Big Life

Chapter 203. What? Dragon Rider? (9)

'He's really tall...'

He didn’t feel this way even when Ha Jae-Gun stood with Park Do-Joon whenever they talked. Standing at a height of slightly over 175 cm, Ha Jae-Gun had to bend his head back over when looking up at Ben. In a flash, he suddenly thought of how he had to look up to his father in the same way when he was much younger.

‘Why does he look so scary?’ His large and bright eyes were overwhelming. His nose, lips, and even his ears were huge. His lips were especially huge, resembling the exaggerated and thick lips of those comic characters.

“Ms. Yoo-Jin, shall we leave the airport first?” Ha Jae-Gun asked as he looked back at Chae Yoo-Jin and released Ben's hand.

However, Ben’s other hand grabbed Ha Jae-Gun’s hand and said, “Thanks a lot, Mr. Ha Jae-Gun.”

“...?!” Ha Jae-Gun’s ears perked up. He did not mishear that thick and rough voice. Ben had just definitely spoken some Korean.

“Thank, you, for, coming, all, the, way, here, to, see, us, Mr., Ha Jae-Gun,” Ben spoke slowly in a weird accent with his sentences broken into pieces.

However, Ha Jae-Gun grinned upon hearing that. He had understood the meaning behind those words as well as the gratitude that Ben was trying to convey. The guard Ha Jae-Gun had put up earlier disappeared without a trace.

“You must have practiced your greetings in Korean.”

“I taught him,” Eden Cooper said. Ha Jae-Gun was shocked by Eden's pronunciation displayed.

“I took Korean classes in college as part of my liberal arts studies. I gather with my friends once a month to study Korean, as I'm afraid that I'll forget it,” Eden added with a smile. Eden’s accent and pronunciation were unnatural, but he was certainly much more proficient in the language than Ben.

Ha Jae-Gun suddenly became curious about Eden. He was convinced that the latter was Korean-American.

“We stared at each other blankly for a while after reading the email and learning that you would come to the airport to welcome us. Hey, Ben. I heard that the facilities at the Incheon Airport are great. He must be planning to feed us here at the airport and then send us straight back to the US,” Eden said to Ben with hand gestures.

Then Ha Jae-Gun, Chae Yoo-Jin, and Kwon Tae-Won broke into laughter. Ben stood blankly for a while, and then he smiled after grasping the situation. “I’m happy, and thank you, Mr. Ha.”

“No, I am happier to see President Ben and Editor-in-chief Eden. The detailed comments you gave on The Breath would become a lifelong nourishment for me.”

“Jeoyangbun[1]? What does that mean?”

“Ah, erm, the source of my power. Yes, it’ll become my power.”

“I understand. Thank you. Jeoyangbun... Jeoyangbun...” Eden immediately pulled out his pen and started writing on a notepad.

The two visitors only had two carry-on baggage, as they were only here for a short three-day and two-night trip. Thus, they decided to delay the hotel check-in and go for some food first instead.

“You want to have Korean food so badly?”

“Ben came to love Korean food because of me. He even began starving himself just so that he could eat as much Korean food as possible during this trip.”

An employee from Laugh Books was waiting in the car park with a van on standby, waiting for the group. Kwon Tae-Won had made the arrangements. Despite having five people on board, there was still plenty of space in the vehicle.

“Let’s drive out then.” Their destination was a Korean restaurant near Myeongdong since Ben and Eden’s hotel was around Myeongdong.

During the entire drive, Ben did not lose his smile as they talked about various things. Ha Jae-Gun liked Ben’s humorous and warm temperament. He was struggling due to the language barrier, but Ben still did his best to respond.

However, unlike Ben, Eden was quiet. Eden would look at the group and smile silently, but his attention was generally focused on the scenery outside the window.

Ha Jae-Gun was the only one who noticed the longing in Eden’s eyes.

***

“This is delicious, real delicious. Do Koreans eat these meals every day?”

“Not at all. These vegetables, steamed fish, and ribs are considered high-end dishes for Koreans. I would eat these on special days, but definitely not on a daily basis.” Ha Jae-Gun explained and pushed a dish toward them.

Eden immediately translated it to Ben. Ben nodded, expressing his understanding as he put mouthfuls of food into his mouth one after the other. The traditional Korean course meal began with pumpkin porridge and soon approached the latter half of the course.

Both Ben and Eden enjoyed their first meal. Even Ha Jae-Gun felt full watching them enjoy the meal.

“A few side dishes and a bowl of hot-stone rice will soon be served.”

