Chapter 269: How Far Can I Go (1)
The great news sent from Open House soon spread. Chae Yoo-Jin was at home having a meal when she answered the call, and the news she heard made her drop her chopsticks.
“What? Nominated for the Prix Goncourt? You’re not joking right, Eden?”
— The Malice has been nominated amongst fifteen other novels. The publishing company, Etoile, will be calling you soon. It’s amazing, The Malice.
Chae Yoo-Jin wasn’t just shocked. Prix Goncourt wasn’t one of those run-of-the-mill literature awards. It was the most prestigious literature award and was the pinnacle of honor that every single author desired to receive.
Ha Jae-Gun was a foreign writer, but he actually got nominated for that award? It was happening so quickly as well.
— Why are you so quiet, Chae Yoo-Jin?
“Ah, i-it’s nothing…I was just too stunned.” Chae Yoo-Jin pushed aside her half-eaten bowl of food and said, “It’s true that I was expecting some good news since the novel was well-received in France, but I can’t believe that it’s the Prix Goncourt. Our Mr. Ha has boarded the KTX this time.”
— KTX? I don’t know what that is. What is it?
“Ah, I’m sorry. It’s considered the TGV[1] in France.”
— Ah, I understand now. Yes, Mr. Ha has indeed taken the TGV.
Eden burst into a peal of cheerful laughter. Even Chae Yoo-Jin had momentarily forgotten about the fatigue brought about by her pregnancy and broke out into a bright smile.
“He’s still extremely lucky even if he doesn"t get awarded. The fact that he was nominated for the Prix Goncourt would pique the readers’ interests.”
— That’s right. We’ve already started drafting an article to be released, and we’re expecting sales to go up even further. Good luck with work, Chae Yoo-Jin.
Chae Yoo-Jin ended the pleasant call with Eden but could not put her phone down. She sent a text message to her beloved husband to convey the great news while smiling all throughout.
***
“You’ve been nominated for the Prix Goncourt…?!” Lee Soo-Hee covered her mouth in surprise.
Ha Jae-Gun quietly ate the dinner that Lee Soo-Hee had prepared with an awkward smile.
“You’re not joking, right? The Malice was really nominated for the Prix Goncourt?” Lee Soo-Hee asked. Despite knowing her husband’s character, she still couldn"t help but ask once more.
Ha Jae-Gun picked up his phone and handed it to her. “If you still don’t believe it, go look it up yourself. The French Writers a.s.sociation even uploaded an article about it. You can read French, can’t you?”
Lee Soo-Hee hurriedly searched the Internet and soon found an article.
Lee Soo-Hee broke out into a bright smile and exclaimed, “Oh my gosh…! You’re really awesome…! Gosh, nominated for the Prix Goncourt! This is such a huge deal!”
“You’re going out of breath at this rate. I haven"t even been awarded yet; it’s still the first round of nominations.”
“The fact that your work even got nominated is awesome enough! Look! Even the famous literary people in France have acknowledged your work!”
“I can’t read French,” Ha Jae-Gun said.
Lee Soo-Hee shifted over to sit next to Ha Jae-Gun, and then she pulled him into a big hug. Lee Soo-Hee trembled in happiness as she muttered, “I"ve known it a long time ago.”
“Know what?”
“That you’d become a great writer…. I’ve always thought that even if we never met in the few years after our graduation, you’d eventually come looking for me after becoming a great writer.” Lee Soo-Hee then looked up, showing her tears to Ha Jae-Gun.
Stricken with fear, Ha Jae-Gun leaned backward. “Why are you crying?”
“I was just angry thinking about it. You didn’t come looking for me; I was the one who went to you instead. If I hadn"t come to you, you would’ve just lived without contacting me, right? And then you’d probably marry some other girl and live happily ever after by then.”
“That"s impossible.”
“Why not?” Lee Soo-Hee pouted, pretending to be angry.
Ha Jae-Gun pulled Lee Soo-Hee into his arms and patted her back, consoling her, “You’re my muse. Your existence has given me inspiration and has allowed me to keep living life as an inkslinger. That’s why I said it’s impossible.”
“You’re great at spinning lies.” Lee Soo-Hee grumbled, but her arms were already hugging Ha Jae-Gun by the waist. She felt extremely happy to be able to feel Ha Jae-Gun’s body temperature the closest compared to anyone else in the world.
***
“You’ve worked hard, Director.”
“Yeah, you too, producer.” Woo Jae-Hoon trudged out of the studio. He was completely exhausted after recording a talk show for a cable channel; he didn’t even have the energy to walk all the way to the car park.
