Big Life

“What are you doing?”

“Writing my diary.”

Park Jung-Jin lost interest in what Ha Jae-Gun was doing and yawned. “Aren’t you tired? Ah, where should I sleep?”

“Sleep on the bed.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll work a bit more and then sleep on the floor.”

“All right, I’ll head to bed first. Don’t work too late into the night.”

Park Jung-Jin crawled into the bed and snuggled under the blanket. A minute had barely passed, but soft snores could already be heard from Park Jung-Jin.

‘That punk, he must be exhausted.’

When Park Jung-Jin fell asleep so quickly, Ha Jae-Gun felt like he could feel the pain and sorrow of salaried workers. He then thought of his father, who had been slaving away most of his years to bring food to the table without taking any proper rest.

Ha Jae-Gun fixed the blanket on Park Jung-Jin. Then, he went back to his desk.

Looking back at the screen where he was writing his diary, a sudden thought popped up into his head. 'Oh, this…?'

He hadn’t expected it, but inspiration finally came to him.

The scene of Park Jung-Jin struggling with stress from his social life and Da-Seul, whom they had met at the karaoke room, popped up in his mind.

Ha Jae-Gun’s hands moved to the keyboard, but his fingers weren’t acting on his will but his instincts.

Tadadak…! Tak!

Tadadak!

Tadadadak…! Tak!

How long had it been since he started? The clattering of the mechanical keyboard rang endlessly in the room. However, Park Jung-Jin didn’t wake up from the noises even once. He had a long and good sleep as if the typing sound was a lullaby.

***

“Ugh, wa…ter…” Park Jung-Jin muttered with a rough voice after being awakened from the burning thirst in his throat.

Ha Jae-Gun filled a cup with cold water and handed it to him.

“Here.”

Park Jung-Jin took the cup over without even opening his eyes and started gulping down the entire cup. He emptied the cup and let out a huge groan before finally looking out the window. The sky was brightly lit.

“What time is it now?”

“7 a.m. You should go wash up, and then let’s head out for breakfast.”

“I don’t feel like eating, I’ll probably throw up, anyway. I should just hurry up and get ready.” Park Jung-Jin got out of bed rather than lying back down.

His head felt like it would explode anytime soon, and his vision was spinning like crazy as if he was inside a rolling ball.

Ha Jae-Gun sat back down at his desk and said, “You’ve got a great mentality there, Park Jung-Jin. Being a salaried worker is great.”

“It sounds like you’re making fun of me.”

“I’m being honest here.”

“Then, what are you doing?” Park Jung-Jin stared at the laptop screen rather than heading directly to the bathroom. The tiny words on the screen filled the entire Word document.

“Did you write the entire night?”

“Yeah, I couldn’t sleep.”

Park Jung-Jin’s jaw dropped at Ha Jae-Gun’s casual reply.

“Hey, didn’t you drink a lot last night? Aren’t you tired?”

“I’m only working at home, so I’m doing much better as compared to you.”

“Stop with the nonsense. Who doesn’t write at work? Writing is tiring as well. Hey, you’re gonna collapse soon at this rate. Heck, it’s not as if the mouse is worried about the cat.”

“Just go and wash up.”

When Park Jung-Jin headed into the bathroom, Ha Jae-Gun resumed his typing. He was working on a synopsis and plot of another full-length novel.

His eyes felt tired, but he couldn’t stop until he was completely done.

“Hey, Ha Jae-Gun.”

“Huh? What? Wait, when did you get changed?” Ha Jae-Gun was shocked when he saw that Park Jung-Jin had already changed into a different set of clothes. Park Jung-Jin looked speechless as he pulled on the sleeve of his sweater.

“It’s been ten minutes. You really don’t stop once you start writing. Anyway, I’m leaving.”

“I’ll send you to your office.”

“You should just continue working on your novel, how can you stop mid-way?” Park Jung-Jin flatly rejected Ha Jae-Gun.

“I’m leaving early just to walk to work. I can sober up while walking.”

