Big Life Chapter 121-125

Chapter 121. There Was A Sea (3)

“What? The police station?”

Park Do-Joon retrieved his cue stick and turned around.

Ha Jae-Gun repeatedly said ‘yes’ to the phone with a serious look until the call ended.

“What’s wrong? Why the police station?”

“Yeon-Woo passed out drunk outside,” Ha Jae-Gun replied as he took his coat.

“You’ll have to stay here alone for a while, I’ll be back soon.”

“You really don’t need me to go with you?”

“Why would this globally huge star want to hit the tabloids? Help me take care of Rika.”

Ha Jae-Gun hopped into the car and entered the address in the navigator, then hit the road. The police station wasn’t that far since it was located between the writer’s office and Ha Jae-Gun’s house.

“…”

Ha Jae-Gun parked his car and entered the police station in a daze, even forgetting to greet the policemen. Lee Yeon-Woo lay like a piece of dead log on the long bench with his mouth half-open. He was also flailing around like a drowning man, which was a spectacular sight.

“Are you Mr. Ha Jae-Gun?”

The clear voice made Ha Jae-Gun turn around.

A policewoman in her late twenties was standing at her desk. Her sturdy-looking build and sharp gaze could easily make one think that not anyone would be able to take up the job of a police officer.

Ha Jae-Gun did not commit any crime but felt himself shrink in her presence as he asked, “Yes. It’s been hard on you. How did this happen?”

“As you can see, he got himself drunk at the convenience store riiiight over there and mistook the streets as his bed.” The policewoman pointed outside the window in a specific direction.

As per her words, Ha Jae-Gun spotted a convenience store across the streets. In other words, Lee Yeon-Woo collapsed across from the police station after drinking until he was dead drunk.

“I had contacted his mother earlier, but she said she was busy and couldn’t make the trip down and asked me to deal with him on my own. I searched his recent call logs and only saw Mr. Ha Jae-Gun on the list.”

“Ah, I see.”

Was Lee Yeon-Woo on bad terms with his family? Ha Jae-Gun had never once asked or heard about Lee Yeon-Woo’s family circumstances.

Ha Jae-Gun looked at the drunk Lee Yeon-Woo tenderly. The latter seemed like an abandoned puppy in Ha Jae-Gun’s eyes. He found him pitiful.

“Is my identification card enough?”

“Yes, and please fill up this form.”

Ha Jae-Gun entered his identity and stamped his seal, then put down the pen. All that was left now for him to do was bring Lee Yeon-Woo back with him.

The policewoman suddenly said, “I’ll always be supporting you, Mr. Ha.”

“Pardon?” Ha Jae-Gun asked in return at her sudden words.

The policewoman clenched her fists.

“I recognized you from the moment you entered the station. The true image of the police in Summer in My 20s, I’ve engraved Corporal Ko Sun-Young deep into my heart. Like the detectives and police in the novel, I’ll also strive to be a true protector and civil servant.”

It was the true feelings of a policewoman with an overwhelmingly strong spirit.

Ha Jae-Gun smiled, deeply moved.

“It’s a pity I can’t get your autograph. If I had known that I would see you here, I would have brought my book with me along.” The policewoman seemed quite disappointed.The origin of this chapter’s debut can be traced to N0v3l–B1n.

Ha Jae-Gun pondered for a moment, then smiled and said, “Please wait for a moment.”

“Pardon?”

Ha Jae-Gun returned to his car and took out the author’s copy of There Was A Sea from the box in his trunk. Thankfully, he had left the book in his car as he found it annoying to bring it with him.

“This is my new novel. If you’re fine with it, should I sign here and give this to you?”

“Oh, my, I haven’t been able to purchase this because I’m too busy.”

The policewoman smiled brightly for the first time.

Ha Jae-Gun opened the book to its first page and signed there before handing the book to the policewoman. She happily hugged it and said, “I will treasure this for the rest of my life. Thank you so much.”

“I should be thanking you instead. You kept my brother safe.”

With her and another policeman’s help, Ha Jae-Gun was able to carry Lee Yeon-Woo back into his car successfully.

Ha Jae-Gun started the car and peeked at the rearview mirror to find the policewoman still standing by the entrance. Thanks to her, Ha Jae-Gun had made another realization as a writer; the texts in his book had different meanings depending on who was reading them.

“Or should I be grateful to you instead?”

Unfortunately, Lee Yeon-Woo was too drunk to answer him.

Ha Jae-Gun smiled bitterly and grabbed the steering wheel. The car glided onto the road and into the busy traffic.

***

The morning sun penetrated the window.

“Ugggh…!”

Lee Yeon-Woo squinted and groaned. His head was pounding badly from the terrible hangover. His throat was stinging and parched. He guessed that he had vomited, but he couldn’t remember it at all.

‘What, where am I?’

Lee Yeon-Woo sat up on the bed and looked around. He was in a room that he had never been in before. The floor was laid with wine-colored carpet, and the room was furnished with a sofa for two, a round table, and a wall-mounted TV.

Creeeak.

He opened the door to leave the room and a familiar living room.

Ha Jae-Gun was on the sofa, reading a book.

“Are you awake now?”

“Hyung, what happened?”

“What else? You passed out drunk on the streets and got sent to the nearest police station, so I had to go over there and bring you back here.”

“Ahh..! Ah, hyung…! I’m really sorry.” Lee Yeon-Woo wrapped his forehead with a distorted look on his face. The scenes from last night were slowly coming back to him.

“This usually happens when I drink rice wine. And because I started off with soju last night and then mixed it with rice wine afterward—ah, Ha Jae-Gun hyung, I’m really, really sorry. You must have been busy, but because of me…”

Ha Jae-Gun closed the book in hand and stood up, then approached Lee Yeon-Woo. He tapped the latter’s shoulder and said, “It happens when people are going through tough times.”

“Hyung…”

“Let’s go have some food.”

Ha Jae-Gun turned around and picked up his wallet. The topic about last night’s events ended there.

Lee Yeon-Woo didn’t need to be reprimanded right now. He had to be having a hard time right now to the point that he felt like dying would be a great respite.

“How about some ox bone soup? You’ve got to cure that hangover.”

“I can make do with just ramyun, hyung. You don’t have to eat that because of me.”

“It’s not because of you. I want to have ox bone soup.”

The two of them headed to a 24-hour restaurant near the subway station and ate their early breakfast. Lee Yeon-Woo didn’t have much of an appetite, but he still ate as much as he could.

Ha Jae-Gun’s nose felt sour as he watched Lee Yeon-Woo shove spoonfuls of food into his mouth.

‘I hope he hangs in here.’

Ha Jae-Gun could still remember going through the same ordeal as Lee Yeon-Woo, so he was familiar with how painful it felt for one’s novel to fail its debut.

Back then, the shock proved so strong for Ha Jae-Gun that he had to stop writing for quite a while. He even had to get a job at an ice cream factory in Incheon and worked mindlessly, sticking ice cream sticks.

It was his escape route and another means of survival; it allowed him to forget the torment during his work hours.

It was his first failure and the first crossroad that he had encountered. He had two choices back then: whether to continue being an ink slinger or find a different path.

Quite a few people wished to become writers, and most of them grew up hearing remarks that they showed potential in writing.

Those people often identify themselves with their works. They would work diligently every step of the way until their work was completed.

They worked hard to complete their work, but their work crumbled instantly in the face of harsh reality, crushing the souls of those writers.

It was difficult to get back up with just perseverance and passion. It could take as short as a few days or months, but some could take a few years or even their entire lives to recover from the failure.

Ha Jae-Gun was worried about the latter the most. He desperately hoped to reduce the time Lee Yeon-Woo would need to get himself back together. He wanted to offer as much help as possible since the latter was Poongchun-Yoo’s biggest fan.

“Don’t look up your novel on the Internet for the time being.”

“…”

Lee Yeon-Woo stopped eating mid-way and looked up at Ha Jae-Gun.

Ha Jae-Gun looked down at his food. He stirred it and continued. “The low performance shouldn’t be the only thing that’s making you feel this way.”

“Okay, hyung…” Lee Yeon-Woo nodded, understanding what Ha Jae-Gun meant. The other thing that was bothering Lee Yeon-Woo so much was the malicious comments and criticisms about his novel.

“The situation right now is completely different as compared to when you serialize your work for free. Once you become a writer who profits off your works, the reviews on it become harsher. You should have heard many say this often as well—it’s not easy to earn money off of others.”

“Okay, hyung. I’ll do that. I won’t search it up and just focus on my novel.”

“Where did you stop for Martial God Management?”

“I’ve completed up to volume five.”

Ha Jae-Gun smiled faintly. He was glad to hear that Lee Yeon-Woo kept working on his novel even though he was struggling internally. As expected, Lee Yeon-Woo’s mental was strong.

“You’re going to finish off the novel at volume six, right? Once you’re done with the plot, show it to me.”

“Okay, hyung. Thank you.”

However, that was not all Ha Jae-Gun had to say.

