Big Life

“Sigh…”

Ha Jae-Gun could only let out a sigh after listening to Yang Hyun-Kyung’s story.

Ha Jae-Gun, Kang Min-Ho, Jang Eun-Young, and Yang Hyun-Kyung himself were gathered around the dining table in the office at Bucheon.

There was a pizza that was meant to be their dinner laid out nicely on the table, but no one had touched it yet.

“So you’re saying that you didn’t write or release any chapters because of those stocks?”

“Yes… I was too worried that the prices would plummet… I tried not to think about it, but…” Yang Hyun-Kyung muttered with his head lowered. He couldn’t look at anyone directly.

Yang Hyun-Kyung had invested all the money he had received from his advanced royalties into it, but the value of his portfolio dropped to -45%. The company’s stock price had plummeted to the abyss, and news of its delisting was already spreading like wildfire.

Moreover, there was another serious issue. As the average price he bought in was high, Yang Hyun-Kyung decided to average down to lower his average price.

However, Yang Hyun-Kyung was too ashamed to admit that he had borrowed a million won from his poor parents to average down, so he didn’t mention any of that.

“You punk, the advanced royalties weren’t that huge…! Are you out of your mind? You should have just focused on your writing; why did you dabble in stocks!” Kang Min-Ho raised his voice slightly higher.

However, he didn’t scream out of consideration for Ha Jae-Gun. Kang Min-Ho was also afraid of how Ha Jae-Gun would react to this piece of news.

Yang Hyun-Kyung tried to create an excuse. “My friend said that the stock price will increase exponentially when he introduced it to me… And my novel hasn’t really been doing well recently…”

Ha Jae-Gun scoffed silently. Yang Hyun-Kyung’s debut novel was earning three times more than Ha Jae-Gun’s own debut novel many years ago, but he actually dared to cry over his performance.

“My spending has also increased recently. I know that this sounds like an excuse to you, but I’m also sad about all this—”

“I understand.” Ha Jae-Gun interrupted and nodded. He had no intention of listening to any more complaints from someone who wasn’t doing anything in the office.

“I’m really sorry, Writer Ha.”

“No, don’t apologize to me. You should instead apologize to your readers and President Kwon instead,” Ha Jae-Gun said coldly.

The words coming out from Ha Jae-Gun were icy cold.

Ha Jae-Gun smiled while looking at Yang Hyun-Kyung. “Your choice to dabble in stocks doesn’t matter because it’s your own choice. However, it’s a huge problem if you allow it to affect your work. Let me remind you, you’re not practicing here, you’re currently contracted with Laugh Books.”

“Yes…”

Ha Jae-Gun pointed at the ground and said, “This is an office for the writers who are contracted to Laugh Books to use. I’ve never allowed you to run your own finance business here.”

Yang Hyun-Kyung’s face turned pale.

Even Kang Min-Ho and Jang Eun-Young did not dare to jump into the conversation upon seeing Ha Jae-Gun’s grim look.

It was their first time seeing that side of Ha Jae-Gun.

“Please give me three chapters worth of manuscript by nine tomorrow morning.”

“Pardon…?”

“If you can’t do it, I’m afraid I’ll need you to move out of this office immediately.”

“...?!” Yang Hyun-Kyung’s eyes grew wide in astonishment.

Kang Min-Ho could only close his eyes upon hearing Ha Jae-Gun’s words.

He somehow knew that things would turn out like this.

“I’ve spoken with President Kwon before I came over. I heard that it’s been two weeks since you’ve stopped releasing chapters, right? Show me your sincerity. Since I’m already here, I’ll be working throughout the night here.”

Ha Jae-Gun finished his piece and took off his coat.

Yang Hyun-Kyung trembled like a man who had been thrown out into the cold night. He was now fearful of Ha Jae-Gun, whom he had always thought to be kind and friendly.

His pounding heart showed no signs of slowing down.

‘I’m getting chased out…?!’

Now that Yang Hyun-Kyung was about to get chased out of the office, his grave mistake seemed to have become much clearer to him. Where on earth could he go when he was penniless?

