Chapter 142. Tremble in Fear (1)

“We met once when you appeared in our broadcast station’s program, A Writer’s Study, right? It has been a long while. You look much rosier compared to back then, or is it just me?”

The female emcee, Park Hye-Sang, in a two-piece outfit, looked up from her script at Ha Jae-Gun.

Ha Jae-Gun smiled calmly at her and said, “Other writers have told me the same. I used to hear that I was too thin. In fact, I think it’s because I’ve recently begun taking care of my own health.”

Ha Jae-Gun was currently at the filming location for the EBC program, Strolling with Literature.

The filming wasn’t in a studio but at the park located in front of the broadcast station. Ha Jae-Gun was wearing a white silk shirt and navy slacks. The greenery behind them fluttered in the spring breeze.

“You look quite relaxed.”

“Yeah. Wealth and fame are good things. I don’t think you looked so well when we met back then.”

The crew behind the camera angle all wore envious looks. Despite having met countless writers before, Ha Jae-Gun was on a different level. Few writers could match such phenomenal growth. And they would have to try several times if they wanted to cast those writers on their shows.

“To get bestsellers for two of your novels in a row… I wonder how much money he earned from them…” a staff member muttered while shaking his head.

Two of his novels had become bestsellers, and they had become movies.

One of them was There Was A Sea was filmed by a rookie director, and it ended up with 8.2 million viewers in its final run.

The Baeksong Arts Awards would be held at the end of May. Countless articles were already speculating that the movie would receive awards in at least two categories.

“Oh? Sung-Gyu hyung. He must have earned a lot, right? Royalties, copyright licensing, and even scenarios… Just how much is he earning per month?”

“How would I know? Plus, Writer Ha is originally a genre novel writer, so I think that’s where he is raking up the real money.”

The crew’s remarks about Ha Jae-Gun raking in money weren’t exaggerated. In terms of business achievements, Poongchun-Yoo was performing pretty great compared to Ha Jae-Gun.

The ebook market was growing day by day. The market was simply adding wings to Poongchun-Yoo. The Breath and Oscar’s Dungeon were being sold at a frightening pace daily, both online and offline.

“He even made a game with Nextion. It'll be disgusting if it becomes popular. I heard that it’s going to enter the China and Taiwan markets.”

“Yeah. Well, we’ll have to wait and see if it becomes a hit. Yikes, stop chatting. The producer is coming.”

The crew stopped chattering amongst themselves when one of them spotted the producer approaching from a distance.

Park Hye-Sang and Ha Jae-Gun were enjoying a pleasant conversation.

“…Let’s talk about the time when you appeared in A Writer’s Study. At that time, Summer in My 20s was about to hit a million copies sold. Do you still remember when I asked you how you felt about its amazing performance despite the recession?”

“Of course. I answered by saying that I was startled by the potential of mystery novels in Korea.”

“Yes, that’s right. But, now Summer in My 20s is about to hit 2 million copies sold. After that, you’ve also published There Was A Sea, which is also approaching 1.5 million copies sold.”

Park Hye-Sang paused for a moment, and her jaws dropped slightly in surprise.

Ha Jae-Gun looked down briefly, smiling shyly.

“Let me ask a personal question here. Writer Ha Jae-Gun, were you expecting that you’d become so popular?”

“To be honest, no. Whenever I hear the updated numbers from the editor-in-chief, I would always get surprised. I would always doubt my hearing and doubt that my novels actually sold so many copies. I’ve always felt that way.”

Park Hye-Sang nodded and flipped the page on her script.

They would soon arrive at the last page of the script.

“It’s time for us to discuss There Was A Sea entering the US market. News is you’ve already sold 50 thousand copies for the first print, and another 50 thousand copies are being printed at the moment.”

“Haha, yes.”

“You have made great achievements as compared to other local writers who entered the US market before. Even the New York Times, one of the leading daily newspapers in America, also published a favorable book review on your novels.

”How do you feel about that?”

