The Price of a Rumor
Deok-su narrowed his eyes.
I figured it would work out as planned, but looks like there’s chatter under the surface too.
Kim Jin-hyung lifted Gongza’s seat for him and said, “Of course. There are probably a lot of people looking for Gongza right now, but that always comes up as a risk factor. You know, the accounting scandal.”
He was fully aware of it.
“I’m sure you already know, but it’s infuriating. It’s not like Gongza did anything wrong.”
“That’s right. I’m thinking about how to handle it.”
“If Gongza starts using SNS and people can see his everyday life, those comments will die down. Oh, and I recommend making one for overseas fans too.”
Deok-su nodded and whispered, “Thank you for the advice.”
“Not at all. Ah, Gongza’s asleep, so I’m feeling a little drowsy too.”
“Would you like to sleep?”
“Huh?”
“I’ll wake you when it’s time.”
Deok-su smoothly took out an air pillow and a blanket. Kim Jin-hyung blinked, then let out a snort of laughter.
“Ah, thanks. But, um, sleeping would be a little…”
He handed his smartphone to Deok-su.
“Could I get one shot of me pretending to sleep?”
Kim Jin-hyung gave him a wink. “That’s what SNS is, right?”
Deok-su nodded. If it had been before, he might have been a little flustered, but not anymore.
This much is nothing.
Kim Jin-hyung lay down beside Gongza. Deok-su carefully pressed the shutter.
Click—
The smartphone screen captured a rising idol and a cute little Gongza. Kim Jin-hyung sprang up at once and checked the photo.
“Huh?”
He blinked.
“Is something wrong?”
“Manager-nim….”
Kim Jin-hyung gave an awkward laugh and showed him the photo.
“You’re really bad at taking pictures.”
He said it honestly.
“The whole thing is completely blurry.”
Deok-su quietly looked down at his own hand.
“This camera has a shake-reduction feature….”
Kim Jin-hyung tilted his head. “How did you even manage to take it like this? Wow, that’s amazing. Ah, I get it. So that’s why Gongza doesn’t have SNS.”
Deok-su had nothing to say.
“Hmm. I wonder if this can be edited.”
The idol stood up and walked away. Deok-su silently looked down at his hand. It was an unexpected and serious challenge.
* * *
I sat at a kid-sized desk, lost in thought.
This was really bad.
I wrote in my sketchbook with colored pencils.
Reflection Letter
The handwriting was crooked, but there was nothing I could do about that. I let out a long sigh.
I never thought the price would come back and smack me in the back of the head like this.
Just thinking about the day I’d finally relaxed still made me dizzy.
Lack of motivation is scary.
I wrote another line with my colored pencil.
- Be careful
I really did have to be careful. At this rate, I was going to be in serious trouble.
Then Deok-su set down a plate of fruit and said, “Are you writing a reflection letter?”
“Yes. I’ve been a little lazy lately.”
I took a deep breath. Honestly, I still couldn’t figure out how I’d filmed that music video.
“Teacher. How was Gongza when he filmed the music video?”
Deok-su speared a strawberry with his fork and held it out to me.
“He looked a little sleepy.”
I asked seriously, “And?”
“That was all.”
I took a deep breath.
So that’s all it was? Thank goodness.
I underlined the reflection letter with my colored pencil.
What a relief. But still, that was luck.
From now on, if the price started doing things like that, I should avoid it. At this rate, I’d end up slipping.
I worked so hard to protect Ma Gongza’s image!
Once a rumor started, it was over.
Those filthy reporters are probably already sniffing around.
Damn it. That stupid accounting scandal.
Right now, the directors and actors around me were all praising me, sure.
So they’re probably working themselves into a frenzy trying to dig up dirt.
Some of the vicious reporters I knew were absolutely capable of that.
I let out another sigh. In any case, they really had nothing better to do.
And in the middle of all this, I’d gone slack.
I underlined the reflection letter again.
It was basically the same as lounging around on a battlefield.
Again! The price! Be careful! Coin!
That was when I heard Deok-su speak.
“Gongza, you’ve been busy lately.”
Oh.
“You’re not tired?”
“It’s a rare day off.”
“You’ve been resting plenty lately.”
Honestly, I wanted to work even more.
Come to think of it, Mom said I was being worked too hard.
I’d secretly been looking forward to it, but since I was a child actor, my schedule wasn’t actually that brutal.
Keeping things balanced is harder. That just means they’re paying close attention to me.
Still, for the sake of raising money for the charity foundation, I wanted to burn myself out a little more.
I want to get out there with something big—no, a bunch of big things. Is there anything else?
I’m hungry for work. Very, very hungry. Always.
I bit into a strawberry and closed my sketchbook, the reflection letter still open.
“Tomorrow’s another film schedule.”
Oh.
“The movie is doing well. They say it’s already at 8 million.”
Wow.
Well, of course it is. Still, I’m glad.
I broke into a wide smile.
“I’m happy it’s doing so well!”
“So am I. Then let’s go to bed early tonight.”
I nodded.
“Yes. I’ll look at the script a little first.”
“After nine, I’m taking it away. Gongza looks at the script too much.”
No, teacher. My job is acting. Studying the script is work.
“You won’t grow if you sleep late.”
“I’ve grown too much lately, though.”
I shot up ten centimeters at high speed, Deok-su. Granted, that was thanks to coin power.
