Big Life

A soft classical melody was playing in a cafe on a random afternoon.

“You seem to have gained weight, senior.”

Ha Jae-Gun greeted as he pulled out a chair at the table to sit.

A faint, embarrassed smile appeared on Seo Sang-Do’s face, who stood awkwardly and said, “Please don't call me that, Writer Ha.”

“I should, when you're obviously my senior. So what's wrong with it?”

“As you know, I'm not even an inkslinger—”

“I think it's time for you to stop with the self-reproach, don't you think?”

The blaring of horns sounded loudly outside the cafe. They had decided to meet in a cafe located along the main city streets so cars could be seen lining up the roads, creating a jam.

Ha Jae-Gun glanced outside briefly and wondered silently as to why Seo Sang-Do had asked to meet him not in Gyeongju but in Seoul.

“Yes, senior. Please speak.” Their eyes met.

Seo Sang-Do looked more determined than ever, as he had already made his decision before coming out to meet Ha Jae-Gun. Opening his bag without hesitation, he took something out from inside and placed it on the table.

“Please accept this.”

“What is this?” Ha Jae-Gun asked, looking at the document envelope. It was a commonly seen brown paper envelope.

Seo Sang-Do opened the envelope and pulled out the documents stored inside.

“I mentioned it before, right? What I said back at the hospital in Gyeongju.”

“...”

Ha Jae-Gun did not reply as his heart pounded heavily. What Seo Sang-Do brought with him was the copyright transfer contract. It was clearly documents related to Seo Gun-Woo's posthumous works; he planned to hand over all of his father's works to Ha Jae-Gun.

“I have included all clauses into the document; all you have to do is sign them, Writer Ha.”

“But, Senior, I…”

“You may also take your time to review it if you have any doubts.”

“I'm not referring to that. I just…” Hot breath escaped Ha Jae-Gun's mouth as he said, “I can’t accept this.”

“Why not?”

“Why? Of course, it’s his work and legacy that you should be taking over as his son.”

“Not at all.” Seo Sang-Do shook his head unyieldingly.

“No matter what, my father’s works must go to you, Writer Ha. It’s fixed; it's fate.”

“Fate? That’s…”

“Writer Ha, do you still remember what I told you back in Gyeongju?” Seo Sang-Do asked, but he quickly answered his own question, “I told you that my stomach would flip whenever I see you, that you remind me of the past that I didn’t want to recall, which is why I hate you.”

“...”

“That is why I can say that I can give you the copyrights without any regrets. I hoped that all traces of my father, who was hovering around me like a ghost, and that your existence would leave me alone. But…!” Seo Sang-Do broke off as his emotions surged. He pulled out the straw from his cup and gulped down half a cup of coffee.

Seo Sang-Do took a moment to calm himself down before continuing, “I’m not trying to hand over my father’s works out of shame. It’s purely because you’re my father’s son.”

“Son…?!”

“I'm his biological son, but his son as a writer is you, Writer Ha. You have protected and saved his works until the end. As you’ve said, you have preserved it, which would have been impossible if I were in your shoes. After all, I'm an incompetent man who does not have the strength and will, so…” Seo Sang-Do pushed the papers toward Ha Jae-Gun with trembling hands.

“This should… be yours…”

“Senior…”

“Please, I hope that you can hand my father’s works to the readers. Please don’t refuse anymore. I’ll definitely see this to the end, no matter how hard you try. It wouldn’t be a contest since I have a lot of time on my hands as I’m unemployed.”

Seo Sang-Do then pulled out a pen and offered it to Ha Jae-Gun respectfully.

Seeing how Ha Jae-Gun was still hesitant, he forcefully placed the pen into his hand and added, “I hope you will fill up the rest of Great Life as well.”

“Senior…”

“I will wait for the day until Writer Ha puts the finishing touches on my father’s incomplete posthumous work.”

Something was caught in Ha Jae-Gun’s throat as he lowered his gaze. The tip of the pen was lowering on the paper nervously. He had been looking at Great Life for the longest time now. There would be no turning back the moment he signed the document, and he had to finish it no matter what.

The sense of mission made Ha Jae-Gun feel afraid.

‘Elder, can I really pull this off?’ Ha Jae-Gun asked subconsciously.

It had become a habit of his after writing for so many years, even though it had been a while since he had heard a reply.

Creaaak.

The cafe owner opened a window, and a breeze blew in. The cool breeze grazed Ha Jae-Gun’s nose, bringing a faint smile to his face. He decided to take this as getting permission from Seo Gun-Woo.

“I will do my best.” Ha Jae-Gun’s hand that gripped the pen was filled with strength, and he penned his signature on the document. “I can’t guarantee that I won’t ruin Senior Seo Gun-Woo’s work, but I will definitely do my best.”

