Big Life

"He must be ecstatic to be home after so long."

"Who? Min-Ho hyung?"

"Yeah, he said his mother doesn’t want him to leave, so he's going to stay for a few more days."

It was Friday evening, and Jang Eun-Young, Yang Hyun-Kyung, and Rika were in the office. Ha Jae-Gun went back home to grab some clothes to change into and some reference materials.

"Let's have dinner when Writer Ha comes back," Jang Eun-Young suggested.

"Sure."

Jang Eun-Young left her desk to make herself a cup of coffee while Yang Hyun-Kyung was looking down at his phone, engrossed.

'Is he in a relationship?' Jang Eun-Young wondered while looking at Yang Hyun-Kyung's back. Her guess stemmed from the fact that Yang Hyun-Kyung had been using his phone more often ever since he returned to the office.

In addition, she hadn't seen him focus on his writing for over thirty minutes today.

'This kid has got a girl he likes!' Jang Eun-Young smiled mischievously and tiptoed over to him. She peeked over his shoulder at his phone screen, but her smile stiffened almost instantly.

"Stocks…?" Jang Eun-Young muttered in shock, and her jaws dropped slightly.

Yang Hyun-Kyung flinched in surprise and turned around.

"Yang Hyun-Kyung, you're playing stocks?"

"Ah, noona… I'm just playing a little for fun."

"Where did you get the money to do this? Did you use the money you got from the advanced royalties? That amount isn't even sufficient for your own living expenses."

"My friend recommended to me a guaranteed stock that was worth investing in. Look. My profits have grown by thirty percent, and I've already earned around 350,000 won," Yang Hyun-Kyung said as he proudly showed her his phone screen.

However, Jang Eun-Young only shook her head and let out a sigh.

"Stop it right there and just focus on your writing."

"This will go up further to fifty percent. Once it happens, I'll sell it off and stop playing stocks."

"I haven’t seen anyone who really got those profits, even including my damned ex-husband. It’s all because of that thing called greed. You’ll really get into huge trouble if you continue, Hyun-Kyung,” Jang Eun-Young warned.

Jang Eun-Young was so sensitive about stocks because it was one of the reasons for her decision to divorce—her ex-husband had lost money over stocks, and debts had played a strong role in their livelihood. There were great investors, but in her eyes, Yang Hyun-Kyung wasn’t one of those level-headed people.

“Please don’t tell Min-Ho hyung.”

“At least you’re feeling guilty, huh?”

“I just… I’m not sure how I should tell him. All right, noona? Please.”

“I don’t know, I can’t promise you. If you continue to get distracted by stocks rather than focusing on your writing, I can only snitch on you.”

“Ah, noona. Please just let me sell this off, and I’ll stop playing stocks. Please, okay?”

Beep, beep, beep!

The door lock chime echoed, and both Jang Eun-Young and Yang Hyun-Kyung paused their conversation and looked toward the door to see Ha Jae-Gun and Jung So-Mi entering the office.

“Please come in, Ms. So-Mi. Everyone, this is Ms. Jung So-Mi; she’s the illustrator drawing your novels’ book covers. This is Writer Yang Hyun-Kyung, and Writer Jang Eun-Young,” Ha Jae-Gun introduced.

“Hello, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Jung So-Mi.” So-Mi bowed deeply.

Yang Hyun-Kyung stared at Jung So-Mi’s ponytail.

‘A cute editor like her actually exists?! There’s no way…!’

Jang Eun-Young greeted them with a sad smile. “Welcome in. I’ve always wanted to meet you after seeing your drawings. It’s nice to meet you.”

After they finished exchanging greetings, Ha Jae-Gun led Jung So-Mi next to his seat, where a dual monitor and computer were located.

"It’ll be more comfortable for you to work with two monitors, right?" Ha Jae-Gun asked.

"Ah, I had no idea that you’d go all this far to help me…”

"This is nothing."

Jung So-Mi sat at the desk and opened her bag. She took out an old tablet that she had purchased second-hand five years ago, a USB stick, notebook, pen, and a few necessary stationery items and laid them out on the table.

"Shall we have dinner first before working? We were waiting for you, so we can have dinner together."

"Ah, sure. Let's do that."

When they finally finished dinner, it was already past 9 p.m. They returned to their own seats and started working away. The silent office became filled with typing noises and the scribbling of a pen.

‘We’re connected now, Rika. Thank you.’ Ha Jae-Gun said inwardly as he started typing away on his keyboard.

