Big Life

Kwon Tae-Won woke up at 7 a.m. without the help of his alarm.

Shin Dong-Mi, who was supposedly sound asleep beside him, woke up at the rustling of the sheets.

"You're waking up early? You worked late last night, so you should sleep more."

"I've had enough sleep. You're the one who needs to sleep more."

"What about breakfast then?"

"I'll find something to eat. You should sleep a bit more." Kwon Tae-Won gently patted Shin Dong-Mi's forehead.

Shin Dong-Mi smiled blissfully as she closed her eyes once more.

Kwon Tae-Won left the room and prepared some toast and a cup of coffee for breakfast. Ever since he quit his job at Star Books and the temptation to smoke from time to time came in strong, Kwon Tae-Won would chew on some Eundan[1] to endure the temptation.

‘Naughty Roommate is doing well… Writer Jang definitely specializes in the adult romance genre. I should suggest working on an adult webtoon story sometime.’

Kwon Tae-Won sat down at his computer and started working away. By now, Laugh Books had already contracted over twenty writers. Their performance wasn’t really that remarkable yet, but Laugh Books was stabilizing, which was a good sign.

Above all, the monstrous writer Ha Jae-Gun was with him, which brought much relief.

Kwon Tae-Won’s day went by tirelessly.

Kwon Tae-Won started by reading numerous novels on novel distributing platforms to discover writers with good works. He would then ask them to sign contracts, read their manuscripts, give them feedback, outsource their book covers, and finally conduct business with various distributors.

All the work was done all year round, and it had been a year since then. It was only recently that he got some breathing space when things finally started to settle down.

It was thanks to the two new staff he had employed, including Jung So-Mi, who was in charge of editing.

It used to be just him and his wife, Shin Dong-Mi, doing all the work.

Kwon Tae-Won laughed, thinking back on how ridiculous that idea was…

‘Hmm? The sixth volume of Oscar’s Dungeon?’

He found the manuscript attached to an email from Ha Jae-Gun.

Kwon Tae-Won clicked on the file and started reading the manuscript.

It was perfectly revised. It was good enough to hand it over to the printing company immediately after editing it into a format suitable for publication.

‘Ms. So-Mi’s compliments are real.’

Kwon Tae-Won smiled and enjoyed reading the entire volume.

After flagging a few areas that were bugging him, he closed the Word program.

Bzzt!

His phone on the desk started vibrating from a call. The caller ID was unknown, but he still answered it as the President of Laugh Books.

“This is Kwon Tae-Won from Laugh Books.”

— Hello, I am Seo Hye-Ran from the business support team at the game development company, JoyM.

“JoyM?”

Kwon Tae-Won was familiar with them, even though he wasn’t really interested in games.

JoyM was a successful game development company. They had released a diverse list of games with some localized for the Japanese and Chinese markets. Overall, they were a popular company.

“Why would JoyM contact me…?”

— It is something related to Writer Ha Jae-Gun. We are currently planning to hold a lecture on creative content for our staff.

“Ah, I see. Creative content…” Kwon Tae-Won grabbed a pen and started taking down notes.

— We have a list of candidates for the lecture, and after some internal discussion, we have decided to ask if Writer Ha Jae-Gun would hold the lecture first. It’s scheduled for a day between the end of July to early August. We have yet to fix a venue, but it would definitely be in Seoul.

Kwon Tae-Won was already feeling quite positive about this. Holding a content-related lecture for all employees at JoyM was by far the best inquiry he had ever received.

Accepting this would have a significant impact on Ha Jae-Gun’s career, and it would promote his novels as well.

The lecture fee didn’t matter.

“I understand. I will discuss this with Writer Ha Jae-Gun and get back to you as soon as possible. Do I call this number?”

— Yes, I will also drop you a text with my mobile number. Feel free to contact me anytime. And if a meeting is necessary, we’re available tomorrow.

“I understand. I’ll be in touch.”

— Have a good day.

Kwon Tae-Won ended the call and looked at the time.

It was only 9 a.m. Looking at the time Ha Jae-Gun had sent the manuscript over, he guessed that Ha Jae-Gun should still be in dreamland.

