Chapter 112: Loud Cheers (7)

What? Ha Jae-Gun muttered incredulously.

Woo Jae-Hoons words were no different from saying, Its all thanks to my directing that this movie could gain this much popularity. Woo Jae-Hoon had concealed his usual flippant personality and expressed it in a roundabout manner because he was on a live broadcast.

Am I the only one taking this seriously?

Ha Jae-Gun clenched his trembling fist in deep thought.

He wondered if it was all because he was the author of the original novel, and that was why he took it seriously and to heart that everyone else didnt find the directors remark to be an issue.

I cant

Ha Jae-Gun realized one thing.

Ever since he had made the decision to go ahead with the movie adaptation and wash his hands off it, the issue still clung onto him, tugging so very often in the back of his mind.

He had been turning a blind eye to it, but he finally saw that his workwhich was akin to his alter-egohad been unreasonably looked down upon, and he was giddy with rage.

Bzzt!

Ha Jae-Gun was surprised to see Lee Yeon-Woo calling him so late, as it was nearly midnight. He answered the call immediately, wondering what made the boy call him at this hour.

Yeah, Lee Yeon-Woo.

Hyung, whats going on? Did you see the broadcast?!

Lee Yeon-Woos furious voice was so loud that it hurt Ha Jae-Guns ears.

Broadcast?

Did you see what bulls.h.i.+t that Director Woo Jae-Hoon

Ah,

Im sorry for raising my voice, hyung. I was just too angry.

Ha Jae-Gun could vividly imagine Lee Yeon-Woos furious look.

Ha Jae-Gun finally realized why Lee Yeon-Woo had called, and he frowned.

So you saw it, too.

Hyung. How can anyone say something like that? Isnt he just blatantly saying that the original novel was bad and the movie was this successful, all thanks to his skills?! Why didnt the broadcast station edit that portion out of the show?!

They must have thought that it wasnt that excessive of a comment to be removed. Calm down.

How can I calm down? Im going crazy about it. Wow, seriously! How dare he spit on the original novel when hes just a stupid director who had ruined countless other movies?!

All right, stop it.

Ha Jae-Gun smiled. He was truly grateful that Lee Yeon-Woo was so furious as if this was his personal issue. Lee Yeon-Woos anger had a.s.suaged his own anger before it could boil over.

Hyung! Dont give a s.h.i.+t about that sloppy director. Thats just s.h.i.+t barking and not human language. Okay?!

Summer in My 20s

is the best!

I get it. Thank you. Its late now, so go to sleep. Ill see you tomorrow at the office.

Okay, hyung. You should rest well, too, Ill see you tomorrow. That b.a.s.t.a.r.d!

Lee Yeon-Woos angry muttering could still be heard until the call ended. Ha Jae-Gun put his phone down and did some stretching. He was still smiling.

Thank you, Yeon-Woo.

It would be absurd if a single call from Lee Yeon-Woo could erase all the anger in Ha Jae-Guns heart. However, he did receive some comfort from the latter. At least, the resentment that wouldnt have helped him in any way had disappeared.

I dont have to be worried about it. I just have to be myself as always.

Ha Jae-Gun steeled his resolve, but he decided to lie down in his bed instead of returning to his desk. It was time for him to sleep and regain his energy. However, Park Jung-Jin was snoring loudly and was occupying the entire bed.

***

The next morning, Ha Jae-Gun woke Park Jung-Jin up, and the pair of best friends ate some lunch boxes that they had bought from the convenience store for breakfast.

Are the lunchboxes at convenience stores getting better these days?

Yeah, but I get sick of them if I eat them too often.

Park Jung-Jin chewed while looking around the studio. His eyes were filled with premature longing. I think this will be my last day seeing this studio.

Nonsense, you should come help me on the moving day, too.

Park Jung-Jin immediately pretended to throw up.

Just hire some people to help you move, man! Why are you making your friend a slave when youre earning so much money?

Ive got important stuff, so help me with them.

Youll be dead meat if you just treat me to black bean noodles afterward. Anyway, how much is your new house?

