The Child Who Broke the Internet
“Mina. Gongza’s gone and done something again.”
CEO Seo flopped across the sofa and waved a tissue in the air.
He’s waving a white flag.
Well, there had been a lot of calls lately. Still, a scandal? My kid?
Ma Soo-jung tilted her head.
“What kind of trouble did our Gongza get into?”
“An enormous one called overwork. Mina, have you seen the articles?”
Ma Soo-jung picked up her smartphone. The moment she typed in Gongza’s name, a flood of articles sprang up.
The articles were relentless. Ma Soo-jung smiled bitterly.
Rich-kid playacting, huh. People sure had a lot to say.
“Our boy really means it, though.”
“Exactly. I mean, seriously, aren’t people too much? He’s doing something good, and they still react coldly—coldly!”
“They’re full of crap, that’s all. There’s always someone who sees everything in a bad light, no matter what you do.”
Ma Soo-jung laughed ruefully, then shook her head.
“Ah, no good.”
“What’s no good?”
“Our Gongza. I got upset about that plastic bottle thing, and when I got all down, he kept trying to cheer me up, telling me it wasn’t my fault.”
“What a sweet kid.”
Ma Soo-jung let out a long breath.
“He’s too considerate. That’s what worries me, honestly.”
“Huh? Mina. I know that’s what mothers are like, but if you act like that, Gongza just worries more.”
Ma Soo-jung nodded.
“It just snowballs from there.”
“Still, that’s a nice problem to have, isn’t it? A normal kid his age would be breaking jars instead.”
“Do people even still have jars these days?”
“Ah, our madam at home makes doenjang as a hobby. We live in a house, remember?”
Ma Soo-jung blinked.
“Did the first kid do that, or the second?”
“Princess, both of them broke one in turn. At the end, they went and did it together.”
CEO Seo stared quietly at the ceiling.
“They must’ve gotten scolded.”
“Our madam gave them an incredible scolding. Which means the excuse he came up with was pretty amazing, too.”
CEO Seo forced a laugh.
“He said he couldn’t resist his impulses.”
Ma Soo-jung covered her mouth, but there was no stopping the laughter that slipped through.
“Pfft! Ahahahahahaha!”
“Can you imagine that? He even made this philosophical argument about whether adults can control themselves, and I was stunned. If he’d just kept his mouth shut…”
“Ahahahahaha! Isn’t that too much like you, sir?”
“Yeah. Madam says the same thing. That he’s too much like me. So I told him, very seriously—”
Ma Soo-jung was laughing so hard tears had started to well up. She wiped at the corners of her eyes with a tissue.
“—to just kneel down and beg the way I would.”
It was impossible to hold back now. Ma Soo-jung doubled over on the sofa, clutching her stomach.
“Ahahahahaha!”
“This is how I live, Mina. Which is why I’m telling you: the worry you have for Gongza is the sort of thing only someone in heaven gets to have.”
Ma Soo-jung, still bent over the sofa, nodded.
“Pfft. I know. Of course I know.”
“And maybe that’s why. When I look at Gongza, I feel it. Your adorable little angel has something greater behind him.”
Now what was that supposed to mean? Ma Soo-jung blinked. CEO Seo let out a sigh and said,
“Maybe I’m just thinking too far ahead, but still.”
“What is it?”
“What Gongza does isn’t ordinary, is it? Who starts a charity foundation at his age? Even if there were all sorts of adult reasons mixed in, the kid’s sincerity toward helping people is real.”
CEO Seo muttered as he looked at the ceiling.
“There are plenty of kind kids, but rare are the ones who genuinely want to help on that level. He seems like a kid with a big purpose. That’s why I end up rooting for him without even thinking about it.”
With that, CEO Seo took a long drink of water. Maybe his throat was already shot, because his voice kept scraping like metal.
“So that’s why you’ve been going out of your way for him?”
“That’s part of it. And he’s our company’s biggest ace to begin with.”
