Big Life

Oh Myung-Suk’s fingers began typing furiously on the keyboard, typing out the instructions for his subordinates. Afterward, he looked at the tand saw that it was now 9 p.m.

Oh Myung-Suk finished his work and turned off his laptop.

Just as he stood up from his desk…

“Cin,” Oh Myung-Suk said.

His office door opened, and in cOh Tae-Jin. Oh Myung-Suk was shocked that he abruptly stopped gathering the documents in his hands and asked, “Father, why are you here rather than at home?”

“You said you were working overtime, so I chere feeling guilty. Aren’t you working late to work on my ?”

“Please don’t say that. It’s part of my job after all. Did you really chere because of that?”

“That’s part of it. I wanted to have a drink of soju with you before going back. But if you’re tired, it’s fine too.”

“Sure, Father. I was about to get off work anyway. Let’s go,” Oh Myung-Suk replied.

Ever since he went back hwith Chae Yoo-Jin, he never had the chance to hold a candid conversation with his father. This seemed to be a good opportunity for that. The department head and chauffeur were both waiting for them by the car parked in the basement. The father and son took their seats in the back as the men opened the car doors for them.

“Where would you like to go, Father?”

“I hope we can have snoise in the atmosphere today. Let’s go to Mugyo-dong.”

The car started, driving out of the basement. On the quiet roads of a weekday night, Oh Tae-Jin casually asked, “Do the publication schedules overlap?”

“Sorry?”

“Mine and Writer Ha Jae-Gun’s.”

“Ah, it’s next week.”

“Ah, mine will get buried, then.”

“I’m just saying; you don’t have to be so serious.” Oh Tae-Jin patted his son’s shoulders, but he didn't look away from the window.

Oh Myung-Suk felt his heart ache a little as he stared at his father. He could feel that his father was slightly anxious. His father was—no, the writer Oh Tae-Jin, was fearful of Ha Jae-Gun. He was terrified that his last , which he had poured all his heart and soul into, would be compared with Ha Jae-Gun’s and would receive poor ratings.

Anyway, Oh Myung-Suk had no way of comforting his father. It would be the sas admitting that he had made such speculation if he were to attempt to do so. Thus, he chose to keep them to himself to save his father’s pride.

“I’m not sure…” Oh Tae-Jin replied with indifference. The policy debate was put together with the aim of exploring various ways to revitalize the local content industry.

A wide variety of people such as the assemblymen from the C.B.C., pop culture critics, movie directors, actors, writers, and more had been invited to it. As the Chairman of OongSung Publication Group, Oh Tae-Jin received an invitation long ago.

However, it was a setting that a man well over his sixties had long gotten sick of attending.

“I’m not interested in such for-show events where not a proper conclusion can even be made…”

“Indeed.” However, Oh Myung-Suk was certain that his father would attend the debate. His father had always been sensitive to such issues, alongside politicians' changes all his life. That was the reason he managed to bring OongSung Publication to its current heights.

“What about Writer Ha Jae-Gun? He’s a top writer now, so they must have sent an invitation over to him as well.”

“I don’t think he will attend. He’s the kind to avoid everything else except for writing if possible.”

“You know Writer Ha very well.”

“We’ve worked together for so long as writer and editor after all.”

They drove past the City Hall and closed in on Mugyo-dong.

***

It was the first week of September, and the tropical nights in the heat wave were starting to simmer down. In addition to the top three public broadcasting channels, almost all the cable channels began showing the spiece of news—news about Writer Ha Jae-Gun.

Every single channel was reporting about Ha Jae-Gun. He was mentioned so much everywhere that those who did not know his nwere treated as spies or someone who had been living in a rock.

“An author with a hidden identity. This article is so interesting.”

“Haha, it is. Sounds so mysterious. I suspect that editor-in-chief Oh Myung-Suk drafted this personally.”

Ha Jae-Gun and Lee Soo-Hee chuckled.

The couple was on the way out for a date in a long while since it was a public holiday.

