Big Life

Chapter 156. Tremble in Fear (15)

“Hello, Director.”

“Mm, good morning.”

Nam Gyu-Ho raised one hand in greeting as he stepped into the pantry. The employees cocked their heads as they found his reaction strange. His usual response was to put his hands in his pockets and nod his head.

“I need a cup of coffee. Hmm.” Nam Gyu-Ho even lied that he hadn’t had his coffee and pressed a button on the coffee machine.

He had already glanced at his wristwatch thrice while the coffee was dripping.

“May I join you?”

Nam Gyu-Ho ignored the other empty tables in the pantry and approached the planning team members at their table instead. The team was flustered yet still awkwardly moved to make space for him to join them.

“What? Yes, of course. Please have a seat, Director.”

“What’s with all of your expressions?”

“No, it’s just... You usually choose to sit alone or head straight back to your office, so...”

“I’m thinking of spending more time with all of you to improve our communication,” said Nam Gyu-Ho, but he looked at his wristwatch once more. The employees had noticed it earlier, and one of them decided to ask.

“Are you waiting for an important guest...?”

“Hmm? No, why?”

“Because you’ve checked your watch a few times now...”

“Well, I’m just checking to see if my watch is working properly...” Nam Gyu-Ho’s vague reply bewildered everyone.

Just then, Lee Soo-Hee appeared from behind him with a smile.

“That’s a new watch. It’s pretty,” she said.

“Ah, this watch?” Nam Gyu-Ho replied, and his face brightened immediately as he extended his arm to Lee Soo-Hee.

“It was a gift from Writer Ha Jae-Gun.”

“Writer Ha?” Lee Soo-Hee asked, feigning ignorance. However, Lee Soo-Hee was actually asked by Ha Jae-Gun to help him choose the watch meant for Nam Gyu-Ho.

“Yeah, well... He said he was thankful to me for quite a few things, and he gave me this watch as a present. Thankfully, the watch’s design was to my liking as well. Hmm.”

Lee Soo-Hee bit her lip to suppress the laughter that was forcing its way out. To her, Nam Gyu-Ho looked like he was still contemplating whether to show off the watch or not.

“Anyway, Writer Ha is also, uh, how should I say this... Hmm, Well, I should get going now.”

“Yes, Director. See you later.”

Nam Gyu-Ho picked up his cup of coffee and left after achieving his goal.

As soon as Nam Gyu-Ho stepped out, the team stopped Lee Soo-Hee and started clambering for answers.

“Why did Writer Ha give him that watch?”

“Did their relationship get better?”

Lee Soo-Hee only smiled and answered that she wasn’t sure while shaking her head.

As Lee Soo-Hee returned to the office after making herself a cup of coffee, another team member said casually, “Anyway, MPC seems to be in big trouble. Their market share dropped by thirty billion won.”

“Yeah. I feel sorry for the franchisees and investors.” Lee Soo-Hee smiled bitterly in return.

News of the assaulted security, who was Writer Ha’s father, had already spread across the country. Naturally, the team who had been working closely with Ha Jae-Gun would be more interested in the news than anything else.

“What’s the use of a public apology after the video was revealed? Are they performing a gag concert?”

“Sigh, rich people are just too much.”

“I heard that he’s going to sell his stocks and step down from his position. But that should just be rumors, right?”

The topic of the conversation naturally switched to MPC Group. Lee Soo-Hee somehow felt uncomfortable listening as it reminded her of Ha Jae-Gun’s face, which had grown very thin.

The moment Lee Soo-Hee stood up from her seat...

“Huh? What’s this photo?!” The same team member who was looking at their phone exclaimed.

The others curiously gathered around them.

“What photo is it?”

“Isn’t this Writer Ha’s father and MPC Group’s president?”

Lee Soo-Hee sat back down, her eyes widened in shock.

The team member showed Lee Soo-Hee their phone and asked, “Right? Team Leader Lee?”

“...?!”

Lee Soo-Hee could not believe her eyes. Jung Woo-Hyuk was kneeling before Ha Jae-Gun’s father. Myung-Ja and Ha Jae-In stood next to Ha Jae-Gun’s father. It was slightly blurry since the photo was taken from afar, but Lee Soo-Hee still recognized them.

“There are more photos. The MPC president is lying on the ground here.”

“Wow, it’s true. Where did this photo come from?”

“It’s not from the media outlets, but from an anonymous site. It’s going viral on social media. It’s at the top of the search portal ranking.”

Lee Soo-Hee turned pale and pulled out her phone.

As her team members said, clicking on ‘MPC President groveling for forgiveness’ showed countless photos and social media posts on the search results.

