Big Life

Chapter 55: Follow Me If You Can (10)

— President Kwon, I finally took a look at Munpiang’s website after holding back for a while. It’s all thanks to you that The Breath was able to get first place. I wanted to take a rest, but I can’t do that anymore, I have to work hard and write more chapters with this newfound motivation. I’m leaving you a message in case a call might disturb you this late at night, although I think you should still be working at this hour. ^^

The emoticon that Ha Jae-Gun added at the end of his message helped Kwon Tae-Won forget all his pain and smile. He dried his wet hands with tissue and sent a reply.

— I said that the novel would be a hit. Don’t push yourself too hard. Remember to take care of your health while working. You did a great job, Writer Ha. ^^

Kwon Tae-Won put his phone back into his pocket and looked in the mirror. The pale face reflected in the mirror was all scrunched up. He pressed down on the pit of his stomach where the pain was coming from and rubbed it, and then he mumbled with difficulty, “It wouldn’t just be a hit, Writer Ha…”

There was something else that he didn’t say in the message. After all, excessive expectations would always bring intolerable disappointment.

He knew it very well as someone who had lived half his life as an editor-in-chief. He had seen so many writers who had collapsed, unable to recover from their lower-than-expected novel performances. Even if the novel itself was good, he couldn’t easily sing praises just because the novel was good.

However, Ha Jae-Gun was different.

Once in a while, Kwon Tae-Won’s gut feeling would become strong, and whenever that happened, it would always be correct. His belief in The Breath was different this time—it was the first time that he felt so confident about a particular novel.

“Hoo…”

After wiping his face with a tissue, Kwon Tae-Won tidied his messy hair and clothes. The one and only author under Laugh Books had resolved to work harder throughout the night, so Kwon Tae-Won knew that he also had to sober up and finish what he had to do as the president of the company.

“Now, let’s go.”

It was soon time to head back home, where his beloved wife was waiting for him. It would be the end of his day after pleasing Team Leader Jin, who had been surrounded by ladies and alcohol, and then sending him away.

Kwon Tae-Won opened the toilet door with vigor and welcomed the loud singing noises into his eardrums. It sounded like a congratulatory song for The Breath.

***

“The food here is delicious, right?” Deputy Lee asked as they stepped out of the restaurant.

Jung So-Mi put the change back into her wallet and smiled while nodding in response. “Yes, I haven’t had grilled fish in a while. I enjoyed it a lot, thanks to you.”

“I told you to call me Unni[1]. Argh, it’s cold out here.” Deputy Lee frowned and tightened her collar.

Jung So-Mi didn’t seem to be affected by the cold wind, and she only arranged her messy hair with her hand.

“Ms. So-Mi, aren’t you cold?”

“I’m from Donghae, so this is nothing to me.”

“Is it very cold there?”

“Not really. The winds are just really strong there, but the temperature is usually higher than in the city. Ah, Deputy Lee, should we visit a cafe before heading back?”

“Sure, we’ve still got some time, anyway.”

The two of them entered a nearby cafe and ordered their own drinks. Jung So-Mi quickly handed the cashier her card before Deputy Lee could pull out her own wallet.

“Why are you doing this? Let’s go dutch.”

“I’m repaying you for the stockings you gave me back then.”

“You still remember that?”

“Of course, you gave it to me, so it’s my time to return the favor.”

“You’re very kind. Anyway, thanks for the drink.”

The cold weather forced the ladies to escape into the cafe. They took a table beside the frosted window. Deputy Lee rubbed her hand against the hot glass of drink and said, “It’s been a year since you joined the company, Ms. So-Mi.”

“Time really flies.”

“How do you feel? Your life as an editor, I mean.”

“I like it, it’s interesting.”

“Listen to her. Interesting? Blech.”

Jung So-Mi laughed as Deputy Lee pretended to vomit.

“Do you not find the work interesting?”

“Are you asking the obvious? It’s only natural that the work is boring. Our industry pays low, and my mouth is just going to go sore if I were to complain about it. The work is never-ending, and there’s no credit no matter how good I am at my job.”

Deputy Lee placed her elbows on the table after all that grumbling and put her chin on her hands. She then continued lamenting with a melancholic look.

"Well, if I had a partner, it might be different. Why aren't there any decent men around me? I'm not even asking for much."

"You want to get married?"

"Well, I'll only consider that after dating, I'm not in a hurry, anyway. Plus, look at the social norms right now. I'm only thirty-two this year, and it’s still not considered late in the current social norms. What do you think?"

"I do agree."

"But my family is rushing me to get married. They’re always asking me to go on blind dates more often whenever I visit them."

"Hehehe."

"Why are you laughing? It’s a neverending torture. They’ll ask me to meet men if there aren’t any men around me, and then they’ll ask me when I'll be getting married if I get together with one, and after that, they’ll ask when we'll have a child."