“Actually, I’m quite worried. The psychology, consciousness, and other things that make up the characters in the novel play a huge part in the entire story. I’m afraid that the unique sensibility specific to Korea might not be understandable to the American readers.”

Park Hye-Sang listened intently with her eyes narrowed.

Ha Jae-Gun rearranged his thoughts and said, “Ultimately, it’s thanks to the help of all the assistants who have put in the effort to ensure high-quality translation, good marketing, etc. Many people have contributed to the success of this novel.”

Ha Jae-Gun looked up and saw Lee Yeon-Woo with Rika in his arms beyond the cameras.

When their eyes met, Lee Yeon-Woo mouthed the words, “Hyung, you’re awesome.”

Warm wind lightly brushed past the tip of Ha Jae-Gun’s nose as he smiled.

***

Oh Myung-Suk sat in his office at Mysterium, staring into space with a smile.

The initial response to There Was A Sea in the US market was great.

Bzzt!

The call was from Chae Yoo-Jin.

Oh Myung-Suk answered the call right away.

“Ms. Yoo-Jin, why did you make an international call at this hour?”

— I called because the night is long and I’m bored. Why?

Chae Yoo-Jin spoke casually. She was a long-time friend and batchmate of Oh Myung-Suk’s. She was an agent, and her job was to help publishing companies expand into different countries.

— Myung-Hoon seems to be doing well. There Was A Sea should hit its NPR[1] soon. I heard from a few acquaintances that he even personally approached people to write book reviews. He even has a senior who is a reporter. Has Myung-Hoon always been that kind of person?

“Anyway, I’m proud and thankful as his older brother.” Oh Myung-Suk smiled and opened a drawer. It was filled with a photo he had taken with Oh Myung-Hoon when they were younger.

— The first prints were sold out, and another 50 thousand copies are being printed. I think he’ll pull this off well. The novel should get to the New York Times’ bestseller list. However, I think it’ll be hard to go any further than that.

“It might get in the Top 20 if I leave it in your hands,” said Oh Myung-Suk. He was half sincere when he said that. He knew that Chae Yoo-Jin was a relatively competent agent. She had a deep understanding of overseas markets, and she also had great relationships with leading publishers.

Business would only happen if people could meet. The keys to getting things done were affinity and work experience.

This also applied to Chae Yoo-Jin as a literary agent. Her skill was born from extensive knowledge and abundant experience, but she had always been talented since their university days.

— That’s smooth. Anyway, you paid, so how could I do a sloppy job? There’s no way OongSung will miss out on anything.

“Well, if your job as an agent is just limited to making sure that there won’t be any licensing issues and assisting with the contracts, we wouldn’t have hired you.”

— If you have the thoughts to do so, just give me a copy of Writer Ha Jae-Gun’s novel. I’ll do a good job with the sales. Wait, is he actually working on a new novel? Something that would work well in the US.

“I think he's been busy with game scenarios recently. I couldn’t ask him about his plans for a new novel.”

— You’re talking about Oscar’s Dungeon, right? The novel has reached volume 8 or 9, I think? It’s too long. It’s a long shot right from the start.

“Yeah, probably.”

— I’ve reviewed all his previous novels. Foolish Woman, A 90s Kid, even Summer in My 20s… But wow, There Was A Sea was the best. This is the only novel that’ll at least gain some standing here. It’ll be tough for the others, honestly. Asian writers have never really been popular here, save for a few. The market is a mess as well. His other novels are too unique to Korea, so it’s going to be hard.

Chae Yoo-Jin picked up the pace as she explained.

— Maybe try to get him to write a new literary novel. Any genre is fine: mystery, horror, romance, or even a fantasy novel set in the modern era. At least something that’ll catch the attention of the US market. Focus on the story, okay?

“I’ll try to bring it up if I get the chance.”

— Alright. Haa, I have to sleep now. I miss you, Oh Myung-Suk. Fly over and visit me sometime, and let’s call each other more often.