- Just what’s happening? I think this is fake? How can someone like the MPC President be groveling for forgiveness?

- Is he asking for a beating in the second photo???

-Fabrication? That’s bull. He’s obviously MPC’s President.

- The person whose back view is the only thing that can be seen in the picture is obviously Ha Jae-Gun. I’m his fan, so I can tell right away.

- If this is real, then Ha Jae-Gun is awesome. Kekekeke. He could even make MPC’s president kneel and ask for forgiveness kekekeke.

- Is Ha Jae-Gun that great??? What kind of family does he have??? Just who is he???

- Wow, the shivers;;;; His dignified aura is;;;; I peed in my pants;;;;;;

- You dumbasses, can’t you distinguish between reality and drama? This is definitely fake. Regardless of how famous Writer Ha Jae-Gun is, does it make sense for someone like MPC’s President to grovel at him like that???

- I don’t think this is fake.

The comments section was flooded with netizens’ speculations. In fact, more and more comments appeared while Lee Soo-Hee was reading the old comments.

‘Did some reporter take a picture and leak it? Because they couldn’t upload it immediately with an article?’

It was the only conclusion she could come up with. Worried, Lee Soo-Hee stepped outside and called Ha Jae-Gun.

— Yeah, Soo-Hee.

“Did you see the articles?”

— Yeah, Yeon-Woo showed it to me.

“Just what happened?”

— I’m not sure either. There was a reporter who came to our house. His name’s Joo Sang-Yeol, from the local online news agency. Did he secretly take that picture?

Ha Jae-Gun’s voice didn’t sound as grim as she had expected. Lee Soo-Hee was slightly relieved and asked, “How about you? Are you okay?”

— Yeah, well, I’m a bit surprised, but it’s fine.

“Thank goodness... Yeah, don’t worry about it. What are you doing now?”

— I’m at the writer’s office to work. I’ll see you later in the evening.

“Yeah, okay. Good luck then.”

***

Beep!

Ha Jae-Gun let out a sigh after hanging up the phone.

BesLee Yeon-Woo was still scrolling through the webpage with shock evident on his face.

“Jae-Gun hyung, is this...real?” Lee Yeon-Woo gulped nervously, looking curious while waiting for an answer from Ha Jae-Gun.

Ha Jae-Gun only smiled bitterly before standing up.

“I’m sorry, but I hope you won’t ask anymore.”

“Okay, hyung... I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize. You haven’t had breakfast, right? It’s kind of late, but let’s go out for breakfast.”

“Sure. Shall we have ox bone soup?”

The two stepped out and headed to a nearby restaurant.

On their way over, Ha Jae-Gun looked down, lost in his thoughts. Lee Yeon-Woo noticed it, and he got worried for him, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask about it first.

Even after they grabbed seats at the restaurant, the silence continued. Ha Jae-Gun didn’t speak even a single word aside from when they had to order. The two of them didn’t share even a single conversation even after they finished their meal.

‘Ah, I’m so bloated.’

Lee Yeon-Woo scrunched his face and rubbed his belly. It was also the first time he had eaten in silence with Ha Jae-Gun around. It felt like he couldn’t digest his meal properly because he was so worried for Ha Jae-Gun.

“Thanks for the meal, hyung.”

“Lee Yeon-Woo, shall we take a walk?” Ha Jae-Gun suggested, pointing to a quiet road.

Lee Yeon-Woo smiled and nodded. “I wanted to take a walk as well. I’m feeling a bit bloated.”

“I think it’s because of me, I’m sorry.”

“No, hyung. It’s because I ate too fast.”

The road led to the library, so it was relatively deserted. Looking at the trees by the road swaying in the winds, Ha Jae-Gun spoke, “Please understand, I have a lot going on in my mind.”

“Of course. Don’t say it like that.”

Lee Yeon-Woo looked up into the sky in anger, and he clenched his fists tight.

“Argh, seriously. If he were in front of me, I’d stuff glass noodles down his throat and turn him into blood sausages. How dare he touch Ha Jae-Gun hyung’s father?!”

Ha Jae-Gun smiled softly and looked up as well.

The clear blue sky filled his eyes.

He hoped the world would be as peaceful as the clear skies.

Just then, a crisp noise echoed, breaking Ha Jae-Gun’s peace.

“Argh fuck! Who left the cart here, blocking the road!” an angry driver yelled as they rolled down the car windows. The driver seemed to be in his early forties. The car was obviously a luxury export, and a shabby-looking cart was blocking the road.

“Aigoo, I’m sorry. I’ll finish in thirty seconds, so I left it there. I didn’t know a car would pass by in the meantime,” an old man apologized in a hurry while carrying a huge stack of waste paper.

