御宅伴侣高压版

— Yes, that’s right.

Park Kyung-Soo was transfixed unwittingly on Lee Yeon-Woo.

Lee Yeon-Woo seemed curious about Park Kyung-Soo’s gaze.

Park Kyung-Soo was speechless.

— Hello? Deputy Park?

“Ah, aigoo. Look at me. Hello, Writer Ha.”

Park Kyung-Soo scurried on an empty sofa and replied, “How have you been? I’ve dropped a few calls and messages to ask about your well-being, but you seem to be extremely busy.”

— I see. Yes, I’m too busy working on so many novels at the same time. I haven’t really been able to check my phone. I’m sorry.

“Ahahah, I see… No, it’s fine. I should apologize for calling when you’re busy, you need not apologize to me. Yes, ahaha…!”

Lee Yeon-Woo watched as Park Kyung-Soo spoke in a daze.

Park Kyung-Soo’s confidence seemed to have vanished.

Park Kyung-Soo felt uneasy about what they would end up talking about over the phone, so he signaled Lee Yeon-Woo and excused himself.

“B-but… how did you know… Writer Lee Yeon-Woo?” Park Kyung-Soo asked upon arriving near the washroom.

— Writer Lee Yeon-Woo is a massive fan of mine. We’re close, so he asked me for advice when you approached him with a contract.

“Ahh… I see…”

— I have a question. I’ve heard about the terms you offered Writer Lee, but I find it a bit problematic. What do you think?

Park Kyung-Soo didn’t reply. He gulped with difficulty. There was air conditioning in the cafe, but his forehead and back were drenched in sweat.

— Why are you not answering? Deputy Park?

“Ah. I-I-I’m sorry. The connection got cut off for a moment, and I couldn’t hear you that well earlier,” Park Kyung-Soo gave a ridiculous excuse while wiping the sweat off his forehead.

His mind had gone blank. No words would come to his mind. The other party on the line was none other than Ha Jae-Gun, after all.

It still felt like yesterday when Ha Jae-Gun was still a rookie writer, but now, he had grown into an extremely successful writer. Nothing good would come out of offending him in any way.

“I-I was instructed to proceed with those terms…”

— I know, but please take care of him. I don’t think it’s too much to ask. I hope that you’ll provide him with reasonable treatment, and I hope that you won’t ruin his dream using an unscrupulous contract.

Ha Jae-Gun remained calm while Park Kyung-Soo was nodding profusely as if Ha Jae-Gun were in front of him.

“Yes… Of course, Writer Ha. I will definitely do that.”

— Thank you. I’m hanging up now.

Park Kyung-Soo hurriedly called Ma Jong-Goo.

— Deputy Park? Are you done with the contract signing?

“No, we’re still talking about it.”

— Why are you dragging it out? Wrap it up, then head to Sindangdong to meet Writer Ko. Writer Ko is easily swayed, so he might not sign with us if he gets persuaded by someone else.

“Please listen to me, sir. Writer Ha called me.”

— What?!

“I think he’s close with the author of Martial God Management. He called after hearing the news about how he’s going to sign a contract with us. He told me to treat him well. What should I do?”

— Mmm…!

Ma Jong-Goo didn’t know what to say.

Park Kyung-Soo could see Ma Jong-Goo rubbing his face anxiously.

— No, wait. Did you create those terms for Writer Lee without knowing that he’s close with Writer Ha?!

Ma Jong-Goo finally yelled into the phone.

He was trying to keep his dignity with those nonsensical words.

Park Kyung-Soo trembled in fury. “How would I know every single detail?”

— Deputy Park, it seems like you’re getting better at talking back recently?!

“No, no. I’m sorry.”

— Argh…! This is difficult. It’s tough to sign a contract with him using the usual terms because his performance is still not good enough. Shit, damn, fuck!

“What should we do, Department head?”

— What do you think we should do? Do you really want to burn our bridge to Writer Ha?! We have no choice. Do seven percent royalties and 7:3 on ebooks. Give a guarantee up to the third volume.

“Yes… Understood.”

— And look for something to gift Writer Ha. Use this chance to send him our greetings. Butter him up well so that we’ll get another novel from him. Anyway, I’m hanging up.

Ma Jong-Goo ended the call without waiting for Park Kyung-Soo’s reply.

Park Kyung-Soo calmed himself down with deep breaths before returning to the table.

“How was it?” Lee Yeon-Woo asked. He was holding his phone and was typing something on it.

