Big Life

“Hello, Content Producer Bae. How have you been? I apologize for contacting you just now. I have been quite busy with sthings happening these past few days that I couldn't really call you back.”

— Of course, you must be busy. You must be extremely busy with your writing. You've just had your wedding as well, and now, you even have to deal with that recent issue…

Content Producer Bae trailed off, hesitant to continue further as he was about to mention the ongoing tax investigation that was directed at Ha Jae-Gun.

— Ahaha, you don’t have to apologize. Please don’t say that, Mr. Ha.

“Thank you for your understanding. I’ve just read the email you sent, Content Producer Bae. That’s why I called you now,” Ha Jae-Gun said as his eyes remained on the screen, still looking at the email’s contents.

“I’d like to go along with your proposal.”

— Really?!

“I’ve been refusing in the past because I was focusing on my s, but I think it’s tforto accept your goodwill.”

— Thank you so much. I will never forget this favor, Mr. Ha Jae-Gun. Thank you.

Just then, the bell rang from the gate at Ha Jae-Gun’s house. He stepped out of his study while still on the phone and said, “I’m sorry, but I think I have a guest, so I’ll have to hang up first.”

— Don’t worry, Mr. Ha. I’ll contact you again as soon as I have finished discussions and assigned a producer for it. Let’s have a meal together sometsoon.

“Sure, I’ll be waiting for your call.” Ha Jae-Gun hung up the phone and quickly headed for the porch. Park Do-Joon had crossed the yard and was arriving at his doorstep. The wide strides he took and the look on his face made it clear that he was angry.

“What’s wrong?” Ha Jae-Gun asked when Park Do-Joon stopped in front of him.

“I should be the one asking that.”

”What do you mean?”

“I’m feeling hot, so let’s go in and talk.:”

The two of them got a cup of coffee each and sat down at the dining table. Nun-Sol, who was curled up on top of the refrigerator, looked down at the both of them subtly.

Park Do-Joon began, “What were you doing?”

“Of course, I’m writing.”

“In the midst of all this mess?”

“I’m writing so well, though.” Ha Jae-Gun responded casually.

Park Do-Joon unbuttoned the top button of his shirt and let out a frustrated sigh. “Ha Jae-Gun, do you still remember the Baeksong Arts Awards? You were denied entry at the car park, and I said something similar back then, too.”

“I know what you’re trying to say.”

“This isn’t something you should let go quietly. It’s not something that should let it stop there just because you’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Do-Joon.”

“Listen tofirst.” Park Do-Joon waved his hand and cut Ha Jae-Gun off. He then poured out everything he had been keeping to himself for a while. “This isn’t your own problem. Did you see what everyone else has been saying on the Internet?

"There are not just a couple of people saying that you wouldn’t be getting investigated for tax evasion for no reason. Of course, the investigation has ended without any issues, and your nhas been cleared as well.

"Articles about this have been released, too. However, how many would actually believe this side of the story? Once a scandal involves a female celebrity, people would pay attention to it. No one will care even if it's just a rumor.”

Ha Jae-Gun frowned, smiling bitterly. Park Do-Joon spoke so fast that Ha Jae-Gun had no chance to butt in.

“Go on a broadcast once to end this fiasco once and for all.”

“Do-Joon…”

“I’ll get Tae-Bong hyung to make arrangements with a not-so-bad program. It doesn't suit your personality, but you could share how you’ve been doing and make sure you talk about the tax investigation, too.”

It was broadcast once per week. In addition to celebrities, they also invite famous people from all walks of life. It was a program well known for its comfortable and entertaining hosting, and it was so popular that it had an average viewership rating of nearly nineteen percent.

“How cyou just toldthat just now?”

“I wanted to tell you, but you didn’t givea chance to speak.”

“Anyway, you’ve made a good decision.” Park Do-Joon patted Ha Jae-Gun on the shoulders with a huge smile instead of the worrislook from earlier.

“But this doesn’t sound plausible…”

“What about?”

“It’s funny that you would willingly and readily agree to appear on a show. Wasn't I supposed to make seffort in persuading you and you’d finally give in and agree to do it while showing much reluctance in the end?” Park Do-Joon tapped Ha Jae-Gun’s shoulder lightly before adding, “Ha Jae-Gun’s character has crumbled.”

