* * *

“You didn’t cast him knowing this?”

“I had no expectations. I saw him at a first birthday party and thought, maybe. Honestly, it was for publicity….”

I sighed deeply.

“I’m reflecting now. I didn’t know this kid’s potential.”

“I even prepared myself. So, this fragrant little kid is also good at acting?”

Yoon Jeonghyeon laughed and hugged me.

“Kongja. If you have nowhere to go, come to my house.”

Oh, teacher.

“I’ll raise you.”

Laughter erupted around us. I shook my head.

“No!”

“Why not?”

“Kongja is Mama’s son!”

I will live filial piety.

“Oh my!”

“How cute!”

“They say he’s very close to Ma Soo-jung. Looks like it’s true.”

The teacher laughed and hugged me tightly again.

“Oh, I need to stay close to Soo-jung to see Kongja.”

“Indeed. By the way, does Soo-jung know? That Kongja is a genius actor?”

She probably doesn’t know yet. But she will now.

‘A genius.’

That’s quite a generous compliment.

If I want to keep hearing this, I’ll have to give it my all.

“Well, it does feel nice to hear.”

Please, keep the praise coming.

“He even smells nice. It’s familiar, but what exactly is it? Is it the scent of heaven? It’s making me sleepy. How can even his smell be as cute as he is?”

If it’s a scent as cute as I am, that’s amazing. But it’s not such a rare scent.

At that moment, Yoon Jeonghyeon’s manager rushed in.

“Madam, I figured it out!”

What? What did you figure out?

The manager seemed flustered as if he had been running.

“It’s the scent of a baby! I kept thinking it smelled familiar!”

“Oh, really? What scent is it? Heavenly flowers?”

“Pardon?”

The manager blinked and held out a purple container.

“Air freshener?”

But it was true. It was clearly labeled in a tacky font: Lavender Scent.

Yoon Jeonghyeon Jeonghyeon looked back and forth between the air freshener and me.

“Ah, I see. It does smell similar. It’s more ordinary than I thought. I thought it was the scent of heaven. So, Seung-kyung, where did you get that?”

“F-from the bathroom.”

Oh no.

The staff quietly turned their heads.

I clenched my fist to suppress my laughter.

Yoon Jeonghyeon spoke with a sigh.

“So, it wasn’t the scent of heaven.”

No, sir.

“It smells like bathroom air freshener.”

Grr. Huff. Pfft.

Everyone tried to stifle their giggles.

Honestly, I wanted to laugh too.

Yoon Jeonghyeon rubbed his forehead and said,

“Well, when you urgently need to go, even the bathroom can feel like heaven.”

Ah, teacher.

Eventually, loud laughter erupted around us.

-Hahaha
-Hehehe
-Hah!

In the wave of laughter, I tried desperately to hold it in.

Honestly, it was harder than the crying scene I had done earlier.

Just then, Mr. Deok-soo picked me up and said,

“The next scene is in a few hours, right?”

“Haha. Yes? Haha.”

“It’s nap time for the little one. I’ll put him to sleep in the car and be back.”

“Okay. Haha.”

Mr. Deok-soo carried me away from the scene of laughter.

I waved at Yoon Jeonghyeon Jeonghyeon as I left.

Maybe because I held in my laughter too much, I felt strangely sentimental.

***

The child role in “When the Wind Touches” wasn’t very significant.

“That means there isn’t much filming time.”

Perhaps that’s why the next scene was the last one already.

“The next scene is just looking at the sea, right?”

And it wasn’t even by myself but with the main character’s family.

“So, my scenes are practically over.”

I felt quite disappointed.

As I stood up, Mr. Deok-soo said,

“Don’t go too far.”

“Yes!”

Well, he always kept an eye on me anyway.

“Kids this age tend to get into trouble easily.”

While I was looking around, the set suddenly became noisy.

“What’s going on?”

The staff were gathering in one place.

I quickly figured out why.

“Huh?”

Why is that person here?

“Isn’t he not in this scene?”

Han Woo-jin walked in with his long legs.

After greeting the staff, he quickly came over to me when he saw me.

“Hey, little one! It’s been a while! You’ve grown!”

“Hello!”

“You remember me, right? It’s Woo-jin hyung!”

Oh, Mr. Han Woo-jin.

‘You’re almost 40, yet you still call yourself ‘hyung.’ That’s quite something.’

If I said no, he might get hurt, right?

I smiled brightly and said,

“Yes! Woo-jin hyung!”

“Oh, so cute.”

Han Woo-jin picked me up and spoke to his manager.

“See? He looks like me, doesn’t he?”

Excuse me?

“Haha, you do look similar.”

“Right? I thought I’d see you often since we’re in the same movie!”

As if that would happen.

‘I’m the child version of the main character. Overlapping scenes would be weird.’

Whether he knew my thoughts or not, Han Woo-jin carried me around.

“Did you miss me?”

No.

“Yes!”

“I missed you too. Ever since we parted, I kept thinking of you.”

Oh, dear.

“I told Ms. Soo-jung I missed you, and she almost killed me.”

Mom?

‘She probably had a good reason.’

I trusted my mom.

‘He must have said something to provoke that kind of response.’

Han Woo-jin proudly showed me off to his manager.

“Look, he doesn’t cry, right? He likes me.”

No, I don’t.

“Indeed.”

Then Yoon Jeonghyeon came over and said,

“The kid isn’t shy around anyone. He’s just like that.”

Han Woo-jin immediately bowed.

“Hello, sir!”

“Yes. Woo-jin, you…”

Yoon Jeonghyeon looked Han Woo-jin up and down.

“Even you can’t escape aging, huh?”

“Sir!”

“We all succumb to time. I miss when you first debuted.”

Han Woo-jin straightened his shoulders and said,

“I’m still handsome, though.”

“Sure, sure.”

“I’m serious. But madam, don’t you think the kid looks like me?”

Yoon Jeonghyeon squinted and said,

“Yeah, right.”

“A lot of people say that!”

“Have some conscience. Who says that?”

“Netizens.”

“Your fan cafe?”

“Not the fan cafe, but yes, my fans.”

Yoon Jeonghyeon shook her head.

“They’ll only say nice things there.”

“You’re too harsh, madam.”

“Don’t hold the kid too long. He might get dizzy.”

Han Woo-jin shook his head.

“No way. I took this role hoping I’d see him often. I can’t let him go.”

“What? You took this role for that?”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you well-paid?”

Han Woo-jin grinned.

“I took a pay cut. By the way, I’m a busy man.”

“How much?”

“I just asked for travel and meal expenses. Well, the script was really good too.”

Wow.

“That’s quite a decision.”

Even Yoon Jeonghyeon seemed surprised and blinked.

“Impressive.”

“Right? I’m an actor who loves movies this much.”

“A bit suspicious, though?”

Han Woojin shrugged.

“You caught me. I can never fool you, Madam Yoon.”

“What’s the catch?”

“Hehehe. I’m not usually one to reveal things so easily, but I’ll tell you just this once.”

Han Woojin whispered softly.

“It’s our little secret, Madam Yoon.”

“Spit it out, I’m curious.”

“Well, you see, I wanted to make a lasting mark.”

Yoon Jeonghyeon squinted.

“As Kongja’s Father.”

“What?”

“I thought now was the time to establish it. Ah, teacher, please don’t hit my back!”

* * *