‘There’s no easy way to earn money in this world. Hmm…?’ Woo Jae-Hoon’s eyes grew wide as he looked at the end of the hallway. A familiar man in his fifties was standing next to the vending machine ahead. Woo Jae-Hoon soon recognized the man and exclaimed, “Oh my, isn’t this CEO Lee Gyu-Won!”
Lee Gyu-Won flinched and looked up with a stiff expression, which contrasted Woo Jae-Hoon’s bright smile. He was the CEO of the movie production company, One Film.
“Hyung, you haven’t been answering my calls lately. Are you very busy?”
However, Lee Gyu-Won did not answer, and instead he turned away immediately, trying to avoid Woo Jae-Hoon.
“Huh? CEO Gyu-Won! Why are you pretending that you don"t know me? Look, CEO Lee! CEO Lee! Ah~ Gyu-Won hyung~!” Woo Jae-Hoon exclaimed, sounding like he was pleading as he strode over in a few steps before clinging to the older man.
Lee Gyu-Won finally stopped in his tracks and turned around with a disgusted face.
“I’m busy; what do you want?”
“What’s wrong with you, Lee Gyu-Won hyung? How can you treat your junior so coldly when we’ve been through so much together?”
“Are you really asking that? Do you not have any idea how embarra.s.sed I am right now to face Newdon? It"s all because of you!”
“A-about that…”
“Why am I getting blamed for a movie you messed up? Why are you making such a huge fuss and spouting nonsense on TV shows? Ah, forget it. I don’t even want to talk to you for too long,” Lee Gyu-Won said, shaking off Woo Jae-Hoon’s arm and walking away.
Of course, Woo Jae-Hoon wouldn’t let him go that easily. Woo Jae-Hoon quickly caught up and begged, “Hyung, I was wrong. I admit it. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t even think of apologizing.”
“Don’t do this to me. Hyung, you haven’t had lunch, right? Let’s go somewhere for a chat, hmm? I have a lot to tell you.”
“I already know what you want us to talk about. I have no money to lend you, and I don’t have any investors, too. I have no plans of reading your scenario either.”
Every single word of Lee Gyu-Won"s sentence was like a hammer that struck Woo Jae-Hoon in the head. Lee Gyu-Won was right. In fact, Woo Jae-Hoon was planning to find a way out through Lee Gyu-Won, who was both the CEO of One Film and his senior back in university.
Lee Gyu-Won hastened his pace even more. They soon exited the building and arrived at the carpark. Woo Jae-Hoon ran a step ahead and stood between Lee Gyu-Won and his car.
“Are you not going to step aside?”
“Hyung, I’ll clear up all the bad blood I have with Newdon soon.”
“It doesn’t matter to me.”
“I won’t do it again. It’s true that I was careless. Please give me a chance to speak seeing how we’ve gone way back. I’m really glad to see you after such a long time.” Woo Jae-Hoon rubbed his palms together. He was desperate, but the only reason he could humble himself before someone else was because that someone else was Lee Gyu-Won.
Lee Gyu-Won stared at Woo Jae-Hoon as if he was pathetic before finally letting out a sigh and pulling out his car keys. “Get on first.”
“T-thank you, hyung.” Woo Jae-Hoon opened the door to the front pa.s.senger seat and hopped into the car.
Lee Gyu-Won grabbed the steering wheel and said, “I’ve said this a long time ago; you should go to a psychologist.”
“Ah, why are you talking about that again? I don’t have anger management disorder. I just can"t help but get angry whenever my work isn’t working out well.”
“You should soothe your heart and soul.”
The two men soon arrived at the restaurant and took seats across from each other at the table. As soon as they ordered their food, Lee Gyu-Won began, “That Final G.o.dfather or whatever it’s called, stop doing it.”
“Hyung…?”
“The scenario is too sloppy. You"re the one rewriting it, but comedy isn’t exactly popular these days. It’s a comedy piece, but the story is about a mafia’s son. It’s going to be difficult to gather production funds for that kind of story. Do you really think you can even produce that in Korea?” Lee Gyu-Won asked, staring at Woo Jae-Hoon as if he was pitiful. “I’m saying this because I’m your senior—that movie is going to flop.
"Ruin another movie, and it’s going to be the end of your career as a movie director. Look, there are younger and much more talented juniors appearing every day, so when are you going to stay stubborn and stick to your own way of working?”
“Alright… Let’s talk about this next time, please.”
Moments later, two bowls of spicy beef soup were served.
As he picked up his spoon, Lee Gyu-Won asked casually, “Have you heard of the novel, The Malice? It seems quite popular these days.”
“The Malice…?” Woo Jae-Hoon stopped adding pepper to his soup and looked at Lee Gyu-Won blankly. “Are you talking about the book written by Eden Smith?”
