Chapter 95
I’m translating the chapter directly into HTML with the required paragraph structure, and I’m checking the in-universe rule blocks as I go so they stay in the mandated styled format.CHAPTER_TITLE: A Growing Image
Time flew by in the blink of an eye.
Popularity really is like smoke.
For the entire two months of production, no one came looking for me. My popularity had faded almost overnight.
Or was it possible that Mom had turned them down?
I stole a glance at her. Lying on the sofa, Mom was as beautiful as ever.
Feeling my gaze, she asked, “Gongja, what is it?”
“Momma. Is there nowhere lookin’ for Gongja?”
Mom gave a faint laugh and patted the sofa beside her. I scrambled up and fell into her arms.
She stroked my hair at an unhurried pace. Honestly, she was like a lion after a feast.
“Don’t you hate resting, Gongja?”
“Yeah.”
“My son is more diligent than I am.”
Mom wrapped her arms around me tightly. I flailed a little, trying to wriggle free, and said, “What’s the point of just playing around?”
“I do like playing too, you know...”
Well, she had done a lot of intense filming. Mom had every right to rest.
But I’m not like that. This is just the beginning for me.
I said seriously, “Momma, Gongja ain’t at the age to rest yet.”
“Gongja...”
Mom lifted me up by the waist as if she were plucking up a radish. In an instant, our eyes were level.
“At your age, playing is your job.”
“But Momma, Gongja wants to work.”
“What, did some work-starved ghost latch onto you or something?”
She patted my back.
“What are we going to do about our Gongja? It looks like things at Sungjin Group haven’t been settled at all.”
Damn it.
At this rate, even setting up the charity foundation becomes a problem.
If I did it now, they’d obviously say I’d set it up to cover up the accounting fraud.
Well, it’s true that I was trying to use the charity foundation to clean up the image.
But I was planning to do it before anything blew up.
Unfair.
I let out a long sigh. Mom stroked my cheek and said, “Is Gongja having a hard time? The schedule has thinned out, but it’s not completely empty, is it?”
“Doing one or two jobs when there’s a lot of work and doing one or two jobs when there’s barely anything left are totally different things, Momma.”
And the only thing I could find was astonishingly related to The Basement.
“Ahahahaha! That is true.”
Maybe because she’d laughed, the body pressed against mine trembled a little.
“But Gongja, people are sharp right now. It’s the kind of season where they stab at anything they can. A guilty person should just go to prison, but they’re making a scene because they don’t want to.”
Ah, so Mom had been thinking along the same lines.
“They got hit by the blowback and made it everyone else’s problem. Hiding themselves while they do it, huh?”
Mom growled like a beast.
“Just wait and see. I’ll make sure they pay for making my son suffer.”
Wow.
Mm, fighting, Mom!
I’m rooting for you!
Mom gripped the hem of my clothes tightly.
“And another thing! They were the ones who caused this mess, so why are they hitting an innocent kid?”
I nodded.
“Exactly.”
“I already told Madam.”
Ah, so she’d told Grandma.
“Um, she didn’t know?”
“I don’t think she realized it was that bad. Knowing Madam, she must have said something to them.”
“Then is Jeokyi safe now?”
“She should be.”
Thank goodness.
They should be suing, but since they can’t, this is the next best thing.
At least that old lady didn’t use violence.
Mom sighed. “Madam might hit someone else, but she won’t hit her own grandchildren.”
Oh, I see.
Then that doesn’t apply to me.
Grandma had sniffed the top of my head yesterday before leaving.
Even after all that time together, she still won’t open her heart.
I pressed my forehead against Mom’s chest.
“Hm? Gongja. Why are you suddenly looking so down?”
“Momma, does Gongja lack charm?”
“What?”
“It ain’t easy to win her over.”
Please open your heart a little, Grandma.
When I sighed, Mom covered her mouth.
She’s holding in laughter.
I pretended not to notice. Mom cleared her throat awkwardly.
“Ahem. Gongja, do you like a girl friend?”
I shook my head.
“It ain’t like that.”
“Huh?”
“I don’t just like her that much, but she’s kind of hard to deal with. Still...”
I clenched my fist.
“Gongja isn’t giving up.”
After all, obsession is like rain soaking through your clothes one drop at a time.
“I’ll definitely do it!”
“Oh my!”
Mom patted my shoulder. Watching her struggle to suppress her laughter, I tilted my head.
I think she’s misunderstanding something.
Mom, still gasping a little, said, “Now I’m curious who this person is.”
Well, you know her very well.
“She’s a mysterious person. Every time I see her, I’m surprised.”
“I see. Is it an older sister?”
“Yeah!”
“Mm, I see. So not younger.”
Mom twisted her whole body and buried her face in my arms.
Hm, maybe I should tell her soon that it’s Grandma...
Mom seemed to think this was Gongja’s first love, and she was enjoying herself far too much.
Let’s call it filial piety and let it slide.
Whatever. However you looked at it, she was clearly delighted.
After a while, Mom finally caught her breath.
“Gongja.”
Her voice was very gentle. I lifted my head and met her eyes.
“Somehow, we ended up resting like this.”
I nodded.
“Yeah.”
“But Mom still thinks this is good.”
She kissed my cheek.
“I like spending time with Gongja like this, nice and slow. Do you hate it?”
I shook my head.
“No!”
“Then let’s stay like this a little longer.”
I let out a long breath in her arms.
I understand how you feel, Mother.
Come to think of it, there hadn’t really been a period like this, where we could just take it easy.
Still, I thought Mom must have been shocked too...
