A Flower Basket from Moseongwon
The nun’s eyes trembled.
“Please let me do it!”
Please, Sister.
“Gongza, you’re already receiving a great deal of help from Ms. Ma.”
“Then please let Gongza help too. I don’t know much about anything else, but if Noah hyung wants to play soccer, he’s going to need support!”
The nun could not answer. She had always been a careful person.
But I guess this was something she really did need.
Well, sports cost money. I’d heard they could eat through a family’s foundation stones.
But, Sister, I make a lot of money.
Trust me. I’m an actor who works like a draft horse. If it came to it, I’d take a pile of bit parts and support Noah that way.
I hate that I’m still so young.
Still, I can support my lifesaver! I’m rich!
The nun stayed silent for a long time. Then, with a faint smile, she stroked my cheek.
“How strange. This is the kind of thing I ought to refuse, and yet...”
I took her hand.
“I can’t quite explain it. I feel like I don’t need to refuse.”
I beamed.
That’s instinct for you!
Follow your instincts! Then your worries will ease, and Noah will be more comfortable too!
This is rewarding.
Wow, supporting a youth soccer player. Look at me, doing things like this.
Sister.
“Gongza thinks meeting Sister was destiny!”
“Oh?”
You probably think it was God’s will, but honestly, anything works for me.
“So Gongza helping Noah hyung must be destiny too!”
That’s what destiny is, after all. You can’t go against it.
The nun shook her head and laughed.
Ah, honestly, good people should be rewarded.
I’m honored to be able to give her that reward.
“Gongza.”
“Yep!”
“I can’t tell you how happy I am that you’re growing up healthy.”
As expected, she was far too good-hearted.
“I prayed so much.”
No, Sister.
“You don’t need to pray for Gongza!”
“What?”
“Gongza is fine! Sister’s prayers are precious, so you can leave Gongza out of them!”
The nun blinked, then covered her mouth and laughed. After that, she pulled me into a tight embrace.
“When I first saw you, I thought an angel baby had come to us...”
Mm, Sister. Wasn’t I just a baby screaming in the snow? That’s how I remember it.
“Truly, an angel came.”
No, I’m not that kind of guy.
Well, in this life I do have a lot going for me. If I were broke, I wouldn’t even think about doing this.
Still, even Sister calls me an angel.
I thought only Mom did. Where am I supposed to start untangling this misunderstanding?
For now, I should just live properly.
I needed to be careful with my behavior.
For some reason, if I tossed out a bit of trash on the street, I felt like both of them would be deeply shocked.
I looked at the nun. Her eyes were always gentle.
Sister.
I’m very happy to be Mom’s son.
Honestly, even if I had grown up in an orphanage all this time, I think I still would have been happy.
This life really is lucky.
It’s not easy to meet people like this. It’s a miracle, really.
I took the nun’s hand and gave it a little shake. The play had gone well, and we’d found a place to help. It had been a rewarding day.
That was when I heard the door open.
“Mama!”
I turned and smiled brightly. Mom was walking in, pushing a cart.
“My angel! Gongza, I was so surprised. I knew ahead of time because I saw the rehearsal, but why is our Gongza so good?”
I grinned.
“Because I’m Mama’s son!”
With all the practice space and resources she’d given me, wasn’t this exactly the result you’d expect?
If you have money and time, there’s so much more a person can do.
The trouble is that most people don’t have either.
In that sense, the play’s success was inevitable.
Not that I hadn’t put in the effort.
Mom bowed slightly to the nun, then straightened.
“It’s been a while, Sister.”
“Ms. Ma, have you been well?”
“I’m happy every single day because of our Gongza.”
The nun let out a long breath. Mom gave my cheek a light kiss.
“You were worried, weren’t you?”
“A little.”
“When I first brought Gongza home, I think I was a little like that too. I still ask myself whether I’m doing well enough.”
No, Mother.
How could you do any better than this?
I’m already living a life of outrageous indulgence!
“You worry about things like that, Ms. Ma?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t. You’re already far too beautiful a mother and son.”
Mom smiled a little.
“Our Gongza suffered because of me lately. You heard about it, right?”
“I heard a little.”
Mom rubbed my cheek back and forth. I knew that was the spot where the bottle had hit me.
“I could picture it. That night, I could see Ms. Ma unable to sleep.”
Mom’s hand trembled slightly.
Oh, Mother.
No, why couldn’t you sleep?
This is nothing!
Mom smiled bitterly.
“How did you know?”
“No parent sleeps soundly when their child gets hurt.”
“I regretted it. I kept thinking that if I hadn’t set such an unreasonable plan in motion, our Gongza wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”
Mom whispered, very softly.
“I wanted to protect you...”
Oh, Mother. You’ve already done more than enough.
I hurriedly shouted,
“Nooo! Our Mama is the best!”
Mom blinked. I reached out and clutched her sleeve.
“Gongza can’t live without Mama!”
No, seriously, with this kind of wonderful life, it’s hard to be unhappy!
Even if five hundred stones had come flying at me instead of a plastic bottle, I think I’d still be happy!
Why are you carrying around guilt for no reason? Please, just set that down!
“Gongza is already perfectly safe!”
