Chapter 211: Miso and Gong-Ju

"Wait, wait a minute, Miso. I will check it out right now," I replied.

Miso clasped her hands tightly and made an excited expression. "Okay~!"

I met Miso's gaze and started a call with someone who could meet Miso's expectations.

-What is it, Team Lead Jung? Don't tell me you're gonna ask for a higher appearance fee again? You know a verbal agreement is still binding, right?

PD Yoo Hyun-Ji of

Master of Mukbang

was flustered at the thought of having to raise Haru's appearance fee again.

"Oh, no, it's not that. I'm calling because there's a good actor I want to recommend for a minor role," I explained.

In

Master of Mukbang

, there was an episode where the main character would share the food he cooked with a neighborhood kid living alone with his grandmother.

I was thinking of recommending Miso for that episode.

-Really? Who is it?

"She's a child actress normally worth 1 million won for an appearance fee..."

-Wait, no way. Are you talking about Miso?

"I am."

At the same time, a cheerful voice came from the other end of the phone.

-I knew it. You want her for the kid role in episodes three and four, right?

"Yes."

I seized the moment and switched to the speakerphone. "Miso, say hello to Ms. Yoo. She's the PD of the show you might star in."

Miso quickly followed my words and greeted her. "Hello, I'm Jung Miso from the Sun class at Lila Kindergarten!"

Upon Miso's introduction, the cheerful voice of Yoo Hyun-Ji came through.

-Hello, Miso. So, Miso. I heard you want to be on my show?

"Yes, Ms. Yoo!" Miso exclaimed excitedly.

Hearing the excited voice of Yoo Hyun-Ji, I turned off the speakerphone and spoke as if I were holding her daughter hostage.

"So? How much are you willing to pay, Ms. Yoo?"

-30 thousand won per episode! I can't do more.

"

Oh~

come on, I know you can spend a bit more. You can't lowball a kid worth 1 million won per episode..."

-

Ah

, it's never easy with you. Alright, 50 thousand won! If you ask for more, consider it off!

"Thank you so much, Ms. Yoo!" I said in a cheerful tone.

Lee Tae-Poong and Cherry Blossom were given cameo roles that just required them to show their faces and disappear without getting paid.

But things were different for Miso. She had to appear in about two episodes, so this negotiation was necessary. Though the amount was a bit disappointing, it was a reasonable deal considering the drama production costs.

"Then I'll see you soon."

-Alright. And next time, text me the amount before we negotiate! My heart sinks every time you call, Team Lead Jung.

Yoo Hyun-Ji joked that negotiating appearance fees with me was tough and hung up the phone.

"Yes, Ms. Yoo. I will definitely do that."

After hanging up the call with Yoo Hyun-Ji, Miso started dancing with both her hands high and gave me a double thumbs up.

"Uncle Yoon-Ho is the best! The best!" Miso exclaimed happily.

Thanks to the successful negotiation, I was able to taste the seafood pancake Miso fed me herself.

'

Miso definitely knows how to give a proper reward,

' I thought to myself with a smile on my face.

***

We were currently at the Gyeonggi-do Yangpyeong filming site.

Miso was scheduled to come to the set a few more times, but today marked the end of filming for child actors like Jin Gong-Ju.

Worried that Jin So-Mi might show up, I cleared all my schedules and visited the site.

'

Where is Sang-Bong?

' I looked around and wondered.

I looked for Jung Sang-Bong during a brief pause in filming. Upon hearing that Jung Sang-Bong was in the open space behind the set, I went there to find him and saw the parents of the child actors gathered together with him, closely watching their children.

Although the child actors' moms frequently spoke to Jung Sang-Bong, he responded perfunctorily and never took his eyes off Miso.

I greeted the parents of the child actors and then discreetly called Jung Sang-Bong aside. "How's everything on set? Nothing happened to Miso, right?"

"Yes, everything's fine," Jung Sang-Bong replied.

"What about Jin So-Mi?"

"Ms. Jin So-Mi didn’t come at all. She sent an assistant instead."

"Is that so? That's a relief."

Relieved, I turned my head toward Miso and asked, "Wait. What's that?"

"Oh, that?"

An absurd scene unfolded before my eyes.

***

"Really? You don’t know how to play gonggi[1]?" Miso asked with surprise.

Miso found it hard to believe that no one knew how to play gonggi, the world's most fun game to her.

Lee Song-Ah, playing child actor 1, shook her head. "Air~?[2] How do you play with air?"