The advance royalties Lee Yeon-Woo had received for the first two volumes of Martial God Management wouldn’t be able to last him for long.

Lee Yeon-Woo didn’t like the idea of working part-time to earn enough for his living expenses, considering how much effort he had to put into his writing.

Ha Jae-Gun pondered about it before saying casually, “Driver—no, be my manager.”

“M-manager?”

“Yeah. Not every day, just be my chauffeur on the days when I need to travel to a few destinations. I’ll be able to use the time to work on my stuff in the backseat while you earn some pocket money on the side. What do you think? It’s a win-win, right?”

It was a proposal he had thought of that would allow Lee Yeon-Woo to naturally earn a living and allow him to experience different things as a writer.

“Why aren’t you giving me an answer? You don’t want to do it?”

“…”

Ha Jae-Gun could not ask further as he saw tears of joy and sorrow rolling down Lee Yeon-Woo’s cheeks despite the latter looking down at the table. The tears dripping onto the table sparkled under the sunlight that streamed through the window.

After a while, Lee Yeon-Woo finally spoke, “I’m really grateful to you for looking out for me. Hyung, really. If I ever crumble again…”

Lee Yeon-Woo’s sentence got cut off as he gulped his sobs before saying, “If I ever crumble again, I’ll leave the office by myself. This won’t happen ever again.”

“You said this before in the car.”

“I’m for real this time. As you said, I won’t concern myself over other things and just focus on my writing.”

“I get it, so stop crying. Why are you such a crybaby?”

“I’ve never cried in front of anyone else besides you, hyung.”

Lee Yeon-Woo wiped his tears and looked up with a bright smile.

And that was how he became Ha Jae-Gun’s manager…

The contract was established by eating the two bowls of ox bone soup in front of them.

***

“What? Mom, really? Our house got chosen as a filming site?!”

Jung So-Mi could not believe her ears.

The phone call from her mom early in the morning was enough to shock her to the point of fainting. The bed and breakfast run by her parents had just been decided to be used as the house where Ba-Da lives in the movie There Was A Sea.

— That’s not all, girl. During the entire period of their filming, we will be providing food for all of them, and the staff will be using the place as their accommodation as well. How blessed are we to have this business during the off-season? Your father has been busy cleaning the entire building since morning.

“It’ll be great if our bed and breakfast would become popular when the movie becomes a hit.”

— Stop getting ahead of yourself. But… we’ll get more customers if the movie succeeds, right?

“Mom, you’re getting ahead of yourself too.”

There Was A Sea was near the end of its pre-production stage. This was the period where they had to prepare all elements for the filming on-site.

It was only natural that the quality of the movie would increase drastically because they had put in all their efforts to prepare for it.

Dozens of staff were still in the midst of preparing for the trip to Donghae City today.

Even the director, Yoon Tae-Sung, was talking to the production manager as they faced the Mukho Sea.

“There are no issues with the generator car as well. The accommodations and food for all staff have been arranged too. It’s not difficult to cordon off the area as there aren’t many people around here usually.”

“Thanks for the hard work.”

“Oh, and Director, should I notify you about the rainy season in advance?”

Yoon Tae-Sung shook his head and said, “You seem not to know much about Gangwon-do, department head.”

“Pardon?”

“The weather at the East Sea doesn’t betray during this time of the year.”

Bzzt!

Yoon Tae-Sung took out his phone. It was a return call from Ha Jae-Gun, who couldn’t pick up the call when Yoon Tae-Sung called earlier.

“Yes, Writer Ha.”

— My apologies for not answering your call, I was in the shower earlier. Have you checked out the scenario up to scene 50?

“Yes, I actually called you after reading it. It was great. Please proceed accordingly.”

— Thanks for your positive review.

“I feel great as well since there’s no need to work on it twice. Ah, if you’d like to see the filming, please let me know anytime.”

— I understand. Thank you so much.

Yoon Tae-Sung hung up and took some time to stretch his body. He turned around to see Park Do-Joon standing across the street.

Park Do-Joon’s expression looked quite grim, considering that he was the one who wanted to see the filming site for himself and followed the staff here.

Yoon Tae-Sung tapped the production manager’s shoulder and asked, “What’s with him?”

“Mr. Do-Joon? I’m not sure. He was still quite bright and lively until just now.”

Park Do-Joon was silently staring at his phone, unaware that Yoon Tae-Sung and the production manager were talking about him.

His phone was filled with impure texts that could be labeled as hearsay and malicious rumors.

The words were about Kim Na-Yeon, who was cast for the role of Eun-Hee, a friend of the female lead in There Was A Sea.

‘Whew…’

He had seen it coming, but he couldn’t help but panic since it happened earlier than he expected.

Park Do-Joon pondered over it before gnashing his teeth and dialing a certain number.

Chapter 122. There Was A Sea (4)

Woo Jae-Hoon sounded curt over the phone, and the surroundings were noisy as well.

— Why did you call? I’m busy, so get straight to the point.

“I called you a few times, but you didn’t answer them.”

— I’ve said that I’m busy, and I still am. So what is it?

“How are preparations going for the movie?”

Woo Jae-Hoon was working on a new movie. He had chosen to work on another movie since talks with Ha Jae-Gun didn’t end well. The title of the new movie was The Himalayas. It was based on a true story and had been announced on the news.

— Whether it’s going great or not, what’s it to you?

“Don’t act this way, Director. No, Woo Jae-Hoon hyung.”

— Don’t call me that.

Feeling sad, Park Do-Joon placed one hand on the wall and said, “You’re making me feel bad. You always said you’d be understanding toward me and told me to act whichever roles I like.”

— Did I say that? You literally stabbed me in the back. You betrayed me.

“Betrayed?”

— Yeah, betrayed. You’re a traitor, you bastard.

Woo Jae-Hoon put a strong emphasis on the word betray, rendering Park Do-Joon speechless.

— Think back on how much I’ve taken care of you up until now. How dare you be ungrateful and follow that Ha Jae-Gun punk? Can you even imagine how I felt? If you’re not a traitor, what are you, then?

Park Do-Joon’s breathing got rougher, like the waves crashing onto the stones.

“Hyung—no, Director… How can you label this as a betrayal? And I’m ungrateful? I abandoned you and followed Ha Jae-Gun? That does not make sense at all. I’m just following the character Cho Kang-Jae that he created!”

— There’s no need for you to raise your voice at me. This is the end between us. Let’s see how well you fare with that rookie director. Character? Quality? Ha. Do you really think that it’s that easy to turn a movie into a box-office hit? You’ll probably have a hard time next year onward.

Park Do-Joon only listened to Woo Jae-Hoon’s curses and bad criticisms silently, with his jaw clenched. He then saw his manager approaching, signaling with his gaze, asking what phone call it was.

“I’ll just ask you one thing.”

— Aigoo, sure. Ask me anything.

“Why did you do this to Na-Yeon?”

— …

Woo Jae-Hoon didn’t give an immediate answer.

Despite feeling his manager’s anxious gaze on him, Park Do-Joon continued. “It’s because of you that she quit her job and went back to acting. Even if you couldn’t look out for her, isn’t leaving her alone the least you could do?”

— Are you trying to reprimand me right now? And what nonsense are you spouting?! Are you implying that I’ve been spreading rumors about her being a host girl?![1]

“I heard it from Bo-Ra, she said that you told her about it.”

— Hey, I just mentioned it in passing while drinking! I didn’t even talk much about Na-Yeon to her!

Woo Jae-Hoon was obviously flustered because he had raised his voice.

Park Do-Joon scoffed and leaned his head on the wall. The good feelings he had for Woo Jae-Hoon instantly crumbled.

— Ah, whatever! I’m hanging up!

The call was cut off unilaterally at the same time as Woo Jae-Hoon yelled into the phone.

Park Do-Joon’s continuous ridicule made his manager ask cautiously, “That’s Director Woo Jae-Hoon, right?”

Park Do-Joon nodded his head limply while his manager let out a sigh.

“I told you so. I said that he wouldn’t let things go so easily.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore. I actually feel quite refreshed now.”

Park Do-Joon stretched and shook the sand off of his feet.

“Do-Joon, Producer Oh called.”

“Producer Oh? What is it about?”

“To cast you as a guest for I Live Alone. It’s the best timing to appear on the show now, too.”

Park Do-Joon looked down at the ground and nodded slowly.

I Live Alone was a documentary-type variety show that showed the daily lives of solo-living celebrities, and it had always been performing well with relatively good viewership ratings, so there was no reason for Park Do-Joon to reject it.

It would also become a good platform to promote There Was A Sea.

“You’ll guest on it, right? Do-Joon? It’s nice to build up your image as an actor, but if you continue to reject such offers, your entertainment sense could get lost entirely.”

“All right, I’ll go on it.”

“And, about Writer Ha Jae-Gun…”

“What about Ha Jae-Gun?”

“Can he appear on the show as well? You’re distant from your family, and there’s no way we can have Chae-Rin go on the show with you.”

