Big Life

"Hello, Writer Ha. Are you busy at the moment?"

— No. I'm actually quite free these days after completing the Records series. What is it about?

Ha Jae-Gun's voice sounded much more energetic than usual.

Kwon Tae-Won wet his lips with the tip of his tongue. A sudden wave of anxiety gripped him, and he started off carefully, "I’ve called to discuss your next novel."

— Oh, about my next novel?

"I know it’s going to be tough on you, but how about riding on the momentum and working on another title? What do you think, Writer Ha?”

— Hmm, actually…

Ha Jae-Gun’s voice suddenly sounded pretty tired all of a sudden. The change in tension in their conversation suddenly made Kwon Tae-Won feel weak in his legs.

Kwon Tae-Won took a seat in the chair placed outside the convenience store as he listened to Ha Jae-Gun.

— I haven’t thought of my next novel since I have been writing so many of them recently.

“That’s true… It’s also going to be exhausting for you as well.”

— I’m going to be honest with you, editor-in-chief. I’m looking to join a contest next month, that’s why I’m working on something else in the meantime.

“A contest?”

— Yes. It’s called the Digital Literature Award, organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. I have a long-form novel written back in my university days, so I’m looking to revise that and submit it for the contest.

A bitter smile formed on Kwon Tae-Won’s face. “Ah, I see. Writer Ha is great at writing, so I think you’ll be able to get good results from it.”

Kwon Tae-Won encouraged Ha Jae-Gun to suppress his disappointment because he knew how passionate Ha Jae-Gun was about writing.

It was why he had been treating Ha Jae-Gun with an open mind and with the utmost respect even though their sales had long bottomed out.

“You will be attending the authors’ meet this Saturday, right?”

— Ah, yes, that’s right. I should attend, after all, I’ve already promised Ms. So-Mi, so I will definitely appear.

“I understand. Good luck with your project, and I’ll see you then.”

— The same goes for you, editor-in-chief. I’ll see you again.

Kwon Tae-Won ended the call and pulled out a cigarette stick. He placed it between his lips, but he soon realized that he didn’t have a lighter on him.

‘Should I take a puff later?’

Kwon Tae-Won put the cigarette back into the pack as he decided to buy a lighter next time. Soon, it started raining despite the clear skies.

***

Poke!

“Ah! Rika! Are you crazy?!” Ha Jae-Gun shouted upon stepping out of the shower.

Rika was clawing at the outfit, which he had laid out on his bed in advance to wear to the authors’ meet later. Rika had successfully clawed out over three holes in it.

“What are you doing?! Are you trying to stop me from going out? Huh?” Ha Jae-Gun picked up Rika, who had turned his clothes into rags and scolded her.

However, Rika only turned her head away, acting as if she hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Ah, this is bad. That was my most presentable outfit.”

Ha Jae-Gun hadn’t purchased any new clothes in recent years because he wasn’t able to make a decent living out of his career, so he had no luxury to worry about his fashion.

Well, poverty was one of the reasons. Ha Jae-Gun wanted to dress up as well, but he had to consider a lot before buying even a piece of shirt from a shopping mall with a lot of cheap stores.

“This won’t do. Rika, I’m going to get your nails cut tomorrow. I’m going to start learning how to cut your nails tomorrow, and next time, I will be doing it personally.”

“Meow.”

Ha Jae-Gun dug through his musky drawers and finally found another piece of shirt.

The color on the shoulders and back had faded quite a bit because it had remained unused for much too long. However, he still pulled it over his head because it was the only other presentable outfit he currently had in his wardrobe.

“Thank you for making me spend money, Rika. I’ll try to come back earlier, so be good.”

“Meow, meow.”

Ha Jae-Gun quickened his footsteps as he exited the house. He was in Seoul, but he was in a fairly remote part that he still had to walk for quite a while until he reached the junction where the subway station was located.

The heat beating down on him was making him sweat buckets.

He soon arrived at a departmental store that was connected to the subway station.

The refreshing air in the building cooled him down immediately.

‘Should I change up my hairstyle?’ Ha Jae-Gun thought to himself as he looked down at his outfit.

