Seven Years Old
“Why won’t you buy me Duel King cards!”
“No. I already bought you some last time.”
“Aaaaaah. Whyyy are you doing this just for my sake? Huh? Why are you doing this just for my sakeee?”
“...Where did this kid pick up another weird video? What even is that way of talking.”
I flailed my arms and legs with everything I had, but Mom didn’t budge an inch.
I just need one Bone Dragon!!
I had dragged out Children’s Day, my birthday, and every other vaguely commemorative occasion I could think of, but in the end I still hadn’t managed to get my hands on that card.
That thing looks seriously expensive. If I let it sit for ten years, it might change the square footage of our house.
But that did nothing at all to sway Mom.
If my seven-year-old daughter came to me saying, “If I keep this doll sealed away, it’ll be worth a hundred times more!” I’d probably snort too.
She’d think I was making it up because I wanted it, right?
So I’d thrown dignity to the wind and honestly begged her because I wanted it.
At first, especially when Dad was the one happily buying them for me...
“Lee Chaewon. Are you going to spend every waking moment with cards? We already have more than enough piled up at home. Card purchases are banned as of today.”
“Whaaaat?! What do you mean by that...! How could you do this to me, my lord Mario!”
“...Do you want your television privileges taken away too? I told you not to talk like a period-drama character when we’re having a serious conversation.”
“Yes, Mom. But cards... please? Hee.”
I’d even tried my secret trump card, opening and closing both hands in a little begging motion, but Mom remained firm.
“Absolutely not. Just look at the mountain of cards already sitting over there. It’s an addiction, that’s what it is. And don’t think you can sneakily coax Dad either. I confiscated all his allowance.”
“T-this is impossible! What have you done to Father, in the name of heaven!”
“Shh—”
“Aaaah, don’t take the remote! Aaaah, I’m sorry.”
For my entire kindergarten life, I had diligently proselytized the gospel of card games.
To the teachers and parents, I sold it by saying, “It makes children learn numbers naturally.”
The kids came over easily enough on the strength of duels and collecting alone.
Of course, the Duel King of this whole playground was me, and thanks to Dad’s full support, I also had the largest and most varied card collection.
But last night, the storage boxes piled high in the corner had finally been discovered by Mom.
And Dad, who had been the one supplying cards on a regular basis, was brutally slaughtered in the master bedroom.
The new box that had just arrived at the stationery shop featured the main model, the Bone Dragon, and nobody at our kindergarten had pulled one yet.
I wanted to be the first one to get it!!
With my reliable ally Dad cut off, what was I supposed to do now?
Was I really going to have to watch Siyeon open packs and just cling to her side like some hanger-on?
Damn it. How pathetic would the other kindergarten kids think I am!
I was Duel King, for heaven’s sake!
It was a moment when I once again felt, deep in my bones, the majesty of money.
...Mom will never give me a single cut if I make money by selling cards later.
I could only exchange wistful looks with Dad.
And then, unable to do anything at all, I headed to kindergarten the next day in a gloomy mood.
“Hiiiii.”
“Chaewon’s heeere!”
“Don’t you ever sleep? How are you always the first one here?”
After exchanging a quick greeting with Kim Siyeon, I shuffled over to my designated seat by the window.
“Chaewon, what are you doing?”
“...Photosynthesis.”
“You’re using big words again. Wanna play with me?”
“What are we doing.”
“Ta-da! I bought this new picture book. Duel King character collection! Let’s do coloring.”
Does this girl never get tired of it? How does she like drawing so much?
She was already trying to get us into a game first thing in the morning, so I was about to refuse.
“It’s childish. I don’t like it.”
“Hm? You say that, but you’re the one who works the hardest at it.”
“Ghk. T-that’s just without me noticing... not by my own will.”
“And the magical girl character from Duel King that Chaewon likes is in here too.”
“...I don’t like her or anything.”
“Then why do you only ever take her out so carefully, so she won’t wear out?”
“......”
It was a misunderstanding.
I just kept that card especially well because it looked the rarest.
It really was.
Everyone said it wasn’t a good card, but to me the pink looked faint and classy.
And the outfit she was wearing was all fluttery, so it looked like it’d be nice for cosplay too.
It’s pretty. She’s definitely the most expensive one.
It absolutely wasn’t a personal preference. It was just that something about it had clicked, that was all. Really.
“That’s called taste. You know what an investment is, right? The reason I treasure this magical girl is because, through cold, rational judgment, its future value—”
“Your tongue is long.”
“What?! Where did you learn such bad words!”
“Chaewon.”
“Ugh.”
Anyway, there was no way I liked that kind of blingy stuff.
It wasn’t the character, it was just that the card itself was so beautifully made, okay?
Right! The characters in the picture book might even be underwhelming!
...So. I’m not really interested, but maybe I should just take a look?
“...Let me see the picture book.”
“Heehee, I knew it. Here, colored pencils too!”
“...”
I took them, but for some reason it felt like she hadn’t even considered the possibility that I’d refuse, and that made my feelings oddly complicated.
“Well... I don’t have anything else to do.”
Coloring itself couldn’t possibly be unfun.
Right? Time passed nicely, too. Yeah, yeah.
We spread the picture book out on the floor and lay down side by side, each absorbed in our own work.
Huh? This isn’t the right pink. Is there a lighter one somewhere? I should probably layer it on.