“Really?” Ha Jae-Gun chuckled, shaking his head. Park Do-Joon was right.

Regardless of what everyone was saying, Ha Jae-Gun would definitely still be working on his s quietly if it were him in the past. After all, he had a clear conscience and twould prove his innocence.

“I'm already married, so I thought I could be more proactive in things and step up when necessary. After all, I'm no longer alone,” Ha Jae-Gun explained.

Park Do-Joon stretched backward and let out a yawn. “So this is all thanks to Ms. Lee Soo-Hee then. You’re showing off your wife again. I’ve heard enough of that, so stop it.”

“Comparingto you, I am not even a tenth of you when you talk about Chae-Rin.”

“You can only see it once Teencent Pictures has approved it.”

“Wow, how can you be so petty? You’ve beca totally changed person after getting famous. Wait and see if I’ll curse you today on my Twitter.”

“Don’t. I’ll order thick black bean sauce noodles and sweet and sour pork.” Ha Jae-Gun chased after the grumbling Park Do-Joon as he headed for the living room.

The sunlight peeking through the curtains was weakening, and the day was about to vanish into the horizon in peace like the hearts of the two friends.

***

[A "weakness" of Ha Jae-Gun has been revealed because of the recent tax investigation; the amount of money donated to all sorts of charities was worth billions]

The broadcast was a huge success. Content Producer Bae, along with the producer and staff in charge of the program, were surprised by the phenomenal viewership rating of almost thirty percent

Despite all those, Ha Jae-Gun didn't actually expect such results.

Thanks to that, the writers at the Bucheon office all heaved a sigh of relief.

“Hey, Yeon-Woo. You watched the first broadcast yesterday, and you’re watching the replay again?”

“Because it’s Ha Jae-Gun hyung. It’s really fun to watch it all over again.”

The TV broadcast was over, but the episode was uploaded to the Inteand spread across the nation. The video was uploaded with English subtitles, and thanks to Ha Jae-Gun’s readers, the video recorded over fifty million views in just a single day.

There was an endless line of comments beneath the video.

- Can this be called the reverse effects of the tax investigations team? They tried to prove acts of tax evasion but only discovered acts of donations instead…. I acknowledge the Great Ha Jae-Gun.

- Writer Ha Jae-Gun is really amazing. People would usually show off their donations, but to think he gave out such huge amounts of donations but kept it all under wraps. If they hadn’t done the tax investigations, I think all of this would be kept a secret forever.

- I couldn’t help but cry and think how much he must have suffered alone while watching the broadcast. I hope he will live a happy life with his beautiful wife going forward.

- So the saying that there’s no one without dirt in them is wrong….

- Ranked first in the Weekly Trends survey as the man you want to get married to. And now he’s out of stock;;; t.t t.t t.t (bawls)

- Ha Jae-Gun’s wife is really pretty;;; How is she thirty with that face? Objectively speaking, I think her beauty is in the top 0.1% in Korea.

- There’s something I realized, did the National Tax Services start the investigation to bring up Ha Jae-Gun’s neven more? I’m going to live the rest of my life as Writer Ha’s reader.

There was an explosion of positive comments. Kwon Sung-Deuk’s ill-intentions had only strengthened Ha Jae-Gun’s position and raised his honor to even greater heights.

“Huh? Wait, what?”

“What’s wrong, Ms. Bong-Yi?”

“It’s nothing. I just received an email from Haetae Media. They said they're going to return tothe rights for publication, but I don’t understand why,” Jeon Bong-Yi’s words stunned the others as they looked at each other. Why would they voluntarily return the publication rights? Had something happened to Haetae Media?

And that was the end of everyone’s interest in Haetae Media. The writers were busy talking about Ha Jae-Gun even until they were on their way out for lunch.

***

“I’m done, Rika!”

”Now that I’ve sent it to the editor-in-chief, we should go visit the Elder. I've got to show it to him.” Ha Jae-Gun moved quickly, printing out the draft and clipping the stack of papers together, and brought it along with him out of the house.

Rika and Nun-Sol both trotted behind him, hopping onto the car.

“It’s so hot today too; I’ll turn on the aircon for you.”

