Episode 22
“So that must have been a flop too, I guess?”
“Of course. The image is better now, but people still swear at Ma Actor online from time to time. They say he shopped around for a pretty child.”
“Come on, it didn’t look like that to me.”
The staff member nodded.
“There are always people who have too much to say, wherever you go. Do you think facts matter to people like that?”
The director nodded. He sympathized with that completely.
* * *
Wow. It’s really a set.
I took a deep breath. The atmosphere on location was no joke.
I missed this place!
The makeup tent was still just as chaotic as ever. To me, though, it felt like heaven.
Even in a baby body, I get to be part of <City of the Dead>!
Maybe because it was a film I’d loved so much in my previous life, just being here made me happy.
I expressed that happiness by flailing my arms and legs. They were even doing makeup here, which made it all the better.
Hehe! This is fun!
Mom looked at me and laughed. Seeing the female warrior from the movie I loved smiling made my mood shoot even higher.
“Mama!”
“Yes. Gongza. Ah, our Gongza. Even with makeup on, Mom can still recognize you.”
Of course you can!
I was too excited to sleep. Mom took my hand and said,
“Ah, I want to rub your cheeks, but Mom’s in the middle of makeup right now.”
It’s fine!
Mom shook her head.
“With all these zombies everywhere, our Gongza’s already looking a little grimy too.”
She lifted me up and checked me over from side to side.
“Mom thinks it’d be nicer if our Gongza could come out clean and neat...”
Good grief, Mother. Wouldn’t it be strange if I were the only clean thing in a place crawling with zombies?
Still, is this what it means to be a mom?
Wanting your own child to look beautiful?
It made me tingle, but not in a bad way. Maybe that was why laughter bubbled up on its own.
“Kyaa!”
When I laughed, Mom laughed too. She picked me up and stood, carrying me outside the tent. The whole set opened up before us at a glance.
Oh, green screen cloth.
Right, that’s where they’d do the CG compositing. It had been a while.
Just then, another actor approached. Mom greeted her brightly.
“Hello.”
“Hello. Unni, is this cute little one my son today?”
Mom smiled at the actress with the pale face and spoke to me as if I could understand.
“Gongza. Today you’re Miss Jihee’s son.”
The actress with the ghostly complexion smiled.
Ah, so I’m playing her son.
Only then did I finally understand my role.
I’m the baby left behind in the middle of a pile of zombies.
I hadn’t known, because that scene never made it into City of the Dead. Thinking about it now, it felt strangely fresh.
So this was the backstory behind Mom’s “female warrior” role.
Her character, a former soldier, had lost a child in the past. Then the zombie outbreak hit, and the female warrior, who had been caring for orphans, barely managed to survive.
After that, she met the protagonist, joined him, helped him, and survived all the way to the end of the film.
Because the female warrior’s trauma came from losing a child...
So she saved a child and, in doing so, resolved her trauma.
Then why was this cut completely?
The single most important scene for the female warrior character had been deleted.
“Gongza, you’ll be left alone on the rooftop.”
Mom explained in a low voice.
“Ms. Jihee ends up leaving you there by accident. Thankfully, it’s on the top floor of the building, so the zombies can’t reach you. But if you leave a child alone, that’s a disaster waiting to happen.”
Hearing her explanation, I understood.
The female warrior must climb onto the building to save me.
I looked at the green wall.
They’ll probably shoot it with wire work.
Just then, the stunt director called Mom over. She handed me to Ansan-daek and loosened her arms. My heart thudded hard at the vivid sense of being on an actual set.
But how am I supposed to appear?
Should I just cry?
Should I wail at the top of my lungs like a child in danger?
But then again...
No. If it were me...
In the middle of a horrifying zombie outbreak, wouldn’t it be better to smile adorably instead?
That would double the misery.
And besides, the audience would feel the urge to save the child.
Then the director shouted,
“You’re not doing it right! Hey, do you want something bad to happen?”
What?
Director Heo, the one I’d seen earlier, was chewing out a staff member. Ansan-daek covered my ears, but I could still hear every word.
“I told you to manage the wire properly!”
“I’m sorry.”
“What were you going to do if something went wrong?”
“It’s just, the new guy was being lazy...”
“Supervising that new guy is your job!”
Was there a problem with the wire line?
Director Heo isn’t the kind of director who flies off the handle.
I knew that from working myself. He might be a little absent-minded, but he wasn’t the type to take his temper out on people. There had to be some real issue.
He really does take his work seriously.
Ansan-daek moved, and I could no longer hear what they were saying.
A film set really was wonderful. And there were so many people here.
I shouted softly, just to check in advance.
“Ppup-pa-wo!”
Total coins!
20,890
Wow.
Director Heo got moved by seeing me earlier, and now I’m flush with them.
So coins really did come from having a lot of people around.
I looked at Mom as she rehearsed the action. She was checking her blocking.
Mom was discussing things with the stunt director when her eyes met mine. I flapped my hands and called out,
“Mama!”
Mom looked at me and smiled brilliantly. Then she blew me a hand-kiss.
Wow.
It was so picturesque it barely seemed real. I forgot even to squirm and just stared at her. It felt like time had suddenly stopped.
Is this what a mother’s love feels like?
Every time something like this happened, I made the same resolution.
I have to be filial.
Do well, Lee Hanjo. No, Ma Gongza.
How long had I stood there like that? The director shouted,
“We’re rolling!”
Mom hooked into the wire. Then the acting began.
