Too Big to Laugh Off
You can only shrug off being good at acting to a point.
Accounting fraud was way too huge.
I spread my arms and flopped backward onto the bed. My lower back bounced a few times before settling.
What a disaster.
Where on earth had the people looking for me gone?
Well, it’s not like the script ever landed directly in my lap.
It always went to CEO Seo or Mom. So I didn’t know the situation firsthand.
But still.
I do have a thing called common sense.
For one thing, Mom hadn’t left the house.
Well, I guess the fallout from Sungjin Group isn’t landing only on me.
Mom had only stepped away from the projects she was already in; nothing new had come up. And the CFs that had been slotted in between her schedules seemed to have been wiped off the table, too.
This is all Sungjin Group’s fault.
If you were going to screw up, then screw up spectacularly and go straight to prison. Why commit accounting fraud and cut off Mom’s and my livelihoods?
Honestly, the minute I try to do anything, something like this always happens.
I clenched my fists.
Back when I didn’t know anything, I would’ve just given up at a time like this.
But I was on my second life now. I knew exactly what I was supposed to do when things got like this.
It’s not like I personally did anything wrong.
Sure, people were gossiping about me like crazy right now, but one day the noise would die down.
I can’t just sit still.
I sat up at once.
I need to build my foundation.
My past life had been too precious to waste just lying around because there was trouble. I sprang out of the room and headed straight for the living room, where I told Mr. Deok-su, “I’m going out for a run, bye!”
“Huh?”
“If I just sit around, I keep having useless thoughts!”
Mr. Deok-su blinked at me.
“I-isn’t it hard? Gongza can’t do the filming he likes best right now.”
Well, Mom had already stopped it because it wasn’t good for my education anyway.
“It is, but the more reason to do what I can!”
When I thought about it, the answer was obvious.
What did I need most right now?
Stamina.
The coins I’d spent raising my rhythm sense were still recovering. It seemed to be climbing a little, probably because a lot of foreign people were watching.
But overseas gains only move in decimals.
That’s a bit much, isn’t it, Mr. Coin? Why are you discriminating by country?
I took a deep breath and looked down at my hands. Time was flying by, but the hands of a six-year-old were still tiny.
So I need to build endurance.
Of course I needed to improve my acting, too.
I should practice voice projection and diction, too.
I still didn’t know how to use my face properly. The muscle structure being different from my past life was, weirdly enough, wearing down my acting ability.
Maybe I should spend a few hours today with a pencil in my mouth.
Should I practice with comedy or a straight drama script?
I was mulling over all that on the way to the elevator when I spotted Mom in the middle of the living room.
Damn it...
I softened my footsteps and went up to her. She was sleeping sweetly on the sofa.
Hngh. I can’t see through my tears.
It wasn’t the time to complain about having nothing to do.
My beautiful mother was sleeping like a goddess. I stared at her for a long moment, then clenched my fists.
Mom, a crisis can become an opportunity!
I’ll strengthen my foundation so that when the chance comes, I can grab it with both hands!
If I get unstuck, maybe Mom will get unstuck too.
Isn’t it always the first button that’s hard to fasten? After that, things get easier.
I made up my mind and ran for the elevator. This was no time to be loitering around.
Honestly, the mansion where the Sungjin Group family lived was absurdly huge.
No wonder I thought of it as a villa.
There was a pond in the middle of the well-kept garden. The carp in the pond opened and closed their mouths as if asking for food.
Honestly, it looks nice.
It was the kind of place that made you marvel at what money could do.
But still.
I ran across the lawn and stared at the pond with a suspicious look.
This mansion has way too many mosquitoes. Could it be that pond?
I’d lived here for years, and I knew this much: every summer, they checked the window screens with terrifying thoroughness.
No matter how hard you try, you can’t stop bugs.
I knew that from living in an apartment near a lake in my past life. No matter how much people prepared, nature always won.
Humans lose one hundred percent of the time if they try to fight air, sunlight, and humidity.
It wasn’t a money problem, that was for sure.
If it were me, I wouldn’t put a pond in the yard.
Of course, as a tenant here, I didn’t have much room to complain.
I kept running. The camera in the yard followed my route.
At first that was wildly uncomfortable, but now I’m sort of used to it.
I was just finishing my second lap when I sensed someone nearby.
Who’s that?
When I turned slightly, there he was—the kid I hadn’t seen in a while.
The second daughter-in-law’s son.
He didn’t usually come out much. Why was he in the yard?
Is he on his way somewhere?
I ignored him and kept running forward. He didn’t call out to me, but he didn’t leave either.
What’s with him? He should be busy enough that he doesn’t have time to stand around blankly.
I stared at him.
Damn it!
I immediately changed direction and ran straight toward him. As I came barreling over like a bulldozer, he took a step back.
“W-what?”
“Hey, why does your face look like that?”
His cheek was puffed up badly. I grabbed his shoulders and looked him over from side to side.
Both cheeks got hit. That’s what this is.
Who the hell did this? Sure, he was rude and arrogant, but wasn’t he still a grandson of the Sungjin Group family? Was there really someone bold enough to lay a hand on him?
No, that’s not the important part.
I grabbed his hand at once.
“Come on.”
“W-where?”
“We need to cool your cheek down!”
I placed the back of my hand lightly against his face. His cheek was swollen enough that I could feel the heat coming off it.
“Oof. That hurts.”
I tightened my grip on his hand.
“Come on.”
“N-no. I can’t let people find out I got hit.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“Who hit you?”
