Big Life

Chapter 250: Just Need You Gone (1)

Lee Yeon-Woo stood hesitantly. Oh Myung-Hoon flashed him a spotless, welcoming smile while gesturing for Lee Yeon-Woo to take a seat.

“I'm extremely grateful to you for coming here today. You must be busy working on your novel.”

“No, no. I'm honored that someone from OongSung Group has recognized my work as an inkslinger to the extent of contacting me. Hahaha.” Lee Yeon-Woo waved his hand while chuckling awkwardly, seemingly unable to control his emotions.

Oh Myung-Hoon stopped Lee Yeon-Woo from following him to order their drinks.

“Come to think of it, Writer Yeon-Woo, have you had lunch? We can go somewhere else for lunch after our work discussion.”

“It's alright, I take care of my meals regularly, and I've been on a diet recently. I worked out quite regularly before, but my pot belly has grown substantially since I started focusing on writing,” said Lee Yeon-Woo.

He then realized that he was sharing unnecessary facts with Oh Myung-Hoon. He felt like back when he was still a student, excited about going on a trip with his friends. Was it because Oh Myung-Hoon was from OongSung Publication Group, Korea’s top publication corporation?

A while later, Oh Myung-Hoon returned to the table with coffee for each of them. Lee Yeon-Woo pulled his cup of coffee toward him and started, “Editor-in-chief.”

“Please speak.”

“I wasn’t sure earlier… But I just remembered this.”

Oh Myung-Hoon cocked his head to the side, curious about what Lee Yeon-Woo was talking about. Lee Yeon-Woo tapped his fingers on the table and continued awkwardly, “When Jae-Gun hyung’s There Was A Sea was published in the U.S….”

“Ah, yes…”

“I remember reading a short piece of news before. It was you, right?”

“That’s right,” Oh Myung-Hoon replied calmly with a smile. He had already decided to come clean when he called Lee Yeon-Woo to meet. Ha Jae-Gun and Lee Soo-Hee would get married sooner or later, so there was not enough time for him to do anything else. There was only one road before him, and he could only bulldoze forward.

‘How much does he know about me and Ha Jae-Gun’s relationship?’

The cogwheels in the mind of his other self hidden behind this current facade were working faster. Seeing how Lee Yeon-Woo addressed Ha Jae-Gun as hyung, their relationship had to be quite close.

Oh Myung-Hoon hated Ha Jae-Gun the most in this world, but his hatred of Ha Jae-Gun meant that he knew the latter very well. Ha Jae-Gun was the type to only share the necessary information with people around him and would think things over a few times before saying them.

The Ha Jae-Gun that Oh Myung-Hoon knew had always been like that, and funnily enough, this part of Ha Jae-Gun was playing a role in calming himself down.

‘That beggar…’ Oh Myung-Hoon grew disgusted as Ha Jae-Gun’s smiling face surfaced in his mind. Everyone who liked Ha Jae-Gun’s personality was being viewed as hypocritical in Oh Myung-Hoon’s eyes. Wasn’t that just Ha Jae-Gun’s shallow way of living and keeping up his own image in the frame of society as an incompetent individual?

Oh Myung-Hoon unknowingly fell deeper into his thoughts.

Lee Yeon-Woo pulled him back out.

“Um, editor-in-chief?”

“...Ah, yes?” Oh Myung-Hoon belatedly came back to his senses and looked up.

Did his face subconsciously turn into a frown while thinking of Ha Jae-Gun? Was that why Lee Yeon-Woo was looking at him with a weird gaze?

However, Lee Yeon-Woo's words were different from his expectations…

“You're really cool.”

“I'm… cool?” Oh Myung-Hoon was taken aback.

Lee Yeon-Woo nodded profusely. “The response in the U.S. for There Was A Sea was great. Ha Jae-Gun hyung’s novel is interesting, but it was also thanks to the marketing done back then. And weren't you in charge of it? I admire your capability.”

“Ah… Mm, yes… Well, I…”

“I’m quite a fan of Ha Jae-Gun hyung. Well, technically speaking, I’m a fan of Poongchun-Yoo. So I would print out every article related to him and create a scrapbook out of them.”

“I see.”

Lee Yeon-Woo scratched his cheeks awkwardly and continued, “Right, something happened back then, halting the promotions in Boston, right?”

”How did you…?”

”Ah, it’s not something that came out from the news. I found out on the internet from the disappointed Korean readers in Boston, they seemed to be looking forward to it too. I’m just asking out of curiosity, hahaha.”

