# Chapter 49
After Gye Minho’s birthday party on the last day of April, May arrived immediately. Mo Eunje had spent a lot of money, so he entered fiscal austerity. The wicked and vicious Gye Minho had meanly sent his gift list at 9 AM, causing Mo Eunje to flail around in dreamland, miss the timing, and end up stuck with the bill.
Last year, though it wasn’t planned, they had each fairly taken turns getting stuck with the bill. This year, Gye Minho, who received a lot of royalties, was blessed with luck and avoided the expense. It would have been beautiful if he and Mo Eunje had each gotten stuck once, since Ban Hajun and Tae Igyeol had already taken turns paying for each other’s gifts, but Tae Igyeol, who couldn’t take a hint even when spoon-fed, had also paid for Mo Eunje’s gift. Still, Mo Eunje was very pleased with the necklace and grinned while fiddling with the circle pendant engraved with his initials.
After returning from Busan, he had spent three whole afternoons going out with Tae Igyeol to look at houses. There was one two-room villa that seemed not bad, but Tae Igyeol found fault with it, saying it was far from the subway station and had an inconvenient layout. Mo Eunje said he didn’t have much reason to go out anyway, and even if he did, he could just take a taxi or bus, but it was true that the house layout was a bit unusual. Song Yeonhwa also agreed that this aspect was concerning and suggested they wait a bit longer.
Having lived comfortably at his parents’ home his entire life, he hadn’t realized how difficult and challenging it was to find a place to live until he experienced it. He gained new respect for his juniors, seniors, and classmates who came up from the provinces and moved apartments every one or two years.
After just three days of continuously looking at houses, Mo Eunje was already tired and fed up, frequently having the complacent thought of whether he could just stay put at Tae Igyeol’s house. If Tae Igyeol would only permit it, he sincerely wanted to take care of all the cleaning, laundry, dishwashing, and recycling, pay Tae Igyeol rent, and continue living as they were.
“The new novels are over there.”
Tae Igyeol, who had entered the large bookstore, nodded toward one side. Mo Eunje’s gaze followed. They must have put a lot of effort into marketing and promotion, as a large banner with novelist Kwon Jiyeon’s face was hanging in the new domestic novels section.
Writer Kwon Jiyeon, with 25 years since her literary debut, had defined an era and swept virtually all of the prestigious awards in the literary world. Her novels were so beloved that they had been made into films several times. She had taught the paid lectures Mo Eunje took while preparing for his literary debut and, as a mentor, had written a recommendation for his first short story collection “Castella and Gumbo.”
That’s why Mo Eunje, despite already having received a bound manuscript because he was scheduled to appear on the “Book of the Month” May live broadcast with Kwon Jiyeon as a guest on the 9th, visited the bookstore on the release day with a happy heart due to their special connection. He had also made a solid plan to buy the book today and bring it to the studio on the live broadcast day to get it signed.
Kwon Jiyeon’s novel “Casual Relationship” was spread out across the new domestic novels section. When Mo Eunje published “Class Villa” last year, his publisher and agency had also provided tremendous marketing and push, but not to this extent. Occupying two entire displays at a major bookstore was something only possible for someone like Kwon Jiyeon.
While feeling reverence and respect for Kwon Jiyeon, Mo Eunje also felt envious. Then it suddenly dawned on him.
You’ve gone crazy, Eunje…
Having debuted just three years ago, he laughed at himself for feeling envious of someone who was so far above him that they couldn’t even be compared—a 25-year veteran senior writer who was also his mentor. He also felt ashamed for expecting special treatment when he hadn’t written a single word of his new work.
“Wow… I must really be lucky. To have taken classes from and received a recommendation from someone like her.”
“If you’re envious, hurry up and write your new work. Who knows, your book might be displayed like this too.”
“Talk sense. How many people can exert this level of influence in the literary world? Maybe three?”
Off the top of his head, he could only think of three people, including Kwon Jiyeon. Becoming the best in any field was impossible through luck alone. Not only luck but also innate talent had undeniable influence, and even after making extraordinary efforts that others couldn’t know about and betting your life on it, success was still uncertain.
That’s why he felt even more respect and awe for Kwon Jiyeon, who had spent half her life as a novelist to reach her current position. He felt proud and honored to have been able to learn from such a person.
“You could be one of those three.”
“I really hope so. Could I become like this by the time I’m the teacher’s age…?”
“How old is that?”
“She should be fifty this year.”
“Hey, are you kidding me? If she’s fifty, you still have 24 years left. More than enough time.”
Tae Igyeol answered conclusively, as if it were absurd. Mo Eunje felt good thinking that Tae Igyeol believed in him so much, but then realized he could say this because he had no idea how difficult it would be, and Mo Eunje couldn’t help but laugh at how cute that was.
“As expected of my butler. Who else would hype me up like this if not for you?”
“…”
“You’ve never met the teacher, right?”
“Probably… I have.”
“Really? When?”
“When you woke up in the emergency room and threw a fit saying you had to go to class, so I drove you there. I waited in the car and saw her a few times.”
Mo Eunje had been rejected from all the competitions he had prepared for and entered over a year. Thanks to writing like his life depended on it while learning for a year, he could submit different works to all the competitions held that year. He even submitted his complete novel, now kept in his practice folder because it was too crude, clumsy, and embarrassing to show anyone, formatted according to competition requirements.
They say you can’t fill your stomach on the first try, but not having a single work advance to the final round made him quite anxious and nervous. Having given up the path of a poet and prepared really hard, he was scared that the path of a novelist might not be his either, that he might not have talent for fiction.
