The Price of Playing a Girl
I mumbled under my breath.
“Uncle.”
“Oh, uh, yeah. Right. Gongza.”
“Helping someone is hard, I guess.”
Because I was careless, now my hair is disappearing.
Complaining about the mistake didn’t change anything. I slowly lifted my head. The hair brushing against my ear felt precious today.
Well, hair does grow back after you cut it.
Even so, I felt aggrieved. Deeply, violently aggrieved.
What kind of terror attack is this, stealing hair from a face genius?
I asked Director Won, “How many months will filming take?”
“Ah, we don’t have the details yet, but... maybe two months?”
Short. Well, it wasn’t going to be a long shoot.
So my hair and I are saying goodbye for two months.
I took a deep breath. Changing my appearance for a role was honestly pretty normal for an actor.
If I’m going to do it, I’ll do it right.
Still, it was a shame. An intensely, almost offensively big shame.
Isn’t this a crime against this face?
Director Won said, “Gongza, I’m sorry. B-but the girl doesn’t have hair for the entire shoot.”
“I know. The girl doesn’t even wear a wig, does she? She could, but it’s expensive, so she just wears a hat.”
It was that kind of casual, unpolished role.
“Sorry.”
“That’s just how the role is. You don’t need to apologize.”
“Ahh, I’m sorry, Gongza. Still, please do it. Things are really complicated on my end.”
I wondered what sort of complications he meant.
Fortunately, CEO Seo answered for him.
“Director, thanks to our Gongza, the financing’s solved, right? And the casting is going smoothly too, I assume?”
“Yes. Honestly, I wasn’t too worried about the adult roles, but believe it or not, Han Woo-jin said he’d play Gongza’s father.”
Seriously, why was that man involved too?
“Good grief, if it’s Han Woo-jin, that must have cost a lot.”
“He said he liked the script, so thankfully we were able to make adjustments.”
“Wow. You must have cut him down a lot. Was it because of Gongza?”
“That’s probably it.”
Well, Han Woo-jin wasn’t exactly the sort of actor who’d show up for a budget like this.
He’s been like this ever since When the Wind Touches.
That Han Woo-jin was such a strange man. He must be busy enough chasing after bigger projects with lavish investments, and yet here he was again.
“Once I said Gongza would play the girl, the phone started ringing like crazy.”
“Hm. If Gongza said no at this point, wouldn’t that make you look like a con artist, Director?”
That went too far.
“C-CEO Seo! That was cruel! Gongza, please, I’m begging you! It has to be you!”
I could hear everyone’s desperate wishes. I let out a sigh.
“Director Won.”
“Yeah, Gongza.”
“I’ll do it. But...”
I narrowed my eyes.
“I won’t forget this.”
“W-what won’t you forget?”
“Everything I go through because of you.”
Well, that was a joke.
I’m sad about the girl role and my hair, but I know exactly what kind of person Director Won is.
Still, I felt better if I made a joke like that.
“Uh, huh?”
“Whoa. Our Gongza’s tough.”
“Uncle, this is the first and last time Gongza ever does a girl role.”
“All right, got it. I’ll keep tabs on it.”
I let out another sigh.
Right. If I’m going to do it, I should do it well.
I ground my teeth.
“I’ll become the perfect girl in Shower.”
If a movie I worked this hard on ended up as a failure on my filmography, wouldn’t that be humiliating?
I’ll make it succeed no matter what.
I clenched my fist. I didn’t have time to stand around like this. I needed to go back over the character analysis.
I opened the script again right away. While I was reading the girl’s lines, CEO Seo said, “Wow. Our Gongza’s mad.”
“T-that’s because of me, isn’t it?”
“Isn’t it?”
“Gongza, I’m sorry!”
It was getting a little noisy.
“O-okay, okay. Director Won, let’s talk over here. Let the kid concentrate.”
“Ah, yes.”
