Big Life

‘Hmm…’

Park Do-Joon was sitting in a corner of a cafe in Cheondamdong, where he had agreed to meet a movie director. His eyes were fixated on a book in front of him, and he had been reading that book for over an hour he had spent waiting in the cafe.

‘Argh, this bastard was really the culprit? Is he a fucking human or a beast?! I could never have imagined that crazy…!’

Park Do-Joon flipped the page of the novel while clicking his tongue amidst the series of plot twists that came up during his reading.

Having put himself a distance from books for his entire life, he was now fully immersed in novels, so much so that he was getting all worked up at the antagonist in the story.

The title of the novel was Summer in My 20s.

He received this novel from Chae-Rin after finishing Storm and Gale. Park Do-Joon’s bandaid-wrapped finger, which had gotten hurt during filming, was already flipping over to the last page of the book.

‘What, is it already the end?’

Park Do-Joon was devastated and was at a loss. He couldn’t calm his mind and heart from the emptiness he was feeling after reading the novel with the coffee sitting before him.

His empty eyes stared at the flower pot in the corner of the cafe.

‘He wrote it really well…!’

Park Do-Joon suddenly recalled the time he met Ha Jae-Gun at the broadcasting station. However, he hated to acknowledge the fact that he had ended up reading a book until its last page when he hated reading so much before he met Chae-Rin.

He was an egoist, but even he thought that Ha Jae-Gun was quite a phenomenal person.

Bzzt!

It was a call from Chae-Rin.

Park Do-Joon collected himself and picked up the call.

“Yeah.”

— Why did you take so long? Have you met the director already?

“Not yet.”

— You’re at Cafe Mano, right? There’s nothing for you to do there. You should be bored, so how are you killing time?

“Nothing much, I just finished reading the book you gave me,” Park Do-Joon replied as his finger ran along the surface of the book cover.

Chae-Rin’s voice immediately got louder.

— Summer in My 20s? Did you really finish reading it all? It’s really, really interesting, right?

“Well, it’s… just so-so. Good enough for me to kill some time.”

— You’re funny. You obviously enjoyed it a lot. You just want to act all cool and aloof about it. Oppa, when did you find out that the man was the culprit? I didn’t even know until the end.

“I have been guessing it was him right from the start when he appeared.”

— Really?

“Well, the plot twists were quite simple, so it was easy to guess.” Park Do-Joon just had to brag before his own girlfriend when he actually learned about the culprit’s identity when it was revealed.

Just then, the entrance to the cafe opened, and a pot-bellied man in his forties strode into the cafe. The pot-bellied man was the movie director he had been waiting for.

Park Do-Joon uncrossed his legs and straightened himself before speaking into the phone, “Let’s talk later. The director is here.”

— All right, I hope it goes well.

Park Do-Joon hung up the phone and stood awkwardly from his seat.

The director gestured for Park Do-Joon to take his seat and pulled out his chair.

“Sorry, Do-Joon. My meeting with the production team took too long,” the director started.

“It’s alright, I was actually doing some reading while waiting.”

“Reading?” the director asked with a chuckle. He was doubtful.

They had known each other since Park Do-Joon’s debut, and he knew very well that the latter never liked books.

“Is this it?”

The director picked up the copy of Summer in My 20s on the table.

He only looked at the front and back cover instead of opening the book.

Park Do-Joon said, “The writer did very well despite the difficulty of the mystery genre.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

The movie director didn’t seem very interested in the book. The man had been hearing words like—the story was great; it would be a great hit if it were adapted into a movie—all his life.

“I haven’t been able to read any books for a while. Twenty hours isn’t even enough for me to review scenarios.”

“Hahaha.”

“All the scenarios coming in from the publishers and production companies had already filled an entire large bedroom. Did you just start reading as a hobby? Hire a truck and pick up all the scripts from my house, then.”

“I’ll do that next time.”

The movie director ordered a drink for himself.

After some small talk, the movie director finally got down to business.

“I’ve heard that you didn’t want to film dramas?”

“Yes.”

They were referring to Park Do-Joon’s next casting. The drama was titled Her Sweet Room. It was based on the original novel with the same title, written by Writer Oh Myung-Hoon. The script so far could only cover three episodes.

“Why don’t you want to do it?”

Park Do-Joon sighed and explained, “To be honest, it wasn’t interesting at all. The personality of the male lead doesn’t sit with me, and it doesn’t really appeal to me as well.”

“Did I mention that it was written personally by Writer Oh Myung-Hoon?”

“The scenario?”

“We offered to adapt it by hiring another writer, but he was so stubborn about it and insisted on writing it himself. However, novel and scenario writing is totally different.”

