Big Life – Chapter 1 Part 1 – No Money and No Recognition
-Beeeeep! Beeeeep!
The phone under his pillow vibrated his body greatly . Jaegun’s two eyes bursted open . He was anxiously waiting for his editor’s call . However, it wasn’t . It was his closest friend, Park Jungjin .
“Heeeelllllooo…” He yawned .
“What’s with you today?”
“Just woke up . Deadline today . ”
“Oh, that new contract . ”
“Yeah, just got it done . ”
“That’s good . Come before 7:30 . Remember? At Shinchon?”
His eyes burst open again at his words, “What do you mean? 7:30?”
“This idiot forgot again . You know, the college reunion is today?”
“Aaaaahhhhh . ” Jaegun sighed . He completely forgot . It was the day to meet his literary college graduates . “What time is it right now?”
“Don’t even have a clock? Better hurry because it’s 5 right now . Woah . Hey, I have a meeting to go to . See you later . ”
-Beep!
He took his aching body and went to the bathroom . He needed to hurry .
-Whoooshhhh
“AAAAAHHHH FREAKING COLD!” The freezing water hit his body hard .
He had no choice; he had to save his gas fees . Flopping like a fish, he hurriedly finished his shower . Picking out his best clothes, he quickly left home .
Heading to the bus stop, he checked the time . 15 minutes to get to the subway station, 40 minutes to ride the subway . He had some time .
‘Still the same here . ’ He arrived at the meeting place, a nostalgic pub . He remembered when he visited this place . Cheap and delicious, the store owner was really nice as well .
-Tap!
Someone behind him tapped his shoulder .
Surprised, he looked back to see a smiling Jungjin .
“Hey man, don’t do that . My heart’s weak recently . ”
“What are you doing here, not going in?”
“Just… Filled with nostalgia . Haven’t came here in ages . ”
“Same, it’s been a while . Let’s go in . ”
In the corner of the pub, there was a huge corner to hold even 20 people . 18 people said they could come . Most of them were already there and exchanging conversations .
“Hey . Been a while, man . ”
“You two, always sticking around together since college . You dating now?” People exchanged greetings .
Jaegun and Jongjin took their places and replied, “Hey, how is everyone . Your face is still the same, Hyojin . ”
“Don’t make fun of me, I was thinking of getting a facelift because of my skin . ”
“Silly you, not even 30 and thinking of nonsense . Don’t ruin your pretty face . ”
“Same as always, I see . Speaking about pretty, come to me . I’ll take care of you today . ”
She gestured with her hands for him to sit next to her . With a face, Jongjin came in the middle .
“Hey hey hey, don’t put all the attention on him . See this poor looking producer . This poor looking producer spent a week with a bloody nose trying to think of an idea that just got shoved in the trash can . ”
“Ohhh you di~d,” she mocked . ”Come here too . Have a drink . ”
Smiling, he went next to her with a cup .
Minah, the girl across from them, said with wide-eyes, “You guys starting strong already . Aren’t you ready to be dating now? Don’t you think, Jaegun?”
“Yeah . Listening to them, I reckon so,” he replied seriously .
Immediately, Jongjin and Hyojin crinkled their faces and stared at each other . A smile formed at Jaegun’s lips .
-Clomp! Clomp!
A sound of shoes hitting the sound came up . Everyone looked towards the sound . A man in a suit waved confidently to the crowd; it was another graduate, Oh Myunghoon .
“Hey, come here . ”
“How’s life . ”
“How’s it been going . ”
The reaction was different from when they got here . There was more cheering, especially from the girls .
“It’s the successful guy! I see you’ve been rocking them fancy clothes . ”
“What do you mean? It’s only the beginning . ” He said stolidly and sat down straight across from Jaegun .
“Been awhile, hasn’t it . ” he put his hand out .
“Yeah, yeah, it has been,” Jaegun replied awkwardly . He couldn’t be calm anymore .
Not everyone becomes a writer when they graduate from literary college . As it’s a job with risk, people often go elsewhere to find jobs . They might go to a gaming company and write scenarios like Jongjin . In this college, there were barely any writers . In this reunion, there was two .
One was Jaegun, the other was the person right across from him, Myunghoon .
Myunghoon recently broke success with his three romance novels . One even got a huge award . It was big enough to be considered to be adapted into a drama .
Myunghoon was famous among writers . His salary was said to be over the millions already .
“What have you been doing recently?” Myunghoon asked .
It felt mocking . It felt mocking to be asked a question that he already knew the answer to . Reading his mind, Jongjin answered for him,” What do you think? Of course he’s been writing . ”
“I see, still writing?” He put a strange emphasis on “still . ”
“Yeah . Yeah, I’m still writing . You want a drink?” he answered back with a false smile .
“Ah, thanks . ”
“I’ve heard . You’ve been famous . Congrats . ”
“Nah, it’s nothing . It’s only good enough for a drama consideration . ”
Jaegun’s hands shook when he was pouring the drink . Trying to conceal it, he quickly poured the drink and put the bottle down .
“What are you writing?” Myunghoon asked .
“Me? I’ve been, I’ve been writing a martial arts novel for a contract right now . ”
“Ah, martial arts? Does that even pay? Does it even give a 1000 dollars for a book?”
