Big Life

The clatter of the keyboard could be heard inconsistently in the quiet study.

Oh Myung-Hoon couldn't conceal his anxiety, and his eyes were fixed on Oh Myung-Suk's back, which could be seen over his monitor the entire time.

It had been two hours since Oh Myung-Suk started reading the draft of the latest full-length novel that Oh Myung-Hoon had been writing on his own without any comments from Oh Myung-Suk.

Oh Myung-Suk wanted to be more focused than usual because he was reading his younger brother's novel.

Noon finally arrived, and Oh Myung-Suk finally took a long stretch in his seat.

Oh Myung-Hoon immediately stood up from behind and asked, "How is it, hyung? Is it good?"

"Mm… I think it's going to be difficult for the Modern Youth Literature Award," Oh Myung-Suk said as he massaged his temples.

Oh Myung-Hoon’s head drooped, feeling discouraged. He had been planning on joining the Modern Youth Literature Award, and its deadline was in two days.

However, such a comment from his brother was discouraging. He had been expecting some sort of encouragement from Oh Myung-Suk about his work, even if it wasn't a compliment.

"Your sentences are clean, and the novel is impeccable. However, it has no depth."

Oh Myung-Suk was pointing out the same mistakes he had committed in his previous novel.

"The era where you could get awarded for good sentences is long gone, Myung-Hoon. You must look at the larger picture. Plus, the Modern Youth Literature Award has high standards, and they only pick one novel to award."

Oh Myung-Suk patted Oh Myung-Hoon's drooping shoulder and comforted his younger brother. "There's the upcoming Origin Literature Award as well, so you should try joining that instead. They have more award categories, and you'll have a better chance there."

Oh Myung-Hoon was so enraged that he couldn’t even reply.

The Origin Literature Award was a genre-fiction novel contest often held after the Modern Youth Literature Award. The prize money for the grand prize in that contest was a hundred million won, much higher than the contest Oh Myung-Hoon wanted to go ahead and participate in.

However, Oh Myung-Hoon didn’t care about the prize money at all because he was born with a golden spoon. He only wanted to participate in the Modern Youth Literature Award using the new novel that he had written.

Of course, there was another reason behind it—he wanted his father to recognize him by winning an award in the prestigious literary circle, and he also wanted Lee Soo-Hee’s recognition.

It was a prestigious literary award, but Oh Myung-Hoon had a backer.

One of the judges for the contest was Professor Kim, Oh Myung-Suk’s best friend.

‘If only hyung could help me out…!’

Oh Myung-Hoon was well aware of how brilliant and well-connected his older brother was, and he was desperately hoping that his own brother would lead his novel to glory by letting him win the Modern Youth Literature Award.

After much consideration, Oh Myung-Hoon decided to throw a hint.

“Hyung, about Professor Kim—”

Bzzt!

The phone vibrating on the table cut him off.

Oh Myung-Suk picked up the phone and answered the call.

“Hello, Professor. How have you been? Yes, I’m doing well as well. You must be exhausted preparing to screen the submissions.”

“...!” Oh Myung-Hoon’s eyes widened at the mention of the screening preparations. It was clear that the call was from a judge of the Modern Youth Literature Award, Professor Kim.

“Ah, yes. Oh, is that so, Professor?”

Oh Myung-Suk stood up. He glanced briefly at Oh Myung-Hoon before moving to the next room.

‘I wonder what’s wrong...’

Oh Myung-Suk’s attitude was suspicious in Oh Myung-Hoon’s eyes.

Oh Myung-Suk had never been the type to walk away whenever he got a call.

And it was even more suspicious because the caller was Professor Kim…

Oh Myung-Hoon decided to eavesdrop on the conversation. He tiptoed over to the door to the next room and placed his ears against the door.

He could vaguely hear Oh Myung-Suk’s words.

“You mean the writer who won the Digital Literature Award? Yes, his name—Oh, it was Ha Jae-Gun.”

Oh Myung-Hoon’s eyes flipped at the mention of the name. He didn’t hear it wrongly.

Oh Myung-Suk had clearly uttered Ha Jae-Gun’s name. The mere mention of that name was enough to make his blood boil. However, he had no idea why that name was being mentioned in their conversation.

Soon, he heard Oh Myung-Suk’s voice again. “He’s quite a good writer. Foolish Woman. Yes, have you read it, Professor? Hahaha, yes. It was great. To think that he’s participating in the Modern Youth Literature Award, too. He seems to be a prolific writer.”