He would have to put down the waste paper in his arms to pull the cart out of the way, so he placed them on the ground.

“Ah, just hurry up!”

“Yes, I’m sorry. I need to put this down first—”

“Argh, fuck this, seriously. Stupid things have only been happening to me today, kyaak, twe!” The driver spat beside the cart after his long curse-out.

The old man could only pull his cart away without protest.

Just then, the words—one-way traffic—that was blocked filled Ha Jae-Gun’s eyes.

“J-Jae-Gun hyung?”

Ha Jae-Gun strode up to the cart. He helped the old man with the cart and said, “Please don’t be upset, sir. There’s too much trash that can’t be recycled in this world.”

The gaze in the driver’s eyes changed. There was no way he wouldn’t understand Ha Jae-Gun’s words unless he was a fool. The man’s face read—look at this punk?

Afterward, he got out of his car and rushed toward Ha Jae-Gun.

“What did you just say? Did you just call me trash?”

Ha Jae-Gun let go of the cart and turned around. While Lee Yeon-Woo ran over and helped push the cart away, Ha Jae-Gun calmly replied, “You got it right away, huh.”

“How old are you?”

“I don’t think it’s a question worth hearing from someone who just cursed at an old man. And can’t you see this?” Ha Jae-Gun pointed at the sign that read—one-way traffic—before pointing at the man’s bumper.

The driver’s face reddened in anger.

“You busybody...! Don’t stick into other people’s business and just go on your way! If you step up like this, you might just grow old picking up trash like him. Keep your head straight if you want to make a living.”

Lee Yeon-Woo stepped up, looking fierce. Ha Jae-Gun raised his hand to stop the latter and said, “I’m living quite well, so you should just keep to yourself.”

“Ah, seriously. You don’t want to lose, huh? I don’t earn much, but I still earn fifty million per month, alright? And how much do you earn?”

“I earn five hundred million per month at the very least.”

The driver was stunned. His boast of earning fifty million per month was just overwhelmed by Ha Jae-Gun’s words.

“Huh, are you joking with me right now?! Argh!”

Slam!

The driver kicked the cart out of anger. The cardboard boxes that the old man had painstakingly stacked up collapsed instantly.

Lee Yeon-Woo could not take it any longer and pushed the man roughly.

“Ho, did you just push me?”

“I can’t explode before hyung, you know? So just drive away quietly, now.”

“This rude bastard...!” The driver grabbed Lee Yeon-Woo by his collar.

Lee Yeon-Woo did not back down either and confronted the man. Seeing that things could lead to a fight, Ha Jae-Gun took out his phone.

Just then, a few policemen appeared from a distance like a miracle.

“What are you guys doing?!” the driver yelled at the top of his lungs when he saw the police running over.

Eventually, the group was brought to the nearby police station as the situation could not be controlled or resolved on the spot.

“Sir, you’re at fault. Why did you enter a one-way street and make such a fuss?”

“Argh, how many times do I have to say that I was busy?! Can’t I just pay a fine and go? I’ll pay for the cart and the waste paper, too. Is five hundred thousand enough? Ugh, piece of shit!”

The policeman’s eyes widened in surprise after checking Ha Jae-Gun’s identification card. He looked up and down between the photo on the card as well as Ha Jae-Gun himself multiple times before jumping out of his seat.

“Mr. Ha Jae-Gun?” Everyone’s attention turned to Ha Jae-Gun at the young man’s words.

Even the old police chief signaled with his eyes, asking the policeman about Ha Jae-Gun’s identity.

“You’ve seen the movie There Was A Sea. Writer Ha Jae-Gun is the author of the original novel. He even won the Best Screenplay Award in the Baeksong Arts Awards!” the young man exclaimed in excitement.

The police chief looked quite welcoming as well, despite his large physique.

“Ahh, really? Ah, Mr. Ha Jae-Gun. I enjoyed the movie a lot, it was great. My wife and daughter like your novel a lot as well.”

“Thank you for your compliment.” Ha Jae-Gun smiled in return.

The driver was left bewildered by the sudden turn of events. His face soon turned pale upon realizing that he had seen Ha Jae-Gun’s face on TV before.

‘Argh, fuck... I-it wasn’t a bluff...!’

The man’s face turned red immediately afterward, and he looked down, keeping quiet as Ha Jae-Gun stared at him.

‘Should I thank him?’ Ha Jae-Gun wondered as he looked at the trembling man. The incident involving his father had been making him panic, and he had just experienced another act of tyranny.

However, Ha Jae-Gun was enlightened by both experiences as to what path he should take going forward.