The kid moved his lips, then dropped his head.
He can’t say it.
If that brat couldn’t even say it out loud, then whoever did it must be someone he really had to hide from.
“Fine. I’ll keep it a secret. Still, come on.”
“N-no. You’re going to the Annex.”
“Yeah. We need ice on this, don’t we?”
“B-but they told me not to go there because it’s dirty...”
Look at this kid.
I gave him a once-over from head to toe. He must’ve realized he’d said something wrong, because he lowered his head a little.
With those cheeks swollen like that, he did look kind of pathetic.
I let out a sigh and asked, “Is it okay if I drag you there?”
“Huh?”
I placed both hands on his shoulders.
Even for a kid who’s a few years older, you’re huge as hell.
That meant I had to stand on my toes a little.
“If you don’t come to the Annex, I’ll hit you.”
“W-what?”
Hmm. Was that too weak?
I gave his stomach a light thump.
“If you don’t go, I’ll hit you?”
“T-that counts as hitting?”
“It does. If you flopped backward like a soccer player, I might even get sent to the police station.”
“R-really? That’s amazing.”
I nodded.
“That’s the law for you. If you’re interested, I’ll teach you Hollywood acting later.”
“Okay.”
I tapped his stomach a couple more times with my palm.
“Say ‘ow.’”
“Ow?”
“Make it more real. Groan like somebody getting hit in a movie.”
“That’s hard.”
Well, acting was hard in the first place. I nodded.
“Fine. Forget it and let’s go to the Annex.”
“I said no!”
“It’s okay. If you get scolded later, just say you couldn’t help it because you were too scared of my threats.”
I stretched out my neck and pointed at the rotating camera.
“We can say that thing is the evidence.”
“R-really? That works?”
“Probably.”
Maybe it wouldn’t.
“Come on.”
I took his hand and cut across the garden. After hesitating a bit, the kid eventually followed along obediently.
Since I’d just been running, sweat had broken out on my forehead. I wiped it away with the handkerchief Mr. Deok-su had given me.
Whew.
The sigh came out before I could stop it.
“Oh? You’re done exercising already? Hmm, is this your friend?”
Mr. Deok-su walked over holding a ladle. I shook my head.
“He’s not my friend! He’s just an acquaintance!”
“Huh?”
I leaned in and whispered to Mr. Deok-su, “If he were my friend, he’d be in trouble!”
Mr. Deok-su blinked. Then I hurriedly shoved the kid forward.
“Look at his cheek!”
“Good heavens!”
Mr. Deok-su set the ladle down on the table and rushed over.
Mr. Deok-su really is quick on the uptake.
Thank you for understanding without me having to say much.
The kid was fidgeting anxiously. For a second, I realized my mistake.
He does look scary, doesn’t he.
Honestly, it would’ve been strange if a child didn’t find him intimidating. I held the kid’s hand to reassure him.
“It’s okay. He won’t ask!”
“H-huh?”
Ah, that wasn’t it.
“It’s okay. He won’t hit you.”
“N-no, I...”
Mr. Deok-su came back carrying a cold pack, his muscular frame looming over us. Then he pressed it straight against the kid’s cheek.
The boy blinked. Mr. Deok-su said seriously, “Besides your cheek, are you injured anywhere else?”
“My shoulder.”
“My, I’ll check it. May I lift your shirt?”
Apparently he wanted to keep it secret from me, because the kid turned his body away.
Mr. Deok-su lifted the shirt just enough to peek, then straightened again.
“I’ll go get the first-aid kit.”
Was it serious? No. If it had really been serious, Mr. Deok-su would’ve told him to go to the hospital.
So it must be something a bandage can cover.
I watched with a worried face. The kid with the ice pack pressed to his cheek lowered his head in embarrassment.
What was wrong with him?
I shook my head and said, “It’s not your fault you got hit.”
“......”
“Don’t be embarrassed. It’s not shameful.”
The boy lowered his head even more. Looking at that, I let out another sigh.
It was then, just as Mr. Deok-su came back with the first-aid kit, that a familiar voice came from behind us.
“Gongza, oh?”
When I turned around, Mom was approaching in casual clothes.
“Mama!”
“Oh, yes. Gongza. And you’re Jeok, aren’t you? Long time no see!”
“Hello, Aunt.”
Ma Jeok lowered his head, then lifted it again.
We all live in the same house, so how can it be long time no see? What a weird greeting.
Maybe it was because we were split between the main house and the Annex.
“You’ve grown a lot.”
Mom looked at Ma Jeok’s cheek, but didn’t ask anything. Still, she couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away from it.
Does she know something?
Mom asked him, “Jeok, are you doing well?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
She adjusted the cold pack properly in his hand.
“That must hurt.”
“It doesn’t, really, it doesn’t! I can handle it!”
As if.
There’s no such thing as a wound that doesn’t hurt.
Mom let out a long breath and said, “All right, Jeok. If Lee Yu-kyeong scolds you for coming to the Annex, just say I dragged you over.”
“C-can I do that?”
“Yes. Put all the blame on me.”
Right then, Mr. Deok-su came back with the first-aid kit.
“My, Jeok got hurt even more?”
“There’s an injury on his shoulder.”
“Oh dear.”
Ma Jeok lowered his head again, embarrassed. Mom and Mr. Deok-su checked the injury and moved their hands in silence.
All I could hear was the sound of the moist bandage tape peeling off. I looked at Ma Jeok and said, “That must’ve really hurt, huh?”