Big Life

Chapter 61: Not Alone (6)

“I really enjoyed the king crab.”

“...?!”

They had just eaten their meal, and they were now having fruits for dessert. Ha Jae-Gun, who was picking up a piece of apple mid-way, thought that he had misheard something.

Ha Suk-Jae was seated across from Ha Jae-Gun, and he looked down at the latter, looking all brusque as he continued. "It tasted even more delicious and was even more enjoyable because it was my final meal of the year with my family, including my son.”

Ha Jae-Gun's mother and sister, Myung-Ja and Ha Jae-In were stupefied. Their faces had the word disbelief written all over them because Ha Suk-Jae would usually speak not a single word whenever Ha Jae-Gun was home.

"O-oh my… What's wrong with you today?"

"Well, it was delicious, and I saw that you enjoyed it a lot, too."

Myung-Ja beamed, and Ha Jae-In's face was shining proudly. It had actually been quite a while since the family atmosphere felt this warm, and they had been missing this feeling for a long—long time.

It was December 31st—the final day of the year, and the dinner they just had together was their final meal of the year.

Ha Jae-Gun was overwhelmed with emotions. While he was buying crabs at the fish market, he had never expected to hear any good words from his father. He was actually hoping that the night would pass smoothly with his father eating quietly at the table with them without getting angry at him.

However, he couldn’t have imagined that his father would say that he enjoyed the meal and that he even enjoyed it more because his son was around.

Ha Jae-Gun was touched, and it was because he knew very well that his father had never been the type to say empty words, especially on the final day of the year.

"I should get going."

Ha Suk-Jae put down his fork and stood up. Myung-Ja threw a look of regret at him as he picked up the coat that he had laid out on the sofa earlier. "Seriously, it's the end of the year holidays, why can't you take a day off?"

"Do you really think that an apartment complex's security guard can take a day off whenever they like? There's no one else available to work today. Isn’t that why I took a day off on Christmas?"

Ha Jae-Gun stood up as well and followed Ha Suk-Jae.

Rika had been quietly playing by herself on the sofa, but she immediately stopped playing and quickly followed Ha Jae-Gun.

"Let me send you to the apartment complex."

"You don't have to—stay with your mom and sister."

"I also have to go back home, anyway."

Ha Jae-In chimed in upon hearing that. "It’s the holidays, so you should stay over."

"I have to be somewhere for work. I'll come and visit again soon. Plus, Suwon isn't all that far, anyway."

The father and son pair were finally sent off by Myung-Ja and Ha Jae-In.

Ha Jae-Gun had turned on his car engine remotely, and it buzzed silently at the parking lot in front of the apartment building.

He opened the passenger seat door for Ha Suk-Jae.

At the sight, Ha Suk-Jae muttered, "It's just a short walk away."

"It's very cold out here, so let's just take the car."

The drive was extremely short. It didn’t even take a few minutes by car. Ha Jae-Gun focused on his driving while Ha Suk-Jae looked out the window at the passing scenery. It was awkward because they didn’t talk at all during the journey.

"Father."

Ha Jae-Gun finally broke the silence upon pulling up at the entrance of the apartment complex where Ha Suk-Jae was supposed to work today.

"Please stop working as a security guard," said Ha Jae-Gun.

That was it; he didn’t say anything afterward.

Ha Suk-Jae's eyes widened in surprise, but he soon recovered his composure.

He patted Ha Jae-Gun's shoulder and said, "Thank you for the lift."

"Father…"

"Be careful on your way back, and come back to visit us again sometime," Ha Suk-Jae said and closed the passenger seat door behind him.

Ha Jae-Gun watched as his father walked away. He continued staring blankly into the space, even though his father had already disappeared from his sight.

“Meow.” Rika cried out. She moved from the back passenger seat onto the front passenger seat. Ha Jae-Gun came back to her senses upon hearing her cry.

“Sorry, Rika, I was thinking about something.”

Ha Jae-Gun slapped both of his cheeks to keep himself awake.

