Big Life

"We should do everything on the itinerary. Plus, this isn't any normal trip; you're going to use it for your novel."

"Yeah, but still…"

"I'm okay now. You've applied ointment for me, and the slippers are super comfortable. Let's go."

Lee Soo-Hee held Ha Jae-Gun's hand again, this time slightly more naturally than when they were at the aquarium.

Ha Jae-Gun kept his eyes on her feet with worry as Lee Soo-Hee dragged him along. The pair strolled leisurely and rode the Ferris wheel to enjoy the night view of Osaka.

Looking down at the beautiful view, Lee Soo-Hee asked, "Isn't it beautiful?"

"Yeah."

Ha Jae-Gun found the car quite confined, as both their knees were touching each other. Ha Jae-Gun shifted his knees away at an angle and said, "Thank you for today. I think my novel will become even better thanks to today’s experience."

"That's great."

Their carriage soon arrived at the top of the Ferris wheel. Lee Soo-Hee tied her hair back into a ponytail using the hair tie on her wrist to stop her hair from flying around.

Ha Jae-Gun fell into a daze when he saw her pale neck.

"What are you going to do later?"

"Let's have dinner together. You said you know a great restaurant, right?" Ha Jae-Gun said.

"Of course, should I decide on the menu as well?"

"Sure."

"What about after dinner?"

"Are you okay with getting some drinks?"

"Fine by me."

The two made eye contact in the small carriage, and Lee Soo-Hee added softly, "I'm fine with not going back tonight."

"Huh?"

"I can stay out late tonight, so you don't have to worry about me."

"Ah, mm… Okay," Ha Jae-Gun replied and proceeded to look out of the carriage.

Why did those words feel strange to him?

After the Ferris wheel ride, the two hailed a taxi and headed for a sushi restaurant downtown. There was no need for them to head elsewhere for drinks because they ordered sake along with their food.

"Soo-Hee, are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah… I'm fine."

Lee Soo-Hee seemed much more restless after they had cleared the second bottle of sake. It was most likely due to the fatigue from completing her work within a short period of time just to match Ha Jae-Gun’s schedule and meet up with him.

She hadn’t gotten any rest, so it wasn’t strange that she was at her limits.

“Let’s stop here.”

“No, I still can drink more. Pour me another.”

It didn’t seem like Lee Soo-Hee was bluffing; it seemed like she was simply overconfident. Plus, she was with the man she trusted the most in the world, so it was inevitable that she was relaxed.

“Soo-Hee, you really shouldn’t drink anymore.” Ha Jae-Gun stopped Lee Soo-Hee from ordering another bottle of sake.

Lee Soo-Hee stared at Ha Jae-Gun with hazy eyes, and Ha Jae-Gun was familiar with her current expression. It was an expression that drunk people would put on to pretend that they weren’t drunk.

Ha Jae-Gun smiled bitterly and picked up his coat. “Get up, I’ll drop you off.”

“No, I don’t want to.”

“Team Leader Lee, why are you acting like this today?”

“Let me drink some more. I said I don’t need to go back early, didn’t I? I want to drink more.”

Ha Jae-Gun looked around. He seemed embarrassed as he said, “This restaurant looks like they’re closing as well…”

“Let’s go somewhere else that closes even later then.”

“Okay, let me get the bill first.”

When Ha Jae-Gun returned, he saw Lee Soo-Hee leaning against the table.

He shook her shoulders, trying to wake her up.

“Lee Soo-Hee, wake up. Let’s go,” he said.

“Mm, I don’t know…”

Ha, Jae-Gun was flustered. He couldn’t understand why Lee Soo-Hee was acting this way today when she was usually so perfect.

“Let’s go—just until where the taxi stand is, okay?”

Ha Jae-Gun struggled out of the restaurant while supporting Lee Soo-Hee out. He suddenly recalled carrying Da-Seul on his back to a motel. Who could have known that he would have to do that again, and in Japan at that?

He had no other choice.

Ha Jae-Gun flagged down a taxi and decided to take her back to his hotel.

“Please take me to Toyoko Inn Umeda.”

Ha Jae-Gun was still supporting Lee Soo-Hee up until they boarded the taxi, but when they arrived at the destination, he had to piggyback her up. Ha Jae-Gun managed to get on the elevator up to his room, and then he laid her down on the super single bed.

“Phew…!”

It was cold outside because it was winter, but Ha Jae-Gun was drenched in sweat. Ha Jae-Gun took off Lee Soo-Hee’s coat for her and hung it up, and then he covered her with a blanket.

After coming out of the shower and seeing Lee Soo-Hee still fast asleep on the bed, Ha Jae-Gun muttered, “She must be really tired.”

