Big Life

Myungkyung University of the Arts rented out an entire hotel in Samcheok City at Gangwon Province for its orientation. After the number of people per course was divided, Ha Jae-Gun's lecture was held at a small banquet hall for the freshmen from the creative writing department.

There were twice as many graduates and enrolled students attending this year as compared to last year. They were all here to see Ha Jae-Gun, who was a rising star in both the literary and genre circles.

There weren’t enough seats going around, and quite a number of attendees had to stand in the hallway to listen to the lecture. Aside from the students, there were also stakeholders from various literary magazines and publishers, including an employee of OongSung Publication Group that Oh Myung-Suk had sent over.

“He’s just here to say a bunch of nonsense.”

“I know, right.”

Young-Il and Tae-Jung were Ha Jae-Gun’s batchmates and friends. They were standing outside the banquet hall, muttering their dissatisfactions to themselves.

No one had invited them, and they even chose to pay for the attendance fee just to show their faces and gain some brownie points from Professor Han.

“He’s just talking about how he was holed up in his small room writing his novel. Anyone can give advice to learn through seeing and listening to a lot of stuff.”

“Yeah. My cousin is still in high school, but he can bullshit that much too. Fuck, he’s just lucky that a few of his novels are doing well now.”

“The stories don’t seem that great either. They’re weird with no depth to them.”

Their remarks about Han Jae-Gun became increasingly acrimonious as they found Ha Jae-Gun more revolting by the minute. They didn’t have the generosity to acknowledge the fact that their batchmate was the first and youngest alumni to give an orientation lecture.

“Hey, Young-Il and Tae-Jung. What are you guys doing here? Aren’t you going to listen to the lecture?” Jung-Mi asked when she bumped into them after having just ended a call.

Young-Il glanced up and down at her. Then, he snorted and looked down at the ground. Tae-Jung clicked his tongue disapprovingly.

“What’s wrong with you guys?”

“Are you already turning into a snob like him?”

“Who are you calling a snob?”

“Forget it; let’s not waste time talking to her. It explains so much about her if she calls something like that a lecture.”

Jung-Mi turned pale in anger, but she soon regained her composure and replied calmly with a smile, “Yeah, can’t help it if you guys have too high of a standard, but I find his advice extremely helpful to me. He even told me of some things I haven’t realized just yet.”

“My, is that so?”

“There’s no need for me to explain to you guys. The corridor here feels great, it’s awesome for you to lean on. I’ll see you after the lecture, then.” Jung-Mi then returned to the banquet hall once more.

The once-mocking faces of Young-Il and Tae-Jung stiffened. Tae-Jung, in particular, reacted much worse because he secretly liked Jung-Mi.

‘That bitch…!’

It wasn’t just Jung-Mi, but a few others seemed to be viewing Ha Jae-Gun in a different light now. However, his humble attitude was still there despite his considerable amount of success.

“When exactly is it ending? It’s one hell of a lecture,” Young-Il grumbled as he peeked through the gap between the doors.

Ha Jae-Gun’s voice could be heard much clearer because the lecture was coming to an end.

***

“...I hope everyone gets to write things they like. But you have to be able to distinguish between things you like to write and the selfishness that is not considerate to the readers. Recall the times when you were excited and the first time when you resolved to embark on this journey. Constantly remind yourself why you made the decision to live as a writer. That’s all for my lecture.”

A thunderous applause rang throughout the hall. The seemingly unending applause cast a darker shadow over Tae-Jung and Young-Il’s faces.

Ha Jae-Gun didn’t get to rest even after the lecture. It took a few hours for him to hold short interviews with the reporters and publishers, as well as a short session with the freshmen from the creative writing department.

The freshmen had surrounded him, requesting his autograph and asking all sorts of questions.

However, Ha Jae-Gun was more than just a celebrity to them.

“Senior, when are you the best while writing?”

“What genre of novel do you wish to write next?”

“Do you plot everything out before starting on a novel?”

“When you wrote Storm and Gale, did you really interview a helper?”

“Senior, do you have a girlfriend? Are you still single?”

It was hard to answer each and every one of their questions at once, but Ha Jae-Gun did his best, nevertheless. He was confident that he could stay up the entire night just to reply to their questions if his answers could help them even for a little bit.

The freshmen swarmed him like locusts, but some of them were familiar faces.

“Writer Jae-Gun, do you still remember us?”

