Episode 22. Auspicious Occasion (4)
Was it because it was the final stage?
Compared to the On the Stage performances that he had seen many times through broadcasts, today’s stage was truly on another level.
The lighting and filming equipment.
And looking at the dazzlingly decorated set, Kang Dae-oh could roughly guess how much production cost had gone into the On the Stage Final Round.
As the broadcast was scheduled to be live, the staff had no choice but to move even more busily.
Previously, it was a recording, so even if there was a broadcast accident in the middle, they could just stop and resume.
But that’s not possible during a live broadcast.
In the midst of the chaos, the PD saw Kang Dae-oh’s family and approached them first, heading towards the audience seats.
“Yera’s father, mother! There’s still a lot of time left before the broadcast starts, so if you want to see Yera, you can go. Yera is in the waiting room. You probably don’t know where it is, so shall I assign a staff member to you?”
Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon exchanged glances, wondering what to do.
At this moment, Kang Yebin grabbed Kang Dae-oh’s sleeve and tugged it firmly.
“I know where it is.”
“Oh, really?”
As expected. Like a former top actress, she showed a thorough knowledge of the broadcasting station’s internal structure.
Kang Dae-oh shook his head at the PD and said,
“It’s fine. Everyone must be busy. We’ll find our way there ourselves.”
“The filming set here is quite large, so you might get lost…”
“We have a reliable guide. You don’t have to worry.”
“A guide?”
The PD tilted his head.
Only Min Seung-yeon and his two young daughters were visible around Kang Dae-oh.
The PD couldn’t possibly guess who he was referring to.
However, there was no time to stand still and ponder.
“PD-nim! Can you come and check this?”
“Alright, I’ll be right there!”
Watching the PD quickly move away, Kang Dae-oh gave him a short cheer to encourage him.
Kang Dae-oh, leading his family out of the audience seats, followed Kang Yebin’s guidance.
Just as Kang Yebin had said, she walked without hesitation, as if she knew the place inside out.
Kang Yebin, who had exited the studio’s right door and walked straight down the hallway, turned right.
“It’s here.”
An area where waiting rooms were gathered unfolded before their eyes.
As the PD had said, it seemed they would have gotten quite lost if someone familiar with the area hadn’t accompanied them.
Kang Yebin had guided them well, but even just to get here, there had been several crossroads.
The contestants who advanced to the finals were scattered, with two people sharing each waiting room.
The person sharing the waiting room with Kang Yera was Hong Mirim, a woman in her mid-20s who was a former musical actress.
She looked at Kang Dae-oh and his family, especially Kang Yeyoung, with a welcoming expression.
“Oh my! You must be Yera’s family, right?”
She usually watched Kang Yeyoung’s Nutube channel frequently.
That’s why her gaze was especially drawn to Kang Yeyoung.
Hong Mirim looked between Kang Yera and Kang Yeyoung and said,
“How can sisters be so beautiful? Yebin is also so cute. It must be because they resemble their mother.”
Min Seung-yeon blushed and expressed her thanks.
After exchanging brief greetings with Hong Mirim, Kang Dae-oh asked about Kang Yera’s whereabouts.
“Where is Yera?”
“She just went to the restroom for a moment. She should be back any minute now… Oh, she’s here now.”
Following Hong Mirim’s words, Kang Dae-oh’s family simultaneously turned their heads towards the entrance.
At that moment.
Exclamations of ‘Woah!’ sequentially burst from the family’s mouths.
Kang Yera, dressed in her stage costume, was truly a fairy herself.
Kang Yera grinned and struck a self-proclaimed model pose.
“How is it? I’m pretty, right?”
Min Seung-yeon and Kang Dae-oh nodded as if it went without saying, busy praising their eldest daughter’s blooming beauty.
Kang Yeyoung had already taken out a small camcorder and was filming Kang Yera.
This was to secure video footage to be uploaded to Kang Yeyoung’s Nutube channel.
Only Kang Yebin let out a deep sigh.
“She’d be a really pretty unnie if she just kept her mouth shut and stayed quiet.”
“Wasn’t it that my prettiness doubles when I open my mouth and talk?”
“That. That’s overconfidence, unnie.”
Listening to the sisters’ unchildlike conversation, Hong Mirim wore a curious expression.
“I thought only Yera was mature. Her younger sisters are similar too. I didn’t know that when I watched the videos.”
That was inevitable.
This was because the sisters in the videos uploaded to Kang Yeyoung’s Nutube channel displayed behavior similar to ordinary children their age.
Because if they were too mature, the cuteness would diminish.
To maximize the appeal of cuteness, which is the greatest charm babies can have, Kang Yeyoung usually instructs her unnies to abandon their original selves as much as possible before filming.
Due to this, when people actually met these sisters in real life, some felt a sense of disconnect, like Hong Mirim.
However, it wasn’t an unpleasant disconnect.
It was more like, ‘How interesting.’ That was the extent of it.
Kang Yeyoung gestured towards her family.
“Let’s all take a picture before unnie goes on stage.”
“Can’t we do it after it’s over?”
Kang Yera tilted her head and asked.
Then Kang Yeyoung explained why she wanted to take a picture at that moment.
“If unnie doesn’t win, taking a picture might be a bit awkward, you know.”
“Thank you so much for your consideration, my dear dongsaeng. It brings tears to my eyes.”
