Big Life

Chapter 31: Is This A Competition? (4)

“Oh? Oh Myung-Hoon, you’re here as well?”

Cheon Hyo-Jin alighted from the front passenger seat after Lee Soo-Hee, whose eyes widened as if she were a rabbit in a cartoon.

Cheon Hyo-Jin had tagged along with Lee Soo-Hee to personally congratulate Ha Jae-Gun. Knowing full well that Ha Jae-Gun and Oh Myung-Hoon weren’t on good terms, Cheon Hyo-Jin found herself in a tight spot at the unexpected encounter.

However, Oh Myung-Hoon didn’t even spare so much as a glance for Cheon Hyo-Jin.

His eyes were fixated on Lee Soo-Hee.

Lee Soo-Hee straightened and portrayed herself with confidence, and looked at Oh Myung-Hoon in the eye.

Noticing the atmosphere surrounding the two, Cheon Hyo-Jin decided to take her leave and said softly to Lee Soo-Hee, "I-I'll go on first."

"See you inside."

Lee Soo-Hee walked toward Oh Myung-Hoon with a faint smile. “You must have gotten an award as well.”

“How… did you know?”

“Professor Han Hye-Sun told me that you’ve gone to see her before. So you used a pen name for the submission? I’m not sure what award you received, but I congratulate you.” Lee Soo-Hee reached her hand out for a handshake.

Oh Myung-Hoon did not accept the handshake and just stood there looking at her from top to bottom.

Lee Soo-Hee was exceptionally beautiful today. She wore a gray pleated dress that went down to her knees, along with coffee-colored stockings that complemented her dress. Her long hair looked like it had been dyed, and it gave off a warm and soft color similar to that of the sunset and was tied up in a ponytail.

Her overall look did not stand out, but she couldn’t be called plain-looking at all. She was displaying her opulent elegance and feminine gracefulness. She spent her money well on simple earrings, her belt, and other accessories.

Oh Myung-Hoon was well aware of Lee Soo-Hee’s preferences when it came to fashion, so it was especially clear to him that she had put a lot of effort into her outfit today.

However, he knew that she didn’t dress up for him, and that was why he couldn’t accept her handshake.

“I thought you said you had work to do and couldn’t come here?” Oh Myung-Hoon asked while looking down at the concrete ground.

When he called Lee Soo-Hee before saying that he had something to show her, Lee Soo-Hee rejected him with the excuse that she had a work appointment, but here she was today.

“What do you have to do here that is related to work? Did Nextion sponsor the Digital Literature Award?”

Lee Soo-Hee withdrew her hand and slung the bag that she had been carrying in her other hand over her shoulder. She then said calmly, “I came here to congratulate Ha Jae-Gun.”

“...!”

“He’s the scenario writer for our team, so of course, it’s only right that we have a representative here to congratulate him. This is related to work.”

“Wow, you know, sometimes, you have this penchant for forcing things so that everything would make sense.”

“Not this time.”

Just then, Oh Myung-Hoon’s phone vibrated in his pocket. However, Oh Myung-Hoon was much too occupied with the anger that was boiling in him that Lee Soo-Hee had to point it out to him.

“Isn’t that your phone ringing?”

Oh Myung-Hoon took out his phone while still looking at Lee Soo-Hee.

He looked at the screen, and he stiffened because the call came from his father.

“This is urgent. I’ll talk to you later,” Oh Myung-Hoon replied with a gloomy expression. There was no way he could delay or avoid his father’s calls.

Lee Soo-Hee nodded lightly before walking away. When she was about ten steps away from Oh Myung-Hoon, the latter swallowed hard and answered the call.

“Hello?”

— Why did it take you so long to answer?!

It all started with a loud yell.

Oh Myung-Hoon wasn’t surprised at all since he expected it.

— Did you forget that today’s your mother’s birthday? Everyone took time off from their busy schedules to appear, but where are you?! Hurry up and come back here!

Oh Myung-Hoon held his hand to his forehead and covered his eyes. He hadn’t forgotten about his mother’s birthday; he just didn’t want to attend the celebration.

In addition, he had to deal with something more important than his mother’s birthday.

“I can’t leave right now. I’ll return home early for dinner.”

— WHAT?!

“I have something important going on now.”

His father scoffed loudly.

— Something important? Just what is that something important, huh? Are you taking one of those crazy girls out for a drive right now? Or are you wasting my money at some drinking party?

“It’s not—”

— You’re pathetic! Aren’t you ashamed to see your own brother and sister working hard? Why can’t you be at least half as good as they are?

Oh Myung-Hoon put the phone away from his face and drew in deep breaths. The air that he was exhaling blurred his sight.

— Anyway, just be prepared! Your studio will be taken away by the end of this year! Did you really think that I gave it to you so that you could play around all day?! Goddamned it!

His father unilaterally ended the call.

Oh Myung-Hoon’s legs gave way, and he squatted on the spot. He needed time to collect himself before he could enter the venue with his usual expression.

***

“We’re here!”

After parking his car in the parking lot, Park Jung-Jin turned off the car engine.

Ha Jae-Gun was in the front passenger seat with Rika in his arms, while in the back seats were his mother Myung-Ja and his sister, Ha Jae-In.

“Thank you for looking out for Jae-Gun all these years, Jung-Jin. Jae-Gun has made a really great friend.”

“Hahaha, it’s nothing much. I’m a crafty friend. I’m sure he would give me some benefits when he becomes successful in the future,” Park Jung-Jin said jokingly and lightly punched Ha Jae-Gun’s shoulder.

Ha Jae-Gun smiled shyly at his friend.

Naturally, it was all because he was extremely grateful to Park Jung-Jin.

