Big Life

Chapter 141. I’m An Earthling (11)

“What?”

Ha Jae-Gun looked at her.

Lee Soo-Hee muttered, “I hate getting distracted in front of you. It would be nice if I could make some mistakes from time to time, but mistakes aren’t allowed, and I don’t like it.

”I also don’t like the fact that you wouldn’t reach your hand out to me. I don’t like how you’re a perfectionist. I don’t like that the company is sending me overseas just because I’m good at my work.”

Tears welled up in Lee Soo-Hee’s eyes.

She mocked herself and held her tears back.

“I don’t like how I’m being like this in front of you. I don’t like how my pride has disappeared, and now I’m confessing to the man who has already rejected me. I’ve received many confessions from so many men out there, but here I am again. I’m so pathetic—I’m an idiot, I’m angry, I’m annoyed, and I’m upset.”

“Soo-Hee…”

“But what can I do? I was born that way.” Lee Soo-Hee pulled out a piece of tissue and wiped her tear-stricken face before standing up. “I’ve finished what I wanted to say, so I’ll be leaving now. I’ll go out and take a breather; don’t follow me.”

Ha Jae-Gun stood there blankly, watching her leave.

She stood in the foyer and was about to put on her shoes.

It was the pair of flats Ha Jae-Gun had bought for her in Japan.

The flats that initially hurt her feet now fit nicely.

“Don’t leave.”

“I’m going to leave.”

“I’m not saying that you shouldn’t go home. I’m asking you not to go to Europe, Soo-Hee.”

Lee Soo-Hee paused and turned around.

"...?!"

Ha Jae-Gun looked right back at her and gulped.

"I was ashamed of myself back in university, so I couldn't bring myself to accept you. I had nothing to my name back then, so how could I go out with someone as beautiful as you?

”I’m currently living a life miles better than my life not too long ago, but I'm still afraid. I couldn’t bring it up first, as I was afraid of what our future would turn out to be."

Lee Soo-Hee's lips trembled.

Ha Jae-Gun stood just a few steps away from her with his hand on his forehead.

"I'm not going to worry and think about the future now. I don't know what’s going to happen to us. All I know is that I'm going to be selfish from now on. I'm not going to care even if your career progression is stifled because of me. What's all that got to do with me? I'm a selfish jerk. I'm going to just think for myself."

Ha Jae-Gun put down his hand then strode over to her.

Facing Lee Soo-Hee, he muttered, “I love you, Lee Soo-Hee.”

“Jae-Gun…?”

“I’ve felt this way ever since the first day I saw you. And now I’m slightly more confident that I’m qualified to confess to an amazing woman like you. I really love you. Really…”

Lee Soo-Hee covered her mouth with both hands, and tears began flowing down her cheeks.

“Sob, sob…!”

“Soo-Hee.”

“You… You really took… too long…!”

Ha Jae-Gun pulled Lee Soo-Hee into a hug. She felt small and thin in his arms. Her usual confrontational appearance couldn’t be seen here.

After a while, Ha Jae-Gun finally let go of her.

Lee Soo-Hee’s plump and seductive lips caught Ha Jae-Gun’s eyes.

Ha Jae-Gun slowly leaned in, but he stopped himself in time.

“Am I going too fast?”

“No.”

Lee Soo-Hee went ahead and kissed him on the lips. She then wrapped her hands around Ha Jae-Gun’s neck and pulled him closer. As they became one, the two staggered backward and fell onto the sofa.

“Uuph… Haa.”

Their tongues were entangled in between their overlapping lips. Ha Jae-Gun kept caressing Lee Soo-Hee’s cheeks with both hands throughout the kiss.

He was in disbelief. He couldn’t believe that he was kissing and caressing his long-time crush since his university days.

Lee Soo-Hee’s sweet, hot breath on his cheeks made Ha Jae-Gun feel like going crazy. His hand instinctively reached to unbutton Lee Soo-Hee’s blouse.

“Meow…” Rika came down from the windowsill where she had been curled up at for a while. She rushed up the stairs to the study on the second floor.

“Haa, Jae-Gun… Wait…”

Lee Soo-Hee’s face turned a shade redder when her blouse was undone. Ha Jae-Gun spotted her pale long neck above her chest that Lee Soo-Hee covered with her arms. Ha Jae-Gun’s lips went for her neck. Lee Soo-Hee often had her hair up in a ponytail back in university, and her neckline often distracted him during classes.