Lee Jin-Sang, child actor 2, spoke as if it were obvious. "It's a game. My mom used to play it when she was young, you dummy!"

Lee Song-Ah bristled. "

Ugh.

Don't call me a dummy, you fool!"

"What? A, a fool? You're the dummy here!"

As Lee Song-Ah and Lee Jin-Sang bickered and exchanged harsh words, the startled Miso cried out, "Guys, don't fight, okay? I'll teach you how to play."

Both Lee Song-Ah and Lee Jin-Sang turned their heads quickly at Miso's intervention.

"This isn't over. I'm only holding back because of Miso."

"

Hmph!

Like anyone asked you to!"

Lee Song-Ah and Lee Jin-Sang bickered like siblings who didn't get along.

Watching them fight, child actor 3, Kang Chul-Woong, and child actor 4, Jang Myung-Hee, clamped their mouths shut as it seemed pointless to interject.

As the attention turned to her, Miso pulled out five different colored gonggi stones from her pocket.

That's when Jin Gong-Ju, who was standing by, muttered a complaint. "Why would you play gonggi? Playing Pico-Pico on a phone is more fun..."

Miso smiled. "This is more fun than that!"

Miso didn’t like playing games on the phone. She preferred reading books with her mom and playing acting games all day.

"But Gong-Ju, you don’t know how to play gonggi either?" Miso asked.

Jin Gong-Ju hesitated. "I... don't know it either."

"Really? It's really fun. Let's play together," suggested Miso.

Jin Gong-Ju was slowly getting along better with Miso after losing the audition, especially since her mom who constantly nagged her never to lose to a rival had stopped bringing up Miso.

Jin Gong-Ju was secretly getting friendlier with Miso since only the helper lady visited the set with her, not her mom. However, there was still some awkwardness due to past issues.

Jin Gong-Ju hesitated for a moment before speaking. "

Ah,

alright. Let's see you do it."

"Okay!"

At that moment, Miso began grabbing gonggi stones laid on the ground with fast hand movements.

"Just do it like this!" Miso explained.

As Miso displayed her impressive hand skills like a card shark, the child actors were spellbound.

"Wow... Miso, your hands are so fast."

"What just went by?"

Even Jin Gong-Ju blinked her eyes. "Miso, show us again!"

Miso's hands were quicker than the eye. She demonstrated again to the awestruck child actors how to play gonggi.

Seeing the child actors mesmerized, Miso wore a proud expression. That's when Jin Gong-Ju's competitive spirit was triggered.

"Can I try too?" Jin Gong-Ju asked.

Miso nodded her head. "Of course! Let's all take turns. You win if you win 20 years."

Jin Gong-Ju was puzzled. "20 years?"

"Yes! If you catch one stone, it's considered 1 year," Miso explained.

Because no one knew how to play gonggi, Miso began to give a lecture to the child actors including Jin Gong-Ju.

Thanks to this, all eyes were on Miso once again.

***

"What are they doing?" I asked in a dumbfounded voice.

"Miso has been teaching them traditional games since this morning. Earlier, they were even playing with stones," Jung Sang-Bong answered.

Miso usually spent time watching dramas or playing old games with Jung In-Ji when she came back from kindergarten. Despite having a phone, she preferred playing with the landlord or engaging in acting and drawing more than playing games on her phone.

The game Miso was teaching the children now was a new world to them as they had only played with their phones.

Filming sets with child actors often faced challenges because the kids did not follow instructions well. But thanks to Miso, both the production team and the accompanying guardians were smiling pleasantly to watch children mesmerized by Miso's hand movements.

"Miso is quite popular."

"Yes. The mothers were wary of her at first, but now they're taking photos and even asking for autographs. They said they might become fans."

I had a feeling that Miso might become more popular than her mother as she grew up.

That's when Cha Soo-Yeon spotted me from afar and approached me saying, "Team Lead Jung, here you were."

"Hi, Ms. Cha," I greeted her.

Cha Soo-Yeon started praising Miso's acting after sharing greetings. However, the conversation soon shifted to a different topic.

"How is Mrs. Jin doing?" Cha Soo-Yeon asked.

"She's doing good," I replied.

Cha Soo-Yeon hesitated for a second before asking, "I was wondering...could she possibly appear for some promotions?"

Cha Soo-Yeon had been on the side of promoting Manshin Wol-Ah from the start to boost the drama's ratings. However, that could overshadow the main characters. Strong characters needed to appear sporadically to be effective. Otherwise, the primary focus could become inverted.