“…”

“I think Writer Ha is the best person right now. Plus, it’ll look good to see the most popular actor and bestselling writer of the original novel be good friends. You guys can talk about the posts shared on social media. Actually, this was brought up by the producer first.”

Park Do-Joon looked up at the sky and fell deep in thought.

His manager was right. However, would Ha Jae-Gun even agree to appear on the show? Park Do-Joon was afraid that he would get rejected, so he was afraid of bringing it up to Ha Jae-Gun personally.

“Hyung, why don’t you ask Jae-Gun about it?”

“Why would I? You’re now so much closer to him, seeing how you’re even hanging out at his place and all.”

“Those are two separate issues. I’m hungry, let’s go have some food.”

Park Do-Joon spun around, heading back to the bed and breakfast run by Jung So-Mi’s family with his phone in hand. He had wanted to send a text message with words of consolation, but he stopped himself midway.

***

“Good job, Yeon-Woo.”

Lee Yeon-Woo was smiling and looking all proud at the writer’s office in Bucheon. He had just completed volume six of Martial God Management. The novel didn’t fare well, but the flow was undisturbed, so he managed to end it successfully.

“You will still get some royalties since it’ll be published in the form of ebooks as well. So relax and prepare for your next novel.”

“Okay, Jae-Gun hyung. It’s all thanks to your help.”

The season had already changed, and it was now autumn.

Lee Yeon-Woo successfully closed his debut novel while the other writers were busy advertising their own novels. Yang Hyun-Kyung also regained his confidence and determination.

“Meow.”

“I’ll play with you in a while, Rika. I’ll be finally done with the scenario after another week.”

Tadadak! Tadak! Tadadak!

Ha Jae-Gun’s fingers started typing away at bullet speed. He was at the final stage of completing the scenario, so he wasn’t too far away from putting that last period of the sentence of the final scene.

The typing sounds felt unusually chirpy to him, and it was mostly influenced by Director Yoon Tae-Sung.

Contrary to the strict impression shown during their negotiations, he had approved over ninety-nine percent of the scenario that Ha Jae-Gun had written. There was no way things wouldn’t go smoothly. He was in a good mood, after all.

“Hyung, it’s time for us to head out. It’s already 3 p.m.”

“Is it that time already?”

Ha Jae-Gun saved his Word document and stood up from his desk. Today, he would appear in a cultural radio broadcast.

Ha Jae-Gun even gave a lecture to a group of new employees from a large corporation just a few days ago. Lee Yeon-Woo—Ha Jae-Gun’s manager—had also become his chauffeur.

“I’ll be back with Yeon-Woo, then.”

“Please be safe.”

“Have a safe trip.”

Kang Min-Ho and Jang Eun-Young’s replies and expressions were somewhat stiff, and Ha Jae-Gun could swear that he hadn’t seen the two talk to each other since morning.

‘Did they fight?’

Ha Jae-Gun found it strange, but since time was tight for him, he couldn’t ask about it and had to leave the office.

“It’s annoying to have to leave while in the middle of working on the novel,” Ha Jae-Gun muttered as he climbed into the backseat.

Lee Yeon-Woo entered the address in the navigation and smiled before saying, “President Kwon and Editor-in-chief Oh Myung-Suk had chosen all of these for you, so it’s best if you did it for them too.”

Lee Yeon-Woo took out his phone and double-checked the schedule before adding, “Next week, you’ve got the movie press conference on Tuesday for There Was A Sea, and dinner with Professor Han Hae-Sun on Wednesday evening, then dinner with Editor-in-chief Oh Myung-Suk on Friday evening.”

Ha Jae-Gun smiled while Lee Yeon-Woo turned around.

“Seeing how much you’re taking care of my schedule makes me feel like I’ve really become some celebrity.”

“But, hyung, you are a celebrity,” Yeon-Woo said seriously.

Ha Jae-Gun facepalmed and chuckled at Lee Yeon-Woo’s reaction, almost forgetting the fact that the latter was Poongchun-Yoo’s biggest fan.

The car drove out of the car park and onto the roads.

“But, hyung, you should appear on TV as well. Why are you only going on radio shows?”

“Um…”

“It’s good to go on current events or educational programs, too. You’re good at giving lectures and aren’t camera-shy. Weren’t you asked to appear on a variety show as well?”

“It feels kind of ambiguous.”

“Ambiguous?”

Ha Jae-Gun nodded and explained himself. “For shows like A Writer’s Study, there’s a clear focus on why I had to appear on the show. I also wanted to share more about my novels. It’s the same for the radio show that I’m going to appear on today.”

“Hmm, I see.”

“But the TV show requests that’s been coming in recently didn’t have those. They can definitely find someone else to replace me if I reject them as well.”

“I kind of understand where you’re coming from.”

“Instead of just showing my face to the public without mentioning my work at all, I’d rather stay in the office and work on my novel. That’s just what I think.”L1terary-N0v3l hosted the first appearance of this chapter at N0vel.B1n.

“I’m not very sure, but that’s cool, hyung.”

“Hey, stop that weird expression and focus on the road.”

Bzzt!

Ha Jae-Gun looked at his phone to see an unknown number showing on the screen.

Lee Yeon-Woo quickly turned down the music for Ha Jae-Gun as he answered the call.

“Hello?”

— Hello, Writer Ha. I’m Park Do-Joon’s manager, Woo Tae-Bong. Are you available to talk?

“Ah, yes. Hello. I’m able to talk now.”

— I should be congratulating you first. I’ve just seen on the news that the novel There Was A Sea has hit over 500,000 copies sold. I’ve contributed to the number as well by purchasing a copy.

“Haha, I see. Thank you. It’s all thanks to you that sales hit 500,000 copies, then,” Ha Jae-Gun replied with a light-hearted joke.

As their laughter died down, Woo Tae-Bong continued softly.

— I actually called to ask you about Park Do-Joon’s broadcast request. Have you heard of I Live Alone?

“The program shows celebrities who live alone, right? I know of it,” Ha Jae-Gun replied.

He didn’t watch TV often, but I Live Alone was actually one of the few popular programs that he was familiar with.

— Yes, that’s right. Do-Joon has been scheduled to go on the show before the premiere of There Was A Sea. Have you possibly watched it before?

“Hmm, I might have watched a few in passing, but I’ve never watched an entire episode before.”

— They sometimes have the guests’ family or friends appear on the show together, or the guest would head outside to play; otherwise, it’d be boring if only the guest were shown on the episode alone.

“Ah, I see…” Ha Jae-Gun’s tone dropped, realizing what Park Do-Joon’s manager had called him about.

— I’d be extremely grateful if Writer Ha Jae-Gun could help him out with this. It’ll become a great promotion for the movie. There’s no need for you to feel burdened. The program has no script, you just have to hang out naturally with Do-Joon.

Park Do-Joon’s manager quickly added, fearing that Ha Jae-Gun would reject.

— I personally hope that Writer Ha will appear on the show with Do-Joon. It isn’t just me, but Do-Joon hopes that you’ll join him as well.

“Um…”

— Do-Joon couldn’t bear to bring this up personally, that’s why I called you instead. He’s quite soft-hearted than he looks, afraid that others might reject him if he decided to ask them for a favor, and he would always get hurt by the rejections.

The face of the always-bright Park Do-Joon appeared in the car window in Ha Jae-Gun’s eyes.

Ha Jae-Gun made a decision and said, “Okay, I’ll do it.”

— Thank you so much, Writer Ha. I’ll never forget this favor.

“I trust in your words that there’s no script that I’ll have to prepare myself with.”

— Hahaha, of course. Thank you so much. I’ll contact you again soon.

As soon as Ha Jae-Gun ended the call, Lee Yeon-Woo asked immediately, “Have you decided to appear on I Live Alone? Together with Do-Joon hyung?”

“You’ve got a great hearing. You heard the entire conversation?”

Ten minutes later, Ha Jae-Gun’s phone vibrated, and the screen lit up.

It was a text message from Park Do-Joon.

– Don’t be mistaken! I’m not making dinner for you just because I’m grateful to Oscar!

Ha Jae-Gun chuckled at the message.

Park Do-Joon used the line by a female character in Oscar’s Dungeon to express his gratitude in a roundabout manner.

Ha Jae-Gun returned the gesture in kind by replying with Oscar’s line.

– I’ve never been mistaken. If you’re really thankful, there’s no way you’ll only repay me with just this.

– Hey, Jae-Gun. Stop it, and keep your weekends free, alright?

– Okay.

Ha Jae-Gun kept his phone away and looked up. He leaned back on the headrest and suddenly recalled the strange looks on Kang Min-Ho and Jang Eun-Young when he was leaving the office.

“Oh, right, did something happen between Writer Kang and Writer Jang? They didn’t look so good when we left.”

“Really? I’ve been busy working on my novel, so I haven’t felt anything different from them.”

“Hmm, I hope it’s not a big deal.”

Ha Jae-Gun looked out of the window.

Winter would soon come, and Ha Jae-Gun found it a pity that time was passing so fast.