Kwon Tae-Won decided to call Ha Jae-Gun later.

He decided to edit the manuscript for the sixth volume of Oscar’s Dungeon until then.

***

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Someone was banging on his apartment door.

It took Ha Jae-Gun quite a while to wake up because he spent the entire night working on his novel.

Ha Jae-Gun’s eyelids lifted slightly, and he grumbled inwardly. ‘Urgh, who is it?’

Ha Jae-Gun was extremely annoyed at the sudden visit from a stranger and how they were banging on the door when there was a doorbell next to the door.

He kicked his blanket away and sat up.

“Please stop banging on the door. Who is it?”

“Your father.”

“Sorry?”

“I said, your father!”

Ha Jae-Gun freaked out and hurriedly opened the door.

The visitor was indeed his father, Ha Suk-Jae. Ha Suk-Jae was carrying a box of kimchi wrapped nicely in a pink wrapping cloth[2].

“Father, why did you show up unannounced?” Ha Jae-Gun hurriedly took the box of kimchi from his father and stepped aside, inviting his father into the apartment.

Ha Jae-Gun was surprised because this was his father’s first visit here.

“Are you sure this is a room for humans to live in?”

Ha Suk-Jae looked around with a look of dissatisfaction.

“Your dirty dishes are piling up to the ceiling. Is that snow on your windowsill?”

“That—I definitely cleaned it the day before…”

Ha Jae-Gun scratched the back of his head, trying to come up with some excuse. In the end, he walked away and pulled a chair for Ha Suk-Jae.

“You should have called me before you came here, Father,” said Ha Jae-Gun.

“I called you five times. I even rang the doorbell over ten times.”

Ha Jae-Gun checked, and there were indeed five missed calls from his father on Ha Jae-Gun’s call log.

It seemed that he was truly fast asleep. He had to have collapsed because Seo Gun-Woo’s cup was still on cooldown.

“Your mom said that you should only take the amount you’re going to eat and seal the box tightly. Then, cover the outer leaves well and wrap them up tightly.”

“I know. Would you like a cup of coffee?”

“No need. Just give me a cup of cold water.”

Ha Suk-Jae gulped the cold water. Then, he looked at the meal table left in the corner of the room. He saw a pot of leftover ramyun soup, pickled radish, and used cutlery.

“Don’t just eat ramyun. Eat proper food, punk.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t just say yes all the time.” Ha Suk-Jae turned around to face Ha Jae-Gun before raising his voice. “Hey, must I get nagged at by your mom and come all the way to Seoul at my age? If you’re going to live independently, you should take good care of yourself. If you can’t handle your own meals, then just go back home.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Nonsense…”

Seeing his father grumble, Ha Jae-Gun smiled faintly. There was no way his father would come down just because of his mother’s nagging. He chuckled, knowing that his father visited out of worry for himself, yet he was still beating around the bush.

“What’s funny?”

“No, I just recalled a show I was watching last night.”

“Silly brat.” Ha Suk-Jae downed the rest of his cold water and continued. “Do you still remember my friend, Sang-Ok, who helped you with your novel before?”

Ha Jae-Gun wondered why his father brought his friend up, but he nodded anyway.

“Of course, I still remember him.”

“Sang-Ok’s student has a relative who is a smart young lady. She’s younger than you by two years and is an elementary school teacher. Do you want to meet her?”

Ha Jae-Gun’s expression stiffened. “Are you asking me to go on a blind date?”

“I’m not forcing you, so you don’t have to be afraid. However, you should meet her if you’re interested.”

“...”

“Your thoughts are the most important, so I won’t bring this up again. If you don’t wish to hear about this from me again, make sure you take good care of yourself.”

“I understand, Father.”

“All right, I’ll be leaving now.” Ha Suk-Jae put down the cup and stood up.

Ha Jae-Gun followed after him and said, “You should eat before going back.”

“Why should I eat with you when your mom has prepared a delicious meal for me at home?” Ha Suk-Jae hopped into his car and started the engine. He had bought the car secondhand from his friend after quitting his job.

“Remember to eat your meals regularly.”

“Yes, Father. Please drive safely,” said Ha Jae-Gun, and he watched as his father departed.

