Big Life

Chapter 257: It Has To Be You (4)

“Hello, Madam.”

— Are you asking to die?

The cheerful voice immediately became intimidating. Thanks to that, Ha Jae-Gun managed to forget the unpleasant feeling that welled up in his heart after Won Ji-Yeon's phone call.

“Did I do something wrong, Madam? How have you been doing?”

— I'm fine. Call me Madam one more time, and you're gonna get it from me. Right, you know the paperback book written by Tolstoy? I found it one day on the shelves while organizing and discovered something interesting.

Ha Jae-Gun blanked out for a few moments before turning pale. “N-noona.”

— If you wrote a letter, you should have sent it out. Why did you stuff it in the book? I read it, and found that it was written to someone I know, so I'm thinking of delivering it myself.

Ha Jae-Gun revealed a distorted smile, distancing himself from Lee Soo-Hee. He had totally forgotten the letter’s existence. Who would have known that the letter, which he had hidden between the pages of an old book, would fall into his sister's hands?

“W-why are you doing this, noona. S-stop it.”

— I'll read it out for you. Write it down, and you can revise it. How about that? To Soo-Hee. Hello, Soo-Hee. I'm Jae-Gun. I really had fun that night with the four of us, along with Jung-Jin and Hyo-Jin. I'm not sure if you felt the same way. It's still early for the monsoon season, but the rain is coming down hard tonight while I am writing this letter to you. The weather should be the same where you are, right? We're both in Seoul, after all? If so, the same clouds are pelting down on us right now, and it feels as if you're by my side now. P—puhahahaha!

Ha Jae-In’s laughter rang into his eardrums.

Ha Jae-Gun was on the verge of going crazy. That letter was one of the many traces of his passionate youth. That night, he was drunk and was listening to his favorite song; he even salivated on his pillow. He couldn’t sleep a single wink that night and wrote that letter to that beautiful goddess while longing strongly for her.

“Seriously, stop it…!”

— You’re a writer, yet your letter sounds like its written by an elementary school student. Wait, I doubt elementary kids nowadays write letters like this. I guess that’s why you couldn't send it to her after writing this. You should have consulted, and perhaps both of you would have become a campus couple at the time.

“Wait, noona. Wait…!” Ha Jae-Gun was only in a hurry to stop Ha Jae-In from blabbering even more. He cringed visibly as if bugs were crawling all over. Even his limbs weren’t moving according to his will.

Meanwhile, Lee Soo-Hee looked surprised, wondering what had happened over the phone.

Ha Jae-Gun ran away from Lee Soo-Hee’s gaze and hid in the corner of the living room. “What do you want? Tell me everything.”

— What do I want?

“Tell me everything, whatever you want to eat or get your hands on, I'll get them for you. In exchange, you’ll have to keep this a secret until you die.”

— No, I don’t want to.

“Argh, noona! Please!” Ha Jae-Gun had no choice but to beg under wraps. “I was wrong. I’m not sure what I did wrong, but everything’s my fault. I’m a sinner.”

— Ah, I’m enjoying this. You should have been obedient to your older sister, and you shouldn't have teased me so much.

“Yes, it’s all my fault. I’m deeply reflecting upon my own actions.”

However, Ha Jae-In responded with even more laughter. She soon calmed down and continued.

— You said you’d do whatever I wanted, right?

“Yeah, I’ll do everything in my capability. What do you wish for?”

— Let Mom and I prepare the food for your wedding with Lee Soo-Hee.

“What?” Ha Jae-Gun was stunned. “What do you mean?”

— It’s what you’ve heard. To be honest, this is what Mom wants.

“Mom…?”

— Yeah, since you’re only inviting close friends and families to the small wedding, she has mentioned a few times that she wanted to prepare the food herself. Since she won’t have many chances to cook for you once you get married.

“...”

— Since Mom has that thought, then I’ll have to support her, right? Plus, you like my soups and stir-fried dishes better than Mom’s, right?

Ha Jae-Gun gulped silently. It was a wish filled with happiness. His nose tinged for not understanding his family’s lifelong wish.

— Are you not going to reply? Are you not agreeing?

“Why wouldn’t I? Of course, I agree.”

— Okay, then we’re going with that arrangement?

“Are you sure it’ll be okay?” Ha Jae-Gun suppressed his emotions, posing a realistic question. “It hasn’t been too long since you got married. Even normal families, no matter how small they are would still have dozens of guests attending weddings, so how are you going to prepare—”

— We can always hire help if we’re short on manpower.

Ha Jae-In cut her younger brother off.

— And like I said before, you don’t have to worry. I haven’t done anything else but study ever since my marriage, so I have lots of free time on my hands. My father-in-law will always ask me to go out whenever he sees me at home, meet my friends, or even go back to visit our parents at Suwon.

