Chapter 543 (1/2)

“What the heck happened to her?” Pilhyun asked as he pointed at Hanmi.

Haesoo clicked her tongue.

“She’s in a state of self-loathing again.”

“Again? She was okay before though.”

“It began again.”

Haesoo patted Hanmi’s head, who was lying on her legs. The girl that was like the manifestation of confidence fell to such a low state due to a slip. She pitied her.

“Uhm. Mr. Gwak Joon, was it?”

Haesoo looked at Gwak Joon, who sat next to Pilhyun. The man who was clad in black from top to bottom, nodded back to her.

“Looks like I haven’t introduced myself properly. My name is Choi Haesoo. I’ve known bro Ahn for quite a while, and I’m just a woman who writes stuff.”

“Gwak Joon. I write novels.”

“Yes.”

“So you weren’t someone with the same name. I enjoyed the movie. I haven’t read the novel yet though. I also wrote an article about it, quite generously too.”

“Thank you.”

“Bro Ahn, you should’ve introduced him to me if you knew such a good person. You were monopolizing him to yourself?”

Pilhyun made a sour expression and denied that claim.

“This dude is someone who holes himself up even more than me. Even I have a hard time meeting him. Not only that, he’s no fun to hang out with, and he looks scary too. I don’t think there are many people who even know this guy in the novelist world, you know? Even his editor asks me where he is. At most, he knows brother Bae.”

“Really?”

Haesoo nodded as she looked at Gwak Joon’s face. He definitely didn’t look like the sociable type.

“I tried to introduce him to you once, but he was writing back then. He’s hard to call out once he starts writing, so I just gave up on that notion.”

“No need for honorifics.”

Haesoo shook hands with Gwak Joon. A writer who’s rarely seen when he writes, huh. Haesoo felt like she was meeting a creature known as a ‘novelist’ that only existed in fiction. While she also made a living through her writing, she was far from having such a personality. She was passionate when it came to writing, but she forgot about everything once she left her keyboard. Sitting still in a room while focusing only on writing made her shiver just by thinking about it.

“This is Lee Hanmi, who’s at the epitome of self-destruction. Ever heard of her?”

“Hyung-nim told me a few times, so I do know her. He told me that she’s the one who became the most famous among the writers in Suwon.”

“Hey, hey, Hanmi. I’m boasting about you. Wake up.”

Haesoo tapped on Hanmi’s cheeks. Hanmi slowly sat up.

“It’s a shit life anyway. I don’t care what happens. Writers are shit,” Hanmi said.

Haesoo poured a cup of cold water for Hanmi. Although she had sobered up a little, Hanmi’s mentality had crawled into the depths of the abyss so she wasn’t able to get herself together. She couldn’t imagine how she normally acted.

“Lee Hanmi, I knew you’d get yourself into trouble one day. This is why people need to make numerous mistakes. Look at me. I’ve fallen over several times on my way to being fifty years old, and now I’m at the point where I don’t get disappointed with most things.”

Pilhyun replied ‘who might that be’ as he drank the low-alcohol drink.

“Stop making her feel bad and console her a little.”

“What good is consolation when it comes to writing? Do the keys type by themselves just because someone consoles you? Do the manuscripts get written by themselves? It’s just how life is.”

“Bro Ahn. You’re such a bad guy.”

“Choi Haesoo, I’m gonna have you pay for what you ate.”

“Urgh, what a stingy man. Little brother Joon, don’t treat a guy like this as your elder.”

“I’m used to it, so I’m okay with it. Also, I freeload at his house from time to time, so I can’t afford to have him hate me.”

“Money’s the greatest enemy, eh?”

“Indeed.”

“Lee Hanmi, stop whimpering and let’s start drinking. What are you going to do about something that has already happened? Spilt milk won’t go back in the glass by itself. Just pray that the viewing rates stay up and write the next part. You’re just a contracted writer, so you need to write those episodes to earn money.”

“You really are a bad guy, oppa.”

Hanmi said that as she raised her eyebrows. It had begun once again. A bad relationship - this seemed like a gentle expression. In a feud - that wouldn’t suffice either. Archenemies - that was a much better description.

Haesoo looked at the two people growling at each other like dogs fighting for territory before giving up. They should stop once they got tired. She was also tired because she had been listening to Hanmi’s grumbling all day.

She ate some fruits as she sighed. Just then, Daemyung, who was sitting on the other side, entered her eyes. He was looking at the two with sharp eyes. Unbefitting of his rather rounded face, his eyes looked pretty fierce. He didn’t look angry though. He looked more like he was incredibly focused.

“What are you looking at?”

“E-eh? Oh, it’s nothing.”

“Don’t lie. You were staring holes into them.”

“It’s just… oh, you can speak casually with me.”

Daemyung replied after a bit of hesitation.

“I was just watching them. A friend of mine told me that I have good eyes for observation. Honestly, I really don’t have a lot of strengths. So in order to make the most of my lacking strengths, I kinda got into the habit of watching people.”

“Good. Famous writers say that they go to the bus stop when they want to make a character. They say that they can come across all sorts of characters there. If you have good eyes for observation, it’ll be much easier to create a character.”

“I think so too.”

“But don’t look at them too fiercely. They might misunderstand you.”

“It lets me focus better. It also leaves a clearer image in my mind.”

“Really? Looks like you have a good memory. I could never remember things like that.”

Daemyung smiled in embarrassment. He was such a cute kid.

“It looks like you live nearby huh. It’s quite late.”

“Suwon? That’s a coincidence. I live in Suwon too. Wait, tomorrow’s not a day off.”

“Yes. I was planning to sleep at teacher Ahn’s house and go to school early in the morning.”

“You have it hard because of Bro Ahn as well. Bro Ahn! Why did you call this guy here? He’ll have a hard time going to school tomorrow.”

Pilhyun, who was quarreling with Hanmi, twitched his eyes.

“I’ll drive him back!”

“Like hell you will. Obviously, little brother Joon will be the one giving him a ride.”

“He and I are two in one. Rather than that, Hanmi’s really in a bad state, huh.”

Haesoo looked next to her. Hanmi had buried her face in her palms. She was muttering some things, and they mostly seemed to be some curses directed at the world, so there didn’t seem to be a need to listen to her closely. When they met for lunch, she ate like she was the only one aware of the world’s destruction tomorrow, but once some alcohol entered her system, she started blabbing about all sorts of things, which included stories about herself. She talked about everything to the point that it made Haesoo wonder how she had held that within her for so long. She would probably be able to write Hanmi’s biography from the stories she heard today. Of course, it would be incredibly depressing.

“Sorry for acting like this when we’re ȧduŀts. I’ll apologize in everyone’s stead,” Haesoo said as she faintly smiled at Daemyung.

Daemyung smiled awkwardly before nodding.

“Joon, let’s go smoking.”