Big Life

Chapter 274: How Far Can I Go (6)

‘What…?!’ Woo Jae-Hoon almost yelled. He felt as if a huge boulder had just fallen on his head. Soon, blood drained from his face, which was turning blue, and he gasped for air like a fish out of water.

‘Ha Jae-Gun… is Eden Smith…?!’

The audience erupted into a cacophonous din. The reaction of the reporters stationed on the sides and at the back of the hall was indescribable. They looked like they were ready to rush forward to the stage with their cameras. However, the security guards quickly stepped in and narrowed the gaps.

Ha Jae-Gun added in a firm voice. “Eden Smith is my pen name.”

‘No way…!’ Woo Jae-Hoon was on the verge of losing his sanity; he felt as if someone had just stabbed him in the back. His large round eyes were unwittingly transfixed on Ha Jae-Gun and no one else.

It wasn't just Woo Jae-Hoon; everyone else in the hall reacted the same way. Waves of shock ran through the hall. Even the fourth-term assemblyman, Kwon Sung-Deuk, had lost his calm and collected look.

“Babe, Writer Ha Jae-Gun isn’t pulling our legs, right?”

“I don’t think so? If he isn’t crazy, there’s no way anyone would make such a joke in their right mind. Wow, this is a huge plot twist…”

The murmurs from the flustered audience grew even louder, so much so that it was almost impossible for the fan meeting to continue. OongSung had even made announcements to calm the audience down, but it was pointless.

Nothing would work to calm the audience down right now.

Click! Click!

The rule stating that photo taking during the event was prohibited had been disregarded as well. Everyone pulled out their phones, taking photos of Ha Jae-Gun on stage. Many people in the audience accessed Malice's forum right away and posted threads on the forum, informing everyone else of the situation.

- JerryM: I’m at the fan meeting right now. I said earlier that I was so glad and surprised to see Writer Ha Jae-Gun was here, right? And he has just announced that he is Eden Smith.

┗Mozzi: What??????!!!

┗Kkyaakdukki: I hope you’ll give something more plausible if you want to bait others, JerryM;;;;

┗JerryM: I’m not baiting, it’s the truth. The fan meeting hall is in chaos right now. It’s become a huge mess…

┗Miyal: That’s weird;;; Seeing how JerryM has been active in the forum, I don’t think he’s the type to joke around about this;;;

┗Kinakina: kekekekekeke Guys, this is real kekekekekeke I’m also at the fan meeting now, and Ha Jae-Gun = Eden Smith kekekekekeke Everyone is in utter shock now kekekekekekeke

┗JerryM: Gosh, seems like Kinikina is here too. Where are you seated… I’m at the back with the reporters, so it’s extremely noisy here.

The chaos had affected even the Malice's forum. Two to three new posts were uploaded every second in real-time, and soon, news of Ha Jae-Gun being Eden Smith had broken into the Internet and onto the vast social media platforms.

- Everyone! They say the award-winning Prix Goncourt writer, Eden Smith, is actually Ha Jae-Gun!

- I just saw the news too. I thought the reporters made a mistake in their articles;;; I never imagined that a piece of news this huge would pop up;;;

- Which news outlet did it come from? Please stop reporting rumors. How is that even possible?

- Person above, where are your eyes? There’s even a link to the MBS article, so look at it before you call it a rumor.

- Kekekekekeke I’m shocked but also finding it funny. Where did all the antis who said that Ha Jae-Gun couldn’t write a proper novel go???? Come out and say something~!!!

- Guys, didn’t Woo Jae-Hoon appear there as well? I read in a news article earlier that he attended the fan meeting. Did Woo Jae-Hoon not know too???

The truth had a massive impact on everyone. It hadn’t even been five minutes since Ha Jae-Gun’s announcement, but articles with headlines reading, “Breaking news! Prix Goncourt winner Eden Smith turned out to be the pen name of Ha Jae-Gun” had already appeared all over the internet.

‘This is bad…’

Ha Jae-Gun was flustered as he stood on stage. He hadn’t expected such a huge response from this announcement. The audience showed no signs of calming down despite the repeated announcements. The security guards were desperately trying to maintain order to no avail.

Ha Jae-Gun held the microphone up once more.