* * *
Honestly, my shot was easy.
Just smiling on top of a green platform is enough, and that’s it.
Sure, a huge camera was pointed down at me from above. I wriggled my arms and legs and smiled brightly.
Way too short.
After that came the scene where Mom handed me over to Ms. Jihee. That one only required me to lie still, so my screentime disappeared in an instant.
Let me stay on set longer.
That dreamlike time vanished in a flash. Mom held me and said,
“Our Gongza, this is the last scene?”
“Ppu! Bawayau!”
Yes! I’m disappointed!
“Mm, so this one’s with Mom?”
Mom loosened her shoulders. Thanks to that, I was jostled back and forth a little.
Director Heo said,
“Ms. Ma Soojeong, the next scene is the one where you carry the baby and cross the building, right?”
“Yes. In the film, it’s between two buildings, but in reality it’s fifty centimeters.”
The director laughed a little.
“Still, that’s a relief.”
“It is.”
“Let’s go right away. Though that baby’s holding up remarkably well.”
Mom looked at me and smiled brightly.
“He really is. Still, it must be tiring. Once this scene’s over, I should feed him milk and get him to sleep. That’s it for us.”
Mom carried me and took her place on set. The staff immediately strapped the wire rig onto her. She held me and waited for the cue.
“Stand by.”
Mom’s posture changed.
“Cue!”
The moment Mom pushed off the floor, the wire lifted her up. It wasn’t much, but maybe because the movement was so fast, I could feel the wind against my cheeks.
That was when it happened.
Mom suddenly fell.
Huh?
Everything stretched out as if in slow motion. Then a pair of strong arms wrapped around me.
The heat of the body was intense. In that split second, I knew she was protecting me.
Thud.
We hit the special mat with a strange sound.
I felt the impact, but nothing hurt. Mom rolled several times on the floor. Even then, I was fine.
I blinked. I could hear Mom’s breathing. Then the voices around us scattered in confusion.
“Ms. Ma Soojeong!”
“Oh my god!”
Mom checked on me first.
“Gongza...”
I was fine. Not a single scratch.
But Mom...
How hard had she hit?
Mom touched my hands and feet. I really was perfectly fine.
“Mama! Mama!”
I was the one who was worried. I lifted my tiny hands and flapped them.
“Mama?”
Mom, are you okay?
After checking my body, Mom gave a faint smile. Just as I started to feel a little relieved, she suddenly curled her back.
“Ah...”
Sweat beaded on Mom’s forehead. Even so, instead of groaning, she called for Ansan-daek.
“Ansan-daek, Gongza!”
“Yes, yes. Miss.”
As the woman took me and stood up, people crowded around Mom.
No.
Falling from that height could mean a pretty serious injury.
Even with a special mat, if it was a sudden accident...
It could have been fatal.
But Mom had wrapped herself around me. She hadn’t even tried to break the fall; she’d only been thinking of protecting me.
Instinct moved faster than thought. I cried out immediately.
Coin use!
Heal Mom’s injuries right away.
To heal Ms. Ma Soojeong’s injuries immediately, 5,000 coins are required.
“Ppuya!”
Activate!
As a side effect, you will cry for 10 minutes.
Beware of dehydration.
Total coins: 15,890
I blinked. The last line bothered me, but I didn’t have time to think about it. It was more important to see whether Mom had really healed.
“Huh?”
I heard Mom’s voice.
“Ma Actor, are you okay?”
“Ms. Ma, can you move your arm?”
“Ah, I’m suddenly fine.”
People murmured all around us. But Mom paid them no mind. The instant she realized she was okay, she asked immediately,
“What about Gongza?”
Mom looked around, and the people all backed away in a rush. I watched only her from Ansan-daek’s arms.
“Waaah...”
And then tears started pouring out.
“Gongza?”
“Waaaaaah!”
For some reason, the sadness burst open inside me. I waved my arms and cried loudly.
“Waaaaah! Waaah! Waaah!”
Mom blinked at the sight of me crying. Ansan-daek wiped my face, but I still couldn’t stop.
This wasn’t the kind of thing I should be sobbing my heart out over.
Even as reason held on to me, the tears would not stop.
Honestly, I was a little scared.
Mom is the only person I can trust and rely on.
Why did you have to get hurt?
Mom stood up and slowly came toward me. I struggled to reach her.
Mom immediately took me into her arms. She had soot on her from the makeup, but nobody cared.
“Mama!”
Ansan-daek handed over a baby towel and said,
“This child isn’t usually one to cry like this...”
“Right?”
“What are we supposed to do? I think he got scared. Mom, I’m sorry. I should have made sure he didn’t get frightened.”
Fear had nothing to do with it. What had made me choke up was the fact that Mom had almost been seriously hurt because of me.
I hate being a baby.
I had no idea I’d be this helpless.
If it weren’t for the coins, Mom would really have been badly hurt.
I looked up at her and whispered softly,
“Mama...”
“Yes. Gongza. Mom’s here.”
Please don’t get hurt again!
The tears kept falling, drop after drop. Mom held me and soothed me while I cried as if I were wringing the water out of my whole body.
The crying stopped exactly ten minutes later. If it hadn’t been for the barley tea Ansan-daek gave me after that, I really might have ended up dehydrated, just like the warning said.
Mom kept hugging me and trying to comfort me. After I drank all the tea, I fell asleep just like that.
When I opened my eyes again, I was no longer on the set.
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