Oh Myung-Hoon’s face turned dark as he cast his gaze downward. He recalled when he had flown to Taiwan just to look for Lee Soo-Hee. After witnessing the secret meetup between Ha Jae-Gun and Lee Soo-Hee, he lost his mind over it and canceled the entire promotion plan just two days before its execution out of fury.

“Did my question put you in a difficult situation…?”

“Not at all.” Oh Myung-Hoon looked up with a smile. “I remember that a miscommunication caused the mix-up in the schedule. Although there were only two days left until the promotion, I'm only filled with regret since we could have done better.”

“As expected… Ha Jae-Gun hyung is blessed indeed. He even knows a great person like you to help him.” Lee Yeon-Woo sucked on his straw, smiling like a young boy.

Oh Myung-Hoon smiled bitterly but nodded meaningfully. ‘Oh? Things are going better than I thought.’

He had made preparations in case Ha Jae-Gun had talked badly about him. He wanted to ask a few probing questions, but it seemed that he didn't have to go through it anymore.

‘Whatever, it doesn't matter what that punk said; I have confidence since foolish people often fall for compliments and money. Plus, this Yeon-Woo has yet to earn his keep among the writers that Ha Jae-Gun knows.’

Oh Myung-Hoon needed someone to extract Ha Jae-Gun's weakness, which was why he had chosen Lee Yeon-Woo after much consideration from reading his blog posts. Oh Myung-Hoon would sometimes read Lee Yeon-Woo's blog posts, as it contained a ton of detailed information about Ha Jae-Gun.

Bzzt!

Oh Myung-Hoon’s phone vibrated just then…

“Oh, Writer Lee, please excuse me for a few moments as I answer this call.”

“Please go ahead.”

Oh Myung-Hoon took his phone and stepped out of the cafe. Lee Yeon-Woo wasn't the only person Oh Myung-Hoon had approached recently.

“Yeah, Jung-Mi. Sorry for answering late.”

— Hi, Myung-Hoon. It's been a while; I just saw your message.

However, Jung-Mi sounded listless over the phone. Jung-Mi was a classmate who liked Ha Jae-Gun back during university. She was also sued for making malicious comments after being rejected by Ha Jae-Gun. She had been keeping a low profile after Ha Jae-Gun stopped pursuing the case.

This was the first time Oh Myung-Hoon had ever taken the initiative to contact her.

“How have you been doing? I haven't heard from you for a while.”

— So-so… I'm doing quite well at my work.

“Shall we meet up for a meal someday? I haven't seen you for so long.”

— Mm…

Jung-Mi trailed off, feeling guilty about her past actions.

Oh Myung-Hoon did not push but waited in silence for her reply. He had long abandoned his thoughts of crushing Ha Jae-Gun as a writer, as it was now impossible for him to do so. Naturally, his target shifted to splitting Ha Jae-Gun and Lee Soo-Hee.

— Why are you doing this to me out of the blue?

“What do you mean? We're classmates and used to see each other often too.”

— Yeah but…you've heard the news about me, haven't you?

“What news?”

— Do you really not know?

“I'm not sure what you're talking about. We're talking in Korean now, right?” Oh Myung-Hoon continued with his sly acting.

Moments later, Jung-Mi let out a sigh and said in a low tone.

— Thanks for contacting me. When do you want to meet?

“I'm available whenever. Leave me a message after you've checked your schedule.” Oh Myung-Hoon returned to the cafe after ending the call.

As Lee Yeon-Woo looked up from his phone while browsing the internet, Oh Myung-Hoon asked outright, “I'm sorry for taking up your time. Let me share why I decided to meet you.”

“Sure.”

“Fantasium would like to sign an exclusive contract with you, Writer Lee Yeon-Woo.”

“An exclusive contract?” Lee Yeon-Woo's eyes and nostrils grew wide in astonishment; even his jaws dropped.

Oh Myung-Hoon did not wait for Lee Yeon-Woo to calm down and continued, “I’ve read all the novels you’ve published, Writer Lee Yeon-Woo, and even all the blog posts you’ve uploaded. Your writing is both crude and honest, but it touches the hearts of people with sincerity.”

“M-my writing…?” Lee Yeon-Woo stuttered with a look of disbelief. He clearly didn't expect to hear those words to come from Oh Myung-Hoon. He never imagined that he could receive compliments from an editor-in-chief of a brand under the OongSung Publication Group; it almost felt surreal.

“I’ve envisioned your future instead of focusing on your current outlook. You need someone who could excavate you to your fullest potential, and I’m confident in playing that role for you.”

“Mm…!” Lee Yeon-Woo gulped, unable to come up with a response. So far, he had only encountered publishers like Haetae Media and Laugh Books. It was thanks to Ha Jae-Gun’s novels that Laugh Books had grown tremendously, but this man before him was affiliated with OongSung Publication Group.

