Episode 24. The Big Picture (3)
Kang Dae-oh and his group, carrying paper bags full of bread in both hands, headed to the meeting venue.
As soon as they saw them, the eyes of the Etoile officials widened.
“That’s…”
“There’s a store downstairs, so we bought bread in advance. I heard that popular breads like chocolate sobokoro sell out quickly in the morning.”
The MCN planning director, who Kang Yeyoung belonged to, explained the situation truthfully with an awkward expression.
The Etoile executives and employees burst into hearty laughter.
Yu In-seok, an executive director who held the highest position among the Etoile officials participating in the meeting and was also a de facto power holder, chuckled and said, “If you had told us in advance, I would have instructed my staff to buy bread before you arrived…”
Kang Dae-oh shook his head, indicating that there was no need for that.
“We should buy it with our own money. We can’t bother you with something like this.”
“……?”
Executive Director Yu In-seok looked at Kang Dae-oh and tilted his head slightly.
There was a reason he reacted to Kang Dae-oh this way.
“You look familiar…”
Kang Dae-oh pointed to Kang Yeyoung and revealed his identity.
“I’m Yeyoung’s father.”
“Ah…! Oh dear. I apologize. I thought you were a staff member from Green Rose, so I…”
Though not as much as Kang Yera and Kang Yebin, Kang Dae-oh also occasionally appeared in Kang Yeyoung’s channel videos. That’s why Kang Dae-oh’s face was familiar to Executive Director Yu In-seok.
Kang Yeyoung’s manager asked Executive Director Yu In-seok, “Yeyoung’s father also appeared in an interview video on the ‘On the Stage’ final performance. It seems you didn’t see it.”
“Yes. I don’t watch TV programs much. I apologize once again. I’m so embarrassed. You are as important as Yeyoung, and I even saw your face in the video, but I didn’t recognize you.”
Kang Dae-oh even felt burdened by how apologetic he was.
“I’m sorry,” “It’s okay,” “Still, I’m sorry,” “There’s no need to apologize.” After these words were repeated for a while, they were finally able to return to the main topic.
Their purpose for coming here was to promote Etoile products on Kang Yeyoung’s YouTube video channel.
Executive Director Yu In-seok reviewed the related materials and first explained why they chose Kang Yeyoung among so many influencers.
“I heard that Yeyoung’s YouTube channel is very hot these days. Her current subscriber count is…”
The manager immediately replied, “We expect her to reach 500,000 subscribers within this week.”
“A kindergartner influencer with 500,000 subscribers. Haha. That’s incredible. I think Kang Yeyoung might be the kindergartner in South Korea who earns the most money on her own.”
If you have a YouTube channel with around 500,000 subscribers, you can earn enormous profits just from advertisements. Furthermore, Kang Yeyoung was very careful with her algorithm management, so her videos were frequently exposed to people as recommended content. As a result, advertisers couldn’t help but view Kang Yeyoung’s channel favorably.
“Your father is managing that channel, right?”
“N-no… Yes, I, I am managing it.”
For a moment, “no” almost slipped out. If Kang Yeyoung hadn’t strongly poked Kang Dae-oh’s side with her hand, Kang Dae-oh might have confessed that Kang Yeyoung was doing all the YouTube channel management, including video editing. Even if he had actually said that, people would have probably thought it was a joke and wouldn’t have believed him. This is because, logically, it makes no sense for a kindergartner to be doing all of this.
Still, one shouldn’t make too many verbal blunders just because people won’t take it seriously. There’s no harm in being careful first. This was also Kang Dae-oh’s philosophy of life. His daughters also grew up greatly influenced by their father’s philosophy. Therefore, Kang Yeyoung, like Kang Dae-oh, adopted the attitude of being careful in advance.
“I used to manage it, but now I’ve delegated all management authority to Green Rose.”
“Is that the case for direction as well?”
“Ah, I’m still in charge of the direction and editing guidelines. I don’t edit directly. I write a script storyboard like this, detailing how each cut should be done and where subtitles should be added, and then Green Rose works according to that.”
The Green Rose officials nodded enthusiastically, confirming Kang Dae-oh’s words. In truth, Kang Dae-oh wasn’t writing the storyboards. It was merely packaging what Kang Yeyoung wrote as if Kang Dae-oh had done it. Until Kang Yeyoung got a bit older, they decided to coordinate their words like this, even if it was troublesome.
Executive Director Yu In-seok and the Etoile executives and employees listened attentively to Kang Dae-oh’s story with expressions of curiosity. While influencers are more accessible than one might think, there isn’t much detailed information publicly available about how they work or what preparation processes they undergo behind the scenes. From the perspective of an ordinary person like Executive Director Yu In-seok, just hearing an explanation of how a successful influencer works was incredibly novel.
Yu In-seok and the Etoile executives and employees initially decided to arrange this meeting after seeing Kang Yeyoung’s talent. However, after meeting Kang Dae-oh, they became even more interested in his presence. Executive Director Yu In-seok’s gaze towards him was filled with respect.
“I heard that the cafe your father runs is also doing well. And on top of that, video editing… You’re truly versatile.”
