Chapter 4

4. Good News and Bad News

The year-end acting awards at the broadcasting station, as expected, went to Lee Sojin.

There was much debate over whether she would share the award with the male lead, but in the end, she won it alone.

Her presence was so strong that jokes like "Miss Moonlight" instead of "Mister Moonlight" began to circulate.

Dohjin and Hyunju, watching the ceremony at home on TV, felt as if Siwoo had won the award when his name was mentioned.

“I’ve been acting for nearly ten years and never got called an actor anywhere, but Siwoo is being called an actor by people before he’s even a year old. Is this really reality?”

On the internet, Siwoo’s acting was being praised as the "common acting skills of Korean child actors," and his scenes were being shared as GIFs.

Dohjin, with a bewildered look, asked Hyunju.

“Yeah, Oppa. This is reality. Look at all the things piled up at home. They’re from the award-winning actors who appeared on TV.”

The house was filled with all kinds of toys.

Slides, swings, mini soccer goals, basketball hoops, ball pools, home jungle gyms, and more.

It was more like an indoor playground than a home.

Dohjin said,

“...We can’t even resell the gifts, and I’m starting to think we should tell Lee Sojin the square footage of our house.”

Soojin, who had kept her promise to Siwoo to give him a gift if he didn’t cry and finished the filming well, was indeed a good mother.

“Still, Siwoo really likes it. When he grows up, he’ll play with all of them.”

“That’s true. Anyway, thanks. Even though I only watched for a little while, it’s nice that you took care of it.”

* * *

The busy holiday season passed, and February arrived.

Siwoo turned two years old by Korean age, but he was only nine months old by the Western calendar.

“Siwoo, we only watch TV once a week, remember? Today... we watched ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ last week, so shall we watch ‘Boss Baby’ or ‘Toy Story’?”

Dohjin, Hyunju, and Siwoo were sitting side by side on the sofa.

Dohjin said,

“I’m not really into animation. I prefer action movies.”

“It’s important to watch together as a family, for Siwoo’s sake.”

“Alright. Either ‘Boss Baby’ or ‘Toy Story,’ just pick one. But how many parts of ‘Toy Story’ are there? I only saw up to part two when I was a kid.”

“I was thinking of watching part one, so let’s go with ‘Boss Baby.’”

“Okay. Siwoo, do you want to sit on Daddy’s lap?”

Dohjin patted his lap, and Siwoo climbed up.

At nine months old, Siwoo was already speaking quite quickly and understanding things very well.

“Siwoo is different from other kids. We should make him study hard and send him to Seoul National University.”

“Sister says we should make him an actor.”

Dohjin, while gently bouncing Siwoo on his lap, said,

“Siwoo, if you study hard and get into Seoul National University, I’ll let you become an actor.”

Hyunju, using the remote to turn on the animation, said to Siwoo,

“Then, if Siwoo becomes an actor, I’ll let him go to Seoul National University.”

Hyunju and Dohjin burst into laughter.

Feeling the warm atmosphere, Bokshil also came over and found a spot under the sofa.

The whole family gathered in front of the TV and spent a leisurely time together.

While watching ‘Boss Baby,’ Dohjin shook his head.

“No way, how can a seven-month-old baby talk so well? Isn’t it impossible due to the structure of the tongue? And his brain hasn’t developed enough, right?”

Hyunju, eating rice puffs instead of popcorn with Siwoo, replied,

“Why not? Our Siwoo also talks and runs around when Mom and Dad aren’t looking, right? Right? Right? Siwoo, answer me. Do you go to work at the baby corporation at night and come back in the morning? Right?”

Hyunju tickled Siwoo’s side with a smile.

Siwoo felt a chill run down his spine.

‘What is this movie? Did the director take drugs or is this director also a reincarnated person like me?! I can’t be found out.’

In the early stages of his previous lives, when he was caught by his parents, he was almost exorcised for several years by priests.

– Get out! Get out of the baby’s body!

– You evil spirit! Can’t you get out? Bring more holy water!

– How wicked! I’ve been an exorcist for a long time, but I’ve never seen a spirit like you. I swear to God that I will drive you out of the baby’s body with my life.

– Finally showing your true colors!! You despicable spirit!! Priests!! Gather your divine power!! Perform the exorcism!!

Siwoo shivered.

“Mama... Mariam... Mamama...”

“Huh? Is Siwoo hungry? Do you want some mamama?”

It was a close call.

He almost blurted out something.

By priests... or maybe by a shaman here?

A shamanic ritual almost happened.

Siwoo broke out in a cold sweat.

“Mamama!”

“Alright. I’ll give you some mamama.”

Hyunju picked up Siwoo and got up.

After feeding Siwoo baby food at the dining table and returning to the living room, she found Dohjin sleeping on the sofa with Bokshil on his stomach.

It seemed they would have to watch the rest of the movie later.

Since it was an animation, which Hyunju liked but Dohjin didn’t, she thought about watching it alone but still wanted to watch it together.

Well, as a couple?

“Will Siwoo snore like Daddy? No, he just ate, so let’s play a bit and then go to sleep.”

Clap, clap, clap!

Siwoo clapped his hands to show he agreed.

Strangely, when he didn’t like something, he could easily shake his head, but when he did like something, nodding felt too adult.

Both were just head movements, but what was the subtle difference?

“What should Siwoo play with? Should he ride the walker? Or play the piano with Mom?”

“Aboo! Piano!”

“Okay. Shall we go play the piano with Mom?”

Hyunju took Siwoo to the small room.

She closed the door for her sleeping husband and sat in front of the old electronic piano, lowering the volume.

