The Press Conference That Turned Into a Comedy Show
I blinked and looked at Director Rhy-lac. He gave me a sly wink.
Damn it.
I get what you mean, but it’s gross.
Don’t do that to a kid.
The host laughed and said, “No, Director! Why would you say that all of a sudden?”
“Gongza is the pride of our The Basement. Of course, this film moved on two wings. A bird can’t fly with just one wing, can it? We had Jung Yu-jin, one of Korea’s greatest actresses, give a performance that spared neither body nor soul.”
Jung Yu-jin covered her mouth and laughed.
“With both wings flapping, The Basement will take flight!”
“No, Director. How far are you planning to fly? Ten million?”
“W-Well… hmm. All right, let’s go big! Give me ten million, and I’ll take it all the way to the Oscars!”
Jeez, the man was insane.
He’s got big ambitions.
The press room was full of laughter. Maybe it was because of Director Rhy-lac’s jokes. The mood in the hall wasn’t bad at all.
“Hahaha. This is this year’s film, The Basement, with Jung Yu-jin and Ma Gongza’s wings carrying it all the way to the Oscars. Then let me ask Jung Yu-jin a question. I heard this film was very hard on you.”
Jung Yu-jin took the microphone and smiled. “Yes. The emotional line is very deep. The mother role goes through something terribly painful, too. I had trouble staying in character for a long time, so it was a bit exhausting.”
“I see. But when you were offered the role of this mother, you were very happy, weren’t you?”
“Yes. The moment I read the script, I loved it so much I called right away. I just knew it. I knew I’d fall in love with this role.”
The reporters scribbled her words down.
“It sounds like you’re very fond of the role.”
“I am. I’m very glad I got to do it. Thank you, Director!”
At Jung Yu-jin’s playful tone, the hall burst into laughter again.
The atmosphere is seriously great.
So Jung Yu-jin was the type who enjoyed events like this.
Well, a lively atmosphere always makes time pass faster than a stiff one.
“We heard filming was difficult, but also fun.”
“Yes. The chemistry with my co-star was really good on this project.”
Jung Yu-jin reached out and patted my hair.
“Of course, that co-star is our Gongza.”
H-hey now, Jung Yu-jin.
I appreciate the praise, but still.
What is everyone doing to me?
I blinked. Jung Yu-jin winked, just like Director Rhy-lac, and said, “I was really surprised. Our Gongza acts incredibly well. I was so overwhelmed on set. You know, I’m not the type to hand out compliments very often. But I’m going to for Gongza. The air around him was completely different.”
The host said, “Oh my, really that good?”
“Oh, you have no idea how easy this project was for me because of Gongza. Curious, are you?”
The reporters answered, “Yes!”
“If you want to see just how well Gongza acts, please watch The Basement, which is opening soon!”
Laughter rippled through the room again.
Wow. Perfect synergy. Both of them were incredible.
I should learn from them.
With the mood very different from an ordinary production briefing, the host shook his head and laughed. “Goodness. You two are so good at talking I’ve got nothing to do. Jung Yu-jin, you’d make a great host yourself.”
“If acting ever leaves me starving, I’ll seriously consider it.”
“Ah, you’re too sharp. As if that would ever happen. All right, then let’s ask our much-loved Gongza a question.”
I took the microphone. The host looked at me and smiled brightly.
“Gongza, I’ll be shameless and say it up front. I adore you so much!”
My goodness.
It was a sudden confession, but if it was like this, it was always welcome.
I grinned and said, “Thank you!”
“It’s been so long. You have no idea how much I missed you.”
Me too.
I’m not the one who missed you, though. It was the public, really. I missed them.
You don’t realize how precious something is until you lose it. I had missed this so much.
That damn accounting fraud.
Why did they have to do that? Damn it.
The host read the question right away. “It’s your first lead role. Wasn’t this part hard?”
Normally, saying yes would be the standard answer.
But then it wouldn’t be fun, would it? Of course, I still had to show some humility.
I smiled brightly. “Not at all! It was so fun, and I really enjoyed it.”
“Oh! Weren’t the son scenes difficult?”
I shook my head. “Not difficult at all. My son and I had a lot in common.”
I looked at Jung Yu-jin and said, “I always want to protect my mama, too.”
For a moment, Jung Yu-jin covered her mouth and laughed.
I looked at the reporters and smiled wide. “Filming was really fun, too. I was honored to work with such respected actors.”
It was far too mature a thing for a child to say. But thanks to that, the hall filled with laughter once more.
Well, I was aiming for that anyway.
The host laughed and said, “No, Gongza. How did you get so grown-up? Oh my, how adorable.”
Jung Yu-jin patted my head again. I smiled bashfully and kicked my legs a little, unable to reach the floor.
“Such a loving mother and son. Gongza, is there anything else you’d like to say to the reporters?”
“Yes!”
Of course there is. Thank you for asking, host.
I bowed my head politely. “We filmed hard with the help of so many people. Please look forward to The Basement!”
Laughter broke out again. The reporters snickered and wrote something down. I slowly lifted my head as I heard the click of camera shutters.
If a kid is making such a difficult request in such a polite way, and you still write a garbage article, then you’re barely human, got it, reporters?