Ha Jae-Gun had just found out that he could be connected to the emotions of two women at once. He had no idea how long Jung So-Mi would stay in the office with them, so he was planning on maximizing this opportunity.

In other words, his fingers wouldn’t rest today.

***

Tadadadak! Swick! Swish swish! Tadak! Swick!

Soon, it was midnight.

Yang Hyun-Kyung had retreated into his room after being unable to overcome the drowsiness. An hour later, the routine-oriented Jang Eun-Young stopped working and headed to bed as well.

Only Ha Jae-Gun and Jung So-Mi were left working. Jung So-Mi massaged her stiff wrist and stole a glance at Ha Jae-Gun. As usual, he was in his terrifyingly high concentration mode, focusing solely on his novel.

'I think to myself every time I see him like this, he must have been born to write.'

Jung So-Mi was amazed, and Ha Jae-Gun emitted an aura in her eyes.

‘That’s why he managed to succeed in life. I’ll have to work harder as well.’

Jung So-Mi encouraged herself and picked up her pen once more.

She had quite a lot of work to do. After completing the book cover for Jang Eun-Young’s novel, she would have to work on proofreading the novels from the office. He wouldn’t work on one or two novels, so she would have to work throughout the night just to complete them.

However, her resolve didn’t last long.

When 2 a.m. arrived, her eyelids felt heavy after a long day of work.

She found it difficult to fight the sleep demon.

‘This can’t do, I have to wake myself up.’

Jung So-Mi saved the illustration that she had just finished coloring and headed to the bathroom to wash her face with cold water.

She didn’t put on any make-up, so it wouldn’t really be inconvenient for her to just directly wash her face. She applied some lotion on her slightly dry skin and stepped out of the bathroom.

However, she was stupefied upon seeing Ha Jae-Gun.

“...Writer Ha?”

Ha Jae-Gun’s face and shirt were drenched in sweat.

“Writer Ha? Are you feeling hot?”

“Ah, no… I’m fine…”Ha Jae-Gun did not even look at her when replying.

Jung So-Mi was so shocked at Ha Jae-Gun’s condition that she reflexively covered her mouth with her hands.

‘Is he ill?’

Ha Jae-Gun’s complexion was pale, his shoulders were drooping, and his eyes were blank. Dry, hoarse breathing could only be heard through his slightly opened mouth, but despite that, his fingers didn’t stop moving.

“Writer Ha! Please take a break first. You look exhausted.”

“No, it’s all right.” Ha Jae-Gun moved his face closer to the screen.

he was working on an important part of the story.

He needed Jung So-Mi’s emotions to nourish Ye-Ji’s character in the scene where she was expressing the pain she was feeling to Han Joo-Hee.

There was no way he would stop until he was done with that particular scene.

“I don’t think you’re fine. Writer Ha, I’ll wake you up in an hour, so please get some shut-eye first,” So-Mi asked earnestly once more. She was so worried about his well-being that she couldn’t look away from him.

Ha Jae-Gun truly looked like he would collapse at any moment.

“Writer Ha?”

“Ah, I’m really fine, so why do you on—” Ha Jae-Gun turned around with an annoyed look, but he managed to stop himself just in time before he could raise his voice at Jung So-Mi.

Jung So-Mi’s eyes went as large as a rabbit’s eyes, and she stood stiff at his reaction.

“I’m sorry, Ms. So-Mi.” Ha Jae-Gun pressed on his own sweaty face. "I must have become overly sensitive. It's not an excuse, I really didn't realize you were the one talking to me. I got myself together now. I'm sorry."

Ha Jae-Gun wasn't lying; he got so absorbed in his novel that he hadn’t realize that Jung So-Mi was the one talking to him.

Jung So-Mi put on a wry smile and handed him a towel. "I disturbed you, so it should be me who should apologize. Please wipe your sweat off, Writer Ha."

"Thank you." Ha Jae-Gun took the towel and started wiping his face.

He felt heavy, as if he were a cotton ball soaked in water. The lull in his work allowed Ha Jae-Gun to notice the fatigue that had accumulated in him. He didn’t feel exhausted at all while working.

"I have to take a shower." Ha Jae-Gun felt sticky all over.

He stood up and turned around to look at Rika.

Rika seemed to be particularly tired as well, as she was sleeping soundly in a corner.

Ha Jae-Gun was surprised because Rika was usually more active at night than during the day.

'She's not feeling ill, is she? Or is she tired because she's still adjusting to the new place?' Ha Jae-Gun approached her and stroked her neck gently.

