Big Life

“Please take a seat. Here’s a seat cushion for you.”

“Ah, thank you.” Jung So-Mi took the seat cushion and placed it on the floor. Then, she sat on her knees.

Ha Jae-Gun saw that she was still carrying her heavy-looking backpack, so he suggested, “Feel free to put your bag down and sit comfortably.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Do you like your coffee cold?”

“Yes, please.”

Rika slowly approached Jung So-Mi as she put down her backpack. Jung So-Mi then noticed Rika for the first time. She then changed from knee-sitting into sitting cross-legged and laughed. “Hey, you’re very pretty; what’s your name?”

“Her name’s Rika.”

“Oh, your name is Rika? Oh, my, you’re so cute! Oh, I wasn’t speaking informally to you, Writer Ha. I was just talking to Rika…”

Jung So-Mi smiled awkwardly and started stroking Rika. Rika climbed onto Jung So-Mi’s lap and laid down, clawing her paws in the air, seemingly in an effort to act cute in front of Jung So-Mi.

‘I’m glad to see that Rika’s getting along well with Jung So-Mi.’

Ha Jae-Gun was making coffee when he stole a glance at Rika and found the scene quite unexpected, especially when Rika acted slightly different compared to when Lee Soo-Hee came here. It looked as if Rika knew Jung So-Mi all along.

“Here you go.”

“Thank you for the drink.”

Ha Jae-Gun handed the iced coffee to Jung So-Mi and headed to his desk. Ha Jae-Gun had no idea, but it was perhaps thanks to Jung So-Mi’s visit that he could take a breather.

Ha Jae-Gun soon felt more relaxed. As he faced the screen and looked at the draft, he seemed to have calmed down significantly.

‘My special ability hasn’t disappeared.’

Ha Jae-Gun became sure of it after briefly reading through the quest background he had written earlier. Seo Gun-Woo’s talents, which Ha Jae-Gun had assumed to be the latter’s judgment and inspiration, were still there. They were still in his mind.

In addition, he could still see traces of them in the text he had written on the document.

However, the most important question here was why couldn’t he write decent lines for the female character? The only conclusion he could come up with was that he was still inexperienced when it came to identifying a woman’s unique subtleties.

‘Deargreat senior… Did you not have enough love experiences as well?!’ Ha Jae-Gun asked the faceless old man while in despair.

He had no idea that it would be this difficult to write from the female’s perspective. If he had known that something like this would happen to him one day, then he would have tried writing a romance novel.

The belated regret fell to the ground along with his heavy sigh. It was a double whammy for him since he wasn’t even sure if his special ability was still working. Of course, he was sure that his special ability was still there.

“Meow.”

“Ack, Rika, where are you going?”

Rika got out of Jung So-Mi’s lap and walked back to her own house, sitting comfortably. Her pupils reflected both Ha Jae-Gun and Jung So-Mi’s appearances clearly.

“Uh-huh?!” Ha Jae-Gun suddenly slapped his forehead lightly, and his eyes widened in shock. An unprecedented feeling filled his mind. That weird sensation slowly traveled through his entire body and even through his pounding heart.

“W-wait! W-what is t-this is…?!”

“...Writer Ha? What’s wrong? Does your head hurt?”

“N-no, wait a minute.” Ha Jae-Gun kept one hand on his head and stopped Jung So-Mi with his other hand. Jung So-Mi tried to stand up, but she sat back down again.

‘What’s this feeling of excitement? These emotions aren’t mine. That’s not how I’m feeling now.’

His emotions right now could be regarded as the color light pink. If regarded as a season, it would be the season of late spring but in the middle of transitioning to summer. All these emotions and scenes filled a corner of his mind to the brim.

“Meow.” Rika’s cry pulled Ha Jae-Gun back to his senses. Ha Jae-Gun’s facial muscles started twitching violently immediately afterward. It was all because he could feel and see it.

He found it hard to describe the phenomenon, but it was as if Jung So-Mi’s feelings were being conveyed to him through Rika. It kept on surging in him, seemingly endless.

‘So these… are Ms. Jung So-Mi’s emotions?’

Ha Jae-Gun’s heart pounded madly against his chest as he made a sidelong glance at Rika. His heart was beating faster than normal, similar to a light and fast-bouncing rubber ball.