The morning had just begun, and Lee Soo-Hee had just left for her office not long ago. Ha Jae-Gun ran along the quiet road and soon arrived in front of Seo Gun-Woo’s grave.

“Elder, did you rest well? I’m here.” Ha Jae-Gun placed down the soju and snacks he had brought along on the ground, then sat down as well. He then pulled out a stack of papers and extended them over with both hands.

“Since when did this start? Since when did I stop hearing your advice in my head, Elder? No matter how desperate I asked, I could no longer hear your voice.”

Ha Jae-Gun paused to let out a short, hot breath. “I just thought of this a few days ago. I'm thinking that I've simply hallucinated your voice all this while. Could it be that my own talent had collided with my childishness? Something like that?”

Ha Jae-Gun pressed his tingly nose and smiled bitterly at the tombstone. “Anyway, I’m a selfish kid, so I’ve been looking at this positively, thinking that the reason you've gone silent is that you've acknowledgedas a writer.

"I’m really thankful to you, Elder, for teachingwhat a good is. I also want to thank you for teachinghow vast the world is and how I should view this world so I could transform it into words.” Ha Jae-Gun stood up.

He was about to give his respects and bow when he felt someone around. Ha Jae-Gun looked up and saw an elderly man standing a few meters away. Ha Jae-Gun smiled brightly at the elderly man wearing a custom-made summer hanbok.

“Ah, sir. Did you cup from Gyeongju?”

“How cyou've memorized the words said by an old man in passing? Why are you muttering to yourself in front of the grave?”

“N- no… I was just complaining….” Ha Jae-Gun scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. Just how long was the elderly man here for? Regardless, the elderly man walked over and stopped in front of Ha Jae-Gun with his back facing him.

“What’s that?”

“Ah, that. It’s the draft of the I’ve shown you before. It’s completed now.”

“Why did you bring it here?”

“Um…” Ha Jae-Gun trailed off as he was at a loss for words.

The elderly man suddenly reached out and asked, “Can I read it?”

“Sorry? Ah, sure. It’s not that great, but I’d appreciate your feedback.” Ha Jae-Gun picked up the draft and handed it to the elderly man politely. The elderly man frowned as he took it and shook his head. “You don’t have to showeverything. Just showthe last page.”

“Sorry? Ah… okay.” Ha Jae-Gun had felt it the first the met the elderly man, and he becsure of it now—the elderly man was indeed an eccentric man.

Regardless, Ha Jae-Gun still flipped the manuscript to the last page.

The elderly man narrowed his eyes and read it silently.

“I see; this is how it ends.” the elderly man said and straightened his back. “So, human nature never changes and is fixed the moment they're born. Is that it?”

“Ah, yes…”

“So that’s how the main character dies?”

“I thought that it would be better if the main character faced death eventually, thinking that humans are not animals that can change that easily.”

The elderly man looked up at the sky. Then, he turned around slowly and muttered to himself, “Humans aren’t animals that can change that easily…”

“Anything is fine, I’ll make sure to take it into consideration if you could giveyour feedback on it.”

“No, don’t worry. I’ve enjoyed it,” the elderly man said, trudging away.

Ha Jae-Gun watched the elderly man’s disappearing back view when the latter's soft voice pierced his ears. “I think I’d choose to give hope to the reader if I were you.”

“...?”

“Hope is there, regardless of what form it takes. Whenever life gets tough, they would pick up your book from the table, right? So I think it should beca book that they would still cback to read regardless of how much thas passed.”

“Sir, if you could just explain a little more….”

“That’s it. I’m going now.” The elderly man quickened his pace.

Ha Jae-Gun hesitated, wondering if he should go after the elderly man when his phone vibrated. Ha Jae-Gun answered the call while staring at the elderly man walking farther and farther away.

“Hello, editor-in-chief.”

— I’m trying to think that it’s a great honor of mine to be your editor, Mr. Ha.

“What do you mean?”

An inexplicable exclamation or sigh echoed before Oh Myung-Suk said with vigor,

“Thank you, but… now that we’re on the topic, there’s something I want to tell you.”

— Please go ahead, Mr. Ha.

— A… new pen name?

Ha Jae-Gun looked up into the sky and gazed into the distant horizon. His eyes captured not just the United States but the entire world as well.