Big Life

Chapter 265. Ha Jae-Gun Isn’t A Big Deal After All (2)

“Yes, not as Ha Jae-Gun but under another name.”

— Mm...! I see.

Oh Myung-Suk's contemplation rang in Ha Jae-Gun's ears. Ha Jae-Gun looked at Seo Gun-Woo’s tombstone, then said, “It’s because I'd like to avoid prejudice.”

— You're referring to the readers’ response.

“This may be a type of challenge for me as a writer. I'd like to see how much of a result I can bring about using an unfamiliar name instead of my own. Or see if I can grab the readers' sympathy and see what kind of responses I can gain from it.”

— As someone who has written novels before, I understand your perspective.

“I have poured my everything while writing Human's Malice. I'm feeling slightly more confident, and that's why I would like to avoid prejudice as much as possible.

"‘Oh? Ha Jae-Gun's new novel? He's famous, so this must be a great read as well, right?’ It might also be like, ‘Oh? Another new novel from Ha Jae-Gun? But he always wrote fantasy or martial arts novels. I'm not reading this.’ There might be such responses, be it positive or negative.”

— Indeed, there will definitely be quite a number of such cases. I can understand your perspective, Mr. Ha.

“Thank you for saying that.” Ha Jae-Gun was still looking at Seo Gun-Woo's tombstone. In fact, there was another small reason why he decided to publish under a new pen name. However, decided that it was a personal reason unnecessary for Oh Myung-Suk’s knowledge, and that was why he did not bring it up.

He had started thinking of it around when he had finished the draft for Human's Malice. He thought of using his mentor’s name to publish the book, hoping to repay his grace even a bit. He wondered if it could be a kind of tribute in appreciation for his generous teachings.

A few moments later, Oh Myung-Suk spoke.

— Actually, I am quite surprised.

“Surprised?”

— I had the same thoughts, wondering if you should publish Human's Malice under another pen name.

“Sorry...?” Ha Jae-Gun's eyes grew wide.

He never imagined that Oh Myung-Suk would have the same train of thought as he had. Was that why Oh Myung-Suk was shocked to hear it when Ha Jae-Gun first brought it up?

— More accurately speaking, this idea was given to me by my wife.

“Ah, really?”

— Yes, excuse me, but my wife would like to explain it to you personally. May I let her take over?

“Of course.”

A few moments of rustling occurred, and Chae Yoo-Jin’s energetic voice came through.

— Hello Mr. Ha! You've made a great decision to publish it under a new pen name!

“Ahahah, yes. I feel happy that I wasn't the only one who thought of this.”

— Same here. I think we should challenge ourselves on a global level.

Ha Jae-Gun's smile froze. “Challenge globally?”

— Yes, let’s create a new pen name for the English market and enter the overseas market first. It’s an icing on the cake since the novel is set in L.A. as well.

“Wait, pen name for the English market... and enter the overseas market first?”

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— I think an English pen name might be a better choice and feel more familiar with your readers in the overseas markets as compared to an Asian pen name. Let’s start with the U.S., UK, Australia, Canada, and India! You know that I’m a competent agent, right?

Things were getting more interesting. Ha Jae-Gun felt perplexed as he swept his hair back. He had planned to publish the novel in Korea first under Seo Gun-Woo’s name. They might have the same idea, but Chae Yoo-Jin’s proposal was in an entirely different direction.

— It’s true that The Breath is on the roll in the U.S., and as much as the Western market has a fine line in distinguishing between genre and literary books, Human's Malice is very different from your readers’ tastes. This is something I’ve concluded from reading the manuscript.

“I have the same thoughts.”

— Mr. Ha, the preconceived thoughts of your English-speaking readers are actually terrifying. So allow me to re-emphasize this, but I think it’s better for you to publish under an English pen name for Human's Malice. It’s much better than the expectations people would have after the success of The Breath, as there’s no overlapping of reader demographics. If the sales aren’t good, we can still reveal your identity later through marketing, isn’t that right?