She seems more fine than I expected.
Someone like actress Ma Soo-jung should be working like a machine.
The film industry would only benefit if one more of her projects got made.
“Gongja. Mom thinks acting is important too, but time with Gongja is just as, just as precious.”
Ah.
I’m sorry, Mother. I was being shortsighted.
It made sense that she’d be struggling too if she couldn’t act.
But this is really just because she likes spending time with me all to herself.
I stared at Mom quietly.
Then, suddenly, I remembered the price I had paid for a coin wish in the past.
Come to think of it, when I used a coin to ask for a smartphone, the price was Mom having to stop three projects, wasn’t it?
Back then, I’d thought it was a catastrophe and nearly jumped out of my skin.
But looking at her now... maybe even that would have been okay.
I’m that precious to her.
It’s not easy for an actor to be unable to act.
Mom brushed my cheek with her hand. “Our Gongja’s eyes are shining. What are you thinking about?”
“I was thinking love is strong.”
“Oh my?”
“Seems like it might really be the strongest thing in the world.”
Up until now, I’d thought money was the strongest thing. But it made sense that the most famous book in human history had declared love to be powerful enough to stand beside it.
I buried my face in Mom’s arms.
“Honestly, Mom would’ve been really anxious if Gongja hadn’t been next to her.”
I nodded.
Come to think of it, in my previous life, actress Ma Soo-jung supposedly became very unwell around this time.
Well, stress really is the root of all illness.
Still.
“Momma. But you still like working, right?”
“Oh my? Ahahaha!”
Her laughter made her whole body tremble. Feeling the vibration through her chest, I lifted my head.
Mom pressed a fingertip lightly to my nose and said, “No comment.”
As expected.
I grinned.
Yes, Mother. I understand.
What was the point of resting? Even if a second-best option was appealing, the best one was always better.
I stood up with a bright smile.
“Gongja, where are you going? Stay with Mom a little longer. You can take a nap too.”
“What’s the point of playing around? It’s about time Jeoki-hyung gets here. We’re gonna play soccer together.”
“Jeoki comes by often. I guess it’s not very comfortable inside a big house. All right, then. Get along well.”
“Yup!”
I got to my feet.
Well, let’s say there’s no work for now.
It was almost time for the preview screening. Once the movie was released, things would come piling in, and if things went well, I might even be able to turn the whole board over.
I can’t let Mom keep resting.
I stood up and headed out. I had to get ready for the preview screening.
As I slid off the sofa, Mom laughed and said, “Gongja, going out to play?”
“Yeah. But first I’ve got something to do.”
“What is it?”
“I’m gonna drink milk.”
“Huh?”
I ran straight toward the refrigerator. The thing I needed to do right now was to grow taller.
* * *
What’s good for an image transformation is growth.
It was different for adult actors. For them, it was all about acting range and style changes, but I was a child actor.
Well, it’s not like I’m planning to graduate from child roles.
I couldn’t even if I wanted to. I was still preschool age.
I wanted to keep the image of being kind and mild, but I absolutely wanted to shed the baby image.
Right now, I basically have the image of a baby everyone raised together.
Like a national baby or something.
I set my glass of milk down. Deok-su said, “Gongja isn’t small right now. You’re already distinctly taller than other kids your age.”
“I want to be even taller!”
“You’ll grow naturally.”
“I want to grow fast.”
Deok-su said seriously, “Why do you suddenly want to be taller?”
“Teacher. Gongja wants to play other roles too.”
It was true.
“Right now Gongja is so small that only tiny child roles come in.”
I let out a deep sigh.
“And I’m confident in my acting, too.”
To be honest, even the son roles coming in now were for children who had to act one or two years older.
I swallowed another glass of milk. Deok-su said seriously, “I understand your concern. But drinking a lot of milk doesn’t make you grow like bean sprouts.”
Normally, no.
But I’m not normal.
I shook my head hard.
“Still, I can’t just do nothing and live!”
“Haah... Fine. One more glass, just one. But you can’t drink a lot of milk and then skip meals.”
“Yes! I’m gonna run it off! I’ll go digest it!”
I gulped down the milk Deok-su handed me and ran toward the elevator. Then I pressed the button with practiced ease.
I crossed my arms and let out a long breath.
I’ve got a plan.
I said it inwardly at once.
Coin use! Tell me the price and the number of coins needed for me to grow 10 centimeters taller.
50 coins are consumed to determine the price.
To make Ma Gongja grow 10 centimeters taller within one month, 93,372 coins are required.
For two weeks, your ankles will ache while you sleep, and you will dream of riding a Viking ship.
The number of coins was manageable, but the price was a little scary.
Still, I guess I have to do it. Execute!
Pain you can endure, right? That’s all this was.
The wish has been carried out.
Ping.
The elevator stopped. I got out and shook my head.
If I suddenly grow, people will get suspicious.
If I suddenly shot up by ten centimeters one day, Mom would take me to the hospital.
So I’m drinking milk.
I needed an excuse.
It’s a little sloppy, but maybe milk really will help.
A grin crept onto my face. I loosened my arms and legs and ran out into the garden.
The preview screening is in a month.
If I showed up then, suddenly grown and standing a head taller, wouldn’t that be great?
Image transformation through growth. I like this.
Was this the privilege of being a child actor?
And if I ever feel trapped by my image, maybe changing my appearance with coins wouldn’t be a bad idea...
Though that would probably cost a lot more coins.
I caught my breath and ran across the garden. My legs felt light as air.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to it.
I grinned as I imagined the preview screening. It was about time to step out into the world.