Chapter 115. Loud Cheers (10)

"Park Do-Joon, are you really alright?"

"I'm fine. And we’re already home, so what if I’m not fine? Stop worrying and go back home. You’ve worked hard today,” Park Do-Joon said, waving his hand. His eyes were opened wide as he exerted strength on them whilst his face was flushed red.

He was obviously pretending that he was sober.

“Okay, rest up then. Stop drinking. You remember there’s a meeting with the advertiser tomorrow evening, right?”

“Am I dumb? Stop with the nagging and go.”

“All right, see you tomorrow.”

Park Do-Joon’s manager left his officetel and burst into laughter as he headed for the car.

‘Seems like they get along pretty well. He hasn’t let anyone into his house aside from Chae-Rin and myself.’

The manager had just sent a guest to Park Do-Joon’s place.

The guest was none other than Ha Jae-Gun.

Park Do-Joon stood on the terrace, taking in some fresh air as he looked down at the night view of the city center.

‘Hooo, control yourself. Otherwise, it’ll be hard for you tomorrow if you continue drinking.’

The two started drinking at an Izakaya that Park Do-Joon frequented. His manager suggested going somewhere to avoid the public’s eyes after chasing them all the way to the subway station.

The drinks didn’t end so easily.

Park Do-Joon held onto Ha Jae-Gun and suggested going to a more comfortable place for another round of drinks. Ha Jae-Gun was helpless. His refusal and suggestion to drink another time didn’t work on Park Do-Joon.

Eventually, they got into Park Do-Joon’s car and arrived at Park Do-Joon’s place.

‘To think the more comfortable place he meant was his own place.’

Ha Jae-Gun turned around, and the sight of a spacious living room entered his view.

It was a 50-pyeong[1] officetel decorated with a black and white tone. The clean yet cold look made Ha Jae-Gun wonder if Park Do-Joon had ever felt lonely staying here by himself.

“Hick—what are you—doing there, Writer Ha?” Park Do-Joon asked while hiccuping.

He had just returned after sending his manager off. He was holding a bottle of whiskey and two whiskey glasses.

“I was looking around your house. I’m amazed that I actually got to visit a celebrity’s house.”

“Amazed? It’s just a house where humans live. Come over here.”

“Are you sure you can have some more?”

“I’m not drunk. Ah, I’ve forgotten about the snacks. What would you like to have? I’ve got cheese, fruits, and…”

“I’m fine with anything. I’m still quite full, actually.”

They sat across from each other on the sofa and clinked glasses. As the strong whiskey went down their throat, Ha Jae-Gun and Park Do-Joon both frowned at the same time as if on cue.

“This is quite strong.”

“It’s because it’s your first glass. I’ve received a few bottles as gifts, and they taste quite good. Have another glass.”

The two shared a long conversation as they enjoyed their drinks. Unlike during their first round of drinks, where they talked about Ha Jae-Gun’s life as a writer, they were now discussing Park Do-Joon’s life in the entertainment industry.

“...So I began modeling like a hobo and got to know Director Woo Jae-Hoon. I owe him a lot. It’s thanks to him that I could smoothly get a foothold in the film industry after all.”

“So he’s your benefactor…”

“Ah, I’m sorry. You must have felt awkward when I mentioned him.”

“Please don’t mind me. Feel free to speak. That’s my problem to deal with, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

Ha Jae-Gun enjoyed having conversations with Park Do-Joon. Surprisingly, they were quite alike in terms of mindset. Ha Jae-Gun initially thought that Park Do-Joon was impertinent and loved self-exaggeration, but it seemed like he had been prejudiced.

It was a perfect harvest for him as a writer who still had to gain more traction in his writing. Ha Jae-Gun listened intently to the stories in the entertainment industry that Park Do-Joon had shared with him.

“Wow, I’ve talked too much about myself. Writer Ha, if you’re having a hard time drinking straight whiskey, how about having it on the rocks?”

