Episode 116
Ma Gongja’s voice rang out.
“I’m going to introduce the ingredients of Sour Tea!”
The child lifted a ladle from a large jar. But the ladle was empty.
Director Won Jong-sa stroked his chin.
So the tea leaves aren’t props.
He was only miming the act of scooping them up.
And yet it feels natural.
Ma Gongja poured the invisible tea leaves into the teacup and said, “Grandma, whom I can never see again.”
Won Jong-sa blinked. The line came out a little abruptly.
“Grandma always smelled like side dishes.”
Ma Gongja sniffed delicately, then made a little hugging motion.
“When I hugged her, she smelled like all kinds of things.”
The child suddenly sprang upright and tapped his nose.
“Red pepper flakes!”
He took one step to the left, then jumped once.
“Soy sauce!”
Ma Gongja threw both arms wide.
“Vinegar!”
At the child’s lively motions, the audience broke into laughter.
Ma Gongja slowly returned to his original spot. Then he looked back out at the audience.
“After Grandma went far away, I could never smell it again.”
The child pointed toward the ceiling with the ladle he’d set on the floor.
“Mom said Grandma became a star.”
Suddenly, several lights twinkled overhead. Ma Gongja smiled brightly and covered one eye with the ladle in his hand.
He looks like a little rascal playing a trick.
The child, who had seemed so refined and princely before, now looked like a mischievous imp.
“If Gongja rides a spaceship and reaches the stars, Grandma will be there, right?”
The child delivered the line slowly.
“Then I’ll be able to smell that side-dish smell again, won’t I?”
Then came the child’s bright, innocent imagination, flowing straight after it.
For a moment, the audience was left with a tightness in the chest by that pure longing for his grandmother.
Onstage, Ma Gongja beamed.
“Here are the next ingredients for Sour Tea!”
This time, the child opened a small tin. Then he reached inside, pinched something between his fingers, and dropped it into the teapot.
“My missing Bboong-Bboong.”
Only then did Won Jong-sa understand.
So the boy’s painful memories are the ingredients in Sour Tea.
It was an interesting play.
“Gongja had a Bboong-Bboong.”
The child sprang up from his seat and placed one palm on his head.
“It was a red Bboong-Bboong. It sparkled right here. Sparkle sparkle!”
Ma Gongja waved his hand.
A toy car with a siren on it.
Ah, it must have been an ambulance.
Won Jong-sa folded his arms. Come to think of it, kids that age were especially fond of little model cars.
“Gongja liked that Bboong-Bboong the best!”
The child let his arms droop and lowered his head.
“But one day, my younger sibling took it without asking and threw it away.”
The audience let out a collective “Ah!” of sympathy. Won Jong-sa was among them.
“Gongja cried and cried when he saw the broken Bboong-Bboong.”
Ma Gongja made a face as though sobbing with both hands.
“Mom said Gongja was sad over something that didn’t matter. Why are you crying over that, she asked.”
The child lowered his hands and mimed wiping away tears.
“You know,”
he said, looking out at the audience.
“If Gongja is sad because his Bboong-Bboong got broken, is he not allowed to cry?”
Oh, wow.
Won Jong-sa groaned again before he could stop himself. And only then did he realize it.
So that’s the theme of the play. A child’s innocence and wounds.
And it was a one-man play, too. He swallowed hard without meaning to.
Honestly, it was absurd.
An actor child performing a one-man play like this?
Incredible.
This is more than bravery.
This was reckless. And yet Ma Gongja onstage was doing exactly that.
Y-you’re kidding. A real genius?
Won Jong-sa found himself glancing at Rhy-lac. The bastard who’d insisted Ma Gongja was a genius was watching with shining eyes.
Damn it.
At this rate, he was going to end up buying makgeolli and pajeon for him. For a guy who’d already hit ten million, no less.
Won Jong-sa turned back to the stage. Ma Gongja moved again.
“Here are the next ingredients for Sour Tea!”
This time the child took out another bottle. Then he exaggeratedly made the gesture of tasting something with his finger.
“My friend who went far away.”
Ma Gongja’s voice trembled faintly.
“One day, I couldn’t see my friend again. He liked soccer...”
Ma Gongja jumped to his feet and kicked one leg out once.
“I heard later that his parents had split up.”
The child ran to the other side and made a motion as if catching a ball.
“Nobody wanted my friend anymore. Not his mom, not his dad.”
A pained murmur rippled through the audience.
“Will my friend be okay? Gongja is so worried.”
Ma Gongja stopped and caught his breath.
Won Jong-sa clenched his fist. His chest tightened all at once.
Damn it. It’s sad.
Don’t make a grown man feel this way over something like this.
Gongja looked at the teacup, then lifted his head.
“Next, the ingredient is...”
The child pointed to his own chest.
“It’s here. It’s something absolutely necessary to make Sour Tea.”
He leapt to his feet and stood at the center of the stage.
“Gongja was in an orphanage.”
In an instant, Won Jong-sa’s fist tightened.
Right. That was what he’d heard. That child had once been...
There was quite a stir when word got out that Ma Soo-jung had adopted him.
The child spoke calmly. Of course, even then, his projection was remarkably good.
“Gongja was abandoned on a cold day. If a little more time had passed, his whole body would have frozen.”
He wrapped his arms around himself and shivered slightly.
“After hearing that, Gongja kept thinking...”
Ma Gongja smiled brightly.
“That he wanted to help children like me.”
Good grief.
Won Jong-sa pressed a hand to his forehead. It felt like he’d been sucker-punched.
This fits perfectly with a charity foundation play.