Park Kyung-Soo was silently boiling with anger. He thought Lee Yeon-Woo was mocking him. “Writer Lee. I think we’ve made a mistake on our end.”

“A mistake?”

“Yes. I just got off the call with our department head. The terms for your novel should be seven percent royalties on physical books and 7:3 on ebooks. Hahaha…”

Unfortunately, even the naive Lee Yeon-Woo could tell Park Kyung-Soo was lying.

Park Kyung-Soo even pulled out a new contract draft.

“Martial God Management’s plot is great, so we decided to offer you guaranteed royalties up to the third volume. We should have done this from the start,” said Park Kyung-Soo to try and patch things up.

Lee Yeon-Woo went agape in disbelief.

‘Just what did they talk about…?!’

Lee Yeon-Woo couldn’t help but wonder about how this outcome was achieved

However, it was hard for Lee Yeon-Woo to make even a wild guess since he had no experience in the industry.

Regardless, Lee Yeon-Woo exclaimed inwardly with pure admiration.

‘You’re so amazing, Writer Poongchun-Yoo…!’

The arrogant editor was trembling in fear after a single call from him.

On top of that, he had returned with better terms for his contract.

The change happened in just a few minutes, but the significant improvement made Lee Yeon-Woo understand Ha Jae-Gun’s power.

"Here, please fill in the details here.” Park Kyung-Soo handed the contract draft and politely passed the pen to Lee Yeon-Woo. He slowly looked down at the contract in a daze as if he were possessed.

“Umm, Writer Lee?”

“I’m sorry.” Lee Yeon-Woo finally snapped out of his thoughts. He finally came to his senses and saw the route that he had to take. “I won’t be signing this contract.”

“...What?!”

“I was too eager to make my debut. I’m sorry for making you come all the way here, but I’m going now.”

“W-Writer Lee Yeon-Woo?!”

Lee Yeon-Woo stood up and saluted like a soldier before turning around and leaving.

Park Kyung-Soo’s pathetic salute could be seen after Lee Yeon-Woo departed the cafe.

***

“Hello, President Kwon. Ah, are you done reading Martial God Management? I\'ll be clocking in at the office every day from now on, so I\'ll help him with his novel.

”Pardon? Haha, it\'s no problem. He\'s my fan, so I\'m enjoying the process. Of course, yes, I understand. I\'ll call you again. Have a good day." Ha Jae-Gun ended the call and worked on his scenario once more.

He had suggested signing Martial God Management, so Ha Jae-Gun felt great upon hearing that Kwon Tae-Won thought the same as him. Martial God Management indeed had the potential to become a great novel.

‘I should be able to complete a third of this. I should include the remaining story plot and send it to the editor-in-chief soon.’

It had already been a few days since Ha Jae-Gun started clocking in at the writer’s office, and he stayed true to his promise of working at the office daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

It was still exhausting, but it was probably because he was still adjusting to the routine. He wanted to work throughout the night upon being struck by motivation, but he had been trying his best to suppress the urge to work outside work hours.

Unfortunately, the process had been torture for him so far.

‘I don’t have to rush things. I’m already writing a lot.’

Ha Jae-Gun comforted himself before typing away.

Soon, it was 5.40 p.m. There were only twenty minutes left until his shift ended, so he had no time to rest his fingers.

He also had a burning desire to work overtime.

“Writer Ha, you’ll be having dinner before leaving, right?” Jang Eun-Young asked from behind him.

Ha Jae-Gun nodded without looking back and replied, “Yes, of course. I’m only going to have ramyun if I go home without eating here, so shall we eat out? It’s my treat, so feel free to decide on the menu.”

Jang Eun-Young’s eyes sparkled at the words eat out.

“Wow, of course. What would you like to have? Min-Ho hyung, Hyun-Kyung. What do you guys want to eat?”

Just then, a knock came from the front door.

They were not expecting any visitors here unless it was the delivery man, but neither did they call for delivery.

“Who is it?”

“Ah, I’ll go take a look,” Ha Jae-Gun offered, guessing that it could be someone he knew.

As soon as he opened the door, he saw Lee Yeon-Woo standing there scratching his buzz-cut head.

“Hello! I’m Lee Yeon-Woo!” Lee Yeon-Woo greeted with a bright voice and made a salute.

Ha Jae-Gun smiled and invited him into the office.

All the other writers stopped working and stood up from their desks.

“Ahh, you must be the author of Martial God Management.”