Then, he stepped on the accelerator. He made a decision to work even harder next year, which was tomorrow. He had to keep working until his father couldn’t stop smiling. As if mimicking his resolve, his car ran at full speed.

“Wow, Min-Ho Hyung, your novel got three thousand views?”

Yang Hyun-Kyung exclaimed in surprise while sipping on his cup of coffee in their shabby office at Guro station. Kang Min-Ho’s new serialized novel, The Demon Lord Crashed-Landed In Earth, was performing relatively well so far, even though there were only twenty-five available chapters.

“You must be happy… At this rate, the paid serialization service will be completely viable for your book. Argh, I should complete my manuscript as soon as possible,” added Yang Hyun-Kyung.

Yang Hyun-Kyung was twenty-five years old, and it had already been a month since he got discharged from the military and left his hometown to join the other writers here in this office. His motive was clear—to write an exciting novel and accomplish his dream of living as a writer.

However, he had yet to start on a proper novel.

Whatever he wrote couldn’t excite him; he would spend the entire day writing about a different topic and deleting them.

He would then repeat the same cycle at least twelve times a day, and it seemed that it would be the same even on the final day of the year.

“Haa, this damned editor and my trash writing! What should I write? Someone, please throw me a great subject that’ll become a hit! Ah, I want to leave this place. I got no money and no woman; what kind of year-end is this?!” Yang Hyun-Kyung shouted in frustration, ruffling his hair up in the process.

All of a sudden, the door opened after the sound of someone keying in the passcode rang. Thinking that it was Kang Min-Ho, Yang Hyun-Kyung didn’t even turn around as he continued pulling on his hair.

“Excuse me.”

“…Hmm?!” The unfamiliar voice made Yang Hyun-Kyung look up in surprise.

The person standing on the porch was Ha Jae-Gun. He was holding a box of pizza and a box of chicken in his hand while Rika was circling around his feet.

“I’m friends with Writer Kang Min-Ho. I called him earlier, and he said that he’ll be out for a while, so he gave me the passcode.” Ha Jae-Gun explained.

In a daze, Yang Hyun-Kyung nodded and stood up.

It was his first time meeting Ha Jae-Gun.

“Please come in and have a seat. He should be back soon.”

“Thank you.” Ha Jae-Gun entered and placed the boxes on the dining table.

Yang Hyun-Kyung’s mouth started salivating upon seeing the pizza and the chicken. He hadn’t made his debut just yet, so those were luxurious menu items that only the bourgeoisie could enjoy.

‘Hyung, hurry up and come back…!’ He was desperately praying that Kang Min-Ho would return sooner rather than later so that he could sink his teeth into the delicious food in front of him.

Yang Hyun-Kyung suppressed his desire to unbox the food and sat back in his chair.

He resumed browsing Munpiang with a hand supporting his chin.

“Haa…” A heavy sigh came out from habit.

He was on the page of The Breath, written by Poongchun-Yoo, which was ranked first place on the platform. His envy toward the successful writer was overwhelming him, even though he hadn’t even written a single novel just yet.

Of course, even Yang Hyun-Kyung himself thought that he was pathetic.

“He must have earned at least 200 million won this month alone.”

Ha Jae-Gun, who was reading a book behind Yang Hyun-Kyung, took a peek at the monitor over the latter’s shoulders. He smiled bitterly upon seeing The Breath on the monitor. He shrugged and continued reading the book in his hand.

“He must be eating well and playing at fun places, right?”

Ha Jae-Gun looked up again. There was no way he could respond since Yang Hyun-Kyung was busy with his monologue.

“Who are you talking about?”

“Poongchun-Yoo. Kang Min-Ho Hyung said that he’s in his twenties, but since he is now sitting on a huge mountain of cash, he must be busy spending them right now, right? He must be having a crazy night somewhere. Haa, I’m so jealous…”

”Meanwhile, I’m stuck here in this basement on the final day of the year, burying my head in writing and hoping to earn at least a million from it. It’s the end of the year, so what am I even doing?”

Yang Hyun-Kyung opened Word while complaining without expecting any response from his guest. The draft of his newly written fantasy novel filled the monitor.

