Episode 23. Second Branch (2)
Another season changed.
Finally, Kang Yera’s second debut date suddenly approached.
D-2.
Despite having already debuted once in her past life, Kang Yera showed increasing signs of nervousness as the debut showcase drew near.
Kang Yebin couldn’t understand Kang Yera’s reaction.
“Unnie. You’ve been on so many stages you must be sick of them. Do you really need to be scared by something like this?”
Kang Yera even had a history of standing alone on the On The Stage, Final Round stage, which boasted a larger scale than a debut showcase.
That’s why Kang Yebin found it even more difficult to understand.
Kang Yera repeatedly took deep breaths.
“Be quiet. I’m trying hard to compose myself. You’re just getting in the way.”
“What’s there to compose yourself over?”
“A lot. People who’ve never stood on a debut stage probably won’t understand it their whole lives.”
“……”
This time, Kang Yebin was outsmarted by her unnie.
Regardless of scale, every stage is bound to be different. Not only the artists participating in the performance, but also the production staff and the audience who come to watch the show. They are all bound to be different.
If the people are different, the stage naturally changes as well.
Just as there are no two completely identical people in the world, the same can be said for stages.
You can’t predict what kind of stage it will be even an inch ahead. This instills a lot of tension in singers.
Just like Kang Yera now.
Still, she didn’t show such extreme nervousness that it made daily life impossible.
So Kang Dae-oh decided not to worry too much about Kang Yera.
Because she’s his daughter. He had faith that she would definitely do well.
Before the debut stage.
Kang Dae-oh had something to confirm with Kang Yera once more.
“Yera. We’ve set the opening schedule for our second branch to coincide with your debut. What did you decide about your schedule?”
“I already told the company, so it’ll come out soon. I asked the CEO to prioritize promoting my appa’s store as a top schedule, so you don’t have to worry.”
Kang Dae-oh and Kang Yera had made a promise to each other before opening the second branch.
That when her appa’s new store opened, Kang Yera would unconditionally take charge of the promotion.
Because thanks to Kang Yera, the number of customers had greatly increased.
Kang Yera wanted to schedule her activities in a way that would help her appa, even if just a little.
“My goal is to run to appa’s store right after my debut showcase and participate in an event.”
“That fast?”
“Yes!”
Kang Yera was even more enthusiastic than Kang Dae-oh.
While it was good that his daughter showed such passion for her own stage.
“Still, don’t overdo it. You might want to rest a bit after your debut stage.”
His daughter’s condition was naturally more important than promoting the store.
Kang Dae-oh, who worried about his children day and night.
He sincerely hoped that Kang Yera’s debut stage would also be successful.
On the day of Kang Yera’s debut showcase stage.
As soon as Kang Dae-oh arrived at work, he quickly finished all his tasks and, seizing a moment of free time, gathered with his employees to watch the live internet broadcast.
Choi Se-in’s eyes widened.
“The real-time viewership count is… one, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand… a lot of people have tuned in?”
It’s extremely difficult for a rookie singer who’s just debuting to record viewership in the hundreds of thousands.
Lee Seo-jun reacted as if he understood why Kang Yera’s debut showcase broadcast was receiving such hot attention.
“It seems like the aftermath of ‘On The Stage’ is still lingering.”
“That’s true. It’s only been… two or three months since the final stage? She’s debuting within that time. People must have really been looking forward to Yera’s debut. But sajangnim.”
Choi Se-in had a question about Kang Yera’s debut method.
“Yera, she decided to debut as a solo artist, not in a group, right?”
“Oh, that’s right.”
“Aren’t groups the trend these days? So I thought they’d create a girl group centered around Yera and debut her.”
Kang Dae-oh gave a brief explanation with a wry smile about how the solo debut came to be.
“She said she prefers being alone over being in a group.”
It’s good not having to worry about other members.
There’s no need to fight over part distribution.
Solo careers also had many advantages of their own.
Since Kang Yera had already experienced all the downsides of moving as a group through her group activities, a solo debut was probably more comfortable and better for her.
And Kang Yera possessed enough ability to fill that wide stage all by herself, with plenty to spare.
That’s why the company also decided that a solo debut was more ideal than group activities.
Not long after, the MC for Kang Yera’s solo debut showcase came onto the stage.
A beautiful woman, radiating light at a glance, appeared with a clack-clack of her heels.
Choi Se-in gasped as she recognized her.
“Isn’t that Ms. Hyewon? The Hyewon from IBJ!”
IBJ. A famous idol group also known as a leading representative of South Korea’s 4th generation girl groups.
The member who served as their leader was Hyewon, who was now standing with a microphone on the screen.
Lee Seo-jun’s eyes also widened at her appearance.
“How did you manage to cast Ms. Hyewon? She’s incredibly famous, her appearance fee must be no joke.”
Lee Seo-jun roughly knew the situation of Kang Yera’s company.
Since it was an agency where the CEO’s daughter belonged, he had once taken the time to search for it online out of curiosity.
Considering Irowool Entertainment’s company size and financial situation, they wouldn’t have the capacity to hire Hyewon as an MC.
That made it even more surprising.
“Sajangnim, do you happen to know anything about this?”
