Episode 21. Grand Debut (2)
Oh Myung-woon was greatly flustered by the sudden heavy responsibility placed upon him.
When it wasn’t even enough to entrust hair to a special hair salon where celebrities frequently come and go.
To come to a neighborhood hair salon, a small shop run by her dad’s friend at that, and ask him to style her hair because she might appear on a TV program today.
From Oh Myung-woon’s perspective, it was utterly absurd.
When he asked why they were trying to entrust such a heavy task to him, Kang Dae-oh replied:
“Yera said she prefers entrusting her hair to you.”
“To me?”
“Yeah. She said you cut it exactly to the style she wants.”
Kang Dae-oh subtly tilted his head towards Kang Yera, as if seeking her agreement.
Kang Yera nodded her head up and down, as if admitting her dad’s words were true.
“Ahjussi, you cut hair really well.”
“It’s nice to hear you say that, Ahjussi, but I don’t think my skills are good enough to handle the hair of someone who’s going to be a celebrity…”
“Have confidence. Someone of Ahjussi’s caliber would be perfectly fine even in that industry.”
“R-really?”
“Yes!”
What Kang Yera said wasn’t empty flattery.
A while ago, Kang Dae-oh learned a surprising fact through Kang Yera.
The fact that Oh Myung-woon would later become the CEO of a famous hair beauty brand.
In the original future, that is, in the timeline before Kang Dae-oh’s daughters regressed, Oh Myung-woon had achieved significant business success.
It was said that Oh Myung-woon truly began walking the path of success as his hair styling skills started to gain widespread word-of-mouth.
When he first heard this, Kang Dae-oh initially doubted, ‘Was my friend really that skilled?’
However, upon careful thought, it wasn’t an entirely improbable statement.
As if to prove Kang Yera’s words, almost all the residents, including the merchants doing business near the salon, used to come to Oh Myung-woon for their hair styling.
Moreover, most of the reviews were good.
It was even said that there might be people who had never been to Oh Myung-woon’s salon, but there was no one who had only been there once.
It was also said that Oh Myung-woon had provided a lot of help when Kang Dae-oh was struggling financially.
Oh Myung-woon, a friend who had remained loyal until the very end even in his past life.
Hearing this, Kang Dae-oh wanted to entrust his daughters to Oh Myung-woon even more.
Because he would care for and dedicate himself to his daughters more than any other hair stylist in the world.
After a long deliberation.
Oh Myung-woon firmed his resolve.
“Alright. Ahjussi will give it a try!”
“Please take good care of it, Ahjussi.”
“Okay. Just tell me if there’s a style you want!”
Oh Myung-woon rolled up his sleeves.
Hong Yoon-ah quietly approached Kang Dae-oh, who was watching this scene.
“Abeonim. Is it really okay to entrust her hair to him?”
Since Kang Yera said she wanted to do it that way, Hong Yoon-ah reluctantly brought her here.
But she couldn’t help but feel uneasy.
Kang Dae-oh nodded greatly and replied with a confident voice.
“Yes. It will be fine.”
Trusting his friend.
This was something Kang Dae-oh had always been very good at.
Thinking that she might appear on TV, Oh Myung-woon began trimming Kang Yera’s hair with even more care than usual.
He even checked the hair length in millimeters.
“How about coloring?”
“Oh, it’s fine. I want to go as is for the audition, and then use hair dye as a ‘joker pick’ when needed later.”
“What does ‘joker pick’ mean?”
“Ahjussi, you know well. Women’s images can change drastically depending on how they change their hairstyle. As you go into higher rounds, there are times when this image change plays an important role. I called it a ‘joker pick’ with the intention of using it then.”
Kang Yera had already calculated everything up to the final stage in her mind.
Although there was a time when she lacked much confidence on stage.
As time passed, thanks to the support from her dad, mom, and younger siblings, she gained a lot of courage.
In particular, the experience of regularly appearing on Kang Yeyoung’s YouTube channel became an important turning point that helped Kang Yera regain her lost confidence.
In addition, it allowed her to pre-introduce herself as Kang Yera to the production team.
Various circumstances were making things advantageous for Kang Yera.
So, Kang Yera was expecting to easily pass the audition.
“Then, shall we finish it here?”
“Yes, it’s perfect.”
Only after Kang Yera’s approval did Oh Myung-woon remove the cutting cape.
Kang Yera, finally free, asked the manager who came with her:
“How is it, unnie? Ahjussi, his skills are good, right?”
“Indeed. Sajangnim. You could expand your client base and even cut celebrities’ hair, it seems? At this level, all celebrities would come looking for you.”
The price is also cheap.
The hair styling skills are also superb.
The only drawback is that it’s far from the broadcasting station.
The rest was in no way inferior compared to famous hair studios.
Oh Myung-woon scratched his head with an embarrassed expression.
Since the hair part was all done.
“Let’s go to the broadcasting station now. We need to leave now to not be late.”
“Yes.”
Kang Dae-oh followed them out of the salon to see the two off.
Then Oh Myung-woon tilted his head and asked:
“You’re not coming along?”