“...?!” Oh Myung-Hoon gasped. He turned pale from the shock, and he felt as if he were suffocating.

“I understand, Professor. I will definitely attend. Yes, I’ll see you then. Thank you.”

It sounded like Oh Myung-Suk was ending the call. Oh Myung-Suk quickly returned to his seat and soon saw Oh Myung-Hoon returning to the study.

“Was that Professor Kim?” Oh Myung-Hoon asked while trying to keep his composure.

Oh Myung-Suk nodded as he plugged his phone into a charger.

“Yeah, it’s because of an upcoming academia gathering. I’m attending since I’m running a publishing company. Professor Kim even left a seat for me.”

Oh Myung-Hoon nodded stiffly in response. Oh Myung-Suk’s answer didn’t really matter to him anymore because his mind was only filled with Ha Jae-Gun’s name.

“Professor Han Hae-Sun will be attending as well. You should try meeting her often. She’s a great person. You’ll learn a lot from her.”

Oh Myung-Hoon’s expression turned cold as he looked down at the carpet.

Oh Myung-Suk picked up the jacket on the chair and said, “What’s with the stiff look? You could just put more effort into your next novel. Let’s go. We should have lunch.”

“Please help me, hyung.”

“What?” Oh Myung-Hoon slowly looked up with trembling eyes. “Please help me revise the novel.”

“...I’ll just have lunch by myself, then.” Oh Myung-Suk headed for the door.

However, Oh Myung-Hoon quickly ran to the door to stop his brother.

With a grim look, Oh Myung-Suk said, “Get out of my way.”

“Please help me once more, hyung. This will be the last time, please.”

“You said the same thing last time. I don’t wish to continue living as the lying oldest son. Get lost.” Oh Myung-Suk shoved Oh Myung-Hoon coldly.

However, Oh Myung-Hoon didn’t back down. After finding out that Ha Jae-Gun was participating in the contest, there was no way that he would give up.

“Hyung, please.”

Oh Myung-Hoon opened his arms wide and blocked his brother, whom he had been relying on more than anyone else throughout his entire life.

Oh Myung-Suk’s jacket fell to the floor.

“It’s a simple job. I just need your writing skills and connections. You just have to help me with the revision like what you did for Solitude in Seoul and talk nicely about me in front of Professor Kim. That’s all. Please?”

“You punk…!” Oh Myung-Suk was furious. He had never expected to hear such a brazen request from his own brother. His brother was asking him to not only edit his novel but to bribe the judges as well.

“Myung-Hoon…! That is a clear line that you should never cross. Don’t ever bring up such nonsense to me again.” Oh Myung-Suk raised his finger sternly, making his stance clear to his brother.

Oh Myung-Suk’s words made Oh Myung-Hoon gulp in fear.

Oh Myung-Suk shoved the door open, and then he started walking down the long hallway. Both ends of the hallway had helpers wiping down the windows as Oh Myung-Suk quickly strode down the hallway.

Oh Myung-Hoon was still shaking in anger as he leaned against the door. However, he still found the energy to yell at Oh Myung-Suk, “Hyung, you know that Ha Jae-Gun is my classmate!”

Oh Myung-Suk briefly stopped in his tracks. However, he quickly went along on his way again as if nothing happened.

“Why are you making me look so pathetic with that dumb concern of yours? Just take the call in front of me! I have never asked for you to be considerate of me in the first place! If you’re going to do it, help me out all the way!”

Oh Myung-Hoon’s voice filled the hallway. Oh Myung-Suk was already nowhere to be seen, but Oh Myung-Hoon was still yelling at the top of his voice.

“He was a pathetic writer whose fantasy novels could never get sold at a legit bookstore! How is he worthy of participating in the Modern Youth Literature Award?! He has always been writing some random story to earn a few quick bucks! Does the literary world have no pride at all? Tell me, hyung!”

After venting out his anger, Oh Myung-Hoon punched the door. The helpers in the hallway flinched in fear, but they didn’t dare to turn around and look at him.

Oh Myung-Hoon’s temperament was well-known amongst the helpers.

“Damn it…!” The trembling Oh Myung-Hoon turned around.

He saw Oh Myung-Suk’s jacket on the floor.

He kicked the jacket with all his might, but something fell out from one of its pockets.

It was a piece of paper.

‘What’s… that?’

Oh Myung-Hoon wasn’t planning on looking at it, but the paper had Professor Kim’s name written on it.

‘Is that the list of judges for the Modern Youth Literature Award?’

