Chapter 58

Chapter 58

TL: KSD

My book was placed at the very top of the bookstores display shelf.

To be exact, it was in the first position of the first row.

This position is similar to the height of a person.

Its displayed just slightly above eye level so that anyone who enters the bookstore can easily find it, but also so that the books are unconsciously looked up to.

Because thats the place befitting the number one.

However, the books displayed at a height slightly above what average adults have to look up to seemed much higher from my perspective.

I tried reaching out my hand stealthily, but couldnt touch it. A Love Story had already flown far out of my reach.

I quietly smiled and lowered my hand. Then, I looked at the books spread out in front of me.

Just the ones right in front of me amount to 16 volumes. Because theyve gathered the bestsellers from first to sixteenth place.

And right next to those, on both sides, are the non-fiction bestseller sections. There are also 16 volumes in each of those, making a total of 48.

These 48 volumes might seem like just books to someone, but to me, they looked like people.

It felt like I could hear the groaning of people who painfully squeezed out parts of their lives, writing down each letter.

In front of me were books containing the lives and struggles of these 48 people, and among them, my book sat on the throne, being the most loved.

And if I turn around,

tens of thousands,

no, hundreds of thousands of books filled the bookstore.

How many lives would be contained in those?

If we were to combine the time it took to write those books, it would easily surpass the lifespan of a human. Even if one were to dedicate their entire life to reading, it would be impossible to read all those books.

Thus, the time given to a human is so short and superficial.

Our ancestors knew this, and thats why they started scribbling on cave walls.

It all started like that.

And what started then has accumulated until now. A very small fraction of those records are the hundreds of thousands of books before my eyes.

How could I not revere books in this way?

Therefore, in this country, which is smaller than a babys fingernail when looked at from a globe,

for even a moment, in the history of records which is but a fleeting moment,

that my book was read by the most people

came to me as an indescribable touch of emotion.

Of course, I still doubt my talent. I cannot comfortably accept the praise showered upon me. After all, I live in a strange world where being young is a reason to be loved.

But for today, at least, I decided to look warmly at my book, displayed just a little higher than the average adults height.

That place was a spot a young man, who wrote alone in a cold room, could never reach until his death.

EP 5-A Love Story

In the evening, the udon restaurant was bustling with office workers. Alcohol is indispensable in the meals of office workers. Thus, this restaurant becomes a bar in the evening after being a diner at lunch.

Noise buzzed from tables where three or four people gathered, a mix of those forcing a laugh and those laughing genuinely, clinking glasses together.

Amidst the unique smell of udon and alcohol mixing, in the only private room inside the restaurant, three people were clinking their glasses with bright smiles.

To us!

To, to us!

Lim Yang-wook called out cheerfully, and Baek Seol and Moon In-seop clumsily followed, clinking their glasses.

Lim Yang-wook had beer, Baek Seol had a highball, and Moon In-seop had (he tried to argue for alcohol, but to no avail) a cola.

Kyaha!

Lim Yang-wook savored the cool beer he hadnt had in a while. Then, he slurped up the spicy and glossy stir-fried udon with bonito flakes.

Moon In-seop looked at Lim Yang-wooks beer with a blank expression, his hand reaching out as if possessed.

Snap! Baek Seol slapped Moon In-seops hand away.

You cant have alcohol! Author~nim!

Just, just a sip!

Ssst! No!

Baek Seol eventually moved Lim Yang-wooks beer out of Moon In-seops reach.

Lim Yang-wook laughed at the scene.

Baek Seol, just give him a sip. In-seop wants it so badly

Thats a terrible idea! Absolutely not!?

Oh, what to do now

Lim Yang-wook smirked mischievously and lifted his beer glass, gulping it down refreshingly and even wiping off the foam from his mouth with satisfaction.

Kyaha! This is it!

Moon In-seop felt the truth in the saying that a nagging sister-in-law is worse than a beating mother-in-law.

With mixed feelings, he drank cola from a beer glass as if it were alcohol.

Grrr

Why are you drinking cola like its alcohol?

Today, the cola tastes bitter

You find cola bitter? I find it sweet. Maybe its because of all the hard times Ive gone through

Then, do you want to switch?

Im fine, but Baek Seol says its not allowed?

Baek Seol, who was unconsciously slicing the okonomiyaki like it was a steak, sighed at Lim Yang-wook, who was teasing Moon In-seop for not being able to drink.

He seemed too light-hearted to be the same person who had brought A Love Story to the number one bestseller without the help of Baekhak Publishing.

Hoo

Baek Seol relaxed and took a sip of her highball, regaining her peace of mind now that the war-like publishing of A Love Story was over.

And it was a victory for us.

Congratulations on becoming the number one bestseller, Author~nim.

Thank you. Its all thanks to the editors.

Lim Yang-wook butted in with a sly smile.

Really?

About 6 to 4 ratio?

Whos the 6?

Obviously, me.

Kahahah! Have you ever seen such an ungrateful guy!

Lim Yang-wook laughed joyously, patting Moon In-seop on the back, and Moon In-seop also smiled shyly, matching Lim Yang-wooks rhythm.

Baek Seol looked at the two of them getting along warmly with a distant gaze. After all, this familiar scene would soon be ending.

