* * *

“Soo-jung unni, the schedule is packed.”

Ma Soo-jung sighed as she sat near the makeup truck.

“Oh, Mi-jin. I’m dying here.”

Mi-jin, a manager with five years of experience and working with Ma Soo-jung for three years, smiled awkwardly, unable to find words of comfort.

“We have to seize the moment when it comes.”

“Why did things change so suddenly?”

“There’s nothing we can do.”

Mi-jin held up a magazine. It featured Ma Soo-jung’s adorable baby angel smiling.

Ma Soo-jung reached out for it.

“Kongja, my Kongja.”

“Unni, get a grip.”

“This is weird. I thought the magazine shoot would just fade away.”

Ma Soo-jung murmured as she looked at the magazine.

“Since when did the world become so warm? Why is my image suddenly so good?”

“Unni, it’s really crazy.”

These days, the President of ‘Top Line’ was ecstatic.

The advertising industry was suddenly going wild for Ma Soo-jung.

“Does this even make sense?”

She had just met Kongja by fate.

But due to the patch photos and the magazine, things had taken a very positive turn.

“Unni, you know you’re being reevaluated, right?”

Her straightforward attitude was now being noticed.

Plus, maybe because of her donations to the orphanage, her past sponsorship activities were now all over the internet.

“Why am I being reevaluated now?”

“There’s nothing we can do.”

An actress’s rising popularity wasn’t a bad thing.

The same went for commercials.

But suddenly it was cosmetics, clothes, electronics, and franchise coffee shops.

It was different now.

“Actress Ma Soo-jung is at the top right now.”

“I know, but this is killing me.”

She was an actress.

She liked being busy.

She didn’t get tired while working.

A beautiful and physically fit actress always shone, and she knew it very well.

But there was a problem.

She looked at Kongja in the magazine.

“I’m too busy to spend time with my Kongja!”

Manager Mi-jin crossed herself. It was a clear and undeniable reality.

“Sobs, Kongjaaa.”

Ma Soo-jung hugged the magazine.

Her pitiful appearance made Mi-jin wipe away non-existent tears.

Just then, her phone rang.

It was a Cocoa Talk video from Auntie An.

Ma Soo-jung played it immediately.

On the phone screen, a cute baby was smiling widely.

“Kongjaaa~!”

Ma Soo-jung covered her mouth with her hand.

Her baby angel was waving from the other side of the screen.

Then, Auntie An’s familiar voice was heard.

“Kongja, do you have something to say to Mommy?”

“Baah?”

Kongja slightly turned and then lifted his head to look at the lens.

It felt like he was making eye contact with the viewer.

“Aah!”

As an actress, Ma Soo-jung couldn’t help but know what this meant.

But her instincts overrode her rationality.

She took a deep breath.

She couldn’t resist her baby angel’s movements.

“Kongjaaa! Mommy didn’t know she’d become this busy!”

“Calm down, unni!”

“Take me to Kongja. My Kongja! Growing so fast every day, and I can’t see it?”

Mi-jin patted Soo-jung’s back.

“Kongja will understand.”

“Right. Kongja is an angel, so he’ll understand. But I can’t accept it!”

Soo-jung looked like she was about to cry. Mi-jin consoled her carefully.

“It’s temporary.”

“Right? It is, right?”

Then, the phone rang again. It was another video.
Auntie An’s voice was heard again.

“Kongja, do you have something to say to Auntie? Just say one word.”

Kongja crawled on a soft mat and spoke.

“Mama!”

The baby angel called for his mom.

Soo-jung covered her mouth again, feeling the urge to cry.

But that wasn’t all.

“Mama! Mama! Mama!”

The cute voice echoed around the outdoor shooting location.

Soo-jung couldn’t hold back any longer.

She stood up.

“Unni, where are you going?”

“Kongja called me four times. This means he wants me to come.”

“No! Unni.”

“Kongja! Mommy is, Mommy is going crazy missing you!”

Soo-jung hugged Mi-jin, looking at Kongja on the screen.

My baby angel!

Calling for Mommy like that!

“Kongja!”

“Hold on, unni!”

“I know. I do.”

She barely took a deep breath.