CEO Seo dragged Director Won out with him. I gritted my teeth and looked back down at the script.
If I don’t succeed, I won’t be Ma Gongza anymore—I’ll be a proper young master.
I’ll change my surname.
I’m going to make this work by any means necessary.
I took a deep breath and turned the page. Maybe I’d put too much force into it, because my fingertips were trembling.
CEO Seo folded his arms and grinned. Director Won quietly averted his eyes.
“Director, you did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
Director Won’s pupils shook like mad.
“N-no, I’m not that kind of person.”
“This is a problem, Director. You’re being way too harsh on our kid.”
CEO Seo held back his temper.
Director Won Jong-sa isn’t exactly a bad-name director.
He was respected by filmmakers like Director Rhy-lac and had nothing but praise from the staff. But being a good person didn’t mean every decision you made was a good one.
CEO Seo smiled bitterly.
“Our Gongza is a good kid, you know?”
The guilty man said nothing. Director Won kept his mouth shut.
“He’s so good that even after being shoved into this against his will, he’s already reading the script so he can do well.”
Soo-jung always said her son was an angel, but honestly, CEO Seo didn’t think that was quite right.
He’s more like a Buddha.
To forgive so generously like that, there was something almost saintly about it.
No, wait. Do angels even forgive?
He wasn’t sure. Maybe he should look it up.
CEO Seo shook his head. That wasn’t the important part.
“I, um, found out later.”
“Is that so.”
“No, but the thing is...”
CEO Seo narrowed his eyes.
If he’d just said, I did it for the investment, what of it? I might’ve let the Gongza issue slide too.
Honestly, he didn’t like either the shaved head or the girl role.
Even if I know child actors shouldn’t be boxed in by gender.
Director Won was sweating buckets.
“I’m sorry. But I’m desperate. It’s a film I truly, truly wanted to make.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m going to say something a little rude. I understand your desperation, Director Won, but it has nothing to do with our kid.”
Honestly, there were plenty of places calling for him.
“I don’t want to start crunching numbers, but let’s do the math. How many commercials do you think our Gongza will lose because of the shaved head?”
He was putting a child who already prided himself on turning things down through a trial.
“You know even adults have a hard time shaving their heads. He’s a kid, so it might hit him even harder.”
He seemed fine on the surface. But Gongza was the kind of kid who never showed it if something bothered him. CEO Seo knew that wasn’t all there was to it.
“I-I’m sorry.”
“You were out of line, Director Won.”
People knew how far to stretch themselves by seeing whose bed they were lying in.
Director Won probably did this because he knew Gongza was kind.
Honestly, he wanted to pull the role back.
But Gongza already said he’d do it.
Once he said he would, he saw things through to the end. Hidden beneath all that sweetness and cuteness, Ma Gongza was a tough little kid.
He’s also an incredibly hard worker.
Even as a child actor, there were few people who worked that hard as actors at all.
There still aren’t many people who know it, though.
Was it because of his looks? Or because people couldn’t get past the fact that he was the third son of a chaebol family?
People don’t even want to admit he’s a genius.
Even after he’d achieved such dazzling results.
“I’m sorry. But, CEO Seo, I saw that play, and I just couldn’t resist.”
Director Won shut his eyes tightly.
“How could I let a kid that genius slip through my fingers?”
“Even so, you were underhanded.”
“I know. I know. I deserve every bit of abuse I get.”
“Don’t use Gongza’s kindness like that. What kind of adult exploits a child’s goodness?”
Director Won bowed his head low. It was only natural for CEO Seo to chew him out.
“I’m sorry.”
“Honestly, I really don’t like this, Director Won.”
CEO Seo uncrossed his arms.
“I’ll be watching. You drove the kid into the jaws of death like that, and if he slips up, I’m pulling him right out.”
“I-I’ll make sure that never happens.”
“He’s a precious child. Our Gongza.”