“That’s more than enough, Writer Ha.” Seo Sang-Do smiled brightly. It had been a long time since he had smiled so brightly.

Ha Jae-Gun couldn’t help but smile in return, and the thick, spring air enveloped them.

***

“The entire book?”

”That’s right. The works stored in the memory stick were initially entrusted to Chairman Oh Tae-Jin in the first place, anyway. Senior Seo Gun-Woo would definitely hope for OongSung to take charge of them.”

Oh Myung-Suk nodded with his mouth tightly shut. It was hard for him to speak when he was sharing the same guilt that his father bore.

“I understand, Mr. Ha,” Oh Myung-Suk finally said when his coffee turned cold. “I will take over planning and editing; I will do everything in my power, just like how I did when working on your novels.”

“Thank you, CEO.”

Ha Jae-Gun and Oh Myung-Suk both bowed at each other, showing their gratitude.

However, bitter smiles were plastered over their faces.

“A lot has happened.”

“Indeed.”

“Has Mr. Sang-Do already left?”

“Yes, I had just dropped him at the bus terminal earlier before coming over.”

Seo Sang-Do returned back to Gyeongju and had decided to stay in the old house where the late Kang Byeong-Ha’s granddaughter was staying. As he was reminiscing about the past earlier, he told Ha Jae-Gun that he'd write once again.

The house, which had been covered in overgrown weeds and had withstood the passing of time, would soon be revitalized. It would become livelier with each passing day, thanks to those who had found their way there.

“He will have to come back to Seoul again in the near future.”

“You mean Mr. Seo Sang-Do?”

“Yes. He will have to take charge of the mausoleum once it’s done. I will bring him back.”

Ha Jae-Gun already had a rough sketch of the blueprint for Seo Gun-Woo’s mausoleum in his mind. He planned to buy the entire land surrounding the grave, also to build a memorial hall and provide a space for poor writers to live and write.

“Then Mr. Ha, what are you going to name it…?”

“Self-Assembled Milky Way,” Ha Jae-Gun replied in a heartbeat, as he had already made the decision.

“I’m going to use the title from one of his works, which is also my favorite. Even if Senior Seo Sang-Do objects to it, I’m still going to push ahead with it. I built the mausoleum after all.”

“Hahaha.” They laughed between jokes. After chatting for a while longer, Ha Jae-Gun looked at the time and stood up.

“Are you leaving already?”

“I have disturbed you for too long when you must be busy with work. Give me a call once you’re free again; I want to have some pufferfish with you.”

Oh Myung-Suk sent Ha Jae-Gun off to the basement car park. Before Ha Jae-Gun could get into his car, he turned around and asked cautiously, “Is Chairman Oh Tae-Jin doing well?”

“He is traveling the entire country with my mother. We called yesterday as well, and he sounded quite at peace. You don’t have to worry any longer.”

Ha Jae-Gun nodded. This time, it was Oh Myung-Suk’s turn to ask, “Are you going back home now, Mr. Ha?”

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen the other writers, so I’ll be heading to the Bucheon office.”

Vroom!

Ha Jae-Gun’s car started, and it soon drove out onto the road.

Oh Myung-Suk stood rooted to the ground, watching as Ha Jae-Gun drove off.

‘Thank you, Mr. Ha, for giving me the chance to make up for it.’

He was too embarrassed to say it in front of Ha Jae-Gun.

Oh Myung-Suk only turned around to leave when Ha Jae-Gun’s car was completely out of sight. He suddenly missed his family, so he dialed the number of his younger brother, whom he hadn’t met in a while.

***

Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!

The phone vibrated, but the bushy-haired man did not give it even a brief look. He only stared at the TV, pouring himself another glass of soju after emptying it earlier.

He was currently watching the live broadcast of current affairs.

[…So Assemblyman Kwon Sung-Deuk ended up facing intense prosecution scrutiny. The 300 million won embezzlement of the aide’s salary was just the tip of the iceberg, isn’t that right?]

[Yes, there’s no way it can be called a coincidence since he was preparing to run for the presidential candidacy, so many were showing sympathy for him back then. But now—with the revelation of him accepting billions won in bribes, well, there’s no way he can get out of this.]

[On top of that, it’s even related to the Korea-China cultural exchange project. How embarrassing is this? According to a reporter from the prosecution office, most of the charges seem to have been proven true as well. Report Yoon, what do you foresee will happen?]

[Well, I can only say that everything is now over. Everything was planned carefully and exposed—no, sorry, revealed by Assemblyman Kwon Sung-Deuk’s aide after all. So the issue now is whether he will be stripped of his role.]

[That’s how serious the issue has become.]

[If the prosecution’s investigation reveals everything to be true, it’ll turn into a serious crime. It’s not something we can treat lightly, especially with the upcoming presidential election.]