“Ah, my future is really bleak.”

“Is that a novel you’re working on?”

Yang Hyun-Kyung turned around and nodded in response. “Yes, do you perhaps like fantasy novels?”

“Of course.”

“Would you like to take a look? I’m not sure if this is actually interesting or not, especially since I’m the one who wrote it.”

“Sure.”

Yang Hyun-Kyung then stood up for Ha Jae-Gun to take over the seat. He stood behind Ha Jae-Gun with his arms crossed as he continued. “It’s around 15,000 characters; just think of this as an introduction to the novel.”

“Mm, okay.”

It was a short draft, so there was no need for Ha Jae-Gun to use the brown horn-rimmed glasses. Ha Jae-Gun grabbed the mouse and started reading the document while scrolling down the document.

‘It’s a real mess.’ Ha Jae-Gun came to that conclusion mid-way through the document.

It was a story about a monster-infested modern-day Korea. There was a ton of head-hopping and foreshadowing. There were also too many characters, and it was actually difficult to identify the main character.

‘Writer Kang Min-Ho’s draft was much better than this.’

After reading the entire document, Ha Jae-Gun finally stood up.

Yang Hyun-Kyung had been anxiously waiting for Ha Jae-Gun’s review, and when he saw that Ha Jae-Gun was finally done reading the document, he asked nervously, “So, what do you think?”

“Mm, I think there are too many characters.”

“Really? I’m trying to write a military-related drama novel. You know that genre, right? Many characters would appear, and their stories would get entangled together.”

“Ah, yes. The characters in those stories are well-defined, and they have endless stories to tell. However, your characters don’t really fit the story.”

Yang Hyun-Kyung abruptly stiffened upon hearing that.

Ha Jae-Gun looked at the monitor before continuing. “I think there’s no need for you to introduce all the characters from the moment they first appear. Wouldn’t it be better if you start describing them in-depth when their perspective falls in line with the story’s development? I also think that it would be much better in terms of readability to describe men as men and women as women.”

“Hmm, is that so? Your thoughts are different from mine.” Yang Hyun-Kyung pouted, seemingly unconvinced by Ha Jae-Gun’s feedback.

In fact, Ha Jae-Gun’s opinion was almost the same as what Kang Min-Ho had told him. However, he was looking forward to hearing at least one positive response from someone else because he was already feeling sensitive from all the stress.

“Are you a writer as well?”

“Ah, yes.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, what novels have you written?” Yang Hyun-Kyung asked, seemingly annoyed. He wanted to see just how great of a writer was the man standing in front of him.

Ha Jae-Gun seemed like he was struggling. Just as he was about to speak, however, the door opened, revealing Kang Min-Ho behind it.

Kang Min-Ho came it and said, “Ah, you’re here, Writer Ha Jae-Gun. Ah, Rika is here, too.”

“Welcome back. I’ve brought some pizza and chicken, so please dig in.”

“Huh? There was no need for you to get those.”

Yang Hyun-Kyung watched the two older men converse, and he tilted his head in confusion. He had never heard of a writer named Ha Jae-Gun.

Of course, Ha Jae-Gun could also be using a pen name, or perhaps he was another aspiring writer like himself.

“Hyun-Kyung, why are you standing there in a daze? Come over here and eat.” Kang Min-Ho urged as he unboxed the food.

Yang Hyun-Kyung was reminded of his hunger and immediately ended his thoughts right there and then. He took a seat at the dining table.

“Thank you for the food, Writer Ha,” said Kang Min-Ho.

“Thank you,” said Yang Hyun-Kyung.

“Yes, please eat before the food gets cold.”

Yang Hyun-Kyung had already torn off a piece of pizza and was shoving it into his mouth by the time Ha Jae-Gun said that they should start eating before the food got cold.

It wasn’t really strange because he had been looking forward to this moment for the longest time. Ha Jae-Gun filled two cups with Coke and handed them to both Kang Min-Ho and Yang Hyun-Kyung.

“Are you not going to eat, Writer Ha?”