"I'm sorry. But I can't arrange her schedule as I wish," I replied.

"

Ah

. What to do...Our competitor Writer Hong seems to be going hard this time... They've budgeted 20 billion won and President Han Se-Hwa has cast great actors."

Cha Soo-Yeon mentioned our competing production,

Festival of Money.

But nothing had been decided yet about our competition other than Jiang Wei investing 20 billion won.

"Have the new casting results come out?" I asked.

Cha Soo-Yeon shook her head. "Not yet. I've heard rumors but nothing's been confirmed yet."

I tried to reassure her. "Don't worry too much. No matter who comes, our actors are formidable."

"It's not that...I just want to push ahead," Cha Soo-Yeon explained.

I nodded. "I understand. I'll ask her but don't get your hopes up. She's not an actor under our management."

"I appreciate it," said Cha Soo-Yeon with a smile.

At that moment, Kim Sung-Woon announced the resumption of filming. "Everyone, let's get started! The production team needs to spread out and gather the child actors."

As preparations for filming wrapped up, the production team busily started gathering the children who had been playing with Miso.

Cha Soo-Yeon sighed as she watched the bustling staff.

"We just don't have the time to talk, huh? Oh, and thanks to Miso, filming the child actors was much easier. Thank you so much."

Miso had been the center of attention among the children, making their scenes easier to shoot.

"Don't mention it."

"See you later then."

As Cha Soo-Yeon went off to talk to Kim Sung-Woon, the last scene for the child actors was being set up.

***

The last scene for the child actors was young Cheongmyung following her mother, Manshin Wol-Ah, into the mountains, signaling their separation.

As Cheongmyung said goodbye to her friends, she performed a forbidden act—revealing the future of the children.

Kim Sung-Woon looked around the surroundings with a nervous expression and asked, "Okay, scene 17. Parting is another beginning scene. Are you ready?"

"Yes, Mr. Kim."

"Everyone, please keep quiet until I give the signal."

"Okay!"

Kim Sung-Woon checked the readiness of the child actors gathered around the sacred tree. Being young actors, it was necessary to double-check with them even if they were ready to act.

"Miso, are you ready?" Kim Sung-Woon asked.

In front of the sacred tree, Miso, Jin Gong-Ju, and two other child actors were gathered in a circle around her.

Miso nodded and responded to Kim Sung-Woon's question. "Yes!"

Kim Sung-Woon then shouted to the other child actors. "Are you guys ready?"

"Yes~!"

"Okay then. Here we go~ Ready~ Action!"

At Kim Sung-Woon's cue, Miso dressed in colorful traditional clothes quickly began to tear up. Tears continuously streamed down from Miso’s large eyes with ease.

Miso, who always showed an impressively quick immersion into her roles, approached one of the child actors and firmly took their hand.

『Yeon-Ji, don't go near the water this year.』

『Why?』

『Your life thread will be cut.』

『Huh? What's a life thread? More than that, can we go to the mountain? I bought another stuffy because I wanted to play with you.』

『

Sob

. I'm sorry.』

Miso's acting started to make the other children sniffle as if her emotions were contagious.

‘

Wow. Miso's acting is no joke...

’ I thought to myself.

The staff were taken aback by the unexpected intensity of Miso's act, but Kim Sung-Woon raised his hand to prevent any disturbance.

With tears streaming down her face, Miso pulled her peers into the world of

In the Name of God

.

But there was one exception—Jin Gong-Ju, trying hard not to get absorbed into Miso's performance, spoke to her.

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

『Cheongmyung, what about me?』

Jin Gong-Ju was portraying the role of young Yang Eun-So.

Yang Eun-So, a supporting character in the drama, was set to be Cheongmyung’s adversary and would encounter her again as an enemy in adulthood.

Miso turned her tear-filled eyes toward Jin Gong-Ju and started to stammer.

『Uh, uh... that, that’s...』

Since Yang Eun-So's character was involved in a murder in the plot, fear began to creep into Miso’s eyes. Miso’s words trembled and her expression showed she was unsure how to respond.

Soon, Miso's face started to turn pale.

I involuntarily swallowed hard without realizing it upon watching Miso's pale lips and trembling body clearly showing expressions of terror.

It was a moment intense enough to make one consider whether to intervene.

At that moment, Jin Gong-Ju sharply glared at Miso and began to speak.

1. Gonggi is a popular Korean children's game that is traditionally played using five or more small grape-sized pebbles ☜

2. Gonggi also means air in Korean ☜