A Lesson in Manners
The child didn’t answer.
I was an adult, after all.
Even if I only looked four years old on the outside.
So I spoke like an adult.
“I did. Talk.”
Now answer me, kid. Why had he suddenly turned into a mute with honey in his mouth?
“W-well! Y-you don’t know who I am, do you?”
Yeah. No idea. Why on earth would I think I should?
I wanted to say that, but I’m an adult.
So I said it again, kindly.
“Hi. I’m Gongza. Nice to meet you!”
Hi. My name is Gongza. Nice to meet you, and you?
No matter how I looked at it, that was the textbook definition of a perfect introduction.
So, little kid who had suddenly dropped out of the sky, answer me.
“My name is Ma Jeok... no!”
I grinned.
Exactly. There’s a reason the textbook version is the textbook version.
Why stop halfway before you even get to “fine, thank you”? That’s just rude.
“Hey! Who doesn’t know you’re Ma Gongza!”
Huh. What did that mean?
I tilted my head.
“You’re famous!”
Ah. Well, that much was true.
I just don’t really feel it.
Mother, am I really that famous? If I am, could you please make it a little more obvious?
I guess being famous at such a young age isn’t very good for a child’s education.
I can’t even tell where I stand.
If I at least had some work to go out for, it would help.
These days, I’m incredibly free.
I’m just getting older without doing anything.
I want work, Mother.
I let out a heavy sigh, one deep enough to seem like it might sink the ground beneath me.
That gave the kid an opening to pick a fight.
“What? Why are you sighing in front of me?”
Look, let a person breathe. What a painfully sensitive little brat.
“Tsk. Gongza is four.”
I didn’t know my exact age, but that was about right, kid.
“Huh?”
“How old are you?”
“Seven.”
Ah. So you’re older than me.
I should probably stop calling him big brother.
I smiled brightly.
“Oh, I see! Nice to meet you.”
“Uh...”
“Do you live here?”
“Of course I live in the mansion!”
Of course he did.
So a kid lived here too.
I’d thought only the adults lived here.
Even now, I sometimes thought of the grandmother and her daughter-in-law who used to come sniff around my scalp.
Hitler, Hitler’s daughter-in-law, and Little Hitler. Yep, this was definitely a villain dormitory.
So this was Sungjin Group company housing. I nearly cried at the bright future of the Republic of Korea.
Then the little villain shouted, “Hey! You know you’re just mooching off us, right?”
Wow. Look at that rotten little face.
Absolutely yellow.
No, seriously, why was a seven-year-old like this? Children that age were supposed to be pure. Preschoolers should be the kind of age where they sing teddy-bear songs and smash windows with rubber balls.
And anyway, I’m a kid too, you little punk.
I tilted my head.
“Gongza? Mooching off who?”
“Our house, duh! My mom says you’re a leech!”
That was an impressive way to put it.
What, because I’m adopted, he thinks he can say things like that?
No matter how I looked at it, that was too much. What a letdown.
And listen here.
Did you give me even one lousy cent?
What the hell is wrong with you?
“Hey, bro. Gongza grows up with Mom’s money.”
“W-what?”
“I don’t get anything from you, either.”
The kid tilted his head, still confused.
Looks like he didn’t understand.
I sighed and explained again.
“Gongza isn’t a leech. I don’t get help from your family.”
Well, I do seem to be provided with a house.
Honestly, it looks like Mom wants to move out of here.
She seemed tied down there against her will.
The boy blinked.
“R-really? Oh. I guess so.”
He still didn’t get it.
This doesn’t seem like a very smart kid.
I nodded.
“Yep.”
“N-no, you still are a leech! You live in this house! This is my grandfather’s house! I’m his grandson, and you’re not!”
Well, so he wasn’t completely stupid after all.
The future of this country really is bright.
Talk about a sense of entitlement.
“Hey, then kneel down!”
What the hell.
I pressed a hand to my forehead.
Where did it all go wrong?
Why are you like this? You were rotten from the roots up.
This is exactly what entitlement looks like when it’s disgusting.
He really thought he could treat people however he wanted.
I let out another long sigh and crossed my arms.
The future is terrifying.
In that case, I’d have to show this yellow little sprout what a little spice tasted like.
Entitlement always flows downward.
He would only act like this toward people he thought were beneath him, wouldn’t he?
I smiled sweetly.
Isn’t this exactly what coins are for?
Love & Peace Coin wasn’t called that for nothing.
Of course, true peace begins with a preemptive strike.
I looked around. It was a peaceful garden, but I could also see security cameras turning briskly overhead.
Hmm. If I caused trouble now, it’d be a hassle later.
I wasn’t Mom, so I could even get hauled off somewhere.
In that case, I’d have to solve this rationally.
I looked the kid up and down.
“Hey! Leech! I said kneel! Honestly, aren’t you a leech?”
I narrowed my eyes.
Honestly...
Wow. This brat was driving a knife straight through the hearts of adopted kids everywhere.
I’d been thinking about how to use my coins, and here he was, practically telling me. As they say, where there’s a will, there’s a way.
I smiled brightly.
Make Ma Jeok say only the honest truth for the next six months, and tell me the coin cost required.
To determine the price, 20 coins will be consumed.