Oh Myung-Hoon picked up the paper and read its contents. It was as he had guessed; it was the list of judges for the Modern Youth Literature Award. It included the names and contact details of other well-known people in the industry as well.

Oh Myung-Hoon quickly lost interest in the list and threw it away. The paper fluttered helplessly to the floor, but an idea suddenly popped up in his mind.

‘Great…!’ Oh Myung-Hoon’s eyes shone in a beastly light.

He quickly picked up the paper again and opened Word on his computer.

‘I must let them know that Ha Jae-Gun and Poongchun-Yoo are the same people. I wonder how those literary masters would react if they found out…’

Ha Jae-Gun had never mentioned to any media outlet that he had also written fantasy novels under the pseudonym Poongchun-Yoo.

The reason why Ha Jae-Gun decided to hide his pseudonym didn’t really matter.

The most important part was letting the literary masters know about it. Oh Myung-Hoon’s fingers quickly danced on the keyboard. Somehow, the words were pouring out much smoother than even when he was writing his novel.

***

“Please give us a tofu hotpot for two.”

“Sure.”

Jung So-Mi looked back and smiled after making the order. “The food here is delicious, I’m sure you’ll like it, too.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Ha Jae-Gun replied after taking a sip of water.

It was currently past 1 p.m.

The restaurant was empty because it was no longer lunch hour.

“I’m sorry for asking you out, Writer Ha. You must be busy writing your novels.”

“No, it’s fine. I don’t have anything urgent to work on recently, so don’t worry about it.”

Jung So-Mi had called and offered to treat him to a meal, and he had accepted the offer. However, he actually felt uneasy. Jung So-Mi was an employee of Star Books, so there had to be a reason behind her offer.

‘Is this about my next novel?’

Well, time was on his side.

He had already sent the last volume of Records of the Other World, which was part of the Master Records trilogy, and it was the same for Sword Master of Pezellon, which he had signed with Haetae Media.

Plus, he had also submitted the manuscript for Storm and Gale to the Modern Youth Literature Award, so he wasn’t particularly busy nowadays.

‘I don’t really have anything else I want to write about…’

This was an issue for Ha Jae-Gun. He was worried about how he should phrase his rejection nicely if Jung So-Mi were to bring it up.

“The raw tofu is delicious, Writer Ha. Please try some first,” Jung So-Mi said and handed him a plate of tofu.

Ha Jae-Gun smiled as he scooped up a spoonful and put it in his mouth. It was true that he was enjoying their meeting because it was unrelated to work.

The sight of Jung So-Mi alone made him feel invigorated, and she had also helped him out in a couple of difficult situations before.

‘She has gotten prettier.’

Jung So-Mi looked more mature, with a feminine charm that he had never seen before. She was wearing a thick turtleneck sweater paired with a pumpkin-colored pleated skirt, black stockings and sneakers, seemingly to match the end of autumn.

However, there was still something off about her. Ha Jae-Gun realized that it was her image as a fresh graduate. He realized that her fresh graduate image was fading, but then again, it would soon be the end of the year.

Ha Jae-Gun felt the passage of time.

“What are you thinking about?”

“It’s nothing. Anyway, is the editor-in-chief still busy as always?”

“Yes, of course. He’s pretty busy.” Jung So-Mi gave a short answer.

Kwon Tae-Won was still in Star Books and was busy with his handover. He had mentioned that he would only announce his departure from the company to Ha Jae-Gun once his last day at the company was nigh.

“By the way, I have something to tell you, Writer Ha.”

“Please speak.” Ha Jae-Gun put down his chopsticks and was ready to listen to her attentively, thinking that the inevitable was about to come.

However, he was mistaken.

The next words that emerged from the smiling Jung So-Mi’s mouth caught him off guard.

“What do you think about turning your novel into a webtoon?”

“A webtoon?”

“Yes, an offer came in from Comic KT. They would like to turn your Records of the Modern Master into a webtoon. You know Comic KT, right?”

“Yes…” Ha Jae-Gun was familiar with them. Comic KT was a company that specialized in and only published webtoons. They were one of the largest and most well-known webtoon companies with a revenue ranked top five within the industry.

“This is why I asked to meet you today. I wanted to know your thoughts.”

At the unexpected news, Ha Jae-Gun stared blankly at Jung So-Mi.

Jung So-Mi placed her hands on her lap and swayed from side to side, grinning at him. She seemed to have realized that there had been no need for her to even ask Ha Jae-Gun’s opinion on this matter.