Big Life

Ha Jae-Gun was driving back to his own house when he suddenly turned the car around. It was due to a call that had just come through.

"That early? I thought it would take a few more weeks. Okay, I'll drop by to take a look as well. I've made a U-turn, I'll see you soon."

Ha Jae-Gun stopped his car on the road shoulder and input a new address, and then he hit the road once more. Traffic was smooth today, it didn't seem like he would take long to arrive at his new destination.

Ha Jae-Gun drove leisurely and put on the latest audiobook that he had recently purchased. It was a new habit that had formed after he bought a car. Listening to an audiobook wasn’t as satisfactory as reading a book, but it was still a good way to enjoy his free time.

'Is this it?'

Ha Jae-Gun arrived at the destination much faster than expected while listening to the audiobook. Ha Jae-Gun parked at the basement parking lot of the high-rise officetel building.

"Yes, I've just arrived. It's 1601, right? I'm heading up now."

Ha Jae-Gun took the elevator up to the 16th floor and headed to apartment number 1601.

The front door was wide open.

"Oh, it's Writer Ha!" Jang Eun-Young exclaimed when she spotted Ha Jae-Gun. Kang Min-Ho and Yang Hyun-Kyung stopped unpacking their bags and looked up at the door at the same time.

"That was fast, Writer Ha."

"Traffic was smooth. Wow, the office is really huge and nice. Even a large family can live here," Ha Jae-Gun said casually.

Ha Jae-Gun was right. The officetel that he finally got to witness with his own eyes was far better than what he had heard. It was well equipped with a built-in microwave, refrigerator, electric stove, washer, and other essential electrical appliances.

Ha Jae-Gun walked around the place. The apartment was composed of a long rectangular living room, kitchen area, and three rooms right next to each other on the right. It had two bathrooms, the larger one was located near the end of the living room, and the smaller one was ensuite to the largest bedroom.

"It seems like Writer Jang Eun-Young will be using the largest room," Ha Jae-Gun said after looking through all the rooms.

Jang Eun-Young looked at him, seemingly confused.

Ha Jae-Gun added, "You're the only girl here, so it's best for you to use the room with a personal bathroom."

"No, no. You don’t have to be considerate of me just because I’m the only girl here. I'm fine with sharing the bathroom with everyone else."

"We feel uncomfortable about it, though," Kang Min-Ho said.

He had just set up his own laptop.

"Hyun-Kyung and I tend to mess up the bathroom, but you always keep it clean. I always get really worried whenever I shower because I have to make sure it’s always clean. Anyway, let’s just do what Writer Ha said."

"Seriously, oppa. Others will end up thinking that I nag a lot. Don't you know that I don't give a damn about those?" Jang Eun-Young grumbled, sulking.

Everyone else burst into laughter.

Yang Hyun-Kyung headed to the refrigerator and pulled out a few bottles of drinks before saying, "Perhaps more female writers will join us in the future. You might have to share the room with them by then, so just take the chance to use it all for yourself for now. Isn't that great?"

"Can I really do that…" Jang Eun-Young mumbled, still looking quite apologetic.

Jang Eun-Young looked around in awe. She still found it surreal that she could work in an office with such a nice environment. Her life as a writer had always been tough, especially after her divorce.

Since then, she had never really been able to live a comfortable life.

"So, has everything been decided?" Ha Jae-Gun asked and headed to the balcony.

He could see the entire city center at a glance, and the sight was refreshing to behold.

'He did a great job choosing this place. Well, he has always been meticulous.'

The new office was incomparable to the old basement. It was as if they had reformed a thirty-year-old rundown neighborhood public bath into a twenty-four-hour sauna equipped with state-of-the-art facilities.

How would it feel to work in such a great environment? The excitement of working in a new environment brought a smile to Ha Jae-Gun's face.

Just then, he felt a light tap on his shoulder.

"Oh, President Kwon." Ha Jae-Gun turned around to see a smiling Kwon Tae-Won, who came up behind him without making a single sound.

"How did you find the office? It's good, isn't it?"

"It's not just good. I think we'll be able to keep writing bestsellers for a while here."

"It's great to hear that you like this place. Please let me know if you need anything else. And just to remind you again… this is your office, Writer Ha. You know that, right?" Kwon Tae-Won joked in a low voice.

Ha Jae-Gun smiled and shook his head, embarrassed.

Just then, Jang Eun-Young's soft exclamation caught everyone's attention.

"Wow, Writer Ha. You're on the real-time keyword search ranking again."

