Big Life-Chapter 110: Loud Cheers (5)

“Did I not mention that we’re going to have a meeting this morning about the scenario?” Nam Nam Gyu-Ho asked.

Instead of replying, Oh Myung-Hoon looked down at the cup in his hand.

"Why didn't you join the meeting?"

"I was busy working on the scenario."

Actually, Oh Myung-Hoon had been avoiding those meetings due to shame. It was normal for a director to point out mistakes or areas that were lacking, but it was humiliating for Oh Myung-Hoon.

"Ah, is that so? Are you done?"

"I've just uploaded it to the server. You may check it out."

"Well, I don't think I have to do that. Team Leader Lee will handle it."

Oh Myung-Hoon glared at the director, triggered by his words. "What do you mean?"

"What? Ah, don't misunderstand. She’s good at her job, so I trust her judgment." Nam Gyu-Ho smiled softly and headed to the coffee machine.

Oh Myung-Hoon remained silent, and his glare never left the man.

'What a bastard!'

From his looks to his personality, Oh Myung-Hoon hated everything about Nam Gyu-Ho. He would always have a scornful smile whenever he spoke to Oh Myung-Hoon. Oh Myung-Hoon truly loved to get up and leave everything behind.

An employee sitting in the corner of the pantry murmured, "Oh Myung-Hoon versus Nam Gyu-Ho… a clash between two golden spoons."

Another employee sitting across from them shrugged and asked, “Oh Myung-Hoon is a golden spoon?”

“Wait, you have no idea that he’s the President of OongSung Publication Group?”

“What? Really? In that case, wouldn’t that make him a diamond spoon?”

“That’s true.”

“But why is he here writing scenarios and enduring all this shit?”

“I have no idea. Anyway, he has quite the perseverance.”

Oh Myung-Hoon slowly drank his coffee in the pantry without realizing that the employees were talking about him. Nam Gyu-Ho had already left after making his own cup of coffee.

Bzzt!

Oh Myung-Hoon’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He took it out to see a text message from Hye-Mi, of the planning team.

— Did the meeting minutes help? I’ll send you the minutes of the planning team meeting later in the afternoon. We have a meeting at 8 p.m., at Times Square, right?

“Yes, sure.”

Oh Myung-Hoon responded nonchalantly and put his phone back in his pocket.

He looked irritated.

‘That foolish woman just annoys me with her useless words. Does she really think that she’s good enough to date me?’

Oh Myung-Hoon still decided to keep her by his side for the time being, as she was still useful to him. Like the minutes from the meeting this morning. It was his only way to read the director’s thoughts without seeing the man’s revolting side.

‘The scenario should pass after today…’

The edits he had made to the scenario earlier reflected all the changes that Nam Gyu-Ho had mentioned in the meeting minutes. There was no way it would get rejected once again.

Just then, Lee Soo-Hee entered the pantry.

“...”

Lee Soo-Hee only briefly glanced at Oh Myung-Hoon, then headed for the coffee machine. There was no way Lee Soo-Hee would view him favorably, considering how Oh Myung-Hoon hadn’t been attending meetings and was being uncooperative.

‘I just need you, but why…?’ Oh Myung-Hoon asked himself as he watched Lee Soo-Hee leave the pantry after making her cup of coffee. He couldn’t understand why Lee Soo-Hee still hadn’t opened herself to him when he was such a good catch.

***

- Awesome kekekeke Funnily enough, this is the best novel I’ve read so far by Writer Poongchun-Yoo.

-It’s light-hearted and funny, yet moving as well. I enjoyed flipping through the pages.

- Honestly, I’m slightly disappointed by Oscar’s Dungeon. I like his down-to-earth style, but I’ll still read until the end.

- I was worried he would contract some literary disease after winning an award and writing a literary novel, but my worries seemed excessive. It’s so much fun.

- There are still three weeks left until the release of volume three, how can I wait for that long~ T_T Please release two volumes every month. Arrrrgh!

‘Wow, the new novel went viral as well.’

Everyone else was asleep in their own rooms, but Lee Yeon-Woo was wide awake at his workstation, reading the largely positive response to Ha Jae-Gun’s latest novel.

‘10,000 purchases before volume three is released!? If he sold that much for physical books, imagine the number for ebooks!’

The sight of super-popular readers immediately got Lee Yeon-Woo’s attention. The most popular actor, Park Do-Joon, uploaded a photo on his Twitter account.

[Another novel from the author of Summer in My 20s, Ha Jae-Gun. Are fantasy stories like this impossible for movie adaptations? I would bleach my hair right now and audition for Oscar’s role.]

The photo depicted Park Do-Joon smiling while holding up volume one of Oscar’s Dungeon.

Lee Yeon-Woo looked at the picture for a while, then his eyes went green with envy. He reached for his keyboard with an anxious look. He was about to look at reviews for his own novel.

‘What…? Not even a single review?’

There were no search results for Martial God Management on the top two search portals, Navin and Dawoom.

Lee Yeon-Woo accessed Googol with a disappointed look. He scrolled for a while before discovering a web document in the list of search results.