“Wow, what a cool father-in-law you’ve got.”

— He seemed to be always avoiding me, so I thought he didn’t like me. He seemed embarrassed even when I suggested to go on walks together.

“No way. He agreed to your marriage so easily.”

— No, it worries me. Gyu-Ho went on a two-day vacation recently, so I told my father-in-law that I hoped all three of us could go together on a trip. But he dropped his spoon as soon as he heard that.

“Maybe it’s just a mistake. Don’t be too sensitive about it.”

— Hmm, really?

Ha Jae-In let out a soft sigh. Ha Jae-Gun took the opportunity of the pause and asked, “Anyway, how is brother-in-law doing?”

— He’s extremely busy. I could count with my fingers the number of times he came home before midnight. He said his workload has increased a lot recently because of The Breath Online.

“Lee Soo-Hee mentioned it to me as well. She told me he’s the kind to check everything himself and can’t stand it if the issues aren’t resolved under his watch.”

— He also talks about Lee Soo-Hee all the time, saying that she’s a great employee and always exceeds his expectations. If he weren’t the director, he would have cooked something up, quit his job, and opened a game company together with her.

Ha Jae-Gun felt proud. He turned to the kitchen to glance at Lee Soo-Hee, but he freaked out when he saw her right in front of him instead.

“Noona… Anyway, I’ll call you again. I’m eating now, actually.”

— Ah, really? You should have told me earlier. Alright, tell Lee Soo-Hee I’ll call her another time.

“Okay, bye.”

Ha Jae-Gun hung up and looked right back at Lee Soo-Hee, observing her. From when was she listening in on their conversation? He couldn’t ask her first as well, since it’d be a shot in his own foot.

“Why are you so surprised? Did you talk about something that I shouldn’t know?”

“No. Noona called to say that Brother-in-Law kept praising you for your work. As expected, our Team Leader Lee Soo-Hee is very capable. Of course, she’s the best.”

“Your reaction is weird.”

“Nah, I’m just repeating what she told me.”

“Hmm…?”

”Ah, I’m hungry. The soup must be getting cold too.” Ha Jae-Gun headed to the kitchen as if running away to finish up the meal. Then, he ran to the bathroom afterward with the excuse that he was going to take a shower.

Before Lee Soo-Hee began washing the dishes, she sent Ha Jae-In a text message.

- Unni, I’m upset that you didn’t call me. And you must show me the letter that Ha Jae-Gun wrote, okay?

- You heard us??????? T.T T.T Oh no;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

Lee Soo-Hee grinned and put down her phone. Just then, Rika woke up from her afternoon nap and walked to her elegantly.

“Rika, between you and me both, who has better hearing?”

“Meow…?”

“Huhuhu.”

Lee Soo-Hee squatted down and picked up Rika. Lee Soo-Hee giggled as Rika licked her nose with her scratchy tongue, not because it felt ticklish but because she was happy.

***

“Wow, the Tae word in Mr. Tae-Bong’s name is the same as mine.”

“Haha, I know right? I’m happy to share the same hanja with you, CEO.” The two men, Woo Tae-Bong and CEO of Laugh Books, Kwon Tae-Won, sat before the gate and burst into laughter.

“They should be coming out soon.”

“Yeah, shall we go wait for them in front?”

Just then, people walked out from the arrivals gate. Woo Tae-Bong and Kwon Tae-Won looked around for their target with their sharp eyes.

Kwon Tae-Won was the first to spot his target a few moments later. An older man in his forties was seen pulling his luggage with a cold look.

Kwon Tae-Won raised his hand and waved to grab their attention.

“Department Head Lin Minhong! Over here!”

”Ah…!” Lin Minhong finally looked relieved and approached with a delightful smile.

Kwon Tae-Won was there to pick up the Department Head of Teencent Literature’s strategic planning department, Lin Minhong. He had been busy working at Teencent Pictures on the movie adaptation of Ha Jae-Gun’s original novel and was here in Korea for work-related purposes.

“Hello, CEO Kwon Tae-Won and Manager Woo Tae-Bong.”

“I feel this every time, but Department Head Lin Minhong is really fluent in Korean. Even natives find the Korean language difficult, so how come you're fluent even in your emails?”

“Hahaha. We’ll have more dealings with Korea in the future, so I studied hard.”

“No way. I'm sure you’ve done more than just study. Anyway, let’s head to the car.”

The three men got in the car and left Incheon Airport. Holding the steering wheel, Woo Tae-Bong looked worriedly at the navigation, which was displaying the address of a restaurant in Seoul.

‘There’s no bad news about Do-Joon, right? Otherwise, he would be able to call or write an email for that; there’s no reason for him to visit Korea personally.’

