Big Life

"A contract?" Kang Min-Ho asked with a puzzled look. "Writer Ha Jae-Gun… did you set up a management company?"

"No, I don't have the qualifications to run a business myself."

"Then why…?"

"It's just as I said. A contract with me," Ha Jae-Gun replied as he put Rika down.

Ha Jae-Gun looked down at Rika as she walked elegantly toward the window.

"I want to help you to bring out the best results for this novel."

"I-I am definitely honored, but you should constantly be busy while working on your own novels, so how could I impose…"

"No." Ha Jae-Gun shook his head and cut Kang Min-Ho off, then continued, "As I said, it's a contract. Like how I would help you to improve your novel, there is also a condition that I would like you to fulfill."

"A… condition?"

"No, I haven't heard of them."

"They are a new management company. They currently only have one writer and novel under their belt. My condition is for you to sign a contract with them."

"Ah… I see." Kang Min-Ho gave a vague answer with a grim look as countless thoughts flashed through his mind.

One of his questions was why Ha Jae-Gun was trying to get him to sign with Laugh Books when that management only had one writer and novel under them, which was obviously risky. It would be foolish to sign a novel that he had spent so much effort in writing to a company that wasn’t credible enough.

However, Ha Jae-Gun stepped up to give his explanation.

"Laugh Books is set up by the editor-in-chief I respected the most, who recently resigned from his previous company. I have been consistently receiving his help. In other words, I feel that Laugh Books and Writer Kang Min-Ho would both benefit from this contract if it happens."

"Ah, I see… Hmm? But that means…?!" Kang Min-Ho nodded for a while. Then, he realized what Ha Jae-Gun meant and looked at him in surprise.

"The only novel they have… Are you referring to The Breath?"

"Yes, that's right," Ha Jae-Gun answered with an awkward smile.

Kang Min-Ho’s jaw dropped so much that his uvula could be seen.

Three seconds later, Kang Min-Ho started nodding his head so fast and replied, "I'll do it, I'll sign a contract with Laugh Books."

"You don't have to make your decision right now. The conditions of the contract are…"

"No, that's all fine. I know they will try to give me the best that they can. I'm satisfied with just the fact that I would be able to work with you, Writer Ha Jae-Gun." Kang Min-Ho didn’t make a fuss, and he was sincere with his words.

There was a limit to how much credibility had gone into Laugh Books upon hearing that Ha Jae-Gun's The Breath was under them. Ha Jae-Gun added, "The president is really good at his work, and he's a nice person, too. You won't regret signing a contract with them."

"Of course, of course. I believe everything you say. No, I shouldn't use the word believe. I will follow your instructions."

Ding! dong!

The doorbell rang all of a sudden.

"Ah, the food must be here." Kang Min-Ho rushed to open the door, and a delivery man carrying a steel box greeted him at the door.

"You ordered black bean noodles and spicy seafood noodles."

"Yes, that's right. Is it 9,500 won?" Kang Min-Ho's face hardened when he realized that he didn’t have any cash on him at all. He then pulled out his debit card and asked, "I'm sorry, but can I pay with this instead?"

"You should have told me earlier, I didn't bring the card machine along."

"Oh, no, what should I do? I forgot that I didn't have any cash with me…"

"It's not your first time ordering, either. Just remember to pay for it the next time or drop by the shop when you're on the way," the delivery man said nicely and handed Kang Min-Ho the food. Then, he closed the steel box once more.

When he stood up, Ha Jae-Gun walked to the door and handed the man some cash before saying, "Here's the cash."

"Ah, thank you. This is the change. Please enjoy your meal," said the delivery man before leaving.

The door closed when the delivery man left.

Kang Min-Ho kept his head down, feeling embarrassed in front of Ha Jae-Gun.

"I'm really sorry, I forgot to withdraw cash. I'll pay it back to you when my brother comes."

"You don't have to do that. Just think about the contract fee."

"Pardon?"

"We also signed a contract between us, right? I'm considering that bowl of noodles our contract fee."

"Ahahaha…"

"Let's eat before the noodles turn soggy."