Mom still couldn’t say anything.
“Who cares about a plastic bottle? Gongza is this happy!”
The two of them just stared at me for a long time. I clenched my fists. The frustration inside me was almost unbearable.
Then a small laugh slipped out.
Huh?
I’m being serious here.
The culprit was Sister. She covered her mouth with her sleeve and turned her head away, but her shoulders were shaking violently.
“Sister?”
Respected Sister. No, why are you laughing?
“Pff. Pfft, pfft. Really, ahahaha.”
The nun wiped away tears.
“Oh, my. Kihk. Honestly. You’re just too adorable and lovable.”
Mom laughed too, once, hard enough to cover her eyes with the back of her hand.
“Sister, this is the kind of happiness I live in.”
“Our Gongza seems to really adore you, Ms. Ma.”
“He does. And because of Gongza, I think I live even more earnestly. Just seeing him gives me strength.”
Mom patted my head.
“How can our Gongza be so good?”
Sorry, Mother, but I’m not actually all that good.
“Everyone knows our Gongza is an angel, don’t they?”
Huh? What was that supposed to mean?
Mom turned and pulled the cart closer. It was packed full of flowers.
“These are for Gongza?”
“Yes. There are lots of cards too.”
“Wow! Mama, you have to take a picture and send it to them!”
Yes, yes.
That’ll make the charity foundation look good too.
Mom smiled brightly and said, “There were a lot of people who wanted to donate money to Gongza’s charity foundation.”
Huh?
“They said they were deeply moved by the play.”
What kind and generous people.
Well, I am a professional.
Even if the screening was free, this is still what actors get paid for: their performance. Of course.
Still, this is rare. It feels good.
I looked at the cart. Among all the flowers, one thing stood out in particular.
Huh?
I got up and lifted the flower basket. The shabby basket was stuffed full of flowers folded from paper.
The nun said,
“This flower basket is from the children at Moseongwon, Gongza.”
Goodness.
I brushed my fingers lightly over the paper flowers. Some of the blossoms were clumsy, some were quite skillful.
A smile came to me on its own.
“The little ones worked hard folding them because they wanted to give them to Gongza.”
“That makes Gongza so happy!”
Just imagining those children folding this with their tiny hands made my chest swell.
Honestly, this is too much...
I took a quiet breath. I had no idea what expression I was supposed to make. Maybe because I was still so young, but my eyes stung.
“Gongza?”
I bit my lip hard and looked up at the ceiling.
“Oh my?”
“I hope you’ll all be happy.”
The children’s hearts were too precious.
Sniffling a little, I said,
“I hope everyone at Moseongwon is happy.”
Even if there’s no discrimination within the orphanage, the reality those kids have to endure is on a different level. But that doesn’t mean they have to be unhappy. So...
I’ll help make things better, even if only a little.
Lee Hanjo, no, Ma Gongza means it when he says he’ll do it.
The nun lightly brushed my cheek. Then she smiled softly.
“Gongza. You said my prayers were precious, so I didn’t need to pray, didn’t you?”
I nodded.
“But I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop praying for Gongza. How can you be so good?”
“Our Gongza is an angel, Sister.”
“That’s right, Ms. Ma. There’s no way such a child isn’t an angel. Lord, thank you for sending us such a Gongza.”
Ah, no. It’s not that serious! Don’t pray like that!
Wow, I really need to live properly.
If I accidentally let out even one swear word, these two would probably be so shocked they’d lie down on the spot.
I drew a steadying breath and gathered myself. Thankfully, I managed to avoid the disaster of crying in front of them.
That was when I heard rustling from a corner of the waiting room. I turned slightly and saw Deok-su squatting down in the far corner.
Oh, dear...
Deok-su pushed his sunglasses up and vigorously rubbed at his eyes with a tissue.
For a moment, I had nothing to say.
Is it because he’s so big...
That strangely dignified misery suited him.
I let out a sigh. Then I heard a sniffle.
“Sob, sob...”
This is ridiculous. Anyone would think he was being bullied like Kongji and Patji or Cinderella.
They’ll think someone picked on him.
Though he didn’t really look like someone who could be bullied to begin with.
Mom patted my shoulder and said, “Looks like Mr. Deok-su was moved quite a bit.”
I shook my head, took the box of tissues, and carried it over. Then I handed it to him carefully and went back to my seat.
I drew another slow breath. It had been a very grateful, very good moment, but there was still work to do.
“Mama, take a picture.”
“So you can say thank you?”
“Yep! You know who sent the flowers, right?”
“The manager wrote it down.”
“Great! Please tell the manager nuna and everyone who sent flowers that I’m grateful!”
All right, let’s get to work. If you want to do good for others and make something of yourself, you’d better do things properly.
I took one bouquet and stood against the wall. Mom smiled and lifted her smartphone.
Click.
The nun handed me another bouquet from the side. I smiled brightly and struck a pose. Mom bent her knees to change the angle.
Click.
The nun took the bouquet I’d just been photographed with and handed me a fresh one. Teamwork really was the basis of efficiency.
Click.
Sob, sob.
Every now and then I could hear someone crying, but I focused on the job. Maybe it was the power of good division of labor. The photoshoot was over quickly.
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