Episode 42
"Did Soo-jung always have this side to her?"
What kind of reaction was that?
"I, is that so."
"No, what kind of luck did that Han Woo-jin bastard have, seeing this? I thought he was spouting nonsense, but now I see why!"
Ma Soo-jung let out a long sigh.
"My son is so cute it's killing me. No, he should be cute in a more normal way."
"Oh. Yeah."
"Gongza, Mom's worried."
Why was she overacting like that, of all things?
CEO Seo tilted his head slightly, but there was no denying it. The kid really was that cute.
And that wasn't all.
And he's so mild-mannered too.
When they brought him to the set, everyone came over with grins on their faces.
That cuteness really was lethal.
And if he cried, people would scatter in all directions, but this child only ever laughed. Maybe that was why everyone kept gathering around him.
He was dragging the staff around with him.
Whatever CEO Seo thought, the screen kept changing. Han Woo-jin looked down at the baby, then stroked his cheek. The baby clapped and laughed as if he had no idea what was going on.
CEO Seo suddenly clutched his chest.
"Joo-hyuk is dying!"
He was about to leave this world, and his child was laughing like that.
On screen, Han Woo-jin pulled the baby into a tight embrace. Before he knew it, CEO Seo was sniffling.
"How's Joo-hyuk supposed to die now? Why would he leave that behind and die?"
Ma Soo-jung blinked. CEO Seo wiped at his eyes with a tissue the manager had handed him and said,
"Soo-jung, why aren't you crying? Aren't you sad?"
"No, I am sad. But I was thinking about something."
"What?"
"Gongza went 'ba~.'"
CEO Seo nodded.
"Yeah. That means 'dad.'"
"Gongza doesn't know the word dad."
How could he not know a word he didn't know?
"Huh? Is that even possible?"
"Maybe, our Gongza, I know this sounds ridiculous, but..."
"Yeah, what is it?"
Ma Soo-jung said seriously,
"Could he be a real angel? How else could he be this cute?"
"Hey. Soo-jung. You were being serious just now. You said Gongza doesn't know the word dad."
"Who cares about that kind of thing? He's that cute."
"I, is that so?"
The remaining tears slid down CEO Seo's cheeks. He sniffled hard.
Khh.
Seeing this, the manager, Lee Mi-jin, couldn't help saying,
"He probably saw it in picture books."
"Ah!"
"Probably, right? But that's not really the important part. The problem is that our Gongza is too cute! Oh, what are we supposed to do?"
Ma Soo-jung seemed restless, breathing hard.
"What if the whole country finds out how cute our Gongza is, and offers start pouring in like crazy? We're already struggling because we don't have Ansan-daek right now."
"You don't have anyone at all right now?"
"No. We do, but it's temporary. Is there anyone dependable?"
"Ah! There is!"
CEO Seo wiped his face with a tissue and said,
"Should I introduce someone? But, hmm... let's have you meet them with Gongza first. It's a little awkward to recommend them lightly."
"Why? What kind of person is it?"
CEO Seo scratched his head.
"I can guarantee their character. It's just that their circumstances are rough."
Ma Soo-jung thought for a moment, then gave a faint smile.
"Well, all right. Let's meet them. Together with Gongza."
"Ah, you've got a big heart."
"I trust you that much. More to the point, what are we going to do? We're already exhausted from fending off offers. What happens if they come at us like crazy?"
The CEO rubbed his chin.
"By now, everyone who watched Emergency Room is probably swimming in a sea of tears, right? The internet reaction is obvious without even looking."
"That's what worries me. If it's a decent director and they call carefully, it'll be hard for me to turn them down."
"For now, let's just say we'll think about it later. By the way, when is Ansan-daek coming back?"
Ma Soo-jung let out a sigh.
"She's recovering for now, but she doesn't seem to have much spirit left."
"Why not?"
"She had a major illness, and not a single relative came to see her."
She smiled bitterly.
"I can understand the ex-husband who ran off after owing money, but even the younger siblings she put through school while working in a factory did the same. It must have hit her hard mentally."
"Wow. I can see why."
"I was planning to go see her with Gongza anyway. He said he wanted to see her too."
CEO Seo stroked his chin and gave a snort of laughter.
"This is sudden, but Soo-jung, you really did bring home a good kid."
"Oh? Why bring that up all of a sudden?"
"No reason. He's just too good. I felt it even on set, but that little kid actually considers other people."
Ma Soo-jung lowered her head and smiled softly.
"Our Gongza did that again?"
"Yeah. He's definitely not an ordinary baby. Man... now I'm curious how this will play out. I feel like the entire viewer board and SNS are going to explode."
Ma Soo-jung had to agree.
"Mm, that's probably true."
"What are we going to tell the press? I thought we might keep it moderate, but this feels like it'll become a sensation."
"It probably will. I'm the only window they have, so it'll all come pouring over me."
Ma Soo-jung straightened her shoulders and said,
"I guess I have to be prepared as a mother. But how big of a sensation do you think it'll be?"
"Who knows? I don't really know either."
The two of them fell into thought, but no answer came. Then the manager cut in again.
"Couldn't we just think about it after it actually happens?"
"Ah, right."
"Mi-jin, that was well said."
Ma Soo-jung stretched her arms wide this time.
"Well, it might just be a passing topic for a little while. It's a famous drama, so it could heat up like a pot and then boil right over. That happens all the time."
CEO Seo shook his head at once.
"Soo-jung. Your son isn't the kind of kid who burns out after one brief burst of attention."
Ma Soo-jung blinked.
"Our Gongza is that good?"
"Yeah. In my view, unless Gongza had never been exposed in the first place, there's no way he can cool off."
"Come on. If he doesn't appear, that's that."
