Big Life

Chapter 67: A Rise in Ratings (6)

'Mm…!'

Ha Jae-Gun was dreaming. He found himself standing in a foggy area. His heavy eyelids were trembling, and he had been struggling to open them for a while now.

He eventually managed to open his eyes as his vision slowly took in the scene in front of him. Ha Jae-Gun saw the ceiling first, and he instantly knew that he was sprawled on the floor.

He briefly composed himself.

In the distance, the sound of car engines could be heard.

All of a sudden, there was a ticklish sensation at the tip of his nose. Dark blue fur was brushing against his face, and he could tell from just the scent alone that it was Rika.

Rika’s tail was upright, and she was licking his face.

'Ri…ka…'

His voice wouldn't come out, and his body wouldn’t move according to his will.

He felt someone touching him.

Someone roughly opened the zipper of Ha Jae-Gun’s backpack, and he soon heard someone running away from him.

'I couldn't… stop it…'

He started losing consciousness. Before his vision faded into black, Ha Jae-Gun reached out for Rika with all his might.

The final scene he saw was Rika crying while facing the sky.

"Jae-Gun. Ha Jae-Gun."

"Ugh… Urgh…"

"Hey, hey, hey! Jae-Gun! Wake up. Hurry up, and wake up."

Ha Jae-Gun’s eyes opened abruptly, and he saw Park Jung-Jin's worried face.

Ha Jae-Gun immediately sat up in shock.

"Gosh, what's wrong with you? Did you have a nightmare?"

"...Nightmare?"

"Yeah, a nightmare. You’re all sweaty. Others will think that you were just at a sauna or something. Wipe yourself up." Park Jung-Jin handed Ha Jae-Gun the towel he was using to dry his own hair.

Ha Jae-Gun didn’t take the towel from Park Jung-Jin. He panted for a while and looked down at himself.

Park Jung-Jin was right—he was drenched in sweat.

'That…was a dream?' It was much too vivid to dismiss that as a dream.

It was too vivid—from how he was sprawled on the ground, Rika standing guard over him, and to rough touch—everything was too vivid.

"I'm getting worried. What kind of nightmare was it?" Park Jung-Jin asked with a raised eyebrow.

Ha Jae-Gun slowly looked around before turning to look at Park Jung-Jin. He looked around once more and realized that the interior design of the apartment was unfamiliar to him.

'Ah, that's right…'

Ha Jae-Gun finally recalled what happened last night as he lightly wiped the sweat off of his face with a towel.

He was currently at Lee Soo-Hee's place.

This was their final destination after the award ceremony yesterday.

After the dinner-cum-afterparty with his family and friends who had attended the award ceremony, Ha Jae-Gun, Park Jung-Jin and Lee Soo-Hee went for round two of drinks.

Cheon Hyo-Jin joined them after she was done working, which made their drinking session much more enjoyable.

They then headed for Lee Soo-Hee’s place—Lee Soo-Hee was living on her own—and the group drank into the night.

"Hey, Jae-Gun. Are you still drunk?" Park Jung-Jin asked.

"No, I’m still groggy. Anyway, why is it so quiet?"

"Soo-Hee and Hyo-Jin went to the mart to get some groceries for a meal. It's been thirty minutes, they should be here soon." Park Jung-Jin lightly tapped Ha Jae-Gun's back and continued. "You should wash up before they return. You know to clean up the bathroom as the last user, right? I've been shedding lots of hair lately, just so you know. Anyway, just make sure to clean the drain well."

"All right." Ha Jae-Gun grinned and headed for the bathroom.

He was about to shut the bathroom door when Park Jung-Jin added, "Oh, there's a new blue toothbrush and disposable shaver on the sink; go ahead and use that. Soo-Hee put them there. The towels are in the cabinet."

"Okay." Ha Jae-Gun locked the door and took off the training outfit Lee Soo-Hee had given him to change into last night.

The training outfit seemed like it belonged to her brother.

Ha Jae-Gun stepped into the shower booth, where a peculiar showerhead was installed.

‘This looks good. Maybe I should install one like this once I move over to a new house.'

Ha Jae-Gun took a refreshing hot shower and finished off by brushing his teeth and shaving. Of course, he cleaned the bathroom before leaving.

Park Jung-Jin was standing on the balcony. He turned around when he heard the bathroom door being opened and saw Ha Jae-Gun.

"Are you done?" he asked.

Ha Jae-Gun went to stand next to Park Jung-Jin while towel-drying his hair. The Han River looked impeccable when looking down at it from a high-rise apartment.

"Her place is great. When would I be able to live in a place like this?" joked Park Jung-Jin.

Ha Jae-Gun chuckled.

Everyone knew that Lee Soo-Hee came from a pretty well-off family since their university days. She had never boasted her wealth; it was hard to keep her elegance and well-brought-up aura concealed for a long time.

"This probably costs fifty million, right?"

