Big Life

“House? What house?” Ha Jae-In’s spoon stopped in mid-air as she looked at Ha Jae-Gun in surprise. “What house?”

“I mentioned it before, didn’t I? I said not to renew the current apartment lease because I’ll be buying us something like a detached house and moving over together. Why are you looking at me like that? It’s not like you’re hearing this for the first time?”

Ha Jae-In only blinked at him, dumbfounded.

It was a common fact that detached houses were expensive.

Ha Jae-Gun helped himself to a portion of the broth

“Make sure to recover the security deposit from the current apartment, and with the prize money from the last contest and the advanced royalties I had received, as well as the royalties from the new novel that I had just published—we should have enough money to get us a decent detached house. Maybe even a two-story house with a huge yard and with four to five bedrooms.”

“You’re going to buy such a huge house?” Ha Jae-In asked, stunned by his plans.

The house he was looking to purchase would cost at least five hundred million won, and any lower meant that it wouldn’t be a detached house of that standard. It was a fact for houses in the relatively cheaper Suwon region compared to the sky-high housing prices in Seoul.

“You’ll know that house, too. It’s next to the salon that Mom frequents, the one facing the park.”

There was no way she wouldn’t know of the house that Ha Jae-Gun had just described. She would always walk down the alleyway where that house was located on the way home. It was a diagonal inverted L-shaped house with two floors, and the exterior looked relatively clean, as if it had been built less than five years ago.

“I’ve been looking through the property listings and saw that the house was listed on the website. I think it looks good, so I’m wishing that it won't get sold until I gather all the money,” Ha Jae-Gun said. He imagined his parents living in that house.

His mother was working in the garden, while his father was working diligently in his own study.

“H-how much is it?” Ha Jae-In stammered.

Ha Jae-Gun woke up from his imagination and answered her immediately, “I don’t remember the exact amount, but it should be over five hundred million won.”

“That’s just too expensive!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be able to gather that amount in a year.”

“I-in… a year?!” Ha Jae-In found it tough to understand her own brother’s nonchalant reply.

The security deposit from their existing apartment and all the money Ha Jae-Gun had given before didn’t even reach 150 million won. How could he gather four hundred million in a year?

Ha Jae-Gun was definitely not blowing his own trumpet, as he had been writing lots of novels and sending huge amounts of money back home this year alone. However, five hundred million was just way too much. Ha Jae-In started to get worried about how much her brother would torture himself just to achieve his goals.

“I’ll be making plans for you after buying the house.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll set up an academy for you,” replied Ha Jae-Gun.

Ha Jae-In’s eyes widened in surprise at the sudden declaration.

Ha Jae-In was currently working as a home-school teacher; she had to travel to each student’s home for the lessons, and it was starting to take a toll on her because she didn’t have a driver’s license, not to mention a car.

“Just endure it for a while more, I’ll soon turn you into a principal. Wait, what’s with that doubtful look?”

Ha Jae-In shook her head, looking as if she was about to cry. “No, I believe you. My brother is so capable, right? It’s just that I’m worried for you.” Ha Jae-In’s hands soon found their way to Ha Jae-Gun’s cheeks, rubbing them affectionately.

“Don’t be too ambitious. The disappointment is always larger when you fail if your hopes are too high. We’re in no hurry. Plus, you shouldn’t be writing with the thought of earning big bucks.”

“I know that,” Ha Jae-Gun grumbled.

“Plus, you should think of your health first. Health is the most important, and money is what comes next. How would you write your novels if your health deteriorates?”

“Ah, all that nagging. I shouldn’t have brought this up. Let’s stop.”

“Hurry up and promise me that you’ll take care of your health.” Ha Jae-In raised her pinky finger before Ha Jae-Gun. Ha Jae-Gun gave a disgusted look and leaned back in his chair. “Stop doing this, I’m already twenty-seven, noona.”

“This has nothing to do with your age. Hurry up.” Ha Jae-In frowned, and her face slowly darkened at Ha Jae-Gun’s hesitation. Ha Jae-Gun could only resign to his fate and hooked her pinky finger with his own.

He was about to let go.

However, Ha Jae-In exclaimed, "Stamp!"