Regardless, Ha Jae-Gun wore his slippers to send Park Jung-Jin out to the main road. The cold autumn wind came in just as he opened the door.

Ha Jae-Gun avoided the fallen leaves flying in the direction of his face and asked, “Hey, Park Jung-Jin. Can I write a novel with you as the main character?”

“Me as the main character? How interesting is my life that you’d want to have me as a main character?”

“You don’t like it?”

“You don’t need my permission to stay up late, right? Just do it.”

“Got it.”

The duo soon arrived at the subway station after walking for a bit while engaging in some small talk. Park Jung-Jin then walked into the crowd at the subway station. Ha Jae-Gun waited until he could no longer see his friend before heading back home.

“Rika, have some food. I’ll have to work a bit more,” Ha Jae-Gun said as soon as he reached home.

Ha Jae-Gun resumed working on his laptop while the cogs in his brain worked hard to turn the idea that he had just come up with into a new novel.

He hadn’t really been able to work on a new novel because of the creative block.

‘The meeting of a young salaried employee and karaoke helper despite getting worn out by life…! One thing in common… loneliness. Yes, it’s loneliness. The two don’t have anyone or anything else to rely on except for each other!’

The model for the male lead was his close friend, Park Jung-Jin; the model for the female lead was the karaoke helper he had met for the first time last night.

The novel sounded like a big hit. He was confident not just in the commercial sense but in the novel itself as well. At the thought, Ha Jae-Gun trembled uncontrollably in excitement.

***

Lunch soon came, and night soon fell.

Ha Jae-Gun had totally forgotten about his meals because he was fully engrossed in writing his novel. Even Rika did not interrupt Ha Jae-Gun’s work, which hadn’t happened in a long while.

“No…! Geez, the character is sloppy!” Ha Jae-Gun was confused by the limitations of his planning. He had no trouble shaping the male lead using Park Jung-Jin as the model, but there was a huge problem with the female lead. There were many things he wasn’t aware of about karaoke helpers.

And the only way to overcome this problem was…

‘I have no choice but to visit them again…!’

Having made his decision, Ha Jae-Gun didn’t hesitate. He quickly got ready, and he picked up a pen and memo pad before dashing out of the house.

The streets were abuzz as it was already past 8 p.m. Ha Jae-Gun tried to find his way back to the same karaoke building by jogging through his memory. It wasn’t as difficult to locate since he had visited it last night.

“Welcome.”

He was greeted by the same lady boss from yesterday, and her eyes widened upon recognizing Ha Jae-Gun.

“Hello, you do remember me, right? I came with my friend yesterday.”

“Yes, I remember you two misters[1] last night.”

“I just, um… Can you call one of the ladies who joined us to sing last night?”

The lady boss frowned. Ha Jae-Gun’s request sounded suspicious.

“What is it for?”

“Ah, um… I want to play and sing with her again. I quite like her, actually.”

Ha Jae-Gun decided to hide the fact that he was a writer. Things could turn ugly if he were to reveal it right now. However, the lady boss was still looking at Ha Jae-Gun as if he were suspicious.

“Was it the first time you’ve met her?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“You’re here alone today, and if it was your first time seeing her, she might not come even if you specifically asked for her. It’s because we encounter many rude and bad customers here.”

So that was the case. Ha Jae-Gun then decided to take out 30,000 won from his wallet and handed it over to the lady boss before saying, “Please call her for me. I’m not some weird person. I really like her.”

“Hmm… This is putting me into a tight spot.” However, the lady boss stopped doing her nails and took the money. “Which lady are you looking for?”

“Um, she was shorter, and her face resembled a cat. She introduced herself as Da-Seul. The other girl was called Seul-Gi.”

“Those are fake names. I know Jae-Young, but it was my first time seeing the other girl yesterday.”

“Can’t you try contacting Jae-Young?”

The lady boss burst into laughter, speechless at the request.

“They don’t know each other, and they’re from different places, too.”

“Oh, is that so?” Ha Jae-Gun could indeed remember that the two ladies seemed indifferent toward each other.