He had been planning on buying just a new piece of top, but looking at his shabby jeans and worn-out shoes; he finally realized that he had been living as a single-suit gentleman[1] for quite some time now.

Ha Jae-Gun looked around the mall for a while and soon spotted a store that was to his taste and headed over there. It was a brand that he had never once looked at since the prices were well over his budget.

“Welcome. Are you looking for something specific?” asked the store employee as Ha Jae-Gun walked in.

“I’ll take a look around first.” Ha Jae-Gun looked around and eventually carried a navy blue collar shirt and a pair of beige slacks to the checkout counter.

The employee scanned the barcodes, and the two pieces of clothes amounted to over 400,000 won.

“Thank you,” Ha Jae-Gun thanked the staff.

“You’re welcome; please come again.”

Ha Jae-Gun then went off to a shoe store and got himself a pair of slip-on shoes suitable for the summer weather before heading over to the toilet. He chose the innermost cubicle and changed into his new clothes.

‘I probably should get a haircut, too.’ Ha Jae-Gun made the decision after seeing himself all dolled up in the mirror and noticing his rather unkempt hair. However, he was on a tight schedule, so he could only go to a barber shop the next day.

Ha Jae-Gun tossed away the old shirt and shoes he had and kept the jeans in his bag. Then, he headed out of the departmental store.

Now, he only had thirty minutes left to reach the destination, and he would surely be late if he were to take the subway. Ha Jae-Gun didn’t want to be late, so he decided to hail a taxi.

He seldom hailed a taxi for transportation because they could get pretty expensive.

“Hello,” the driver greeted as Ha Jae-Gun hopped into the back seat.

“Hello, mister. Please take me to Myungkyung University of the Arts in Nadong.”

Ha Jae-Gun started reading his novel’s manuscript as the taxi hit the road. The stack was eighty pages thick. The first page was the novel’s title, named: A 90’s Kid. It was around 120,000 characters long, which was perfect for a full-length novel.

‘Would this story please Professor Han?’

He had been working on it since his university days.

The story’s setting was in the 90s, and it was a drama and slice-of-life novel that depicts the main character’s life during his childhood days as well as his struggle in his thirties. It was a novel that perfectly portrayed the essences of friendship, betrayal, and the harsh yet full of dreams reality.

Ha Jae-Gun had received severe criticism from Professor Han when he had shown it to her a long time ago. She had mentioned how the story had no clear direction and how she couldn’t even tell whether it was actually a novel or an essay.

“Ha Jae-Gun, what if you start thinking about the standards you should adhere to whenever you’re writing the stories you want to write? This reads more like a detailed diary compared to what others would usually write.”

“This isn’t enough to be called a novel, and your personal feelings are mixed in as well. Who would pay for this mistake of a novel?”

“Feel free to bring me more of your own work, but I hope that you won't bring such shabby work again and waste my time. I believe you know what to do.”

Ha Jae-Gun did not show it on his face back then, but her words wounded him deeply. The injury he had sustained back then was even more profound because he had put too much effort into the story.

However, his most respected professor remained cold and didn’t even give a single word of encouragement until the end. Ha Jae-Gun drowned himself with drinks and had since then kept the manuscript in the deepest corner of his drawers.

He had forgotten all about it until recently when he gained the abilities of Seo Gun-Woo, which made him dig the manuscript out once more. He then decided to rewrite the entire manuscript, and he even polished it.

'This novel might only read well to me this time since fantasy novels are different from literary books. I can only edit it again if she gives me another bad feedback.'

Ha Jae-Gun had long acknowledged Professor Han’s ability, and he usually accepted over seventy percent of her evaluation deep inside him. Therefore, it was only natural that as the time to show her his manuscript drew closer.

He couldn’t calm himself down.

'I really want to win a prize…!'

He wanted to win and publish his next book with a paper band around it saying ‘Literature Award Winning Novel’ while it was being displayed in all bookstores nationwide.

This was Ha Jae-Gun's most earnest wish, as he believed that this was the only way for him to be acknowledged by his father. There was no way that his father would recognize his efforts based on the amount of money he was bringing back home.

As a writer, a winning accolade in literature and the honor it would bring was necessary for him to receive his father’s acknowledgment.