“Okay. Rest well.”

Oh Myung-Suk hung up and entered Ha Jae-Gun’s number in his phone but stopped himself. He thought that it wouldn’t be too late to bring the matter up to Ha Jae-Gun once they saw each other in the near future.

The sunlight flowing through the window felt warm.

***

“Wow, Jae-Gun hyung. Your Twitter has over 1.5 million followers now. Your involvement with Do-Joon hyung and AppleT was no joke.”

“That’s not the issue right now. Wow, I think I have to filter this thing.”

Ha Jae-Gun was looking at his monitor with teary eyes.

After the publication of There Was A Sea in the US, emails from American readers had been flooding in. Of course, they were all in English. It had been a while since he studied English, so Ha Jae-Gun felt dizzy trying to understand each sentence.

‘I should still reply to them.’

Ha Jae-Gun took almost ten times as much time to reply to each of the emails as compared to the Korean readers. He was grateful to them for reading his novel, and the only way he could repay them was to reply to their emails.

Bzzt!

It was a call from Lee Soo-Hee.

Ha Jae-Gun made quick work of the email he was writing before picking up his phone and heading to the bedroom to answer.

“Yeah, Soo-Hee?”

— Have you had lunch yet?

“I’m about to get some. What about you?”

— I’m about to have lunch with my team members later. I think we’re going to have beef tartare mixed rice. What are you going to eat with Yeon-Woo?

“We should have beef tartare mixed rice as well, then,” Ha Jae-Gun replied with a chuckle.

Ha Jae-Gun and Lee Soo-Hee had never really shared such long conversations about their daily lives before. But now, it was different. Every conversation they shared was sweet.

— Stop being a copycat. You had the vitamins I got you, right?

“Yes.”

— And you heated up the stew before eating it?

“Of course. I follow orders.”

— You left the lid tilted, right? And what did you do with the laundry folded on the sofa? I’m afraid that Rika will start gnawing at them.

“I’ve done everything you said, so don’t worry. You don’t have to take care of everything so perfectly.”

— It’s just my personality. Oh, the weather is good. I want to go on a trip.

Lee Soo-Hee’s fresh-sounding voice tickled his ears.

Ha Jae-Gun suppressed his urge to look for her immediately and answered, “Do you want to go? Maybe for two days and one night over the weekends?”

— Really? Can you go?

“I’m a freelancer, so it’s fine. How about you?”

— Of course, I can go since it’s during the weekends. Ah, it’s going to be fun. It’s our first trip together. Where should we go? Hmm? Where should we go, Jae-Gun?

“Let’s discuss it over dinner later when we meet.”

— Okay, let’s do that. Jae-Gun, I’m sorry, I have to head out for lunch now. I’ll call you when I get off from work. Enjoy your lunch.

“Mm, you too.”

Ha Jae-Gun hung up the phone and looked up the Internet on his phone. As he searched and looked through the potential places for their first trip, he suddenly thought of something.

‘There’s… Guncheon-gu, right?’

The dream that he had before surfaced in his mind. That shabby-looking signboard that read Gyeoja Bathhouse, then the signboards of Guncheon Public Office and Guncheon Police Station appeared one after the other.

'Ah, it's in Gyeongju.'

The area was well known for its numerous historical sites dating back to the Silla era.

Ha Jae-Gun had visited Gyeongju with his family once when he was a high school student. He looked up the things he saw in his dream, starting with Gyeoja Bathhouse first.

However, there was no place named Gyeoja Bathhouse in Gyeongju City.

He changed his method and looked up Guncheon Public Office and took a look at the surroundings using street view. However, the results were the same. There was only a new state-of-the-art sauna building in the vicinity.

"Jae-Gun hyung, I'm starving."

"All right, let's go eat lunch."

They left the office, and Ha Jae-Gun continued with his train of thought. He also wondered if Lee Soo-Hee would agree with the idea of going to Gyeongju for their first trip together.

1. Assumed to be New Product Revenue ☜