The question came from two female students, who asked him with their eyes sparkling with anticipation.

Ha Jae-Gun stared at them for a moment before he managed to recall where he had first met them and responded with a smile first, “You guys were from the Bandi and Lunia autograph session, right?”

“Yes! That’s us!”

“You’re Jung Ye-In, and you are Seo Ji-Soo?”

“Kyaa! Jackpot! You even remembered our names?!”

The two students covered their mouths and hopped excitedly like little rabbits. They then came around and stood next to Ha Jae-Gun. They bent down a little and took out their phone.

“Senior, can you take a photo with us again? Please?”

“Sure.”

“You don’t have to speak politely with us, too. Jung-Yeon, help us take a picture.”

The girls had become bolder, and they hooked their arms with Ha Jae-Gun’s arms. Ha Jae-Gun smiled shyly as he stood amidst the sea of freshmen while being inundated with camera flashes.

‘All that fuss just for him.’

Tae-Jung stared intently at Ha Jae-Gun as he downed a glass of soju. There was a large area in the hall with seats. Tae-Jung and a few other batchmates were gathered there, sharing a few drinks with each other.

Tae-Jung had been isolated. Even Young-Il, who was supposed to be on his side, had been going along with the positive remarks made by the other batchmates so that he would get on their good books.

There was no way he could withstand all of this without downing a few glasses of soju. Even now, he was busy typing away on his phone, writing nasty comments about Ha Jae-Gun’s novels while avoiding the eyes of his batchmates.

“Oh my, all of you are gathered here?”

“Ah, it’s Soo-Hee!”

Jung-Mi and a few other female friends stood up and greeted Lee Soo-Hee. Lee Soo-Hee arrived in a sweater, jeans and sneakers, breaking away from her usual proper office lady look.

She hadn’t put any makeup on today, so she would definitely blend in really well with the sea of freshmen there.

“Just when will Jae-Gun come out here?” Jung-Mi asked with a frown.

Lee Soo-Hee looked in Ha Jae-Gun’s direction and gave a wry smile. “I think he’ll be held up by another hour. Let’s forget about him for now and enjoy some delicious food ourselves.”

“Oh, how is Myung-Hoon doing recently? I heard that he’s writing scenarios at your company?”

“Yeah, still doing fine, I guess.”

“Why isn’t he here today, then?”

“I’m not sure either. I don’t really see him much at the office.” That was what Lee Soo-Hee said, but she knew very well that Oh Myung-Hoon hadn’t slept a wink today. There was no way he wouldn’t know that Ha Jae-Gun was the first among the alumni to hold a lecture during orientation.

“Let me pour a glass for all of you.”

Lee Soo-Hee stood up with the bottle of soju in hand and poured a glass for each of them present. When she arrived in front of Tae-Jung, she said, “Have a glass, Tae-Jung.”

“I’ll do it myself.” Tae-Jung declined and waved her off.

Lee Soo-Hee looked at him, wondering about what was wrong with him, but she eventually backed away.

“Now, let’s toast! Hang in there, everyone!”

The group started talking about the world and writing, and they enjoyed their time together over drinks. However, the person they mentioned the most was actually Ha Jae-Gun.

They wondered how much Ha Jae-Gun had earned so far, what genre would his next novel be, and when his works would be adapted into movies or TV series; the questions were just endless.

“Soo-Hee, I want to officially learn writing from Ha Jae-Gun. Do you think that’s possible?” Jung-Mi asked with a serious look.

Tae-Jung was shocked upon hearing that.

“I’m not sure since Jae-Gun has been really busy recently. You can try asking him about it, though.”

“Um, can you ask him for me? Jae-Gun usually listens to you.”

“No, not really, but I’ll try bringing it up to him.”

“Thank you! I’ll treat you to a delicious meal if it turns out well!” Jung-Mi grabbed Lee Soo-Hee’s hands in excitement.

Tae-Jung couldn’t endure it any longer. He emptied the last drop from his bottle and slammed it down on the table. Everyone at the table looked at him.

“Your conversations are too revolting for me to stay and listen any longer.”

The atmosphere turned cold instantly, as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over the students.

“What did you just say?” asked Lee Soo-Hee.

“I said that your conversation is too revolting for me to stay here. What’s the big deal when only a few of his novels were successful?”

“Are you talking about Ha Jae-Gun?” Lee Soo-Hee asked the obvious question.