His father was part of the minority conventional group of people who thought that paperback books were the only real books and that fantasy, martial arts, or any other novels from the various genres out there couldn’t be considered a book.

His father hadn’t really mentioned it, but Ha Jae-Gun believed that it was the case.

"Is it fine to drop you off here?" asked the driver.

While he was busy in his thoughts, Ha Jae-Gun soon arrived at his destination. He pulled out his wallet and paid for the trip.

"Yes, thank you. Here is my fare."

After that, Ha Jae-Gun headed over to Professor Han's personal research lab, Room 403, and knocked on the door of the room. A woman's voice gave him permission to enter, and he proceeded to open the door.

"Hello, Professor."

"Oh, it's you, Jae-Gun. Come on in." Professor Han Hae-Sun, who was in her fifties, stood up and smiled brightly at him. There were stacks of papers piled up like mountains on her desk.

"Looks like you're judging for a writing contest, Professor."

"Yes, I’m getting tired of reviewing so many submissions. I must have looked through over thirty submissions up until now, but nothing really caught my eye yet. Do you want some coffee?"

"I'll do it." Ha Jae-Gun went ahead and made two cups of coffee, as he knew very well how the professor liked her coffee. He added a spoon of sugar to his cup and handed a cup of light black coffee to her.

"Thank you. The coffee you make is still the best to date."

"It's just coffee. And, happy birthday, Professor."

"Forget it. What's there to congratulate me when I'm another year older? Anyway, did you bring your manuscript?" Han Hae-Sun cut off their small talk and headed straight to the point.

Ha Jae-Gun nodded in a hurry and pulled out the large bundle of papers from his bag. Then, he handed it over to her respectfully.

"My time won’t be wasted reading this, right?"

Ha Jae-Gun couldn’t give her an immediate answer. He recalled the many nights he had stayed up late, and he recalled that he worked on this manuscript tirelessly until his eyes went bloodshot.

With those memories in mind, he said, "Yes, I am confident this time."

A faint smile appeared on Han Hae-Sun's face. Regardless of her age, the usual energetic look in her eyes could still look deep into his heart. Ha Jae-Gun remained steadfast even in the face of the invisible pressure coming from her.

"All right." Han Hae-Sun took a sip of her coffee and put it back down on the table.

"You mentioned that you have something else to do this evening, so you can’t join us for dinner, right?"

"Yes. I'm sorry; I'll make sure to visit you alone again next time, Professor."

"Go ahead. I'll take a look at your manuscript and give you feedback as soon as possible."

"I'll leave after finishing the coffee," said Ha Jae-Gun before downing the entire cup and standing up to leave.

Han Hae-Sun, who was now left all alone, set aside the contest submissions and started reading Ha Jae-Gun's manuscript. As she flipped more pages of Ha Jae-Gun’s work, the smile on her lips became more evident.

Two hours later, Han Hae-Sun was finally done reading Ha Jae-Gun’s novel. She burst into laughter after reading the note Ha Jae-Gun had left at the end of the manuscript.

- I'm thinking of entering the Digital Literature Award contest. If I manage to win and obtain the prize money, I'll definitely prepare a gift and hand it over to you personally, Professor.

"Sigh, that crazy kid."

All of a sudden, knocking could be heard from behind the door. The door opened, and eight people came in after she allowed them to come in.

They were all Han Hae-Sun's students and Ha Jae-Gun's classmates, Lee Soo-Hee was among them as well.

"Hello, Professor. How have you been? You look younger than you were last year."

"I enjoyed your thoughts on plagiarism that you shared on this month's Smashing Literacy. As expected of our Professor, it seems that you have never changed at all, especially with how you never hold back with the cutting remarks."

Her students bickered amongst themselves and said words she liked to hear. There were even some who exaggerated and acted like they ‘died’ after reading the column she had published.

Lee Soo-Hee was the only one who pulled herself out of the group and watched them with a bitter smile on her face.

"Professor, I wanted to bring Ha Jae-Gun along, too, but he had something else on tonight…" Lee Soo-Hee took the chance to explain after all the greetings were exchanged. Han Hae-Sun nodded with a knowing smile.

