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 novels 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 .