御宅伴侣高压版

— Why did you call? I’m busy, so get straight to the point.

“I called you a few times, but you didn’t answer them.”

— I’ve said that I’m busy, and I still am. So what is it?

“How are preparations going for the movie?”

Woo Jae-Hoon was working on a new movie. He had chosen to work on another movie since talks with Ha Jae-Gun didn’t end well. The title of the new movie was The Himalayas. It was based on a true story and had been announced on the news.

— Whether it’s going great or not, what’s it to you?

“Don’t act this way, Director. No, Woo Jae-Hoon hyung.”

— Don’t call me that.

Feeling sad, Park Do-Joon placed one hand on the wall and said, "You\'re making me feel bad. You always said you\'d be understanding toward me and told me to act whichever roles I like."

— Did I say that? You literally stabbed me in the back. You betrayed me.

"Betrayed?"

— Yeah, betrayed. You\'re a traitor, you bastard.

Woo Jae-Hoon put a strong emphasis on the word betray, rendering Park Do-Joon speechless.

— Think back on how much I\'ve taken care of you up until now. How dare you be ungrateful and follow that Ha Jae-Gun punk? Can you even imagine how I felt? If you\'re not a traitor, what are you, then?

Park Do-Joon\'s breathing got rougher, like the waves crashing onto the stones.

"Hyung—no, Director… How can you label this as a betrayal? And I\'m ungrateful? I abandoned you and followed Ha Jae-Gun? That does not make sense at all. I\'m just following the character Cho Kang-Jae that he created!"

— There\'s no need for you to raise your voice at me. This is the end between us. Let’s see how well you fare with that rookie director. Character? Quality? Ha. Do you really think that it’s that easy to turn a movie into a box-office hit? You’ll probably have a hard time next year onward.

Park Do-Joon only listened to Woo Jae-Hoon’s curses and bad criticisms silently, with his jaw clenched. He then saw his manager approaching, signaling with his gaze, asking what phone call it was.

“I’ll just ask you one thing.”

— Aigoo, sure. Ask me anything.

“Why did you do this to Na-Yeon?”

— …

Woo Jae-Hoon didn’t give an immediate answer.

Despite feeling his manager’s anxious gaze on him, Park Do-Joon continued. “It’s because of you that she quit her job and went back to acting. Even if you couldn’t look out for her, isn’t leaving her alone the least you could do?”

— Are you trying to reprimand me right now? And what nonsense are you spouting?! Are you implying that I’ve been spreading rumors about her being a host girl?![1]

“I heard it from Bo-Ra, she said that you told her about it.”

— Hey, I just mentioned it in passing while drinking! I didn’t even talk much about Na-Yeon to her!

Woo Jae-Hoon was obviously flustered because he had raised his voice.

Park Do-Joon scoffed and leaned his head on the wall. The good feelings he had for Woo Jae-Hoon instantly crumbled.

— Ah, whatever! I’m hanging up!

The call was cut off unilaterally at the same time as Woo Jae-Hoon yelled into the phone.

Park Do-Joon’s continuous ridicule made his manager ask cautiously, “That’s Director Woo Jae-Hoon, right?”

Park Do-Joon nodded his head limply while his manager let out a sigh.

“I told you so. I said that he wouldn’t let things go so easily.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore. I actually feel quite refreshed now.”

Park Do-Joon stretched and shook the sand off of his feet.

“Do-Joon, Producer Oh called.”

“Producer Oh? What is it about?”

“To cast you as a guest for I Live Alone. It’s the best timing to appear on the show now, too.”

Park Do-Joon looked down at the ground and nodded slowly.

I Live Alone was a documentary-type variety show that showed the daily lives of solo-living celebrities, and it had always been performing well with relatively good viewership ratings, so there was no reason for Park Do-Joon to reject it.

It would also become a good platform to promote There Was A Sea.

“You’ll guest on it, right? Do-Joon? It’s nice to build up your image as an actor, but if you continue to reject such offers, your entertainment sense could get lost entirely.”

“All right, I’ll go on it.”

“And, about Writer Ha Jae-Gun…”

“What about Ha Jae-Gun?”

“Can he appear on the show as well? You’re distant from your family, and there’s no way we can have Chae-Rin go on the show with you.”

“…”

“I think Writer Ha is the best person right now. Plus, it’ll look good to see the most popular actor and bestselling writer of the original novel be good friends. You guys can talk about the posts shared on social media. Actually, this was brought up by the producer first.”