1.33 billion.

f.u.c.king expensive. Whats with the thirty million at the end? Cant they just give you the discount?

It was 1.4 billion, but I negotiated a seventy million discount.

Their conversation ended there.

Park Jung-Jin hurried to the shower and put his clothes back on. He patted down his crumpled s.h.i.+rt and grumbled,

d.a.m.n,

Ill have to go to work looking like this again. I should have gone straight home last night.

Hey, everyone else stopped you, but you wanted to go for a third round, and thats how we ended back at my house, right?

Whatever. Im going to take a walk to sober up; dont follow me. Park Jung-Jin was about to step out, but he turned around and said, Dont mind that dumba.s.s director.

Youve already looked it up on the internet?

Im going now. Park Jung-Jin stepped out and closed the door behind him.

Ha Jae-Gun smiled once more, grateful to his best friend. Park Jung-Jin was never really good at consoling others, but he did it for Ha Jae-Gun, anyway.

It was time for Ha Jae-Gun to prepare to head out for work.

The morning air was unusually fresh today.

Lets go, Rika.

Ha Jae-Gun started working at 9 a.m. The feeling of typing away on the keyboard while sipping his hot coffee seemed much more enjoyable today.

Writer Ha, you seem to be in a good mood today, Jung So-Mi asked as they stepped out for lunch.

Jung So-Mi would usually come to the office whenever she had to work on the ill.u.s.trations, as the computers in the office had better specifications.

Well, its all because the weather is great today, said Ha Jae-Gun with a bright smile, but he lied.

He had actually been linked to Jung So-Mis emotions the entire morning while working on Gangsters Sea. Thanks to her, it was easier for him to pen the descriptions for the charms and psychology of the female character, Ba-Da.

After lunch, Ha Jae-Gun continued working. Thankfully, Jung So-Mi did not step out of the office and continued working in the office as well.

Mm!

It was already past 3 p.m. Ha Jae-Gun paused his work and stretched his back.

The evident fatigue was weighing down on him.

I got tired much faster today than yesterday. Is it because of the drinks I had with them last night?

However, he hadnt drunk a lot last night. He had less than a bottle of soju, as he was worried about his work for the next day.

Ha Jae-Gun stood up and was about to make himself another cup of coffee, but he spotted Rika lying down by the windowsill.

...Rika?

Ha Jae-Gun approached Rika quietly and waved his finger over her face.

She didnt respond.

Hmm?

Rika would usually curl up and nap whenever Ha Jae-Gun was working, but she would immediately wake up whenever Ha Jae-Gun moved.

Rika, are you sleeping? Ha Jae-Gun asked, gently stroking her neck.

Rika opened her sleepy eyes and stared at Ha Jae-Gun before letting out a soft cry.

Wait!

Ha Jae-Gun suddenly thought of something the moment his gaze met with Rikas.

He had never thought of it before, but his jaw dropped open upon recalling the previous instances.

Now that I think about it, I get tired faster than usual whenever I use Rikas ability, and there were also a couple of times when I fell asleep without realizing it.

Ha Jae-Guns eyes remained on Rika as he slowly made the connection.

Could it be that Rika would also get exhausted while they were connected? Perhaps it was much more taxing on Rika, as she was the medium that had to keep the connection up between Ha Jae-Gun and his target.

Rika, am I right?

Ha Jae-Gun asked inwardly as he got on his knee and stared at her at eye level. Rika yawned before slowly picking herself up. She then licked his nose in reply to his question.

Jang Eun-Young turned around and saw Ha Jae-Gun staring at Rika

Writer Ha? Is Rika feeling unwell? she asked.

No, Im just talking to her.

Jang Eun-Young grinned, then burst into a chuckle. I get jealous of your relations.h.i.+p sometimes. Are you sure youre not going to marry Rika?

...! Jung So-Mi flinched and paused. She turned around wide-eyed. The other party was Rika, but the word

marry

had caught her attention.

Sorry, Rika. I wont go over an hour a day next time.

Meow.

Ha Jae-Gun and Rika replied to each other telepathically. Ha Jae-Gun hugged Rika once more and had his coffee before returning to his desk. He reached out for his keyboard and took a deep breath.