Ha Suk-Jae’s car could no longer be seen, but Ha Jae-Gun still stood rooted.

He stroked Rika for quite a while, seemingly lost in his thoughts.

‘So I’m old enough to get asked to go on blind dates already, huh.’

He chuckled again.

If his situation hadn’t changed, his father wouldn’t have brought that up at all.

‘If I don’t want him to bring that up again, I should really get myself together.’

Ha Jae-Gun rolled up his sleeves and started cleaning up his messy room. As expected of the early summer weather, Ha Jae-Gun soon started sweating. He thought about turning on the air conditioner, but his phone rang, interrupting him.

It was a call from Kwon Tae-Won.

“Hello, President.”

— Hello, Writer Ha. I enjoyed the manuscript you sent for Oscar’s Dungeon.

“Thank you, that’s great to hear.”

— Ms. So-Mi is currently working on the illustrations for the third volume, and when we’re almost done with the ones for volume four, we will start publishing.

“Okay, please go ahead.”

— There’s something else I need to tell you as well. There's a lecture request from JoyM, a game development company.

Kwon Tae-Won continued with a clear explanation.

Ha Jae-Gun listened to him quietly for a while, and then he eventually nodded. “I understand. Since you are pushing for it so actively, I should accept it.”

— When shall I schedule a meeting with them? They said they’re available tomorrow if you’d like.

“It’s fine.”

— All right, I will ask to schedule the meeting tomorrow. Ah, is there any special news for Summer in My 20s?

“I was informed that there’ll be a preview for the production companies in three to four weeks and that I should attend the preview as well.”

— Wow, they shoot movies quite fast these days. Hahaha, I understand. Please enjoy your meal, Writer Ha.

“Yes, you too, President.”

Ha Jae-Gun hung up and continued with his cleaning before eating lunch.

He very much wanted to have ramyun as he found it troublesome to prepare food, but he eventually decided to make a meal for himself upon recalling his father’s words.

When Ha Jae-Gun sat down at his desk and was about to work on the plot ideation for volume seven of Oscar’s Dungeon, a text from Lee Soo-Hee came in.

- Ha Jae-Gun, I’m working out of the office tomorrow, do you want to have dinner together?

The timing was perfect because the meeting with JoyM was at 4 p.m.

- Sure, I’ll be out tomorrow for an appointment as well, so let’s meet for dinner.

- Okay, I’ll call you again.

Ha Jae-Gun put down his phone and reached for the fountain pen instead of his laptop. He had a vague idea of the fountain pen’s ability. Despite his deepening concerns, quality sentences flowed out swimmingly.

***

Kwon Tae-Won heard himself gulp a mouthful of his own saliva. It couldn’t be helped because the two employees of JoyM were sitting across from him, and one of them was so beautiful that Kwon Tae-Won actually felt nervous.

‘What kind of game development company hires models as their employees?’

Kwon Tae-Won had pride in his standards, which was unlike the beauty standards commonly seen on TV.

He preferred an intellectual lady with a vibe that resembled a spring breeze, but the beautiful young woman in front of him seemed to be straight-laced.

Her seemingly prudent eyes were clear, and her slightly closed thick lips made it clear that she was a tenacious and resolute young woman.

‘But she looks familiar...’

Kwon Tae-Won looked at her for quite a while, finding her extremely familiar.

However, he couldn’t quite recall where he had seen her.

The beautiful young woman broke the ice and said, “JoyM is our subsidiary company, so I decided to join the meeting as well. It’s a combined plan, so our employees will be included in the list of attendees as well.”

Kwon Tae-Won ignored his parched throat and answered, “Ah… I see.”

There were still three minutes left until their appointment. He turned around to look for Ha Jae-Gun, who had yet to show up but speak of the devil, and he would come through the door.

“I’m sorry. The traffic was pretty bad. Sorry for being late…?!”

Ha Jae-Gun was stupefied, and he froze on the spot.

The beautiful young woman greeted Ha Jae-Gun with a bright smile, but she was someone he least expected to see at the meeting.

1. Candy in small bead sizes that make one's mouth feel refreshed with its smell. Made up of 7 oriental herbs. ☜

2. This is how they usually look like ☜