Episode 22. Auspicious Occasion (5)
It wasn’t as much as An Yesul, but Kang Yera also seemed to have felt a lot after watching her family’s interview, as traces of it were visible around her eyes.
Unlike a surprised Kang Dae-oh, Kang Yebin and Kang Yeyoung reacted calmly, as if Kang Yera’s appearance was natural.
“Yera unnie, she may seem energetic on the outside, but inside, her heart is very soft.”
“Among us, the one who cries the most is probably our oldest unnie.”
“Ah… really?”
Perhaps because she was already an adult on the inside, Kang Yera showed relatively fewer emotional expressions compared to other children.
Because of this, Kang Dae-oh had come to think of Kang Yera as the type who always kept her composure without being greatly swayed at any moment.
But he learned through the testimonies of his second and third daughters that she was, in fact, the eldest daughter who cried a lot.
Kang Dae-oh, who was listening to Kang Yera’s singing, tilted his head.
“It’s a song I’ve never heard before?”
For the successful future of his daughters, Kang Dae-oh also spent a lot of time studying popular culture.
He often intentionally listened to popular songs released these days during his commute.
Nevertheless, the song Kang Yera was singing, ‘Highlight’, was the first he had ever heard in his life.
This is the Highlight of your life.
Your Renaissance will come when you spread your Dream.
Never doubt, Trust in you.
Oh! Believe in the possibilities within you.
What to say.
It felt like watching a musical.
Just listening to the song, the story embedded within it seemed to unfold before his eyes like a virtual screen.
Not only Kang Dae-oh but also the other audience members watching the stage felt the same way.
Kang Yeyoung mentioned the origin of the song ‘Highlight’.
“That song, unnie tried to include it as a b-side when she was active in an idol group a long time ago.”
“‘Tried to include’?”
Kang Dae-oh focused on this word.
Kang Yeyoung nodded briefly and revealed why she spoke in the past tense instead of confirming it.
“It didn’t work out. The producer really liked the song, but the members and the CEO said it would be better to put in a different song, so it was canceled.”
“It’s too good a song to just throw away.”
“I think people just didn’t like the fact that unnie stood out. She hardly ever told me or Yebin unnie anything explicitly, but looking at the nuance and circumstances of what she said, we could pretty much tell.”
“……”
When he listened to it without much thought, he only felt, ‘This is a really exciting song.’
But after learning the backstory, Kang Dae-oh reconsidered how deep Kang Yera’s resentment contained within this song must have been.
Kang Yebin swallowed a sigh and said,
“Unnie always said that no matter what bad private things happened to her, she had to always smile when she stood in front of the camera. That’s what an idol is.”
Idol.
At one point, Kang Dae-oh sometimes worried that Kang Yera might be too bound by this word.
However, today, watching Kang Yera’s performance, Kang Dae-oh strongly believed.
That being an idol was not a shackle for Kang Yera.
He realized it was her life’s goal and the reason she lived.
Otherwise.
‘She wouldn’t be able to sing so happily.’
Looking at that smile.
Kang Dae-oh felt that the result of the final stage didn’t matter at all.
All performances for On The Stage had ended.
As the long three-month journey concluded, not only the performers but also the audience who watched their stages felt a prolonged afterglow.
However, not everything was over yet.
The time had come to put a period on the grand journey and the reason they had worked so hard for the past three months.
Until now, On The Stage had determined the survival of contestants through the judges’ scores.
However, for the final stage, a different evaluation method was applied.
The final winner was determined by reflecting 40% of the judges’ scores and 60% of real-time text votes from viewers watching the live broadcast.
Because of this, it wouldn’t be strange for anyone to suddenly emerge as a dark horse.
It was due to the variable of viewer votes.
This is because the perspective of experts and the perspective of the general public do not always align.
Kang Yera, who had a head-to-head battle with An Yesul in the 3rd round but was pushed back by her and advanced to the final stage as the 2nd qualifier, maintained a poker face despite the situation full of variables.
This was because the broadcast was not over yet.
On the other hand, several contestants, including Hong Mirim, were already emotional and showed tears even though the voting results had not yet been announced.
The MC smiled faintly as he looked at them.
“It seems that all the hardships they endured flashed before their eyes like a kaleidoscope.”
The contestants slowly nodded.
While filming, they had always wondered when this hardship would end.
But now that it was truly ending, a great sense of regret washed over them.
Kang Yera, and An Yesul, who had competed well with her. All the performers felt the same way.
The MC, who had a brief communication with the production team, changed his expression and raised his voice.
“The voting results are in! I have the cue sheet with the name of the winner of the first season of On The Stage in my hand. From now on, I will call out the name of the participant who won the grand prize!”
Everyone’s attention turned to the MC.
Min Seung-yeon clasped her hands and began to pray earnestly.
Please, let our daughter win!