Ma Soo-jung snorted.
“In that sense, I guess I lose as the mother.”
“Lucky you. The student’s surpassing the master.”
“I’m more his mom than his master, but sure, I’ll take that. Did you get a lot of casting calls?”
CEO Seo shook the white tissue again. For a second, Ma Soo-jung nearly burst out laughing.
Turning people down is a job too, I guess.
After Gongza’s play ended, everything had blown up.
It started with someone uploading a video filmed on their smartphone to YouTube, and then—
They’d removed it quickly after reporting it, but Ma Soo-jung never believed the video was truly gone. Things like that always resurfaced somehow.
She leaned back against the sofa. There were plenty of things to handle.
And quite a bit of the donations came in too, which sent the staff into a frenzy.
Thanking those donors was her job. Well, for her beloved son, she could manage five or six people. Maybe even a little more.
But this was beyond that.
Seriously, since when had those people been so sincere about donations?
Ma Soo-jung let out a sigh.
“Our Gongza was amazing in that play.”
“That got me, too.”
“Honestly, I was surprised as well. I knew he’d do well, but not that he’d be so effortlessly good.”
“You don’t really know much about theater either, do you, Mina?”
“No. I’m not fond of theater. You can’t edit it.”
CEO Seo nodded.
“Well, don’t do it then. Doesn’t seem like there’s much money in it.”
“Oh? That’s the reason?”
“One person’s got to care about money. Right now, that person is me!”
CEO Seo wet his throat with bottled water. He’d spent all day yesterday turning things down, and his voice had practically burned away.
“Isn’t it incredible? This was the first time I’ve ever had to refuse offers until I was hoarse.”
“You got that many calls?”
“Think about it. The sharp ones must’ve figured it out from The Basement already. That our Gongza’s a genius, I mean.”
“Doesn’t look like many people really believe it.”
CEO Seo nodded.
“Well, perception always has its action and reaction. People don’t have to believe it. But if they’re half-sure, they’ll want to check for themselves, won’t they? And then suddenly Gongza says he’s doing theater? Of course they’d all come running to see.”
The CEO groaned, then grinned.
“And then what do they find? This tiny kid is outrageously good. Genetically good, even. Mina, let’s be honest—we’re people in the industry, so we’ve gotten a little numb to being moved.”
Ma Soo-jung nodded.
“We analyze first instead of getting emotional.”
“Well, what can you do? We’ve been rolling around in this business long enough. But then it hit us anyway.”
CEO Seo flicked the tissue in the air.
“They surrendered to our Gongza! He landed a clean hit! At this tiny little kid’s play, no less! Of course, our Gongza isn’t just some tiny little kid.”
A middle-aged man waving around a tissue wasn’t exactly a dignified sight. But maybe because he was praising her child, Ma Soo-jung could only laugh.
“Right. He’s an angel.”
“No, I mean, he’s good-natured, sure, but his looks are insane. I’m sick of talking about it, but my mouth still hurts from saying it so much. Mina, why is Gongza built like that?”
That was a surprisingly fresh question.
Ma Soo-jung rested her chin in her hand.
“Who knows.”
“He really is a face genius. There’s not a single weak spot on that face. One look and you just go, ah. Hmm. That’s not ordinary. He’s really different.”
She nodded. She agreed completely.
“I keep getting moved by his face every time I see it, and now I’m curious. Gongza, why do you look like that?”
“Exactly.”
“I mean, honestly, I’ve spent so long in this business that I’ve seen tons of celebrities. Even among them, Gongza is in a class by himself.”
Ma Soo-jung answered sincerely.
“I’ve never seen a kid cuter than our Gongza.”
“Hey, there shouldn’t be one. No, there can’t be. Gongza’s a miracle.”
She laughed softly.
“I’d like to pretend to be modest, at least.”
She’d wanted to resemble the goodness of her sweet son, but that seemed impossible.
