Big Life

“Don’t ever let them remove the respirator. His internal organs will shut down if they do it.”

“...!”

Lee Yeon-Woo was hoping that all of this was a dream. His father had been reduced to nothing but mere skin and bones. They were so light that perhaps even a child could lift them. Just when did his father turn into this? Lee Yeon-Woo was baffled.

Desperation in the bedridden man's eyes as he looked at Lee Yeon-Woo. Steam condensed in the respirator; his father seemed to have something he wanted to say, but Lee Yeon-Woo held his father’s arm tighter while controlling his softening heart.

“No, the doctor said that we can’t remove your respirator. You heard them, too, right?” Lee Yeon-Woo could only repeat the swords over and over.

How could something like this happen? His father had always been healthy; there had been no symptoms showing that his health was failing.

Whenever he sent living expenses to his mother’s account and asked about his parent’s health, he was always told that they were in the pink of health. Lee Yeon-Woo finally realized that it was a huge mistake on his part to feel relieved and believe in their answers.

“Stay in bed, Father.” Hot breath escaped Lee Yeon-Woo’s mouth as tears rolled down to his upper lips. “Why did your health go downhill all of a sudden? You were able to take a walk withjust last week, and you even suggested going to Mount Chilbo to have boiled duck.”

Lee Yeon-Woo regretted it. He should have forced and dragged his father to the hospital to do a comprehensive health check before depositing their living expenses.

He shouldn't have taken his father's words at face value; he should have endured his father’s nagging and ate at the stable as them, and he should have followed him out to hike at least once.

Lee Yeon-Woo's regrets seemed endless as they tormented him. Lee Yeon-Woo fell into misery as his heart broke. He had been living his life up until this point all wrong.

“Lee Yeon-Woo…” His mother called out from behind. She had stepped away for a while to pack snecessities.

But Lee Yeon-Woo didn't respond or turn around. He didn't want to be seen crying by his mother, afraid that he would be scolded for crying now when he had resented his father all this while.

“We… we have a guest…”

“...?” The mention of a guest made Lee Yeon-Woo turn around, and he saw Ha Jae-Gun standing quietly next to his mother.

Did he rush here with all his might? Ha Jae-Gun's hair was up in the winds, and his face was drenched with sweat. He didn't even bother to straighten his coat that had fallen below his shoulders as he drew in deep breaths.

“Yeon-Woo,” Ha Jae-Gun spoke in a trembling voice as he approached the latter, whilst his gaze laid over Lee Yeon-Woo’s shoulders, on the older man lying on the bed. As Ha Jae-Gun’s eyes met the patient’s eyes, he forced a smile and bowed lightly.

“Hello, uncle. I am Ha Jae-Gun, a writer working with Lee Yeon-Woo.”

The older man’s unfocused eyes shone in an instant. He barely expressed his surprise with the low energy he had in him, to which Ha Jae-Gun added, “Seems like Yeon-Woo hadn’t mentioned anything to you. Lee Yeon-Woo is a writer, Uncle. He has even released a few s under his nas well. A few of them even got printed out into physical copies, too.”

Ha Jae-Gun rummaged his empty pockets in a flurry. He pulled out his phone and looked up Lee Yeon-Woo’s s on the intebefore showing the results to Lee Yeon-Woo’s father.

“I forgot to bring a copy, as I rushed over first thing when I heard of your plight. Uncle, take a look at this. These are all Yeon-Woo’s works. The ebooks are doing well too, much better than physical books since we’re in the inteera. Yeon-Woo is quite famous,” Ha Jae-Gun explained with passion.

Lee Yeon-Woo remained silent as his head hung low while sitting by the bed.

“Hey, Yeon-Woo. Your father looks like he has something to say.”

“No…”

“What do you mean no?”

“The doctor said not to remove his respirator, or his internal organs would stop functioning…”

“What…?” Ha Jae-Gun hadn’t met any terminally ill patients up close before. He suddenly understood Lee Yeon-Woo’s dilemma, Lee Yeon-Woo had to have no idea what to do as well.

“Wait, letsee the doctor first.” Ha Jae-Gun stood up and left the room.

The lips of Lee Yeon-Woo’s father were evidently chapped under the respirator. Lee Yeon-Woo’s gaze drew to his father’s lips.

However, his father soon began to run out of breath once more.

The doctor returned to the ward a while later. Lee Yeon-Woo bit down on his lips as he held his father’s hand. It took less than five minutes for the doctor to announce his father’s death, along with the tand cause of death.

Lee Yeon-Woo finally burst into tears, unleashing what he had been holding in for the longest tnow.

***

The funeral was held over three days. The writers from the office took turns to spend the night and help out at the funeral. Jung So-Mi, in particular, did not leave her post and helped with everything at the funeral.

“Yeon-Woo must have done well in his career.”

“Yeah… Look at all the important people showing up.”

“But wasn’t he just a high school graduate?”

“Seriously, how is one’s education important in this day and age? What a conservative mindset you have there.”

Mourners were busy gossiping in the hall, albeit softly, while stealing glances in disbelief at both Ha Jae-Gun and Park Do-Joon walking around in black suits.

“Wow, they look much better in person.”

“Seems like it’s true that they’re close friends. I thought whatever they said on TV were lies.”

“How did Yeon-Woo get to know these people?”

“Have you even been paying attention? Yeon-Woo is a writer, and he's working at Writer Ha Jae-Gun’s office.”

The sadness of a passing family member was only exclusive to the family. Whilst the mourners who showed up were only interested in what they saw, Lee Yeon-Woo silently kept to his post as the chief mourner.