The director touched his own belly and continued. “The results are obvious. None of the top three broadcasting stations are putting the drama on their schedules, and everyone is anxious. He refuses to broadcast on Mondays to Thursdays at 10 p.m., and there’s no appropriate actor if it becomes a morning drama. Who can they cast?”

A smile was seen beneath the director’s bearded face. He gestured at Park Do-Joon with his chin. “If you do it, you’ll be able to surpass Golden Time, and the sponsors will definitely open their wallets up to us easily. The great Park Do-Joon was cast as the lead of the drama; how can a sloppy scenario stop them from investing?”

Park Do-Joon retrieved his wry smile, and his eyes turned serious.

Two women, who were seated a couple of tables away from them, put away their phones at once when they realized that they had been caught filming him.

Park Do-Joon looked at them and said firmly, “Please don’t take photos of me in secret.”

“Sorry…” the ladies bowed down apologetically.

If it were the old Park Do-Joon, he would have stopped there.

However, he actually started receiving criticism about how his personality had gone on a nosedive once he started dating Chae-Rin.

“Come over here and take photos with me.”

“R-really?” The faces of the ladies brightened, and they quickly approached their table.

With a gentle smile, Park Do-Joon took a picture together with the ladies and sent them back to their table.

“Your personality has gotten much gentler, is it because of your naggy lover?” The director remarked.

“It’s not because of that. I have to be careful of my reputation.”

“Anyway, where did we stop? Oh, right. What are you planning to do for your next project? Are you going to keep resting? I heard that there’s not a single movie script that you like.”

Park Do-Joon fidgeted with his cup for a while. He thought before replying, “They’re all action or romance movies, but nothing interests me. They all sound boring and cliched… I want to try a new genre.”

“A new genre? For example?”

“Something like this.” Park Do-Joon pushed the copy of Summer in My 20s toward the director.

“As I’ve mentioned before, this author writes really well, and the characters are quite distinct. If we amend the composition slightly, it shouldn’t be too tough to adapt it into a scenario.”

“You seem to like this novel a lot, huh?”

“I understand that you’re busy, but please read it. Its words are capable of bringing a story to life.”

“All right, I get it. Hey, I’m hungry. Let’s go find some food.”

“You’re changing the topic again.”

They stood up and headed for the door. Meanwhile, the customers in the cafe whipped out their phones to try sneaking a few more photos of the pair leaving the cafe.

***

“Oh, no wonder he looks familiar…”

The director returned home after his meeting with Park Do-Joon. He clicked his tongue as he stared at the copy of Summer in My 20s that lay on his table. The book cover was covered with hideous marks. Those were a result of the director making ramyun in the middle of the night and using the book as a pot stand.

The director would receive dozens of books on a weekly basis, so it wasn’t strange that he was starting to become practical with using the,

“Ow… I feel sore. Am I down with something?”

The director picked up the book and lay on his bed. He made three yawns during the time he read through ten pages of the book, and he turned his body twice when he reached page 50.

When he reached page 100…

“What? Who is the culprit?”

The director had already sat up on his bed and was leaning against the wall.

He had already forgotten about his fatigue and was fully immersed in the book, flipping the pages in a hurry. The tip of his fingers seemed to be trembling ever so slightly whenever he flipped a page.

“Hmm…!” He soon reached the end of the book, and he exclaimed in amazement and acknowledgment. He finally understood why Park Do-Joon had highly recommended this novel.

“Ah, this is published by OongSung.”

After making a decision, he didn’t hesitate anymore.

The director checked the time and saw that it was just before 7 p.m., so he picked up his phone.

When his call was answered, the director started, “I’d like to speak to the brand manager of Mysterium.”

***

“Wow, really? Director Woo Jae-Hoon?!”

“That’s what the editor-in-chief said.”

Park Jung-Jin had come over to Ha Jae-Gun’s place to hang out. The news he had just heard made his jaws drop, and his face became filled with admiration and astonishment.

Ha Jae-Gun looked up the director’s name on the internet.

“Gyungpo Bridge, Yukgwang-gu, D-War… I’ve seen all of those. Oh, so they were all directed by him.”

“He’s a director that usually produces blockbusters. Some have awesome reviews, and there are some with really bad reviews. However, Gyungpo Bridge wasn’t bad,” said Park Jung-Jin. The light in his eyes shone brightly as he continued. “This director is hailed as the Uwe Boll of Korea.”

“Uwe Boll?”

“He’s a German director, and he’s famous for turning original games into movies. I heard that the German government had a bill that subsidized half the production cost to their local filmmakers for their overseas productions, but the government had to retract the bill because of him.”