Kang Dae-oh repeated “No, I’m not,” a phrase he had lost count of how many times he’d said today.
During the meeting, Executive Director Yu In-seok and Etoile officials first presented their requirements as advertisers, detailing how they would like their breads to be reviewed. While discussing the direction and concept of the shoot, one of the Etoile staff members came up with an idea.
“How about we conduct the filming at our main store? It would also promote the store. I think it would be good.”
“That’s a good idea. What do you all think?”
Executive Director Yu In-seok turned to Kang Yeyoung’s side. The Green Rose staff responded positively, saying it wasn’t a bad idea.
At this moment, Kang Dae-oh’s gaze turned to Kang Yeyoung.
“Yeyoung, what do you think?”
Thanks to Kang Dae-oh’s question, Kang Yeyoung opened her mouth for the first time since the meeting began.
“Yes. I think it’s good too.”
Kang Dae-oh smiled faintly, seeing Kang Yeyoung, who was unusually quiet today.
“She says so.”
“Then we’ll set the location as the main store you mentioned you stopped by earlier.”
“Yes, understood.”
Kang Dae-oh had long known that Kang Yeyoung was deliberately holding back her words. This was because before entering the meeting, Kang Yeyoung had told him this: Even though she was the main character, because she was so young, adults wouldn’t take her seriously no matter how much she spoke. Judging that such a setting was more suited for an adult-to-adult conversation, Kang Yeyoung deliberately kept quiet.
As Kang Yeyoung had calculated, the meeting was able to reach an agreement quite quickly.
The two groups, having concluded their discussion, bid each other farewell with words of “good work” and rose from their seats. Executive Director Yu In-seok expressed a slight regret.
“If the timing had been right, we could have had a meal together. Next time, let’s meet for lunch or dinner. Ah, considering Yeyoung, lunch might be better than dinner.”
Because she’s still a baby, they couldn’t have her spend time outside until late at night. Kang Dae-oh liked Executive Director Yu In-seok’s thoughtfulness in considering his daughter. The more he saw him, the more he felt he was a truly good person.
After the meeting, the Green Rose officials, leaving the Etoile office, asked Kang Dae-oh and Kang Yeyoung, “Are you heading straight home?”
Before Kang Dae-oh could open his mouth, Kang Yeyoung answered first.
“I’m going by Appa’s car.”
“I see. Understood. Then I’ll organize the meeting details from today and send them to your father’s email, so you can check it later.”
“Yes!”
At Kang Yeyoung’s clear and concise answer, the Green Rose officials were already smiling like proud parents.
After seeing them off, Kang Dae-oh took Kang Yeyoung and headed to the parking lot. Looking at Kang Yeyoung, who was seated in the passenger seat, Kang Dae-oh subtly asked, “You told Appa that Etoile would stumble badly this year.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Really? No matter how I look at it, I can’t believe it.”
There were still many customers, and above all, the company seemed to have many competent individuals like Executive Director Yu In-seok. After personally attending the meeting, Kang Dae-oh began to doubt whether Kang Yeyoung’s divine revelation was true or not. In fact, as soon as Kang Dae-oh heard from Kang Yeyoung that Etoile might go bankrupt soon, he immediately searched for related articles. No matter how much he searched, there was only positive content, saying that Etoile was a rising star in the baking industry these days.
Nevertheless, Kang Yeyoung emphasized that her words were not wrong.
“By the end of this year. No, if it’s earlier, an article might be released right after I finish filming in Sol Dam-ri.”
“What kind of article?”
“The CEO’s embezzlement and fraud issues.”
“……?”
“The executives and employees are, as Appa said, truly good people. But the problem is Etoile’s CEO.”
Kang Yeyoung said that the CEO was not a very good person even before establishing Etoile.
“From tax evasion suspicions, if you dig deep, various things will come out. It’s just that they haven’t been caught until now.”
“So that… means it’ll start breaking out this year?”
Kang Yeyoung nodded vigorously and continued, “Appa, since you run your own business, you’d know well that a company’s image is very important. But if the CEO, who is the face and signboard of that company, has committed all sorts of illegal acts, can that company really recover?”
“It would be difficult.”
The term ‘owner risk’ isn’t just for show. The presence of a company’s CEO plays a very significant role for the public. If they stumble once, the public will quickly turn away. Etoile was currently in exactly that state.
For a moment, Kang Dae-oh was about to suggest, “How about we tell Executive Director Yu In-seok now and take countermeasures?” but then, “…It would already be too late.”
Kang Yeyoung clearly said this: This owner risk had already begun even before the company was founded. Even if they take countermeasures now, the illegal acts committed by the company’s CEO won’t disappear.
Here, Kang Dae-oh had another question.
“But why did you want me to attend the meeting with Etoile?”
“Why do you think?”
At Kang Yeyoung’s meaningful words, Kang Dae-oh wore an expression as if he had realized something.
What Kang Yeyoung wanted.
What Kang Dae-oh hoped he would do.
It was none other than.
“You want me… you want Amare to acquire Etoile.”
“Correct! As expected of Appa.”
Kang Dae-oh swallowed his admiration at his youngest daughter’s big picture.