Chapter 123. There Was A Sea (5)

“Please give me the bag.”

“It’s not heavy at all, and it’s a carrier, so I can drag it along as well,” Kang Min-Ho said as he donned a neat suit.

Today was the day for Kang Min-Ho to head back to his hometown. The growth he had made this year was much greater as compared to the previous year; it could be said that he was returning home in glory.

“Just give it to me. I’ll send you to the bus terminal.”

Yang Hyun-Kyung grabbed the bag back from Kang Min-Ho.

Even Jang Eun-Young, who was standing by the side quietly, said, “Just let him carry it. You’ll be there for an entire week, so he’ll feel lonely while you aren’t around.”

“Seriously… All right, I get it,” Kang Min-Ho replied awkwardly, all the while consciously avoiding eye contact with Jang Eun-Young.

It was the same for Jang Eun-Young.

When Kang Min-Ho turned away; however, Jang Eun-Young’s hands naturally reached out for Kang Min-Ho’s shoulders and dusted the dirt off of his shoulders.

“Open your shoulders and walk confidently, hyung.”

“Stop nagging.”

Jang Eun-Young smiled faintly. This could be her last chance to fix his clothes. With that thought in mind, sadness started welling up in her.

“I’ll be going then,” Kang Min-Ho said without turning back.

Jang Eun-Young continued with her nagging in a chic tone and hit him lightly on the back. “If you meet a good lady, don’t stutter and maintain eye contact with her whenever you’re speaking.”

“You seem to wish me to do well, huh?”

“Of course. It’s a chore to worry about you, hyung. So become successful and get married already, you old bachelor. She looks quite pretty in that photo, too.”

Yang Hyun-Kyung could not help but feel pitiful as he watched Jang Eun-Young trying to act calm. He knew exactly what was going on between the two.

“Why aren’t you leaving already? Go, go. I want to focus and work quietly in the office.”

“What shall I buy back when I return?”

“Let’s talk about it once you’ve returned a week later. Go on now,” Jang Eun-Young urged.N0v3lRealm was the platform where this chapter was initially revealed on N0v3l.B1n.

“All right,” Kang Min-Ho said and stepped out of the office.

Yang Hyun-Kyung followed behind, dragging the luggage with him. As soon as the door closed, Jang Eun-Young fell silent.

‘Haa…’ The breath that escaped between her lips was hot. She stood at the same spot, not knowing to move.

Kang Min-Ho wasn’t going to return just to visit his parents.

His parents had actually arranged a blind date for him.

Kang Min-Ho didn’t particularly hide the conversation he had with his parents from Jang Eun-Young. His parents had called him one day during one of their meals when both Yang Hyun-Kyung and Jang Eun-Young were present, so they got to listen to the entire conversation.

However, the issue was with Jang Eun-Young.

She failed to conceal her feelings upon hearing about the blind date.

All sorts of emotions overwhelmed her so much that she was even shocked by them herself. Even Kang Min-Ho started becoming awkward with her since then until today.

‘Idiot!’

There was no way of knowing whether she was referring to Kang Min-Ho or herself.

Jang Eun-Young had always liked Kang Min-Ho since the moment they met in literary class back in high school. She had long regarded it as a simple fondness she felt toward a trustworthy older brother.

However, her feelings had come clear as day to her.

‘That idiot… stupid… dumbass…!’ Jang Eun-Young plopped down to the floor as her legs gave way. She buried her tear-stained face into her hands. She didn’t dare to express her emotions first as a divorcee, and she found herself pathetic and frustrated because of it.

***

“The sky is open to us~ And you are by my side~ Standing with a bright smile~ Yes, you’re the blue sea~~~!”[1]

Park Do-Joon was singing out loud in the basement lounge at Ha Jae-Gun’s house.

Meanwhile, Ha Jae-Gun was sitting comfortably on the sofa behind him, revising his scenario.

Ha Jae-Gun had invited Park Do-Joon over to his place on this peaceful weekend out of consideration for Park Do-Joon, who couldn’t really go out because he was a celebrity. They had also ordered black bean noodles for a late lunch.

“ Jae-Gun, just throw this machine out, man,” Park Do-Joon said after looking at his score on the screen. He had scored a whopping 70 points.

“I can’t get over 90 points no matter how well I sing.”

“Try putting in more sincerity when singing.”

“How much more should I put in? Did you not know? I was originally going to be a singer, but I stopped myself from doing it, afraid that I would become an obstacle to my beloved juniors’ career.”

“As expected of the most popular celebrity in the world…”

“Ah, I’m thirsty. Don’t you have anything to drink?” Park Do-Joon put down the microphone and rummaged through the fridge and cupboards. He looked at Ha Jae-Gun speechlessly and asked, “Hey, Jae-Gun. Is this all you have for alcohol?”

Park Do-Joon was holding a bottle of soju; nothing else.

Ha Jae-Gun grinned and nodded. “I prepared them in case my father decides to visit and have some drinks. I don’t drink much on my own.”

“You’ve got a bar and counter setup here, but what are these drinks? Soju, rice wine… and what’s this? Siberian ginseng? Is this raspberry wine?”

“Those sweet drinks are for my mother. Try opening the gray fridge, there are some beverages in there.”

Park Do-Joon cleared an entire can in an instant and then sat down next to Ha Jae-Gun. He peeked at the screen on Ha Jae-Gun’s laptop and asked casually, “Are you sure I’m not disturbing you?”

“Not at all. I’m not exactly working, I’m just double-checking my work.”

“All right, there’s nothing I should worry about, right? After all, it’s a rest day, and you’re the one who invited me over to play. What shall we have for dinner?”

“It’s only been an hour since we ate black bean noodles. Let’s think about it later.”

Ha Jae-Gun revised his scenario and closed his laptop, then looked up.

“Anyway, do you really have no advice for me when going on I Live Alone?”

Park Do-Joon frowned immediately, looking annoyed.

“How many times do I have to tell you? There’s nothing at all. The writer of the show just sets the situation, and all we have to do is play it out accordingly. What’s there to worry about?”

“Variety might be part of your daily life, but it’s my first time. It’s natural for me to be nervous.”

Bzzt!

Just then, Park Do-Joon’s phone rang.

“…!”

Upon seeing the caller ID, Park Do-Joon threw his phone into the other corner of the sofa.

“Who’s calling?”

“Someone annoying.”

Park Do-Joon’s phone kept ringing. Annoyed by the consistent ringing, Park Do-Joon resorted to burying his phone under a cushion before standing up

“Jae-Gun. Let’s bet on our dinner menu with a game of 4-ball billiard. I’ll remove three cushions for you.”

“No, you’re too good at billiards. I’d rather we go with a game of darts…”

Bzzt!

This time, it was coming from Ha Jae-Gun’s phone.

It was a call from AppleT’s Lee Chae-Rin. Ha Jae-Gun had an idea of what was going on and asked Park Do-Joon before answering the call, “It’s from Chae-Rin. You guys fought?”

“…Don’t answer it.”

“How can I ignore her call? She should know by now that you’re here with me. Even if you don’t tell her, your manager would have told her, too.”

Park Do-Joon wordlessly lay on his stomach on the sofa.

Ha Jae-Gun pondered for a while and eventually answered the call.

“Yes, Ms. Chae-Rin. Ah, I see. My novel is selling well, thanks to you. I saw that you promoted it on your social media this time as well. Thank you so much. Yes, ah… Yes, Park Do-Joon? He’s with me right now.”

There was no sign of movement from Park Do-Joon up until now. Keeping his eyes on Park Do-Joon, Ha Jae-Gun continued. “No, it’s all right. No problem. I’ll send it to you through text then. Yes, goodbye.”

Ha Jae-Gun ended the call and sent his address to Lee Chae-Rin.

Park Do-Joon sprung up immediately and looked at Ha Jae-Gun.

“What are you doing?”

“What else can I do? It’s not like you’ll go meet her anyway.”

“Ah, seriously. I think I’m going to fight with her if I see her later.”

“I don’t know why you guys fought, but talk it out in person.”

The doorbell rang in less than thirty minutes. Lee Chae-Rin didn’t show up alone. She had come with Lee Yu-Ri, whom Ha Jae-Gun had met before at Park Do-Joon’s place.

“Hello, Writer Ha.”

“Come on in. Feel free to park your car in the garage.”

Lee Chae-Rin and Lee Yu-Ri came over as soon as their live broadcast ended without even removing their makeup or changing out of their stage outfits.

Their stage outfits were quite revealing, making Ha Jae-Gun unsure of where he should look.

“Your house looks really great. I really wish our dorm was half as good as yours.”

“Our dorm is large enough right now. You don’t even help clean the house, yet you want to live in one yourself?”

“Hey, how dare you call me out like that in front of Writer Ha?”

Ha Jae-Gun led the girls down to the lounge in the basement.

The smile on Lee Chae-Rin’s face disappeared as soon as she saw Park Do-Joon on the sofa.