“Wow, Chaewon’s really good. Should I mix a bunch of colors too?”
“Ahem. It’s nothing. You try it too.”
This much is easy.
I rubbed the tip of my nose smugly.
Just as I was about to turn to the next page.
“Hah! What is this! A game for girls!”
Ha Jinsoo suddenly appeared and barged in noisily.
It is mostly the kind of game girls play.
I more or less agreed, so I wasn’t all that irritated at first.
“Why do something so boring?”
...No, wasn’t it fun?
It went beyond simple coloring; decorating the finished picture was part of the charm too.
You didn’t have to run around sweating.
You could do it elegantly, lying down, too.
Honestly.
Just how fun did he think he was being?
The more I think about it, the more annoying he gets.
I rose slowly to my feet.
“You’re itching to get hit again, aren’t you?”
Ha Jinsoo flinched.
At our age, there wasn’t really much of this boys-are-stronger-than-girls business.
The teachers probably didn’t know, but I’d been smacking him down regularly and without drawing attention to it.
Maybe because he plays with Siyeon a lot? He keeps hovering around us in an irritating way.
Usually, if I put on a little intimidation like this, they’d start crawling on their belly right away.
“A-a true man doesn’t do childish stuff like that!”
For some reason, though, Ha Jinsoo barked back.
Is this punk acting tough because Siyeon’s here watching?
Fine. I was already annoyed today, and he had gone and gotten himself caught.
I’d beat him half to death.
Unfortunately for him, his bravado didn’t last long.
He ran for his life at once.
Only after he’d escaped quite a distance did he whip around and shout back.
“You violent thug! And I’m an actor now, so you can’t just treat me however you want! You just wait until I get famous!”
He sure had a lot to say for someone fleeing in such an undignified way.
“What’s his problem?”
“Ah, Jinsoo’s doing child acting, apparently? He’s been bragging about being an actor since yesterday...”
“...Isn’t that only for good-looking kids?”
“N-no, not every actor in the world has to be cool...”
Siyeon’s brutally honest remark left me sinking into thought, blank and still.
Child actor?
Come to think of it, his mom had apparently recommended something like that to my mom before...
She had asked whether I was interested, and I’d turned it down flat.
For one thing, I genuinely wasn’t interested, and for another, if my hazy memories of my previous life were anything to go by, being a public face was a double-edged sword.
The more attention you got, the more hate came pouring down on you too.
A quiet rich person is better than a noisy celebrity.
And there was no guarantee I’d even do well at it in the first place.
“....”
...So normally, I wouldn’t have had the slightest interest.
But if that guy’s doing it, how much do they pay?
Now that Duel King card supply had been cut off, I desperately needed money.
Of course, even if I worked, Mom would probably be the one managing it, but at least then I’d have a proper excuse to demand my share openly.
“Ahhh— ah—”
Voice condition: okay.
I’d noticed before that it was clear and soft, and even my own voice sounded pleasant to hear.
Even if I studied my face in the bathroom mirror from every angle, it was undeniably pretty.
I didn’t exactly go around announcing such an absurdly subjective evaluation out loud, but at least to me that was how it looked.
And the final push, the one that really shoved me forward, was of course this:
If he can do it, why can’t I.
I should ask Mom.
I’m going ssalmeok on ad money.
The moment I made up my mind, I jumped to my feet.
“Boss, wanna play cards?”
“It’s Duel, you little brat. Duel.”
“Fine, wanna play Duwel?”
“Nope. Your boss is going to make some money.”
“...Huh?”
Leaving the would-be duelist who had approached me behind, I headed straight for the phone in the principal’s office.
“You only did this because I said you couldn’t buy cards yesterday.”
[Ah, that’s not it. I, I just want to help support the household, sort of. It’s better if all three of us are earning money instead of just Mom and Dad....]
“This kid’s talking like Mom and Dad are about to get arrested. Hang up. We’ll talk when you get home.”
[Yesss.]
Park Eunjeong laughed quietly as she put the phone down.
My daughter. Could she be a genius...?
She could tell her husband better than anyone where that slyness came from.
“Hmm.”
Can anybody just do advertising like that?
Everyone who saw Lee Chaewon agreed she was delicate and pretty, showering her with praise.
And although Park Eunjeong was proud to say that in her eyes too, there was no child lovelier than her own daughter...
Child actors, commercials. Those are different, aren’t they?
For a family that had lived an entirely ordinary life, it was an impossibly distant and unfamiliar world.
After work, Park Eunjeong took her daughter home and held a simple three-way conference.
She knew Chaewon had ulterior motives, but since the girl herself said she wanted to do it, she decided to indulge her this once.
“All right, then Mom will make a call.”
It’s not like you can just decide you want to do something and then do it.
Isn’t that ri—
“Oh my, how could a child be this pure??”
Not...
“My goodness, just look at those tiny little features. And the way she speaks so neatly too.”
Ah...?
“Peekaboo! Chaewon, look this way and smile once, will you? Ohhh, she’s adorable.”
What had been meant as a quick visit to the agency address they’d gotten last time...
“Ma’am! Among the faces I’ve seen lately, Chaewon is by far the best. And her ability to follow directions and deliver exactly what’s asked of her is just fantastic.”
“R-really?”
“Yes!!! If you’ll just leave her with me!! I’ll personally make sure to bring back a really good offer!”
......
What.
That was easy.
Mother and daughter blinked in unison, side by side.