Big Life

Chapter 36

Chapter 36 – What is Important

“Exclusive?”

“Yes, exclusive . It’s not a project, but a contract with Writer Ha . ”

Jaegun’s gaze slowly dropped down .

Jaegun was thinking . He’s grown enough to get an exclusive contract . And from a company that came in the top three in the domestic genre market .

If he became a exclusive writer, he wouldn’t be able to publish anything for the other companies .

Only with the company that he contracted with .

But he would have a salary that came in intervally like a regular worker . He could expect better treatment and sponsors because he was an exclusive writer .

‘However…’

Jaegun had been jealous of the exclusive writers of StarBooks before .

They were best-selling writers so they had the requirements to sign as exclusive writers . There were companies that only did exclusive contracts, but they were few and far between .

Jaegun has seen StarBook’s exclusive writers before and they looked complacent even thought they couldn’t write . It was because of their salary . Because they couldn’t write, they went on vacation internationally, shopping, etc . All of this can be seen by SNS .

“I know this is an idea that requires some thought . ”

Tewon said opening a new bottle .

“Think slowly . You don’t have to decide right now . ”

Jaegun took the bottle and poured one to Tewon and Somii as well . As they toasted again, Jaegun said clearly .

“I will decide now . ”

Tewon and Somii stopped at that position . Jaegun one-shotted a drink and put in down on the table .

“I’m thankful for the offer but I don’t think I can do an exclusive contract . ”

“I see . ”

“I can’t contract myself to write . I want to live life like I did- writing freely . ”

Tewon bitterly smiled . He knew that this would happen . A weird emotion of happiness and disappointed at the same time came in .

“I know you’re doing the right thing, I’ll cheer you on . ”

Somii who was beside him looked at Tewon .

Is this really it? No more persuasion or arguments? What is he going to say to the representative when he gets back?

Jaegun took some lettuce . With a piece of sashimi on top of the lettuce, he continued .

“I have never been a writer for StarBook . ”

“Yes?”

Looking at Tewon, Jaegun was smiling .

“I have always had a contract with you . Our relationship is gonna continue as long as I can keep it . ”

“I’m flattered . I did nothing . ”

“What are you talking about . Don’t say it’s tiring and push me out . ”

Somii understood as these two people were talking .

They were being considerate of each other . It was because of the writer-editor bond that they couldn’t say anything else, from their eyes, both of them understood each other .

“You should eat this when it’s fresh . Get faster . ”

“I am eating busily . You and Somii eat as well . I’ve been watching but you guys haven’t been eating . ”

“Yes, yes, I’ll eat, writer . ”

There were no further discussions about work .

For 2 hours, these three people talked about small things in life or about the writing world . A dish of sashimi ended and the fish stew was almost empty .

“I’ve ate well . ”:

“No, it’s because of you that we ate well . ”

Tewon smiled as he swiped the company card .

As they left the restaurant, a cool air hit the three people . It was almost past 9 .

“Ah, I didn’t contract with you because we were too busy . ”

Tewon snapped his fingers .

It was about the sequel contract . He forgot all about it .

“We can do it right now . Let’s have some coffee at a cafe . I’ll buy the coffee .

Jaegun pointed towards the cafe across the street .

Tewon looked at his watch nonplussed . Actually he had no time . He had to have a short meeting from 9:30 with a writer . A editor’s life is always this complex .

“I’ll take him in and sign it with him . ”

Somii, knowing his schedule, said . It wasn’t a hard thing because the terms were already laid out .

“Ah, Writer Ha, I’m sorry . I need to go somewhere . ”

“No, do go your work . I’ll see you later . ”

“Yes, Writer, Somii, here, the contract . ”

Tewon took out a contract from his bag and gave it to Somii .

“Then I’ll be going now . Writer, take care . Somii, I’ll see you tomorrow . ”

“Yes, you can go now . ”

Tewon went with hurried footsteps .

Jaegun and Somii went to the cafe across the street .

“What do you want, writer?”

“I’ll buy, what do you want Somii?”

“No, I can buy it with my company card . ”

“Don’t lie, the editor took it, and I want to buy it . Coffee at least,

Jaegun asked while looking at the menu . Somii looked at the menu and answered .

“Then I’ll take a coffee mocha . ”

“Give me a ice americano and a cafe mocha . ”

There were no customers so it came out fast .

Jaegun and Somii went into a corner and sat together .

“Let’s decide on a title . ”

With the contract on the table, Somii said . Jaegun put his hand and took the pen .

“I’ll just give it a temporary name . ”

Somii quickly put the terms in the contract and Jaegun confirmed each of the terms and signed . Therefore, the contract as quickly signed .