Deputy Lee looked out the window and let out a long sigh as she shared the story that she had been hiding deep in her heart. "Actually, my ex-boyfriend really broke me."

"Ex-boyfriend…?"

"I dated him for around two years. It was great at first; he was romantic and humorous. His small considerate acts were good, too. However, things just didn’t work out. I couldn't stand him mentally, and he doesn't have any concrete plans for himself at all."

After saying all that, Deputy Lee winked at Jung So-Mi and asked, "Guess his job."

"Hmm, I'm not sure… I'm not good at guessing." Jung So-Mi put on a struggling look and pressed her palms together. Deputy Lee burst out into laughter and revealed the answer.

"A writer."

"A writer?"

"Why are you so surprised when you're an editor yourself? Who else could we meet the most aside from our own company colleagues?"

"I never thought of that. Was he under Star Books?"

"That's a secret. If you decide to have a thing with a writer in the future, make sure you know him well enough. There are lots of decent writers out there, but there are many eccentric ones as well. Some of them have really unusual tendencies."

While listening to Deputy Lee, Jung So-Mi was subconsciously thinking of Ha Jae-Gun. She recalled his smile, which was as warm as the sun in May. Upon recalling how his smile warmed her heart, she couldn’t help but smile.

"Oh, my, Ms. So-Mi, what is that?"

"...Pardon?" Jung So-Mi asked after coming back to her senses.

Deputy Lee watched her suspiciously and tilted her head. "You just laughed to yourself. I see, so you have someone you like?"

"N-no. It's not…"

"What do you mean no? Who is he? Tell me, hmm?"

Bzzt!

Deputy Lee was about to probe even further, but Jung So-Mi’s phone vibrated. Jung So-Mi checked the caller ID and quickly excused herself. “It’s Writer Ha Jae-Gun. I asked him to call me in the morning to talk about the Records of the Modern Master’s webtoon.”

“Answer it quickly, then. Go ahead.”

Jung So-Mi then answered the call, “Hello, Writer Ha.”

— Hello, Ms. So-Mi. Have you had lunch?

“I just had lunch. What about you, Writer Ha?”

— I just woke up. I called you immediately after seeing your message. I’m free to sign the webtoon contract at any time, so please let me know the scheduled time.

“All right, are you fine between next Monday and Wednesday?”

— Yes, please.

Hearing Ha Jae-Gun’s reply, Jung So-Mi became filled with regret because they were already done talking about the webtoon. She was happy to hear his voice again, so she didn’t want to hang up without any small talk.

Therefore, she added softly, “Writer Ha, how have you been doing?”

— I’m the same as always. My usual routine hasn’t really changed as well—writing, eating, and sleeping—that’s all I’ve been doing. You’re doing well, right?

“Yes, I’m the same, aside from the fact that I can no longer read your works.”

— Thank you for those kind words. Ah, I realized that I haven’t told you anything about my new novel yet. I published my new novel on Munpiang.

“Your new novel?!” Jung So-Mi’s eyes widened in surprise. Deputy Lee mouthed the words ‘What happened?’ at Jung So-Mi as they made eye contact, but she continued talking on the phone.

“Are you talking about Dragon Rider?”

— Yes, but it has a new title now. Try searching The Breath. I thought you’d know about it since publishers usually go to Munpiang or Joayo to discover new writers’ works, right?

“Ah, yes, but I’ve been working on romance novels recently since we’re low on manpower right now. I’m sorry.”

— You don’t need to apologize. You can just read it when you’re free, I’ll appreciate hearing your feedback later.

“Yes, I definitely will. I’ll start reading it today.”

— Thank you. Oh, and Ms. So-Mi, let’s have dinner when we meet next week. I’ll treat you to a delicious meal.

“Ah, really?” answered Jung So-Mi in a cheerful voice and with a wide smile. Of course, Ha Jae-Gun couldn’t really see it.

“I got it, Writer Ha. I’ll let you know once I’m free. Please enjoy your lunch.”

— Thank you. Good luck at work.

Jung So-Mi hung up the call with a smiling face. Deputy Lee, who had been waiting for the chance, hurriedly turned to Jung So-Mi to ask, “What? He published a new novel?”

“Yes, a paid serialization novel. You’ve read it before; it was that Dragon Rider, but it has a new title now.”

“Really? Is it bad? I’ve never heard Deputy Ko or anybody else talking about it…” Deputy Lee muttered to herself as she opened Munpiang on her phone.

“What’s the new title?”

“The Breath.”

“The Breath? Let’s see—Hmm?!”

Deputy Lee frowned and brought up the phone closer to her face as if she couldn’t believe her own eyes.

The sight piqued Jung So-Mi’s interest.

“What’s wrong, Deputy Lee?”

“No, wait—look at this. There’s no need to even look it up.”

When Jung So-Mi saw what Deputy Lee was looking at, she was dumbfounded.