“Everyone, please…”

Ha Jae-Gun’s voice played through the speakers was buried amidst the crowd’s chatter.

He cleared his throat once and exclaimed, "Everyone! I’d be grateful if everyone could listen to me!”

“…!”

“…!”

The hall was silenced instantly as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over everyone. The people who hadn’t been listening to the security guards' words turned silent as well. Even the audience’s attention that had been dispersed due to the announcement earlier had returned to Ha Jae-Gun, focusing solely on him.

“I wanted to challenge my limits,” Ha Jae-Gun said calmly. His eyes stared into space as he recalled the days when he wrote The Malice. “I didn’t want to rely on the career I had built so far with the name Ha Jae-Gun.

"I hoped that there wouldn't be any readers who would approach this piece of work with any prejudice, be it positive or negative. I also wanted this to be read by many without prejudice. That’s why I decided to use a pen name.”

The disturbance that had been maintained so far was destroyed, as the sincerity in Ha Jae-Gun’s words stirred the audience’s hearts. Ha Jae-Gun stepped forward in the silence, narrowing his distance from the audience.

“I had planned to announce this immediately after the Prix Goncourt’s announcement, as carrying this truth hidden in me was starting to burden me mentally.

"However, my wife fell ill the day before the award ceremony, and that was why I couldn’t go to France. However, many things were coming all at once, so I decided to hold this fan meeting.

"I apologize to all the readers, and I’d also like to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart.”

Ha Jae-Gun finished his piece. Then, he bowed a deep ninety degrees to the audience, who had been supporting him in his works all this while.

Clap clap clap!

Someone from the audience stood up and clapped. Someone else at the back followed, and soon, more and more people followed suit until a standing ovation was made.

The applause eventually became so loud that it was thunderous, ringing throughout the entire hall. Seemingly to repay their applause, Ha Jae-Gun maintained his bowing posture to the audience.

“Keughhhh..!" However, there was one person blatantly grinding his teeth. It was Woo Jae-Hoon, seated in the front row, fidgeting in agony. Should he remain in his seat as if nothing had happened, or should he leave the hall immediately? Which of these would make it less embarrassing for him?

Of course, he already had the answer in his heart. On his left was Kwon Sung-Deuk, and on his right was One Film’s CEO, Lee Gyu-Won. He wasn’t in a situation where he could stand up and leave so easily, which made him regret the fact that he had followed Kwon Sung-Deuk to the front row with triumph.

A while later, Ha Jae-Gun stood up straight again. He smiled brightly, looking at the first row before saying, “I’d like to thank Assemblyman Kwon Sung-Deuk for appearing today.”

“Ah…” Kwon Sung-Deuk groaned with a stiff expression. He hadn’t prepared to become a target of Ha Jae-Gun here today, as he hadn’t imagined that he would fall into such a situation when he had come for Eden Smith’s fan meeting.

Ha Jae-Gun was smiling amicably, forcing Kwon Sung-Deuk to smile and swallow a mouthful of his own saliva nervously. He could feel the attention —everyone in the hall was staring at him. It was time for him—as an assemblyman and member of the C.B.C.—to say a few words.

“I-I...!” He was stuttering for some reason, and he even sounded like a helium balloon that was losing its air. Flustered, Kwon Sung-Deuk cleared his throat a few times before forcing a few words out. “I… have long believed…! That Writer Ha Jae-Gun… would become a great writer…!”

“Thank you very much.”

Kwon Sung-Deuk pretended to be calm while revealing a forced smile, along with a quick change in attitude. However, he couldn’t stop his cheeks from trembling no matter how hard he tried to suppress it.

It wasn’t the usual tight spot he was put in as a fourth-term assemblyman.

“I’d also like to thank the movie director, Director Woo Jae-Hoon, who is seated beside him,” said Ha Jae-Gun, shifting his attention to someone else.

Woo Jae-Hoon flinched like a cockroach had crawled into his clothes.

Ha Jae-Gun added, “I am very well aware that he has been singing praises of The Malice through various media channels. I believe it is because of his support that The Malice was made known to so many people.”

Woo Jae-Hoon couldn’t stand it any longer and looked down at his shoes. There was no way he wouldn't know that Ha Jae-Gun was ridiculing him in public, especially when he had been criticizing him and comparing both Ha Jae-Gun and Eden Smith on countless occasions.