Perhaps it was because of the influence of living in the U.S. for an extended period of time, but Chae Yoo-Jin spoke in a bold and straightforward tone. She added without hesitation.

— And Mr. Ha. You know that the Nobel Prize in Literature requires novels to be translated into English, right? Hoohoo, who knows, Mr. Ha might win the Nobel Prize with Human's Malice in the future, so let’s think of it as preparing for the future.

“The Nobel Prize in Literature? No way. I have heard countless praises ever since my success, but this is much too unlikely.”

— I’m saying this after reading Human's Malice. It was a heart-wrenching story, and I'm still brooding over the story. As it’s a depressing story, my husband told me to read it after I give birth, as it wouldn’t be good for our baby, but I couldn’t wait any longer and read it all. Ohoho!

As her energetic voice rang in his ears, Ha Jae-Gun stood in a daze as he stared at Seo Gun-Woo’s tombstone.

— Mr. Ha, you’ve become a world-famous writer. I’ve heard everything you said to my husband about Human's Malice.

“...”

— I hope you would set your limits on the globe instead of just Korea, and you should actually be doing that instead. This is my husband’s last novel as an editor, so I would like to give my best to it as well.

Hearing Chae Yoo-Jin’s words, Ha Jae-Gun finally looked away from the grave and looked up. He had forgotten about it, even though he was the one who asked Oh Myung-Suk to stay as an editor using Human's Malice as his bargaining chip.

This also meant that this offer was not Ha Jae-Gun’s offer to refuse. Perhaps Human's Malice was a kind of masterpiece in Oh Myung-Suk and Chae Yoo-Jin’s heart.

— Hello? Mr. Ha?

“Yes, I’m listening.” Ha Jae-Gun answered, snapping out of his thoughts. Seems like his attempt at making a tribute to his mentor had been inevitably postponed.

“I’ll take up on your offer. I’ll think of potential names while revising the novel, then.”

Chae Yoo-Jin handed the phone back to Oh Myung-Suk, and they discussed for a while more about the novel’s schedule before hanging up.

A bead of sweat trickled down from his temple. “...So that’s how things are shifting, I suppose.”

“Meow?”

“I’m just talking to myself. Anyway, greet the Elder quick. The weather’s getting hotter so it’s going to get uncomfortable for you and Nun-Sol. We should get going soon.” As if understanding Ha Jae-Gun, Rika took a walk around Seo Gun-Woo’s grave.

Ha Jae-Gun took the chance to clean up the things he had set down and got ready to leave.

“I’ll be back again, Elder. Oh, and...” Ha Jae-Gun was about to turn around to leave when he faced the tombstone and added, “About the elderly man whom you saw before, he said that it’s better to leave hope in the ending, and it’s starting to bug me. I might consider changing the ending slightly from the one in the draft. I’ll be back again with the edited version.”

Ha Jae-Gun then headed back to the car with Rika and Nun-Sol. Soon, he was driving back home when he suddenly stepped on the brakes just he was about a hundred meters away from home.

‘Goodness...’ Around twenty or so people had gathered outside the entrance to his house. They weren’t reporters but readers. In their hands were either gifts or flower bouquets. News of his wedding being held at home and his recent appearance on Healing Tent brought about more visits from his readers in the last couple of days.

‘I wanted to focus on revising the novel today... This won’t do.’ Ha Jae-Gun turned around immediately and input a new address in the navigator—the apartment where Lee Soo-Hee lived by herself before the two got married.

He planned to live there until he was done with the revision. Looking back, it was a genius move of him to stop her from selling off the apartment.

***

“Why are you always having nightmares, Father? I think you should take some tonics.”

“No, there’s no need for it.” Oh Tae-Jin struggled with his answer, wiping away the cold sweat running down his face. He was short of breath due to the aftereffects of the nightmare that still lingered in his mind. The face of his friend whom he hadn’t seen in a long was still vivid in his eyes.

“I should publish it.”

“Sorry?”

“The Last Trip.”

Oh Myung-Suk was at a loss for words. The Last Trip was a full-length novel that Oh Tae-Jin had been having trouble revising recently. It was the same novel that received harsh feedback from Ha Jae-Gun.