‘It’s the reviews of the rental shop owners.’

- A man in his forties started reading but stopped shortly after.

- Regular in his teens said it was too childish.

- A man in his twenties said it’s boring.

- A man in his thirties said he felt like he was reading a teenage comic book from ten years ago.

- A man in his forties threw a tantrum at me.

- We would like a quick refund.

“...”

Lee Yeon-Woo turned pale. He hadn’t hoped to strike it big with his debut novel, but he didn’t expect to receive the worst reviews possible. The shop owners’ sharp comments stabbed his heart.

‘Ah, I want some drinks…’

Unfortunately, alcohol was prohibited in the office. Lee Yeon-Woo staggered out of the office and went to the nearby convenience store to get himself some soju.

Otherwise, he was sure that he wouldn’t get over the harsh reviews.

***

The following day after the release of Oscar’s Dungeon, Ha Jae-Gun was working diligently in the afternoon, but he couldn’t help but make a sidelong glance at the seemingly daydreaming Lee Yeon-Woo.

The usually energetic Lee Yeon-Woo seemed like a sick chicken all day, he hadn’t been able to write anything since he woke up.

‘Could it be…’

Ha Jae-Gun quietly left the office with a guess in his mind. He headed down the other end of the hallway and called Kwon Tae-Won.

— Hello, Writer Ha.

“Hello, President. Um, I’m calling to ask you about the reviews for Martial God Management. How are the reviews so far?”

Kwon Tae-Won let out an audible sigh.

— It was worse than expected. Honestly, the story itself wasn’t that exciting, and Writer Lee is also not that experienced as a writer.

“That’s true,” Ha Jae-Gun said. In fact, Lee Yeon-Woo’s novel had quite a few issues across the board. The explanations were too long, and the dialogues were boring.

“What is the expected sales performance?”

— I think it’ll be hard to sell even 300 copies. I thought it would be better to release physical books, seeing how long the novel would be, but this is putting me in a pickle. How do you think Writer Lee Yeon-Woo is holding up?

“I think he checked out the reviews himself because he didn’t look so good since I woke up this morning.”

— Aigoo, that’s bad. I hope he stays strong.

Ha Jae-Gun talked on the phone for a while more before hanging up.

While he was contemplating how he should encourage Lee Yeon-Woo, his phone rang once again.

“Hello?”

— Hello, Mr. Ha. I’m Kim Dong-Gil, the real estate agent.

“Ah, yes. Hello.”

— I have just gotten hold of a relatively good detached house up for sale. I’ve just verified the details myself. It’s not that far from your current one-room studio, just ten minutes away. It’s on the pricier side, but I think you’ll love it once you see it for yourself. You can take a look at it today if you like.

“Hmm, I see… I’ll head over later then. I’ll see you in an hour,” Ha Jae-Gun said. He turned to the listless Lee Yeon-Woo in the office. Ha Jae-Gun returned to the office and then lightly tapped Lee Yeon-Woo’s shoulder.

"Yes, Writer Ha?"

"I have somewhere to go right now, would you like to join me for a drive?"

Lee Yeon-Woo stared blankly at Ha Jae-Gun.

The others only turned around briefly, but they didn’t say anything else. They all knew that Ha Jae-Gun's suggestion was to help Lee Yeon-Woo get some fresh air.

"Let's go," Ha Jae-Gun said once more as he picked Rika up.

Lee Yeon-Woo stood up without hesitation and erased the bitter look on his face.

"Where are we going?"

"The real estate office. I asked to look at some suitable houses that were up for sale some time ago, and a house appeared today. Please help me see if there are any defects in the house."

"I'm not very good at selecting houses, though."

"It doesn't matter."

"Ah, I see. Let me do the driving, and you can enjoy the ride."

As usual, Lee Yeon-Woo was a step faster than Ha Jae-Gun and took the driver's seat. Ha Jae-Gun couldn't help but smile bitterly as he opened the door to the front passenger seat.

"Please enjoy the ride in the back seat."

"I like the front seat. It gives a better view. The seats are blocking the view from the back seat, and it feels less stuffy here."

They drove onto the main road after exiting the basement carpark.

Ha Jae-Gun entered the address on the navigator, prompting Lee Yeon-Woo to ask, "Which apartment are we heading to?"

"It's a detached house."

"Wow, a detached house? Awesome! How many floors does it have?"

"I'll only know when we get there."

They soon arrived at the real estate agent's office.

Lee Yeon-Woo parked the car outside, and they hopped into the real estate agent’s car.

"Mr. Ha, as I've mentioned over the phone earlier, you'll love the place once you see it later. I can guarantee it. The house is as new as it can be, and the yard is quite spacious as well."

Throughout the ride, the agent kept talking about the house with a confident look.

Ha Jae-Gun wasn’t expecting that much, so he only smiled faintly at the agent.

'Hmm…?' Ha Jae-Gun started squinting his eyes as a detached house with a low hill covered with greenery appeared in his eyes. “Can you see it? It’s that house.”

The agent seemed to have read Ha Jae-Gun’s thoughts and stepped harder on the accelerator. Soon, the entire house appeared in front of them.

