Big Life

Chapter 66: A Rise in Ratings (5)

“Hoo…” Oh Myung-Hoon let out a sigh and stopped typing.

Three partitions were blocking his view in the front and on both sides. This arrangement in the corner of Nextion's mobile planning team's office was done specially for him.

Oh Myung-Hoon had been reporting to work at the office after being assigned the screenwriter role for Nextion’s latest mobile game, mainly for faster communication and better focus.

However, his hidden motive was all for Lee Soo-Hee.

He was hoping to restore their sour relationship with more eye contact and by trying to win her favor. This was his real reason for choosing to leave the great study he had back at home and commute to their office daily.

'Why am I not liking this at all?'

Oh Myung-Hoon frowned in front of his monitor.

His cursor was blinking slowly at the end of his unfinished sentence, but Oh Myung-Hoon eventually hit the backspace button and deleted the entire text that he had been working on for a while.

'Focus, let's focus…'

To be frank, Oh Myung-Hoon hadn't been feeling all that good since morning. He was well aware of the reason for his displeasure, but he was trying his best to consciously avoid thinking about it.

He had been working on the scenario the whole time without accessing the Internet or using his mobile phone.

"Um… Writer Oh Myung-Hoon?"

Oh Myung-Hoon turned around immediately at the mention of his name and saw Hye-Mi from the planning team standing behind him.

Hye-Mi flinched at Oh Myung-Hoon’s fierce look.

"What is it?"

"I didn't hear from you on Messenger. Team Leader is asking about when you will submit the first draft of the chronicles?" Hye-Mi asked fearfully.

Hye-Mi Her was naturally weak-hearted, so her reaction wasn’t strange. In addition, she had experienced his wrath a couple of times before when they were working together on the development of the racing car game.

Back then, Hye-Mi had even burst into tears because of Oh Myung-Hoon.

"Mm…" Oh Myung-Hoon massaged his temples and thought for a while. He looked at the empty Word document on the screen and said softly, "Tell her that I'll be there shortly to give her an update personally."

"Understood," Hye-Mi said and turned around.

She was about to leave when something popped up in Oh Myung-Hoon's mind.

With wide eyes, he called out to her. "Hold on, Ms. Hye-Mi."

Hye-Mi came to a halt and turned her upper body slightly to face Oh Myung-Hoon.

Oh Myung-Hoon stood up and towered over her before speaking in a low yet clear voice. "I apologize for my wrongdoings before."

"...Pardon?"

"I’m sorry for the wrongdoings I've done toward you up until today. I'm quite sensitive while working, and I haven't been able to consider the feelings of others around me. I also have a bad tendency to hurt other people without realizing it. I acknowledge that. I will make sure to prevent that from happening again, not only to you Ms. Hye-Mi, but also to other members of the planning team."

Hye-Mi’s face reddened as she murmured softly, "A-ah… I'm actually fine…"

She was much more naive than Oh Myung-Hoon expected. Oh Myung-Hoon made sure to maintain a serious look as he continued. "I wish to treat you to dinner sometime to express my apologies."

"Din… ner?"

"If you feel burdened by it, feel free to invite your team members, but…" Oh Myung-Hoon trailed off. His eyes darted around cautiously. He signaled her to come closer to him and whispered, "I just want to let you know that I want to apologize to you the most."

"Ah… Yes, I see…" Hye-Mi wasn't feeling hot at all, but she was wiping the sweat that was rolling off of her cheeks.

Hye-Mi found Oh Myung-Hoon attractive in a few areas. His looks, smart fashion style, and even his family background as the son of the president of the largest publishing group made him attractive in Hye-Mi’s eyes.

"I'm really fine with it, Writer Oh…" The bad feelings she had toward Oh Myung-Hoon disappeared. Her hatred toward him was shallow, anyway.

Now, her heart was thumping rapidly like a young girl in front of their crush.

"I'll be going then… P-please work hard."

"You too, Ms. Hye-Mi."

However, Hye-Mi didn’t head back to her desk but to the office pantry.

Oh Myung-Hoon smirked to himself.

He knew that she had left to calm herself down from what he had done.

'Well, it's good that she likes me. I could use her next time; foolish women like her are easy to manipulate.'

Lee Soo-Hee cherished her subordinates, so it would be advantageous for him to get along with Lee Soo-Hee’s members.

Apologizing to Hye-Mi was the first step to accomplishing that.

'I can't do this today.' Oh Myung-Hoon could not write even one sentence of the scenario and closed the program right away. He walked out of his partitioned office and headed right for Lee Soo-Hee's desk.

"Lee Soo-Hee, no—Team Leader." Oh Myung-Hoon corrected himself.