“A-ah…!”

Lee Soo-Hee’s body trembled lightly as Ha Jae-Gun kissed her collarbone. The tingling feeling coming from her abdomen made her entire body tremble. She couldn’t even move a single finger.

“Jae-Gun… Please…”

Lee Soo-Hee’s desperate pleas made Ha Jae-Gun come back to his senses.

Ha Jae-Gun stopped kissing her and looked up.

Lee Soo-Hee’s eyes were shut tightly, seemingly in agony,

Ha Jae-Gun asked softly, “Sorry, should I stop?”

“No… Just turn off the lights.”

When Lee Soo-Hee’s words fell, the lights in the basement went out.

It was startling, but the couple weren’t in the mood to question the phenomenon.

Rika’s eyes shone softly in the basement for a while before they disappeared as Rika turned around and returned to the story.

***

Ha Jae-Gun was in a dream.

A signboard that read Gyeoja Bathhouse was in front of him.

The building looked extremely old and shabby. The permanently closed bathhouse had a poster at its doors that read No Entry fluttering in the wind.

Ha Jae-Gun turned around slowly and signboards to Guncheon Public Office and Guncheon Police Station appeared before him.

All of a sudden, a sound came from his feet.

Rika was acting cute and was hanging onto the hem of his pants.

‘Hmm…?!’

The light coming from somewhere singed Ha Jae-Gun’s eyes, and he abruptly opened them.

A familiar-looking ceiling was in front of him.

Looking around, he found himself lying on a bed in a bedroom.

‘Why are there no sheets?’ Ha Jae-Gun wondered as he sat up. He clearly remembered that there were white sheets when he laid down with Lee Soo-Hee, but he couldn’t find them anymore.

“Hmm, did Lee Soo-Hee remove it?”

“Meow.”

“Oh, Rika. How was your sleep?”

Ha Jae-Gun yawned and hugged Rika.

Looking at Rika, he recalled the dream he had earlier.

‘Gyeoja Bathhouse? Guncheon Public Office? Have I been there before?’

While he was occupied with his thoughts still half-asleep, a clatter came from outside.

Ha Jae-Gun took Rika and headed out of the room.

“What are you doing?”

“Ah, did you wake up because of me? I was taking out a pot and accidentally dropped the lid,” Lee Soo-Hee said and smiled awkwardly with a ladle in hand.

Ha Jae-Gun was in his wide short-sleeved t-shirt without any pants on. His pale thighs looked dazzling under the morning sunlight, and a thought suddenly came to Ha Jae-Gun’s mind.

“The stew is boiling, so just wait for a while. Shall I get you a cup of coffee?”

“I’ll do it myself. Do you want a cup, too?”

“Sure.”

As Ha Jae-Gun made coffee for both of them, he suddenly smelt something strange and squinted his eyes. Lee Soo-Hee was walking weirdly around in the kitchen. She was limping, seemingly wounded.

“Lee Soo-Hee, did you hurt your leg?”

“Huh?”

“Why are you limping? You look awkward walking like that.”

Lee Soo-Hee’s face reddened and shook her head. “Ah, t-this… No, it’s fine.”

“What do you mean fine? Where are you hurt?”

“It’s nothing like that, dummy.”

“Why am I a dummy?”

“How did you write your bestsellers when you don’t have a clue about women?”

Lee Soo-Hee grinned, but she was dumbfounded by his reaction as well.

Rika pawed on Ha Jae-Gun’s cheeks a couple times, as if criticizing him.

‘Anyway, it felt like a dream.’

Last night’s events felt surreal to Ha Jae-Gun. He never thought that love was such a great thing. A smile bloomed on his face.

Bzzt!

His phone vibrated on the kitchen counter.

Ha Jae-Gun picked up his phone and opened the text message.

However, there wasn’t just one message waiting for him.

There were over ten missed calls and twenty desperate-sounding messages made to him overnight.

Ha Jae-Gun checked all the messages and his eyes widened in shock.

However, his shock lasted only for a few moments. He had gotten a bit more knowledgeable about the world compared to not too long ago, and he couldn’t help but chuckle bitterly.

“Hahaha…”

“What’s wrong?”

“I told the lawyers to sue those who have been posting malicious comments about me on the Internet. They caught two, and they just sent me messages. They sound so desperate.”