“I had a lot before coming over. Please don’t worry about me. Moreover, your novel, The Demon Lord Crashed-Landed In Earth, seems to be doing quite well.”

“Ahaha, it’s nothing. It’s all thanks to your help.”

“I’ll drop the president a call tomorrow and let him know. I don’t think he’ll ask you to edit your work that much, but I’m not sure if he’ll suggest changing the title.”

“Well, changing the title isn’t much of an issue. Ah, I really hope this novel will become a hit and maybe achieve a tenth of your novel’s performance—no, that sounds too far-fetched. Anyway, it’s good enough if I could quit my job at the convenience store. I’m really hoping that it’ll do well.”

“It will definitely do well.”

Kang Min-Ho’s carefree look made Yang Hyun-Kyung curious.

Just what kind of phenomenal novel had this Writer Ha written that Kang Min-Ho actually made such a comment?

However, Yang Hyun-Kyung didn’t even have to ask because Kang Min-Ho’s next words answered his question.

“When will The Breath get released on Navin and KokoaPage?”

“Probably by the end of January.”

Yang Hyun-Kyung’s face turned pale. He lost strength in his hands and dropped the cup of Coke, drenching the floor.

“Ah, s-sorry.” Yang Hyun-Kyung quickly bent down to pick up the cup, but his hands continued trembling.

“Ah, no… Min-Ho Hyung, you should have told me earlier…!” Yang Hyun-Kyung glared at Kang Min-Ho with a face depicting both astonishment and resentment. His shoulders visibly trembled as well.

Kang Min-Ho started laughing at the sight.

When his stomach started hurting, Kang Min-Ho finally bowed toward Ha Jae-Gun and said, “I’m sorry. I wanted to surprise him in advance, that’s why I didn’t tell him about you. Looking at his reaction, I think I succeeded.”

“Ah… I see, hahaha.” Ha Jae-Gun replied with an awkward smile.

Yang Hyun-Kyung was still in a daze. Eventually, he recovered and bowed deeply toward Ha Jae-Gun before saying, “Ah, I’m really… sorry… about earlier. I never expected that you’d be the famous Poongchun-Yoo, and I was only aware of your pseudonym. I wouldn’t have said all that if I knew you were standing in front of me.”

“It’s fine; it wasn’t anything serious.”

“Hey, did you do something wrong to Writer Ha?” Kang Min-Ho chimed in.

“No, Writer Kang. Nothing really happened.” Yang Hyun-Kyung shook his head. He was so surprised that he wasn’t even hungry anymore.

Ha Jae-Gun started laughing as well.

“Please, Writer Ha.”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Please teach me as well. I’ll gladly accept it even if you curse at me for being so scheming. Please teach me how to be a better writer, and I promise that I will never forget your help. Please, Writer Ha.” Yang Hyun-Kyung stood up abruptly and gave a 90-degree bow to Ha Jae-Gun.

Flustered, Ha Jae-Gun stood up as well. “Please don’t do this. All right, I’m not sure how much I can help you, but I guess I could help you a bit with the story development.”

“R-really?”

“Yes, so please sit back down.”

“Ah, I’m really thankful! Thank you so much, Writer Poongchun-Yoo!” Yang Hyun-Kyung cried and bowed repeatedly. He kept on bowing no matter how much Ha Jae-Gun tried to stop him, but he couldn’t really be blamed because he was currently experiencing a torrent of complex emotions.

“Please, let’s eat first. I might change my mind if you don't eat,” Ha Jae-Gun said.

“O-of course, I’ll eat everything up!”

The two had no other plans on the final day of the year other than being stuck in their office. Therefore, Ha Jae-Gun was like a savior to both Kang Min-Ho and Yang Hyun-Kyung.

‘I’m really thankful, Writer Ha Jae-Gun.’ Kang Min-Ho inwardly expressed his gratitude once more.

Rika was currently playing in a corner of the office, and Ha Jae-Gun picked her up while smiling.

The new year was only a few hours away, and the team, which had accepted Writer Ha Jae-Gun as their boss, was slowly taking shape in silence within the shabby office.