Lee Soo-Hee looked up from her monitor with a smile and looked at him.

"Yes, Writer Oh?"

Her smile triggered something in him, and the breath he inhaled filled his lungs up as he held his breath at Lee Soo-Hee’s smile.

"Please speak," Lee Soo-Hee said while smiling.

Lee Soo-Hee was the one smiling at him rather than any other woman out there. She was talking to Oh Myung-Hoon with a smile. It had been a while since he saw her smile like that to the extent that he couldn’t even remember it anymore.

"Um… I'm not feeling my best today, so I think I’m going to leave for the day."

"Oh, is that so?" Lee Soo-Hee replied half-heartedly while stealing glances at her monitor.

Oh Myung-Hoon got curious, but he couldn’t really see what was being displayed on her monitor.

However, Oh Myung-Hoon felt betrayed.

He felt like he got struck by a huge iron mortar, and there was an eerie sensation telling him that Lee Soo-Hee’s smile wasn’t for him.

"So, when will you be able to submit it?" asked Lee Soo-Hee with a faint smile.

Oh Myung-Hoon tried his best to hide his displeasure. He secretly gnashed his teeth and answered in a low voice. "I'll submit it by tomorrow evening."

"All right. Please go home and rest, Writer Oh. Thank you for your hard work today," said Lee Soo-Hee for formality’s sake. Then, she turned to focus on her monitor once again.

Oh Myung-Hoon retreated and slowly turned around.

'I’m myself…! I can do it. have to act normal as usual…!'

Oh Myung-Hoon kept repeating that line to himself as he left the office.

As soon as he stepped into the elevator, however, Oh Myung-Hoon fished out his phone and opened a web browser. Things wouldn't magically turn for the better even if he stopped himself from surfing the Internet.

He had to know the truth behind Lee Soo-Hee's smile.

With trembling fingers, Oh Myung-Hoon entered the words Modern Youth Literature Award. He clicked on the search button, and countless news articles appeared in the search results.

- The 31st Modern Youth Literature Award was awarded to Writer Ha Jae-Gun, the youngest awardee in history…

- Evaluated to be a masterpiece! The sad story depicts the harsh daily life of the modern era…

- After having swept the awards at the Digital Literature Award with Foolish Woman and A 90s Kid…

Oh Myung-Hoon glared at his phone like he wanted to drill a hole in it with his gaze while puffing angrily through his nose. He was confident that Ha Jae-Gun would definitely be eliminated, but his confidence was shattered by the results.

Oh Myung-Hoon hated the photo of Ha Jae-Gun with a wide smile. He wanted to tear it into pieces.

'Damn it…! Those spineless literary men!'

Oh Myung-Hoon bit his lip so strongly that blood started to ooze out of his lips as he stood there trembling in anger.

He had sent an anonymous report that Ha Jae-Gun and Poongchun-Yoo were the same person, but it was clear that his report didn’t affect the decision of the judges.

Oh Myung-Hoon was completely defeated.

'Lee Soo-Hee…!'

Lee Soo-Hee's smile that he had seen earlier appeared in his mind. The realization that her smile wasn’t for him broke Oh Myung-Hoon’s heart. It was so painful that the pain seeped into his bones.

Stepping into the elevator alone, Oh Myung-Hoon was finally able to release all his pent-up anger by letting out a roar that was loud enough to burst his eardrums.

***

There were many people who decided to attend the award ceremony for Ha Jae-Gun. Ha Jae-Gun’s family was there, including his father. His best friend, Park Jung-Jin, and even Lee Soo-Hee made sure to attend.

Kwon Tae-Won and Shin Dong-Mi from Laugh Books came together to attend. Ma Jong-Goo and Park Kyung-Soo from Haetae Media came to attend as well. Finally, Kang Min-Ho and Yang Hyun-Kyung decided to take a day off from writing to attend.

"That punk actually made sure to dress up today, eh? Doesn't he look much better now compared to when he won the Digital Literature Award?" Park Jung-Jin whispered to Lee Soo-Hee, who was standing next to him.

Lee Soo-Hee smiled lightly and nodded.

However, her eyes remained glued on Ha Jae-Gun.

Ha Jae-Gun was currently on stage, dressed to the nines and was delivering his award speech.

"Ha Jae-Gun is so handsome. He still looks quite tall from here."

"Yeah, I'm quite fascinated, too. He doesn't feel like my friend; he feels like a stranger now."

"Why is he not mentioning his fantasy works?" Lee Soo-Hee asked in a low voice.

Park Jung-Jin looked around for a while before whispering into her ear, "The organizer from the Modern Youth Literature Award probably told him not to bring those up because the literary society might feel uncomfortable with it, and there's the issue of sales performance as well."