‘First… place?!’

Jung So-Mi’s eyes were fixed on the cover of The Breath by Poongchun-Yoo. The size of the cover was twice the size of all other novel covers—a privilege that only paid novels that were ranked first in the leaderboard could enjoy.

“It’s no joke if he’s ranked first on Munpiang. Just how many unlocks did it get?”

“Let’s take a look together.” Jung So-Mi put the phone down and touched the screen.

Soon the novel’s bulletin page was loaded, and their jaws dropped at the numbers.

“It’s incredible, Ms. Jung So-Mi…!” Deputy Lee marveled.

The Breath currently had a total of forty-one chapters, and the number of unlocks within the last twenty-four hours was approaching 15,000.

“Hold on. If we assume that they receive 30,000 unlocks a day and if we set aside both the cumulative unlocks and Munpiang’s administrative fee, they should be earning around 630,000 won for every 10,000 unlocks. If we multiply it by 3, that will be 1.89 million, right? Once the management company’s share of 30% of the revenue is removed, then—wow! He’s earning at least 1.32 million a day!”

Deputy Lee couldn’t control her excitement at the amount she had inwardly calculated, even though she wasn’t really involved.

“Look, I said it when I read the first three volumes in the office that day—I said that the novel will be a huge hit. How could the new editor-in-chief and Deputy Ko let go of such a great opportunity?”

“Writer Ha is really incredible.”

“Not just that, Ms. So-Mi. This performance is only restricted to Munpiang alone, and if they’re already earning roughly forty million won per month there, imagine if they enter Navin Store or KokoaPage, I can’t even fathom how much money they’ll rake from those platforms. He’s definitely ecstatic about all this.”

Jung So-Mi could only nod. It seemed that she was still stunned by the revelation.

She knew that he would become a huge hit one day, but she never expected that it would be to this extent. The Breath’s numbers were three times higher than the novel in second place.

“He should be a good enough dating partner, right?”

“What?” Jung So-Mi was flustered by Deputy Lee’s words.

Deputy Lee tapped Jung So-Mi’s shoulder with a mischievous smile. “Writer Ha Jae-Gun seems to be quite the ideal man. Come to think of it, he seemed like a decent man when I saw him at the authors’ meet last time. He’s earning big bucks now, and…” Deputy Lee trailed off and pointed at Jung So-Mi. “You like Writer Ha.”

“W-what do you mean? It’s nothing like that.” Jung So-Mi denied it, but Deputy Lee wasn’t convinced at all, especially when she saw Jung So-Mi’s flushed face.

“I noticed it when you were on the phone with him earlier. You were smiling from ear to ear.”

“No, no. You’re mistaken, Deputy Lee. I’m only Writer Ha’s editor, and I met him a few times, so I’m a bit closer to him than others. However, that’s all there is to it.”

“I get it, I get it. Let’s stop there and finish our drinks. They’re getting cold.” Deputy Lee chuckled and picked up her glass.

Despite the cold weather, Jung So-Mi felt hot as she started fanning herself with her hand, and it took a while for her pounding heart to calm down.

“Hoo, thank god!” Ha Jae-Gun tilted his head backward and let out a long sigh. He was about to collapse from fatigue, but he managed to make himself a cup of coffee in Seo Gun-Woo’s cup and drank it to recover his energy.

“Now, I’ve written up to chapter 150 of The Breath. I’ll rest for a while and then work on another 25 chapters to hit chapter 175.”

Ha Jae-Gun plopped down before deciding to just lie on the floor. Rika climbed up his torso and lightly clawed his chin before licking his face.

“I should call the president and suggest releasing five chapters daily,” Ha Jae-Gun said as he tickled Rika’s neck. He had a huge stockpile, thanks to Seo Gun-Woo’s laptop, so he wasn’t worried even if they released five chapters a day.

“I’m going to end the novel at around 400 chapters, which would be roughly 15 volumes in terms of paperback books. It should be enough, right, Rika? The president will be happy to hear that, right?”

Bzzt!

“Oh, is it the president? He’s late.”

Ha Jae-Gun picked up his phone and saw that a message had come in. However, it wasn’t from Kwon Tae-Won. It was from someone named Kang Min-Ho.

“Kang Min-Ho? Oh, Writer Kang Min-Ho?”

Ha Jae-Gun recalled the writer whom he had met at the authors’ meet. Kang Min-Ho had sat next to him and initiated a conversation. Kang Min-Ho’s kindness that night left a good impression on Ha Jae-Gun.

“But why did he contact me?”

Ha Jae-Gun had exchanged numbers with a few writers that night, including Kang Min-Ho. However, they hadn’t really contacted each other so far.

Ha Jae-Gun opened the message to satisfy his curiosity.

1. Used by younger females to address older females, does not have to be blood-related. Also can be used to address female customers.