“Wake up. Ms. Chae-Rin and Ms. Yu-Ri are here.”

Ha Jae-Gun nudged him, but Park Do-Joon didn’t reply.

It was only when Ha Jae-Gun grabbed and shook Park Do-Joon by the shoulders that Park Do-Joon finally sat up with a tired look.

“Ah, why are you disturbing my sleep?”

“Ms. Chae-Rin is here.”

Park Do-Joon then saw both Lee Chae-Rin and Yu-Ri standing around five steps away from him. However, Park Do-Joon squinted and looked around, then muttered, “Who is she? I don’t see anyone around.”

Lee Chae-Rin’s clenched jaws trembled visibly, and Lee Yu-Ri stepped up, unable to watch on any further.

“Do-Joon oppa, why are you doing this to unni?”

“Ah, Yu-Ri, you’re here? Welcome.”

Park Do-Joon ignored Lee Chae-Rin and only greeted Lee Yu-Ri warmly. Ha Jae-Gun was at a loss for words at Park Do-Joon’s childish antics, despite him being unaware of what the couple was fighting over.

“…!”

Lee Chae-Rin noticed the bar counter and headed over with a distorted look. Like what Park Do-Joon did before, she rummaged through the fridge and cupboards and finally took out a bottle of raspberry wine and bowl, then sat down.

“Do-Joon, go on, do something.”

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Hey, raspberry wine is quite strong. And she’s drinking it from the bowl… Huh?”

Ha Jae-Gun’s eyes widened in shock.

Lee Chae-Rin was filling up the bowl once more after emptying it once. Ha Jae-Gun couldn’t watch any further and took the bowl from her hands.

“Don’t take it from me! Give it back!” Lee Chae-Rin yelled with tears streaming down her face. Her mascara smudged, and Ha Jae-Gun sat down in front of her.

“Ms. Chae-Rin, why are you doing this?”

“Sob… Sob…”

“I don’t wish to intervene in your problems, but seeing how both of you are acting in my house, there’s no way I could stand by and just watch.”

Lee Yu-Ri hooked arms with Ha Jae-Gun from behind and answered in Lee Chae-Rin’s stead.

“It’s because of the bed scene that Park Do-Joon oppa is supposed to do…”

“Bed scene?”

“In There Was A Sea. There’s a bed scene between Cho Kang-Jae and Ba-Da, isn’t there? They’re fighting because of that.”

Ha Jae-Gun finally understood. It was his first time witnessing something like this.

Lee Chae-Rin raised her voice while still crying, “Hey, Yu-Ri. You should get things right. I’m not doing this because I do not understand that he has a bed scene. It’s because he kept provoking me, saying that he likes acting with Kim Ji-Won and all!”

Kim Ji-Won was the name of the actress acting as the female lead, Ba-Da, in There Was A Sea. Ha Jae-Gun knew of her as well since she was a promising actress possessing both beauty and great acting skills.

Park Do-Joon sat in a corner of the room and muttered to himself, “Who was the one who said that she was going to date Block C’s Ziku if we ever broke up?”

“What are you saying?! I can’t hear you! Come here and say it in my face!”

“Ah, you’re seriously…! Are you not going to lower your voice?! Why disgrace yourself here at Jae-Gun’s house!” Park Do-Joon stood up in anger.

Soon afterward, Ha Jae-Gun and Lee Yu-Ri broke into a cold sweat, trying to break the fighting couple apart. Eventually, the fight ended for the time being with Lee Chae-Rin’s sobbing apology.

“Soooob…! I’m sorry, oppa… No, Writer Ha… I’m sorry…”

“Call me however you like. I’m fine, and you don’t have to apologize to me.”

“You’re really magnanimous—like the sea… Incomparable to someone who is so petty—”

“Lee Chae-Rin!”

“Stop yelling. Ms. Yu-Ri, there’s a bathroom up that way.”

Ha Jae-Gun sent Lee Chae-Rin upstairs with the help of Lee Yu-Ri and finally let out a sigh of relief. Park Do-Joon sat down in a daze with his arms stretched out along the sofa.

“I’m sorry, Jae-Gun.”

“Forget it. It’s weird, but this is a new experience for me. I had no idea that celebrity couples could fight like this.”

“Hey, honestly speaking, this isn’t the first or second time. I’m the real Buddha here. Ah, forget it. I have to take a quick shower.”

Park Do-Joon headed upstairs. Taking in the peaceful moment, Ha Jae-Gun took out his notepad and started writing away diligently with a pen in hand.

‘Hmm… That expression was really interesting. I think it’d be nice to use Oscar’s line there.’

He couldn’t help it. Ha Jae-Gun recorded every line said by both Park Do-Joon and Lee Chae-Rin, which left an impression in his mind. It felt like he had gotten a great scene to use in his novel.

His phone rang while he was scribbling on his notepad.

The call came from Kwon Tae-Won.

“Yes, President Kwon.”

— Hello, Writer Ha. Comic KT contacted us again, saying that they wished to adapt Oscar’s Dungeon into a webtoon. I think it’ll turn out well, too, seeing how well the Records series has performed before. What do you think, Writer Ha?

“Hmm, sorry. I think I’ll decline the offer this time,” Ha Jae-Gun replied, but he smiled.

Ha Jae-Gun wanted to delay any distribution rights acquisition for Oscar’s Dungeon for as long as possible until the illustrations that Jung So-Mi had drawn were acknowledged as an adaptation or even re-creation of his novel. It applied to any form of adaptation, not just webtoons.

“Yes, thank you for understanding. I’ll be hanging up.” Ha Jae-Gun continued writing on his notepad after the call.

Unsure how long it had been, Ha Jae-Gun heard the sound of laughter all of a sudden and looked up to see Park Do-Joon coming down the stairs with Lee Chae-Rin on his back.

***

‘Hmm…’

Planning director Nam Gyu-Ho’s eyes were shining like glass. In his hands was a copy of Oscar’s Dungeon, and he was reading it in the pantry next to Nextion’s mobile planning team office.

He had already finished reading all of The Breath on ebooks, and he was already finishing Oscar’s Dungeon, with a few more pages left over.

‘Did he work in a game company before? His dungeon composition is quite strong.’

The dungeon setting in the novel was so great that it was good enough to be applied directly to an actual game. Soon, the last line in the novel was carved in the retina of his eyes.

Nam Gyu-Ho finally put the book down and looked up to see Lee Soo-Hee passing by with a cup in hand.

“Team Leader Lee,” he said, calling out to her.

Chapter 124. There Was A Sea (6)

“Yes, Director.”

Lee Soo-Hee approached with her cup in hand. She noticed the serious look on Nam Gyu-Ho’s face as she pulled out the chair across from him and sat down.

“What’s wrong?”

“What do you think of this?” Nam Gyu-Ho asked, showing her a copy of Oscar’s Dungeon.

Lee Soo-Hee immediately realized why he had stopped her and nodded in response.

“It’s a great novel. I think there’s no problem with us adapting it into a game. Its success as the original novel is relatively high, so I think it’ll be easy for us to market the game as well.”

“Hmm.”

Nam Gyu-Ho smiled faintly. This was why he liked Lee Soo-Hee. She was quick-witted, and her diligence in fulfilling all her duties without qualms was a great match with his long-standing way of running the team.

“Has he worked at a game company before?”

“Writer Ha? No.”

Nam Gyu-Ho lightly smacked the book cover and continued. “This book convinced me that he had some experience in game development. The system is almost perfect, and the world setting is great enough for a mobile game. We just have to refine the gameplay and economy.

”The characters and scenario are already available for us to use, so I think we can create an entire game within a short period of time with this book.”

“I feel the same as you, Director.” Lee Soo-Hee chuckled inwardly. Her intuition was right. From the day Ha Jae-Gun gave the lecture at their company, Nam Gyu-Ho started to take an interest in Ha Jae-Gun as a writer.

“But how is this writer’s work ethic?” Nam Gyu-Ho asked. He had to make sure that Ha Jae-Gun’s work ethic was great. He didn’t want to work with another Oh Myung-Hoon.

“Would he reject feedback or discussions made with regard to the game planning? If the writer is too sensitive to such things, I think it’d be better if we could take charge of editing the scenario ourselves.”

Lee Soo-Hee’s face turned serious, and shook her head. “He is quite broad-minded and knows to admit his mistakes if you point them out correctly.”

“Are you sure you’re not biased because he’s your batchmate?”

“Do you still not know my character after working together for so long?”

“All right, please contact him in the next few days.”

Nam Gyu-Ho had just tasked Lee Soo-Hee to sound out Ha Jae-Gun’s intention and arrange a meeting with him as soon as possible.

It would take a long time to produce an RPG mobile game. Unlike those puzzle or shooting games, which could be made with less than a hundred million won in just over half a year. In other words, it would be great to start working on it as soon as the decision was made.

“Yes, I will contact him and let you know.”

Lee Soo-Hee took out her phone and immediately put the task on her calendar.