“That’s good news. Don’t agree to a settlement. They deserve punishment.” Lee Soo-Hee responded while watching the stew boil, but her eyes suddenly widened in surprise. “Wait, how did those people find your number if you left the job to your lawyers?”

“Well, it’s because I know them.”

“You know them?”

Ha Jae-Gun handed his phone to Lee Soo-Hee.

Lee Soo-Hee took it and read the messages, and her jaws dropped open in horror.

She knew those names as well.

***

“I’m really sorry, I’m really, really sorry, Ha Jae-Gun!”

Tae-Jung rubbed his palms together, begging, asking for forgiveness. His unkempt mustache made him look haggard. Meanwhile, the cafe owner and other diners were watching the scene with a strange look.

“I-I must have been out of my mind. I drank too much and… My work isn’t working out, nor was my writing doing well enough. I wrote those out of jealousy. I’m really, really sorry…”

Lee Soo-Hee looked down coldly at Tae-Jung.

She recalled how Tae-Jung acted back during Myungkyung Arts University’s orientation. Tae-Jung had openly expressed his hatred toward Ha Jae-Gun since then, just because Ha Jae-Gun was doing much better than him.

“Let’s agree to a settlement. I r-really… I have to work as a civil servant just to make a living. If I get booked, I will really have to die. My future will be ruined.”

Ha Jae-Gun had no idea what to say.

Lee Soo-Hee spoke up in his stead. “How are you so shameless that you’re worried about nothing but yourself even in this situation? I know you’re not sorry after cursing using every curse word out there. You’re just sorry that you got caught, and you’re just worried about taking the civil servant exams.”

“Soo-Hee, I’m really sorry toward you as well…! Please, please… I’m begging you!”

Tae-Jung got out of his chair and knelt down on the floor. He didn’t care how others viewed him at this point. Of course, he couldn’t really care less about them either.

“I’m really sorry, Jae-Gun. Please let me go this time, sobbbb…!”

Tae-Jung knelt at Ha Jae-Gun and Lee Soo-Hee’s feet, rubbing his hands while sobbing. Ha Jae-Gun rubbed the back of his neck with a complicated look.

The crocodile tears that Tae-Jung shed did not get to him.

Just then…

“Ah, you’ve just arrived?” Lee Soo-Hee smiled and waved at the cafe entrance.

The woman standing at the cafe entrance stood stiffly like a statue.

Tae-Jung glanced and his teary eyes widened in surprise.

“J-Jung-Mi…!”

Jung-Mi was the second individual the lawyers caught along with Tae-Jung.

Jung-Mi stood there frozen and in a daze. She had no idea where to look.

Tae-Jung could not speak and only watched her blankly.

He didn’t expect to see Jung-Mi here, as a suspect of defamation. He had liked her since university. He clenched his jaws so hard that his teeth felt like they were going to break. If there were a rat hole somewhere, he very much wanted to hide inside it even if it meant crushing all the bones in his body.

“Let’s agree to a settlement.” Ha Jae-Gun stood up, thinking that this punishment was more than enough. “I hope you’ll become a good civil servant.”

Ha Jae-Gun grabbed Lee Soo-Hee’s hand and left the table.

Jung-Mi remained standing like a frozen statue, even as the couple walked past her.

“That’s good enough, right?” Lee Soo-Hee asked as they walked hand in hand.

Ha Jae-Gun held Lee Soo-Hee’s hand and nodded.

“Are you okay?”

“I feel nothing. I don’t want to be bothered by these little things as well,” he said,but , he inwardly added, ‘You’re the reason I managed to take it, Soo-Hee.’

“Yeah, Jae-Gun. You need to set your sights far now that you’ve become a globally known name.”

“There Was A Sea is the only one going global.”

“Who knows? Perhaps Oscar’s Dungeon might expand overseas first. I’m a competent team leader, after all.”

Ha Jae-Gun smiled while looking at Lee Soo-Hee, then cast his gaze downward.

Lee Soo-Hee still looked awkward while walking.

Ha Jae-Gun crouched down in front of her and said, “Come on.”

“This is embarrassing. Don’t do it.”

“I think you hurt your leg, so let me carry you.”

“I can walk, it’s fine.”

“Hmm, I’m going to carry you like this then.”

“J-Ha Jae-Gun?!”

Ha Jae-Gun slid one arm under her knees, and another behind her back before lifting her up.

Lee Soo-Hee struggled in embarrassment, but Ha Jae-Gun didn’t put her down.

Spring was definitely coming to them.