Big Life

Chapter 69: Real-Time Trending Keyword (1)

'Hehehe, I'm still going to buy it.'

Da-Seul smiled like a child as she placed her phone back into her pocket.

She then headed for the New Arrivals shelf, sporting her new shoes.

'Ah, found it.'

Da-Seul soon spotted the book placed on the shelves amongst the many new releases. The book cover even had thirteen words printed on it saying—31st Modern Youth Literature Award’s Youngest Winner.

‘Wow, his picture came out well, too. But he looks cuter in person...’

Da-Seul chuckled upon seeing Ha Ha Jae-Gun’s portrait on the book sleeve. The sight was so amusing that she couldn’t stop herself from giggling. When she finally calmed down, she flipped over to the first page.

- I dedicate this book to the woman named Da-Seul and her life.

‘...?!’

It was the only sentence printed in the middle of the otherwise empty page.

Da-Seul was stunned, and she started trembling. Her trembling was even reflected in her slightly twitching eyebrows. The name was definitely referring to herself.

The bookstore was currently filled with people. Many people passed behind her as she stood there in a daze with the book still in her hands. In the sea of people, it seemed that only Da-Seul’s time had stopped.

‘Haa…’

She drew in a deep breath to calm herself down, but her emotions still welled up in her chest like a balloon filling up with air. Her eyelids soon became filled with tears, and her tightly shut lips slowly curved into a smile.

“Um, excuse me…” A customer came to the corner where Da-Seul was standing, looking for a book. Da-Seul finally came back to reality and nodded profusely while making way for the customer.

‘Gosh, I’m pissed. He’ll get it once we meet.’

Da-Seul wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes and headed for the cashier with the book in her hands. She had decided to purchase it herself despite Ha Jae-Gun asking her not to.

‘He said he’ll take thirty minutes at the latest, right?’

There was a cozy little cafe near the exit where she had agreed to meet Ha Jae-Gun earlier. Da-Seul decided to order a cup of coffee and read the book while waiting for his arrival, taking a sit by a small round table against the window.

‘Wow, this is just talking about me right off the bat.’

Da-Seul was immediately immersed in the story right off the bat from the very first sentence. Her immersion was much deeper because she knew that the female protagonist was modeled after herself.

Many complicated emotions flashed across her face as she continued reading. As she flipped through the pages, her facial expressions kept changing—from surprise and seriousness to joy and laughter—and even to frowning in sadness.

She had unknowingly become the female protagonist in the novel, Hye-Young

‘Will I be able to live a life like hers…?’ Da-Seul thought to herself as she reached the climax of the novel. She suddenly recalled a similar line back when Ha Jae-Gun had bought her a necklace.

Hye-Young from the novel had endured the harsh gales that reality had been blowing at her, and she was still standing strong at the climax of the novel.

Da-Seul smiled wryly. She wasn’t confident that she would be able to live her life while pursuing her dreams. At this point, she could no longer keep on reading the book. She felt burdened by her relationship with Ha Jae-Gun.

‘We’re not in the same league…’

In fact, she was subtly aware of the fact that she and Ha Jae-Gun were people from two different worlds. She had just been avoiding it until now.

What was she expecting from meeting him like this?

Because he was a nice guy?

Because he was a good listener?

Because he was a popular writer?

She didn’t have the answer to those questions.

Her sigh that came out naturally made it clear that she was conflicted.

Bzzt!

Her phone on the table vibrated. The call was from Ha Jae-Gun.

Da-Seul cleared her throat before answering, "Yeah, Writer Oppa."

— Ms. Da-Seul, I'm sorry, but I can't meet you right now. My father got into a traffic accident.

"Whaaat? A traffic accident?!" Da-Seul exclaimed, temporarily attracting the attention of everyone else in the cafe. "How did it happen? Is he okay?"

— I'm told that he suffered a fracture, but I need to head to the hospital to understand the situation. My noona just told me about it, and she’s still on the way as well. My mom isn't picking up her phone, too. I'm sorry for informing you so late. Things have been quite hectic…!

Da-Seul finally realized that she had been waiting for well over thirty minutes now.

However, her wasted time wasn't important.