“There’s more? I’m passing my portion to Ben,” Eden joked, then whispered something into Ben’s ears. Ben nodded in response.

Eden looked back at Ha Jae-Gun and said, “We’d like to talk about business now, Mr. Ha.”

“Ah, sure.” Ha Jae-Gun straightened up.

It was about time they discussed the main agenda of their meeting.

“What I’ll be bringing up is exactly what I have mentioned in my email before. We would love to publish The Breath in the U.S. market,” Eden said with vigor and a serious expression.

“I read the first English version of The Breath, which I received from a friend living in L.A. My friend knew that I’m an editor-in-chief and am always on the lookout for good genre novels, so they sent it to me via email.” Eden even pulled out his tablet and showed the email thread from back then.

“I was extremely busy, and I wasn't doing great physically. I took medical leave from my company and had to rest at home for two days. However, I still went to work the next day, as I had just finished reading The Breath at the time.”

Eden pulled out the manuscript for The Breath. Eden’s face was filled with conviction as he waved the manuscript in his hand to the people around the table.

“I only knew that day that the writer was Korean. I traveled to L.A. and even gathered information about you from the internet. Things went swimmingly because I'm fluent in Korean. If this business goes well, Ben and I will go to the negotiation table regarding my year-end bonus again.”

The group burst into laughter once more. Seeing Ben sitting alone watching them, Chae Yoo-Jin took the liberty to interpret for him, and then the group saw Ben smiling bitterly with his palm on his forehead.

Eden continued. “I know that there are still clear boundaries in the Korean market between literary and genre novels, so I admire you a lot, Mr. Ha. You showed great achievements as both Ha Jae-Gun and Poongchun-Yoo in both areas. I have read both There Was A Sea and Gyeoja Bathhouse. I've experienced your prowess.”

“Thank you.”

“Mr. Ha, you’re grateful to us for coming all the way to Korea, but that’s not all for us. Your novel is amazing, and we’d love to publish it in the States. This is how business should be done. The publishers who don’t do this are foolish, so why—”

Just then, Eden glanced at Ben briefly and stopped himself. Eden seemed like he wanted to continue, but he didn't say anything in the end.

Ben then took over and continued the topic. Chae Yoo-Jin listened and then interpreted his words to Ha Jae-Gun and Kwon Tae-Won.

“He won’t disappoint you. He said there are no words that can be used to compliment your novel. He would love to make the American readers freak out at the wonderful narrative that even he couldn’t take his eyes off of.”

Ben’s enthusiasm continued.

“He says that genre novels in the U.S. are slowly evolving to become more mainstream. From wizards and princesses depicted in various classics-styled adventures to vampires, supernatural humans, and even paranormal fantasy novels are catching the attention of their readers there.”

Ha Jae-Gun nodded silently while caught in his own thoughts.

Eden then continued, “The fantasy genre isn’t doing that well in the U.S., and so I think that The Breath will become a long-running bestseller in the market. Leave it to us, Mr. Ha. I’m sorry, please leave it to us. Please do.”

Ha Jae-Gun smiled ludicrously, but he had made his decision long ago.

It had been just two hours since he first met the men, but his decision had turned even more resolute. If The Breath were to enter the U.S. market, he would want it to be published through Open House.

“Ah, Mr. Ha. Please look at this as well.” Eden placed his tablet on the table again and opened a document on it. He tapped on the screen that showed an English manuscript and explained, “This is a fanfiction of The Breath.”

“Fanfiction?”

“Fans in L.A. wrote new stories after reading The Breath. In your story, the main character, Edward, decided to hold hands forces with the dragon to stop the imperial army, and the dragon spent all its powers and fell into the abyss.

"Edward managed to save the princess, but he had lost the dragon in the process and fell into sadness. This is the ending from your version of The Breath. The fans were extremely sad at the ending and wrote many fanfiction based on it.”

Ha Jae-Gun widened his eyes in shock and read the manuscript in detail. Indeed, it was a fanfiction where both Edward and the dragon were present. The fanfiction started off with the dragon getting revived and reuniting with Edward.

“The readers do not wish for the current sad ending for The Breath. I personally do not think that the dragon died, and I believe that it is still alive. There are so many readers who love The Breath.”

“Ahaha... I see.”

“It’ll be regrettable if you do not sign a contract with us, but it’d be great if you could continue the story. This is my wish as a fellow reader. It’d be great if you could continue with season 2 or even 3 of The Breath.”