Lee Mi-jin spoke while looking at Ma Soo-jung’s phone screen.

“But this cuteness… it’s criminal.”

“Right? It’s lethal, isn’t it?”

“I usually don’t look at things like this, but… Kongja is different. So cute that it feels, I don’t know, almost sacred?”

Ma Soo-jung turned off the phone screen and sighed.

“Exactly. Our Kongja is a real angel. I’m being extra careful.”

“Security?”

“Not your average cuteness. I don’t think there are any crazy people who would break into our house in Seongbuk-dong.”

It was a house with CCTV cameras running wildly.

‘The only advantage is that it’s a safe neighborhood.’

Ma Soo-jung sighed again. At that moment, the director approached. It was someone she knew.

“Soo-jung, you’re doing well these days?”

“Just happened that way. But why are you here? Is there a problem with the shoot?”

Director Heo was someone who made others deliver difficult messages. He awkwardly smiled and spoke.

“Well, it’s about the baby in our shoot…”

Oh no, she could immediately tell what the concern was about.

Ma Soo-jung let out a deep sigh.

“Cries whenever it sees me, right?”

Ma Soo-jung admitted without resistance.

‘Kids don’t like me.’

She didn’t know why. Every baby she met so far would burst into tears at the sight of her.

‘Was Marie the worst?’

The moment she thought of her daughter her ex-husband was raising, it felt like a needle was stabbing her heart. Ma Soo-jung clenched her fist tightly.

Lee Mi-jin noticed and asked while looking at her hand.

“Sister?”

“Ah. It’s nothing.”

Ma Soo-jung took a deep breath.

Then she looked at the director with a slight smile.

“I don’t get along with kids. They always cry when they see me.”

“Hmm? But aren’t you quite popular with kids these days?”

“I’m always popular.”

The director adjusted his hat and spoke.

“Right. Soo-jung, you’re always popular. Still, I didn’t expect you’d be famous for adopting a child.”

“I didn’t expect to meet an angel in my life either.”

“Hahaha. That’s true. But about the child actor problem. You know what I’m worried about, right?”

Ma Soo-jung sighed.

“I know. I need to bring the baby to its mother in the movie.”

She was currently filming a zombie movie. In it, Ma Soo-jung played a warrior character.

A scene where she shoots zombies and returns a newborn to its mother.

It was a crucial scene.

‘The backstory of the characters aside, the problem is the baby cries.’

She propped her chin and pondered. But thinking didn’t bring an answer.

“So, Soo-jung… about that…”

Director Heo trailed off awkwardly with a smile.

“You know what’s hot these days.”

“Me? I told you, I’m always hot.”

“Of course, actress Ma Soo-jung is always hot. But what’s so hot is your adopted son.”

Ma Soo-jung narrowed her eyes.

“Our baby angel?”

“Yeah, that angel. You know, for the buzz and all, can’t we have your adopted son take the role?”

Ma Soo-jung stared intently at the director’s face.

‘I did adopt Kongja, but…’

Still, it was quite hurtful to hear ‘adopted son’ instead of ‘son.’

Ma Soo-jung remained silent. Director Heo knew.

When Ma Soo-jung was silent, it meant she wasn’t happy.

“Soo-jung, the baby in the role keeps crying, so there’s no other way.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“If it’s your adopted son, he won’t cry when he sees you.”

“Our angel smiles when he sees me.”

She thought of Kongja’s smile. A slight smile appeared on her face.

“Could you do it? Please.”

She sighed involuntarily.

“Though Kongja hasn’t cried so far, the filming site might be different.”

“Haha. It might be.”

“If our Kongja seems okay, I’ll do it.”

“Oh, really? Thank you. Wow. Saved. I didn’t expect the baby to cry like that.”

The director discussed a few more things about the shoot and then returned to his place.

Ma Soo-jung clenched and unclenched her fists again.

Lee Mi-jin asked gently.

“Sister, are you okay?”

“Yes. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Still, you don’t look so good.”

“Maybe it’s because I miss our Kongja so much.”

Ma Soo-jung smiled bitterly.

The image of her daughter and her beloved Kongja overlapped and then disappeared.

Perhaps that’s why. Her heart felt a little prickly.

* * *