"Okay."

The two of them sat across from each other on the table and started digging in. Ha Jae-Gun, who had been starving, devoured his noodles like a vacuum cleaner. Kang Min-Ho, on the other hand, was eating slowly, as if he didn't have an appetite.

"Um, Writer Ha Jae-Gun." Kang Min-Ho finally spoke up when Ha Jae-Gun was wiping his mouth with a tissue after finishing his meal. Ha Jae-Gun stole a glance at Kang Min-Ho's bowl to see that the latter hadn't even finished half his bowl.

"Please speak," Ha Jae-Gun prompted.

"I'm not sure if it's alright for me to ask this…" Kang Min-Ho started off hesitantly and finally dropped the question, "I understand that you would want to help the president of Laugh Books, but why me? There are many other writers who are better than me, so what did you see in me?"

It was only then that Ha Jae-Gun understood the underlying meaning of that question. Kang Min-Ho wasn’t confident about himself—not even in his own writing. He was also fearful that he would become Ha Jae-Gun's dead weight.

"You do have the potential," Ha Jae-Gun replied with a serious look.

"As I've said during the authors' meet, I’ve finished reading Great Demon Lord of the Other World up to volume six. You write well, Writer Kang Kang Min-Ho and I think your basics are good, just that…” Ha Jae-Gun trailed off as he got himself some water from the water dispenser.

As Kang Min-Ho waited anxiously, he finally continued.“...the latter half of the novel felt relatively weak like the focal point of the story changed all of a sudden, and it was a pity, but the ending wasn’t great.”

“Mm… I see. I got that a lot, too, and I do have the same thoughts myself.”

“Had you improved that area, I think the results would have been different. It would have been more satisfactory, and I will help you to achieve that.”

“Okay…” Kang Min-Ho murmured and lowered his head slightly.

Ha Jae-Gun's encouragement touched him because the number of times he had heard warm encouraging words from other writers could only be counted on one hand.

"I was the happiest when I joined the authors' meet," Kang Min-Ho muttered as he looked down at his now-cold spicy seafood noodles. The surface of the noodles reflected the scene of that fateful night.

He had attended it in spite of the shame he had been feeling as an unknown writer, and it was all because he wanted to hear advice from different writers and hoped to use that as a stepping stone to improve his writing.

He met Ha Jae-Gun at the gathering, which he used much courage to attend, and found himself extremely lucky before the year ended.

"I will do my best." Kang Min-Ho bowed down deeply toward Ha Jae-Gun with a determined look.

Kang Min-Ho was thirty-four years old this year. However, there were no other hidden intentions or feelings when he bowed down toward Ha Jae-Gun, who was seven years younger than him. After all, he was the one learning from Ha Jae-Gun. Age didn’t really matter much to him by now.

"The feedback I received from you yesterday was definitely on a different class. I would like to learn more from you in the future as well, Writer Ha."

"You don't have to praise me so much. Umm… I would like to see what the story development is like from volume two onwards."

"Ah, sure. I'll show you what I have come up with so far. Over here."

Ha Jae-Gun then read through the entire novel The Demon Lord Crashed-Landed In Earth, and then he pointed out each area that needed fixing.

Kang Min-Ho took down notes diligently.

"...I think this should do it. You're quite good at writing as well, so it should be fine if you can write it similarly to volume one. Just make sure that your story direction doesn’t deviate too much.”

"Wow, I'm overflowing with confidence after you pointed all that out. I'll start working on it immediately after my shift today."

"Shift?"

"Ah, yes. I haven't said this, have I? I'm working the night shift at a convenience store since I have to get some money for my own living expenses," replied Kang Min-Ho.

Kang Min-Ho smiled bitterly as he scratched his own cheek. He had to start a part-time job because he wasn't earning even a penny from his writings.

Ha Jae-Gun recalled his own situation from last year, and he smiled faintly as he said, "I was also working part-time at a convenience store up until last year."

"...!" Kang Min-Ho's eyes widened at the unbelievable fact. "Really? Didn't you write a few more hit novels before The Breath?"

