Big Life

Chapter 158. Make It Up, If There’s None (2)

The door chime echoed thirty minutes later. Ha Jae-Gun quickly saved his Word document and closed it. Soon, the door opened, and Jung So-Mi entered the room.

“Hello, Writer Ha.”

“Ah, Ms. So-Mi. Welcome.” Ha Jae-Gun smiled as he greeted her.

Jung So-Mi was in shorts, making it obvious that the summer weather was scorching today.

“Oh, I heard from President Kwon that you’ve moved.”

“Yes, my previous studio was a bit too small. Thanks to you, my financial situation has improved, and I got to move to a bigger place.”

Rika ran down from the windowsill and to Jung So-Mi.

Jung So-Mi picked Rika up and embraced her before rubbing noses with her.

Ha Jae-Gun smiled at the sight. Fortunately, the awkwardness in their relationship seemed to have vanished.

“You must be here for Writer Jang’s illustrations.”

“Yes, that’s right. Ah, and I also saw the advertisements for Oscar’s Dungeon on my way here. The illustrations turned out great.”

“I saw it as well when I took the subway earlier. But I was slightly disappointed that the mention of your webtoon was quite small.”

“Aye, it’s good enough as it is. Oh, what happened to Team Leader Soo-Hee? The in-charge for the webtoon is no longer her.” Jung So-Mi naturally changed the topic to Lee Soo-Hee.

Ha Jae-Gun took his empty cup and headed to the coffee maker.

“She went to Taiwan.”

“Taiwan?”

“To establish a branch office there.”

“Ahh... I see. How long will she be away?”

“For about six months? Ms. So-Mi, would you like some coffee?”

“Sure.”

Just then, the door behind Jung So-Mi opened, and in came Jang Eun-Young and Kang Min-Ho. Their arms were filled with secondhand books.

Jung So-Mi wanted to talk for a while more with Ha Jae-Gun but concealed her disappointment and greeted the couple.

“Hello. What books did you guys buy? And how come you bought so many?”

“I was finding research materials for my new novel and somehow ended up with this many books.”

“Where are Writer Yang and Writer Lee? Are they not coming?”

“They said they’ll look for more books, so we came back first.”

Soon, everyone went to their respective workstations and began working.

Jung So-Mi was extremely curious about Ha Jae-Gun and Lee Soo-Hee’s current relationship, but she couldn’t bring it up at the moment.

Time passed, and it was soon evening.

Ha Jae-Gun received Nam Gyu-Ho’s call and proceeded to save his manuscript.

Then, he turned off his laptop and said,

“I’ve got an appointment, so I’ll be leaving first. Please take care of Rika for me.”

“Yes, Writer Ha. Goodbye.”

Jung So-Mi watched as Ha Jae-Gun left and closed the door behind him. She smiled bitterly once he was gone.

She no longer had any reason to send him off. She could no longer help him fix his clothes, make meals for him, or can him when his deadlines were due, as someone else would do all those from now on.

‘There’s only one thing I can do for him now.’

Jung So-Mi steeled her heart and grabbed her tablet and pen. The only thing she could do for Ha Jae-Gun right now was the webtoon for Oscar’s Dungeon.

***

“There’s going to be a lot of work-related discussions, so we prepared Chinese dishes for the evening,” Nam Gyu-Ho said as he gestured to the elevator doors that opened. Please visit fr𝐞𝐞w𝒏.𝒸𝑜𝔪 website to read fastest update

Ha Jae-Gun said, “I like Chinese food, and it’s been a while since I’ve been here.”

“Have you been here before?”

“No, just the 63 Building. I’ve been here with my family when I was young to visit the aquarium. Of course, we ate here as well,” Ha Jae-Gun said while staring into space and reminiscing about his childhood.

Nam Gyu-Ho smiled and fixed his clothes.

The elevator soon picked up speed.

‘Oh, my ears... It’s ringing.’

The elevator finally arrived on the 57th floor, and its doors opened. Ha Jae-Gun followed Nam Gyu-Ho out of the elevator and to the Chinese restaurant. The interior of the restaurant was luxurious. Petal patterns adorned the ceiling and reflected the marbled flooring. It was a luxurious sight through and through.

“Welcome, Director.”

A neatly dressed chef stood by the reception desk with a sign that read Cheonrihyang.

Nam Gyu-Ho reached out for a handshake.

“Yes, she’s older than me by three years.”

“She doesn’t seem to be in her thirties.”

“But I’m still quite worried. I hope she’ll start dating before she gets any older, although this would be depending on her own will.”

Nam Gyu-Ho nodded with a serious look while singing with joy inside. He interpreted Ha Jae-Gun’s words to mean that Jae-In hadn’t been in a relationship for a long time and is currently still single.

However, he could not ask further now. If he did, Ha Jae-Gun might catch onto his motives. Nam Gyu-Ho then decided to wrap up and change the topic. “I’m sure a good man will appear for her.”

“Thank you. Please have a glass, Director.”

Their pleasant dinner continued late into the night. It was the first time Nam Gyu-Ho had made a sound and even laughed in front of Ha Jae-Gun.