"I see…"

"The public will eventually learn about it, anyway. They simply didn't want to reveal it here first. I actually understand their perspective."

Lee Soo-Hee nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, Ha Jae-Gun was wrapping up his speech on stage.

"Thank you, everyone. However, I would like to give the greatest credit for my winning to the two people who became the motifs of both the male and female protagonists—Sang-Jin and Hye-Young. They are present here as well."

Ha Jae-Gun looked in Park Jung-Jin's direction, who stood up with raised his hand.

"...And to the person who played the biggest part. If it hadn’t been for her, this novel would have remained incomplete, and Hye-Young wouldn’t have existed as well. I would like to thank her for her tremendous help. Unfortunately, she is unable to join us here today due to work, but I would like to dedicate this novel, Storm and Gale, to her. Thank you."

Someone from the audience started clapping, and the applause soon turned into a thundering applause.

Ha Jae-Gun gave the audience a 90-degree bow.

The thunderous applause continued for a while without any signs of stopping.

The cameraman took a step forward and focused on Ha Jae-Gun standing alone on stage.

The award ceremony was currently being streamed live through the radio and Internet TV. People from across the nation interested in the Modern Youth Literature Award and the literary circle were watching the ceremony.

Among the many viewers was Oh Myung-Hoon…

"That nasty bastard…! He didn't even mention his other novels…!"

Oh Myung-Hoon crushed the beer can in his hand. He then threw the crushed can into a corner of his room and went to grab another can of beer from his personal fridge.

"So there's something you want to hide, is that it? You don't want it to be revealed? Why don't you reveal it yourself, Jae-Gun? Are you embarrassed about writing fantasy and martial arts? Huh? Of course, you are," Oh Myung-Hoon said sarcastically with bloodshot eyes.

He had decided not to be concerned over issues related to Ha Jae-Gun, but it seemed like he couldn't help it. He even started drinking.

First, second, and third… cans later—he eventually got drunk.

Oh Myung-Hoon turned off the Internet TV and opened the fourth can of beer. When he downed half the can, the contents of his stomach came up his throat. He hurriedly put the can away and spilled some beer over his thighs in the process.

"Keugh…!" Oh Myung-Hoon's trembling fingers went for the keyboard. His mind was blank, but his fingers were moving on their own, typing away on the keyboard.

- The winner of the Modern Youth Literature Award, Ha Jae-Gun, is actually the famous fantasy novel writer, Writer Poongchun Yoo;;;

- Gasp! The Records series writer? The gibberish of text with no in-depth content to speak of? I'm not usually picky over sentences or genres as long as the novel is good, but I really couldn't read that trilogy;;;

- I can't believe that those were written by the same person. To be honest, novels of the fantasy and martial arts genre can’t really be considered proper literature;;;

- As a reader who loves the literary society, I am utterly speechless. To think that they would award it to a writer who struggled to make a name in rental shops. It's a waste of the award's name and long history.

- I hope the judges will reflect on themselves.

- I'm concerned about the future of our country's literature industry…

Oh Myung-Hoon went around various websites and social media platforms under dummy accounts to criticize Ha Jae-Gun with an evil smirk at the corner of his lips.

Oh Myung-Hoon was still drunk, which amplified the euphoria he was feeling right now.

‘You can’t bear to reveal it yourself? Then I’ll give you a push. As your classmate.’

Tadadak! Tadak! Tadadadak!

Oh Myung-Hoon forgot the passing of time as he continued typing comments on every article he could find related to Ha Jae-Gun. His fingers moved at breakneck speeds, and he continued typing until he was exhausted.

“Keuuu… Ha Jae-Gun… Ha Jae-Gun…” Oh Myung-Hoon muttered with drunken eyes. He eventually fell asleep in his chair at the table. The evil smirk on his lips remained even after he had fallen asleep.

The ripple effect of the comments he had left was significant; Oh Myung-Hoon’s words quickly spread throughout the Internet, starting from social media sites.

Within hours, countless netizens learned that Ha Jae-Gun—who had won both the Digital Literature Award and Modern Youth Literature Award—and Poongchun Yoo, who had stirred up a storm in the genre novel market with his various fantasy novels, including The Breath, were actually the same person.

Lots of changes happened at the same time. The original number of 5,000 followers on Ha Jae-Gun’s Twitter increased tenfold, hitting 50,000 followers. The number of unlocks for The Breath also increased by over 10%.

Even Foolish Woman and A 90s Kid saw an increase in sales and even managed to enter the Top 10 Real-Time Sales Ranking in many online bookstores.

All these changes happened overnight...

Oh Myung-Hoon, who had fallen into a deep slumber, could have never imagined that things would turn out this way.