Was this what Jung So-Mi felt when she saw Rika for the first time? Ha Jae-Gun stood there rooted. He looked like he couldn’t move as his eyes glazed over as if he had lost his soul. It wasn’t really weird. The anomaly was just that strange.

“Writer Ha…. Are you sure you’re okay? Your head hurts, am I right? If you don’t have any medicine here, I can run to the nearest pharmacy…”

“No, it’s fine.” Ha Jae-Gun returned to his laptop at once. He had to try it at least once. Having decided to stop delaying it even further, Ha Jae-Gun started writing out the lines for the female character, Oh Soo-Min.

‘No way!’

Ideas started coming to him after he started typing out the first line. Oh Soo-Min’s dialogue came out smoothly as if he were pulling noodles from dough. The feelings of cringe and the non-immersion he had earlier disappeared without a trace.

“Excuse me, Ms. Jung So-Mi. How old are you?” Ha Jae-Gun asked while still fixated on his laptop screen.

The random question took Jung So-Mi by surprise, but without any probing, she still answered him, “Ah, I’m going to be twenty-two this year.”

“Oh, so you got employed right after graduating.”

“Yes, that’s right. I started sending out my resume to various companies before I even graduated, and I got lucky.”

Ha Jae-Gun's eyes shone with vigor, and he started typing away on his keyboard. Oh Soo-Min's lines were filling up the screen at record speed. More accurately, it was thanks to Jung So-Mi's overflowing emotions that resembled an ore mine, and it allowed Ha Jae-Gun to use them as inspiration in his work.

Ha Jae-Gun was simply refining the raw ores.

Jung So-Mi was the best model since she had just graduated from university last year. Moreover, she was of a similar age to the female game character. The editor Jung So-Mi was equipped with a few crucial aspects that quickly helped Ha Jae-Gun find the missing puzzle pieces for Oh Soo-Min.

"Phew…" Jung So-Mi sighed. Ha Jae-Gun's ear twitched upon hearing that.

He turned around slightly and spotted Jung So-Mi's legs propped upright. She was massaging her calves, which had become sore from sitting for an extended period of time.

At the sight, Ha Jae-Gun finally realized that the hot air was making the room turn stuffy. Jung So-Mi's legs were sweating even though she was wearing knee-length pants, which should have made her feel cool.

"Ah, I'm sorry. I forgot about it." Ha Jae-Gun shot up and turned on the air conditioner in a flash. Then, he decisively closed the windows.

Jung So-Mi waved her hand in response and said, "Oh, it's all right, Writer Ha. I don’t feel that hot. You don't have to turn on the air conditioner because of me. And I think it’s about time for me to leave as well."

Ha Jae-Gun turned around from closing the windows, and he stared at Jung So-Mi with a stunned look. Jung So-Mi had already picked up her bag and was getting ready to leave.

"You’re… leaving?"

"Yes, I can’t stay here any longer and disturb you from working. Thank you for the coffee," Jung So-Mi apologized and bowed deeply. There was no way she could have imagined that she was saving a writer’s life rather than getting in the way.

"May I use the sink? I'll wash the cup before leaving."

"W-w-wait a minute, Ms. Jung So-Mi." Ha Jae-Gun stuttered. The cogwheels in his mind hurriedly spun in an effort to find a reasonable way to make her stay. He couldn't just let her go like that; at the very least, he had to make her stay here until he was done writing the dialogues for Oh Soo-Min's quests.

"It's alright, I'll wash the cup."

"No, it's not about the cup."

"Oh? Then what is it…?" Jung So-Mi asked. She was staring at Ha Jae-Gun with her back facing the sink. Ha Jae-Gun stood in place and scratched the back of his head while thinking of words to say.

Bzzt!

All of a sudden, his phone vibrated in his pocket. It was a message from Lee Soo-Hee, and she was wondering about Ha Jae-Gun's progress on the draft. There was no way that Ha Jae-Gun could miss the underlying sense of urgency in her message. Lee Soo-Hee was definitely feeling anxious about their tight schedule.

Ha Jae-Gun put the phone back into his pocket and looked at Jung So-Mi again, who was still waiting for his reply while staring at him with her large, round eyes.

A phrase finally came to Ha Jae-Gun's mind, and he barely strung the phrase into a complete sentence that he quickly said out loud, "Ms. Jung So-Mi, could you please turn me into canned food?"