***

“Stay safe on the way back, Director.”

“Yes, Mr. Ha. I’ll be leaving first then.” Nam Gyu-Ho left in the car that quickly drove away.

Ha Jae-Gun then set off for his own home. He felt lonely walking through the dark garden, he could clearly feel Lee Soo-Hee’s absence in his life.

‘Maybe I should have brought Rika back from the office.’

Ha Jae-Gun regretted belatedly as he headed for the living room. As he went to the bathroom while taking off his clothes, his phone rang. It was a call from Oh Myung-Suk.

“Yes, editor-in-chief.”

— Hello, Mr. Ha. Have you had dinner?

“Yes, I’ve just returned from dinner actually.”

— I actually called with regards to Teencent.

“Teencent?”

Ha Jae-Gun stopped taking off his clothes midway. He had been talking about Teencent with Nam Gyu-Ho for the entire evening today. But what is Oh Myung-Suk going to say about them now?

— Teencent is going to distribute the game, ebooks, and even join in the movie production. So they had established a company called Teencent Pictures, and their CEO would be attending the upcoming Web Contents Festival. They would like to meet you during their trip if possible.

“Ah... Me?” Ha Jae-Gun could only reply with a question like how he did to Nam Gyu-Ho earlier.

— Specifically, they would like to meet you, and lead actor Park Do-Joon as well. They found out that both of you are friends through the news articles, plus he is the vice president of the strategic team at Teencent Group. He also complimented There Was A Sea, saying that it was very impressive.

“Mm, I see.”

Thankfully, the movie There Was A Sea released in China had crossed the breakeven point, and its recognition had contributed greatly to Do-Joon’s popularity in China.

— Your novels that have been adapted into movies are performing well in Korea. I think they’d like to discuss about the movies, including the upcoming Gyeoja Bathhouse. They suggested to have a comfortable meeting, what’s your opinion on this?

“Um, editor-in-chief. Before I give you an answer, I also have something to tell you.”

Ha Jae-Gun then gave Oh Myung-Suk a detailed explanation about his decision to meet Teencent Literature’s CEO, Ren Xue, through Nam Gyu-Ho.

Oh Myung-Suk was quite surprised after hearing Ha Jae-Gun’s explanation.

— Director Nam Gyu-Ho’s connections are out of this world. Ren Xue was the executive editor before and was only recently appointed as the new CEO. OongSung was also planning to get in touch with them sometime soon, but mm... Anyway this is quite amazing.

Even Oh Myung-Suk, who was always calm, began drooling at the newfound facts.

Ha Jae-Gun felt strange. He switched hands to hold the phone and asked, “I think it’s my first time seeing you so surprised. Is this something that surprising?”

— This um... I hope you won’t misunderstand me...

“It doesn’t matter, please tell me,” Ha Jae-Gun asked.

However, Oh Myung-Suk took some time to process the words in his mind before he answered Ha Jae-Gun.

— Actually, the companies in China don’t appreciate writers as much as how we do in Korea. Probably because they have a large population. In China, they deal strictly with writer and their works with money, so they dominate the market with quantity over quality.

Oh Myung-Suk paused for a while, seemingly to take a breather before continuing.

— Of course, Mr. Ha is one of the top writers in Korea. Your sales are overwhelming, and your work has been recognized both in the literature and commercial sides. You are definitely someone that Teencent Literature is interested in, but... In my opinion, I doubt CEO Ren Xue is really an avid reader of yours. Otherwise...

Oh Myung-Suk trailed off his sentence with hesitation.

Ha Jae-Gun seemed to have caught on and decided to bring it up instead. “So you’re saying that the meeting could be arranged and initiated at Director Nam’s request, who has a personal relationship with CEO Ren Xue, right?”

— I apologize if this has offended you. But it definitely feels different from the movie side.

Ha Jae-Gun smiled and shook his head.

“Most certainly not. I have been hearing lots of stories about business dealings in China. It’s fine even if the meeting was requested by Director Nam. I think what’s important is that this meeting has been successfully arranged.”

— I’m relieved to hear you say that. Maybe I should have a talk with Director Nam as well before deciding. I need to find out if the CEOs of both Teencent Literature and Teencent Pictures are aware of their intentions.

“I’ll let you handle it then.”

Ha Jae-Gun stayed on the line with Oh Myung-Suk for a while more before hanging up. He rolled his tongue as he stepped into the bathroom.

He thought the connections that heirs of large corporations had were of different scales.

‘I think writing a corporate story using Director Nam or Editor Oh as the models would be fun.’

Ha Jae-Gun burst into laughter as the water rained down on him. Looking back, the appearance of Nam Gyu-Ho and Oh Myung-Suk were amazing gifts for him. He could always interview them if he ever chose to write such a novel.

How many writers in this world would have this opportunity to interview heirs of large corporations as he did?

‘I still think my connections are the best.’

Ha Jae-Gun finished his shower and fell into a deep sleep. In his dreams, he flew across the blue sky, and beneath his feet was the vast continent of China that stretched endlessly.

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