“Yeah. So you know about it.”
“Yeah, my manager bought it, and I got to read it somehow.”
“How’s the story?”
“It’s both dramatic and real, I guess. It’s excellent. I find it quite a nice read.” Woo Jae-Hoon gave his honest opinion.
After taking another spoonful of the soup, Lee Gyu-Won nodded quietly.
“But why do you ask?”
“I have a few investors talking about it, saying that it’s a good plot that can definitely be turned into a movie. Quite a few of the employees are talking about it as well.”
Woo Jae-Hoon quickly waved his hand upon hearing those words. “It’s going to be hard. That’s just as good as the story is going to get.”
“What do you mean?”
“Why are you asking the obvious, hyung? There’s nothing else to depend on from the original novel; it should at least be like the movie I produced, Summer in My 20s, so that we can—” Woo Jae-Hoon quickly stopped himself from saying more. He had almost complimented Ha Jae-Gun when he hated the latter man to the core.
“A-anyway even if the novel has seen success, there are so many other similar novels like it. And they’re a U.S-based writer, so It’s going to be hard buying the licenses for it.”
“Are you sure about that when you haven’t looked into it yet?”
“Huh?”
“The investors said that the protagonist is a Korean—a Korean adopted by a family from the U.S. Why would the writer make that kind of protagonist if they weren"t from the U.S—"
“Ah!” Woo Jae-Hoon cut himself off with a gasp. He felt like he had been struck by a hammer at the back of his head. How come he had never thought of that until now?
Lee Gyu-Won was right—the writer of The Malice could very likely be a Korean-American. Forgetting about his spicy beef soup, Woo Jae-Hoon fell into deep contemplation.
“Lee Gyu-Won hyung,” said Woo Jae-Hoon upon emerging from his contemplation.
“Say it.”
“Can you look into it?”
“What?”
“The writer of The Malice. I’m a movie director, but you’re a movie producer, so you should find out, right? Didn’t you say the investors like it as well?”
Woo Jae-Hoon leaned in closer to Lee Gyu-Won and added earnestly, “If talks with the writer go well, please help me from One Film’s perspective. Help me get a breakthrough, hmm? I’ll do my best. The name Woo Jae-Hoon hasn’t died in front of the investors. You know that, right?”
“Don’t celebrate prematurely. Let me read the book first before deciding," Lee Gyu-Won said.
Woo Jae-Hoon immediately opened his bag and pulled out his copy of The Malice.
“I’ve finished reading it, so you can take it with you,” said Woo Jae-Hoon, placing the copy of The Malice on the table.
“Wow, you really like this novel, huh?”
“This novel is the real deal. It’s the best I’ve read in the last five—no, ten years. It’s natural that investors would want to turn this into a movie. The scenes just appear in front of you as you read it.”
“Wow, the stubborn Director Woo is giving it such high praise?”
“Yeah, like you said, I’m stubborn as a mule, but it’s just that great. Hahaha!” Woo Jae-Hoon burst into a peal of hearty laughter. His heart fluttered with hope, even though he had no idea of Eden Smith"s ident.i.ty.
***
Today was the first day of October, and a cold breeze was in the air. France had officially announced the fifteen nominated novels for this year’s Prix Goncourt, and the list included Eden Smith’s The Malice.
Almost all of France’s local newspapers, including France Soir and Le Parisien Aujourd"hui, had published articles about it together.
The Malice was also mentioned in several newspapers in the U.S.
After entering the L.A. Times bestseller list last week, The Malice was selected as a recommended book by the U.S. Book Critics a.s.sociation. Thus, Oh Myung-Suk was able to come up with two types of book bands.
New t.i.tles for The Malice were added at the back of the book on the third reprint.
[The Malice trotting around the globe, nominated for the world’s most prestigious French literature award]
[The speeding Malice, recommended by the U.S. Book Critics a.s.sociation after being listed bestseller on L.A Times]
The brand-new copies of The Malice attracted more eyeb.a.l.l.s at the bookstore, as it was covered in new book bands featuring news related to it. Sales rose steadily, and soon the book was ranked third on Bandi & Lunia’s bestseller list.
Meanwhile, Ha Jae-Gun was sitting in a corner of the cafe he frequented, typing away on his keyboard. He had decided to plan part two of The Breath in this cafe, where part one was born. In addition to the people from the Ministry of Culture, even his friends and family were looking forward to part two of The Breath.
‘Would it be convincing to have Edward rage this much in this scene? Will Lee Soo-Hee enjoy it?’ Ha Jae-Gun struggled internally, wrapping his forehead with his hands, not knowing that someone was standing close behind him.
1. Train à Grande Vitesse of France ☜