“Exactly. My angel is a miracle. So…”
Ma Soo-jung smiled sharply.
“If anyone throws a stone at my son, I’ll smash their head in.”
Good Lord, how terrifying. CEO Seo shook his head.
“Mina, you’re an actress. What are you going to do if that slips out during an interview?”
“It’s fine for interviews. I just shouldn’t say it in front of Gongza.”
W-was that so?
“No, no! You need to think about your image!”
“This is my image.”
CEO Seo blinked. He wanted to argue, but honestly, that was fair.
“S-still, don’t make it too obvious.”
“I won’t. This is already watered down. I’ve made it polite.”
CEO Seo lowered his head in defeat. Well, a mother protecting her child was always like this. A little extreme, sure, but still.
He sighed and popped one of the throat-soothing candies he’d been fumbling with into his mouth.
“So, are the contact calls manageable now?”
“No, I’ve set my phone to ongoing call mode. Officially, I’ve been talking to my wife for two hours now.”
Ah.
“I switched to an unlimited plan, so I survived. I need to survive a little, too.”
“Turning them down is work.”
“Exactly. Which brings me to this, Mina. What are we doing for Gongza’s next project?”
Ma Soo-jung rested her chin in her hand and thought for a while.
“We need to look at the work first. And the director.”
“True enough, but by now there probably aren’t many people who’d dare treat Gongza carelessly, right?”
Ma Soo-jung nodded. That much was true.
“Messing with my angel now that he’s this hot is just weird.”
“He made it big as a supporting lead. Ten million viewers, no less. And with the charity foundation, he even cooled off some of Sungjin Group’s backlash.”
She let out a long breath and leaned back against the sofa.
“We have to choose carefully. Career-wise, you know the tide’s in.”
“I know. So how do we choose well?”
CEO Seo scratched his head.
“That’s the hard part.”
“Exactly.”
“Hmm. Good scripts that need a child actor will all come rushing in. Honestly, at this rate, they’ll probably try to manufacture roles for child actors that weren’t even there before.”
“No way.”
Ma Soo-jung relaxed her shoulders. Truthfully, even she was torn.
“Sir, how was I?”
“You? You just did whatever you wanted.”
“Ah, right.”
She smiled brightly. Wisdom comes from experience.
“Gongza can do the same.”
“Huh?”
“Scripts and screenplays will come in, right? We can just let Gongza pick from them. I’ll leave the choice to him.”
Ma Soo-jung got to her feet.
“If Gongza chooses it, I’ll just check it over.”
“Hey, hey. Mina. Your angel is still young.”
“He is. But my instincts tell me something about our Gongza.”
Ma Soo-jung smiled faintly as she spoke.
“Sometimes he feels more seasoned than I am.”
CEO Seo blinked. Ma Soo-jung added, bright and merciless,
“My instincts, I mean.”
“Your instincts are hit or miss.”
“Are they? I’ve only failed once. That’s a pretty good batting average, isn’t it?”
CEO Seo lowered his head.
“That failure was your marriage.”
“Oh, right. Well, I’m Ma Soo-jung. It’s not so bad to have one experience like that.”
If she could only stop talking.
CEO Seo frowned deeply. But if the mother said so, then he had no choice in the matter.
“Fine. I’ll relay it.”
“Please do. Ah, sir.”
Ma Soo-jung dipped her head slightly, then looked up again.
“As a parent with a child, you know I’m grateful, right? For being so good to our Gongza.”
CEO Seo scowled.
“Mina.”
“Yes?”
“Don’t thank people for doing what they ought to do. I may be a paper CEO, but I’m still the CEO.”
Ma Soo-jung stood, smiling.
“You know what?”
“What?”
“It was my instincts that shoved the manager who used to be CEO into that seat, too.”
She strode toward the door. Listening to it close behind her, CEO Seo hung his head.
Since when did that kid learn how to sweet-talk people?