For six months of only telling the truth, 4,767 coins are required.
As payment, your thumbnail will sting for 2 seconds.
Wow. Subtitles, come on.
This Love & Peace Coin thing isn’t just a disguise, is it?
The price was way too cheap for messing with other people.
Activate.
It will activate in 5 seconds.
All things come at a price.
The stated price will now be paid.
My thumbnail stung for two seconds. I stared straight at him.
You’re dead for a while.
Go on, then. Try telling the grandmother the truth for once, you little punk.
“No.”
“Hey!”
“You’re mean. If you keep that up, something terrible will happen, okay?”
“What?”
“You’re a loser, bro.”
I said it solemnly.
“Watch that mouth!”
“You’re the source of all misery!”
As if he’d understand anything I said.
“Even if Gongza’s popular, if you say things that hurt people like that, you’ll get smacked!”
I crossed my arms and grinned.
“Well, it’s not just you, either. There are tons of jealous losers who hate Gongza because he’s nice and handsome!”
Just like you.
“Mom says not to deal with kids like this.”
The boy blinked. I stepped closer and whispered softly.
“No?”
The boy screamed, “No! Why would I be! I’m the Sungjin Group heir!”
Oh?
Is that actually true?
I tilted my head.
“Ah, no. Of course there’s my older brother, Shin. But Mom said I’d be the one to do it!”
Who was this Brother Shin now?
Still, maybe this was a glimpse of the future Sungjin Group succession fight.
But the thing is...
Isn’t that just what your mother says?
I didn’t really know, but if this kid took over, wouldn’t things go down the drain?
Well, if you shook the whole tree, I bet most of those chaebol third-generation kids would have about the same level of ability.
In the first place, capable chaebol children only existed in daily dramas.
Just in case, I asked, “Is your brain bigger than that Shin guy’s?”
The boy answered cheerfully, “No! Brother Shin is a genius!”
Oh dear. So the rival was really strong.
“But I’m better at soccer!”
Does soccer help you inherit a conglomerate?
I’d seen enough.
“I see, bro. So it’s true you’re jealous of Gongza.”
“Ah, ah! Right! I am jealous of you!”
The instant he said it, he froze and clapped a hand over his mouth.
“My, my words came out weird!”
That’s because I used a coin.
“It’s okay. Lots of brothers are jealous of Gongza.”
“Yeah! Lots! At kindergarten, people talk about you all the time. If I say you’re at our house, nobody believes me!”
So that was the field response. Good to know. Warm and fuzzy.
“That’s why I was going to take a picture of you kneeling!”
Cancel the warm and fuzzy.
What an absolutely rotten little brat. He wasn’t even going to kneel, and he wanted to keep a photo of it?
Maybe I should spend a few more coins.
I stared at him for a moment, then shook my head.
He’s a child.
An adult had to be patient.
I let out a sigh and said, “Bro. If that’s the case, why don’t you take a picture with Gongza instead?”
“W-what?”
“No?”
“W-who said no! I mean—yes! Let’s take one!”
Ah, so he had been trying to act cool.
If you like it, just say you like it.
I took a photo with him. I didn’t forget to smile at the camera lens while making eye contact with the selfie view.
For someone who’d tried to play hard to get, he absolutely loved the finished photo.
“Hehe. I can talk to Hyejin now.”
Ah, so there was someone he wanted to impress.
I let out a sigh.
Then there’s no way I could’ve let him take a picture of me kneeling.
What, was that supposed to make her like him?
“That good, bro? Gongza’s leaving now?”
He only nodded. Only then did I slowly leave the garden.
And much later, I realized something.
My smartphone!
That brat had one!
I should’ve used it more.
I should’ve asked him all sorts of things.
I quietly squatted down on the spot. Maybe the shock of that chaebol kid’s character had made me forget. I’d completely missed my chance.
Well, I’ll run into him again someday.
I let out a deep sigh. Honestly, I didn’t even want to.
Duk-soo was startled when he saw an article online.
Did Gongza get photographed again?
He clicked the article in a hurry, then immediately relaxed. The photo had been taken a long time ago.
Duk-soo let out a breath and set his smartphone down.
Maybe it was because he’d seen the photo.
I miss Gongza.
It was his day off, so he’d been dealing with real estate matters.
He said he wanted to sell the house, so I was surprised.
Even the real estate agent he’d known for years, an old neighbor, had told him not to sell it yet because the price would likely rise soon.
That sounds a lot like something Gongza would say...
Duk-soo’s lips twitched faintly. Just thinking about that tiny child made him smile.
He worries a lot, but...
Duk-soo scrolled back up to the article.
By now, it seemed the moment his name was attached to a headline, the clicks came rolling in. These days, articles about him were pouring out one after another.
And then this sort of piece showed up too.
When you clicked it, it turned out to be nothing at all.
These articles will disappear soon enough.
Duk-soo let out a sigh.
Gongza’s mother had to be worried, too.
In fact, they had already talked about it once on the phone.
— He needs to rest a little. The atmosphere is getting too heated.
But Gongza likes working.
— I know. My angel is diligent, too.
An all-work-no-play four-year-old. Was that even possible?
But the answer was simple.
Because he’s Gongza.