"What is it about this time, noona?" Yang Hyun-Kyung asked and approached Jang Eun-Young, who was looking at her phone screen.

Jang Eun-Young showed him her phone and said, "I think the girl group member from AppleT, Chae-Rin, read Writer Ha's Storm and Gale. She made a tweet and said that the novel was a good read."

"Wow…! Chae-Rin did that?!" Yang Hyun-Kyung's jaws dropped wide open.

Ha Jae-Gun's eyes blinked, and his mouth went agape like a goldfish. He had no idea what AppleT was and who Chae-Rin was.

"Writer Ha, have you never heard of AppleT?"

"Yeah, what is that?" Ha Jae-Gun asked and took out his phone. He guessed that AppleT wasn't some kind of beverage.

"No matter how unaware you are of the entertainment industry, there's no way you won't know of AppleT. They're the hottest girl group since last year."

"They're a girl group?"

"Yes. Chae-Rin is the leader of the group AppleT, and she’s also a bookworm. She took Korean Culture as her major but is currently taking a gap year due to her activities as a celebrity. Try looking her up, they're very popular," Yang Hyun-Kyung said. He stared at Ha Jae-Gun as if he were disappointed.

Ha Jae-Gun’s heart stung upon feeling the generation gap, and he ended up accessing Navin on his phone.

4 Chae-Rin Storm and Gale

5 Ha Jae-Gun

6 Modern Youth Literature Award Storm and Gale

7 AppleT Chae-Rin Recommended Book

The keywords related to Ha Jae-Gun had taken from fourth to seventh places on the real-time keyword search ranking. Ha Jae-Gun was both surprised and delighted. Of course, he was also curious. Could this be considered a delightful coincidence?

Chae-Rin had chosen his novel amidst the countless other novels and their writers available in this world. Regardless of how much she liked reading, Ha Jae-Gun was fascinated by how she ended up choosing his novel.

'I have even more followers now.' Ha Jae-Gun thought to himself upon accessing Twitter. Just a few days ago, his Twitter follower count was still under 60,000, but he now had 70,000 followers.

There were countless tweets mentioning him as well.

They were all from netizens who had clicked on the link following the tweet that Chae-Rin had posted: I recommend Storm and Gale.

Ha Jae-Gun went to Navin to look up Chae-Rin. He found her face familiar, but it wasn’t really strange because he could have seen her on TV before, after all. Like all other female celebrities, she looked extremely beautiful in the photos.

"You must be ecstatic getting your book recommended by a member of a popular girl group, Writer Ha." Kwon Tae-Won grinned.

However, Ha Jae-Gun was still in a daze and shook his head slowly, "I'm happy, but it feels quite strange. Did she tune into Writer's Night?"

"It doesn't have to be Writer’s Night. You're the winner of the Modern Youth Literature Award, after all. She's also a bookworm, so she could also be your reader from way before Writer’s Night. Congratulations, your sales will go through the roof with this—Ah!" Kwon Tae-Won snapped his fingers and continued, "We should organize a housewarming, shouldn't we? Ah, it should be an officewarming instead. Everyone is here, but are you free, Writer Ha?"

"Sure, it’ll be my treat since an idol just recommended my book. Please tell me what you would like to eat,” said Ha Jae-Gun. He proceeded to write down their requests, but he was interrupted by a call.

Ha Jae-Gun took out his phone and smiled upon seeing the caller ID on the screen.

The call was from Da-Seul, who had been avoiding him by giving him excuses that she was busy.

"Hello?"

— Writer Oppa. What are you doing?

"I'm at Bucheon for an appointment. Why is it so hard to meet you these days? Are you very busy?" Ha Jae-Gun excused himself from the group and headed to the corridor outside.

Da-Seul's voice sounded much calmer than before.

— I had a few errands to run and all. Writer Oppa, how's your father doing?

"I told you before through text previously, didn't I? He's a lot better now."

— Thank god. My prayers were answered.

"You prayed for him? Wow, it must really be thanks to you."

— Huhuhu.

Silence came after her giggle. Ha Jae-Gun leaned against the wall along the empty corridor and asked, "When are you free? Don't you want to get the first autographed copy of Storm and Gale?"

— Of course, I do. I actually called because of that. Are you free today, Writer Oppa?

"To…day?” Ha Jae-Gun paused to glance at the apartment where Kwon Tae-Won and the other writers were located. However, he quickly made up his mind. “Yeah, sure."

He decided to meet her after getting the sense of foreboding that he would never see her again if he were to say no.

"Shall we meet at Herb Karaoke, then? What time shall we meet?"

— Probably around 5 p.m. after I get ready?