She nodded profusely as if Ha Jae-Gun was right in front of her.

"Don't worry about me, oppa. You must be driving right now, right? Don't go too fast just because you're in a hurry, you got it?"

— I got it. I'll look at the situation and give you a call again later.

"Sure, just be careful while driving. Your father will be fine, so don't be too worried."

— Thank you. I'll talk to you again soon.

The call ended.

Da-Seul clasped her hands together and held them to her chest. She prayed earnestly, even though she didn’t particularly belong to any religion.

***

"Stop it, all of you. Did someone die or something?!" Ha Suk-Jae exclaimed in displeasure. He just had his cast put on and was lying on his bed in a five-bedded ward.

Myung-Ja, Ha Jae-In and Ha Jae-Gun were standing next to his bed. The mother and daughter pair had been crying for quite a while, but they were now sniffling with puffy eyes.

"Sigh, stop crying. Jae-Gun, send your mom and noona back home. Hurry up."

Ha Jae-Gun didn’t do anything. He simply looked quietly at his father. The man's wrist up to his elbow was in a cast, and scratches of different sizes could be seen all over his body.

The traffic accident happened at the apartment complex where Ha Suk-Jae was working as a security guard. A resident who was reversing their vehicle failed to see Ha Suk-Jae, who was gathering the recyclables.

Ha Jae-Gun was filled with so much remorse, and his heart felt like breaking. He should have strongly insisted that his father quit his job. The accident could have been avoided if he had insisted strongly so he felt responsible for the accident.

"Please quit your job."

Ha Suk-Jae was nagging his wife and daughter, but he turned to look at Ha Jae-Gun upon hearing the latter’s words.

Ha Jae-Gun bowed and continued. "Please don't go to work anymore. Please."

Ha Suk-Jae didn’t say anything.

He closed his eyes slowly while Ha Jae-Gun waited for a reply.

Ha Jae-Gun waited for a while, but it seemed that Ha Suk-Jae wouldn’t open his eyes or mouth anytime soon.

Ha Jae-Gun eventually let out a small sigh and turned around.

"Where are you going?" Ha Jae-In asked.

"I’m going to grab some clothes for Father."

"I'll go with you. I've got to bring some other items as well. Mom, I'll be back with Jae-Gun."

Ha Jae-Gun and Ha Jae-In eventually left the ward.

When their footsteps disappeared, Myung-Ja sat on a chair next to the bed and said, "I know you’re awake."

"..."

"You should have replied to your son. He must be upset and heartbroken. Why are you always so cold?"

"I'm going to sleep, so don't talk to me."

“Isn’t it fine for you to quit your job? Jae-Gun had asked you to do so himself, so what’s wrong with quitting your job? Jae-Gun is doing very well. He has received so many rewards, and his books are selling well as well. You can even find your son’s name if you look him up on the Internet. Aren’t you proud of him?”

“Do you dislike it that much? Do you dislike having a writer as your son?”

Myung-Ja stood up after asking him a series of questions.

She wasn't expecting any answers from him in the first place because Ha Suk-Jae rarely expressed himself.

"That's not it."

However, Myung-Ja stopped dead in her tracks.

She was about to look for a nurse, but Ha Suk-Jae’s words forced her to come to a halt.

Ha Suk-Jae’s eyes were still closed, and he was drawing deep breaths.

He continued in a slightly trembling voice. “I disliked seeing how tough writing was for him. I could still remember how he wouldn’t eat nor sleep for four days straight just to work on his novel, and I could still remember how he cried and laughed by himself as if he had gone insane.”

“I kept on persuading him to take care of his own health before doing any writing, but he wouldn’t listen to me.”

"Honey…" Myung-Ja sat back down next to the bed with a pallid face.

Ha Suk-Jae gulped once and continued. "He eventually joined the Creative Writing Department despite my protest. I think it was summer of that year when his face turned yellow while he was holing himself up in his room to write his novel."

Myung-Ja nodded silently, she could still remember it as well.

"I was so worried and was losing sleep over it that I sneaked into his room one day, but did you know what I saw? Blood was streaming down from his nostrils, but he was still typing."

"...?!"