“I hope you’ll do well for a long time, writer . How many are you planning now?”

“About 10 books maybe . The 2 characters from the previous books are fighting and being comrades . There’s going to be a lot of stories with them . ”

“I’m curious as a reader . There’s going to be a book with both Cheonma and Yujin . One is a loud and vigorous person while the other is a cynical person, completely polar opposites each other . ”

“Yeah, I can’t confirm what’s going to happen . Ah? It’s raining?”

There was rain outside the window . People outside were running with clothes and bags over their head to avoid the rain .

“What do I do? You don’t have an umbrella, writer? I’ll go buy one from the store . ”

Somii was already getting up .

Jaegun was surprised and stopped her with a wave .

“The store is right beside here . Let’s go when we’re leaving .

“Ahah, yes, let’s do that . ”

She looked like a person who put her effort into everything that she did so she was never relaxed . Maybe it was the drinks, but Jaegun felt bad for Somii who always moved quickly .

“Somii . ”

“Yes, say it . ”

“Is there anything wrong with the editor?”

Jaegun asked .

He was planning to ask that as he went with Somii in this cafe .

Somii shook with an embarrassed face .

“It must be because he was tired . ”

With Somii, Jaegun tilted his head .

“But even if he was tired, he felt very different today . And your face wasn’t that good either . ”

“Did you feel that?”

“Yes, totally . ”

“It must be because I didn’t sleep well yesterday . I’m sorry . I think I bothered you . The editor worked consecutive nights too . ”

Somii didn’t say the truth .

She was an editor working below Tewon and Jaegun was a writer .

She had no intention of saying stories about the inside of the company as it may bother Jaegun .

“He must be tired . ”

Jaegun nodded as if he understood . He couldn’t erase the feeling that Somii was hiding something, but it was too much to ask more .

“Well the contract is over so let’s get up . Somii should rest as well . ”

Jaegun stood up first, pushing his chair back .

Somii, following Jaegun, stood up with her bag .

“Let’s go get a umbrella . ”

As Jaegun said that, the rain was pouring even harder

Jaegun and Somii went into the store following a connected path . There were about 3-4 people waiting to buy an umbrella .

“Ah, hello . Is there only one umbrella left?”

The clerk answered towards Jaegun .

“Yes . There was no restock today so that’s the last one . ”

“If we came later, that could have been bad . ”

Jaegun took the last pink umbrella and bought it . Moving closer to Somii, he put the umbrella over their heads and said .

“It’s not bad to walk together . It’s a bit small but let’s go . ”

“Yes…”

Looking down at her feet, Somii said with a slightly shy voice .

The two people slowly walked towards the subway with one pink umbrella .

Jaegun changed his hand that he was holding the umbrella and moved to the other side of him . It was a car side . With Jaegun’s small considerations, Somii smiled .

The subway wasn’t that far .

Moving across the road, and up the staircase, it wasn’t long before they were time to separate .

“Be careful . And take this . ”

It was when they were behind their stations .

Jaegun gave the umbrella to Somii’s two hands .

To the shy Somii, Jaegun said with a firm face .

“Pink isn’t my type . Then I’ll go . ”

“Wr, writer Ha . I don’t have any reason to get hit by rain when I get off . ”

“I’ll give you the drafts of the first 5 books by the end of the week . ”

Jaegun was already turning around and waving his hand .

Looking at Jaegun, she glanced at the umbrella she held with two hands . With her small two hands, she was holding it firmly as a dear present .

…

“Thank you for taking the interview . I’ll show you as soon as the editing is finished . ”

“Yes, thank you . Good bye . ”

The Navin employees left out the door .

Jaegun sighed while he sitting down . His back was covered with sweat .

“That interview is really hard . Why does it take so much time . And so many pictures . ”

“Meow . ”

Rika climbed on top of Jaegun’s knees .

They also took pictures of Rika with Jaegun . It was because of the opinion that a writer with a cat looked good . Rika seemed more tired than usual .

“But I didn’t tell them that I wrote s with the name Pyung Cheon Yu . I wasn’t trying to hide it but, oh well, it probably won’t matter . ”

Jaegun started his work with Rika on his knees .

It was the draft for Hetea Media . The first book was done and he was starting on the 2nd . The title was ‘Pegelon’s Swordsman’ as the previous book’s character’s son was a swordsman .

‘I’ll send the 5 books to Hetae Media in 4 days . I’ll start the 3rd series of the Ranking series by Monday . ’

His 10 fingers flew across the keyboard .

With Se Gunwoo’s notebook and the power of reusing the previous series’ world, the writing went very fast .

Without realizing that Rika was out of his knees, and without realizing the sun was already going down, Jaegun fell into in his work .