The Wardrobe Debate
“Mm. Sir? Is that outfit really that bad?”
The CEO was adamant. “It’s terrible. It only works because it’s Gongza’s face. I mean, there might be some cute version of that style, but this just has a space monster hanging off the pocket.”
W-well, that was true.
“C-cute, isn’t it?”
“That fluorescent monster? I mean, sure, it can be cute. But it doesn’t suit Gongza’s skin tone at all. Stuff like that looks better on kids who are a little darker. Our Gongza, as you know, is white as steamed rice cake.”
Hey, sir. Kids this age are naturally pale like beef-bone soup.
Besides, the one who dressed me in this was Ansan-daek.
As if on cue, Ansan-daek’s lips began to tremble.
“I-is that so?”
“Yes. You can’t just dress him in bright, clashing colors like this. Is this Soo-jung’s taste? No, that can’t be right. Our Soo-jung is famous for dressing people well no matter where she goes.”
Sir, please stop...
“His sense of style can’t have deteriorated just because he’s buying children’s clothes, can it? Anyway, Gongza. Your uncle can’t let you go out looking like that. Anyone who sees you will think Soo-jung is bullying you.”
The CEO kept going without pause.
“Who dressed you like this? Are they trying to block your future? Gongza, did you pick this out yourself?”
If I said no here, that would be a disaster.
I smiled brightly. “Nye!”
“Oh, dear...”
The CEO turned to Ansan-daek and said, “From now on, it’d be better not to let Gongza choose his own clothes.”
Ansan-daek’s eyes narrowed further and further. I gave an awkward smile.
CEO Seo, I’ve done all I can.
I did my best to change the subject.
“Uncle! I’m curious, yeow!”
“Oh? Sure, Gongza. What are you curious about?”
“Where are we goin’?”
Of course I already knew we were heading to the set.
“Ah, so that’s what you wanted to know. We’re going somewhere with lots of cameras. Don’t be startled even if there’s a lot of strange stuff. There may be a light as big as this and that, and it might dazzle your eyes.”
He explained it perfectly from a child’s eye level. I drew a huge circle with both arms.
“This biiiiig, yeow?”
“Oh, you’re adorable. My heart’s going to give out. See? That variety-show cameo wasn’t the reason CF offers came pouring in like crazy for no reason.”
Did commercial offers come in that often?
I hadn’t known that. So Mom must have turned them all down? Why would she do that?
The CEO opened the car door and said, “Soo-jung turned down a lot of them. She said he’d only do one, so we’re in negotiations right now.”
Wow. Mother!
Just one!
He could do more, you know!
“I can see why she’d do that, though, and I do understand Soo-jung’s feelings too. There’s image consumption to think about. Honestly, Gongza doesn’t really need money anyway. Not that he’d keep it if he got it, since he’d just donate it.”
That made sense.
If you wanted to stay on the road to acting for a long time, you had to be selective about commercials too. Exposure away from the screen could lead to overconsumption of your image.
Mom really does think far ahead.
The CEO expertly buckled me into the car seat.
“By the way, Gongza. Uncle was moved by your variety show.”
“Reelly?”
“Yeah. Wow. I’ve done a bit of business in my time, so I know these things. Gongza is like the jewel among jewels.”
He can read people.
Well, of course.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing how our Gongza grows. In that sense, I mean—”
The CEO climbed into the front seat and said, “We should buy clothes halfway there. Gongza, that outfit is truly not it.”
Oh no.
I finally changed the subject, too.
I glanced sideways. Ansan-daek’s lips were trembling again.
I silently made the sign of the cross and muttered, Namo Amitabha.
I realized I’d done something wrong, but what did it matter? I was nonreligious. I couldn’t help it.
I did my best.
Sparks seemed to fly from Ansan-daek’s eyes. I hurriedly turned my head away.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
The atmosphere at the set was as lively as ever. I was carried in by the CEO and taken inside.
“Ah, hello there, Producer Lee Je-min!”
The CEO laughed heartily and extended his hand. Producer Lee Je-min shook it and said, “Well, if it isn’t CEO Seo?”
“I’m the only spare hand the company has left.”
“Come on.”
“I’m serious. The company’s small, you know. So effort is our only way to survive.”
As expected, he was absurdly smooth with his words.
So this was why Top Line was doing so well, with a CEO like him.
The CEO lifted me by the waist and presented me to the producer.
“Producer! This is Gongza!”
I kicked my legs slightly and smiled brightly. “Hello!”
“Gah!”
It was just a simple greeting, but Lee Je-min still took a step back.
“T-the camera did this wrong! Wow. How cute. Is this even a person?”
What kind of expression was that?
I tilted my head, and suddenly the staff swarmed in. An FD came up and whispered, “He is a person, Producer. He just looks like a fairy.”
“Wow! This is my first time seeing a kid who looks like this. Look at those eyes.”
“Look at that nose. No, really, even at this age a pretty kid’s nose bridge is already high.”
“Right? Mind if I touch him once?”
Then Ansan-daek shouted, “N-no! Everyone, sanitize your hands with alcohol first before you touch him!”
Wow. Our aunt was incredible.
She held out an alcohol hand sanitizer.
“I came prepared, just in case!”
Ansan-daek!
Even if her taste in clothes is strange, she really is amazing!
There was something wildly commanding about her.
The staff lined up one by one and held out their hands. Ansan-daek even kindly pushed down their heads for them.
Once the hand-sanitizing was done, the FD who had spoken earlier lightly traced the bridge of my nose.
“Oh, there’s bone here. This nose is real.”
“Wow, won’t he have a beautiful nose when he grows up?”
“As if it’s just the nose. If this face grows up unchanged, wow.”
Lee Je-min looked at me and made a camera shape with his fingers.
“This face is cheating.”