"Hoo…" Ha Jae-Gun sighed. With their pinkies still hooked, Ha Jae-Gun pressed his thumb on Ha Jae-In's thumb.

"Copy."

"Argh—stop it!"

"Hurry up!" exclaimed Ha Jae-In.

Ha Jae-Gun opened his palm on its side and placed it on Ha Jae-In’s palm before quickly swiping it backward.

"We good now?"

"Coating."

"Fine, fine, Madam Ha. Of course, I should do that for you."

Ha Jae-Gun then sandwiched Ha Jae-In's hand and smoothed it.

After completing the entire process, Ha Jae-Gun finally escaped the childish act.

Ha Jae-In smiled in satisfaction, and then she proceeded to refill the broth in the pot.

"Oh, right! Have you been meeting with Soo-Hee?"

Ha Jae-Gun looked up at her. He knew that her sister or mother would one day ask about them again.

"Hmm? Have you been meeting with her?" Ha Jae-In repeated.

"Sometimes."

"Really?"

"We met a while ago too. Plus, I've written a few game scenarios for her, too."

"You should get along with her well. She seems like a nice person."

"Don't worry about me. You should go on dates."

"Forget it. Why don't you bring her home one of these days? Hmm?"

Bzzt!

All of a sudden, Ha Jae-Gun's phone started vibrating in his pocket.

It was a call from Kwon Tae-Won.

Ha Jae-Gun quickly answered the call as if he met his savior.

"Hello, editor-in-chief. No, wait, it should be president."

— You're free to address me however you like. Have you had lunch?"

"Yes, I did. What about you?"

— I've had lunch, too. I called because of the paywall for The Breath.

"Paywall? Can we do that now when we've just uploaded up to chapter 20?"

— We're not going to do it now, but from next Friday onward. Since we're uploading two chapters per day now, we should hit over thirty chapters by then. The novel's favorited count should have gone over ten thousand by then. Ah, and a huge banner has been uploaded on Munpiang's main page. Please take a look at it later.

"Ah, sure. Thank you for looking out for me."

— I should be the one thanking you. It's Laugh Books' first published novel, so it’s only right that I do my best on my end. The Breath will become a huge hit, believe me.

"I feel relieved to hear that from you, President."

Ha Jae-In looked curiously at Ha Jae-Gun, seemingly curious about their conversation.

Ha Jae-Gun soon ended the call.

Seeing that, Ha Jae-In asked, "Is it about your latest novel? What's paid serialization?"

"Oh, I haven't shared it with you before. I'm not releasing paperback books this time. I’m going on paid serialization." Ha Jae-Gun then proceeded to give her a nutshell of how paid serialization worked.

In the end, Ha Jae-In nodded with her mouth agape.

"Anyway, it's great news. I’ve been saying this a lot, but he's a trustworthy person. He's good at his work as well, so he has helped me out a lot," Ha Jae-Gun said.

"I think so, too. You should finish your food now. You still have a lot left…"

"All right, I'm going to focus on finishing all of these up."

Ha Jae-Gun rolled his sleeves up and picked up his chopsticks. Even while he was busy eating Ha Jae-In’s food, a part of his mind was also busy thinking about the next development in his story.

***

"Phew…!"

It was finally Friday afternoon.

Shin Dong-Mi made herself a cup of coffee and walked toward the balcony to calm herself down. They had just started the paywall service for The Breath.

"I don't want to see the results right now. I should ignore it for the rest of the day and look at it tomorrow," Shin Dong-Mi muttered as she tried to calm herself down and clear the wild thoughts running through her mind.

The first 25 chapters were free, and from the 26th chapter onward, they would be charging the readers 100 won per chapter.

She uploaded a total of five chapters today because today was the launch day of the paywall service. The Breath now had a total of 37 chapters uploaded, and the decision was in the hands of the readers.

From now on, they would have to decide whether to keep reading or not.

"Ah, is there anything else for me to do? I'm done cleaning, and I’m done eating as well." Shin Dong-Mi would usually find chores to do at home if she needed to spend time, but now, there was nothing left for her to do.

With no other choice, Shin Dong-Mi turned on the TV and chanced upon a Hollywood hero movie.