Nam Gyu-Ho finished his now-cold cup of coffee and asked casually, “How’s the closed beta preparations for Dragon Knights?”

“It’s going swimmingly.”

Dragon Knights was a new mobile game that Oh Myung-Hoon had been working on. Its release date was approaching, but Nam Gyu-Ho wasn’t particularly excited about it. All he hoped for was that the game would break even eventually.

‘The game isn’t that bad overall, but something feels off…’

Nam Gyu-Ho would always feel some sort of discomfort whenever he thought of Dragon Knights. The part that disturbed him the most was the light atmosphere and unfitting scenario. The scenario was written in a serious and heavy tone, without an ounce of humor in the characters.

Of course, he was aware of the root cause.

Vague communications with the screenwriter during the development process.

Out of every five meetings, Oh Myung-Hoon would reluctantly appear in one, and even so, he would only sit quietly without voicing or participating in the scenario discussions.

He wouldn’t even respond to either Nam Gyu-Ho or Lee Soo-Hee’s opinions.

However, Oh Myung-Hoon was still the game’s screenwriter just because he had reflected everyone’s opinions accordingly in the scenario script.

There wasn’t any communication, but at the very least, he listened to their opinions.

He had completely edited the parts that Nam Gyu-Ho had pointed out. That was why Nam Gyu-Ho couldn’t openly voice out or argue over the fact that he felt somewhat disturbed and dissatisfied with the finished product.This chapter made its debut appearance via n(o)vel(b)(i)(n).

Nam Gyu-Ho knew that his opinions couldn’t always be right, so he hoped that a rebuttal would be in place whenever he voiced his opinions. It was through his process of persuasion that the team would eventually build a great game.

However, they failed to resolve their issue with Oh Myung-Hoon.

Oh Myung-Hoon still looked stiff as usual.

‘This isn’t just a loss.’

Nam Gyu-Ho put on a weary smile and concluded his thoughts. He would never want to work with a dogmatic writer like Oh Myung-Hoon ever again, even if his life depended on it.

“Anyway, let’s try arranging a meeting with him first.” Nam Gyu-Ho stood up and left the pantry.

Lee Soo-Hee stood up briefly and greeted Nam Gyu-Ho as he left, then sat back down with her phone in hand. As usual, her heart was pounding as she wrote a text message to Ha Jae-Gun.

***

“Yeah, Jae-Gun. You’re out front? Okay, you know the password, right? Come up quickly. I’m starving to death waiting for you.”

Park Do-Joon hung up the call and put his phone back in his pocket, then grabbed the frying spatula. An unsightly and disfigured egg roll was sizzling in the frying pan.

“It’s weird. It’ll turn out delicious-looking whenever I’m cooking for myself, but now that I’ve got a guest coming, the appearance is way off the charts,” Park Do-Joon grumbled with dissatisfaction, tilting his head from side to side.

Park Do-Joon was waiting for Ha Jae-Gun at his studio today. Cameras were installed in the corners of the house by the broadcast crew, and there was a huge bear equipped with a camera—the program’s mascot—sitting on the sofa in the middle of the room.

Beep, beep, beep—

“Oh, I think he’s here.” Park Do-Joon was talking to himself more than usual today. The camera lens followed Park Do-Joon’s face and eyes closely as he looked toward the foyer.

The writer, standing at the border between the kitchen and the living room, nodded at Park Do-Joon.

“Why are you so late?”

“I was waiting for the elevator, it was all the way at the top.”

Ha Jae-Gun was smiling, but he looked slightly nervous. The screenwriter’s advice to talk comfortably like normal didn’t help at all. The clips would be edited, but whatever they were recording at the moment would still make it to the final broadcast version.

‘I’m not sure what to say.’

Ha Jae-Gun gulped to soothe his parched throat. He couldn’t help but be conscious of the multiple cameras and staffers watching his every move.

Meanwhile, Park Do-Joon was indeed a celebrity. There wasn’t much change in him aside from how he was slightly more excited and talking to himself more than usual.

“It looks like a mess, but just eat them. They’re all the same once it goes into your stomach,” Park Do-Joon said, transferring the messy egg roll onto a plate.

Ha Jae-Gun sat across from Park Do-Joon and picked up the chopsticks. “This is good enough. It’s already amazing that a man living alone was willing to try cooking egg rolls.”

“I know, right?”

“Yeah, I’m so lazy I actually just eat raw eggs for some protein.”

“Hey, that’s just too much,” Park Do-Joon asked, sounding incredulous before laughing.

Ha Jae-Gun stole a glance at the screenwriter and felt relieved.

‘Would this sort of conversation make the cut?’

Ha Jae-Gun’s nervousness was slowly going away.

“Isn’t that the leftover cheese from the last time I was here? You left it there without cleaning it away?”

“You should have pretended that you couldn’t see it if you’re my friend.”

“You didn’t wash the wine glasses, either?”

“I’ve been busy, man, so I haven’t come home for a while. Stop it already.”

Their friendly chat continued for quite a while. After finishing their meal and cleaning up, Park Do-Joon and Ha Jae-Gun sat down on the sofa next to each other.

Park Do-Joon turned on the TV while Ha Jae-Gun took out his laptop and started working on his scenario. Park Do-Joon sipped on his coffee and asked, “You’re working on the scenario, right? Are you almost done?”

“Yeah. I just have to complete the ending scene, and it’s done.”

“Do your best. I want to appear in my coolest form.”

“You already look cool as an actor, would the scenario even make any difference?”

“Wow, Writer Ha Jae-Gun. You’re saying all the good and kind words now with these cameras around us.”

“Nonsense, I speak only the truth.”

Park Do-Joon took another sip of coffee and asked again, “Did you meet any difficulties when writing the scenario?”

“Hmm…”

Ha Jae-Gun looked away from his laptop and pondered for a while. Park Do-Joon had just asked a question that required a bit more prudence to answer.

Of course, Ha Jae-Gun wasn’t really planning on saying anything that could be edited in a way that would make his words mean differently than what he truly meant.

“It’s all good, I didn’t have any tough times when working on it.”

“Really?”

“Director Yoon Tae-Sung takes my opinions positively, and we always discuss parts that need revisions, but there aren’t a lot of those either.”

“Do you think the movie will turn out like what you envisioned while writing the novel? That’s the reason you’re writing the scenario yourself, right?”

“Well, yeah. I think the atmosphere will transfer to the movie from the original novel. The director is highly capable, so I’m not exactly worried as well.”

Their talks about the movie ended there. The filming continued for a while more, and the cameramen finally took down the cameras after the filming was done.

“Thanks for the hard work. We got a few good scenes thanks to Writer Ha Jae-Gun.”

“I didn’t do anything much. Thank you for your hard work.”

Park Do-Joon left the house with Ha Jae-Gun to send him off. As they took the elevator, Park Do-Joon lightly tapped Ha Jae-Gun’s shoulders.

“How was it?”

“It was easier than I expected. I still couldn’t speak naturally with so many cameras around. Was I too stiff?”

“No. Your comments were witty, you were great at talking, too.”

They got off the elevator and arrived at Ha Jae-Gun’s car. Lee Yeon-Woo didn’t drive Ha Jae-Gun here today, as Ha Jae-Gun had personal things to attend to after the filming for I Live Alone.

“You’re heading down to Donghae City later at midnight, right?”

“Probably. I won’t be able to see you for two weeks. Why don’t you come down to hang out for a bit since you’re all done with the scenario and have nothing else urgent to tend to?”

“I might have something urgent coming up; who knows?”

“What would it be? Are you going to work on another new novel?”

“Not a new novel. I’ll let you know once it’s confirmed.”

“You just made me curious, but fine… Drive safely, and call me again.”

“Yeah, go back in.”

Ha Jae-Gun entered the address to Nextion’s headquarters on the navigator and drove out onto the road. He soon arrived at their office since it wasn’t that far from Park Do-Joon’s house.

“Ha Jae-Gun, over here.”

Lee Soo-Hee was standing by the roadside and waved at him.

Ha Jae-Gun parked his car by the road, and Lee Soo-Hee quickly hopped onto the front passenger seat.

“Why are you standing out here waiting? You might catch a cold. I said I’d call you when I arrive.”

“I saw that it’s almost time for you to arrive, so I just came out first. Let’s go, the cars are coming in behind.”

Ha Jae-Gun met Lee Soo-Hee to talk about the game adaptation of Oscar’s Dungeon and for a simple housewarming session as well. They had decided to have dinner at Ha Jae-Gun’s house, so Lee Soo-Hee didn’t drive to work today.

“Did the filming for I Live Alone end well?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t as difficult as I expected.”

“You’ll become more popular once the episode is live.”

“I don’t think so. My face is quite common.”

The traffic was quite bad since it was peak hours when everyone was getting off work. It took a while for them to arrive at Ha Jae-Gun’s house finally, and Ha Jae-Gun parked in the garage.

‘Huh?’

Ha Jae-Gun subconsciously stepped on the brakes, and his eyes widened in shock upon seeing Ha Jae-In’s car in the garage.

