Big Life

“Congratulations, hyung. You’ve finally fulfilled your dream of having a daughter as your first child.”

“Wow, look at those fingers. Look at her wriggling her fingers, she’s so cute I’m going crazy. Jae-Gun hyung, Eun-Chae looks so much like your wife; why don’t you have her become a movie star?”

“Yeah. When Eun-Chae grows up, Do-Joon hyung will have already become a huge star. He’d be able to guide her by then.”

“Ah, you guys are so noisy. Hyun-Kyung, Yeon-Woo, get out. Writer Ha, I think Eun-Chae is better off becoming a writer instead of a movie star. She has definitely inherited her parents’ talents. Isn’t your wife smart, too?”

“You should go out, Min-Ho hyung. Ah, all the men, just keep quiet now if you don’t want to get chased out.”

The writers from the office began congratulating Ha Jae-Gun.

His close Park friends Jung-Jin and Park Do-Joon, C.Y.’s Lee Chae-Rin and Han Yu-Na took time off from their single album recording to visit them with gifts in their hands.

Laugh Books’ Kwon Tae-Won and Oongsung Publication Group’s Oh Myung-Suk came to visit as well right after office hours, adding to the happiness. Aside from them, visits and gifts from many other acquaintances also made their way to the ward it seemed endless.

“Oh, isn’t this from the Ministry of Culture?”

“There’s also something sent from the head of the district office.”

As the presents piled up in the room, the ward soon resembled a storage room. Lee Yeon-Woo had filled up the car with some of the gifts and moved them home, but it was futile.

The space was freed up only temporarily, as it took no less than a day and a half for it to get filled up once more. There were so many health supplements, meat products, and baby products that it was tough to bring all of them back, resulting in Ha Jae-Gun having to split them and give them away to others.

[Writer Ha Jae-Gun’s crazy connections after the birth of his daughter, a long line of visitors starting with world star Park Do-Joon?]

[C.Y.’s Chae-Rin and Yu-Na: We stopped recording and ran to visit Eun-Chae first]

[Park Do-Joon uploads a photo taken with Ha Jae-Gun’s daughter: Ha Jae-Gun, I’m sorry but Eun-Chae’s my daughter from today onward]

The internet was already in chaos with the release of the movie The Breath, but news of Ha Jae-Gun’s newborn daughter made it worse.

His newborn became the reason why Lee Soo-Hee’s beauty, who used to be known as the dress girl, was revisited with a new light shed on her. And Eun-Chae’s name was on the top of the real-time keyword search ranking instead of Ha Jae-Gun.

Three days later, they moved to a postpartum care center. After sending Lee Soo-Hee back home to her family, Ha Jae-Gun remained to organize the remaining baggage they had, and an unexpected guest appeared at the ward.

“Ms. Ye-Seul…?”

“It’s been a while, Oppa.” She lifted the cap that was pulled down to cover her face, smiling at him. Beside her was her manager, who was carrying a huge gift box in his hands, greeting Ha Jae-Gun.

“I’m sorry, I wanted to visit earlier but couldn’t because of my tight schedule. But congratulations on your newborn.”

“Thank you for visiting even now. You must be extremely busy because of the drama. I saw the news; you really fit the main character, Ms. Ye-Seul,” Ha Jae-Gun replied as he took over the gift box from her manager.

Hong Ye-Seul was recently cast as the main character of a drama that was based on a serialized romance webtoon. Her hair was also cut short to match the boyish personality of the main character.

“But my wife and daughter have already…”

“That can’t be helped; I’m the one who is late after all.”

“Do you want a cup of coffee instead?”

“Thank you. Ah, let me do it, oppa.”

Her manager left them for a while. Hong Ye-Seul took a sip of coffee but seemed anxious. She came to look for him with a favor to ask, but her throat was dry. Knowing that Ha Jae-Gun was tight on time, she cleared her throat and began,

“Oppa.”

“Yes, Ms. Hong Ye-Seul. Please speak.”

“I…” Hong Ye-Seul trailed off and dropped her head. She barely managed to start, but the words seemed hard to roll off her tongue. “I… you…”

All she needed to say was a single sentence. All she needed to say was that now that he had become a father, she had finally gotten over him; she was grateful to him for all he had done and would never forget the gratitude she had for him.

However, it felt like a stone had blocked her throat.

Knock, knock.

“Mr. Jae-Gun? Your car has arrived, but you weren’t answering your phone…”

“Ah, sorry. I put it on silent mode since I still have some stuff to organize. I’ll head over to the carpark soon, so please tell them to wait for me there.”

“Yes, I understand.”

The door closed a while later, and Hong Ye-Seul bit her lips anxiously. It wasn’t the same old laid-back situation at the bar on a random late night. Ha Jae-Gun was about to head out to meet his wife and daughter.

“I am here…” Hong Ye-Seul slowly looked up. Ha Jae-Gun noticed her teary eyes. “I am here… to get back the pendant I asked you to keep in my stead.”