“No, it’s fine. Actually, I…” Ha Jae-Gun hesitated for a while before continuing. “I’ve been thinking about this throughout the day today. I’ve been wondering how I should address you when you’ve been calling me Writer Ha.”

“Address? Feel free to address me however you like.”

“It’s weird if I’m the only one calling you Mr. Do-Joon, so please address me by name as well.”

Park Do-Joon grinned and picked up the whiskey bottle. He filled Ha Jae-Gun’s empty glass and asked casually, “Since we’re of the same age, I wonder if we could become friends instead?”

“Friends?”

“Aren’t you twenty-eight as well? Ah, age isn’t important here. Am I getting ahead of myself?” Park Do-Joon dropped his drunk gaze and smiled awkwardly.

Ha Jae-Gun stopped Park Do-Joon from filling his own glass. He took the whiskey bottle from Park Do-Joon’s hands and replied, “Let’s do that.”

“Pardon?”

“I’m fine with us becoming friends. It’s my honor to be friends with a celebrity,” Ha Jae-Gun said as he filled Park Do-Joon’s glass.

Park Do-Joon’s face brightened. He raised his glass and asked, “Do we drop the formal language, too?”

“Of course.”

With the alcohol as the impetus, the two dropped their formalities and burst into laughter. After emptying their glasses, Park Do-Joon said, “Keugh, now that we’re friends, let me say something.”

“What is it?”

“You look pretty sharp, but your hairstyle is too common. Join me at the salon I frequent someday.”

Ha Jae-Gun shook his head with a dreary smile and said, “I’m just an ink slinger.”

“Even writers dress up in this era. Plus, you’re a famous writer who even goes on TV shows. Anyway, this is just my two cents…” Park Do-Joon put on a serious look and said, “I’d love to be the male lead for Gangster’s Sea if it gets a movie adaptation.”

“Thank you for your words.”

“No, I’m sincere about it. Cho Kang-Jae’s character is totally up my alley. I’m much more confident acting with that role in mind compared to Lee Jin-Hyuk in Summer in My 20s. You must remember these words, I’m not saying it for fun.”

Ha Jae-Gun smiled and nodded. “All right, there’s something I should tell you, too. We’re friends, after all.”

“What is it? Tell me.”

Ha Jae-Gun opened his mouth to speak, but the door lock jingle suddenly echoed and interrupted him.

“Oh, who is it? Did manager hyung leave something behind? Wait a minute.”

Park Do-Joon got up from the sofa and staggered his way to the door. However, the visitor had already entered the house. They walked into the corridor and stumbled upon Park Do-Joon.

“Oppa!”

Ha Jae-Gun’s eyes flew wide open.

The visitor who jumped onto Park Do-Joon and wrapped her legs around Park Do-Joon’s waist was none other than AppleT’s leader, Chae-Rin.

“Ah, why are you here? You didn’t even call me.”

“I called you so many times! I told you that I’ll be coming over if I get some spare time after my dance practice. Yu-Ri is here, too.”

“Yu-Ri? Hey Chae-Rin, hold on…!” The drunk Park Do-Joon sobered instantly as he hurriedly pulled Lee Chae-Rin off of him. Behind them stood Lee Yu-Ri, one of the members of AppleT, in a training suit.

Lee Yu-Ri and Ha Jae-Gun’s eyes met.

“Oh, you have a guest?”

Lee Yu-Ri’s words prompted Lee Chae-Rin to look past Park Do-Joon’s shoulder.

Lee Chae-Rin’s jaws dropped upon seeing Ha Jae-Gun.

Ha Jae-Gun awkwardly stood up.

“W-Writer Ha Jae-Gun…?”

Lee Chae-Rin’s face turned pale. She looked at Park Do-Joon, seemingly asking what was happening. Park Do-Joon scratched his cheeks in shame and said, “We had some drinks. Jae-Gun, you know Chae-Rin, right? And this is Yu-Ri.”

“I’m a spy if I don’t know AppleT. Hello, Ms. Chae-Rin, Ms. Yu-Ri.”