Whether this was consideration or a highly sophisticated jab, Kang Yera didn’t really want to think about it.
When it came to family photos, that young male staff member they met at the restaurant would be perfect.
However, there was no third coincidence.
Just as they were wondering if they should ask any of the staff members,
“I’ll take it for you.”
Hong Mirim raised her hand and offered.
“We’d appreciate it, Mirim-ssi.”
Kang Dae-oh handed her the camera that Kang Yeyoung had brought.
Click!
Checking the family photo taken before the final stage began, Kang Dae-oh recalled what his youngest daughter had said earlier.
‘I hope Yera can still smile and take pictures even after the performance is over.’
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he came here to see that very sight.
Would Kang Yera successfully complete the first step in realizing her dream?
Kang Dae-oh decided to watch with his family, cheering her on.
Perhaps because it was a program that had recently garnered much attention from people, the On the Stage Final Round boasted an incredibly spectacular appearance from the very beginning.
Even someone not in the industry could clearly feel that ‘a lot of money was spent.’
The MC gathered the 10 finalists in one place and began introducing them one by one.
The cheers were loudest when Ahn Yeseul and Kang Yera were introduced.
As they were the symbolic contestants of On the Stage, the voices cheering for them were naturally loud.
Perhaps because it was her first time on stage in a long while, tension lingered on Kang Yera’s face.
Ahn Yeseul, who was also standing on such a stage for the first time, showed as much nervousness as Kang Yera.
Meanwhile. Kang Yebin felt it was very unfamiliar to see her unnie and Ahn Yeseul, who hadn’t even debuted yet, standing side by side on stage.
“Unnie must have a lot on her mind.”
The rest of the family also nodded, expressing agreement with Kang Yebin’s words.
Kang Yera’s performance order was set as the very last.
Ahn Yeseul, whom she was most wary of, was right before Kang Yera.
It meant that the two contestants receiving the most attention were assigned to almost the very last performance slots.
With the finalist who took the first stage, the curtain of the Final Round rose.
Before seeing the performances, a family interview video filmed by the production team was first revealed.
Some contestants had alumni friends instead of family conducting group interviews, and the filmed videos were released in various forms without a fixed format.
When it was Ahn Yeseul’s turn, Ahn Jio stood alone in front of the camera.
There was a reason why he filmed the interview alone.
“—Ever since I divorced the mother of my child, I tried hard to fulfill the role of a mother too. I was probably very lacking. But I’m truly grateful for my daughter who grew up so wonderfully despite that.”
The news of Ahn Jio’s divorce from a successful actress had been a big topic of conversation in public, so Kang Dae-oh remembered it too.
After Ahn Jio’s interview ended.
Ahn Yeseul stepped onto the stage.
However. The state of her face was unusual.
Kang Yebin, who had a keen eye, explained the reason.
“Ahn Yeseul sunbae-nim, she must have cried after watching her father’s video.”
“No wonder…”
Her eyes appearing particularly red was not Kang Dae-oh’s imagination.
Ahn Yeseul had never shed a single tear until she secured her spot in the finals.
The existence that made even her, who rarely cried, shed tears.
That was her father.
Was it because that feeling was conveyed to Kang Dae-oh as well?
A pang of emotion welled up in a corner of his heart.
‘Our Yera… she must be used to things like this. She won’t cry, will she?’
Just then, Ahn Yeseul’s performance was coming to an end.
Until now, she had only performed gentle acoustic guitar music, but perhaps because it was the final stage, she put her all into it, delivering a powerful performance.
As the intense lingering emotion slowly subsided.
“Ours is coming up now.”
No sooner had Kang Yebin finished speaking than the interview video was revealed.
As Kang Dae-oh and Min Seung-yeon, along with Kang Yebin and Kang Yeyoung, each nestled in their parents’ arms, appeared on screen, exclamations of admiration flowed from the venue.
At the same time, gazes poured towards the direction where Kang Dae-oh’s family was sitting.
The PD asked Min Seung-yeon what she thought about Kang Yera reaching the finals.
Then Min Seung-yeon said with a very tense expression,
“—I, I was happy. I remember being so happy that I went around bragging about it everywhere…”
Min Seung-yeon bowed her head deeply at her own stuttering.
In contrast, Kang Yebin and Kang Yeyoung spoke their thoughts clearly, as if reading from a script.
“—Because she’s our unnie. We thought it was only natural for her to reach the finals.”
“—That’s right. She practiced so hard after school. If she just shows what she’s prepared without getting nervous, winning won’t be a problem.”
The children’s interviews were calmer and more mature than their mother’s.
Because of that, Min Seung-yeon’s head lowered once again.
Finally.
A question came to Kang Dae-oh.
“If you have anything you’d like to say to your daughter on behalf of your family, please do.”
To this, Kang Dae-oh replied:
“—I hope it becomes a stage without regrets. Dad, Mom, and your dongsaengs will be cheering hard for you here, so hang in there. Our daughter, fighting! You know Dad loves you, right?”
Applause poured out in the venue.
As the interview video ended.
Kang Yera appeared on stage.
A faint smile was on her face.
But there was something that caught Kang Dae-oh’s eye.
Kang Yera’s eyes sparkled unusually, as if she had put in eye drops.
‘No way. Did she cry?’
At this unexpected sight, Kang Dae-oh was quite flustered.
