Big Life

Chapter 185. The Bombing Starts (6)

‘Why is he calling again?’

Lee Soo-Hee put her phone face down on the table immediately. It was a call from Oh Myung-Hoon.

She was already reluctant to answer his call when she was alone, let alone now when Ha Jae-Gun was with her.

“Stop it, I’m getting out of bed now.”

Lee Soo-Hee wrapped herself in the blanket and climbed out of bed. The sunlight that had been peeking into the room suddenly poured in as Lee Soo-Hee flung the curtains wide open.

Ha Jae-Gun’s face contorted and hid under the pillow.

“Wake up, Writer Ha. Let’s have breakfast and have a look around the city today.”

“I’ve seen everything I’ve wanted, I just need to see you alone.”

“Don’t spout nonsense and quickly get up.”

“Arghh, my blanket.”

Ha Jae-Gun was forced by Lee Soo-Hee out of bed to the shower and grabbed his change of clothes. They had agreed to visit the hot spring town, Beitou, today. Ha Jae-Gun didn’t hold much interest in hot springs, but he wanted to visit the library situated in the center of that town.

“But can you really rest for a few days?”

“I’m a flexible lady. Didn’t you hear my conversation with Director Nam? He asked me to rest for half a month and return to Korea afterward.”

Lee Soo-Hee opened her chest and shrugged her shoulders proudly.

Ha Jae-Gun wrapped a cardigan around Lee Soo-Hee and gave her a kiss on the lips.

“Shall we get going then?”

“Yeah, let’s eat first. I’m starving.”

The couple had beef noodles for brunch and then headed for the MRT, which they called Taiwan’s subway system. They began talking about various topics on the running train.

“What are you planning to do with The Breath? I heard there’s contacts from the U.S. too?”

“I talked with President Kwon over the phone, and he thinks the situation with them is still delicate. Knobble wants to release the novel first, but Wizardry Pictures wants to release the movie first.”

“What are your thoughts about it?”

“I’m a writer, so of course I would hope that the novel gets released first. Nothing’s been confirmed yet, so it’s still in the talks. They might be observing the performance of Gyeoja Bathhouse for the time being as well. Anyway, the agent said she would contact us again. I’m not exactly in a hurry either way.”

“Whichever the case, I hope things go your way before you go along with the opinions of those around you.” Lee Soo-Hee squeezed Ha Jae-Gun’s hand.

Ha Jae-Gun covered her hand with his own and changed the topic of their conversation. “Also, for The Market and Its People, I think I’ll have to give up on this title. Do you think it’s not fitting?”

“To be honest, I really think it’s not good. As Professor Han said, Market Place is much better. Use it for your novel title too.”

“Ah, even you too? There’s no one standing on my side in this vast world.” Ha Jae-Gun whined mischievously while looking up at the ceiling.

Lee Soo-Hee put her head on his shoulder with her face filled with happiness, looking happier than anyone else in the world.

“I didn’t expect the viewership ratings to go so high. I thought it was a typo on the news article circling on the internet.”

“I was surprised too.”

“Our dear Ha Jae-Gun is really good at writing. I could tell right away since year 1 in university. ‘Ah, I’ll be able to learn something from him if I stuck with him.’” Lee Soo-Hee then chuckled as she looked back at a particular piece of memory. “I’m only telling you this now, but do you know, during the MT in year 1, I didn’t go anywhere else on purpose and just stood by your side.”

Ha Jae-Gun showed surprise on his face but soon bent his neck in different directions and put on airs. “Really? Hmm, this handsome man was in his prime back then. You recognized my true worth from way back, huh.”

“Yes, you were already cool back then.”

“Hey, Lee Soo-Hee. You should be showing a speechless reaction right about now instead. I’m flustered if you gloss it over with a compliment.”

The train slowed down as it arrived at its destination. As they stood up to leave, Ha Jae-Gun said, “I’m only saying this now as well, but remember when you were forced to drink with the female seniors? One of you facing ten of them?”

“Yeah, that was the proudest moment of my life. What about it?”

“Did you know that I secretly swapped your drink with water?”

“Really? Why did you do it?”

“I was already thinking of getting married with you. I was afraid that you’d make a mistake when you’re drunk with that huge ego of yours.”

“Don’t lie. You didn’t even look at me in the eye back then.”

“I couldn’t, you were too dazzling for me.”

Lee Soo-Hee puffed up her cheeks.

As they alighted at the platform, she hooked arms with Ha Jae-Gun and asked, “Who else knows?”

“About what?”

“That you swapped my drink. Jung-Jin? Hyo-Jin?”

“I thought you were referring to something else. Only you know it now.”

“Then my legend will hold forever. Don’t tell anyone else, alright? Otherwise, you’re only going to eat ramyun for breakfast and dinner for the rest of your life.”