“……You might stop growing altogether.”
The excuse was desperate. Still, it wasn’t exactly wrong.
Maybe it really was better to grow naturally than to get big artificially.
I nodded obediently.
“Yes!”
Deok-su nodded as well. I bit into another strawberry. Sweet and tart.
* * *
“That fucking bastard. I should tear him limb from limb.”
Ma Soo-jung barely stopped herself from hurling her smartphone across the room.
The words were rough, but the feeling behind them was easy enough to understand. Deok-su nodded.
“That’s going too far.”
“Who the hell is this guy?”
“Do you know him?”
“No. Never seen him.”
Deok-su studied the article carefully.
That boy is really kind? Conflicting reactions.
There was no subject, but the only person currently known as “kind” these days was Gongza. The article was bad enough, but the comments were even worse.
Ma Soo-jung took a deep breath.
“That’s some next-level trash talk. Hahaha!”
“Can’t this be dealt with legally?”
“There’s no subject, right? Well, maybe it’s specific enough to count. But that still takes forever. Lawyers can make it happen, sure, but court is a different beast.”
Deok-su quietly loosened his muscles.
“I’ll sneak in a little punch tonight.”
“That would work too, but things like that are better left to professionals. The world has a lot more accidents disguised as coincidence than you’d think.”
Ma Soo-jung clenched and unclenched her fist as she spoke. “Once there are more CCTVs everywhere, those people will all retire anyway.”
“Forensics have advanced a lot these days.”
“Exactly. But there’s always a gap somewhere. For now, I’m going to start by digging into his financial information.”
Ma Soo-jung smiled sharply.
“There are plenty of legal ways to make his life miserable. You know, sometimes people’s personal information can end up scattered all over China before you know it. But who is this bastard?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
Deok-su said calmly, “It’ll be the guy who picked a fight with Gongza.”
“Ah, what was his name again?”
“The one who got scolded by Jung Yu-jin and cut from the film, but apparently he’s still at it.”
“The Basement is doing incredibly well. It really looks like it’s headed for 10 million.”
“Yes, then he’d have reason to harbor malice.”
Ma Soo-jung frowned.
“What a piece of shit, making a scene over nothing.”
“Maybe I should have put him down on the spot.”
“No. That squid’s probably going to cause trouble soon enough, isn’t he?”
Ma Soo-jung searched the squid’s name. Sure enough, several results popped up on SNS.
“People like that can’t act to save their lives, but they love attention like crazy.”
“I see.”
“If you talk too much, you end up causing trouble. Look at this bastard. He’s stirred up a mess with every celebrity under the sun.”
Deok-su nodded.
“I doubt many people like him.”
“Not few—everyone hates him. And yet he keeps landing castings.”
“Why?”
“University.”
Ma Soo-jung let out a long sigh.
“Damn alumni ties, regional ties. Korean society is way too strong about that.”
“It’s bad in other countries too.”
“People are more or less the same everywhere, I guess. Still, this bastard has lasted a long time, hasn’t he?”
Deok-su nodded.
“It might be time for him to wander off into the back alleys of history.”
“Someone like him shouldn’t even be left in history. Ah, this is getting ugly.”
The post had spread across every big online community.
“There’s a lot of criticism.”
“Any normal person would be cursing him out too.”
“I’m worried about the weird ones.”
Ma Soo-jung gave a bitter smile.
“That’s true. It’s a real problem if the opinions of the weirdos start seeming like the mainstream.”
“The Gomja fans are jumping up and down. They’re posting comments under every article.”
“Oh?”
Ma Soo-jung blinked. That was a little unexpected.
“Gongza’s fans?”
“Yes. Thanks to them, the weird comments are getting reported, deleted, or buried.”
“I’ve never seen that kind of situation before. I never had fans that passionate.”
Ma Soo-jung smiled a little. It was so touching.
“Our Gongza really does have good fortune when it comes to people.”
“No one does this for just anyone. There isn’t a single person who hates Gongza.”
“I’m not saying this because he’s my son, but isn’t it really hard to hate our Gongza?”
“I completely agree. How could anyone hate him?”
“He’s kind, he’s cute, and he can do everything on his own.”
“He always considers others first and gives in before anyone asks.”
Ma Soo-jung closed her eyes.
“He’s my son, but I honestly think he’s too perfect.”
“He’s my disciple, but he’s honestly amazing.”
They both sighed at the same time.
“Gongza’s film schedule is tomorrow, right?”
“Yes. It’s the audience Q&A for the 8 million milestone.”
“He’ll be exposed to a whole bunch of strangers, so I’m worried he’ll get hurt.”
“Since he’s the lead, we couldn’t cancel the schedule. Of course, we’ve already received a promise that Gongza’s safety will come first.”
“I should remind Gongza once more to be careful.”
“I’ll devote everything I have to keeping him safe.”
Ma Soo-jung smiled brightly. “Yes. I’ll dig around a little more too.”
Just as the two of them were calming down and getting ready to do their own work, Ma Soo-jung’s smartphone suddenly chimed with a messenger alert.
She glanced down at the screen.
It’s CEO Seo?
What is it?
In the chairman’s message window, there was a linked article. Ma Soo-jung tapped it open first. Then, after reading the headline, she muttered furiously, “Those damn gutter-rat reporters.”
At last, the reporters had started their trashy little stunt.