“Write something out, punk.”

“Yeah, Hyun-Kyung. Take advantage of this opportunity.”

Kang Min-Ho and Jang Eun-Young encouraged him, knowing that they were out of earshot.

Yang Hyun-Kyung returned to his desk and opened a Word document. He let out a sigh before putting his fingers on the keyboard. He had totally forgotten the details of his story after resting for two weeks.

He had no idea what to do, and no idea would come to his mind.

Tadadadak! Tadadak! Tadak!

The keyboard noises from the others bothered Yang Hyun-Kyung.

Everyone else was working hard on their own novels.

However, Yang Hyun-Kyung kept on typing and deleting words.

‘I should have given it my all when I still had inspiration… Now, I’m not inspired anymore!’

***

Morning eventually arrived, and it was finally 9 a.m. Ha Jae-Gun finally stood up from his desk after silently working non-stop all night. He had been waiting for 9 a.m.

Yang Hyun-Kyung was in his seat with his head drooping.

“How much have you written?”

“Um… Around 3,000 characters…”

“I told you to write three chapters worth, but you’ve only written 3,000 characters? That’s only half of a chapter.”

Kang Min-Ho and Jang Eun-Young had stayed up the entire night out of worry for Yang Hyun-Kyung, but they could only stare at their own screens while thinking to themselves.

‘Writer Ha wouldn’t be so heartless and chase him out immediately, right?’

Yang Hyun-Kyung stood up, looking desperate. He approached Ha Jae-Gun timidly and said hesitantly, “If you give me another day, I’ll definitely produce three chapters worth of—”

“The door is that way.”

“...What?”

Ha Jae-Gun took a sip of his coffee and calmly pointed at the door.

“Thank you for your work so far. I won’t be seeing you off,” Ha Jae-Gun said and returned to his desk, ignoring Yang Hyun-Kyung.

He was already typing on his keyboard to write his own fantasy piece.

He didn’t care about Yang Hyun-Kyung at all.

Kang Min-Ho approached him cautiously and asked, “Um, Writer Ha, it’s still cold out there, and Yang Hyun-Kyung can’t afford to go home—”

“Sorry, but I’m currently working. I don’t want to talk about something that has already been decided,” Ha Jae-Gun coldly interrupted.

Truthfully speaking, Ha Jae-Gun would have been lenient if Yang Hyun-Kyung had completed a full chapter. However, how come he only managed to write three thousand characters after working overnight?

Ha Jae-Gun could only conclude that Yang Hyun-Kyung was no longer focused on his novel.

“Thank you for your time,” said Ha Jae-Gun.

Yang Hyun-Kyung was ready to leave because he didn’t really have that much luggage with him. Kang Min-Ho and Jang Eun-Young could only send him off, and Ha Jae-Gun didn’t even glance in his direction until the end.

***

You reap what you sow—it was a meaningful saying to the writers in the office.

Kang Min-Ho and Jang Eun-Young gradually became financially independent after working hard and not losing their focus.

Now, they could afford to go out and watch movies whenever they were stuck, and they had even started thinking about purchasing their own computers.

“Look, Min-Ho hyung. There’s another article about Writer Ha! He’s got a bestseller!”

“Really? Wow, it’s on Bandi and Lunia’s bestseller! Which means that his sales are still going to increase!”

By far, this was Ha Jae-Gun’s greatest achievement.

Oh Myung-Suk also kept his promise. It had just been six days since he made the verbal guarantee that Summer in My 20s would enter Bandi & Lunia’s bestseller list, but it was already ranked ninth.

Oh Myung-Suk actively utilized the power that OongSung Publication Group had by implementing an aggressive and diverse marketing campaign.

However, Oh Myung-Suk wasn’t satisfied just yet.

Oh Myung-Suk couldn’t be satisfied at all because he knew that Writer Ha Jae-Gun still hadn’t reached his limits.

[Monsterous rookie Ha Jae-Gun is actually not a rookie?!]