“Ah, hello. But why is Writer Ha and Oppa—when did you guys become so close?”

“Today. Jae-Gun, let’s talk a bit.”

Park Do-Joon brought Ha Jae-Gun to the terrace and sighed, and then he started explaining his relationship with Lee Chae-Rin.

Ha Jae-Gun only nodded at him. He wasn’t surprised to hear that Park Do-Joon and Lee Chae-Rin were in a relationship.

“Please keep this a secret. AppleT is just starting to get popular, so it’s going to be quite problematic if it gets leaked.”

“Don’t worry. I can keep secrets well.” Ha Jae-Gun assured Park Do-Joon, and the pair headed back to the living room. Meanwhile, Lee Chae-Rin and Lee Yu-Ri hurriedly stopped their conversation upon seeing the two men.

“Don’t worry. Do-Joon has already told me about it, your secret is safe with me.”

“Thank you, Writer Ha. Ah, I was really surprised. I never imagined that I would be able to meet you at Do-Joon Oppa’s house.” Lee Chae-Rin used her hands to fan her red face.

Instead of taking a seat, Ha Jae-Gun looked at his wristwatch and turned to Park Do-Joon before saying, “I should leave now.”

“Is that so? They’ve just arrived, so you should hang out with us for a bit more.”

“Yeah, Writer Ha. I’ll be upset if you leave right now.”

“It makes me feel like you're uncomfortable with us here.”

Both Lee Chae-Run and Lee Yu-Ri tried to hold Ha Jae-Gun back, but he still refused and shook his head. “I was about to leave earlier. I’ve got to head to the office tomorrow as well. I’ll see all of you again next time when there’s a chance.”

“Jae-Gun, wait a bit. I’ll call a taxi for you.”

“I can just hail one myself. Plus, there’s a bus stop up front.”

Ha Jae-Gun put on his shoes in the foyer and opened the door, then turned around briefly and said, “Ah, I almost forgot about what I wanted to tell you earlier.”

“Oh, right. What is it?”

“You wanted to be the male lead for Gangster’s Sea, right? We definitely think alike. Actually, I created Cho Kang-Jae using you as the model.”

“...For real?” Park Do-Joon asked in disbelief.

Ha Jae-Gun laughed and tapped Park Do-Joon’s shoulder lightly.

“I’m bad at lying. Bye,” he said before exiting and closing the door behind him, leaving Park Do-Joon to stew in his own shock in silence.

He turned and looked at himself in the full-length mirror.

An impressive line came out of him.

“I’ve become disgusted with this lowdown life. I finally realized this when I saw the sea in you. Like your endless sea, I have—I had one in me as well…!”

“Oppa, what are you doing there?”

“I’m practicing to become the male lead for a project.”

“A project? Has it been decided?”

“I’ll tell you next time. Anyway, stop interrupting me. Go ahead and drink whiskey with Yu-Ri.”

Lee Chae-Rin snorted and looked away.

Park Do-Joon didn’t comfort her. He remained standing in front of the mirror and spoke Cho Kang-Jae’s lines. He was overjoyed to hear that Ha Jae-Gun had used him as a model to create Cho Kang-Jae.

***

- Writer Ha, we’re reprinting Oscar’s Dungeon. It’s selling much better than the Pezellon and Records series. There are also a few other companies, including Comic KT, sending in proposals to adapt it into a webtoon.

- Mr. Ha, the 50,000 reserved copies for There Was A Sea preorder have all been sold out. I think this novel will be successful as well.

It wouldn’t be an understatement to say that Ha Jae-Gun was on a roll.

Oscar’s Dungeon, which was released primarily via paperbacks, was selling like hotcakes. The readers’ responses on the various portal sites were overwhelming, and Jung So-Mi’s illustrations were making headlines as well.

Meanwhile, Gangster’s Sea was renamed to There Was a Sea, and it attracted a ton of interest even before it was published. Its pre-orders closed much faster as compared to Summer in My 20s.