"Something snapped in me right there and then. If this was what writers had to go through, I was determined not to let him do it. It’s meaningless to write novels to make others happy at the expense of your own health,” said Ha Suk-Jae, seemingly in agony.

Myung-Ja placed her hands on top of Ha Suk-Jae’s wrinkled hands.

"I slapped him that day. I was so furious that I had to do it. My heart breaks every time I think of him, and the thought that he would have such a grueling career for his entire life breaks my heart as well. It should be the same today. If I hadn't gotten into an accident today, I’m sure he would have holed himself up to work today."

Myung-Ja buried her tear-stricken face into Ha Suk-Jae’s chest. Ha Suk-Jae used his healthy hand to gently stroke her hair, which had lost its shine and had turned frizzy and dull over the years.

***

Bandi & Lunia's flagship store was bustling with customers.

A special area was set up just a distance away from its entrance at the end of a corridor. It was an autograph event to commemorate Writer Ha Jae-Gun's book publication from the Modern Youth Literature Award.

'Phew, I'm nervous.'

Ha Jae-Gun was giving his appearance a final check in front of the mirror in the washroom. He was dressed in a clean beige sweater and jeans, hoping to give his fans an amicable first impression.

'It wouldn't be a no-show, right?'

All of a sudden, Park Jung-Jin barged into the washroom. "Hey, it's about to start. How long are you going to keep on wasting time?"

"Oh, so there are people there already?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"It's nothing, let's go." Ha Jae-Gun and Park Jung-Jin left the washroom together.

Ha Jae-Gun felt reassured to have Park Jung-Jin by his side.

Ha Jae-Gun was extremely grateful to Park Jung-Jin and his willingness to devote his day off here.

"There's nothing wrong, right, Mr. Ha?" asked a lady in her forties seated in the chair where Ha Jae-Gun would be doing his autograph event. She was Jo Seo-Kyung, the person in charge of the Modern Youth Literature Award.

It was their first time meeting face-to-face after exchanging phone calls for a while.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Please sit. The in-store announcement is about to start as well."

"Oh, I see…"

Ha Jae-Gun took over the seat at the table, getting ready for his autograph event.

The passersby’s weird looks in his direction made him feel shy, which made it even tougher for him to look up at the passing crowd.

"Um… you're Writer Poongchun-Yoo, right?"

Ha Jae-Gun was pretending like he was looking for something beneath the desk, but he hurriedly looked up when he heard a voice speaking to him. A fan—who seemed to be a university student—was standing in front of him with an embarrassed look.

"Ah, yes, I am."

"Um, I was just wondering if you could autograph this here for me." The reader handed him a copy of volume one of the Wizard of Pezellon.

Ha Jae-Gun grinned and nodded. "Of course."

Ha Jae-Gun took over the book from them.

"Ah, thank you so much. I wasn't expecting that you would sign it for me since this is a Storm and Gale autograph event."

"It's still a novel that I wrote, after all. May I know your name?"

"I'm Park Ju-Shik."

Ha Jae-Gun poured his heart into signing the book, and the fruits of his labor ripened beautifully after many hours of practice.

He was grateful that Park Ju-Shik approached him even before the storewide announcement was made. It wasn't for Storm and Gale, but it didn't matter to Ha Jae-Gun.

"Here you go."

"Thank you. I'm always keeping an eye out for your novels, Writer Ha. Please keep it up."

"Thank you. Please stay safe."

***

The student was smiling from ear to ear after receiving Writer Ha Jae-Gun's autograph. He took a picture of the autograph and uploaded it to Twitter.

- Kekeke! I just got an autograph from Writer Poongchun-Yoo at Bandi & Lunia's flagship store. It was an autograph event for his other novel, Storm and Gale, but I gave him my copy of Wizard of Pezellon instead. Kekekekeke!

The replies beneath the Tweet increased exponentially in the proverbial blink of an eye. There were too many replies that the original poster couldn’t keep up replying to each and every one of them.

Naturally, many retweets were made as well, and the Tweet even spread to other social media platforms.

Meanwhile, the clueless Ha Jae-Gun was worried about being disgraced if no more readers attended the upcoming event.