From then on, he lived as if literary debut was his life’s only goal. They say there are times when everyone needs a ferocity that borders on blind simplicity, and Mo Eunje spent that period buried in writing as if he had been born solely to win a newcomer literary award. He reduced his sleeping time and even cut back on eating time to read, write, get peer reviews, and attend classes as much as possible. After two months of pushing himself like that, he fell ill. He lost consciousness right after attending a major lecture with Gye Minho at the university.
When he opened his eyes, he was in the emergency room. Tae Igyeol and Ban Hajun were there alongside Gye Minho. The first thing Mo Eunje did was check the time. He needed to attend Kwon Jiyeon’s class in the evening, so lying in the hospital felt like a waste of time and burdensome. From that day, Tae Igyeol thankfully acted as his chauffeur for about two weeks.
And it was then that he was scolded to tears by Kwon Jiyeon for the first and last time, and received precious and valuable life advice that couldn’t be heard anywhere else. After that, he properly maintained his meal and sleep times. After deciding to give himself at least 10 years of opportunity, he kept a more relaxed mindset. Based on his age at the time, he would only be in his early 30s after 10 years passed, so even if he ultimately wasn’t selected, he activated a hope circuit that he could start something new.
Anyway, it seemed Tae Igyeol had seen Kwon Jiyeon while serving as his chauffeur for those two weeks. Since Kwon Jiyeon also came out together to go home after class ended, they had greeted each other and parted, and at that time, Tae Igyeol, who had come to pick him up on time, had parked his car right in front.
“But why are you holding that?”
“I want to formally introduce you to the teacher during this live broadcast. She’s the person I respect the most.”
“…I never said I would go with you to your schedule.”
“Come on, you’re playing hard to get when you’re going to come anyway. Isn’t it about time you said yes right away? I know you’re not doing it because you want to, but because you feel you have to.”
Tae Igyeol didn’t even pretend to listen as he picked up Kwon Jiyeon’s new book and examined it. Knowing that even though Tae Igyeol was ignoring him like that, his ears were open and he would hear, Mo Eunje continued chattering without caring.
“Our teacher’s charisma is no joke. Her speech is gentle, calm, and kind, but her aura is incredible, you know? If you’re just a really big giant, the teacher is like a small giant with amazing inner strength. When I talk to her about my concerns, she picks out exactly what I need to hear, and I’ve never met anyone who gives better advice than her.”
“…”
Tae Igyeol’s reaction wasn’t great, though Mo Eunje was excited to brag. It seemed like he would get a cold sore or break something if he agreed. After staring at Mo Eunje blankly, Tae Igyeol let out a low, empty laugh and handed him the book “Casual Relationship” that he had been examining.
“Go stand in front of the banner with the book. You want me to take a picture, right?”
“Oh, right. You know you need to capture both the book and the teacher’s face properly, right?”
“I know, so just go stand there.”
Mo Eunje launched the camera app and gave the phone to Tae Igyeol. With a beaming face, he preciously held Kwon Jiyeon’s book and stood in front of the large, wide banner. He held the book in front of his chest so it would show up well in the photo and put on an intellectual smile for image management.
“I took it.”
“Already? Is my expression not weird?”
“No.”
“…”
If it had been Ban Hajun, who enjoyed and loved the act of taking photos, he would have moved around taking many shots from various angles, but Tae Igyeol, who had no sense of this no matter how much you looked for it, stood in a crooked posture, took just one photo, and returned the phone. When Mo Eunje checked the photo, he saw that Tae Igyeol had at least fulfilled all the requirements, so it was passable.
First, he logged into SNS, uploaded the photo, promoted Kwon Jiyeon’s new work, provided the live broadcast time, and added several hashtags. Then, without delay, he sent a message along with the verification photo directly to Kwon Jiyeon.
4:47 PM [Congratulations on your publication, Teacher! (clap clap clap) I’m nervous thinking about doing the live together (wink) (shy) I want to see you soon, but I’ll wait politely and see you on Monday :D]
The read confirmation mark appeared immediately, and soon after, the phone vibrated. The text [Novelist Kwon Jiyeon Teacher] appeared on the screen. Mo Eunje answered the phone with a bright voice, showing his delight.
“Teacher, hello. This is Eunje. Have you been well?”
– Yes, Eunje. I tell you to call me senior, but you never listen.
Even though it had been a long time since they had spoken, Kwon Jiyeon’s soft and gentle way of speaking remained unchanged.
“But ‘teacher’ is ingrained in me, I can’t help it. You are indeed my senior, but to me, you’re a sky-high mentor whose shadow I shouldn’t even step on.”
– Such talk. You haven’t changed. Still going to the bookstore to take verification photos and send them whenever my books come out.
“Of course. This time, I’m going to bring the book to the live broadcast and get your signature too. I still haven’t gotten your signature on your previous work ‘Why Me of All People.’ I’ll bring that too, and you’ll sign both, right?”
– Eunje still has a way with words, I see.
“And you’re still as beautiful as ever, Teacher.”
While responding to the phone, Mo Eunje handed the book and his credit card to Tae Igyeol, gesturing with his eyes to ask him to pay on his behalf while he was on the call. Tae Igyeol, with an expression as if he had heard something he shouldn’t have, reluctantly nodded slightly.
As Mo Eunje watched Tae Igyeol’s back heading toward the checkout counter, he continued his conversation with Kwon Jiyeon. No matter when he saw it, Tae Igyeol really had a killer back.