‘To think… that Ha Jae-Gun has made a fool of me once again…!’ Woo Jae-Hoon's temples were hurting as if a baseball was lodged there, and teeth chattered as if he were out in severe winter weather. Unfortunately, gnashing his teeth wasn't going to do anything.

Woo Jae-Hoon couldn't even lift his head. His head was completely empty; nothing was coming into his mind. He could only sit idly throughout the Q&A session between Ha Jae-Gun and his readers.

“Aide, let’s go.”

“Ah, yes, Assemblyman.”

Kwon Sung-Deuk decided to leave just as the autograph session began after the Q&A. His legs were extremely numb by now as he had been in a state of tension and putting most of his strength in his legs, but he endured it and took the first step out.

“Hyung, we should get going too.” Woo Jae-Hoon nudged Lee Gyu-Won with his elbow before standing up.

Now that the autograph session had gotten everyone else’s attention, it was his chance to get out of this place. Woo Jae-Hoon had to hit his thighs a few times because his weak legs weren’t moving as he intended.

***

“It’s Assemblyman Kwon Sung-Deuk!” Dozens of reporters had already gathered at the outdoor car park of OongSung Publication Group’s HQ. They swarmed Kwon Sung-Deuk, who was accompanied by his aide. They shoved their microphones in his face.

“Did you already know that Writer Ha Jae-Gun was Eden Smith?”

“This also means that Ha Jae-Gun is the first Korean to have won the Prix Goncourt award. Please comment on this, Assemblyman!”

Kwon Sung-Deuk smiled awkwardly as he walked through the horde of reporters without answering them.

Just as they were a short distance away from the car, a young reporter appeared in front of them, blocking their way. Then, he exclaimed, “Assemblyman! You pointed out his literary style while singing high praises for The Malice at the recent policy debate. How do you feel now that you’ve learned that Ha Jae-Gun was the actual writer for The Malice?”

“…!” Kwon Sung-Deuk stopped in his tracks. The smile on his face cracked, and his expression distorted like a car that had been sent to the scrapyard.

“What nonsense are you spouting!”

The discouraged reporter took a step back. Kwon Sung-Deuk’s aide quickly opened the car door, and the former quickly got into the car. The car drove out immediately as soon as the engine was started.

“That temperament…!” The young reporter grumbled, staring at Kwon Sung-Deuk’s car in the distance. Just then, Woo Jae-Hoon entered his vision in the distance.

Woo Jae-Hoon quickly turned around with a look of disgust as soon as he saw the horde of reporters in the car park. However, the young reporter wasn't going to let his target go so easily as he followed closely behind Woo Jae-Hoon with his microphone out. “Director Woo Jae-Hoon, did you just exit the hall? Please tell us how you feel about the fan meeting today.”

“I have no comments.”

“How do you feel now? You seem quite angry, is this because of Writer Ha Jae-Gun?”

“What?!” Woo Jae-Hoon stopped in his tracks, looking angry. He scanned the young reporter from top to bottom before yelling, “Where are you from?! Why are your questions so disrespectful?!”

“I’m Park Doo-Shik from Immediate News.”

“What?!”

“This is my name card.” The young reporter pulled out his name card.

Woo Jae-Hoon tore up the name card and threw it at Park Doo-Shik's chest. “Ah~ I see, Immediate News! I know that program all too well, as it's a program for hooligans! I saw that you guys have turned me into a joke in that particular episode! Did you think I’d have anything to say to you guys?!”

“We didn’t turn you into a joke; we only reported the facts.”

“What now?!”

“Strictly speaking, you were the one who criticized Ha Jae-Gun and praised The Malice. I’m not sure why Director Woo is so triggered and calling names of a perfectly normal show like ours.” Park Doo-Shik smirked. Then, he turned away and muttered under his breath, “Is he still thinking of himself as a legend after his reputation went down the drain?”

“This punk…! You're not done yet?!” Woo Jae-Hoon flipped and served the young reporter a knuckle sandwich.

“Ugh! Aigoo, the director is hitting people again!” Park Doo-Shik yelled as he fell to the floor.

A crowd soon gathered around them and camera shutters flashed nonstop from all directions.