Chapter 15: The Face That Wins Hearts
I’m translating the chapter into clean HTML, preserving the narration flow and turning the system lines into styled blocks as required.CHAPTER_TITLE: Episode 15
I know that look.
For all appearances aside, I was a veteran supporting actor. When I got irritated and tilted just a little too far, this was the look I made.
“What crime did I commit? I only met our angel!”
Wow.
She’s completely lost it.
Still, that was a bit extreme. This had to be the price of the coin, right?
But anyway, Mom.
Perfect. Absolutely perfect!
I broke into a bright smile.
“Because of these bastards, I’ve got less work now, so I’m on break. I even lost a schedule slot.”
“Oh, miss! What are you going to do!”
“It’s a holiday! I should go out with our Gongza! Gongza, let’s put on a pretty little outfit and go out with Mom!”
Mom spun around and brushed her hair back.
“Mom’ll get ready properly too. I’ll look like I did and didn’t at the same time, like a madwoman. You can take pictures if you want, you brats!”
“Ppa-ppa!”
That’s right! Take them!
So this is it. Ma Gongza’s debut.
Mom finished with a dramatic turn and headed off.
“Miss, where are you going!”
“The salon. I’m getting my makeup done too. Ansan-daek, dress Gongza for me!”
“Ah, yes.”
Honestly, our mother was fearless.
My heart started pounding. I took a deep breath and picked up the formula bottle rolling around beside me.
It starts now.
Calm down, Lee Hanjo. No, Ma Gongza.
I need to grab the opportunity.
I gulped down the formula first.
Fill the stomach first.
You’ve got to eat before you climb Mount Geumgang, after all.
Maybe that was why. The formula tasted unbelievably sweet.
* * *
As soon as we parked at the mart, Mom took out the stroller. Then she lifted me out of the car seat and settled me in securely.
For a stroller from back then, this is weird.
It could turn around. Maybe that was why, whenever I looked up, I could always catch Mom’s eyes. Every time I did, she would beam at me.
That was when I spotted a flash from somewhere.
Whoa. Paparazzi?
So they really are taking pictures. Those had better come out well.
“What should our Gongza buy? Want me to get you a toy?”
I babbled in my cutest little voice.
“Bbye-bbye!”
No!
Mom, I already have more than I need!
So many that I wondered if I could even touch them all one by one.
What had she bought so much of before I even got here?
I’m a body used to YouTube from the start. Toys alone aren’t enough to satisfy me!
Mom pushed the stroller along as she walked. When we came up from the parking lot, bright lights spread out before us.
Come to think of it, this is exactly why she’s actress Ma Soo-jung.
Mom was wearing sunglasses, but she was so striking that she drew every eye in the place.
The ordinary mart looked almost like a film set.
Mom looked down at me and asked, “Gongza, is it noisy?”
No, it’s better this way.
I shook my head. Mom laughed brightly and kept pushing the stroller forward. Now that I thought about it, this was the first time we’d ever gone out alone together.
Mom wheeled the stroller around with the same fearless energy she brought to everything else. Then she stopped somewhere and said, “Gongza. Look over there.”
She pointed at something with her finger. I looked and snorted. There were rows of colorful stuffed toys.
So this is the toy section.
There were plenty of things any child would find interesting.
“How about this one, Gongza?”
Mom pointed at a pink rabbit. I shook my head. Mom, we already have plenty of those at home...
“You don’t like pink? Then there’s white too.”
Take away the pink, and the rest was basically all white anyway...
None of it mattered.
“This? That?”
I kept shaking my head.
“Then what does Gongza like?”
I grinned. Well then, Mother. What was it that I wanted?
The chance to get a pretty picture taken.
I knew exactly what to do.
I need to create an emotional moment.
Come on, take the shot, Patch. I’m ready! I pointed at Mom and threw out my trump card, the line I’d been polishing for this exact moment.
“Mama!”
Mom lifted her sunglasses.
“...What?”
Her eyes were already wide.
“G-Gongza. Did you just say Mama?”
Ah.
I did try.
Up until now, all that had come out of my tongue was “bbyu-bbyu-bba-bba,” but...
Today, I was prepared.
If I said Mom just once, she’d be moved.
Ma Soo-jung is delighted to hear the first “Mama.”
Total Coins: 7,607
Wow.
She really liked it that much.
Mom was wearing a smile like sunlight. She looked genuinely thrilled, so I smiled too.
Still, that happy?
It’s only natural...
People usually start talking around that age, don’t they?
And yet she’s this happy over something so small.
Was that just how parents were? I wasn’t even her biological child.
I scratched my cheek. It felt strangely ticklish, like I’d swallowed a fluttering sensation and couldn’t get it out.
“Our Gongza, Mom will buy everything for you today! It’s to celebrate Gongza’s first Mama!”
“Ppuae-ppuya!”
That’s fine!
“I can buy everything from here to there!”
Good grief. What kind of flex was that?
I shook my head in alarm.
At this rate, you’ll ruin the household budget!
When I flailed my little arms to refuse, Mom suddenly went silent.
“Mama?”
Mom raised her sunglasses and lowered her head. Then she gently pressed her forehead to mine.
Warmth touched me.
Her slender fingers brushed my cheek.
“Our Gongza is like an angel.”
“Ppya?”
“How can you make Mom this happy every single time? Because of our Gongza, even ordinary days feel like they’re sparkling.”