Let me try this on my own. I shouldnt depend too much on her if its tiring her out.

Ha Jae-Gun slowly closed his eyes.

He recalled all the moments he had come into contact with Jung So-Mi, and his fingers moved slowly as he typed genuine lines while imagining Jung So-Mi as Ba-Da.

***

- Editor-in-chief, Im sending you the draft of Gangsters Sea. Please look through it and give me a call afterward.

Hmm?

Hes already done with the first draft?

Oh Myung-Suk looked at the calendar, double-checking that it had indeed been a week since he had asked Ha Jae-Gun to start working on the novel.

Was he already writing it before I asked him? Hes so diligent, as always.

Oh Myung-Suk chuckled and accessed his email inbox. He clicked on the email section and opened the attached doc.u.ment.

Hes great as usual. Its as interesting as the scenario.

Oh Myung-Suk was engrossed in Ha Jae-Guns novel right off the bat.

Cho Kang-Jae was the leader of the gang dominating Seoul and Incheon. He was hired to attack Kim Pil-Woo, the head of his rival gang, in exchange for money that would resolve the issue of his parents hospital bills. However, he failed, and his attack ended up as an attempted murder case.

He withdrew his initial plan to turn himself in and chose to flee.

A huge gang war occurred between Cho Kang-Jae and Kim Pil-Woos gangs, and new information traveled to Cho Kang-Jaes ears. Kim Pil-Woo apparently had a secret daughter.

Cho Kang-Jae devised a plan to make use of Ba-Da on the negotiation table, and that was how he embarked on the journey to a small city in the East Sea looking for Ba-Da.

Oh Myung-Suk finished reading the draft in slightly over an hour.

While making himself a cup of coffee, he called Ha Jae-Gun.

h.e.l.lo, editor-in-chief.

h.e.l.lo, Mr. Ha. Ive finished reading the draft for Gangsters Sea. Its great. When did you write this?

Well, the first half of the scenario is done, and weve already agreed on the ending for it as well, so it wasnt that difficult. However, the scenario isnt complete yet. How did you find the novel?

I already told you that it was great, didnt I? I think its as interesting as

Summer in My 20s

, but its much more outstanding. Our domestic readers love some drama, so Im sure itll be a hit. I dont think its too much of an issue even if we push ahead with the draft alone.

Thank you, but Ill still have to make revisions.

Im sorry, but I might need you to hurry on the revisions if possible.

Summer in My 20s

is still going strong, and if we release a novel to ride that momentum, the sales will reach greater heights.

I guess Ill have to do that. Can you give me about a weeks time?

What? A week?

Hahaha,

you dont have to push that far. We can do with a month for the novels revision.

Okay, thats more than enough time for me. Ill try my best to submit it earlier. Is there anything else you want to point out about the novel?

Ah, mm.

Its not really that important Oh Myung-Suk trailed off as he looked at the novels t.i.tle. I was thinking that we might have to change the novels t.i.tle.

Ah,

the t.i.tle I thought it wasnt that bad because the female characters name is called Ba-Da, and she lives by the sea as well

Hearing Ha Jae-Guns dejected tone, Oh Myung-Suk hurriedly said, Yes, the t.i.tle is not bad. But it feels weird with the word

gangster

in it. It feels somewhat harsh and stark.

How about A Wastrels Sea

?

Oh Myung-Suk almost let out an audible sigh.

Um,

Writer Ha. How about we consider taking another perspective to come up with the t.i.tle? Ill come up with a few options as well.

Thank you as always

Oh Myung-Suk stayed on the call for a while more before hanging up. He then called an employee of Mysteriums editing department.

Please inform the entire editorial department. Have everyone read the draft of Gangsters Sea and come up with at least ten decent t.i.tles to be submitted by tomorrow.

With that, Oh Myung-Suk looked out the window and stared at the clear blue skies of late summer.

He sipped on his coffee while trying to come up with a few decent t.i.tles himself. He also started mentally listing a few directors just in case the novel got popular enough to get adapted into a movie.