Episode 20. Respect (2)
Other parents were incredibly worried about whether their children would be able to adapt well to the new environment of elementary school after leaving kindergarten life.
Amidst this, only the couple Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon attended their children’s first class with relaxed expressions, not showing even an ounce of worry.
A parent standing nearby quietly asked Min Seung-yeon.
“Yera’s mom, are you okay?”
“Huh? About what?”
“Yera, Yera. It’s her first time entering elementary school, isn’t it? I’ve been so stressed for days, worried that my son might not adapt to school life. I was wondering how Yera’s mom is doing.”
“Ah……”
Min Seung-yeon smiled with an embarrassed expression.
“I am worried, but it’s not to the point of being stressed. Just a little bit on my mind, perhaps?”
“Indeed. Yera is a child who adapts well no matter where she is placed. She also got along well with all the kids in kindergarten.”
Regardless of cultural centers, daycare centers, or kindergartens, Kang Yera grew up receiving love and attention from all children.
Thanks to this, Min Seung-yeon always received such requests from other parents.
What kind of education she gave Yera. And if she could share it with them too.
Whenever that happened, Min Seung-yeon felt awkward.
It wasn’t because she educated them well.
It was because the children grew up well on their own from the start.
However, since she couldn’t say this as it was, Min Seung-yeon’s worries only deepened.
Kang Dae-oh, accustomed to such situations, spoke up on Min Seung-yeon’s behalf.
“I think our children being very mature also plays a part.”
“That’s right. Yera is truly mature.”
Everyone agreed on this point.
The woman who became the homeroom teacher for the newly admitted elementary school children wrote something big on the blackboard.
[Class President]
At the unfamiliar word, the children tilted their heads.
The homeroom teacher continued with a brief explanation about the existence of a class president.
“Being a class president means being a student who represents and leads our class. They help the teacher prepare for classes, and they also relay the teacher’s words to the children. It will be easier to understand if you think of them mainly doing these kinds of tasks. Everyone, got it?”
“Yes~!”
“Is there anyone who wants to say, ‘I want to be the class president!’?”
Since everyone didn’t know each other well, it was very awkward to elect a class president by vote.
So, the homeroom teacher planned to temporarily select a class president for about a semester without a vote.
However, no one raised their hand.
Perhaps because it was their first time encountering the idea of a class president, a vague fear made the children passive.
At this moment, the homeroom teacher pointed to Kang Yera.
“Yera, would you like to try?”
At the homeroom teacher’s nomination, Kang Yera immediately revealed her thoughts without hesitation.
“Yes, Teacher. I’ll do my best!”
“Then, Yera will be the temporary class president. Everyone, shall we give Yera a round of applause? Applause~!”
Applause for Kang Yera continued not only from the students but also from where the parents were standing.
Kang Yera, who became the class president, smiled brightly and briefly bowed her head in all four directions, as if to say, ‘Please take care of me from now on.’
Even after entering elementary school, it was once again proven that Kang Yera’s presence remained strong.
Half a year had already passed since Kang Yera entered elementary school.
Kang Yera, who was having her first summer vacation, announced her grand vacation plan in front of her family.
“I’m thinking of doing what I’ve put off this vacation.”
“What is it?”
Min Seung-yeon, picking up an apple, asked her eldest daughter, who was standing with her back to the TV, for details.
Kang Yera replied with a confident expression.
“I’m going to go around for auditions.”
For a moment, Min Seung-yeon almost dropped the apple she was holding.
“Oh, right. You said you were thinking of going around for auditions once you entered elementary school. Mom completely forgot.”
That’s why she was surprised by her eldest daughter’s sudden announcement.
On the other hand, Kang Dae-oh reacted calmly, as if he had expected it.
Since Kang Dae-oh had promised to act as a driver when Kang Yera went on her audition tour, he always remembered this clearly.
“What about audition applications? I believe you have to submit them in advance to get a call later saying, ‘Please come for an audition.’”
Since his daughter was planning to go on an audition tour, visiting various companies, Kang Dae-oh had completed his own preliminary research beforehand.
If there was anything he didn’t know, he would ask his daughters.
Thanks to that, Kang Dae-oh was able to roughly understand how auditions proceeded.
Kang Yera told him not to worry about that part, giving her dad the answer he wanted.
“You know that email I asked Dad to send last time?”
“Ah, so that was the audition application email.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Kang Yera had said it was urgent and asked him to send the email quickly, so he had sent it without thinking twice.
Kang Dae-oh only now realized that it was an application email.
A total of three places contacted them.
Since none of the three places were far from each other, it seemed possible to complete all the schedules in one day if the time and date were arranged well.
Of course, this was assuming the audition dates overlapped.
However, hoping for something like that was too greedy.
“One is next Saturday, and the other two are divided into Wednesday morning and afternoon.”
“Still, two out of three overlap.”
This was quite a good outcome.
Since the audition dates, locations, and times were set.
From now on, they needed to devise a strategy to successfully pass the auditions.
However, a strategy wasn’t even necessary.