"They all turned out great from this year onwards. I was in a really bad situation last year—I couldn't even use the boiler to shower in winter because I was trying to save on utilities."

"Ah, I see… I never knew."

Ha Jae-Gun turned to the laptop screen and looked at the synopsis of Kang Min-Ho’s novel and said, “You will eventually stop working at the convenience store, too. Please be confident in your writing. Things will turn out well.”

“Thank you very much. I’ll put in my best efforts.”

Ha Jae-Gun rose to his feet and picked up his coat. Rika, who had been watching the world outside the window, jumped down and walked over to Ha Jae-Gun.

“Are you leaving now?”

“Of course. Please send me the manuscript for volume two once it's ready.” Ha Jae-Gun picked up Rika and headed for the door, which Kang Min-Ho opened for him.

“Please don’t send me off.” Ha Jae-Gun stopped Kang Min-Ho from sending him off.

“It’s just up front.” Kang Min-Ho ended up standing by his door and watched as Ha Jae-Gun drove away in the distance.

All of a sudden, a young man approached Kang Min-Ho from behind.

“Who was that, Hyung?”

“Christ, you scared me. Didn’t I tell you not to appear from behind me?” Kang Min-Ho threw a fuss while patting his chest. The young man was one of the younger writers sharing the office with him.

“Who was that, and why are you acting like that? Is there anyone who would drive all the way to our office?”

“He’s a writer.”

“Writer? Who?”

“You’d freak out and faint if I told you who he was. He’s an amazing writer.”

The younger writer grinned. Then, he scoffed at Kang Min-Ho’s words and said, “Aigoo, really? I wonder who was that because he was actually capable of making you act like this? Was it Writer Poongchun-Yoo of The Breath?”

Hearing that, Kang Min-Ho looked up at the sky and burst into laughter.

Thinking that Kang Min-Ho was laughing at his joke, the young man also followed suit and started laughing out loud.

It had been quite a while, but the sky in Seoul finally started to look clear in Kang Min-Ho’s eyes.

***

“It’s suspicious indeed.” Deputy Lee said as she approached from behind.

Jung So-Mi flinched slightly while she was looking in the mirror, fixing her hair in the ladies' room.

“Why are you putting so much effort into tying your hair? You usually just pull them into a ponytail, but why the bunned-up hair today? You want to look cute to someone today?”

“I-it’s not that. I just want a change in hairstyle because I’m done with the usual one,” Jung So-Mi said as she looked into the mirror, making eye contact with Deputy Lee.

Deputy Lee smiled and raised her hands to Jung So-Mi’s hair.

“Here, let me do it for you,” said Deputy Lee.

“Ah, thank you.”

“I should do this much for you because you’re meeting the man you like.”

“Seriously…! It’s not like that, Deputy Lee.”

“All right, all right. It’s really fun to tease you because of your reactions.” Deputy Lee chuckled while skillfully tying up Kung So-Mi’s hair into a bun. Then, she took out a few makeup products from her own pocket.

“Look at me.”

“Ah, it’s all right. I’m not good with makeup, so…”

“I’ll do some light makeup for you. Look here.”

Jung So-Mi was hesitant, but she still faced Deputy Lee as she had long acknowledged the older lady’s fashion sense. Deputy Lee’s makeup skills were great as well.

“How does it look?”

Jung So-Mi exclaimed when she checked herself out in the mirror. “Oh, my, I look really different, but the makeup isn’t obvious either.”

“It is subtle, but anyway, good luck,” Deputy Lee started packing up her makeup.

Jung So-Mi protested with her flushed cheeks. “I feel strange every time you say that, Deputy Lee.”

“I’m referring to the webtoon contract, though?”

“Pardon?”

“Huhuhu, you’re really naive, aren’t you?” Deputy Lee patted lightly on So-Mi’s shoulder and left the washroom first.

Now left alone, Jung So-Mi looked into the mirror once more and stared at her new self carefully. She felt that she looked prettier than usual, and when his face popped up in her mind, her heart started pounding faster.