Park Jung-Jin had originally agreed to meet him directly at the award ceremony venue, but he suddenly went to his parents’ house in Suwon early in the morning.

Thanks to Park Jung-Jin, his mother, sister, and even Rika got a comfortable ride on the way to the venue.

“Should I help you hold onto Rika?”Ha Jae-In asked as she held out her hand.

Ha Jae-Gun nodded and handed over Rika to her. Rika didn’t kick up a fuss. She comfortably laid her chin on Ha Jae-In’s arms.

“Hey, you’re all here!”

“Oh? It’s Cheon Hyo-Jin! Did you come with Lee Soo-Hee?”

Ha Jae-Gun turned around at Park Jung-Jin’s words and saw Cheon Hyo-Jin hurrying over with Lee Soo-Hee following right behind her. Park Jung-Jin then started introducing Ha Jae-Gun’s family to the ladies.

“This is Ha Jae-Gun’s mother and older sister.”

“Hello. I’m Cheon Hyo-Jin, Jae-Gun’s classmate,” Cheon Hyo-Jin energetically introduced herself first.

When Cheon Hyo-Jin was done introducing herself, Lee Soo-Hee then came forward and introduced herself as well. “Hello, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Jae-Gun’s classmate, Lee Soo-Hee.”

“Ah, yes, nice to meet you.” Myung-Ja and Ha Jae-In both greeted the ladies timidly.

Ha Jae-Gun looked down and chortled—he knew exactly why both his mother and sister were flustered.

“Congratulations, you must be very happy. I’m not as happy compared to you, but I’m definitely congratulating Jae-Gun from the bottom of my heart.”

“Aigoo, I’m really thankful! Thank you so much. Oh, my, I never knew my son has such beautiful classmates! Hohoho.”

“Mom, it’s cold out here, so let’s head in first.” Ha Jae-Gun was at a loss. He ended up grabbing his mother’s arm gently and bringing her indoors. He was afraid that more embarrassing words would come from his mother if he hadn’t interrupted her.

“That’s right. The award ceremony is about to start as well, so let’s head inside.” Lee Soo-Hee took the lead and guided the group indoors.

Myung-Ja and Ha Jae-In hooked onto Ha Jae-Gun’s arm on each side and took turns asking him questions in whispers.

“Her name is Lee Soo-Hee, right? She’s so pretty. She looks friendly, and she’s polite as well.”

“You actually have such a great girl as your classmate? She gave us such a good first impression with her personality and looks. Son, you should go out with her.”

“What are you saying? Stop it.”

Ha Jae-Gun knew that things would turn out this way.

He had never seen anyone who ended up not liking Lee Soo-Hee so far since she was pretty with a selfless smile. Today, it seemed that her gift of gab had already gotten her into the good books of both his mother and sister.

“Open your eyes wide and look at the other ladies on the streets. Do you really think that girls like her are common? Trust your mom’s judgment; go and ask her out already.”

“Bring her home one day. I’ll make her delicious food. What kind of food does she like?”

“Stop it, please. Why are you doing this to me, too, noona?”

The seats in the auditorium were already half-full. Ha Jae-Gun and his group took the seats closer to the stage because they would have a clearer view of the stage by sitting there.

‘Wow, he has such a large group when this award is nothing much.’

Oh Myung-Hoon snorted and mocked Ha Jae-Gun’s group from afar as he sat in his seat on his own. He was holding a piece of paper and a pen.

His acceptance speech was written on the piece of paper he was holding, and he had edited his speech several times just for today.

The auditorium soon ran out of seats. Those who arrived late couldn’t get any seats, so they could only line up at the end of the hall. Soon, the host appeared on stage, and the Digital Literature Awards ceremony finally started.

Oh Myung-Hoon wasn’t interested in anything that was going on. The words coming from the host about the significance of the Digital Literature Award did not even get to him. His mind was busy coming up with ways to ensure that his acceptance speech would stand out and would be superior compared to Ha Jae-Gun’s speech.

“...Let’s start with the grand prize.”

The words grand prize grabbed Oh Myung-Hoon’s attention. He had forgotten about the grand prize winner because of his fury, but he was still quite interested in the person who received the grand prize.

‘Their pen name sounds like they’re an old man.’

While the host on the rostrum was taking a moment to excite the crowd, Oh Myung-Hoon looked around, trying to find the grand prize winner.

However, there were too many people that it was impossible to spot a certain individual with an expression unique to a winner.

“The title of the grand prize-winning novel is Foolish Woman, by author Seo Gun-Woo. Please come up to the stage.”

The audience started muttering to themselves. The expectation from the audience grew, and only one person slowly stood up from among the crowd. Oh Myung-Hoon almost screamed out loud at the sight with his arms thrown in the air.

‘W-w-what’s that guy standing up for?!’

Ha Jae-Gun was the one who stood up amidst the crowd.

With an indifferent look, Ha Jae-Gun walked past his mother, sister, and even Lee Soo-Hee.

“J-Jae-Gun, where are you heading?”

“My son, what’s wrong? Jae-In, didn’t you say that he got the runner-up award?”

They were sure that the host was calling the grand prize winner up the stage, so everyone was perplexed and shocked by Ha Jae-Gun’s actions.

Park Jung-Jin thought that his friend had gone mad, and he stood up hesitantly after Ha Jae-Gun.

“J-Jae-Gun? They’re awarding the grand prize winner right now…!” Lee Soo-Hee couldn’t hold back and called out to him.

However, Ha Jae-Gun simply smiled at her faintly before heading over to the stage, and his steps, which had become more powerful and more confident than ever, rang throughout the auditorium.