A picture of Kwon Sung-Deuk appeared on the screen. The man stared numbly at the face of the man he had known personally. However, he no longer cared about what was going to happen to Kwon Sung-Deuk. He wasn’t particularly affected when his biological father was almost buried by society, so what more was there to say for Kwon Sung-Deuk, who was just another man to him?

“Young man, why are you drinking so much so early in the day?” The lady boss, in her forties, served him a pot of hot soup even though he hadn't ordered it.

The man only nodded to express his thanks before downing another glass of soju.

“You drank a lot yesterday, too, so why don’t you stop drinking for a day? It’d be great if you ate well. You're looking more and more gaunt as the days go by, so I have no choice but to say something about it.”

“…” The man remained silent.

The lady boss wasn’t expecting an answer either; she let out a soft sigh and turned around. Had it been a year? The man would come to the restaurant every day for drinks and wouldn’t say anything except when he was ordering.

Thus, the lady boss hadn't been able to find out who he was and where he was from.

The only thing she could guess was that he had come from Seoul.

“That Seoul man is at it again.” This time, it was the man’s neighbor, a lady, who dropped by the restaurant to hang out.

The lady boss slapped her lightly on the shoulders and said, “Lower your voice; he’ll hear you.”

“Just what kind of person was he before, not working and just hanging out all day? It’s amazing that he hadn’t put his meals on tabs before.”

In fact, the man had always paid for his meals whenever he ate at the restaurant, and he had never once taken the chump change for his payments. As his expenditure piled up, the lady boss grew slightly fond of him. Sometimes, even when it was closing time, she would still wait for him to finish first before closing the shop.

The next-door lady squinted and said, “But he’s still nice... The way he dresses makes him look like a beggar, especially his haircut, but he can’t fool the real deal. You’re single, too, so why don’t you ask him out for a date?”

“Look at this fool. Leave if you’re going to be noisy. Stop interfering with other’s business.”

Creaaak.

The two women flinched, exchanging glances. The man pushed his chair back and stood up. As usual, he left the money for his drinks on the table and stumbled out of the shop.

Shwaaaah!

The sound of waves crashing against the sand filled the air as soon as he stepped out of the restaurant. The man hummed a melody as he walked along the shore. It was a melody that the love of his life liked, and he recalled their university days, which were slowly fading away thanks to the alcohol’s effects.

There was no longer any anger or sadness. Those numbed emotions did not recover but remained dull, and thus, he was at peace. He felt satisfied if he could stay this way for the rest of his life.

The man walked and stopped only upon seeing a lighthouse. His eyes grew wide upon spotting a woman walking toward him.

“I found you.” Those were the first words she said to him with a smile. The man stared at her, expressionless. The lady smiled brightly, waiting quietly for his response.

“…” However, the man turned slightly and walked past her.

The smile on her face disappeared, and she went up to block his path in spite. “I’m hungry, Mr. Myung-Hoon.”

“Move.”

“I haven’t eaten anything on the way here.”

“I said move.”

The rough waves crashed against the shore, scattering debris. Even though she was drenched, Hye-Mi did not move an inch. She had taken a flight just to meet this man. She had even resigned from her job as soon as she heard about his plight.

“Feed me some food, Mr. Myung-Hoon. Please?” Hye-Mi gently grabbed him by the sleeves.

Oh Myung-Hoon frowned deeply and shook her hand off. “Please, go away!”

Hye-Mi clenched her jaws. Despite seeing the tears in her eyes, Oh Myung-Hoon still yelled at her, “Are you a retard?! Do you still not know why I approached you after all this while?! Please think through if you have a brain! I just used you because you were valuable to me!”

“I know.”

Oh Myung-Hoon was at a loss for words.

Hye-Mi wiped the tears off and said, “I know everything.”

“Yet you still come to me?”

“Can’t we at least talk over some food?”

“Please…!” Oh Myung-Hoon pulled his hair as he finally felt the effects of alcohol.

Reuniting Hye-Mi had only made him recall the ugly memories one after another.

Oh Myung-Hoon collapsed to the ground as all strength left his body.

Hye-Mi quickly helped him to his feet.

“I'm trash.”

“You’re not.”

“I am a piece of trash.”

“Stop it, and let’s go eat something.”

“I haven’t thought of you as a woman, not even once.”

“Don’t lie.”

Oh Myung-Hoon's neck bent of its own accord as he buried his nose into her shoulder. He felt her warmth, and his sobs grew even stronger as a violent tremor ran across him. “I! I really! No, I—why am I like this?! I… I’m not even human!”

He had yet to recover the emotions that he had left in the river when he threw himself off the bridge, but Hye-Mi had brought it back to him today. Oh Myung-Hoon couldn't stop crying, terrified that he wouldn't be able to die and would have no choice but to continue living his life.