“The reason I'm having nightmares must be because I'm holding onto things that will never work out. I really want to get rid of this burden on my mind.”

“Father...” Oh Myung-Suk gulped. He still clearly recalled the feedback that Ha Jae-Gun had given to Oh Tae-Jin back then.

"He said that he felt like it was written entirely by someone else when the novel reached its peak. The writing style was heterogeneous, and the text had lost its vitality.

"The gap between the two parts of the novel was so great that it felt as if two authors had worked on both parts separately. The introduction had brought about the inferior complex in me, but that feeling vanished instantly when I started reading the second part until the ending."

The feedback was painful to Oh Tae-Jin.

Oh Myung-Suk even felt the same, which made Oh Tae-Jin feel even worse. His father was getting old. Oh Tae-Jin's stamina had gotten worse, which made it hard for him to write for an extended period of time.

It wasn't strange for Oh Myung-Suk to say only nice things to his father.

“Sure, I like The Last Journey/Trip.”

“Thanks for the empty words.”

“I’m sincere, Father.”

“I’m going to shake off everything and stop writing entirely.”

“Please don’t be so resolute.”

“No, I’ve decided. Like the title, it’s going to be my last novel,” Oh Tae-Jin mumbled, staring into the air. He was satisfied with just one novel. The guilt and self-destruction felt toward his long-time friend brought about nightmares that he reckoned he could no longer handle any further.

“Go back to your work. I need some time to organize my thoughts.”

“Yes, Father. Please call me if you need any help.” Oh Myung-Suk left the study and returned to his own room.

Chae Yoo-Jin was reading the manuscript lazily on the bed, but she sat right up when he entered the room.

“Why did you come back so late when you said you’d go out to grab yuzu tea? And where’s the tea?”

“Ah, I forgot. I’ll grab it.”

Chae Yoo-Jin held Oh Myung-Suk back and held out the manuscript in hand to him. It was the revised manuscript for Ha Jae-Gun’s Human's Malice.

“Forget about the tea; read this instead.”

“Why do you still need me to review it? I’ve read the draft, and Mr. Ha’s writing has always been excellent.”

“He changed the ending.”

“What?”

“In the draft before, the main character dies after falling into the water. He changed that out. Read it yourself.”

Oh Myung-Suk flipped open to the last page. Chae Yoo-Jin was right. The main character, whose path to success was blocked, died by throwing himself into the water. The lady who loved him secretly held his funeral alone in tears.

“He’s alive...?” The main character still threw himself into the water, but the ending had changed. In the face of death, the main character swam instinctively, yearning to live.

However, he was too far from the riverbank. The current was extremely rough, but the main character pushed on. His mind had gone numb, but his arms were swimming forward toward the bank, trying to stay alive.

At that moment in time, the deserted shabby riverbank became his goal.

The changed ending came to a close without clarity on whether the main character survived or not.

“What do you think?”

“Hmm...” Oh Myung-Suk nodded, wetting his parched lips. “It definitely leaves more room for imagination, and...”

“And?”

“I like that it’s much more hopeful than before.”

“I think so, too. The main character may have lived his entire life with malice, but he is still human. He’ll have to stay alive, be it to survive or atone for his wrongdoings.”

The couple were on the same wavelength and looked at each other with smiles on their faces.

“What did Open House say?”

“They’ll do their best if they can get the publication rights. Thanks to Mr. Ha, the scale of their company has grown tremendously, and they would like to repay him for the favor. They're a publication company that deals only with genre novels, but they said that we should not underestimate them.”

“That’s great. We can go straight into translating, then.”

“Yeah, I have already looked into it.”

Bzzt!

Chae Yoo-Jin’s phone rang, and a text message came in. She grinned and eventually burst into laughter, covering her mouth.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s from Mr. Ha. How did he come up with such a pen name? I’ve felt this for a long time; he’s really bad with names.” Chae Yoo-Jin showed Oh Myung-Suk her phone.

Even Oh Myung-Suk laughed helplessly after seeing the text.