“...?!” Astonishment briefly flashed across Ha Jae-Gun’s face. The day when Hong Ye-Seul had left her pendant with him surfaced in his mind. The photo of young Hong Ye-Seul and her mother in the pendant was still vivid in his mind.

“Did you find your mother?”

“Yes… I think so.”

“You think so? Just say yes if you did, what is ‘you think so?’”

“No, anyway… I found her.”

“How did you find her? Did she contact you after seeing you on TV?”

Hong Ye-Seul smiled bitterly, shaking her head. “I always felt someone staring at me whenever I had autograph events. I thought it was just my illusion at first…”

“And you found out that it’s really her?”

The moment Hong Ye-Seul was about to answer, Ha Jae-Gun’s phone screen lit up once more. Seeing Lee Soo-Hee’s name pop up on the screen, Hong Ye-Seul decided to rise from her seat.

“I’ll tell you again some other time. You must be busy now; I’m sorry for taking up your time.”

“I should be sorry since we’re talking about something important. It’d be great if you could call before coming. I’d be able to bring the pendant with me, too.”

Hong Ye-Seul responded by looking down with a faint smile. As usual, Ha Jae-Gun was slow in understanding a girl’s heart, not knowing that his response meant that there'd be an excuse for them to meet up in the future.

“Let’s have a meal sometime. I’m really happy that you’ve found your mother. You should be receiving my congratulations instead.”

“Thank you, oppa. You should get going. You’re going to bring all these with you, right? Let me help you with half of them.”

Ha Jae-Gun and Hong Ye-Seul headed down to the car park and said their goodbyes before heading in the direction of their cars. Hong Ye-Seul turned around before hopping into the car and stared at Ha Jae-Gun in the distance.

“I’m going for the audition!” Hong Ye-Seul shouted at Ha Jae-Gun.

“...What?”

“I’m going to join the audition for your next Records series movie! I’ll work hard on learning Mandarin as well, so look forward to that! Who knows? I might get chosen as the lead actor, too.”

“Hahaha, I got it. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Goodbye, oppa!”

“Yes, goodbye, Ms. Ye-Seul.”

Hong Ye-Seul buried her face into her hands as soon as she got in the car. Her manager turned up the volume of the radio, allowing Hong Ye-Seul to sob softly.

Suddenly, Hong Ye-Seul looked up. “Why are you overreacting?”

“Huh? No, I’m just…”

“I’m not crying, okay? I was just thinking about something.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll lower down the volume again.”

“Huhu, our younger oppa is so nice.” Hong Ye-Seul smiled as she wiped away the tears. Today was definitely one of the most difficult moments in her life.

Soon, the car drove out of the car park.

***

“Forty million copies?!” Kwon Tae-Won yelled, jumping to his feet. All the employees of Laugh Books looked in his direction. “The Breath: Dragon Rider novel has surpassed forty million copies!”

As cheers and applause rang throughout the office, Kwon Tae-Won walked to the middle of the office and continued reading the news article from L.A. Times on his phone.

“The Breath: Dragon Rider’s popularity soars ahead of the release of its movie in North America. What made The Breath: Dragon Rider so popular that it threatens Harrison Potter’s standing?

"Deputy Jung, did you hear me? We’re being compared to Harrison Potter. The article says that The Breath is threatening Harrison Potter’s stronghold.”

“Calm down, President. You’re too excited now.” Jung So-Mi said, but she was excited as well.

The illustrations she did for the novel were popular among the readers as well. Searching up The Breath on Google would show many of her illustrations under the search results.

“It’s amazing that The Breath has become so popular.” Jung So-Mi’s amazement was definitely not an exaggeration. The Breath: Dragon Rider was pre-released in over 30 countries aside from North America, earning a whopping $28.4 million dollars, translating to over 200 billion Korean won. This was before it was released in larger markets like North America, Mexico, Spain, and China.

“What’s the viewership score for Records of the Modern Master?”

“It’s at 16.5 million now. Will The Breath hit that high as well?”

“Actually, I’m more curious if either of the movies would be able to surpass the Battle of Myeongnyang,” an employee piqued.

The Battle of Myeongnyang was the most successful movie in Korea’s history. Its cumulative viewership count was at 17.6 million, and Records of the Modern Master, which had already begun long-term screening had yet to surpass that record.

“Anyway, President, are we not going to have a company dinner today?”

“Isn’t that a given? Do you even have to ask about that? Shall we have tuna today then?” Cheers twice louder than the one earlier roared.

The prosperity of Laugh Books was also a result of Ha Jae-Gun’s spectacular success. The number of employees had also increased to the tens.

Kwon Tae-Won was now looking for a suitable site to build a house for himself.

Riiingg!

“Hello, this is Jung So-Mi from Laugh Books. Yes? Ah… Hello, sir. Yes, I am Jung So-Mi.” Jung So-Mi spoke into the phone with a look of awkwardness. Kwon Tae-Won could already guess who was calling. He reached out, and Jung So-Mi handed him the phone.