“I’ll make sure to bring this secret to my grave.”

Lee Soo-Hee faced him and stuck out her tongue, then giggled.

In fact, Lee Soo-Hee had already known that Ha Jae-Gun had switched out her drinks. She might have been relatively drunk that night, but she wasn’t that drunk to the state that she couldn’t tell apart the taste of soju.

“...So that’s why I like you, dummy.”

“What did you say?”

“No, nothing. Let’s go quickly.” Lee Soo-Hee grabbed Ha Jae-Gun’s arm and quickened her steps.

They walked straight from the MRT exit for some distance and eventually arrived at Beitou Library. The exterior of the wooden building was picturesque.

“Wow~”

Ha Jae-Gun’s mouth dropped open before even getting near the building’s entrance.

“Although I’ve seen it in the pictures, it’s even better seeing it in person.”

“Are you not going to see the Thermal Valley?”

“It’s too hot there. I want to see the library first.”

There were numerous dogs roaming around the peaceful and quiet courtyard. The couple greeted every dog they passed as they entered the library.

“What do you think? Do you think you can read the books here?”

“...Let’s head to the English books corner, Lee Soo-Hee.”

Ha Jae-Gun and Lee Soo-Hee picked out an English novel each and grabbed a seat in the corner. The difference in their reading speed was noticeable.

Unlike Ha Jae-Gun, who was reading each page painstakingly trying to decipher the text, Lee Soo-Hee was flipping through the pages quickly as if she were reading a Korean novel.

“How are you so good at English?”

“I worked hard to learn the language.”

Lee Soo-Hee finished reading the book and closed it, giggling.

Ha Jae-Gun took a much thinner book in comparison to hers, but he had just read around a tenth of it.

“I can only work hard, because of my dad.”

“What about your father?”

“He was furious when I told him I wanted to join the creative writing major in university back when I was in high school. He asked why I would choose to study something that I couldn’t make a living out of. My dad had that kind of mindset.”

“Well, Jung-Jin’s father was very against it as well. What did he say back then? Something like if Jung-Jin learned how to use the fryer, he would even pass on his chicken restaurant to him. At least it’s not a useless subject that has nothing else to teach.”

The two laughed for a while until they grew conscious of their surroundings and covered their mouths.

Lee Soo-Hee dragged Ha Jae-Gun to the terrace, avoiding other readers, then said, “My mom supported my decisions, and eventually, my dad gave in and allowed me to study creative writing. But he added a condition to it.”

“What condition?”

“That I have to learn three languages. I’ll have to score full marks on TOEIC, JPT, and get an intermediate level in a third language of my choice before entering university. My TOEIC was originally in the 800s, so that wasn’t too hard. I usually liked anime, so my score for JPT was not a problem. It was German that was hard for me to learn.”

“...”

Ha Jae-Gun only looked at Lee Soo-Hee with a stunned expression. She calmly continued, “My dad runs a pawnshop in Namdaemun, and he has dealt with countless foreigners when he was younger. Thanks to that, he didn’t have to study languages separately and is still quite fluent in English.”

“I kind of understand your father’s thinking. He’s been living life that way, so he must have felt the importance of foreign languages more than others.”

Ha Jae-Gun nodded as a few thoughts went through his mind. As those fragmented thoughts get pieced together, they gradually begin to take form.

“Lee Soo-Hee.”

“Hmm?”

“Have you heard anything from your father about his pawnshop before?”

“Why the pawnshop out of the blue?”

“I just thought it’d be great to add his story as the owner of a pawnshop into The Market and Its People—no, Market Place. Actually, the Bucheon Market I used as a motif for the story also has a pawnshop.”

“I haven’t heard much about the pawnshop from him before. He didn’t look like he likes to talk about them too. It must have been a tough period.”

“I see. Anyway, I think I’ve got to conduct an interview about this soon.” Ha Jae-Gun quickly pulled out his notepad and wrote down the words pawnshop owner along with a brief summary of the ideas he had on his mind.

Lee Soo-Hee glanced briefly, then added, “Ha Jae-Gun.”

“Yeah?”

“If you ever meet my dad in the future...”

“Of course I should visit him soon. I was about to suggest paying your family a visit after you go back to Korea.”

“No no, I meant that my dad is a little eccentric. So, I’m sort of asking for your understanding in advance in case you meet him in the future.”

Ha Jae-Gun finished writing on his notepad and then looked up with a smile. Instead of replying her, Ha Jae-Gun pulled Lee Soo-Hee into an embrace.

Lee Soo-Hee wrapped her arms around Ha Jae-Gun. The hot, sticky weather was not enough to separate the two of them.

***

“Why can’t you tell me?”

“Because it’s personal information. I’m sorry.” Deputy Seo kept repeating herself.