Woo Tae-Bong’s priority was always Park Do-Joon.

They had already given Lin Minhong the best offer: they'd meet ninety-nine percent of the schedule required by Teencent Pictures and were willing to cancel all other schedules. This decision was made by Park Do-Joon, not Woo Tae-Bong. Park Do-Joon was that desperate to become the main character of the Records series.

And that was why Woo Tae-Bong was worried. What were they supposed to do if Teencent Pictures gave them a counteroffer that was hard for Park Do-Joon’s pride to accept?

“…”

Woo Tae-Bong stole a glance at Lin Minhong’s expression through the rearview mirror, which still remained expressionless as usual. The man was only staring at his own laptop placed on his lap. Woo Tae-Bong swallowed nervously as he stepped on the accelerator.

Around an hour later, the five men sat around a table in the Korean restaurant covered by a folding screen. Ha Jae-Gun, Park Do-Joon, Kwon Tae-Won, Woo Tae-Bong, and Lin Minhong sat in front of the big table.

The men had already exchanged greetings. However, no one had yet to touch the food on the table, and silence filled the room.

Moments later, Lin Minhong shattered the silence. “CEO Mao Yen is reviewing it positively.”

Everyone’s attention was on Lin Minhong. Park Do-Joon’s eyes were opened the widest, and he was happy to hear Lin Minhong’s words.

”She is currently convincing the executives one by one, and this also includes what actors will be cast in it. But…” Lin Minhong took a sip of his tea, and he sounded hesitant as he continued, “As everyone knows, I’m a Chinese national.”

“…?”

“And China is a country that values their face and dignity. Not just relationships between people but between large corporations as well.”

Why had Lin Minhong brought that up? Lin Minhong pondered over his words and carefully added, “I speak Korean fluently and studied the language hard because I often deal with Korean nationals, which is why I’ve naturally come to learn some culture and customs practiced in Korea.

"Anyway, please excuse me for having decided to bring this up after much consideration.”

Lin Minhong turned to Park Do-Joon and said, “CEO Mao Yen would like to tell you that she has enjoyed the indie movie Dried Tofu.”

“…Pardon?” Park Do-Joon’s mouth fell open.

How was Dried Tofu related to all those he had mentioned earlier? Park Do-Joon could not understand what Lin Minhong was trying to get at.

“The movie was good… but Mr. Do-Joon’s great acting as a Chinese in the movie gave her the justification to persuade the executives.”

“Ah…” Kwon Tae-Won and Woo Tae-Bong nodded, finally understanding what Lin Minhong was saying. Park Do-Joon glanced at Woo Tae-Bong, who had strongly rejected his acting in Dried Tofu.

Woo Tae-Bong immediately lowered his head and looked at his wrist. However, he looked away awkwardly upon realizing that he didn't have a wristwatch.

“But, Department Head Lin Minhong…” Park Do-Joon looked away from Woo Tae-Bong and began, “You mentioned that it was half a justification, but what’s the other half…?”

“Ah, do I really need to mention the other half?” Lin Minhong asked in surprise.

“As all of you know, it’s on Mr. Ha’s recommendation.”

“…?”

“Mr. Ha, the author of the original novel, had personally recommended Mr. Do-Joon to be cast as the male lead in the movie. He said that he had shaped the character with Mr. Do-Joon in mind and that he had never imagined anyone else to take on the character aside from you

"He even said that, at least for the Records series, he thinks you're the best actor for the role. Of course, he had also expressed quite a few personal opinions on why it has to be Mr. Do-Joon,” Lin Minhong explained with a smile.

Park Do-Joon kept a straight face as he turned slowly to his side. Ha Jae-Gun was right beside him and was smiling awkwardly. Ha Jae-Gun rubbed his nose, looking away.

Park Do-Joon felt emotional and choked momentarily.

“Um, did I… make a mistake?” Lin Minhong asked.

”N-no, not at all. It’s just that both Mr. Ha and Do-Joon are also very close friends. They’re quite shy. Haha, hahaha!” Woo Tae-Bong burst into laughter and clapped alone. Kwon Tae-Won followed after, fumbling.

Knock, knock, knock.

The door opened, and the restaurant servers sent in new dishes to the table. Woo Tae-Bong was about to use the delicious-looking dishes as an excuse to change the topic, but Lin Minhong was a step faster.

”Mr. Ha Jae-Gun.”

”Yes, please speak.”

”There’s a favor I’d like to ask.”

Ha Jae-Gun put down his chopsticks and looked directly at Lin Minhong. He had been expecting a very specific offer from the man. Otherwise, Lin Minhong would have never mentioned that CEO Mao Yen was reviewing it positively. Most importantly, the dignity of the Chinese that Lin Minhong had brought up earlier was a heavy topic, not one that could be easily glossed over.