[Unusual praise coming from readers of Summer in My 20s. Spring rain has arrived in the domestic drought-stricken mystery genre market…]

[Summer in My 20s ranked 9th on Bandi &Lunia’s Bestseller Corner. Something unprecedented for a rookie writer…]

News about Ha Jae-Gun spread like wildfire through various media channels like news portals, social media, and even radio broadcasts. The first edition of the physical copy quickly sold out, and the following batches also sold out in a flash.

The netizens, who couldn’t grab a physical copy for themselves, started complaining.

Fortunately, a new batch of Summer in My 20s was quickly pushed out…

The sales performance graph climbed sharply, and there was even a joke spreading on the Internet that the book’s sales were growing significantly faster than the rate of printing.

***

It was the last cold spell in early spring.

As always, Ha Jae-Gun was holed up in his studio, working away on another novel.

It was tough for him to rest without writing.

The longing to write something was a bit too difficult for him to endure.

“Meow.”

Rika jumped down from the windowsill and came to Ha Jae-Gun.

She tapped on the back of his moving hand with her front paw.

When Ha Jae-Gun did not respond, she licked his cheek.

“Don’t do that. What’s wrong now?”

“Meow, meow…”

“You want to go out? You’re a cat, but why do you love the outdoors so much?” Ha Jae-Gun asked. He stopped working to gently stroke Rika.

He then recalled that it had been a while since he visited him.

He was the sole reason why he didn’t want to leave this neighborhood.

“All right, it’s been a while since we visited him. Let’s pack some stuff and head out.”

Ha Jae-Gun took the weed cutter and other tools with him before putting on his shoes in the foyer. He stepped out of his studio, and a call came from Oh Myung-Suk.

“Hello, Editor-in-chief.”

— Hello, Mr. Ha. Have you had lunch?

“I’m going to eat after running an errand.”

— Hahaha, I see.

Oh Myung-Suk laughed, even though there wasn’t anything funny. However, Ha Jae-Gun had long gotten used to his personality and guessed that Oh Myung-Suk had some good news for him.

— Mr. Ha, I have some good news for you.

“I see that my foresight has improved.”

— Pardon? Your foresight?

“I thought you sounded quite happy today, so I guessed that something good must have happened.”

— Hahaha, yes, that’s right. It’s really great news. Please don’t be surprised, Mr. Ha. Summer in My 20s has sold over 200,000 copies in a month.

“What?! 200,000 copies?” Ha Jae-Gun stopped in the middle of descending the stairs. Ha Jae-Gun knew that printing of the novel had been ongoing, but he had only expected to sell up to 100,000 copies at most.

He finally realized that he still hadn’t fully grasped OongSung Publication Group’s power.

— That’s right. If we hit 200,000 copies in the first month, we can easily expect it to hit a million copies. It’s all thanks to your excellent writing. I wanted to congratulate you and thank you as well.

“No… It’s… This is…”

Ha Jae-Gun’s heart fluttered excitedly, and his face blossomed brightly, similar to the weather of a beautiful spring day. He was at a loss for words.

“It’s all thanks to the full support you showed me, Editor-in-chief. I should thank you instead.”

— There will be a lot more surprises coming in the future. I’m afraid of bringing your hopes up, so I won’t share too much with you. But just a hint, it’s about the sales of copyright for an adaptation.

“Ah… I see.” Ha Jae-Gun smiled.

He immediately understood Oh Myung-Suk’s words.

Up until now, Ha Jae-Gun only had Records of the Modern Master, which was adapted into a webtoon.

He couldn’t help but wonder about which media form would Summer in My 20s get adapted into—would it get adapted into a TV series or a movie that he would get to enjoy with his family?

— I’ll contact you again soon. Please enjoy your lunch, Mr. Ha.

“Yes, Editor-in-chief. Please enjoy your meal as well.”

Ha Jae-Gun hung up after their short conversation.

Ha Jae-Gun soon arrived at Seo Gun-Woo’s grave.

Ha Jae-Gun started trimming down the overgrown vegetation around the grave.

“Spring is here, Elder. It’s getting warmer, isn’t it?” Ha Jae-Gun put Rika down next to him.

The warmth of sunlight struck their heads.