Rika opened her eyes for a moment, but she soon found him annoying and closed her eyes again before turning away from him.

"Sorry for disturbing you. It seems like I got too worried. Let's go to the vet these days to get you checked up."

With that, Ha Jae-Gun headed into the bathroom and gave himself a refreshing shower to wash all the fatigue away. Ha Jae-Gun thought that he had done a great job drinking a cup of coffee from Seo Gun-Woo's cup when he went back home to get a change of clothes earlier.

'I should suggest getting supper together.'

It had been a while since their last meal, and Ha Jae-Gun pondered over what they could eat while putting on his clothes.

"Oh, Ms. So-Mi. Are you editing?" Ha Jae-Gun asked while curiously staring at her screen.

Jung So-Mi had been working on her tablet until just a while ago, but she was now typing away on her keyboard.

"Ms. So-Mi?"

Jung So-Mi didn't reply even after Ha Jae-Gun called her the second time. He approached her, and then she frowned with a bitter smile. Jung So-Mi was nodding off while in her seat.

'Is she exhausted? I'm feeling sorry now.'

Ha Jae-Gun lightly guided Jung So-Mi to lie on the desk comfortably, and then covered her with a blanket.

Afterward, he looked at her screen.

‘Oh, so these are the novels that they’re releasing.’

Ha Jae-Gun rolled his tongue around as he looked at the list of novels and their manuscripts on the screen. He was currently in the folder named Before Editing.

‘Seems like she wanted to do them here because she couldn’t complete them during office hours. Hmm… I think I can help her with these.’

Jung So-Mi had been a tremendous help to him today, so he decided to use the time he had remaining before he had to sleep to help her with her work.

'Let's see, the first novel is Alcohol is the Way to Go?'

Ha Jae-Gun clicked on the first manuscript, and it immediately filled the entire screen. Ha Jae-Gun pulled out the horn-rimmed glasses from his breast pocket.

'It's great that I brought it along with me.'

Ha Jae-Gun smiled as he read the document. Countless typos and grammatical errors popped out to him in bold, and Ha Jae-Gun's fingers started working away, correcting them.

'Each volume has around 130,000 characters, 10 minutes is probably enough.'

In addition to allowing him to see every single mistake, the horn-rimmed glasses also increased his editing speed. In the end, Ha Jae-Gun edited an entire volume in under thirty minutes.

'Perfect…! I can't believe that I did it!'

Ha Jae-Gun was amazed at himself as he checked the edited manuscript. He didn’t miss even a single typo, and the weird parts had been ironed out as well.

'I probably would get the editor position right away if I applied at a publication company. What’s the next novel? Ah, Tyrant Demon Lord?'

Tadadadak! Tadak!

Ha Jae-Gun tried his best to lower the volume of his typing, afraid that he would wake Jung So-Mi up.

He was glad that he could help her out like this.

Meanwhile, the exhausted Jung So-Mi was falling deeper into her sleep.

***

'Hmm…?!'

Jung So-Mi's eyes opened wide, and her blurry vision got clearer with every second.

Her head was on the desk, and the first person she saw was Ha Jae-Gun.

As usual, his monitor screen was lit up.

'Wow, I slept at the desk. Did Writer Ha cover me with a blanket?'

Jung So-Mi took the blanket and stood up.

She looked at the clock and saw that it was past 6 a.m.

'I didn't get to work on the editing at all yesterday.'

Jung So-Mi sighed and dragged her chair to sit up at her desk.

However, her eyes immediately widened.

'W-what's this?'

There was another folder labeled Edited with all the novels listed in it. So-Mi grabbed the mouse with her trembling hands and opened the file named Alcohol is the Way to Go.

'Huh? It’s edited?!'

Jung So-Mi's jaws dropped to the extent that her uvula could be seen. The entire document had been edited. The typos and grammatical errors had been corrected, and the changes were even highlighted in red.

'No way?!'

Jung So-Mi closed the document and opened the next few files as well, and her mind turned blank. She thought that she wouldn't be able to finish all her work even if she worked through the weekend, but the manuscripts had been inexplicably edited.

'Did Writer Ha…?'

Jung So-Mi slowly turned around and looked at him. She couldn’t believe it at all.

If Ha Jae-Gun had edited all these by himself, then there was definitely some kind of sorcery involved here. This was beyond the limits of humanity, and it was obviously a miracle.

Meanwhile, Ha Jae-Gun was fast asleep, oblivious to Jung So-Mi's astonishment.