“You’ve worked hard today, Soo-Hee. I know you’re tired, and I didn’t think about your shoes. Sorry, and thank you.”

Ha Jae-Gun sat down at the table and turned on his laptop. He didn’t really feel sleepy, so he decided to recall and record today’s events.

Tadadak! Tadadadak! Tadak!

The light-hearted typing noises echoed throughout the snowy night of Osaka.

Han Joo-Hee—the female character modeled after Lee Soo-Hee—traveled around Osaka with Lee Ye-Ji.

Meanwhile, Lee Soo-Hee was enjoying a pleasant dream with a smile.

‘I must be crazy!’

Lee Soo-Hee finally woke up at 5 a.m., and she pulled on her tangled hair while trembling. She was in utter disbelief at herself, seeing how her makeup was still on and she was still in her outdoor clothes.

Most importantly, she was stupefied when she found that she was sleeping on Ha Jae-Gun’s bed.

To think that she decided to let Ha Jae-Gun take care of her drunken self…

Ha Jae-Gun was lying on the table sleeping, and his laptop was still open. Lee Soo-Hee tiptoed across the room, heading for the bathroom. She swiftly and quietly took a shower and put on her clothes. Thinking that she didn’t have the time to put on her makeup again, Lee Soo-Hee didn’t bother cleansing her face.

‘Sorry, Jae-Gun…!’

Lee Soo-Hee was too embarrassed that she couldn’t face him, let alone wake him up. She picked up her bag and headed for the door.

She turned around to look at him just as she was wearing her shoes.

She contemplated for a while before eventually walking over toward him. Lee Soo-Hee briefly looked around to confirm that there wasn’t anyone else aside from them in the room before giving Ha Jae-Gun’s cheek a quick peck.

Then, she turned around and made a break for the door.

Ha Jae-Gun didn’t wake up until late morning. He sat up straight and turned around, and then he immediately became wide awake.

‘When did she leave?’

The bed was empty. Ha Jae-Gun looked at the time on his phone and saw that it was already past ten. He also found a text message from Lee Soo-Hee.

- I’m really sorry about yesterday T.T I must have been really tired. I didn’t do anything weird, right? I need to head back to the office for urgent business. I didn’t wake you up since you were sleeping so soundly. Remember to have breakfast, enjoy your trip, and have a safe flight back. See you in Korea.

“She’s always so diligent.”

Ha Jae-Gun let out a long yawn and headed to the bathroom. His expression stiffened when he looked into the mirror and saw a red mark on his left cheek.

“What’s this?”

Ha Jae-Gun moved his face closer to the mirror to look at the mark up close, but he still couldn’t make heads or tails of the red mark.

“Where did I get this stain come from?”

Ha Jae-Gun eventually dismissed it and rubbed it off. As always, from the moment he started brushing his teeth, his mind would always be occupied with the story of his novel. He had no intention of wasting a single moment in the remaining six days of his trip here in Osaka.

“It’s perfect,” Oh Myung-Suk said with admiration after reading the completed draft.

It seemed that his words alone weren’t enough to express his true feelings because he even started clapping.

“The personalities of those three characters have become quite distinct, and they feel very much alive and real. You’ve worked hard, Mr. Ha.”

“It’s nothing. It’s all thanks to your arrangement that I managed to travel to Osaka without much inconvenience,” Ha Jae-Gun said humbly.

They had agreed to meet at a cafe near Guro station after Ha Jae-Gun’s return to Korea the day before yesterday. The meeting was arranged immediately after Oh Myung-Suk had reviewed the draft.

Taking a sip from his coffee, Ha Jae-Gun said, “I’ll have to start working on refining the draft. Can you give me a month to work on it?”

“Of course, a month isn’t that long If you complete it in a month, we’ll be able to launch Mysterium earlier as well.”

“You’re bringing the launch forward because of my novel?”

“Yes, and it’s all because it’s worth it.” Oh Myung-Suk grinned.

Of course, he also had a few edited novels from established writers as well. As soon as Ha Jae-Gun’s novel was completed, he would then be fully prepared for Mysterium’s launch.

“I’ll take it that I will be able to receive the final manuscript within a month’s time and schedule the launch accordingly, then?”

“Yes, please go ahead.”

“Thank you. Ah, but Writer Ha. Have you already decided on a title?”

“Ahh, yes. I’ve… actually been thinking about it, but…” Ha Jae-Gun looked up at the ceiling in distress and sighed. “I have a title in mind, but it doesn’t sound good to me.”

“What is it?”

“MT, Not an Acronym for Motels. Does that sound weird?”