“ Yeon-Woo is really fortunate… I’m really thankful to you and the other writers for taking tout to cdown here… Mr. Ha Jae-Gun, thank you so very much for looking out for my son.” Lee Yeon-Woo’s mother kept expressing her gratitude throughout the funeral.

And the writers would be ashamed whenever they heard her; they only bowed silently in response.

“I can’t believe this happened to Yeon-Woo…” Kang Min-Ho muttered as he sat on the bench in the small pavilion outside the funeral home. His bloodshot eyes were staring into the sky as he hid out here. Being the emotional guy he was, Kang Min-Ho cried the most after Lee Yeon-Woo.

“I’m stupid for blabbering on about my wedding and honeymoon when I didn’t even know this was happening to him. If only I asked him seriously why he had been visiting hmore often recently…”

“Stop it, hyung,” Jang Eun-Young said as she held Kang Min-Ho’s hand in hers. Her eyes were puffy and swollen like Kang Min-Ho’s as well.

“The saddest person now is still Yeon-Woo. Yeon-Woo is already hurting, so if you do this…"

“I know, I know that…” Kang Min-Ho trailed off. After letting out a long, regretful-sounding sigh, Kang Min-Ho changed the topic of their conversation. “Is he sure that there’s no issue with the funeral fees?”

“Yeah, Writer Ha checked out everything.”

“Alright, Writer Ha is meticulous by nature…”

“I heard from Yeon-Woo’s mother that Yeon-Woo has been doing a good job, sending money back hregularly.”

“Really…? Yeon-Woo will be fine, right?”

“I can’t say for sure. He has always been a cheerful kid, so I’m quite worried this time. We should look out for him closely now.” Jang Eun-Young glanced toward the funeral home, letting out a soft sigh. She was worried about Ha Jae-Gun as much as she was worried about Lee Yeon-Woo.

Meanwhile, rain was falling from the overcast sky.

***

The funeral ended smoothly without a hitch. Lee Yeon-Woo took off his gloves after following the hearse and expressed his gratitude to Ha Jae-Gun.

“Thank you, Jae-Gun hyung.”

“Don’t say that, I didn’t do much for you.”

“You helpedwith the funeral. And thanks to you, I was able to hear a compliment from my father for the first tin my life. I was agonizing over whether to remove his respirator back then…”

“Yeon-Woo.”

Ha Jae-Gun eventually looked down, as he found it hard to watch Lee Yeon-Woo.

“Ah, I forgot to thank Deputy Jung.”

“You can thank her when you return to the office.”

Lee Yeon-Woo was acting exactly within Ha Jae-Gun's expectations. The former had always been the type to prioritize the atmosphere over himself, and the sight made Ha Jae-Gun's heart throb with pain.

“Right, Ha Jae-Gun hyung. I heard that there was an offer for the Records series to be released in China and even a movie adaptation for it?”

“Have you made a decision? You’re going to accept the offer, right?”

“I haven’t made a decision yet…” Ha Jae-Gun couldn’t finish his sentence as he saw Lee Yeon-Woo smiling tearfully in silence. Lee Yeon-Woo’s teary eyes made him recall a moment from a long tback.

“I’ll do it,” Ha Jae-Gun finally said with determination.

Ha Jae-Gun had forgotten that Lee Yeon-Woo was Poongchun-Yoo’s biggest fan. He had completely forgotten how Poongchun-Yoo was the reason behind Lee Yeon-Woo's dreams of becoming a writer.

“Of course, I should do it. Poongchun-Yoo was the nthat first got out there. I should put everything else aside and do this. Then, I would be able to—huh, perhaps buy the entire building where our office is. What do you think?”

“Wow, as expected of Poongchun-Yoo! Totally on a different level!”

Ha Jae-Gun hugged the cheering Lee Yeon-Woo. But soon, he felt Lee Yeon-Woo sniffling as the latter buried his face into Ha Jae-Gun’s shoulder. The rain, which had been pouring intermittently during the past three days, finally stopped.

***

Kwon Tae-Won’s voice went wild with excitement on the other side of the line. jae-Gun smiled faintly as he continued listening to Kwon Tae-Won speak.

“I’m seeing your excitement more often these days, President.”

— Look, Writer Ha, how can I not be?

“But President, I think you’re overly excited that you’re forgetting something important here.”

— What is it?

Ha Jae-Gun stood up from the sofa. With a cup in hand, he headed to the coffee machine and added, “I think you’ve forgotten where the license for the Records series is at the moment.”

— Huh? Ahh…!

Kwon Tae-Won’s intense groan tore through the line. Ha Jae-Gun chuckled as he imagined Kwon Tae-Won’s face.

“You have indeed forgotten all about it. Wow, I never knew our President would forget about something as important as this when you’ve always been a meticulous person.”

“It’s alright. You know that I’m turning thirty this year, right?”

— Of course. But Writer Ha, why bring up your age here…?

“You’re my editor-in-charge, so you should, of course, remember when the Records series was first released, right?”

— Ahh, yes… I understand. Ahahah…

Kwon Tae-Won chuckled in embarrassment after he understood what Ha Jae-Gun was driving at.

Ha Jae-Gun swished the coffee in his cup and said, “I’m slightly worried. Although there hasn’t been any news about the series on the inteyet, the Korea-China cultural exchange meeting was on the news for a while.”

Kwon Tae-Won trailed off with a hint of worry in his voice. Kwon Tae-Won had been working in this industry for years, and he could predict a few situations that might happen with the current circumstances.

— You don’t have to worry about it. Anyway, I’ll see you later tonight at your house, Writer Ha.

Kwon Tae-Won decided to hang up the call first.

Ha Jae-Gun felt it strange but did not probe further, guessing that Kwon Tae-Won deemed it unnecessary for him to speak his mind at this point in time.