The Smell of Lavender
Well.
"Can't be helped."
Yoon Jung-hyun straightened her chest.
"If I can't make him cry, then I'll just have to scare him badly enough that I cry for him."
A grin tugged at my mouth.
Yeah. That's exactly the kind of person she was.
No matter what she said, she was the kind of adult who took responsibility.
That's why I liked her so much.
I smiled brightly and said, "Yes, ma'am!"
"Oh, honestly. Fine, keep smiling. You'll be crying later anyway."
The assistant director scratched his head.
"As long as you do it, Teacher, we'll be at ease."
Of course. She'd definitely do it right.
Come to think of it, it's been a while since we've worked together.
How long had it been?
Back then, I played her son.
I’d been cast as a gang boss’s son. I wasn’t the lead, of course.
Still, it was a pretty good role.
After that part, supporting roles had started coming in steadily.
That was the beginning of being a first-rate supporting actor.
I smiled to myself.
The situation's different now, but it feels like I’m starting over with Teacher again.
Yoon Jung-hyun leaned in and inhaled the scent from the top of my head once more.
"Oh, you smell so nice. I should stop. It's making me sleepy."
"You should get some sleep."
"I was planning to after this next scene—just take a nap in the car. Good grief. I’m already suffering from insomnia, and now this. Right, I should get ready. Come on, child, let's go."
"Yes, ma'am!"
She held out her hand, and I took it at once and toddled after her.
Behind us, the assistant director muttered, "She really is crazy about Gongza."
Yeah, she was. I giggled. I was looking forward to the next scene.
* * *
"Ready! Action!"
The grandmother in the film seized my shoulders.
"Don't speak!"
Her eyes were incredibly fierce. I put on a frightened expression and tightened my chest. That made my lower lip tremble naturally.
The grandmother shook me by the shoulders.
"Don't speak! You can't say it! Don't speak!"
With her hair let loose, she looked eerie and ominous. I relaxed my eyes at once, and tears soon welled up.
Hic.
The frightened child trembled all over. That only drove the grandmother to press harder.
"Shut your mouth! Shut it!"
I struggled and blinked.
"Okay! Cut!"
Teacher let go of my shoulders at once.
"Gongza, are you okay?"
I sucked in breath after breath. Maybe because the scene had been so intense, Deok-su, who'd been watching with concern, came over and asked, "Gongza, are you all right?"
I glanced around. The staff members were all looking worried too.
Nice attitude.
Yeah. Child actors deserved to be looked after.
I smiled brightly and said, "Yes, ma'am!"
I waited for everyone to answer, but for some reason no one said anything. They only looked at me with pity.
The first to speak was Yoon Jung-hyun.
"Honestly..."
She wiped the corners of my eyes. Tears that had been spilled during the scene ran down again.
Ah, so that's why the atmosphere felt weird.
They still thought I was crying.
Well, the child in the scene is sick.
Knowing the circumstances made it fine, but to the young protagonist, it was an extremely violent scene.
He could pass out and fall into trauma if he wanted to.
Yoon Jung-hyun sighed.
"Did it hurt?"
What did?
"I was holding on to you pretty tight."
Ah, right. She had grabbed my shoulders and shaken me.
Deok-su checked my shoulders immediately and said, "He's fine."
"Oh, thank goodness. I tried not to use too much strength, but my arms are all stiff now. But still..."
Teacher tilted her head.
"I was worried for nothing earlier, wasn't I? Director, this Gongza kid—he's good. Better than most adults, honestly. It's been a while since I've felt this thrilled."
The director nodded too.
"To be honest, I wasn't sure earlier either. But seeing him in sync with Teacher, I can say it now—this kid's a genius."
Only now?
"Did you think I was joking when I cast him?"
"I wasn't expecting that much. I saw him at the first-birthday party and figured maybe he'd be something special. Honestly, it was for the buzz..."
I let out a long breath.
"I'm rethinking that now. I didn't know this child had that kind of talent."
"I even prepared myself for disappointment. So this tiny thing with such a lovely smell is good at acting too?"
Teacher hugged me tightly, laughing.
"Gongza. If you've got nowhere to go, come live with me."
Oh, Teacher.
"I'll raise you myself."
Laughter rippled around us. I shook my head.
"Nooo!"
"Why not?"
"Gongza is Mama's son!"
I would live a life devoted to filial piety.
"Oh my goodness!"
"How cute!"
"So it's true you and Ma Soo-jung are especially close."
Teacher laughed and hugged me even tighter.
"Goodness, then I'll have to get close to Soo-jung too. That's the only way I get to see Gongza."
"Right? But does Soo-jung know? That Gongza's a genius actor?"
Probably not. She would now, though.
And a genius, huh.
That was a bit too generous. If I wanted to keep hearing things like that, I'd have to work my butt off.
Still, it's nice to hear.
Please praise me more.
"This kid even smells good. It's familiar, but what exactly is it? The scent of heaven? I'm getting so sleepy. How can even his smell be so cute?"
If it smelled like my cuteness, that was pretty amazing. Though honestly, that wasn't such a rare scent.
Just then, Yoon Jung-hyun's manager hurried in.
"Teacher, I figured it out!"
Huh? Figured what out?
The manager looked flushed, like she'd rushed all the way here.
"The scent coming from the baby! I thought I'd smelled it somewhere before!"
"Oh? What scent is it? The flowers of heaven?"
"What?"
The manager blinked.
"Th-this one."
She held out a purple can.
A room spray?
But she wasn't wrong. In cheap, tacky font, it clearly said:
Lavender Scent
Yoon Jung-hyun looked back and forth between the air freshener and me.
