Big Life

“What’s wrong?” asked Ha Jae-Gun.

Park Jung-Jin showed Ha Jae-Gun his phone screen.

"She came here earlier? You signed for her?" he asked.

"Hmm…?"

The screen showed a photo of AppleT's Chae-Rin, which was just uploaded around ten minutes ago. She was grinning with Ha Jae-Gun's autograph on his latest novel, Summer in My 20s, shown next to her face.

- Kekeke. A selfie with Writer Ha Ha Jae-Gun's autograph that I just got! Completed my mission successfully wearing a mask and sunglasses! Summer in My 20s is awesome!! T.T T.T T.T

Ha Jae-Gun was astonished upon reading the caption. He recalled an individual that stuck out to him, but who could have guessed that she would be AppleT’s Chae-Rin?

There were already over a thousand comments and counting from her fans beneath her tweet, and it made Ha Jae-Gun realize just how popular she was as a celebrity.

"Wow, you really didn't know? Huh?"

"Her face was covered, so how would I recognize her? And her name isn't that uncommon… Plus, I was busy."

Park Jung-Jin couldn't conceal his excitement and repeated himself. "Does this mean that you've just grown much more popular now? I thought it was still fine when Chae-Rin just mentioned that she enjoyed your novel, but now that she came all the way down—Wow, Chae-Rin actually took time out from her busy schedule just to get your autograph personally?!"

"Quiet. She could have just dropped by since she was in the area."

"You really got yourself a great reader. She took a photo with your autograph this time, not just mentioning you in passing! The ripple effect will hit really hard. Hey, that's one more person who’ll buy your book to read it!"

"Stop it. Let's go grab a cup of coffee and take a break." Ha Jae-Gun and Park Jung-Jin enjoyed their break time leisurely. Even the pain in Ha Jae-Gun’s wrist had diminished significantly, seemingly thanks to Chae-Rin’s support.

During his short break, Ha Jae-Gun was busy replying to messages from his family as well as Lee Soo-Hee and Jung So-Mi, who were unable to come down to support him due to their busy work schedules.

“How did time pass so fast?”

“You’re just tired. Hang on for a while more.”

“Yeah. Let me just head to the washroom first before we head back.”

Ha Jae-Gun and Park Jung-Jin bade goodbye to their sweet break time.

The pair of best friends stood frozen the moment they returned to the venue.

“…!”

The two glanced at each other, and Park Jung-Jin popped the question first.

“Jae-Gun, what’s all this…?”

There were two long queues in front of them. The long line of readers waiting to receive autographs from Poongchun-Yoo was already long, so they weren’t surprised. However, the line for his new novel, Summer in My 20s, had grown significantly while they were away.

“Hey, looks like there are over thirty people in line.”

The queue for his mystery novel had grown by five to six times. Ha Jae-Gun stared at the long queue with a bewildered look. He noticed that the readers in the queue were mostly females ranging from their twenties to their fifties.

Park Jung-Jin walked over and whispered to Ha Jae-Gun, “I’ve heard that females prefer reading mystery genres more; it seems to be quite true. Wow, that lady over there is totally my cup of tea.”

“Shut up.” Ha Jae-Gun lowered his head slightly and headed back to his seat quickly, avoiding contact with his readers in the queue. There were already a few readers in line who could recognize him and were suppressing their excitement and screams by covering their mouths.

“Hello. I apologize for making you wait,” Ha Jae-Gun said.

He then pulled out his chair and sat down.

A lady in her forties who stood first in line smiled shyly and shook her head. “No, It’s my honor to meet you like this. I’m enjoying your novel a lot, Mr. Ha.”[1]

“Thank you. What is your name?”

“It’s Lee Mi-Ok.”

Ha Jae-Gun wrote his signature with sincerity for each of his readers who had been waiting in line. However, the line for his mystery novel only grew longer. Every time he signed an autograph for one reader, two new readers would join the queue.

“Darn, I think this will take a while.”

The faces of the readers in the fantasy novel queue were turning dark. They realized that they would have to wait longer for their turn to come since the mystery novel readers had the priority.

“Look, there are over forty people in the queue now. It’ll only be our turn when that queue is all settled.”

“It’ll be thankful if we could still get his autograph by the time that queue is done; look, there are three more people joining. Should we just leave?”

“Yeah, let’s just get his autograph another day.”