“I-I’m very grateful for your kind words. Thank you for viewing an inkslinger like me in such a favorable light, but I…” Lee Yeon-Woo found it difficult to finish his sentence. His mind had gone haywire; he felt like he was floating in mid-air with the overwhelming emotions he was feeling right now.

“However, an exclusive contract… I’ve heard stories about it from the other writers in the office, and it didn’t seem all that good…”

“Exclusive contracts would differ for each company, right?” Oh Myung-Hoon quickly caught on to Lee Yeon-Woo’s concern. “I will do my best to cater to every support you'll need. I really mean it by everything.’

“...!” Lee Yeon-Woo gasped as he looked away.

Oh Myung-Hoon took a sip of his coffee coolly, and he almost burst into laughter when he thought about how naive people could be.

***

“Is Yeon-Woo not having dinner?”

“He said he had eaten before coming back and that he was turning in early first because he was feeling under the weather.”

“I haven't seen him take any flu medicine before. What's wrong with that strong boy? And Writer Jae-Gun said he would be dropping by, but why isn't he here yet?”

“Jae-Gun hyung said he was meeting the assistant secretary from Ministry of Culture today, saying that there was something to discuss about The Breath.”

Yang Hyun-Kyung and Kang Min-Ho’s conversation was heard through the door. Lee Yeon-Woo was in his bed, covering his entire body with his blanket. It was a lie that he was feeling sick. He just needed some time alone to think.

“I've envisioned your potential, Writer Lee Yeon-Woo.”

Oh Myung-Hoon’s words were still ringing clearly in his mind. He had never received such high praise from anyone in his life. The best encouragement he had heard from others so far was just, “You'll do better if you work harder.”

‘He said I'm a valuable gemstone… no way,’ Lee Yeon-Woo said inwardly, shaking his head profusely. If there was anything great about his writings, Ha Jae-Gun and all the other writers would have recognized it much earlier and had acknowledged it.

Moments later, however, another thought surfaced in his mind.

‘N-no matter how great Ha Jae-Gun hyung is, he's just a writer. He's different from an editor, plus the talents of editors and writers are different! Who knows, maybe editor-in-chief Oh Myung-Hoon had recognized something in me that editor-in-chief Kwon Tae-Won had yet to see!’

Lee Yeon-Woo was not used to hearing compliments at all. Even he couldn't see any special talent in himself, so there were, of course, not many instances where he would receive compliments from others.

Just like that, he spent the rest of his time away in his room…

***

“Thank you so much, department head.”

Oh Myung-Hoon could not hide his smile after the unexpected harvest he had while taking off his coat. Things had gone as he had expected. The pleasure surging from his toes made his body shiver in anticipation.

“I did think there was something going on between them, but I never imagined this would happen.” Oh Myung-Hoon looked at the picture in his hand in disbelief. “I never thought this would be a one-for-one gift. The unexpected gift was many times more expensive than what I had paid for. Isn’t that so, department head? It’s the end game with this alone. Anyway, you did a great job.”

“But, Second Young Master, why do you have to do this…” the department head asked with caution, his face full of worry. He had participated in almost all of Oh Myung-Hoon’s secret moves, so he was aware that Oh Myung-Hoon was targeting Ha Jae-Gun.

“Please take a rest, department head. Oh, you can go on a vacation for three days, but just make sure to keep your mouth shut.”

“I’m honestly worried, Second Young Master.” The department head was usually compliant, but he didn't back down this time.

Oh Myung-Hoon’s gaze turned cold, but he maintained his smile. “Why are you talking so much today?”

“Please pardon me for saying this, but I’ve been looking after you since your middle school days. My only hope is for you to be happy.”

“I’m doing this to become happy.”

“Young Master… please stop.” The man bowed a deep ninety-degree bow pleading. As Oh Myung-Hoon turned speechless, he continued, “Please forget it even if you’re upset. You have a natural talent, and there are many other routes you can take in this world.”

“Hahaha…” Oh Myung-Hoon burst into laughter out of the blue, looking out the window toward the city center. “You’re clueless.”

“Young Master…?”

“About a person’s malice. Did you think it’s a kind of emotion that anyone can forget about so easily?”

The department head could no longer answer Oh Myung-Hoon, who growled in anger. If he were to answer, the furniture in the room would get smashed into pieces, as Oh Myung-Hoon’s anger management disorder had yet to be cured.

“Make sure to contact Hong Ye-Seul first before you go on vacation.”

“Young Master…”

“I’m done now, please leave.” Oh Myung-Hoon opened the door. The department head struggled to step out of the door with his heavy body akin to wet cotton.