Kang Dae-oh gave a short nod and explained what had happened.
“Ms. Hyewon said she was an avid viewer of ‘On The Stage’. She said our daughter was the participant she liked and supported the most.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I heard that the MC offer didn’t come from the company, but from Ms. Hyewon’s side first.”
“Oh my goodness… Yera, she’s truly going to walk on a flower path.”
Originally, early singer activities are quite difficult and arduous, to the extent that it’s said the real game begins after debut.
If the agency pours in an incredible amount of support, it can somehow be managed, but otherwise, it’s common to walk a thorny path in the early stages of a debut.
Therefore, a case like Kang Yera’s was quite unusual.
Hyewon spoke, holding the microphone.
“—Everyone who came to Kang Yera’s debut showcase stage, I’m truly happy to see you. I’m Hyewon from IBJ, serving as the MC for this showcase. It’s a pleasure to meet you!”
As expected of a senior idol, every one of her comments exuded an air of relaxation.
“—Then, shall we introduce today’s protagonist right away? I introduce Kang Yera, the winner of the On The Stage Final Round!”
Not only those at the venue, but also Kang Dae-oh and his employees, who were watching the broadcast on their smartphones, clapped and cheered for Kang Yera.
Kang Yera, who came onto the stage, showed a natural smile, quite different from the nervous expression she had shown at home.
Kang Dae-oh felt greatly relieved internally at her appearance.
‘That’s a relief.’
He had no doubt that Kang Yera would do well, but he could only truly feel at ease after seeing it with his own eyes.
“—Hello, everyone! This is Kang Yera! It’s been almost two months… no, three months, hasn’t it? I missed you all so much~!”
At Kang Yera’s charming demeanor, the viewers’ hearts melted like snow.
Lee Seo-jun and Choi Se-in also began to focus on the screen.
It was then.
Ding-a-ling!
The store door opened, and a small bell sound was heard.
At the same time, Lee Seo-jun and Choi Se-in shouted.
“Welcome!”
“This is Amare!”
Kang Dae-oh also tried to hurry and prepare to greet the customer with the two of them, but.
Lee Seo-jun stopped him.
“Sajangnim, please continue watching Yera’s stage.”
“That’s right. You’re her appa. We’ll continue to take care of the customers.”
Kang Dae-oh expressed his gratitude for their consideration.
Thanks to them, Kang Dae-oh was able to watch Kang Yera’s performance continuously without interruption.
Kang Yera’s debut song was titled ‘Change,’ with lyrics about shedding her ordinary self and confidently singing in front of people.
Perhaps because it was a song that suited the current Kang Yera well, the sincerity within the song felt even more deeply impactful.
Despite having several high-note parts, Kang Yera performed the choreography with her backup dancers and raised her pitch without much difficulty.
‘She sings well.’
Although he had often seen his eldest daughter practicing.
This was the first time he had seen her perform a show properly dressed in stage attire.
Since Kang Dae-oh had never even seen a rehearsal stage, his daughter dancing and singing on the screen felt miraculous.
For a moment, he also thought, ‘So Kang Yera’s words about being an idol in her past life were actually true.’
The viewers’ reactions were also very enthusiastic.
Aside from the song being good, it stuck to the ear because Kang Yera seemed to know how to make a song sound delicious.
The lyrics and melody kept swirling in his head, to the point where it could rival a highly addictive hook song.
‘This song will do well.’
At some point, Kang Dae-oh also found himself humming along to his daughter’s song.
Just this alone gave him a very good feeling.
‘The digital single was supposed to be released right after the showcase, right?’
Would it succeed in charting?
Kang Dae-oh was already curious.
The day after Kang Yera’s debut showcase stage ended.
Kang Dae-oh woke up in the morning and checked the music charts first to see how well his daughter’s debut song had performed.
‘If the daily chart ranking is 36th… the start itself isn’t bad.’
The goal was to be in the top 100. So, that goal was achieved.
Perhaps because he received good news first thing in the morning, Kang Dae-oh was in a very good mood.
However, his excitement was still too early to end.
“Did you sleep well, appa?”
Kang Yera came out of the bathroom and greeted Kang Dae-oh, who was sitting on the living room sofa.
Kang Dae-oh looked at Kang Yera with a puzzled expression and said.
“You could sleep a bit more. Didn’t you say you had no schedule in the morning anyway?”
“But I do?”
“Huh? You do?”
“Yes.”
Kang Dae-oh tilted his head once.
He knew her broadcast schedule was from the afternoon.
He wondered if there was another schedule of his daughter’s that he didn’t know about.
Kang Yera let out a small laugh and said.
“Appa. I told you last time. That I’d prioritize the Amare event schedule for the very next day after the debut showcase.”
“Really?”
“Really!”
Kang Dae-oh had thought it would be nice if Kang Yera would come to the store for a bit to promote it and have a short fan signing-like event with customers when she had more time.
“Get ready quickly, appa. We’re going straight to the second branch.”
“Al… right.”
If the company hadn’t separately secured a showcase stage location, Kang Yera might have had her debut stage at Kang Dae-oh’s Amare second branch.
To that extent, Kang Yera was passionate about helping her appa.
