How can you be slacking off with the baby? We have to leave right away.”
Kang Yeyoung tried hard to explain that it wasn’t like that and that she was helping her appa, but Min Seung-yeon only saw it as her youngest daughter sacrificing herself to help her appa.
Kang Dae-oh thought to himself, wearing a bitter smile.
‘To be a good appa, I guess I have to get used to being the bad guy too.’
The path Kang Dae-oh had to walk was just as arduous as the paths his daughters were pursuing.