As Eden had brought it up himself, this might be part of his job to gain Ha Jae-Gun’s favor. Despite keeping that in mind, the joy Ha Jae-Gun had felt earlier did not disappear.

“If the book gets published, I hope that it’ll be titled Dragon Rider.”

“...Pardon?” Ha Jae-Gun stopped smiling and looked up blankly.

Eden shrugged, wondering what was wrong. “I thought that it’d be best if the season 1 of The Breath is titled Dragon Rider. I learned from your Twitter that The Breath was originally titled Dragon Rider. Both Ben and I love that title, so I'm curious what made you change it.”

“Are you saying that Dragon Rider is a better title than The Breath?”

“The Breath is a good title, but I personally feel that Dragon Rider is much better. Dragon Rider—it definitely conveys the meaning behind those words.”

Ha Jae-Gun’s abdomen flipped as if he were riding a Viking ship. He never thought that he would feel this great receiving a compliment on a title he had come up with.

“President Kwon, you hear that?” Ha Jae-Gun asked triumphantly as he cast his gaze on Kwon Tae-Won.

Kwon Tae-Won could only smile bitterly, as he and Jung So-Mi had opposed using the title Dragon Rider at the time.

“The hot-stone rice is here.” The waiters served the rice and accompanying side dishes one by one onto the table.

During that time, Ha Jae-Gun exchanged looks with both Chae Yoo-Jin and Kwon Tae-Won. They each responded with nods after understanding the meaning behind those looks.

“Let’s enjoy the rest of this meal and move to a quieter place after.”

As Ha Jae-Gun picked up his spoon, he said, “Have you brought your contract along with you?”

“Mr. Ha...?” Eden asked with all smiles.

Chae Yoo-Jin then interpreted for Ben, who then jumped out of his seat immediately. He cheered like a young boy, making Ha Jae-Gun burst out into laughter once more.

***

“If Writer Ha weren’t Asian, the other publishers would have already approached you much earlier. I think this was what they wanted to say.”

On the way back after sending Ben and Eden off, Ha Jae-Gun was listening to the explanations Chae Yoo-Jin had for him on the questions he had during their meeting earlier.

“It could have been just me, but that was how I saw it. Hmm, should I say that belittling Asians is the trend there? They believe that the U.S. market is gigantic, and they're also confident of the writers within their own country as well. On top of that, translated novels only accounted for around four percent of the market.”

“Hmm... I see.”

“They didn’t have to come all the way to Korea and ask to sign a contract. They didn’t have to do that; that’s how big their company is. In fact, there’s probably no other publishing company who has thoroughly investigated you as much as Open House did.”

Ha Jae-Gun nodded in agreement. He had become famous enough for readers to recognize him when he was out and about in public, but this was only limited to within Korea.

How many people would know him in the States? Even if they were his readers, how many of them would actually remember his name, Ha Jae-Gun?

Thinking of that made Ha Jae-Gun feel much more grateful for Open House's sincerity.

Chae Yoo-Jin let out a sigh and continued. “I’m personally close to both Ben and Eden. As you’ve seen, one is a black man, and the other is a Korean-American. They've grown up while being discriminated against.”

“I see.”

“Ben despises jokes about black people since he was a child. Jokes like how the singer Stevie Wonder couldn’t read because he was black rather than because he was blind. He hates jokes like that.”

“That’s a despicable joke.”

“He had even experienced such things when he was living in the school dormitory. He coincidentally overheard his roommate talking with his other friends about how he was worried that Ben would steal the ring he had bought for his girlfriend.

"Another friend of his also said that black people are a race that would never get close to books, so if they hid in libraries, they’d be safe. He even told me that they laughed so much that they were keeling over.”

Ha Jae-Gun's expression was grim as he listened to Chae Yoo-Jin.

“I couldn’t believe he stepped into the publishing industry with that experience. And now that he had succeeded in his career, he regarded that group of bad friends as his teacher. If it weren’t for them, he wouldn’t have been able to work so hard and hang on until today.”

“How ironic.”

“Eden and Ben get along well. Ben was born in the Dallas slums, while Eden was adopted to the States before he was three, and they have a lot in common apparently.”

They soon arrived at the car park. Chae Yoo-Jin stopped walking and smiled before saying, “Who knows? Eden might have more reasons for his desire to publish Mr. Ha’s novel in the U.S. market.”

“I have an inkling of what you’re getting at.”

Bzzt!

Chae Yoo-Jin’s phone rang in her bag. She excused herself and looked at her phone. Her eyes widened in surprise. She truly didn't expect to receive a call from this certain someone.

1. Korean word for nourishment ?