“What?”

“Does it sound weird to you? I thought of this because university students these days seem to have forgotten about the real meaning of MT, and they have a promiscuous mindset about it. Plus, the case starts from it as well.”

“Mr. Ha, respectfully speaking, I don’t think it’ll work.”

“Hmm, I knew it.” Ha Jae-Gun’s head drooped, feeling gloomy. “I’m really not good at naming novels.”

“No, um… It’s not that bad, Mr. Ha. But it’s definitely not as appealing? I’ll come up with a few potential titles as well,” Oh Myung-Suk said.

“Thank you.”

Ha Jae-Gun looked at the time on his wristwatch.

Oh Myung-Suk noticed it immediately and stood up.

“You seem to be busy, I think we can leave for today.”

“I’m sorry, I just have to go back to my parent’s house today.”

Ha Jae-Gun headed to the junction and bade goodbye to Oh Myung-Suk before jumping into his car. However, he drove toward Suwon rather than toward the hospital. He had to meet Ha Jae-In before meeting his parents.

Ha Jae-In was washing the dishes.

She hurried to the door when she saw Ha Jae-Gun entering the house.

“Hey, what’s with the sudden visit?”

“I’ve got something to tell you, noona.”

“What about?”

“Take off those gloves and have a seat first.” Ha Jae-Gun sat down on the sofa.

Ha Jae-In took off the gloves and placed them in the sink. Then, she sat down next to Ha Jae-Gun.

“So, what is it?”

“Let’s move houses. Spring is almost here, too.”

“Ahh…”

“I just stopped by the property agent’s office, he said that we could view that detached house anytime. You should take a look at it with Mom one day. We can do the moving after Father is discharged, but you should see the house first.”

“All right, I got it.”

“Why do you sound so tired? Are you not feeling good somewhere?”

Ha Jae-In gave a wry smile and shook her head.

“Because it’s all your hard-earned money…” she muttered.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m not spending it on nonsense, I’m spending it on my family.”

“Yes, but…” Ha Jae-In stretched and looked around the old apartment, her eyes filled with emotions as the memories she had in the old apartment flooded her mind. “My brother is so great, and it’s thanks to him that our family will get to move to a detached house.”

“Stop talking like an old lady.”

“I’m an old lady, anyway. I’m already old.”

“Noona, you should start dating and living your life now. Anyway, I’m going to take a shower first,” said Ha Jae-Gun before standing up and heading over to the bathroom.

Before he closed the door, he stuck out his head and said casually to Ha Jae-In, “And noona, check your account as well.”

“My account? Why?”

“You should quit your job and set up an academy yourself. I’ll care for Mom and Father, just so you know.”

Ha Jae-In was confused.

Moments later, Ha Jae-Gun closed the door to the bathroom, and the sound of running water echoed quite loudly from within the bathroom.

“Why did he suddenly ask me to check my account?”

Ha Jae-In didn’t apply for phone banking, so she had to go to her room and turn on her computer to check her account online. Her face was instantly painted with astonishment after entering the password to her bank account.

‘Jae-Gun…!’

Her account had just received a hundred million won.

It was a simple repayment from a younger brother to his noona for her efforts in taking care of him her entire life.

Ha Jae-In stared agape at her monitor for quite a while.

“Hey, Jae-Gun. What’s this money for?” Ha Jae-In knocked on the bathroom door and asked, unable to wait until Ha Jae-Gun was done with his shower.

Ha Jae-Gun chuckled while shampooing his head. “Take it, noona.”

“What?”

“You can have that money. Quit your job, and do the things you always wanted to do. Get a driver’s license, buy a car, buy clothes, study, and even go on a trip. Do whatever you want.”

“How can I spend that much money?”

“I can’t hear you~”

“Where will I spend all that money!”

“You should decide for yourself. Anyway, I already said that the money is yours, so just use it for yourself. Let’s talk outside later.”

With that, Ha Jae-Gun started washing his hair. He guessed that a teary-eyed Ha Jae-In was standing outside the door, so he decided to stay in the bathroom for a while longer.

Bzzt!

His phone, which was on the shelf above the toilet bowl, suddenly vibrated.

Ha Jae-Gun wiped his hand and smiled through his bubble-covered face.

The text message was from Lee Soo-Hee.

- Your orientation lecture is tomorrow, right? Prof Han called me, so I’ll be going there as well. We’ll meet again tomorrow then. ^^ See you tomorrow, our great Writer Ha.

Ha Jae-Gun put down his phone and energetically washed his hair.

Tomorrow would be the start of a new chapter in his life, and Ha Jae-Gun could already feel himself soaring into the skies and reaching new heights.