The readers of Poongchun-Yoo started leaving the queue. The tables had turned. The fantasy novel queue was getting shorter, while the mystery novel queue was getting longer by the minute.

“Mr. Ha, I think Summer in My 20s would become a huge hit if it became a movie.”

“Can we take a photo together, please, Mr. Ha?”

“Mr. Ha, you’re too thin. I should have bought supplements with me. Hohoho.”

Ha Jae-Gun greeted every one of them with bright smiles and gave out his autograph without rest.

The astonishment that he felt earlier was still there. He never imagined that there would be so many readers coming to see him.

He thought the total number of readers showing up would be almost the same as Storm and Gale, but it was a mistake.

Soon, he found out the reason from the conversations he had with the readers.

“I’ve enjoyed Foolish Woman, it was extremely touching, Mr, Ha.”

“I was half-worried when I heard that you were working on a mystery novel after Storm and Gale, but my worries were all for naught. It’s a great read, Mr. Ha.”

Most of them had read his previous novels as well. There were also some readers who handed him their copies of his other works, along with Summer in My 20s; they asked for his autograph on them.

Whenever that happened, Ha Jae-Gun would look at them momentarily, but he would eventually sign the books for them.

Time quickly passed, and there were only five minutes left until the end of Ha Jae-Gun’s autograph event.

Oh Myung-Suk approached Ha Jae-Gun and asked earnestly, “Mr. Ha, can we extend the event by another hour? There are more readers than we expected.”

“Okay.”

“I’m really sorry. I’ll cut off the queue as best as I can, so please hang on for a bit more.”

“It’s alright. Please don’t worry about me,” Ha Jae-Gun replied sincerely.

The pain in his wrist was nothing compared to the effort his readers had put in to read his novels. In addition, they even came all the way here to see him.

Ha Jae-Gun continued giving out his autograph while camera flashes from journalists inundated him.

***

"Thank you for sending me all the way home."

"No, I should at least do this much for you," Oh Myung-Suk said as he looked into the rearview mirror, making eye contact with Ha Jae-Gun.

He had been smiling since they got into the car.

"The response we got was extremely positive. Today’s event made me realize just how popular you've become."

"I'm delighted."

"How do you feel? The way your readers from the different genres address you is different, right?"

"Hmm, I'm not quite sure about that."

"You will be able to tell them apart in the future. Of course, they are still your precious readers."

As they arrived in Ha Jae-Gun's neighborhood, Oh Myung-Suk's phone rang.

He put on his Bluetooth earpiece and answered the call.

"Hello. Ah, is that so? Just the first batch? Hahaha, thank you. I understand, I will call you again. I'm still driving, you see. Yes."

Oh Myung-Suk ended the call and smiled even brighter at Ha Jae-Gun.

“Congratulations, Mr. Ha.”

“Hmm? Why are you suddenly…?”

“The first batch of 50,000 copies of Summer in My 20s are sold out.”

Ha Jae-Gun was at a loss for words at the astonishing news. It had only been a few days since his novel was released, but all 50,000 physical copies had already been sold?

Oh Myung-Suk wasn’t the type who would pull such a joke, so it would definitely be the truth, but Ha Jae-Gun still couldn’t believe his own ears.

When they arrived at his house, Ha Jae-Gun finally opened his mouth.

“It sold out already?” he said.

Oh Myung-Suk released his seatbelt, amused at Ha Jae-Gun’s late reaction.

“Yes, Mr. Ha. I’m surprised at the news myself as well. If this trend continues, we might be able to hit over 10,000—no, maybe even over 15,000 copies in a month.”

Ha Jae-Gun was too shell-shocked to even think of alighting from the car. He only came back to his senses after Oh Myung-Suk alighted first.

Oh Myung-Suk continued. “I guarantee that Summer in My 20s will be on Bandi and Lunia’s Top 10 bestsellers next week. Once your novel gets on that shelf, the sales performance will soar even more. I will definitely make that happen.”

“Thank you so much.”

“It should be me who should thank you. Mysterium’s launch was successful, thanks to you.”

Oh Myung-Suk bowed deeply, expressing his gratitude.

Ha Jae-Gun returned the bow in the same manner. Ha Jae-Gun had received help from many people up until he completed the novel, and Oh Myung-Suk was definitely one of them.

Oh Myung-Suk had seen the potential of his novel, gave him a chance, and he had even been giving constructive feedback to help Ha Jae-Gun improve his work.