“Doesn’t he fit the role of Joo-hyuk perfectly?”
“It’s not just a fit. How could Joo-hyuk die leaving a son like this?”
Just then, someone in a patient gown wandered over. I thought his face looked familiar from somewhere, and then...
Wow, Han Woo-jin!
He was once the man people called the handsomest in all of South Korea.
He’s playing a patient, so they’ve made him look rough.
But they couldn’t hide the handsomeness.
Han Woo-jin snorted with a grin. “Oh? Is this my kid?”
He folded his arms and studied me from head to toe.
“Wow. My good looks are under threat here.”
Lee Je-min slapped him lightly on the shoulder. “You’re almost forty now. Isn’t it time to step down from the seat of the nation’s representative handsome man?”
“No, I don’t want to step down. It took a lot to get up here. But is this kid really Ma Soo-jung’s son? Wow. He’s pretty.”
Han Woo-jin walked over to Ansan-daek, sanitized his hands, and then stood in front of me again.
“He’s too pretty, though. He’s not a girl, right?”
No, I’m not. And anyway, everyone was so busy that I hadn’t even been able to greet them properly.
I smiled brightly and gave a little bow. “Hello!”
Please take care of me today.
But even after I greeted them, nobody said anything.
Huh?
I tilted my head, and Han Woo-jin covered his mouth with his hand.
“Wow, wow. This is killing me. A cute thing moves, and it gets even cuter!”
I-is that so?
“Look, he even greets people! He’s so little!”
Hey now.
“His voice is really cute too. What on earth is this kid? Damn. I thought Producer Lee was exaggerating when he was dancing around saying he’d found a baby, but I admit it. He’s insanely cute!”
The reaction was stronger than I’d expected.
No, you saw me talking on variety shows.
Hadn’t they cast me knowing that already?
At that moment, the CEO put on his usual smooth act and said, “What you see on screen always moves you more when you meet it in person.”
Excuse me?
You people are the ones who film the screen.
What nonsense.
But Lee Je-min nodded. “That’s right, CEO Seo. Variety shows did us wrong. They didn’t capture this face properly.”
“Seems that way.”
“I can’t believe such a cute kid would come in. Wow, we’re going to coast through this scene.”
Han Woo-jin lightly brushed my cheek with his fingers and said, “Exactly. When a kid like this shows up, wow.”
“What if we aim for a 30 percent rating?”
They laughed uproariously about how impossible that was. Then the arm holding me started trembling.
Ah, you were still holding me.
The CEO set me back into the stroller and muttered, “My arm hurts.”
Yikes.
He massaged his arm and grinned. “But our Gongza is popular. Man, if a kid like this were a new hire at our company, I wouldn’t worry at all...”
Then the CEO suddenly let out a deep sigh.
“But that’d never happen.”
Oh dear.
“This reminds me of Soo-min. The kid’s face is fine, and he’s not even bad at acting, but why does he have to be so camera-shy? Tsk.”
Soo-min? Top Line had an actor like that? I didn’t remember him.
Just then, Lee Je-min approached again.
“Gongza, let’s get filming over with quickly so we can send you home.”
“Ah, Producer, that’s thoughtful of you.”
“No, it’s only natural. That’s how it should be with child actors.”
“There are plenty of directors and producers who don’t do that.”
Lee Je-min shook his head. “People like that have a problem.”
“Let’s get him changed and film right away.”
Wait a second!
No instructions?
If a child actor had shown up, they should at least tell me what kind of acting they wanted.
I know Han Woo-jin is supposed to hold me.
But still, they should ask me to laugh or cry or whatever, so I can actually act.
Lee Je-min looked me over and said, “Just get the face in the frame. It’s a miracle he’s not crying.”
Damn it.
Looks like there aren’t any requests at all.
What Lee Je-min wanted seemed to be nothing more than a kid who wasn’t crying. In other words, he had nothing he expected from me.
Damn. No way. I want the ending of Emergency Room to become a masterpiece scene.
Who would’ve thought that having expectations this low could be a problem?
No, fundamentally...
I looked down at my hands. They were still absurdly tiny.
Come to think of it, what kind of acting direction could you give to a kid who barely speaks one or two words?
The problem is that I’m a baby.
Honestly, it was strange to expect proper acting from a baby in the first place.
But that’s when it’s a normal baby...
I’m Lee Hanjo, the elite supporting actor.
I can’t just film this any old way under my own name!
Heat rushed up to the tips of my ears. Ansan-daek, who was changing my clothes, tilted her head.
“Gongza, what’s wrong? Are you hot?”
Oh no. I immediately took a deep breath.
“Nope!”
Ansan-daek placed her hand on my forehead.
“I think you have a slight fever. Gongza, are you sick?”
“I’m not sick!”
My heart hurt a little because I wasn’t being expected to do anything.
“If your body hurts, you have to tell Auntie, okay?”
“Yes!”
Ansan-daek smoothed out my clothes and muttered, “Are clothes like this really pretty?”
She seemed much less confident than before. Probably because the CEO had just criticized her fashion sense.
Oh dear.
I gave an awkward smile. The outfit I was wearing now was a mint-colored hoodie with cute rabbit ears. Compared with that shiny silver monstrosity, this was practically civilized.
Well, it is cute.
The fabric was cotton, so it was easy to move in. But Ansan-daek rolled up the sleeves and muttered, “The one I picked was better.”
No, it wasn’t.
Just as I was about to say something, Ansan-daek suddenly pressed her fist against the pit of her stomach.
Huh?
Are you hurting again?
Cold sweat beaded on Ansan-daek’s forehead.
That pain looks serious.
I narrowed my eyes. Ansan-daek’s fist was trembling.
Then I realized it.
That doesn’t look like esophagitis.
And somehow, it seemed more serious than I’d expected.