"I know; he called me in advance. He also dropped by earlier."

"He… dropped by earlier? Why?"

"He asked for my feedback on his novel." Han Hae-Sun raised the huge stack of paper in her hands.

Lee Soo-Hee was shocked to see the title A 90's Kid and the name Ha Jae-Gun printed on the front page.

"It seems that punk still has no manners,” said a student listening from the side.

The other students also started making their own comments one after another, as if they had agreed to do so beforehand.

"Yeah. How could he be so shameless to ask for a favor when he's not even here to attend Professor's birthday party tonight? Is he in the right mind?"

"This is ridiculous. Professor, you don’t have to waste your time reading his work."

That last student had almost said, 'Don't read his work; read mine instead,’ but he managed to stop himself.

Everyone here, aside from Lee Soo-Hee, was still writing part-time. They were all busy with their own jobs—yes, but they still hadn’t abandoned their dream of becoming a writer.

Naturally, they didn’t just come here to attend Professor Han Hae-Sun’s birthday party out of goodwill.

"Have you read it?" asked Lee Soo-Hee out of curiosity.

Instead of replying to Lee Soo-Hee’s question, Professor Han Hae-Sun showed her the note Ha Jae-Gun had left behind, and Lee Soo-Hee burst into laughter after reading it.

"How did you find it, Professor? Do you really think it'll be possible for him to win the Digital Literature Award?"

The mention of the award attracted the attention of the surrounding students. In fact, the students here had brought their own work with them to submit for the same contest.

Professor Han Hae-Sun was one of the judges, so they wanted to leave a good impression on her. This was the major reason they were here tonight.

"Mhmm, probably?" Professor Han Hae-Sun left them hanging and put Ha Jae-Gun's manuscript into her bag.

One of the female students who was also looking to join the contest contemplated for a while before she finally decided to ask, "I-Is his work that good? What is it about? How is his prose?"

"I shall not comment. You should just wait for the results. There's no need to get all curious about it for now. Ah, you lot are looking to join the contest as well?"

The female student looked down with her face flushed.

Professor Han Hae-Sun stood up from her table and continued, "Don't be too hopeful even if I'm one of the judges for the contest. You know my personality, right?”

”I even scolded Myung-Hoon a few days ago when he visited me with his manuscript. I scolded him when he tried to ask me for some leeway when judging his work."

"Does that mean… Myung-Hoon is also joining the contest?" The students’ expressions darkened.

News of Ha Jae-Gun and Oh Myung-Hoon’s participation discouraged the students because the two were one of the few best writers in their cohort.

"Aigoo, look at me. Didn't we make a dinner reservation? Let’s hurry up and get going. We shouldn’t be late, and I'm getting hungry."

"Yes, Professor, let's go." Lee Soo-Hee and Professor Han Hae-Sun took the lead and left the room first. A few moments later, the discouraged students followed them.

***

"They said that the writer over there is Oh Myung-Hoon."

"Ah, the one who wrote Her Sweet Room, right?"

"Yes, I heard it's in talks of getting adapted into a TV drama." A few writers were talking about Oh Myung-Hoon at their own tables.

Oh Myung-Hoon, who appeared at the authors’ meet dressed in an expensive suit, was currently surrounded by a few female writers specializing in the romance genre.

"Would I be able to gain the attention of the female writers if I were to start writing romance novels?"

"Hahaha, don't say that. You're making me sad."

The gathering organized by Star Books tonight was held at a luxury restaurant called Old Todamgol, and they had rented out the entire place for the event. There were roughly over fifty writers present, and they were seated all over the restaurant.

"He looks like he’s from a wealthy family, too."

"At this rate, I’ll die from jealousy if I were to look at him any longer."

All of a sudden, the entrance to the restaurant opened, and a young man walked in.

The writers turned around to see the new face.

"Who is he? Another writer?"

"Is he not a new employee of Star Books?"

Jung So-Mi was organizing the final few tables. She stood up and turned around to face the entrance. She smiled brightly upon seeing the young man walking inside the restaurant.

1. Refers to those who only own a single set of presentable suit for business/official settings ☜