"It should be higher than that. Housing prices these days are crazy."

"That's crazy. Let's see; let’s say that it’s five hundred million. After the performance review and negotiations, I think my annual salary will be around thirty million. if I starve myself to save twenty million per month… God, I need a puff. Is this a non-smoking area?"

"Stop." Ha Jae-Gun lightly smacked Park Jung-Jin's abdomen and turned around.

He was busy drinking last night, so he didn't get the chance to take a look around Lee Soo-Hee's place. He observed his surroundings in a new light.

'This place really does fit her personality.'

The organized black-and-white tone made it seem like he was peeking into her.

Ha Jae-Gun walked past the TV and stopped outside a room beside the bathroom to take a peek into the room. The slightly ajar door revealed a huge bookshelf that filled up three walls in the room. It was Lee Soo-Hee's study.

'As expected of someone from the Creative Writing Department…'

Ha Jae-Gun entered the room and took quick glances at the book titles on each shelf. Ha Jae-Gun had read a relatively large number of books, so he was proud to say that he was a bookworm. Still, Lee Soo-Hee’s bookshelf contained quite a few books that he had never read before.

'Wow, there's a physical book for this as well?'

Ha Jae-Gun's tongue ran around the interior of his mouth as he reached out with his hand. A huge pile of books was in front of him, not to mention the hidden books behind the books in the front.

He stared in admiration at the bookshelves while trying to push one of them.

"Aigoo, my arms feel like they’re gonna fall out."

Cheon Hyo-Jin's exhausted voice suddenly echoed from the front door. Ha Jae-Gun stopped himself and headed back to the living room. He saw the ladies putting down bags packed with groceries.

"Hey, you should have called us to help you carry them up." Park Jung-Jin hurried over from the balcony to help them with the bags, earning a glare from Cheon Hyo-Jin.

"Bullshit. We called you twice."

"Huh? Oh, right, my phone is on silent. You should have called Jae-Gun, then."

"I called him three times." Lee Soo-Hee glared at them as well.

Ha Jae-Gun stood behind Park Jung-Jin, scratching his damp head.

"My phone is on silent mode, too…"

Cheon Hyo-Jin took off her slippers and clicked her tongue several times. "Great. How is it that two strong guys can’t help? Argh, move over. Stop getting in the way."

"Heok!"

Cheon Hyo-Jin shoved Park Jung-Jin aside and headed for the kitchen. Lee Soo-Hee followed but headed for the living room. Her face stiffened slightly when she saw that the door to her study was slightly ajar.

"Soo-Hee, I saw that you've got quite the collection of books," Ha Jae-Gun said while walking toward her.

Lee Soo-Hee turned around to face him with a rigid look. "Hmm…?"

"I said you've got a lot of books. I've always wanted to make myself a study at home. Can I take a peek?"

He had already entered her study, so Ha Jae-Gun wasn’t really asking for permission.

Lee Soo-Hee turned pale. She had totally forgotten about locking the door to her study last night because they were busy drinking. She had also forgotten the fact that she had to stop Ha Jae-Gun from poking around her study no matter what.

"W-wait, Jae-Gun."

"Hmm? What is it?" Ha Jae-Gun asked as he reached for the double bookshelf that he was about to push earlier.

Lee Soo-Hee concealed her trembling heart and managed to speak calmly, “It’s almost time for lunch. You can look at them later.”

“All right. Anyway, just give me ten minutes to look through them.”

“W-wait…!”

Lee Soo-Hee knew that Ha Jae-Gun absolutely loved books, so she was convinced that Ha Jae-Gun would be able to read all the books on the double bookshelf in just five minutes, let alone ten minutes.

Therefore, Lee Soo-Hee hurriedly snatched Ha Jae-Gun’s wrist before he could pull out any book from the bookshelves.

“Just… just come and help us in the kitchen. We need hands there.”

“Really? You should have told me earlier. All right, let’s go.”

Ha Jae-Gun readily agreed and willingly put the book into its original position before following Lee Soo-Hee out of the study.

Lee Soo-Hee closed the door behind them and locked it silently as she let out a sigh of relief. There would have been huge trouble if she had returned even a minute later. Her heart pounded hard against her chest as if it were about to explode.

“What should I do?” asked Ha Jae-Gun.

“Hmm?Ah…” Lee Soo-Hee trailed off.

Ha Jae-Gun actually didn’t have anything to do in the kitchen.

“Can you wash the rice? Just prepare three bowls of rice.”

“Got it.” Ha Jae-Gun quickly washed the rice. He had been living alone as well, so it wasn’t that difficult for him to wash rice.

Ha Jae-Gun was finally done washing rice. He dried his hands with a towel and headed for Lee Soo-Hee’s study. He grabbed the doorknob and turned it, but it was locked.

“Huh? Why is this locked?”