Don’t do this to me. I’m going to get emotional.
Don’t make me cry at this age.
I’m weak to this kind of thing.
The child said calmly, “I’ll do my best. Um, and also. I’d like to give my thanks!”
Ma Gongja turned toward Won Jong-sa. For a second, it felt as though he were looking directly at him, but the child’s gaze was angled a little lower.
Ma Gongja waved.
“Sister Nun!”
The child smiled brightly and bowed at the waist.
“Thank you.”
The nun seemed deeply moved and wiped at her eyes. In that instant, Won Jong-sa clenched his fist again.
No, no! This can’t be happening.
It was already too late.
Won Jong-sa pressed hard at the corners of his eyes. They were already wet.
“Gongja met Mom and is happy every single day.”
The child walked back to center stage and sat down neatly in front of the teapot.
“The final ingredient in Sour Tea is my happiness and gratitude.”
The child smiled sweetly. Then he cupped his hands together as if holding sand.
“Now I’ll put it in!”
Ma Gongja added the ingredients to the teapot. Then he carefully knelt and checked the temperature with his palm.
“It’s just right.”
The child set the teacup on the saucer and took a sip.
Ma Gongja closed his eyes. Silence settled over the little theater packed with people.
Won Jong-sa focused every nerve on the actor, so sharply that he could see even the fine hairs on his skin.
Ma Gongja let out a long breath. Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked forward again.
Then, with a voice so heartbreakingly perfect it was almost absurd, he said, “It’s very sour.”
Holy hell!
Won Jong-sa scratched at his arms, goosebumps rising all over them.
He really is a genius!
How is he doing this kind of play at that age?
And that surging energy is no joke.
His emotional expression wasn’t overdone at all. It was perfect.
How is that even possible?
The play ended, but everyone else still seemed dazed.
Then applause came from beside him.
Clap, clap, clap—
Won Jong-sa turned at once. His junior colleague was clapping with tears streaming down his face.
That was the beginning. Suddenly the entire theater was filled with applause.
Director Rhy-lac shouted through his tears, “Gongja, you’re the best! See? You’re mine!”
You crazy bastard.
Won Jong-sa took a deep breath. After watching that play, if he could just sit there quietly, then he wasn’t a director at all.
“So? Senior, he’s amazing, right?”
“Rhy-lac.”
First, Won Jong-sa started with the best thing he could manage.
“You little shit.”
Rhy-lac wiped his tears and answered, “Right?”
Something in Won Jong-sa’s chest suddenly burst open. He couldn’t possibly contain that feeling. For the moment, he stayed calm, hauled the younger man in, and slung an arm around his shoulders.
“Hey, you bastard!”
“Senior, what are you doing?”
“You should’ve convinced me harder!”
“What do you mean, why?”
“You should’ve been hitting me on the back of the head and telling me Ma Gongja was a genius!”
“No, because you wouldn’t believe me!”
“I thought you were just overreacting! Did you think I expected it to be this good?”
The two directors bickered noisily, but no one really noticed. Most of the audience was too busy cheering.
“Senior, I really did try to convince you!”
“Shut up, you punk. Damn it, this is bad.”
“What is?”
Won Jong-sa looked around and met the eyes of several other directors. They were probably all thinking the same thing.
“Everyone wants to cast him now, don’t they?”
“Well, of course they do.”
“You little punk! So you already knew that, did you?”
“Heeheehee. That’s why you’ve got to build a good relationship early.”
“Shut up. Damn it. We need to get in line fast. Which agency is Ma Gongja with?”
“Ma Soo-jung’s agency.”
“Ah, that one. Got it.”
Won Jong-sa took a deep breath. The applause still hadn’t died down.
At times like this, speed is everything.
He grabbed his junior by the shoulder and said, “Let’s go!”
“Where?”
“To the dressing room. We’re going to meet him, aren’t we? And there’ll be an afterparty, so we need to follow.”
“It said in the invitation that there wouldn’t be one. Looks like they saw this coming.”
“Damn it.”
Come to think of it, everyone here would want to see that Ma Gongja.
So this is how it ends up.
What now?
“Senior, you felt fate in Gongja too.”
“Damn it.”
“Heeheeheehee.”
Rhy-lac shot little bullets of affection as he spoke.
“But it’s too late already. Everyone’s going to be the same.”
Won Jong-sa clenched his fist.
“So listen to me, will you? Ahahaha. But our Gongja was really good, right? I told you he was a genius.”
“Hey, honestly. I didn’t think I’d see something like that. A genius?”
He shook his head.
“Yeah. A genius. A real genius. But was it just me? I felt more of a veteran’s aura from Ma Gongja than anything else.”
Rhy-lac blinked. Won Jong-sa spoke frankly.
“I’d believe it if you told me he’d been a stage actor for ten years.”
“He is polished, isn’t he? And his projection is great, too.”
“How exactly did actress Ma Soo-jung raise her son?”
Rhy-lac laughed.
“Do you really think Ma taught him?”
“Huh? Then where’d Ma Gongja learn all that?”
“If you work with him, you’ll understand. He knows things more deeply than someone who was simply told. That’s why I keep telling you, Ma Gongja is a genius. Everyone just refuses to believe it.”
Rhy-lac grinned and added, “That includes you, Senior.”
“Argh, you bastard!”
“Come on. Let’s go eat makgeolli and pajeon. Man, thanks to Gongja, we get to be treated.”
Won Jong-sa let out a long sigh. He wanted to argue, but the words wouldn’t come.
Damn it, I should’ve believed him.
All that remained was regret.
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