“Hmm? Ah~ The blogger named Pezellon? Writer Ha’s huge fan?”

Min-Ho and Jang Eun-Young added while approaching the foyer.

Lee Yeon-Woo smiled and bowed to each of them.

Ha Jae-Gun introduced him to the others. “I actually just met him outside yesterday. He stays in Suwon but has a hard time focusing at home, so I asked him to come here to work instead. Please introduce yourselves. This is Writer Kang Min-Ho, and this is Writer Jang Eun-Young.”

Lee Yeon-Woo’s eyes brightened in excitement. “You’re the authors of Demon Lord Returns and Naughty Roommate, right?!”

“Wow, you know of our novels as well?”

“Of course. After I finished reading The Breath, I enjoyed both of your novels as well! I find all the novels from Laugh Books interesting. It’s really awesome!” Lee Yeon-Woo exclaimed in awe like a little boy with both thumbs raised.

Kang Min-Ho and Jang Eun-Young looked at each other and laughed while feeling shy at the compliments.

Meanwhile, Yang Hyun-Kyung was standing quietly in a corner. It wasn’t strange because he had always been shy. He was a bit wary of the newcomer whose personality he still hadn’t quite grasped.

“Ah, and he’s Writer Yang Hyun-Kyung.”

“Ah, the author of Slater?” Lee Yeon-Woo accurately named Yang Hyun-Kyung’s novel. Yang Hyun-Kyung let down his guard and was about to feel happy at the recognition, but Lee Yeon-Woo asked Yang Hyun-Kyung. “But I haven’t really read it since you returned from your hiatus. Have you completed it?”

“...!” Yang Hyun-Kyung’s eyes twitched.

It seemed that Lee Yeon-Woo was a bit dense, so Jang Eun-Young quickly clapped and changed the subject. “How timely. Since Writer Lee is here with us, why don’t we all have dinner together? Writer Lee, what do you like to eat?”

“I’m fine with anything.”

“That’s great. Shall we head to the arcade first, then? Ah, right. Writer Ha, you haven’t finished writing, right?”

“I can clock out ten minutes earlier today as well. Please wait a moment. Let me quickly send out the manuscript.”

As planned, Ha Jae-Gun sent out a third of the manuscript he had completed along with the overall storyline to Oh Myung-Suk’s email. He even sent Oh Myung-Suk a text message while he was at it.

Jang Eun-Young saw Ha Jae-Gun’s pale face and asked worriedly, “Writer Ha, are you feeling okay?”

“No, but I’m shivering. I don’t think I caught a cold; I think it’s just my body acclimatizing to the sudden change in routine.”

“Aigoo, what logic is that? Since Writer Ha isn’t feeling that well today, let’s have some soup, then.”

Ha Jae-Gun smiled gratefully at Jang Eun-Young, who was acting like a considerate older sister of the group. The team headed out for a welcome dinner to welcome the new member of the office.

***

‘Hmm, he sent a manuscript?’

Oh Myung-Suk was about to clock off, but he sat back down upon seeing Ha Jae-Gun’s email. If it were from another writer, he would have postponed reading it until tomorrow.

However, it was from Ha Jae-Gun, so he was eager to check it out.

Oh Myung-Suk opened his inbox and saw the unread email.

Title: Gangster’s Sea

“...” Oh Myung-Suk massaged his stiff neck. The title wasn’t really that intuitive; it didn’t give any information about what the story would be.

‘Hmm, is it a drama? Perhaps with a mix of a thriller...’

Oh Myung-Suk fixed his glasses and focused on reading the manuscript.

The scenario manuscript had many more dialogues compared to usual novel manuscripts. Oh Myung-Suk automatically constructed the scenes as he read the sentences.

‘Ah, the female protagonist’s name is Ba-Da, and that’s why the title is Gangster’s Sea. Am I right?’

Oh Myung-Suk chuckled.

The hook in the introduction was great, and it was a smooth read. The dialogues of the female characters were somewhat awkward, but it wasn’t that huge of a thorn in his eyes.

Oh Myung-Suk read the entire manuscript in less than twenty minutes. Once he was done, he pulled out his phone. It was time for him to call Ha Jae-Gun and share his thoughts on the manuscript.

“What are you doing? Why are you still working?” interrupted a familiar voice.

“Father, what brings you here?”

Oh Myung-Suk put down his phone and stood up.

His father, Oh Tae-Jin, leisurely walked into the office with his hands behind him.