“Oh, my… I think the door got locked from the inside. I can’t remember where I left the key.” Lee Soo-Hee said slyly, acting all surprised. “It’s okay, the key must be here somewhere. I’ll look for it later after you guys leave.”

“Really? I’m sorry; I think it’s my fault.”

“No, it’s fine. I could have locked it by accident as well. It does happen sometimes.”

The problem was finally resolved. Lee Soo-Hee put on an apron and started preparing a meal. Cheon Hyo-Jin helped her out by slicing the vegetables and meat.

While the ladies were cooking, Ha Jae-Gun and Park Jung-Jin sat next to each other by the balcony. It seemed that they would stay there until the ladies called them up to the table.

The two watched the ladies at work.

Park Jung-Jin couldn’t help but mutter, “Women who know how to cook are really pretty in my eyes, I’m not kidding.”

“It should be just Cheon Hyo-Jin rather than women in general. Do you still go to the karaoke and ask for karaoke helpers?”

“Shhh, be quiet! They’ll hear you. I’ve only done that once, and I’m not gonna do it again,” Park Jung-Jin muttered and gave Ha Jae-Gun a serious warning.

Ha Jae-Gun smiled bitterly and shook his head upon recalling Da-Seul.

She should still be sound asleep after working through the night.

‘Hmm, she hasn’t replied yet as well.’

Ha Jae-Gun had actually dropped her a message last night in the midst of their drinking session—saying that he would keep a copy of Storm and Gale after it was published and that he would sign it as a gift for her.

However, he still hadn’t heard anything from her.

‘I hope nothing is up.’

Unlike before, Ha Jae-Gun was now slightly worried about Da-Seul.

Da-Seul had become precious to Ha Jae-Gun, and she had long taken up a corner of Ha Jae-Gun’s heart. Storm and Gale had quite the influence on Ha Jae-Gun’s heart, and Da-Seul was one of the people whose footprints had been engraved on his heart, regardless if they brought about a large or small positive change in his life.

“Hey, what’s this?” Park Jung-Jin said, seemingly astonished.

He was looking at his phone.

Ha Jae-Gun cleared his mind and turned to Park Jung-Jin.

“What is it?”

“Hey, this… isn’t this amazing?!”

Park Jung-Jin’s shout distracted both Cheon Hyo-Jin and Lee Soo-Hee from their tasks as they looked up to stare at him.

Park Jung-Jin quickly handed over his phone to Ha Jae-Gun. The phone showed the real-time popular searched keywords on Navin—the largest search portal in Korea.

1. Modern Youth Literature Award Ha Jae-Gun

2. Foolish Woman

3. Poongchun-Yoo Ha Jae-Gun

4. Digital Literature Award Ha Jae-Gun

5. Poongchun-Yoo past works

6. A 90s Kid

7. Records of the Other World webtoon

8. Wizard of Pezellon download

9. The Breathe text version

10. Poongchun-Yoo novel text version

“Hey, this is…?!” Ha Jae-Gun’s eyes widened.

The top ten recent popular keywords were related to him.

He had no clue how this came about…

“Hey, look at your Twitter.”

“Huh? Okay.” Ha Jae-Gun took out his phone in a daze and accessed Twitter. He gasped at the messages.

- Writer Ha awesome kekeke breaking both the genre and mainstream novels kekeke a scam-level writer

- Those who are cussing, this is a bunch of nonsense. Readers will just read what they’re interested in. Please don’t be childish and judge others with your prejudice.

- Writer Ha is totally a novel gangster;;; From fantasy to martial arts and now mainstream novels;;; He’s crushing it! Right? Right.

- Is Ha Jae-Gun your real name, or is Poongchun-Yoo your real name?

-I’m a Year 3 student, and my parents are stopping me from reading fantasy novels. But when I explained that the winner of this year’s Modern Youth Literature Award was Writer Ha Jae-Gun, my mother paid for the entire series of The Breath. She even bought me the physical books of Wizard of Pezellon as well. Thank you, Writer Ha.

- Is Harry Ford going to get crushed within a year?

- When will you make your Hollywood debut???

- When are you planning to get awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature??? Kekeke!

Ha Jae-Gun’s account suddenly looked so unfamiliar in his eyes that he almost mistook it for someone else’s account.

However, it was no doubt his own Twitter account. He blinked his eyes repeatedly, but it was still his Twitter account. His follower count was now approaching 55,000, even though he only had 5,000 followers just a few days ago.

Just what had happened overnight? The Modern Youth Literature Award was influential in the literary industry, but it shouldn’t have this much influence on the market.

Bzzt!

Ha Jae-Gun’s phone vibrated, and he saw from the caller ID that the call was from Jo Seo-Kyung—the person in charge of the Modern Youth Literature Award.

Ha Jae-Gun could still remember that Jo Seo-Kyung had requested him not to reveal the fact that he was Poongchun-Yoo. Ha Jae-Gun felt nervous, and he answered the call amidst his rapidly beating heart.

“Hello?”