“Whose car is that?”

“Ah… It’s my sister’s.”

Ha Jae-Gun then recalled the phone conversation he had with Ha Jae-In.

Ha Jae-Gun said that she could come over anytime when she wanted to drop by this week with the kimchi she made. He had totally forgotten about it since it had happened a few days ago, so he didn’t expect that she would drop by today.

Ha Jae-In heard the sound of a car engine outside and came out to the foyer. Her eyes then met with Ha Jae-Gun and Lee Soo-Hee. She stared at them alternately before saying, “Oh my, she’s… your batchmate, Ms. Soo-Hee, right?”

“Hello, it’s been a while.” Lee Soo-Hee calmly alighted from the car and greeted Ha Jae-In politely.

Ha Jae-In covered her smile with her hands, unsure of what to do.

“Uh, wait… Hello. Oh my, look at me. Seriously, Jae-Gun. If you were going to be with Ms. Soo-Hee, you should have called me in advance. I had no idea that he would have a guest, I’m sorry I came out looking like this.”

“Noona, Soo-Hee is here for work today.”

Ha Jae-In led Lee Soo-Hee into the house, ignoring her brother’s words.

“Come in. Jae-Gun doesn’t really clean the house much, so it’s quite messy. I hope you’ll understand.”

Ha Jae-In brought Lee Soo-Hee to the dining table and served her a cup of coffee. After a short talk, Ha Jae-In quickly took her empty cup and stood up. “I’m leaving now.”

“Already?”

Ha Jae-In grinned and picked up her coat.

“You said you’re meeting for work, so I shouldn’t take up too much of your time. I bought ingredients for shabu-shabu, so make some for yourself.”

Lee Soo-Hee stood up as well and said, “Have dinner with us, unni.”

“Hmm…? But if I’m around, what about your work…”

“Thirty minutes are more than enough for us to talk about work. It’s been a while since I last met you, so I would like to talk with you more. I’ll help with preparations for the shabu-shabu, too.”

Ha Jae-In was ecstatic to hear that, but she still glanced at Ha Jae-Gun.

Ha Jae-Gun didn’t reply. He headed to the sink and took out an onion from the mesh bag.

“Are five onions enough?”

“Hey, you should just stay put. You’ll just become a hindrance if you help out.”

Ha Jae-In pushed Ha Jae-Gun out of the kitchen and put on the apron.

Lee Soo-Hee followed suit, wearing an apron over her sweater.

“Should I slice the meat? Or prep the vegetables first?”

“What? Ahhh…”

Another wave of admiration appeared on Ha Jae-In’s face. Such questions like that meant that Lee Soo-Hee had never stepped into the kitchen much and wouldn’t be helpful at all.

Lee Soo-Hee revealed her kitchen skills right off the bat by asking such a question.

“Ah, if so… can you help with the vegetables, Ms. Soo-Hee?”

“Okay.”

Lee Soo-Hee immediately took out the cutting board and knife, and then she started working on the vegetables. Ha Jae-In smiled, seeing her trim the vegetables.

“I’m quite surprised, Ms. Soo-Hee. It’s cheating if a career woman is great in the kitchen as well, really.”

“No, unni. I’m still lacking in many areas. Please speak comfortably to me like you would with Jung-Jin.”

The laughter from the kitchen traveled to Ha Jae-Gun’s ears.

Ha Jae-Gun was sitting on the sofa in a daze, predicting what would happen.

Ha Jae-In had fallen hard for Lee Soo-Hee the moment they first met, and it seemed that it was still true to this day. Ha Jae-Gun could only pray hard that his sister wouldn’t spout nonsense to Lee Soo-Hee.

Bzzt!

A phone call came in. The number shown on the screen made Ha Jae-Gun narrow his eyes, as there wasn’t any reason for this person to contact him at all.

“Hello?”

Chapter 125. There Was A Sea (7)

— Hello, Writer Ha. I hope you haven’t had dinner yet?

“Yeah, we’re still cooking dinner. Anyway, why did you call? Aren’t you back in your hometown?”

The person on the other end of the line was Kang Min-Ho.

They had been seeing each other daily at the writer’s office, so there was really no need for them to call each other on a normal basis. On top of that, Kang Min-Ho went back to his hometown, so it was a surprise that he would call Ha Jae-Gun.

— Um… I was just watching the sea and suddenly thought of you, so I decided to give you a call.

“Haha. Why would you think of me when you’re doing something so romantic like watching the sea? Shouldn’t you be thinking of some beautiful woman instead?

— I know, right? Hahaha…

Kang Min-Ho’s voice sounded unusually low. His laughter also sounded unnatural, more like self-mockery. Feeling the worries Kang Min-Ho was concealing, Ha Jae-Gun asked, “Please tell me what’s bothering you.”

— My family is urging me to get married.

Surprisingly, Kang Min-Ho spilled the beans relatively quickly.

— They nagged me and said that I was thirty-five, but I still had no girlfriend, so they arranged a blind date for me. I’ve already met the lady once, and now I have to meet her again before I head back to Seoul. She’s the daughter of my father’s friend.

“Mm, I see.”

— At first impression, she seems pretty nice and kind. She’s not bad at all, but…

“You don’t feel that way for her, right?”

— Truthfully speaking, yes. I don’t feel that way for her. She seemed to be more interested in how much I earn through royalties instead of the content of my novel. Ah, please don’t misunderstand. I’m not trying to undermine her or anything, as it’s natural for women to consider the man’s financial situation if they are looking forward to marriage. I definitely understand that.

“Yes, of course.”

— I suddenly thought if all the women in this world were like that. Writer Ha, I’ve barely managed to see the light at the end of the tunnel at my age as an ink slinger, and my future is still quite uncertain. I guess my income will still fluctuate throughout my entire life.

Ha Jae-Gun silently listened to Kang Min-Ho’s rants. He hadn’t realized it at first, but it seemed that Kang Min-Ho had drunk quite a bit.

— However… I wondered if there’d ever be a woman who would support an ink slinger like me, who would probably never get to own a beautiful house or car. It’s quite pathetic of me, right?

Ha Jae-Gun was suddenly reminded of Jang Eun-Young.

The two of them had known each other for a long time after meeting for the first time at a literary class back in high school. He could vaguely guess the strange air that was flowing between them.

— Would I ever meet a woman like that?

“I think—no, there’s definitely someone like that.”

Ha Jae-Gun changed his reply from a guess to one with certainty. Kang Min-Ho was probably waiting to hear the name Jang Eun-Young from him, and that could be why he called Ha Jae-Gun in the first place as well.

However, Ha Jae-Gun didn’t speak her name and instead said, “I think you’ll be able to find someone like that if you look around you more closely.

— …

The silence that followed made Kang Min-Ho’s breathing sound louder as well. Ha Jae-In was about to ask Ha Jae-Gun where the seasonings were kept but returned to the kitchen after seeing him talking with a grim look on the phone.

— Thank you, Writer Ha. I’ve gained some courage thanks to you.

Kang Min-Ho sounded refreshed.

— I’m sorry for taking so much of your time. Have a good night, and I’ll see you again when I return.

“Cheer up, Writer Kang. Everything will turn out fine.”

— Thank you, have a good rest.

Ha Jae-Gun fell into deep thought after the call.

The silence from Kang Min-Ho at the end could be due to fear. What if things went wrong after he confessed? What if their relationship broke down because of it?

Kang Min-Ho was afraid of the ramifications, and he wasn’t sure if he could take the fallout if things went wrong.

“Jae-Gun, are you done talking on the phone?”

Ha Jae-Gun was pulled back to reality by Lee Soo-Hee’s voice.

Lee Soo-Hee was holding a ladle and a small dish in hand with an apron wrapped around her waist. Ha Jae-Gun stared at her blankly. Of course, he was still concerned about Kang Min-Ho.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“Uh, no… It’s nothing. What is it?”

“Can you taste this for us? It tastes fine to Unni and me, but we’re not sure if you’d like it.”

Ha Jae-Gun sprung up and closed in on her. Lee Soo-Hee held out the ladle for him gently. Before taking a taste, Ha Jae-Gun blew onto the ladle a couple of times, making Lee Soo-Hee chuckle.

“It’s not hot. You don’t have to blow on it.”

“Mm… It’s just nice. Delicious.”

“Right? Dinner’s almost done now, so you can come over.”

The three of them sat around the table and enjoyed dinner together.

Ha Jae-In didn’t once bring up any topic that would put her brother in a pickle, except the fact that her continuous chatting with Lee Soo-Hee had shown Ha Jae-Gun that she was extremely pleased with this female friend of his.

After dinner, the three had a cup of coffee each, and only when Lee Soo-Hee had finally gone to use the bathroom after finishing washing the dishes did Ha Jae-Gun say to Ha Jae-In.

“It’s already 9 p.m., it’s too late for you to drive back home, so stay over tonight.”

“Can I?”

“What’s with that question? My house is your house. I’m going to talk about work with Soo-Hee for a while more and send her back home.”