Tae-Jung was a bit drunk now. He broke out into laughter as he staggered and muttered, “How far would a novel writer of rental bookstore quality novels go? Foolish Woman is just a journal based on his own older sister. I can't even tell if A 90s Kid is an essay or a novel, and as for Storm and Gale, ha… fuck this.”

Tae-Jung stopped and downed another glass of soju, and then he continued while Lee Soo-Hee stared at him coldly.

"Sorry, I didn't want to curse, but he's just asking for it. Is he unable to write anything normal and can only pick such a provocative subject instead? Can his works even be called novels? And what's so great about an interview? Any writer can hold an interview, so I'm quite curious why people are kicking up a fuss."

Jung-Mi was tugging at Lee Soo-Hee, signaling her not to confront him.

Lee Soo-Hee knew better not to get angry at him.

After all, he had always been that way since their university days.

However, Tae-Jung didn’t stop there. "I could even write those novels with my feet if I wanted; what's there to be proud of? If I were him, I would be too ashamed to live.”

Tae-Jung’s words triggered Lee Soo-Hee.

Just as Jung-Mi pressed her thigh.

Lee Soo-Hee said, "Write with your feet then."

"...What?"

"I asked you to write with your feet, Tae-Jung. I want to see if your novel will do as well as Ha Jae-Gun."

"Don't do this, Lee Soo-Hee. Tae-Jung is drunk."

Tae-Jung glared at Lee Soo-Hee, and his jaws trembled in anger.

Lee Soo-Hee did not avoid his glare and smiled nonchalantly.

"How ridiculous."

"What is?"

"Why would I write shit like that? I'm busy writing proper novels!"

"What have you written, then?"

"What?"

"So what have you written so far? Have you received any awards from even a local newspaper contest since you graduated? Have you even earned a hundred won from your writing somewhere?"

Tae-Jung's face turned pale, and he burned with enough anger that his veins bulged.

He growled and said, "It doesn't matter what the public thinks. My own satisfaction is more important. I only write real novels that I am satisfied with."

"What's the use of the novel with no readers?"

"Lee Soo-Hee…! How much longer are you going to insult me!"

"You're the one who started insulting Ha Jae-Gun first. I couldn't listen to your shit for a second longer. You're the only one saying bad things about Ha Jae-Gun, and you know what? You're even worse than ugly."

"You…!" Tae-Jung shouted and bolted up from his seat, drawing attention from the nearby freshmen.

Lee Soo-Hee turned around, and thankfully, Ha Jae-Gun was a bit far. He still had no idea about the commotion over here.

"Lee Soo-Hee, you’re working at a company that develops worthless games, so how dare you act all arrogant? Aren’t you only using your skills from the creative writing department to write game scenarios?"

Lee Soo-Hee's expression remained unchanging, and she decided to use his provocation to fan the flames.

"I heard that you've asked Myung-Hoon for a lot of favors."

"...What?"

"He said that it's fine even if you have to work as a newbie screenwriter as long as there's an opening. So why is someone like you trying to work at a company that develops worthless games?"

"T-that's…!" Tae-Jung couldn't continue and looked at his friends at the table.

He didn’t expect that Oh Myung-Hoon would share something like that with Lee Soo-Hee.

His friends stared at him as if he were pathetic.

"If you want to write game scenarios at Nextion, you should come to me instead of Myung-Hoon. Well, if you have any scenarios, I will take a look at them, so feel free to email them to me. However, from what I've seen so far, your works are dull and boring, so I doubt they'll pass in the first place."

Lee Soo-Hee finished her piece and took a sip of her cold beer.

Tae-Jung could only stand awkwardly like a tree while trembling in anger.

He looked as if his soul had left him.

"Oh my, look at me. I should look for Professor Han. It’s been a while."

Lee Soo-Hee stepped away from the group and looked in Ha Jae-Gun’s direction.

The timing was perfect because Ha Jae-Gun looked in her direction as well and was waving at her.

Lee Soo-Hee smiled brightly back at him.

'Hang in there, Jae-Gun.'

Ha Jae-Gun had never really been resting so that he would become an even greater writer, and Lee Soo-Hee was confident that he would reach new heights.

He would become so great that Tae-Jung and his friends wouldn’t be able to speak even his name anymore.

Lee Soo-Hee was smiling as she went on her way.