Park Do-Joon looked up at the sky and fell deep in thought.

His manager was right. However, would Ha Jae-Gun even agree to appear on the show? Park Do-Joon was afraid that he would get rejected, so he was afraid of bringing it up to Ha Jae-Gun personally.

“Hyung, why don’t you ask Jae-Gun about it?”

“Why would I? You’re now so much closer to him, seeing how you’re even hanging out at his place and all.”

“Those are two separate issues. I’m hungry, let’s go have some food.”

Park Do-Joon spun around, heading back to the bed and breakfast run by Jung So-Mi’s family with his phone in hand. He had wanted to send a text message with words of consolation, but he stopped himself midway.

***

“Good job, Yeon-Woo.”

Lee Yeon-Woo was smiling and looking all proud at the writer’s office in Bucheon. He had just completed volume six of Martial God Management. The novel didn’t fare well, but the flow was undisturbed, so he managed to end it successfully.

“You will still get some royalties since it’ll be published in the form of ebooks as well. So relax and prepare for your next novel.”

“Okay, Jae-Gun hyung. It’s all thanks to your help.”

The season had already changed, and it was now autumn.

Lee Yeon-Woo successfully closed his debut novel while the other writers were busy advertising their own novels. Yang Hyun-Kyung also regained his confidence and determination.

“Meow.”

“I’ll play with you in a while, Rika. I’ll be finally done with the scenario after another week.”

Tadadak! Tadak! Tadadak!

Ha Jae-Gun’s fingers started typing away at bullet speed. He was at the final stage of completing the scenario, so he wasn’t too far away from putting that last period of the sentence of the final scene.

The typing sounds felt unusually chirpy to him, and it was mostly influenced by Director Yoon Tae-Sung.

Contrary to the strict impression shown during their negotiations, he had approved over ninety-nine percent of the scenario that Ha Jae-Gun had written. There was no way things wouldn’t go smoothly. He was in a good mood, after all.

“Hyung, it’s time for us to head out. It’s already 3 p.m.”

“Is it that time already?”

Ha Jae-Gun saved his Word document and stood up from his desk. Today, he would appear in a cultural radio broadcast.

Ha Jae-Gun even gave a lecture to a group of new employees from a large corporation just a few days ago. Lee Yeon-Woo—Ha Jae-Gun’s manager—had also become his chauffeur.

“I’ll be back with Yeon-Woo, then.”

“Please be safe.”

“Have a safe trip.”

Kang Min-Ho and Jang Eun-Young’s replies and expressions were somewhat stiff, and Ha Jae-Gun could swear that he hadn’t seen the two talk to each other since morning.

‘Did they fight?’

Ha Jae-Gun found it strange, but since time was tight for him, he couldn’t ask about it and had to leave the office.

“It’s annoying to have to leave while in the middle of working on the novel,” Ha Jae-Gun muttered as he climbed into the backseat.

Lee Yeon-Woo entered the address in the navigation and smiled before saying, “President Kwon and Editor-in-chief Oh Myung-Suk had chosen all of these for you, so it’s best if you did it for them too.”

Lee Yeon-Woo took out his phone and double-checked the schedule before adding, “Next week, you’ve got the movie press conference on Tuesday for There Was A Sea, and dinner with Professor Han Hae-Sun on Wednesday evening, then dinner with Editor-in-chief Oh Myung-Suk on Friday evening.”

Ha Jae-Gun smiled while Lee Yeon-Woo turned around.

“Seeing how much you’re taking care of my schedule makes me feel like I’ve really become some celebrity.”

“But, hyung, you are a celebrity,” Yeon-Woo said seriously.

Ha Jae-Gun facepalmed and chuckled at Lee Yeon-Woo’s reaction, almost forgetting the fact that the latter was Poongchun-Yoo’s biggest fan.

The car drove out of the car park and onto the roads.

“But, hyung, you should appear on TV as well. Why are you only going on radio shows?”

“Um…”

“It’s good to go on current events or educational programs, too. You’re good at giving lectures and aren’t camera-shy. Weren’t you asked to appear on a variety show as well?”

“It feels kind of ambiguous.”

“Ambiguous?”

Ha Jae-Gun nodded and explained himself. “For shows like A Writer’s Study, there’s a clear focus on why I had to appear on the show. I also wanted to share more about my novels. It’s the same for the radio show that I’m going to appear on today.”

“Hmm, I see.”