If you can, please write something nice. Seriously.
The host covered his mouth and laughed. “What a cute request. Let me ask the Director again. You said you wanted to go to Cannes—if that happens, do you plan to make a sequel?”
Director Rhy-lac answered with easy confidence. “Of course I do. But if there’s a sequel, our Gongza will have to grow up first…”
The director looked at me and blinked.
“Hmm, if I were to make one, I’d probably have to make the son’s profession an entertainer. As you can see, he’s just too pretty.”
“That’s right. Gongza is pretty. It’d be a little hard for a kid like that to be an ordinary person. People around him wouldn’t leave him alone.”
“Exactly. That made filming hard.”
Huh? What’s this now?
An unexpected twist?
Hard? Not easy, but hard?
Hard how?
I searched my memory, but nothing came to mind. Director Rhy-lac said seriously, “Whatever we filmed, he looked heartbreakingly fragile. Like a single blossom. If a Gongza like that so much as stumbled, it made my chest ache, so we cut a lot of the crueler scenes.”
So that’s why the scenes were changed.
“I heard you even changed the ending because of Gongza?”
“Yes. The original ending was merciless. But after Gongza was cast as the son, I changed the direction. Toward something hopeful.”
Director Rhy-lac grinned at me. “Just looking at Gongza’s face and the way he carries himself makes you feel hope that wasn’t there before, doesn’t it?”
The reporters laughed again. Honestly, this production briefing hadn’t stopped laughing once.
“If you want to feel Gongza’s fragile hope for yourself, please watch The Basement, coming soon. Opening soon! Coming soon!”
Wow. He said it again.
“Ahahaha! Really, today’s production briefing is so much fun. I haven’t had a chance to stop laughing.”
“Oh, come now.”
“Honestly, Director, you’d make a great comedian too.”
“If directing ever becomes impossible for me, I’ll consider it.”
“Ahahahaha!”
Wow, seriously.
This is going to become a rumor after today.
That Director Rhy-lac and Jung Yu-jin are hilarious.
“Ow, my stomach. You’re all too funny, but I’ll keep going. We’ll take a few more questions. Yes, you there with your hand up?”
The microphone was passed over. A man in a blue shirt asked, “Hello. I’m reporter Yoo Ji-moon from Cine31. I have a question for Director Rhy-lac. Your previous work and The Basement have very different tones. I’d like to know why you chose this subject matter in particular.”
“It is very different from my last film, yes. I just wanted to challenge myself. This is a dream far in the future, but I want to create my own genre. Ah, doesn’t that sound nice? The genre name: Rhy-lac.”
Laughter rose again.
“I chose this subject because it was fate. But it’s definitely not the kind of material that’s easy to invest in. So I…”
The director pressed at the corners of his eyes and pretended to cry for no reason.
“I begged a lot of people. That is all.”
The host jumped in immediately. “No, Director. You begged? Who did you beg? You have to answer the question.”
“I’m having trouble answering because my heart hurts. That is all.”
“You can’t do that. Right? Everyone agrees, don’t they?”
The reporters murmured in agreement. Director Rhy-lac kept pretending to cry.
“Do you absolutely need an answer?”
“Yes, Director. Everyone is curious.”
The director lowered his hands and said seriously, “I knelt and begged my wife, whom I respect and love. I asked her to invest.”
At that, explosive laughter shook the hall.
Oh, dear.
We all knew that already, but hearing it said here makes it so much funnier.
And the way he laid the groundwork and then brought it back around was no joke.
Director Rhy-lac really could be a comedian.
I should learn from him. If I’m ever in a hopeless situation, maybe I should try something like that too.
Though I really hope I never end up in a situation like that at all.
Amid the laughter, Director Rhy-lac rose from his seat. Then he bowed his head deeply and lifted it again.
“If this flops, my house is going to be destroyed. Please save me, reporters.”
A second wave of roaring laughter hit the room. The host took the microphone away and doubled over on the table, clutching his stomach. Beside him, Jung Yu-jin was covering her mouth and trembling.
Reporters and cast alike, everyone was the same.
At the end of the day, he went all the way with laughter.
I heard the flash of cameras. The director sat back down, but the atmosphere still hadn’t recovered.
The host lifted his head from that scene of total chaos. “Ow, my stomach. Oh, Director, that was too much. All right, let’s take one more question. Ah, you there, with your hand up—reporter with the bob cut?”
Even while everyone else was laughing, she was expressionless. Maybe that was why she stood out so much.
Is it just me, or does this feel a little ominous?
The reporter took the microphone and turned toward me.
Hmm. Am I the one she’s asking?
Do they usually ask the child actor one too?
I mean, they can. But still.
She’s not going to ask something weird, is she?
Surely not.
The reporter spoke clearly toward me. “I’m Giga Jin, reporter for Sports Light. I’d like to ask Gongza a question. I understand that both Ma Soo-jung and Gongza have been lying low because of the Sungjin Group accounting fraud case. What have you been doing during that time?”
Why is it that bad premonitions are never wrong?
This is a provocation, isn’t it?
Wow. I didn’t think they’d come after me too.
I underestimated reporters.
Because of clueless people like that, decent reporters end up getting lumped in as trash journalists.
I smiled sweetly.