Ha Jae-Gun regarded his meeting and relationship with Oh Myung-Suk as a blessing.

Bzzt!

A call from Kwon Tae-Won came in.

Oh Myung-Suk smiled and took a step back.

"I'll take my leave now. Have a good rest, Mr. Ha."

"Yes. Please drive safely, Editor-in-chief."

Oh Myung-Suk hopped back into his car and started the engine.

Ha Jae-Gun watched as Oh Myung-Suk drove away into the distance, and then he finally answered Kwon Tae-Won's call.

"Hello, President."

— Your autograph event has ended, right? I saw some photos on the Internet, it seems like you’ve made quite the uproar. AppleT's Chae-Rin even got your autograph as well?

Delight was coated all over Kwon Tae-Won's words.

Ha Jae-Gun chuckled and replied, "Yeah. I couldn't recognize her since she was covered from head to toe. I only knew what happened after I saw the photo she had uploaded."

— Wow, you’re really amazing. A girl group member is even an avid fan of yours.

"Please stop it, I'm getting embarrassed."

— Oh, Writer Ha. I think The Breath should hit over 100 million won next month as well. We don't have a drop in readership, either. It seems like you'll successfully turn into a wealthy man.

"That's great news. I'm actually quite tight this month because I just moved my family into a new house."

— Hahaha. Oh, and I should be telling you this in person, but there have been many people asking for your contact details recently, requesting you to hold lectures and write manuscripts.

"Ah, I see…" Ha Jae-Gun nodded as he headed up the stairs. It was natural for people to contact Kwon Tae-Won as well since The Breath was still being serialized with Laugh Books.

— I’ve received over six or seven inquiries alone today, so I think there’ll be more going to Star Books or even Haetae Media as well.

“Seems like it. I have quite a number of inquiries coming to me as well, with many requests coming from professors. However, I rejected them since I find it hard to cope.

— How should I reply to them? I told them that I would ask you first before giving them an answer.

“What do you think I should do, President?”

— Hmm. To be honest, I think there’s no need for you to accept all of them. Perhaps you could just pick out some of the larger-scale lectures or manuscript requests that would be helpful in building your portfolio and career. Shall I narrow down a list for you?

“How can I trouble you with that?”

— You don’t have to be apologetic. I’m the president of the management company managing you, and it’s part of my job to help you. Plus, I’ve got a new employee on board recently.

“Hahaha… I see.”

— Please put Laugh Books’ contact details on both your Twitter and Blog[2]. You can just direct all those inquiries to me and focus on your writing.

“I’m really thankful to you for always looking out for me.”

— It’s no problem. I’ll contact you again soon.

“Okay. Ah, President! Wait a minute!” Ha Jae-Gun hurriedly called out to Kwon Tae-Won.

“Are the other writers doing well in the office? I haven’t been able to drop by these days due to my busy schedule.”

— Writer Kang Min-Ho’s Demon Lord Returns has gone viral; it hit over 2,500 unlocks per chapter. Meanwhile, Writer Jang Eun-Young’s Naughty Roommate has started serializing with Lezhon Comics. It’s doing quite well.

“That’s great.”

— But… Writer Hyun-Kyung seems to be an issue.

Kwon Tae-Won’s voice suddenly changed, and a sigh even accompanied it.

— He hasn’t been writing or releasing any chapters for two weeks now.

“What?” Ha Jae-Gun stopped taking off his shoes while standing on the porch of his studio.

Due to the nature of the paid serialization business model, it was dangerous to stop releasing chapters for even a day because readers would most likely drop the novel. It was due to this very reason that some would say that it was better to upload poor-quality chapters than to pause the serialization.

— He seems to be having a hard time, but he won’t tell me about it when I asked. He even rejected my suggestion of taking a break for a while. He would say he’d send the manuscript the next day, but he has been delaying it for two weeks.

“Is he having a slump…”

— It’s not something that you should worry over, Writer Ha. He’ll probably get better on his own.

“All right, thank you for telling me these. Please rest well, President.”

— You too, Writer Ha.

Ha Jae-Gun looked at the wall clock after hanging up the call. It was still early for the writers in the office to have dinner. Ha Jae-Gun pondered for a while before looking down at his phone once more.

1. The raws used 선생님 (Teacher/Mentor) here, but we really don’t do that in English, so I’ve decided to change his address in these situations as Mr. Ha. ☜

2. Damn, how long has it been since I’ve seen this word. ☜