“Wow, Ha Jae-Gun hyung, won’t you hit two million copies sold for your novel this time?” Lee Yeon-Woo couldn’t hide his excitement as he went through the responses.

Summer in My 20s was still showing in the cinemas, so There Was a Sea received great reviews. The audience count for the movie had just gone past four million, and it was expected to slow down as it neared the end of its showing.

“Hyung, you’re up on the real-time search rankings again! But Park Do-Joon is on it, too. You’re even on the news! Actor Park Do-Joon bowing down in the middle of Apgujeong Rodeo in front of Writer Ha Jae-Gun. What happened between them…”

“Stop reading those and work on your novel.”

Ha Jae-Gun had just returned from the bathroom, and he lightly smacked Lee Yeon-Woo’s head. “How can you spend hours on the Internet? Can you even hit 20,000 characters for your Martial God Management? No dinner for you tonight if you can’t hit it.”

“Woah, hyung. You’re too much. How can you do this to me?”

“Get cracking if you don’t want to starve.”

Lee Yeon-Woo contemplated for a while.

Then, he closed the browser and started writing.

Ha Jae-Gun chuckled lightly and went back to his seat. The moment he reached for his keyboard, a call from Oh Myung-Suk came in.

“Hello, editor-in-chief.”

— Hello, Mr. Ha. Are you perhaps free either tomorrow or the day after? I thought it’d be great to meet this rookie director, Yoon Tae-Sung. This will be his first commercial movie as well.

“Director Yoon Tae-Sung? The one who directed The Forest That Misses You?”

— That’s right. Do you know him?

“Yes. I don’t watch TV, but I watch a lot of movies. I liked his movies. I think he has also filmed quite a few indie movies, I think I’ve already watched them all.”

— I’m relieved to hear that you view him highly. I’ve talked to him briefly, and he agreed to all of your requests concerning the scenario.

“Thank you very much for looking out for me. But, editor-in-chief, would there be any issues with financing and casting? He’s a rookie director, after all.”

— Those areas do not require your concern, Mr. Ha. As I’ve said multiple times before, please leave it to me. You should focus solely on your novel. That would be more than enough.

“Thanks a lot. I’m free on either day, so please let me know once you’ve decided on the meeting day and time.”

— Okay, I’ll contact you again.

Beep!

Oh Myung-Suk got out of his and left the study. He walked through the long hallway, where the housekeepers were busy cleaning the glass windows. He was heading to his father, Oh Tae-Jin’s bedroom.

“Father, it’s me, Myung-Suk.”

“Ah. Come in.”

Oh Myung-Suk opened the door and entered the room.

Oh Tae-Jin hid the book he was reading and welcomed his son.

“What is it?”

“I’ve got something to discuss about an investment.”

“Investment?”

“For Writer Ha Jae-Gun. I wish to invest fully in Writer Ha Jae-Gun’s new novel using OongSung Publication Group’s name.”

Oh Tae-Jin’s face stiffened slightly at the mention of Ha Jae-Gun, and he took off his glasses.

Oh Myung-Suk continued. “I’ve found a director willing to use Writer Ha’s scenario, but Director Yoon Tae-Sung is still a rookie director.”

“I see…”

“He has released a few movies, so I will gather other investors to pool money to fill up the gap.”

“You seem to be quite fond of Writer Ha Jae-Gun.”

“He’s great at his work. Please don’t misunderstand. Objectively speaking, he’s quite successful, and he will be helpful to the company.”

“I get it. Give me a report, and don’t worry about the funds.”

“Yes, Father. I’m sorry for disturbing you while you were reading.”

Oh Myung-Suk left the room and closed the door behind him.

Oh Tae-Jin took out the book he had hidden away and put it on his desk.

It was Ha Jae-Gun’s Summer in My 20s.

The more he read it, the more he saw signs of his old friend.

Was it just him?

Unfortunately, Oh Tae-Jin would never receive an answer to his question.

1. A pyeong is roughly three square meters ☜