The man standing before her with a ridiculous look on his face was Oh Myung-Hoon. He came straight to the office after touching down at the airport.

“Look here, Deputy Seo. Do you not know who I am?”

“I know that you’re Writer Oh Myung-Hoon.”

“Yes, and I know that you’re Deputy Seo. We worked together back when I wrote the scenario for Dragon Knights.”

Deputy Seo fixed her blouse and gave a faint smile. ‘What a hypocrite.’

She had greeted him countless times back at the headquarters, but Oh Myung-Hoon had never greeted her back even once. He would even create discord between departments and make the entire team suffer.

“I’m not asking for too much, I’m just asking for the address to her place. I’m not asking for Lee Soo-Hee—I mean Team Leader Lee’s bank account password, right?”

“My answer is still the same. Please contact Team Leader Lee yourself as this is something I can’t tell you without her permission.” Deputy Seo said her piece and turned away.

Oh Myung-Hoon glared as Deputy Seo walked away, like a dog preying on the chicken on the roof.

'Phew... Oh Myung-Hoon. You're calm now. You should hold yourself back.'

Oh Myung-Hoon grit his teeth, and chose to hold himself back, not showing his temper. He held his phone in hand and dialed Lee Soo-Hee's number.

'Why isn't she answering her phone?'

Deputy Seo had mentioned earlier that Lee Soo-Hee was on vacation.

Did Lee Soo-Hee go somewhere far? If he had known he would miss her like this, he would have contacted her in advance before coming over.

'Ah...!'

A woman's face surfaced in Oh Myung-Hoon's mind and he snapped his fingers. If she were still working in Nextion, she would definitely know. He quickly looked up Hye-Mi's name in his contacts.

— Hello? Mr. Oh Myung-Hoon?!

Hye-Mi answered the call in less than a couple of rings. Oh Myung-Hoon greeted her as a formality before asking his question.

"How are you doing?"

— Why did you call out of the blue...! I-I am doing fine. What about you? How is life in America?

"It was just alright. It served as a management lesson for me as well."

— That's great to hear. You're not sick anywhere, right? Have you been eating regularly? When will you be coming back to Korea?

Hye-Mi's simultaneous questions was getting on Oh Myung-Hoon's nerves. He held himself back and replied calmly, "I'll be returning soon. I'll call you again then."

— Alright... I'll wait for your call then.

"But Ms. Hye-Mi,"

—Yes, please go ahead.

Oh Myung-Hoon glanced back at Nextion's branch building and asked, "Where do the Nextion employees at the Taiwan branch stay? Or do they all have their own place?"

— Taiwan branch? They have a separate studio for employees, and the people working there can choose to stay there. That's what I know. What about it?

— Oh, nothing. There's someone I know who is working there, and I was thinking of sending them something. Can you let me know the name of the studio and the address? It'll be even better if you have the list of employees staying there too.

— Well, it's not difficult. I'll look into it and send it over via email.

"Thank you. I'll call you again, so I hope everything is going well for you."

— Thanks, Mr. Oh Myung-Hoon. I'm glad that you called. I'll be waiting.

A few minutes after they ended the call, an email came to Oh Myung-Hoon. He cheered silently and started heading toward the address given in the message.

It wasn't that far from Nextion's office.

***

'It must be that building.'

Oh Myung-Hoon soon arrived at the place where Lee Soo-Hee was staying at.

Opposite the small building had a small restaurant selling simple meals and alcohol, as well as a cafe. Feeling thirsty, Oh Myung-Hoon headed to the cafe and ordered himself a cup of iced coffee.

'Please be at home...!'

Oh Myung-Hoon prayed earnestly as he pulled out his phone. The moment when he was keying in Lee Soo-Hee's number, the silhouette of a familiar lady walked the same way where he walked earlier.

Oh Myung-Hoon's eyes were attracted to her, and his eyes slowly grew wider. It was Lee Soo-Hee's face, which he had often dreamt of.

She was tilting her head from side to side, smiling like the happiest person in this world.

'Lee Soo-Hee...!'

Mesmerized, Oh Myung-Hoon almost dropped the coffee in his hand. He had been waiting to meet Lee Soo-Hee for a long time. His irregular breathing grew hotter by the minute.

Flinch!

“...?!”

Oh Myung-Hoon’s face changed, and he stopped in his tracks.

Lee Soo-Hee wasn’t walking alone. There was a man chasing after her with a huge cone of ice cream in both hands. Recognizing the man, Oh Myung-Hoon subconsciously hid himself deep in the alley.

‘Why... is that punk... doing here?!’

The person he loves the most.

Also, the person he hates the most.

They were both in the same angle. Oh Myung-Hoon’s teeth chattered, and his body retreated deeper into the alley while glaring at both Lee Soo-Hee and Ha Jae-Gun entering the building.