The two were wearing caps to disguise themselves, afraid that passers-by would recognize them.

“I can’t believe it’s already sold out and going into reprints. As expected, regardless of how unfamiliar the public is with the author, they're still going to buy the book if the is good. I was worried that it wouldn't sell at all, but thankfully, I was wrong,” Lee Soo-Hee said, hugging Ha Jae-Gun’s arm.

“You’re the coolest in this world; I love my Jae-Gun a lot.”

“I understand how you fell in love within college.”

“Wow, look at you turning all arrogant just because I praised you.”

“I’m joking. I like you more.”

“How much more?”

“Well, just a little.”

“Alright, I’ll give you a little of the rice too.”

A while later, they alighted at their station and took the connected route to the large bookstore.

The bookstore was crowded on a holiday.

Lee Soo-Hee observed them secretly, perking her ears.

“It was selected as a good book by L.A. Times. I think it’s going to be a good read.”

“Hmm, I’m not sure. Is Ha Jae-Gun not releasing any new books?” the lady asked grimly.

The man shot her a slightly pained look, “Do you only know Writer Ha Jae-Gun?”

“His s are well written and interesting.”

“Do you think only Ha Jae-Gun writes well? There are so many other writers who write great s, too. You’re always just going about with Ha Jae-Gun this, Ha Jae-Gun that, Ha Jae-Gun—”

“I didn’t say anything wrong. You’re just being sensitive because you’re an aspiring writer yourself.”

“Hey, why did you bring that up here?”

”Ah, forget it. I’m annoyed; I’m leaving.”

Lee Soo-Hee grinned and whispered to Ha Jae-Gun, “I think he’s going to buy it.”

“Yeah, he clearly doesn't like Ha Jae-Gun, but it's a different story for Eden Smith. Let’s head further in.”

***

The living room was in a mess; there were drinks and snacks littered all over the room. Woo Jae-Hoon was woken up by a call from the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Culture.

“Who else has confirmed that they'd attend? Ah, Assemblyman Kwon Sung-Deuk… and—Ohoho, OongSung Groups Chairman Oh Tae-Jin?” Woo Jae-Hoon becwide awake upon hearing the names of the famous people who would attend the debate.

The door opened, and his manager arrived. A shopping bag filled with a few books was in his manager's hands. Woo Jae-Hoon had just ended the call, so he threw his phone into a corner on the sofa. “Did you pick up anything good?”

“Yes, there’s quite a few newly released books.”

“That damned debate invitation…! It’s torturous holding a book in hand day in and day out when I can’t even direct a movie.” Woo Jae-Hoon grumbled as he took the shopping bag.

He wasn’t reading because he wanted to. He needed to read more in order to cup with topics to talk about on the shows. It was especially so when he was a movie director and closely related to the content industry.

“He seems like an author from the U.S. They said this book has been picked as a good book on L.A. Times, so I bought it.”

“It’s so thick… Did you flip through it before buying?”

“Um…”

“So you just grabbed them randomly?!”

“N-no. I really picked them after putting sthought into it.” The manager cup with excuses, but Woo Jae-Hoon only clicked his tongue in disapproval.

“Yes, Director.” the manager said, but he cussed Woo Jae-Hoon in his mind before walking into the kitchen.

Woo Jae-Hoon opened the book, planning to toss it out if the book wasn’t interesting.

Roughly ten minutes later…

“…”

“Director? The ramyun is done, cand have some.”

“Shut up and stop talking to me.”

“You can have it or just throw it out. Just leavealone!” Woo Jae-Hoon yelled, glaring at the manager.

"However, the world has cto the point where writers like Ha Jae-Gun write trash works and revel in their earnings. This is it.”

“Is the story good, director?”

“It’s no joke. My eyes had rotten after reading Ha Jae-Gun's s, but it feels like they'd just been rinsed with clean water. You should read this when you have the time. This is what I call a real and a proper work. It can't even compare to Ha Jae-Gun’s so-called pulp fiction. I should use this to prepare for the coming debate.”