“Wow… This house looks great!” Lee Yeon-Woo exclaimed in amazement as he alighted from the car.

The detached house consisted of two floors above ground and a basement. The exterior was made of brick walls painted in a mixture of brown and ivory white.

“Let’s go in and take a look. It’s almost like a new house. It’s a three-year-old detached house, but the owner barely lived in it due to personal reasons.”

The agent opened the main gate that was left unlocked.

The yard was about 5 pyeong[1] wide, and it was overgrown with weeds, as no one had tended to it for a long time. Ha Jae-Gun walked through the garden, thinking that he would have to work on the garden first if he decided to buy this house.

‘Hmm, it really looks good.’

Ha Jae-Gun discovered that the agent wasn’t just boasting earlier.

The first floor consisted of a spacious living room with two other rooms containing en suite bathrooms. He took the stairs down to the empty but spacious basement.

The basement seemed unmodified, which meant that he could freely modify the space to his liking.

However, Ha Jae-Gun was most curious about the second floor.

“A study…?!” Ha Jae-Gun exclaimed unknowingly.

The agent let out a chuckle from behind him.

“See? I told you that you would love this place. This entire floor is a study on its own,” the agent said proudly as he spread his arms out wide.

Ha Jae-Gun couldn’t close his mouth as he looked around. More than half of the second floor was a study, with bookshelves surrounding the desk in the middle like folding screens and a dark red carpet covering the floor.

There was even a fireplace and a rocking chair placed in a corner.

Ha Jae-Gun was at a loss for words at the antique-seque study that was only often seen in movies. This was the very same style of study that he had always been dreaming of owning.

“How much is this?”

“It’s 1.4 billion won.”

“Mm, I see.” Ha Jae-Gun nodded with a serious look. The price wasn’t that much of an issue. He could cover the insufficient funds with a loan. “I’ll take this house.”

Ha Jae-Gun immediately made a decision. He didn’t think that there was any need for him to wait any further. He loved everything about the house. From the exterior to its structure, and especially the study on the second floor.

‘Wow…! He bought it just like that?!’

Lee Yeon-Woo was so astonished to the point that he couldn’t even breathe properly. The idea of how Ha Jae-Gun and himself were on two entirely different levels rushed inundated his mind.

‘I probably won’t reach his level even if I dedicated my entire life to writing…’

Lee Yeon-Woo suddenly felt depressed upon recalling the bad performance of his Martial God Management.

Meanwhile, Ha Jae-Gun approached him after a brief conversation with the agent.

“Writer Lee Yeon-Woo, let’s go now.”

“Ah, yes… sure!”

The group headed back to the agent’s office. They scheduled their next meeting before leaving using Ha Jae-Gun’s car.

Ha Jae-Gun stopped Lee Yeon-Woo from entering the office’s address in the navigation and said, “Let’s have a good army stew for dinner together. Please drive us to Guro station.”

“Okay.”

Silence filled the car throughout the entire drive. When they stopped at a red light, Ha Jae-Gun looked out the window and muttered, “Stay strong, Writer Lee.”

“...?”

“It’s only natural to feel upset or hurt by the bad performance of your story, but please don’t give up on it. If you persevere, your performance will only get better from here. I will also help you to the best of my abilities.”

Lee Yeon-Woo remained silent and kept his eyes ahead on the road. His cheeks were trembling, and tears welled up in his eyes.

“Writer Lee?” Ha Jae-Gun turned upon hearing the sound of stifled sobbing.

Lee Yeon-Woo quickly wiped away the tears and chuckled awkwardly. “Ah, I’m sorry. I-I… I never really had anyone else who looked after me so much, aside from my mother. I’ve never received any consolation from anyone aside from her, either.”

Lee Yeon-Woo sounded anguished as he said, “It’s true that I was listless and exhausted yesterday. I even doubted if I could even write a good novel. I’ll reflect on myself again. I won’t get disheartened over something like this again.”

“Of course. And don’t belittle yourself, don’t say things like that in the future.”

“Thank you, Writer Ha. Ah… I’ve got something to ask of you.”

“What is it?”

Lee Yeon-Woo anxiously examined Ha Jae-Gun’s expression before asking, “Can I call you hyung? I really feel like you’re my blood-related brother.”

“If you don’t find it weird, sure.”

“Wow, really?!” Lee Yeon-Woo raised his voice in excitement, evidently happy at the approval. Lee Yeon-Woo stepped on the accelerator as the traffic light turned green before continuing. “Thank you, really. I’ll call you hyung from now on. Ah, you can speak comfortably with me as well.”

“Sure, no problem.” Ha Jae-Gun chuckled.

He had also been wanting to change their form of address for a while now. Unlike many others with whom he had been maintaining a certain distance from, Lee Yeon-Woo felt like a real younger brother to Ha Jae-Gun as well.

“Huh? Lee Yeon-Woo, aren’t you going too fast? It’s speeding.”

“This is nothing. Didn’t I tell you that I was a driver back in the military?”

The car sped down the road, leaving behind the laughter of the new brothers.

1. 16.5 square meters ☜