“Hello, this is Kwon Tae-Won.”

— It’s been a while. I see that your company is thriving these days.

“Thank you. It’s thanks to all the years of learning under you, sir.”

— Hoho, I don’t feel that bad when you say that.

The person on the other line breaking into a peal of low laughter was Star Books’ CEO, Park Jae-Gook. Kwon Tae-Won could feel Park Jae-Gook's pain after his son's embezzlement.

— I see that Haetae Media’s CEO has failed and vanished as well.

“Yes, I have just heard about it the day before as well.” Kwon Tae-Won headed to the window side. In fact, Kwon Tae-Won had guessed the fall of Haetae Media before anyone else. The reason was simple: Ma Jong-Goo had sent in an application form last week. Of course, Kwon Tae-Won had deleted it without even reading half of it.

— I don’t want to go bankrupt like them.

“Hahaha, why are you saying such things, sir?”

— I’m just joking. I actually called to ask you a favor.

“Please speak. I’ll do it if it’s within my means.”

Park Jae-Gook let out a short sigh before continuing.

— Please take over some of the novels by our writers at Star Books.

“Ah…”

— I’m exhausted and weak now, so I want to clean up and take a rest. I should actually be discussing this with you in the face over drinks, but I thought you must be really busy so I decided to call you instead.

“No, sir. Don’t say that.” It was clearly a proposal that would benefit Laugh Books, but Kwon Tae-Won had mixed feelings about it. His eyes slowly looked up and finally landed on the skies. Everything seemed to be falling into place like flowing white clouds.

***

“You’re not writing today either? I heard your manuscript isn’t completed yet.”

“I finished it in the morning.”

“In the morning? You were with Eun-Chae the entire morning.”

“No, not morning, but at dawn. When you were sleeping.”

“You were sleeping with Eun-Chae when I woke up.”

“Yeah, I wrote until dawn and went to sleep right before you woke,” Ha Jae-Gun observed Lee Soo-Hee for a while then turned his attention to Eun-Chae. It was torture to spin lies.

Lee Soo-Hee giggled and did not ask further, then stepped away to fold the laundry.

“Our princess should grow big enough as soon as possible so that I can sit you on my lap and let you watch me work.” Ha Jae-Gun was fully in love with his daughter.

Lee Soo-Hee didn’t even have the chance to touch her aside from when she had to breastfeed her daughter. With how Ha Jae-Gun was taking all the time to spend with Eun-Chae, there was no way he had the time to work on his writing.

“Eun-Chae, Daddy reads fairytales after you sleep. Are you asking why this thirty-year-old uncle is reading fairytales? Huhuhu, you want to know? Sure, I’ll let you in on it. I want to gift you fairytale books after you’ve learned hangeul[1] when you grow up. Hahahaha.”

“That’s a disability, all right? Soo-Hee, Jae-Gun has become disabled.” Myung-Ja rolled her tongue as she sat on the sofa. She came to visit wanting to see her granddaughter but she had yet to see her daughter even now.

“Jae-Gun. Leave Eun-Chae to me and go work on your novels. Or maybe go out and meet Jung-Jin or Do-Joon instead. What are you doing at home on a good day like this?”

Ha Jae-Gun pretended that he didn’t hear his mother and stuck his nose on Eun-Chae’s belly, rubbing her. If his phone hadn’t rang, he would have continued doing that for a while.

“Ah, Editor-in-Chief. No, I’m sorry, President Kwon.”

— Haha, I’ve said it’s fine if you keep calling me Editor-in-Chief.

“It takes some time getting used to. Why did you call?”

— Right, I wanted to ask you a favor, Mr. Ha. My father…

Ha Jae-Gun could tell as Oh Myung-Suk trailed off.

Oh Myung-Suk wanted to ask him to read over Oh Tae-Jin’s manuscript. Perhaps Oh Myung-Suk had sent it over to his inbox already. Ha Jae-Gun replied as he turned on his laptop, “You’re referring to the Chairman’s novel, right?”

— Yes, like usual, he would like to hear your feedback as well. So if you’re available to…

“There’s nothing else for me to do aside from playing with Eun-Chae. I’ll read it now if you’ll send it over.”

— I was just about it email it to you, too. Let me send it now.

“Have you read it already?”

— I’ve just received it as well, so no.

“Alright. I’ll call you again once I’m done reading it.” Ha Jae-Gun hung up the phone and accessed his email inbox.

He opened the email titled Five Dreams and found a file attached to it. Ha Jae-Gun opened the file and started reading it. He felt apologetic to Oh Tae-Jin, but he decided to put on Seo Gun-Woo’s horn-rimmed glasses to read, wanting to play with Eun-Chae sooner.

A while later…

“...!”

Ha Jae-Gun’s face turned pale as he took off the glasses. His chest contracted and expanded rapidly as he drew in astonished breaths.

1. The Korean alphabet system ☜

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