"All right, I'll see you in a bit then."

With that, Ha Jae-Gun explained himself to the others and left the officetel.

As he started the car engine, Ha Jae-Gun looked at the glove box in the front passenger seat. The first copy of Storm and Gale was still in there.

Ha Jae-Gun then hit the road, feeling excited.

***

Da-Seul had already started drinking even before Ha Jae-Gun arrived at the destination. She was waiting at the same pub where they had drinks together for the first time. However, the only food item on the table was bean sprout soup.

The phone in her hand showed Ha Jae-Gun's Twitter that had appeared on Navin's real-time keyword search rankings.

Da-Seul could feel that the distance between her and Ha Jae-Gun had widened even further, especially when his book was recommended by a popular girl group member.

Da-Seul drank alcohol with mixed feelings. She felt pathetic after caving into Ha Jae-Gun's request of wanting to meet again, even if it would be for the last time. She was afraid of talking to him while sober, so she decided to start drinking before he arrived.

She had already emptied half a bottle of soju.

Bzzt!

Her phone suddenly vibrated.

Da-Seul gulped a spoonful of soup before answering the phone call.

"Hey, sis. No, I've already sent all my luggage over. Of course, I've removed all my stuff from the room. I don’t have that much to pack, anyway. Of course, I know. Ah, sis, I'll call you again later." Da-Seul quickly ended the call upon seeing Ha Jae-Gun.

Ha Jae-Gun frowned. "You were drinking by yourself?"

"I got bored waiting for you. Who asked you to come late?"

"Who said I'm late? There are still ten minutes before five..."

"Ah, you're being all serious again. Have a shot and then order some food. I’ve been waiting for you, so I haven’t ordered anything else."

Ha Jae-Gun downed a shot and ordered some food to go with the soju. Meanwhile, Da-Seul had another shot of soju, and Ha Jae-Gun couldn’t stop her from drinking.

"What's wrong with you? Did something happen?"

"Not at all. I just feel like having drinks today. Have another shot," Da-Seul said with a nonchalant smile before drinking another shot. Honestly, she simply didn’t have the courage to speak her mind.

Da-Seul’s vision soon turned blurry. Da-Seul wanted to burn Ha Jae-Gun's current look into her brain, but her brain had turned foggy after going well over her usual limit.

"Uhhh, Ms. Da-Seul." Ha Jae-Gun hurriedly grabbed onto Da-Seul, who was leaning over to one side. It had only been thirty minutes since he arrived, and he regretted not being firm when he tried to stop her from drinking more.

He shook Da-Seul and said, "Wake up. This can't go on. I'll send you back now."

Da-Seul squinted and looked at him.

He drew a circle on his cheeks and giggled. "You'll send me back? Where?"

"Of course, to your home. Where do you live? Let's get up first."

"But I don't have a home..."

Ha Jae-Gun stopped and looked at Da-Seul. Her plump lips had a forced smile. He immediately saw through the seemingly bottomless sadness in her smile. After all, he was a meticulous writer and a great listener.

"I really don't have a house, Writer Oppa," Da-Seul mumbled, exhausted. With that, she closed her eyes, and her head drooped. She hugged Ha Jae-Gun’s waist, and then she buried her face into his chest, staying perfectly still.

'Oh no.'

Ha Jae-Gun's car was parked quite a distance away.

Ha Jae-Gun gulped and looked out of the restaurant. A neon signboard belonging to a motel at the end of the road caught his eye.

'Seems like that's a better place than my house. I should just let her sleep there for the night.'

He had no other choices.

There was no way he could send a drunk lady to a public sauna.[1]

Ha Jae-Gun footed the bill and carried her on his back. Fortunately, she wasn’t heavy, and she was wearing jeans rather than a skirt. Still, he attracted a lot of attention while carrying her to the nearby motel.

Ha Jae-Gun headed over to the motel.

"Welcome."

"Hello, how much is it for a night?"

"It's 61,000 won, toiletries included."

Ha Jae-Gun paid for the room and carried Da-Seul up to the designated room with the toiletries and room key.

He pressed the button for floor 2 and stood in front of the elevator for a while before the staff informed him, "Sir, this is the second floor. The parking lot is on the first floor."

The staff could have notified him earlier because there was a limit to how long he could carry Da-Seul, even though she was light. Ha Jae-Gun decided that he would exercise regularly from now on as he turned around and left.

Da-Seul’s warm breath as she snored tickled his ears.

1. A public sauna/jjimjilbang is a public bathhouse that operates around the clock, and you can sleep there as well if you like. ☜