"Oh, I see. It is similar. More ordinary than I expected. I thought it was the scent of heaven. But Seung-kyung, where did you get that?"
"The, uh, bathroom."
Oh, dear.
The staff quietly turned their heads away. I clenched my fist to keep from bursting into laughter.
Teacher said, utterly deflated, "So it wasn't the scent of heaven."
No, Teacher.
"It was just the smell of bathroom air freshener."
Choke.
Gurk.
Pfft.
Everyone covered their mouths and snickered. Honestly, I wanted to do the same.
Teacher pressed a hand to her forehead.
"Well, I suppose if you have to go to the bathroom in a hurry, even that can feel like heaven."
Oh, Teacher.
And then, at last, the whole set erupted into laughter.
-Hahahahahaha
-Bwahahahaha
-Kheuk
Amid the tsunami of laughter, I fought desperately to hold mine in. Honestly, that was harder than the crying scene I'd just done.
Then Deok-su picked me up and asked, "How many hours until the next scene?"
"Pwahaha. Huh? Pfft."
"It's Gongza's nap time. I'll take him to sleep in the car and come back."
"Right. Snrk."
Deok-su lifted me effortlessly and walked out of the scene of laughter as if strolling away from an ordinary errand.
I waved at Yoon Jung-hyun, who was watching me leave. Maybe because I'd been holding in my laughter too hard, it felt oddly wistful.
* * *
In When the Wind Touches, the child actor didn't have that big a role.
Meaning the filming period wasn't long either.
Maybe that was why the next scene was already my last.
The next scene was just looking out at the sea.
And I wouldn't even be alone; I'd be there with the protagonist's family.
So my part is practically over.
I felt a little sad. As I stood up, Deok-su said, "Don't wander off too far."
"Yes, sir!"
Well, he said that while still keeping his eyes on me.
Then again, kids this age are always getting into trouble.
As I was looking around, the set suddenly got noisy.
What now?
The staff had gathered in one spot. I knew the reason right away.
Huh?
Why was he here?
Wasn't he supposed to be absent from this scene?
Han Woo-jin was walking in with his long legs. After greeting the staff in passing, he spotted me and came striding over at once.
"Gongza! It's been forever! You've gotten so big!"
"H-hello!"
"You remember me, right? I'm Woo-jin hyung!"
Oh, Han Woo-jin.
You're in your late thirties and still insisting I call you hyung. Admirable, in a way.
If I said no, wouldn't that hurt his feelings?
I smiled brightly. "Yes! Woo-jin hyung!"
"Aww, how cute."
Han Woo-jin picked me up and said to his manager, "See? I told you. He looks like me."
Excuse you.
"Hahaha. You do sort of look alike."
"Right? I thought we'd get to see each other a lot if we were in the same film!"
As if that would happen.
I'm the child actor for the lead. Of course our scenes wouldn't overlap much.
Whether he knew my thoughts or not, Han Woo-jin carried me around.
"Gongza. You missed hyung, didn't you?"
Nope.
"Yes, sir!"
"Hyung missed Gongza too. Seriously, after we parted ways last time, I kept thinking about you."
Oh, that maniac.
"I told Soo-jung I missed you, and she asked if I wanted to die."
Mom?
Well, she probably didn't just say she missed me.
I trusted my mother.
She must have said something that made him want to murder himself.
Han Woo-jin paraded me in front of his manager.
"See? He's not crying, right? I told you Gongza likes me."
No, he doesn't.
"I see."
Then Yoon Jung-hyun came up and said, "Gongza doesn't really get shy around strangers, so he's usually like that."
Han Woo-jin bowed so fast he nearly folded in half, then straightened up again.
"Ah, Teacher. Good afternoon."
"Yes. Woo-jin, you..."
She looked him up and down.
"You really can't fight age, can you?"
"Teacher!"
"We all lose to time eventually. Aigoo, I miss the days when you first debuted."
Han Woo-jin straightened his shoulders.
"I'm still handsome."
"Yes. Yes, you are."
"No, seriously. But Teacher, don't Gongza and I look alike?"
Teacher narrowed her eyes.
"As if."
"No, really! People say we look alike all the time!"
"Have some shame. Who says that?"
"Netizens."
"Your fan club?"
"Not exactly a fan club, but yes. The place where my fans gather."
Teacher shook her head.
"Then of course they'd only say nice things about you."
"Oh, that's harsh, Teacher."
"Stop holding the child so much. You'll make him dizzy."
Han Woo-jin shook his head.
"Nope. I said I'd appear because I thought we'd get to see each other often on set, and now I can't let him go at all."
"Huh? So you agreed to do this just for that?"
"Yes."
"Don't they pay you a lot?"
Han Woo-jin grinned broadly.
"I took a cut. For the record, I'm a very busy man."
"How busy?"
"I only asked for travel and meal expenses."
Wow.
What a huge decision.
Teacher seemed surprised too and blinked.
"That's impressive."
"Right? I'm an actor who truly loves film."
"That sounds suspicious."
Han Woo-jin shrugged.
"You got me. Your eyes can't be fooled after all, Teacher."
"What is it?"
"Heh. I'm not the kind of man who gives away his secrets so easily, but I'll tell you this one specially, just for you."
Han Woo-jin leaned in and whispered, "It's our secret, Teacher."
"I'm curious, so just say it already."
"Well. I wanted to stake my claim."
Teacher narrowed her eyes.
"As Gongza's adult role?"
"What?"
"I figured I should mark my territory now. Ah—Teacher, don't hit me on the back!"