Lee Soo-Hee returned from the bathroom. She was already prepared to leave as she had already picked up her coat and bag.

“Tonight was fun. Thank you for the delicious meal, Unni.”

“I’m sad to see you leave so soon, Ms. Soo-Hee. Let’s meet again soon, okay?”

The ladies bade their goodbyes while Ha Jae-Gun took his car keys and walked to the foyer.

Lee Soo-Hee held him back and tightened her grip on him before shaking her head.

“I’ve called a taxi, it’ll come in a minute.”

“Why did you do that? I’m going to send you back either way.”

“You’re going to let your sister stay alone in this huge house?”

“Ms. Soo-Hee, I’m fine. Jae-Gun’s car must be more comfortable as well.”

“I’ve already called for one, so I’ll just take the taxi back today. It won’t take me too long, either. Please rest well, and I’ll see you again,” Lee Soo-Hee insisted politely.

Ha Jae-Gun followed her out of the house and grumbled disapprovingly, “You’re making me feel apologetic when we’ve agreed to meet up today.”

“If you feel bad, then buy me a delicious meal after the meeting.”

“That’s a given, but is there anything else you need to tell me about the work?”

“Mm, I’m not so sure how things will turn out from here on as well. I’ll call you again once I’ve got the meeting date set.”

A taxi was already waiting for them at the main gate. Lee Soo-Hee was about to open the door to the back passenger seat, but something popped into her mind, prompting her to look at Ha Jae-Gun.

“I think I’ve told you before in passing. Anyway, our director is good at his work, but he’s quite straightforward, and he speaks in a light-hearted tone. As long as you keep that in mind, I don’t think you’ll have much difficulty with him.”

“All right, thank you for the advice.”

“I’m going now. Have a good time with your sister.”

Ha Jae-Gun watched as Lee Soo-Hee’s taxi drove out of his sight before finally returning to the house. He then saw Ha Jae-In wiping the table with a complicated look.

“Why are you cleaning the table when there’s no dust on it?”

“One will be the dumbest man alive if they ever lose such a great woman.”

“What’s that about?”

“Yeah, I know, right? I’m going to shower first, smart writer Ha Jae-Gun.”

Ha Jae-In took a fresh set of clothes and headed to the bathroom.

Ha Jae-Gun sat on the sofa and thought of Lee Soo-Hee. He recalled why they agreed to meet today and took out his phone to check out Nextion’s homepage. He wanted to check out what kind of games they had been releasing.

***This chapter made its debut appearance via n(o)vel(b)(i)(n).

The traffic was unusually heavy this morning. While the car was crawling along the streets, Nam Gyu-Ho was breathing short and heavy breaths in the back seat.

“I’m sorry, Director. I’m not sure why the city roads are so congested today.”

“Isn’t it natural for the roads to be congested at this time of the day?”

“Ah, yes… I see.”

“Anyway, just make sure we arrive as soon as possible.”

When they finally arrived at the office, it was already thirty minutes past the agreed meeting time. Nam Gyu-Ho opened the door in a hurry and alighted even before the car could come to a complete stop. Nam Gyu-Ho’s demeanor had always been the epitome of composure, but he was now running toward the elevator.

The elevator doors opened, and a few people walked out.

Nam Gyu-Ho failed to recognize any of them, as he was in a rush.

‘I’m going crazy.’

Nam Gyu-Ho gnashed his teeth. The workload had increased, and the traffic made him late for the appointment.

Bzzt!

It was a call from Lee Soo-Hee. This was the third call from her.

Nam Gyu-Ho picked up the phone and said, “I’m in the elevator heading up.”

— Writer Ha waited for quite a while, and he had just left.

“What? He left?”

— Yes, he has an interview with a newspaper and said he’ll be late if he waits any longer.

Lee Soo-Hee’s business-like voice sounded colder than usual.

“Urgh.”

Nam Gyu-Ho wiped the sweat off of his forehead. He suddenly noticed his own reflection off the glass on the elevator wall, and he could see that he was truly annoyed.

“All right, I’ll be in the office soon.”

— Okay. I’m heading for a meeting with the server team now.

As Nam Gyu-Ho stepped out of the elevator, he met the marketing team leader.

Nam Gyu-Ho brought him to his office and asked to hear the entire story.

“…We kept telling him about the traffic congestion and asking for his understanding, but Writer Ha said that he couldn’t wait any longer, as he had an interview with a newspaper company. I couldn’t hold him back.”

“Did he say anything else?”

“Nothing. He was reading a book with a stoic look while waiting for you. I couldn’t figure out his thoughts at all.”

Nam Gyu-Ho licked his dried lips and stared into space.

It wouldn’t be strange if Ha Jae-Gun were angry. After all, Nam Gyu-Ho was the planning director of Nextion, the largest game development company in South Korea.

“I’m not some crude venture company who creates adult-themed Go-Stop games, was thirty minutes that long of a wait?” Nam Gyu-Ho scoffed.

The team leader kept quiet as he knew that it was a rhetorical question.

“What do you think?”

“Pardon?”

“We’re going to pay him millions just to buy his IP and make a game out of it, but he ups and leaves when it’s just a thirty-minute delay in the schedule? Is he that much of a big deal? What do you think of him?”

The team leader fixed his glasses silently, seemingly in distress.

Nam Gyu-Ho’s gaze remained on him, so the team leader had no choice but to speak after much hesitation.

“Um, after seeing him today and also from what I’ve heard from Team Leader Lee, I don’t think Writer Ha Jae-Gun is a money-driven person.”

“…?”

“He’s probably willing to let his novel be adapted into a game not because of the money but for the joy and honor. If someone or something doesn’t sit well with him, he’ll leave, no matter how much money you throw at him. Plus, he should have earned billions alone this year.”

Surprise briefly flashed across Nam Gyu-Ho’s face. He knew that one of Ha Jae-Gun’s novels had been adapted into a movie and had even become a bestselling work, but to think that he had earned billions this year alone…

It was unbelievable.

“Do writers earn that much these days?”

“The market for genre novels has been growing exponentially, but every writer can earn that much.”

“We should probably give a raise to all our writers in the planning team before they decide to quit and change careers to become writers themselves.

”All right, I’ve roughly understood just what kind of a person he is, so arrange another meeting with him outside. I’ll apologize and buy him dinner as well.”

“Okay, I will convey that to Team Leader Lee Soo-Hee.”

The marketing team leader left the office, and Nam Gyu-Ho started arranging his remaining tasks on hand.

Roughly an hour later, a message from Lee Soo-Hee came through the internal messenger app.

-I’ve just contacted Writer Ha Jae-Gun. He’s busy next week and will also be going down to Donghae the following week to monitor the filming onsite, so he can’t confirm his schedule for the time being. He said he would contact us again when his schedule opens up in half a month’s time.

“…?!” Nam Gyu-Ho was shocked, his expression saying, ‘Look at this punk?!’ The corner of his lips was trembling at the ridicule he was feeling.

“Is he really busy? Or is this a matter of pride?”

Whichever it was, it didn’t matter to Nam Gyu-Ho. What was important was the process and whether things would work out or not. After some pondering, Nam Gyu-Ho pulled out his phone and personally gave Ha Jae-Gun a call.

— Hello, this is Mr. Ha Jae-Gun’s manager, Lee Yeon-Woo.

“May I speak to Writer Ha Jae-Gun, please.”

— I’m sorry, but who is this?

“He’ll know if you tell him that it’s Nam Gyu-Ho from Nextion.”

— He’s currently in an interview.

Nam Gyu-Ho gulped and asked, “When will the interview end?”

— It’s a relatively in-depth interview, so it would take at least three hours. Mr. Nam Nam Gyu-Ho from Nextion, right? Is that all I have to convey?

Nam Gyu-Ho scoffed reflexively. Mr. Nam Gyu-Ho from Nextion? It was his first time being addressed like that.

“Please tell him to call me back as soon as possible.”

— Writer Ha has a lecture right after the interview as well, but I’ll make sure to let him know.

Nam Gyu-Ho sprung up immediately.

“Look, Mr. Manager? I must talk to him today, so please make sure he gives me a call.”

— I will let him know.

However, the manager only repeated his words like a parrot.

Nam Gyu-Ho loosened his necktie roughly when the call was ended unilaterally without hearing a definite answer from the other party. His eyes were wide open in anger, glistening like glass reflecting light due to the lenses he was wearing.

An hour, two, and three hours later, he still hadn’t received a call. It was only when Nam Gyu-Ho arrived home after work and was lying in bed that he received a message.

-This is Ha Jae-Gun. I’m sending you a message instead of making a call since it’s late after my lecture ended. I told Team Leader Lee Soo-Hee about my schedule earlier. I’m unavailable in the near future, so I’ll contact you again half a month later.

“Hahaha…!”

Nam Gyu-Ho burst into laughter while looking up at the ceiling. He climbed out of bed and headed to the kitchen, taking out a bottle of liquor from the cupboard. He was no longer sleepy.