Ah, Mother.
I swallowed hard.
You’ve already gone through so much just by bringing me in.
And you’re still happy?
What kind of feeling was this? I honestly didn’t know, because I’d never experienced it before.
It was unfamiliar, but not bad.
I kissed Mom on the cheek.
Mom touched the spot and laughed.
“You really must be an angel. A baby angel who came to me one day.”
The praise was unbearably ticklish. Looking at Mom like that, I made up my mind again.
I will never let someone like this die young!
I can do this!
Celebrity, top star, coins! Mom’s health!
First, then, I needed to gather as many coins as possible to keep the household running!
Ah, come to think of it, they’re probably filming us like crazy by now.
Then maybe I should show an even gentler side.
But do I really need to stage that?
We were already this affectionate, weren’t we?
I smiled brightly. As she pushed the stroller, Mom said, “Still, Gongza, if you need anything, you have to tell me, okay?”
I shook my head. I already had everything I needed. And if there was something I needed...
There was one thing.
A mirror.
I need to practice my expressions.
No matter how perfect a face was, you had to know how to use it.
Oddly enough, babies never seem to have time to look in mirrors.
There was a mirror in the room, but it was too high up.
Well, I guess that makes sense in a room for a baby.
You can’t let it break.
That was when I started flailing my arms and legs in a panic.
“Gongza?”
Ah, this place!
Mirrors of every shape and size were laid out before me. I absentmindedly checked one, and a groan escaped me.
“Bbyu!”
Wow.
“Bbya-bppu-bbu?”
This is me?
I was reflected in the mirror. The moment I saw myself, I inhaled sharply.
Is this even human!
Come to think of it, I hadn’t really been able to look closely at my face all this time. I knew I was pretty, but that had only been an assumption. That was all.
Good heavens...
I tapped my own face with a short finger.
Of course, I didn’t have much strength, so it didn’t even make a sound.
Is this a dream or reality?
I looked like some kind of doll.
Damn, this is gorgeous.
I’d really turned out like this.
I stared blankly into the mirror.
My eyes really were huge. Even as a baby, my nose sat high and fine. I pressed my cheeks with both hands to check the shape of my jaw.
Decent bone structure, beautiful jawline...
Tears welled up.
So this was my face?
“Gongza?”
Mom stopped the stroller. I reached out and hugged the little mirror tight.
“Huh?”
“Bbya-bya!”
Please buy it for me, Mother.
“Y-you want that?”
“Bbyu!”
Yes. I can’t lose this.
“O-okay.”
Mom tilted her head, but she still put the mirror I was clinging to into the stroller basket below.
That’s our Mom all right.
She didn’t even look at the price tag.
Mom kept moving the stroller along. While I was stroking my treasured face, I found something else I wanted. I hurriedly called out, “Mama! Mama!”
“Hm? Gongza. What is it?”
“Bbya! Bbya!”
That one too, that one too!
I pointed at a book with my short arm. Mom narrowed her eyes and opened it.
“Hmm. Gongza, do you really want this?”
I nodded. Mom tilted her head and read the title.
“Hamlet for Children?”
I smiled brightly.
The basics are always best.
Classics were always useful. They had a way of bringing you back to the beginning.
Mom stared at me.
“Mama?”
“Gongza, Mom doesn’t really know, but isn’t a book something children your age are supposed to chew on?”
Is that so?
That does sound right.
What was I supposed to do now?
I gave an awkward smile and flapped my arms a little.
She’s probably weirded out, right?
Would she think I was strange and send me back to the orphanage?
Fine then.
Use a coin!
Just as I was about to shout for the coin to activate, Mom suddenly broke into a grin.
“Well, our Gongza is an angel, after all. Maybe he’s just a little different!”
Wow, Mother!
So you’re just going to let it slide like that?
Mom casually pulled the book out. I watched the books piling up under the stroller and let out a breath.
Touching.
She really does like me that much.
Mom pushed the stroller onward. I looked up at her. She looked back and smiled sweetly.
Then I smelled something savory. Mom stopped and looked over at the baby-food display.
“Ansan-daek would know more about this.”
As Mom looked around, a child bumped into the tasting corner.
Thud.
A pretty painful sound.
Maybe that was why a small baby snack fell onto the stroller. I caught it with my hand.
“Oh, the child who got bumped into seems fine. Ah! Gongza, you can’t eat that. It’s too early for you!”
I looked at Mom and said, “Mama!”
Mom lowered her head. When she came close, I put a piece of white puffed snack into her mouth.
Her eyes went round.
I just wanted to give her something, anything.
Mom blinked, then reflexively ate the baby snack. After that, she finally laughed.
“Seriously, our Gongza is an angel...”
Unable to hold back, Mom hugged me tight. I clutched her hair and babbled.
“Bbya-bbyu!”
Love & Peace Coin +50
Total Coins: 7,657
Mom patted my back.
Honestly, I was the one who felt more moved.
You’ve done how many things for me already?
To think she’d be touched by something as trivial as a baby snack.
Mom kept patting my back. Maybe that was why my eyes gradually started to droop.
Ah, babies do sleep a lot.
Come to think of it, it was naptime.
Because Mom kept patting me, maybe? I closed my eyes right there, and sleep came pouring down all at once.
Mom laid me back in the stroller and covered me with the baby sheet. I gathered the edge of the sheet and quietly fell asleep. Mom kept patting my belly until I drifted off.
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