“But the TV show requests that’s been coming in recently didn’t have those. They can definitely find someone else to replace me if I reject them as well.”

“I kind of understand where you’re coming from.”

“Instead of just showing my face to the public without mentioning my work at all, I’d rather stay in the office and work on my novel. That’s just what I think.”

“I’m not very sure, but that’s cool, hyung.”

“Hey, stop that weird expression and focus on the road.”

Bzzt!

Ha Jae-Gun looked at his phone to see an unknown number showing on the screen.

Lee Yeon-Woo quickly turned down the music for Ha Jae-Gun as he answered the call.

“Hello?”

— Hello, Writer Ha. I’m Park Do-Joon’s manager, Woo Tae-Bong. Are you available to talk?

“Ah, yes. Hello. I’m able to talk now.”

— I should be congratulating you first. I’ve just seen on the news that the novel There Was A Sea has hit over 500,000 copies sold. I’ve contributed to the number as well by purchasing a copy.

“Haha, I see. Thank you. It’s all thanks to you that sales hit 500,000 copies, then,” Ha Jae-Gun replied with a light-hearted joke.

As their laughter died down, Woo Tae-Bong continued softly.

— I actually called to ask you about Park Do-Joon’s broadcast request. Have you heard of I Live Alone?

“The program shows celebrities who live alone, right? I know of it,” Ha Jae-Gun replied.

He didn’t watch TV often, but I Live Alone was actually one of the few popular programs that he was familiar with.

— Yes, that’s right. Do-Joon has been scheduled to go on the show before the premiere of There Was A Sea. Have you possibly watched it before?

“Hmm, I might have watched a few in passing, but I’ve never watched an entire episode before.”

— They sometimes have the guests’ family or friends appear on the show together, or the guest would head outside to play; otherwise, it’d be boring if only the guest were shown on the episode alone.

“Ah, I see…” Ha Jae-Gun’s tone dropped, realizing what Park Do-Joon’s manager had called him about.

— I’d be extremely grateful if Writer Ha Jae-Gun could help him out with this. It’ll become a great promotion for the movie. There’s no need for you to feel burdened. The program has no script, you just have to hang out naturally with Do-Joon.

Park Do-Joon’s manager quickly added, fearing that Ha Jae-Gun would reject.

— I personally hope that Writer Ha will appear on the show with Do-Joon. It isn’t just me, but Do-Joon hopes that you’ll join him as well.

“Um…”

— Do-Joon couldn’t bear to bring this up personally, that’s why I called you instead. He’s quite soft-hearted than he looks, afraid that others might reject him if he decided to ask them for a favor, and he would always get hurt by the rejections.

The face of the always-bright Park Do-Joon appeared in the car window in Ha Jae-Gun’s eyes.

Ha Jae-Gun made a decision and said, “Okay, I’ll do it.”

— Thank you so much, Writer Ha. I’ll never forget this favor.

“I trust in your words that there’s no script that I’ll have to prepare myself with.”

— Hahaha, of course. Thank you so much. I’ll contact you again soon.

As soon as Ha Jae-Gun ended the call, Lee Yeon-Woo asked immediately, “Have you decided to appear on I Live Alone? Together with Do-Joon hyung?”

“You’ve got a great hearing. You heard the entire conversation?”

Ten minutes later, Ha Jae-Gun’s phone vibrated, and the screen lit up.

It was a text message from Park Do-Joon.

- Don’t be mistaken! I’m not making dinner for you just because I’m grateful to Oscar!

Ha Jae-Gun chuckled at the message.

Park Do-Joon used the line by a female character in Oscar’s Dungeon to express his gratitude in a roundabout manner.

Ha Jae-Gun returned the gesture in kind by replying with Oscar’s line.

- I’ve never been mistaken. If you’re really thankful, there’s no way you’ll only repay me with just this.

- Hey, Jae-Gun. Stop it, and keep your weekends free, alright?

- Okay.

Ha Jae-Gun kept his phone away and looked up. He leaned back on the headrest and suddenly recalled the strange looks on Kang Min-Ho and Jang Eun-Young when he was leaving the office.

“Oh, right, did something happen between Writer Kang and Writer Jang? They didn\'t look so good when we left.”

“Really? I’ve been busy working on my novel, so I haven’t felt anything different from them.”

“Hmm, I hope it’s not a big deal.”

Ha Jae-Gun looked out of the window.

Winter would soon come, and Ha Jae-Gun found it a pity that time was passing so fast.

1. They call it room girl in Korean ☜