"No. Want to bet with me? Soo-jung? I can put down ten thousand won."
Ten thousand won.
That much money!
Ma Soo-jung grinned.
"I'll put down one hundred thousand."
"What? A hundred thousand?"
"A hundred thousand won!"
"Whoa, that's so much! What if we get hauled off for illegal gambling?"
The two of them looked at each other and burst out laughing.
Hmm...
The manager watching them quietly turned her head away.
They're a top star and an entertainment CEO, and yet the scale is so modest.
The manager smiled to herself. Well, that was one of the things she liked about them too.
* * *
Total Coins: 98,953
I clenched my fist as I looked at the captions floating in the air.
"Wow!"
As expected, terrestrial television dramas were great.
Still, this is ridiculous. They rose that fast?
The captions were in chaos right now.
Check captions!
<Viewer moved by your adorable appearance: 23,456 is delighted.>
<Love & Peace Coin increases by 1.>
<Prospective dads moved by your babbling: 25 is delighted.>
<Love & Peace Coin increases by 1.>
There were tons of them like that.
Hide captions!
The captions vanished in an instant. A grin spread across my face.
It's climbing smoothly.
It seemed like I would soon be able to make Ansan-daek healthy again.
Ah, Ansan-daek.
I rolled once on the soft floor.
She looked like she was having a really hard time emotionally.
The aunt who was taking care of me right now seemed to like chatting, because she kept telling me this and that.
To have gone through such major surgery and have nobody come visit her...
Her story was pitiful. I let out a deep sigh.
So she lost heart, and they said there hasn't been any improvement in her illness.
What would help her regain her spirit?
I heard the surgery itself went fine. Is the reason she isn't getting better just that kind of thing?
Stress really wasn't called the root of all disease for nothing.
It struck me all over again that health carried so much meaning.
Ah, but what's the reaction like?
Mom had only come by briefly, just enough to say the place outside was noisy.
Come to think of it, Grandma was watching for a long time with a displeased look too.
She hadn't said anything in particular.
There's still a long way to go for that side too.
I rested my chin in my hand and drifted into thought.
The drama seems to be a hit, but I have no idea how much of that I can actually feel.
Maybe I'd notice more once I went out with Mom later.
I exhaled slowly and put strength into my legs. One way or another, I couldn't stop exercising.
When everything's dark, you do what you can.
That was a lesson I'd learned during all my years as an unknown nobody. I quietly practiced walking. My balance still wasn't very good.
* * *
"Soo, Soo-jung."
CEO Seo wiped at his face and looked at the actress sitting opposite him. Ma Soo-jung had her head bowed, one hand on her forehead.
"I lost."
"Yeah, that's true, but that's not really the important part."
"I know."
What was this even supposed to be called?
CEO Seo lowered his head heavily.
"Honestly, up until now, Gongza's recognition had just been 'a cute baby,' right?"
"Right. He'd been on variety shows, but only once in a while."
"Yeah. And even then, he was just one baby among many."
Of course, since he had such good chemistry with Halo, he had been talked about here and there.
"But a terrestrial drama is no joke."
"The ratings were pretty good too, and maybe because it was the ending?"
Yes. That was the problem.
CEO Seo slowly retraced when this whole situation had started.
"He appeared as Joo-hyuk's son, right?"
"Yes. He wrung out tears and snot from everyone."
"That's as far as I expected. Viewer reactions were similar."
"I never dreamed that because of Gongza, Director Lee Jae-min would actually change the ending."
CEO Seo read the interview he had saved from Director Lee Jae-min on his smartphone again.
Q. I heard you changed the ending?
A. Yes. I didn't know the scene where Joo-hyuk says goodbye to his son would be so heartbreaking. Ah, of course it was already that kind of scene. But on set, Ma Soo-jung's son Gongza and Han Woo-jin created incredible synergy. I realized at once that this was it. When I told the writer, he changed it willingly.
Q. The response to the ending is extremely good. You must be satisfied.
A. Very satisfied. I'm so proud to hear people saying it was a good ending.
CEO Seo leaned back on the sofa and put a hand to his throat.
"I'm done for, right?"
"You are. I'm only settling down now too."
"Ah, the number of calls I got. If I couldn't get through to you, they all came to me."
Just then, the secretary brought water over. CEO Seo took cold water, Ma Soo-jung took lukewarm water, and they both drained their glasses in one go at the same time.
"It's a mess. A total mess."
Was this what it felt like to go to war?
The day the final episode of Emergency Room aired, articles began pouring out from dawn.
<The adorable baby of Joo-hyuk from Emergency Room is Ma Soo-jung's son>
<The child Ma Soo-jung adopted, Ma Gongza.>
<Too cute to be real. Emergency Room ratings become a hot topic.>
"The headlines are shameless as hell."
"That's just how reporters are."
"Even if people click because of the headline, the contents are all the same. You adopted him, he was on a parenting variety show."
Ma Soo-jung propped her chin on her hand and muttered,
"Sometimes they even bring up the first-birthday party."
"Yeah, they mention the lavish dol-janchi too."
"At this rate they'll even start talking about our Gongza's doljabi."
CEO Seo laughed a little. That doljabi was unusual, all right.
"It'd be nice if that became the thing people talked about."
"Well, you can't stop people's mouths."
"The reporters are already asking for the doljanchi video."
"What do they want that for?"
"Exactly. Maybe they're trying to dig up Ma Soo-jung's connections or something? So I just dodged around it."
"Good."
The two of them sighed at the same time.
Gongza was getting more attention than anyone could handle.
"Seriously, what was so special about that ending that they changed it?"
"It was originally supposed to end as soon as the main character appeared, right?"
---