This way, it wouldn’t be heard in the living room.

“Even if he’s asleep, he won’t know if someone carries him away... but I’ll play a lullaby for him.”

Hyunju gently held Siwoo on her lap and carefully pressed the keys.

A gentle melody began to flow through the room.

Hyunju, who had dreamed of being a pianist until high school, had given up on her musical dreams due to financial issues before graduation. However, she still occasionally played the piano for her husband and son.

‘When we were young, my sister wanted to succeed in acting, and I wanted to succeed in music, but neither of us did. Dohjin also, and our whole family, couldn’t achieve their dreams.’

While hoping that Siwoo would live the life he wanted, Hyunju continued to play beautiful notes with her delicate fingers.

Siwoo, leaning against his mother’s chest, closed his eyes and enjoyed the piano music.

‘Good. I’m getting sleepy.’

A baby’s body was amazing.

Since he was still young, he often acted on instinct rather than reason.

For example, if he was held and rocked, he would feel sleepy even if he tried to resist, or if he was given a pacifier, he would feel as relaxed as an adult... like biting a prop in a movie, or he would suddenly feel like crying when he woke up.

It was the same now.

He didn’t really want to sleep, but the piano music made his eyelids heavy.

Just as his head nodded like a greeting, Hyunju said to Siwoo,

“Do you want to try playing the piano? They say it helps develop imagination and fine motor skills.”

Hyunju placed Siwoo’s hands on the keys.

“Try pressing them, Siwoo. Ding dong ding dong, isn’t it amazing? Right?”

Ding ding ding!

While pressing the keys as his mother guided him, Siwoo thought,

‘If I suddenly play better than Mom at nine months old, she’ll faint.’

He didn’t even need both hands.

Since he was a baby, his fingers couldn’t spread wide.

He was confident that he could play a simple melody with just one finger and shock his mother.

In his seven lives, he had made a living through music, and in four of those lives, he had reached the top.

Of course, it wasn’t ordinary music but rather a type of music that could kill people.

‘Come to think of it, I died from music in my 99th life too.’

His previous life was the first time he tried pure music without using his musical powers.

Because he was too lazy in his training, he ended up in a humiliating situation where he was almost killed by a dragon, which would have been just food in his other lives.

‘I was too complacent. It was really embarrassing.’

The instrument he used in that life was very similar to the piano here.

Therefore, for simple and slow songs, he could play at a level similar to his mother, even in a baby’s body.

‘Still, I should wait until he’s at least in kindergarten. Small suspicions can turn into big ones. A shaman might put a talisman on my forehead.’

Ding ding ding! Dong dong dong! Thump thump thump!

While playing with the keys, Siwoo fell asleep in his mother’s arms after a while.

* * *

When he woke up, it was evening, and the sky outside the window was dark.

Siwoo sat up in his crib and checked his diaper.

It felt wet.

‘It’s wet. It’s wet. I can’t control this. It’s cold.’

His body temperature dropped due to the wet diaper.

Even though the boiler was on, it was still cold in February.

Siwoo pulled off the panda spacesuit cap that covered his head and sat cross-legged.

He didn’t sit in a full lotus position in case his parents suddenly looked in.

‘Now that three months have passed, he’s almost a year old. The Heavenly Gate will start to close soon. I need to gather as much qi as possible before it closes, so I can play later.’

Practicing before the Heavenly Gate closes is ten times more effective than practicing as an adult.

The Heavenly Gate usually starts to close around 12 months and is completely closed by 24 months.

It can be delayed, but from his experience, artificially changing the speed of a baby’s body development had more drawbacks than benefits.

He lightly circulated his qi, and his body warmed up.

‘If I keep practicing without my parents noticing, I’ll get stronger quickly, but I’m not a fighting machine. Besides, this world doesn’t seem to have monsters or wars. Since this is my last life, I want to live peacefully... and do everything I want without regrets, and then die from exhaustion after playing.’

While Siwoo was making his last-life dream, ‘to die from playing,’ a doorbell rang in the living room.

“Oppa~! It looks like Unnie is here! Can you open the door?”

Hyunju, preparing dinner in the kitchen, called out.

Dohjin, who had finished preparing for his night shift, came out of the bedroom.

“Alright.”

Dohjin opened the front door.

Hyeju was standing in front of the door.

“Hey, Dohjin. There are a lot of flyers stuck on the door. You should ask the landlord to make a common entrance.”

“We’ll probably move out faster if we earn more money. Come in. Are you staying overnight? I’m going to eat and then go to the police station. Take care of Hyunju until morning.”

“Sure. I’m the people’s staff. I’ll take care of Korea’s peace tonight.”

Hyeju, taking off her shoes, greeted Hyunju.

“Unnie, you’re here? Wash your hands and play with Siwoo. Dinner will be ready soon. Is Siwoo still sleeping? He’s been sleeping for too long. He might not sleep well at night, so wake him up.”

Hyeju took off her coat, washed her hands, and went to the crib.

“Siwoo~! Unnie is here~!”

Seeing Siwoo rolling around in the crib with his stuffed animal, Hyeju reached out and picked him up.

“Siwoo, did you snore? Unnie missed you so much.”

“Mamama.”

“Do you say ‘mamama’ every time you see Unnie? You always look for ‘mamama’? Try saying other things. Unnie, hello. How are you doing these days? Right? You should know how to say these things.”

Hyeju, joking with Siwoo, carried him to the kitchen.

And she said to Dohjin and Hyunju,

“Attention, please. Dohjin is going to work, so I’ll tell you now. Mr. Siwoo. Mrs. Siwoo. I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?”

Oh.