Episode 21. A Brilliant Debut (3)
As the On The Stage preliminary rounds progressed, the atmosphere at the venue grew increasingly tense.
In the midst of this, it was Ahn Yesul’s turn, whom Kang Yera had been keeping an eye on.
As Ahn Yesul walked onto the stage with an acoustic guitar, the participants let out small gasps of admiration.
“She’s a middle schooler, right? That kid.”
“Uh-huh. That’s right.”
“But she already knows how to play the guitar? That’s amazing.”
“Does anyone in her family do music?”
Surprisingly, that was correct.
Ahn Yesul’s father was a singer who made quite a name for himself in the early 90s.
His name was Ahn Jio.
After actively working as a singer-songwriter, he was now focusing on nurturing junior artists.
Influenced by her father, Ahn Yesul was also slowly developing her talent as a singer-songwriter from a young age.
“I didn’t expect to meet Sunbaenim here……”
At first, Kang Yera was flustered by the appearance of such a powerful rival.
But once Ahn Yesul got on stage, Kang Yera began to look forward to what kind of performance this great sunbaenim, who hadn’t even debuted yet, would show.
The judges looked at Ahn Yesul’s youthful appearance and asked.
―How old are you?
―I’m 14 years old, a first-year middle school student!
Her voice carried both cheerfulness and nervousness.
Ahn Yesul’s nervous demeanor was something Kang Yera had never seen before.
Perhaps because of that, it felt very fresh.
―Shall we listen to your song right away then?
―Yes!
Settling down, she began to play her acoustic guitar.
Her guitar playing itself was not skilled enough to be called proficient.
Ahn Yesul’s true ability did not lie in playing instruments.
The moment she opened her mouth.
The judges’ eyes changed.
A clear and refreshing voice echoed throughout the entire stage.
She sang so well that even her clumsy guitar playing sounded sweet.
Even the participants sitting in the waiting room were too surprised to say anything.
Meanwhile, Kang Yera, already aware of her skill, didn’t show much surprise.
After Ahn Yesul’s short performance ended.
The judges began to give their individual evaluations.
―Despite sitting, you give a very stable impression when you sing. Singing while sitting is surprisingly difficult.
―To be honest, your guitar playing wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad either. Perhaps because it blended well with your vocals, Ahn Yesul, it wasn’t particularly jarring.
―It’s good. Personally, I’d like to give you the highest score among all the audition participants I’ve seen so far.
As Kang Yera had expected, the judges’ positive reviews continued.
Thanks to this, Ahn Yesul easily secured her advancement to the next round on the spot.
Up to this point, it was good.
However, there was one problem.
“Next participant, please get ready.”
The problem was that the very next participant happened to be Kang Yera.
It was the worst possible order.
“Yes, yes!”
She found herself stuttering unconsciously.
The stage fright she thought she had overcome thanks to her family slowly crept back up.
“That’s strange.”
Kang Dae-oh, nearing the end of his workday, tilted his head, checking his smartphone multiple times.
Even though the On The Stage preliminary recording time should have been over.
There was no news from Kang Yera about whether she had passed or failed.
‘Did she fail, by any chance?’
Although she was unknown, Kang Yera was an experienced veteran who had accumulated several years of stage experience.
Kang Yera might be the youngest, but she would likely be the participant with the most practical experience among all the contestants in this On The Stage competition.
However, there was one factor that caused Kang Yera anxiety.
That was her stage fright.
Could this anxiety factor have exploded, leading to an unexpected result of disqualification?
Perhaps due to worry, Kang Dae-oh’s steps quickened as he headed home.
“I’m going to head out first. I’m sorry, but could you please handle the closing up?”
“Yes!”
“Please go home safely, sir!”
The part-timers seemed to have noticed that Kang Dae-oh wanted to go home quickly because of Kang Yera, so they quietly let him go.
Kang Dae-oh drove quickly home.
As soon as he opened the front door, his family’s gaze focused on him.
“Oh, honey, you’re home early?”
“You’re here, Dad?”
Min Seung-yeon and the daughters happened to be gathered together in the living room.
This sight amplified Kang Dae-oh’s anxiety once again.
He wondered if Kang Yera had failed, and if her family had intentionally gathered to comfort her.
“Um… cheer up, Yera.”
Kang Dae-oh patted Kang Yera’s small shoulder and offered words of comfort first.
“Huh?”
However, Kang Yera reacted with confusion, not understanding why her dad was suddenly telling her to cheer up.
Kang Dae-oh, on the contrary, was flustered by his daughter’s unexpected reaction.
“Didn’t the audition result turn out badly?”
Kang Yera shook her head.
“I passed, though. Unanimously by the judges.”
“Oh, really? I thought…”
The father’s misplaced comfort returned as embarrassment.
Passing the preliminaries safely was good news, but…
“Then why is everyone gathered here with serious expressions? It’s a good day.”
Since they were sitting with such heavy expressions on a day that called for a celebration party, Kang Dae-oh couldn’t help but misunderstand, thinking his bad premonition had come true.
To Kang Dae-oh’s question, Min Seung-yeon also shook her head as if she didn’t quite understand.
“Someone was talking about someone earlier. Ahn Yesul? They said she auditioned with Yera. And that she’s a strong candidate for the win or something…”
Min Seung-yeon hadn’t heard the full story yet.