“No.”
“Why? It’s an important occasion. Isn’t it better to go together?”
Kang Yera is still only in the second grade of elementary school.
Even if the manager goes with her, she cannot fully replace the role of a parent.
A child always needs the presence of parents.
So Oh Myung-woon thought Kang Dae-oh would go along too.
Since the exact opposite of what he expected unfolded, he couldn’t help but be curious.
Kang Dae-oh shrugged his shoulders lightly.
“Yera said it’s too early now, and to come when there’s a bigger stage.”
“Oh~! Wow, that confidence.”
Oh Myung-woon let out a deep exclamation of admiration at Kang Yera’s confident words.
Since Kang Yera had never failed an audition even once after her regression.
Kang Dae-oh had no doubt that this program audition would also bring good results at once.
It was because of this trust that Kang Dae-oh decided to follow Kang Yera’s words.
‘Since they said the results would be out today.’
Until then, Kang Dae-oh just had to wait for positive news to come from Kang Yera.
On the day of the important audition that would determine her appearance on the On The Stage program.
As he focused on the store’s work, time passed quickly.
As evening approached, Kang Dae-oh began checking his smartphone multiple times.
Choi Se-in showed interest in Kang Dae-oh’s behavior.
“Sajangnim. Are you expecting a call from somewhere?”
“Yeah. Today’s the day Yera has her program audition. But I haven’t heard anything yet.”
A slight anxiety arose, wondering if she might have failed.
Kang Dae-oh shook his head, completely erasing this anxiety.
‘No, that can’t be.’
If not parents, who would believe in their child?
The smartphone alarm finally rang in Kang Dae-oh’s ears, as he believed he would soon hear good news.
He checked the text message sent by Kang Yera.
[I passed, Dad!]
[How is it? Just like I said, right?]
Only after receiving the reply that she passed could Kang Dae-oh feel relieved.
Although he kept telling himself inwardly, ‘It’s okay, it’s okay.’
From the perspective of waiting, he couldn’t help but worry.
“We should have a party today.”
At the word “party,” Choi Se-in exclaimed “Oh my!” and asked:
“She passed?”
“Yeah. They’re going straight into main recording from early next month.”
“Wow! Yera really became a celebrity!”
One year after passing the audition.
Kang Yera hadn’t shown it, but she must have been very anxious inside during that time.
She already had enough talent, but the timing for her debut just wasn’t appearing.
Whether On The Stage can truly be Kang Yera’s grand debut stage or not.
This will likely only be roughly ascertainable next month.
The day of the first On The Stage recording dawned.
Just like when she went for the audition, Kang Yera received hair styling from Oh Myung-woon and headed to the recording site.
On The Stage had general participants, but also many trainees aiming to debut as singers, like Kang Yera.
Kang Yera was most wary of them.
This was because, naturally, they were far more skilled than the general participants.
As it was the first recording, even CEO Song Jin-hoon visited the site.
CEO Song Jin-hoon, looking around, swallowed dryly.
“Looking here, looking there. Everyone seems to be quite skilled.”
Manager Hong Yoon-ah gave a wry smile as she looked at her company’s CEO.
“Sa-jang-nim. Do you know something?”
“What?”
“That you’re more nervous than Yera.”
“R-really?”
As if embarrassment washed over him belatedly, CEO Song Jin-hoon laughed with an awkward expression.
Meanwhile, Kang Yera quickly began scanning with her eyes, wondering who her potential rivals would be.
Perhaps because it was the preliminary stage. Since so many people gathered, Kang Yera couldn’t easily pinpoint who she thought would be the winning candidates.
As time passed like that.
A staff member shouted loudly, as if to announce that the recording would begin soon.
“Participants, please remain seated in the waiting room and come up to the stage when it’s your turn! There are cameras installed in the waiting room as well, so please refrain as much as possible from using harsh language or engaging in violent actions! Understood?”
“Yes!”
Since it was a broadcast, there were naturally many restrictions.
The preliminaries began as participants were called out one by one.
At this moment.
The name of a person that made Kang Yera’s ears perk up was mentioned by a staff member.
“Next, participant number 16, Ahn Ye-seul, please get ready!”
“Yes!”
A girl who looked like a middle school student abruptly stood up from her seat.
At the name Ahn Ye-seul, Kang Yera thought, ‘No way.’
The moment she confirmed the face of the girl who had her back turned, Kang Yera secretly gasped.
“Why is sunbaenim here…?”
Ahn Ye-seul. A talented singer who widely made a name for herself as a female solo artist before Kang Yera’s regression.
According to what was known to the public, she did not debut in the music industry through an audition.
But Kang Yera couldn’t understand why she was here.
She might have applied before and been eliminated.
However, Kang Yera couldn’t believe that someone with Ahn Ye-seul’s level of skill would be eliminated right in the preliminaries without even getting her name and face known.
It might be that the future had changed, and Ahn Ye-seul ended up applying for On The Stage, even though it wasn’t originally so.
If that were truly the case.
“This is a big problem…”
A much stronger rival than expected had appeared.