Spring has come. The season for regular personnel transfers approaches. Baek Seol will be leaving the Publishing Management Department to be assigned to the headquarters Strategic Planning Office.

Lim Yang-wook, having caught a glimpse of Baek Seols complex expression, smirked and said,

Baek Seol, are you sad?

The scene on the rooftop, where no one approached Lim Yang-wook to even offer a casual greeting, starkly revealed his position within the company.

Of course, there was a time when there were people who would chat with Lim Yang-wook while they smoked.

But those colleagues were expelled from Baekhak and thrown into the harsh world outside. It was the price of bitter betrayal and failure.

Lim Yang-wook lit his cigarette and looked out at the cityscape soaked in the sunset. His former colleagues were scattered somewhere in this scenery, living their lives.

Of course, they werent people who had come together to do right. The company is a place to make money, and office workers are people who make money. They couldnt always do honorable work. In fact, the moment they tried to create a star author by bringing in a half-baked person and planning to ghostwrite for them was already a bit off.

But they were people who tried to do something. They were people who tried to do anything to save the slowly dying publishing industry, despite the finger-pointing.

Lim Yang-wook could never forgive Yang Sung-jun and Kim Sang-guk for mercilessly discarding them and confining himself to the basement parking lot.

The moment he forgives them, the moment he kneels down in cowardice, he felt he could no longer live as a proud human being.

But here lies the question.

What is the value of this revenge?

For whom is this revenge?

His colleagues?

Certainly, the moment they were expelled, they were deprived of all the time and effort they had invested to enter this company and the rightful compensation for their lives poured into this company.

They didnt just lose money and jobs.

They lost their lives and time.

But were they ruined? No. Some have successfully found new jobs, some returned to being someones spouse and someones parent, and some continued their lives as owners of a chicken restaurant.

They are bearing the weight of life in their respective places, and Lim Yang-wook has no right to avenge them. No one can live someone elses life for them.

Lim Yang-wook knows it. His desire for revenge against Yang Sung-jun and Kim Sang-guk was not a noble emotion to avenge his colleagues.

It was closer to hatred, stemming from their jealousy of his abilities and their cowardly action of confining him to the basement parking lot for two years.

And Lim Yang-wook had already driven one of his enemies out of the company. Now, only Kim Sang-guk, who has become the precarious CEO of Baekhak Publishing, remains.

But

What would change by driving him out?

Kim Sang-guks followers are still scattered throughout Baekhak Publishing.

Even if it were possible, the moment Lim Yang-wook expels Kim Sang-guk, he becomes the enemy of countless juniors.

Then what would become of Moon In-seop?

Haah

This spring, no literary awards were given to Moon In-seop.

To Lim Yang-wook, it was an inconceivable situation, yet also conceivable.

Moon In-seop had captured both artistic and popular appeal. Lim Yang-wook had made it so.

But he had also exposed the debut fee business by buying 16 literary awards. Lim Yang-wook had made it so.

Elder authors in the literary world viewed Moon In-seop somewhat positively.

But the literary world is not monolithic.

To the prestigious literary magazines that publish collections of literary awards, Moon In-seop was already a whistleblower.

So, this situation was a kind of revenge.

And there was no room for protest.

Moon In-seop had been listed as a nominee in almost all major literary awards.

That is, since there are people who won the awards over Moon In-seop, responding to this situation would make matters irreversibly worse.

No one in the literary world would forgive the act of belittling another novelist to protect one.

And.

Lim Yang-wook had no idea how long this kind of revenge would last.

Of course, there is a way.

Just once.

Just bow once.

Go to Baekhak Publishings President Kim Sang-guk, and bow just once.

This time, the humiliation wouldnt be so great. After all, Lim Yang-wook is now another player in this industry.

Kim Sang-guk would likely extend his kindness to make him and Moon In-seop his people.

Lim Yang-wook could shake hands with a kindly smiling Kim Sang-guk and go around offering apologies to the elders of each literary magazine.

Then, from now on, Moon In-seop can perfectly blend into the literary world.

If Lim Yang-wook just gives up on revenge.

Of course, Kim Sang-guk is not entirely unrelated to this incident.

He might have directly orchestrated it, or at least he knew about it.

But thats a secondary issue.

The core of this problem is this.

How long should Moon In-seop be dragged into his revenge?

That was the crux of Lim Yang-wooks dilemma.

The answer to that question was obvious.

Haah.

Lets bow.

Just bow once.

For Moon In-seop, lets put aside pride and bow just once.

Lim Yang-wook decided so.

Click

Lim Yang-wook put out his cigarette and got on the elevator, intending to act immediately on his decision before changing his mind. He decided to meet Kim Sang-guk before that.

But as he passed through the underground parking lot to get to his car, Lim Yang-wook felt his fist trembling involuntarily.

He felt the humiliation of the two years spent in this parking lot. The shock of the day he found himself in the mirror, balding in clumps and halfway to madness, came back to him.

Lim Yang-wook paused to contemplate one last time but bit his lip, climbed into the drivers seat, and drove towards Baekhak Publishing.

Chewing over the bitter taste of gall, his smartphone vibrated while he was driving.

Hello.

Di, Di, Di, Department Head~nim!

Yes, whats the matter, Baek Seol?

-Boo, boo, boo, booker!

Boo, what?

-A Love Story has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize!

Lim Yang-wook made a U-turn.

*****

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