CEO Seo let out a long sigh. Honestly, if Soo-jung heard about this, she’d go absolutely berserk.
That’ll be my job to calm down.
Ah, this was going to be a mess.
“If even a scratch shows up on our Gongza, Soo-jung won’t be the one holding me back.”
Director Won blinked.
“Soo-jung would probably show up with a shotgun.”
“A-a shotgun?”
“Soo-jung lives in the Sungjin Group main house. The kid once mentioned, in passing, that there are a lot of illegal weapons in the basement.”
Of course, Ma Soo-jung had never said anything of the sort.
“Soo-jung is really kind, too. She’s been holding herself back to a baseball bat, when she could’ve used that weapon instead.”
As soon as he said it, CEO Seo began to regret it a little.
Maybe I went too far?
Lies had to be believable, but this felt a little overcooked.
“I-I see. Weapons. Sungjin Group. Well, it is huge. The basement could absolutely have one.”
Huh? He believed it?
“Ma Soo-jung does swing a baseball bat, though. But she’s actually a crack shot, isn’t she?”
That part was true. She really could shoot well.
She’d played so many warrior women roles over the years.
There’d even been a variety show once where she showed off her skills.
I said she was the kind of talent that should’ve gone to Taereung instead of becoming an actress.
Still, come on. Did he really believe there were actual weapons?
Director Won’s voice trembled slightly. “I’ll do my best.”
“Ah, yes. You know, right? Our Soo-jung would do anything for her son.”
“E-even go to prison?”
“Wouldn’t someone like Soo-jung just flee overseas?”
Director Won blinked.
Since things had come this far, CEO Seo decided to go even bigger with the lie.
“If you’ve got money, there are plenty of countries that’ll hand out citizenship.”
“B-but these days there’s Interpol too!”
“Soo-jung’s from a chaebol family.”
“R-right. I keep forgetting because she’s so laid-back, but that’s true. Ma Soo-jung really was the third-generation heir, wasn’t she.”
“Anyway, I’m going to go stop her. I’ll be watching you, Director Won.”
CEO Seo smiled thinly.
“Until the very end.”
Director Won’s shoulders twitched. CEO Seo walked off looking wonderfully cool. He even hummed a little.
Hm. He really seems like he believes it.
Once Director Won was far enough away, CEO Seo let out a long sigh. Maybe it was because he’d acted so out of character. Goose bumps prickled over his arms.
“Ugh. This isn’t my thing at all.”
How did actors live doing this sort of thing?
CEO Seo relaxed his shoulders and leaned against the wall.
“Man, seriously. How am I supposed to keep Soo-jung in check?”
She’d probably show up with a shotgun she didn’t even own, all for Gongza.
CEO Seo let out another heavy sigh. For some reason, he really wanted to go home today.
I miss my wife and the kids.
He lowered his head, his shoulders heavy.
Unexpectedly, Mom didn’t get angry.
The beautiful actress Ma Soo-jung swept her hair back and said,
“If Gongza wants it, Mom won’t stop him.”
Ah, Mother.
I’ll be filial.
She must have been furious, and yet she was calm, like she’d already thrown one hundred baseball bat swings’ worth of anger at the wall and gotten it out of her system. But that wasn’t the real problem.
There was another person.
Duk-su, who had been bringing dinner, suddenly put on gloves. Something about the mood was deeply suspicious, so I grabbed him right away.
“I will make him pay for what he’s done.”
No, no, no, I need to stop this.
I insisted as firmly as I could that I wanted to do it.
“Sir! This is the only time I can ever do a gender-swapped role if it’s now!”
Of course, even an adult could do it if the setup was right.
If it’s one of those fantasy stories where souls switch bodies, it’d be totally possible.
That kind of drama had probably been popular once, but still!
“Gongza wants to try it!”
The effect was tremendous. Duk-su abruptly reached for a stun gun.
Reminder: All system notifications, comments, letters, status windows, and special in-universe content must use styled
text.