"This is boring…"

She wasn't paying any attention to a movie that she would usually enjoy watching. Shin Dong-Mi turned off the TV and went to her desk. She decided to browse the internet to pass the time.

"Sigh, it has only been an hour?" Shin Dong-Mi looked at the time and sighed. It seemed that her anxiety was making time pass extremely slowly.

"Argh, forget it. It's not like the numbers won't go up if I take a peek." Shin Dong-Mi couldn't hold it in any longer. She clicked open the page that showed The Breath and shut her eyes tightly. With a scrunched-up face, she opened her eyes slowly.

"Oh my god…!"

Shivers went down from Shin Dong-Mi's nape to her spine as she covered her mouth with both hands. An unbelievable number was reflected in her eyes.

"Three thousand in just an hour…?!"

There were over three thousand unlocks for the five new chapters that she had just uploaded. Even the chapters that were previously free and were now paywalled chapters had over a thousand unlocks.

'At this rate… we’ll hit ten thousand in just twenty-four hours!'

The number alone called for cheers and celebration. The paywalled novel market was currently so bad that novels would usually only hit two to three digits in the number of unlocks for each chapter, and hitting four digits was rare.

She estimated that they would receive 630,000 won after Munpiang’s administrative fees. They uploaded five chapters today, which should earn them 3.15 million won, and the money would then be divided between Laugh Books and Ha Jae-Gun at a ratio of 3 to 7.

"Wow…! We're really making it big!"

They had agreed to upload two chapters per day from tomorrow onwards.

As the number of chapters increased, their earnings would increase as well.

Shin Dong-Mi smiled from ear to ear.

'We might be able to get into the Hottest Premium Novel Rankings this time.'

The period for entering that ranking was twenty-four hours starting from when the latest chapter was uploaded. The unlocks made during those twenty-four hours would determine the novel's ranking. They managed to hit three thousand unlocks in an hour, so there was a high probability that The Breath would rise to the summit of the Hottest Premium Novel Rankings.

"Ah, Writer Ha Jae-Gun, thank you so much. I would definitely invite you over one of these days and make a pot of boiled duck for you,” Shin Dong-Mi muttered while looking at the monitor with excitement.

She couldn’t help but inwardly praise her husband for being so awesome because he actually managed to keep such a good relationship with a great writer like Ha Jae-Gun.

***

Meanwhile, Kwon Tae-Won finally arrived at his destination. He parked his car and alighted.

He was outside a shabby-looking storage warehouse. A middle-aged man, who was standing by the entrance to the warehouse, stepped on his cigarette butt, which he had thrown on the ground and approached Kwon Tae-Won.

"It's been a while, editor-in-chief. Ah, I should call you President Kwon, right?"

"Hello, Boss Park, how have you been?"

The two shook hands while smiling. Boss Park was the owner of many warehouses, and Kwon Tae-Won was here today to look into renting a warehouse.

“Thank you for renting it to me at fifty won. I would definitely repay your favor in the future."

What Kwon Tae-Won meant by fiftywon was the storage cost per book. Aside from paid serialization, Kwon Tae-Won was also looking into publishing paperback books in smaller amounts.

When he found out the readers from both paperback and paid serialization markets seldom overlapped, he came to the conclusion that marketing was important as well—it was more important than earning money itself.

Of course, he was also doing it for Ha Jae-Gun, who had agreed to publish his book as Laugh Books' first novel.

It was true that he had sped up this process all for Ha Jae-Gun, and he was thankful to be able to get a warehouse at such a low rental cost.

Bzzt!

Kwon Tae-Won's phone vibrated in his pocket.

He excused himself with an apologetic look to answer the call.

"Hello, this is Kwon Tae-Won."

— Hello, this is Team Leader Park Ho-Jun.

"Oh, hello, Team Leader Park. I didn't know it was you since it showed a different number."

— This is my office number. Actually… I wanted to apologize.

"Pardon? What is it?" A shadow loomed over Kwon Tae-Won's face. He had been working in this industry for almost half his life, and the premonitions to bad news had always been clear to him.

— Due to certain circumstances, I don't think we can do any promotions for you until March.

Those words didn’t deviate too much from Kwon Tae-Won's expectations.

Kwon Tae-Won raised his hand and held his throbbing forehead.