She didn’t have a particular religion, but given the situation, she naturally sought out a higher power.
Kang Yebin and Kang Yeyoung, who were returnees and knew the future, also watched the stage with tense expressions at this moment.
Kang Dae-oh also held his breath, waiting for the MC’s announcement.
“On The Stage! The participant who won is…!”
A tension-inducing drum sound filled the stage.
It was then.
“We will announce it after the commercial break!”
A long sigh erupted from the audience.
Kang Yebin gave a bitter smile, as if she had expected it.
“Well, of course. They wouldn’t just announce it.”
Normally, such survival audition programs do not reveal the results immediately.
Since a lot of money was invested, they had to put a lot of effort into commercials.
It was an unavoidable situation for commercials to be inserted in the middle, as it was the timing when people were most interested.
The good thing was that the commercial break wasn’t that long.
After 30 seconds.
The camera focused on the MC again.
“This time, without a commercial break, we will reveal it immediately!”
The drum sound, which had paused, resumed.
All the attention of the live audience and viewers once again focused on the MC.
“On The Stage! The grand winner is…!”
The MC’s gaze briefly lingered on one person.
That person was none other than.
“Kang Yera! Congratulations!”
Fireworks burst, celebrating Kang Yera’s victory.
When she learned that An Yesul had participated in this program, Kang Yera had thought that winning might be difficult.
However, the result was her victory.
Kang Yera, who defeated a strong rival and ascended to the 1st place.
She teared up at the glory she was experiencing for the first time in her life.
Kang Dae-oh watched his daughter shedding tears of joy and applauded endlessly.
The MC moved Kang Yera to the center of the stage.
“Please tell us your thoughts on winning, Kang Yera.”
“I didn’t think I would win… I’m so happy to experience such a joyful moment. I want to thank all the cast members, the production team, and my fans who cheered me on. Lastly…”
Kang Yera pointed towards where her family was and shouted.
“My family! Mom, Dad, my younger siblings! I love you—!”
She concluded her winning speech with love for her family.
Since it was an auspicious day.
Kang Dae-oh thought he should hold a party soon to celebrate Kang Yera’s victory.
After the broadcast concluded.
Before returning home with her family, Kang Yera exchanged farewells with An Yesul one last time.
An Yesul, who unfortunately placed 2nd after Kang Yera, showed no lingering regret or disappointment in her expression.
An Yesul had this thought today while watching the final round performances.
That Kang Yera would win.
Including the stage she herself prepared, there was no performance that could beat Kang Yera’s.
So she could sincerely congratulate Kang Yera on her victory.
“Later, I hope we can stand on the same stage again someday.”
An Yesul, who usually struggled to initiate conversations with strangers, showed herself initiating a conversation with Kang Yera today.
Kang Yera deeply empathized with An Yesul’s words.
“Me too, unnie.”
“Oh, unnie…”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”
“No, no. I’ve always wanted a younger sister anyway. You can comfortably call me unnie.”
Originally, An Yesul was like a great senior to Kang Yera.
However, in this life, since both of them debuted around the same time, it became ambiguous to distinguish their senior-junior relationship.
Kang Yera actually preferred this.
Because she had become close enough to the senior she wanted to befriend to call her unnie and become like sisters.
In a way, this was one of the gains Kang Yera acquired through this audition program.
After sharing a short additional hug with An Yesul.
Kang Yera returned to where her family was waiting.
Kang Dae-oh asked about Hong Yuna, who had come with Kang Yera.
“Where’s Yuna unnie?”
“Manager unnie already said goodbye earlier.”
Originally, Kang Yera was supposed to travel in Hong Yuna’s car.
But since her family was there. So she decided to go home with her family.
It was too late for a separate after-party.
So for today, they decided to quietly go home and rest.
Kang Dae-oh led Kang Yera and the rest of the family towards the car.
As soon as they got into the car, Kang Yera’s fans, who were waiting at the parking lot entrance, waved their cheering tools and saw her off as she headed home.
“Yera, congratulations on your win!”
“We’ll definitely come to your debut stage too! Fighting!”
Kang Yera rolled down the window and waved to the fans who had stayed until late, expressing her gratitude.
Kang Yera felt momentarily bewildered by the passionate love from her fans, which she had never experienced before returning.
Then Kang Yebin poked Kang Yera in the side.
“Unnie. Be extra alert from now on. You’ll be getting a lot of public attention for a while.”
When one’s popularity is at its peak.
This is the time to be careful.
Kang Yera answered briefly, as if she understood.
She didn’t want to lose this finally found opportunity due to her own slip-ups or wrong actions.
She would hold onto it no matter what.
No matter what, she definitely would.
Watching the eldest daughter’s eyes filled with strong resolve, Kang Dae-oh swallowed a laugh inwardly.
‘She’s already all grown up.’
Even though she was already an adult on the inside.