On the other hand, Kang Yebin and Kang Yeyoung, who, like Kang Yera, had regressed from the future, immediately understood the situation just by hearing Ahn Yesul’s name.
Kang Yebin explained on behalf of her unnie why they were so concerned about Ahn Yesul.
“She hasn’t officially debuted yet, but she’s going to become incredibly famous in the Korean music industry later on. She’s also a great sunbaenim to unnie.”
“Did that Ahn Yesul person originally debut on On The Stage?”
“No. As far as we remember, Ahn Yesul Sunbaenim debuted when she just became a high school student……”
The future had changed.
Because of this, Kang Dae-oh’s daughters had no choice but to hold an emergency meeting.
Now that Ahn Yesul had entered the competition.
“Winning might be difficult, don’t you think……?”
Kang Yeyoung cautiously predicted the future situation.
Originally, their plan was to have Kang Yera win and have a spectacular debut ceremony, one for the ages.
However, Ahn Yesul’s surprise participation had significantly disrupted their plans.
Min Seung-yeon didn’t quite understand why her daughters were so flustered.
“It’s okay to come in second, isn’t it? Second place is good too.”
She thought that just ranking in a national audition program, where hundreds, no, thousands of participants flocked, was an amazing achievement.
So Min Seung-yeon believed that winning wasn’t strictly necessary, but…
Her daughters thought differently.
“The reality is that in any audition program, if you’re not first place, it’s usually hard to get attention.”
“That’s right, that’s right.”
At Kang Yebin’s words, Kang Yeyoung also nodded her small head repeatedly, as if in deep agreement.
A world that doesn’t remember if you’re not first.
This statement was like a universal rule, applicable in both the present and the future.
Since they had already decided to participate, they would continue with the recordings anyway.
However, the daughters couldn’t bring themselves to decide how they should proceed.
At this moment.
Kang Dae-oh offered a solution instead.
“Just get first place.”
It was a very simple solution.
However, it was also something difficult to achieve in reality.
“That’s a bit……”
“Ahn Yesul Sunbaenim, once she starts adapting to the stage, she’ll adapt terrifyingly fast.”
“No matter how good Yera unnie is, surpassing Ahn Yesul Sunbaenim would be……”
Despite his daughters’ negative opinions, Kang Dae-oh did not back down.
He wasn’t blindly making groundless claims just because he thought his daughters were the best.
“Yera, you have something that Ahn Yesul doesn’t, don’t you?”
“What is it?”
“Stage experience.”
No matter how amazing Ahn Yesul was, she was merely an aspiring singer who hadn’t even debuted yet.
But Kang Yera was, so to speak, a veteran with many years of practical experience.
A fight between a rookie VS a veteran.
Looking at it in such a simple structure, it didn’t seem like Kang Yera had no chance of winning at all.
No, it even felt like Kang Yera had an advantage.
“And regardless of practical experience. I believe our daughter’s stage performance is the best. So don’t say ‘I don’t think it’ll work’ or ‘I’ll lose’ before you even try. At least for the sake of your cheering dad and mom. Understood?”
Kang Dae-oh didn’t want to see his daughters intimidated.
So he wanted to give his daughters courage, no matter what.
Had Kang Dae-oh’s heartfelt encouragement reached Kang Yera’s heart?
The strength returned to her shoulders, which had been slumped ever since she came home.
“Yes. I’ll do my best for Mom and Dad!”
“That’s right, unnie. It’s strange for us to wave the white flag before we even fight.”
“Now that I think about it, Dad’s right.”
Not only Kang Yera, but also the second and third daughters began to encourage their unnie.
If Kang Yera were to face Ahn Yesul alone, she might indeed lose, as they feared.
But.
If the whole family lent their strength.
Then there would be a chance of winning.
Kang Dae-oh believed that.
Kang Yeyoung, as if having made a decision, asked her mom for a camera.
There was a reason she was looking for a camera.
“On The Stage, it’s a system where rankings are decided by viewer votes later, right? So, before the broadcast, I should diligently promote unnie’s face and name through my channel. Isn’t this all part of the strategy?”
As if spurred by the youngest daughter’s words, Kang Yebin also showed an attitude of not wanting to lose.
“I’ll also talk a lot about unnie to broadcasting officials when I get work in dramas and movies. That our unnie is going to be on On The Stage. Then she can get at least one more vote, right?”
Kang Yera’s eyes teared up slightly at the sight of her devoted younger sisters.
Kang Dae-oh stroked Kang Yera’s hair and said.
“For the sake of your sisters, too. You’ll have to win somehow, won’t you?”
Kang Yera wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and replied in a spirited voice.
“I will definitely win!”
This very sight.
Was the image of his eldest daughter that Kang Dae-oh had wished for.
On the day of the first On The Stage main round recording.
Choi Se-in looked at Kang Dae-oh and asked.
“Sir. Yera has her main round stage recording today, doesn’t she?”
“That’s right.”
“Aren’t you worried?”
Kang Dae-oh hadn’t looked at his smartphone even once since coming to work at the store.
It was a stark contrast to last time.
Choi Se-in was even more concerned by Kang Dae-oh’s completely changed demeanor.
However, Kang Dae-oh’s expression was bright.
“I am worried, but she’s my daughter. I trust she’ll do well.”
Kang Yera would surely live up to her father’s expectations.
He believed that.