The lady boss then proceeded to call somewhere. “Hello? Yeah, this is Herb. Uh, it’s just—Oh, mister. What time did you come here last night?”

“Slightly after 8 p.m.”

The lady boss resumed talking to the person on the other end of the line. “Jae-Young came over here last night after 8 p.m., right? Yeah, do you remember? Do you recall which lady it was? Nah, there’s a request coming in for her. Mm… Ah, really? With Director Kim? And her fake name is Da-Seul? Got, thanks.”

The lady boss hung up and dialed another number.

“Hello? This is from Herb. There’s a lady called Da-Seul, right? Did she come to work today? Ah… really? Okay, can you call me back soon? There’s a request for her.”

The lady boss made a sidelong glance at Ha Jae-Gun and continued. “I know a strange man when I see one, and he’s not. He’s young and neatly dressed. Yeah, okay. Thanks.”

After hanging up the call, the lady boss took a sip of water to soothe her parched throat, and then she proceeded to explain to Ha Jae-Gun. “She still hasn’t appeared today. They said that she should turn up soon and would send her here immediately. So please just wait for a while, mister.”

“Thanks a lot.” Ha Jae-Gun went into the waiting room by the entrance.

The lady boss then took out a drink from the fridge and handed it over to him.

“But mister, what do you work as?”

“I travel the rural areas selling electric pads.”

The lady boss looked at him from top to bottom and snorted before saying, “Lies. You totally look like a gentleman who lives with ink in his hands. Anyway, I got it.”

After saying that, she left without probing any further.

Ha Jae-Gun shook his head, astonished by her observation skills and insight.

It had been almost an hour since he started waiting, but the lady he had specifically requested still hadn’t arrived. Ha Jae-Gun was currently killing time by watching the TV in the waiting room.

‘Is she not going to turn up?’

Did she decide not to show up for work, or perhaps she was simply afraid of meeting a customer alone, like what the lady boss had said?

Ha Jae-Gun started regretting last night’s events. If he had known that this would happen, then he would have talked to her more and asked for her number.

‘I can’t find other karaoke helpers.’

Da-Seul was the decisive factor and key person in this novel. If it hadn’t been for her words, Ha Jae-Gun wouldn’t have started this particular novel in the first place.

Ha Jae-Gun would give up on the novel if he couldn’t accurately capture the emotions that he had felt from her words last night.

It was a novel that wasn’t some trifling entertaining read, so he had to accurately describe the emotions of real-life human beings. That was Ha Jae-Gun’s greed, stubbornness, and will as a writer.

All of a sudden, the bell hanging on the door rang out. Ha Jae-Gun turned around calmly, and his eyes grew wide. The girl he had been waiting for was right there. She was wearing clothes similar to what she had worn yesterday.

“Hello, Madam. I heard there’s a customer waiting for me?”

“Ah, you’re here. It’s that mister over there.”

Da-Seul turned around, and she flinched when she saw Ha Jae-Gun.

Ha Jae-Gun stood up from his seat and bowed lightly. “Hello.”

“Yes, hello…” she greeted back with much hesitation.

The lady boss behind Da-Seul gestured to Ha Jae-Gun, “Mister, you can just go to the same room as yesterday, Room 2.”

“Ah, okay. I’ll pay upfront.”

Da-Seul headed into the room first as Ha Jae-Gun pulled out his wallet.

“For two—no, three hours, please.”

“You’re going to play for that long?”

“Yes, how much would that be?”

“135,00 won. What about drinks?”

“Two beers for now, please.” Ha Jae-Gun paid the bill and then headed to Room 2.

Da-Seul was sitting on the sofa with both hands on her knees, and she obviously felt strange.

“Are you shocked?”

“A little…” Her answers were short.

Ha Jae-Gun sat across from her and took off his coat.

The lady boss entered the room with beer and left shortly.

“Excuse me,” Ha Jae-Gun asked.

1. The raws used the word 'uncle', but since Jae-Gun and Jung-Jin are quite young, I changed the address to mister here. ☜