This was because Kang Yera already had all the relevant data in her mind about which agencies preferred trainees with what kind of tendencies.
“I just need to go there, do my best with what I’ve prepared, and come back. Then, a text message notifying me of my acceptance will probably fly in by itself, you know?”
Kang Yera showed strong confidence.
Kang Yebin, who usually started with ‘no’ whenever her older sister spoke, nodded this time.
“It’s not like unnie has no talent. She’ll do well on her own and come back.”
“Of course! I’m the class president of Seonghyeon Elementary School, 1st grade, class 3, you know!”
“Is that really something to brag about?”
“Of course! I’ve been unanimously re-elected by the class and have been serving as class president continuously.”
A 100 percent approval rating was certainly an unprecedented record.
Kang Yera seemed to really like the role of class president, as she said she was considering applying for it again when she became a 2nd grader.
At his eldest daughter’s proactive attitude in everything, Kang Dae-oh recalled his younger self.
‘She’s truly my daughter.’
Kang Yera, who had perfectly inherited his proactive personality in everything.
Kang Dae-oh sincerely hoped that she would achieve the results she desired in the auditions.
The day of reckoning dawned.
To participate in the first audition, Kang Dae-oh took Kang Yera and got into the car.
Another person volunteered to accompany them, forming a group of three in total.
It was Kang Yebin.
Kang Yera, who had gotten into the back seat first, glared at her younger sister.
“Why are you trying to follow?”
“Because there’s nothing to do at home anyway.”
“Yeyoung asked to film a YouTube video together, didn’t she?”
“Watching unnie’s audition seems more fun than that.”
“You’re going to go and tease me again, aren’t you?”
“No, I’m not!”
Kang Dae-oh somehow felt he knew why Kang Yebin was trying to follow her older sister.
‘She must be worried.’
Kang Yera had lived as an unknown idol before returning to the present time.
How much hardship she must have endured during that time. Kang Dae-oh didn’t really know.
But Kang Yebin would know.
The stress and worries her unnie must have experienced.
Since she had seen this situation up close many times, she naturally couldn’t help but be worried.
However, embarrassment made it difficult for Kang Yebin to speak honestly.
That’s why she answered vaguely with, ‘Because it seems fun.’
Kang Dae-oh found it amusing to observe the relationship between the two sisters, Kang Yera and Kang Yebin.
“Alright, we’re about to leave, so stop bickering and fasten your seatbelts.”
Thanks to Dad’s intervention, the long bickering finally came to an end.
The place they headed to today was an entertainment agency called Dandelion.
It was home to famous girl groups like Fall in Love and was also a large company, ranking among the top five in the entertainment industry.
As they entered the company with the children, a security guard immediately guessed their purpose for coming.
“You’re here for an audition, right? If you go to the right, you’ll find an elevator; take it up to the 7th floor.”
“Thank you.”
Bringing young children to the company usually meant an audition nine times out of ten, so it was easy to guess at a glance.
Besides Kang Dae-oh and his daughters, other children and parents who were scheduled for auditions today also boarded the elevator alongside them.
Kang Dae-oh secretly quickly scanned the other children.
‘They’re all cute and pretty.’
Indeed, perhaps because they were aspiring entertainers, they all showed a certain flair.
Nevertheless.
‘Our daughters are still the best.’
No matter how pretty the other children looked, they weren’t as pretty as his own children.
Both subjectively and objectively, Kang Yera and Kang Yebin were overwhelmingly superior.
The parents of the other children also seemed concerned about this, already showing expressions of wariness towards Kang Yera and Kang Yebin.
Only Kang Dae-oh maintained a relaxed demeanor.
When the elevator doors opened, a waiting staff member guided them to the waiting room.
“When it’s your turn, we will call out the corresponding number, so please wait in the waiting room.”
“Yes, understood.”
Even though the waiting room was quite spacious, it quickly filled up with parents and children.
Kang Yebin, who had scanned the surroundings, said in a very small voice.
“Still, unnie has the best visuals.”
“Right?”
“Not her personality, though.”
“What are you talking about? If you’re going to compliment me, do it properly. Or don’t. Just pick one.”
Kang Yera got slightly annoyed at Kang Yebin’s way of speaking.
Then, when a staff member briefly came to the waiting room, Kang Yera immediately wore a smile as if nothing had happened.
Kang Dae-oh swallowed a laugh inwardly at her expression, which changed freely.
It was the demeanor of a truly prepared talent.
While waiting, a child’s loud crying suddenly began to be heard from the hallway.
The child’s parent apologized to the staff and struggled to comfort the child.
“Why are they like that?”
Kang Yera immediately answered Kang Dae-oh’s question.
“It seems they heard something bad at the audition.”
To step into the entertainment industry at a young age, one must clearly understand this point.
That adults are very cold-hearted.
Children who came to the audition site with dreams and romance, yet often shed tears in front of the reality they first realized.
‘Yera and Yebin must have been like that in the past too, right?’
What kind of pain the children must have experienced before returning.
Kang Dae-oh couldn’t even dare to imagine.
For now, the best he could do was to hope for good results, commensurate with their hard work.