“But not all of Director Woo Jae-Hoon’s movies are trash. Most reviews were harsh, but he has had several successful titles.”

“Of course, there’s another reason behind why people call him Korea’s Uwe Boll. Uwe Boll was famous for sending out a sparring request to a critic who had cussed him out and eventually knocked the guy out. Woo Jae-Hoon did that last year, too. He bumped into a critic at a bar and got into a fight. It was even on the news for quite some time.”

“Really?” Ha Jae-Gun burst into laughter.

Park Jung-Jin didn’t digress. He continued earnestly with a straight face. “You have to be careful about selling your copyright, Jae-Gun. It’s great that it’ll be adapted into a movie, but I’m feeling kind of iffy about it. Plus, your novel is in the mystery genre.”

Ha Jae-Gun nodded and said, “I’ll have to meet with the editor-in-chief to discuss the matter with him.”

With that, Ha Jae-Gun stood up and changed into a shirt.

“I think I’ll have to leave soon. Sorry that I can’t stay for too long,” he said.

“Don't worry about it. I’m only dropping by as well. I’ve got another appointment in the evening, anyway.”

“With whom?”

Instead of answering, Park Jung-Jin only raised a thumbs up at him.

Ha Jae-Gun grabbed his thumb and laughed. “You should take it slow. Hyo-Jin is interested in you as well, and that is why she’s been meeting you so often.”

“We’ll see for a while more.”

Ha Jae-Gun drove Park Jung-Jin and dropped him off at his house.

Then, he headed to a cafe near Guro station.

Upon entering the cafe, Ha Jae-Gun found the entire group present. Oh Myung-Suk, Director Woo Jae-Hoon, and a few other employees from the production company were there.

Ha Jae-Gun checked the time on his watch, which showed that he was still five minutes earlier than the agreed meeting time before heading over to the table.

Everyone stood up to greet him.

“Hello, I’m Ha Jae-Gun. You guys are here early.”

“I’m Woo Jae-Hoon. It’s nice to meet you.”

After exchanging some greetings and handshakes, Ha Jae-Gun took his seat next to Oh Myung-Suk. Ha Jae-Gun frowned slightly instantly. He noticed that Woo Jae-Hoon had come in slippers.

“Your writing is incredible. I’ve enjoyed your novel a lot,” Woo Jae-Hoon began.

“Thank you,” Ha Jae-Gun’s reply was short.

He didn’t seem to like Jae-Hoon’s somewhat frivolous tone.

Woo Jae-Hoon soothed the side of his neck awkwardly and continued arrogantly. “I understand that both of you must be busy as well, so I’ll cut to the chase. I like this novel a lot, and I would like to buy the license to adapt it.”

Oh Myung-Suk smiled and was the first to give a reply. “Thank you for reviewing it so positively. This is exactly the reason why Mysterium has been aggressive with its launch and promotions.”

“Haha, yes. It is definitely worth the effort.”

After their short exchange, Oh Myung-Suk and Woo Jae-Hoon both looked at Ha Jae-Gun. However, Ha Jae-Gun remained silent, seemingly lost in his own thoughts.

“Well, shall we go ahead with drafting the contract? We will need to decide on the fees for the copyright license…” Woo Jae-Hoon trailed off because Ha Jae-Gun had looked up.

Ha Jae-Gun glanced with a serious gaze at Oh Myung-Suk before turning to look at Woo Jae-Hoon and saying, “I have a question.”

“Please speak.”

“I’m planning to leave everything about the contract for Mysterium to handle, but what I’m curious about is the scenario.”

“The scenario?”

“Can I write the scenario myself?”

This was the exact reason why Ha Jae-Gun had been concerned over all this time. Being able to write the scenario personally was a much more important issue to him than the copyright fees.

On top of that, Ha Jae-Gun had watched all of the movies directed by Jae-Hoon. There were quite a few of them that performed badly due to bad scenario writing, and he wanted to prevent his own novel’s movie adaptation from ending up that way.

“I’m sorry, but I think that will be tough.” Woo Jae-Hoon shook his head and gave a firm rejection. “We will leave the scenario for someone else who’ll do a great job at it.”

“Someone else who’ll do a great job at it?”

“I’m not saying that you can’t write well. It’s just that writing scenarios is quite different from writing novels. Have you actually written scenarios before?”

“I’ve written some back in university.”

“The ones you wrote for school aren't good enough.” Woo Jae-Hoon looked away and snorted.

His reaction made Ha Jae-Gun upset. Had Woo Jae-Hoon’s personality always been like this? His words and actions had been all but nice.

Woo Jae-Hoon turned to look at Ha Jae-Gun and smirked, seemingly in an effort to provoke the latter.

“So, what’s your decision?” he asked.