“Ugh, here comes another message.”

While Woo-Jin was reading the comments and refreshing the site, he received a new message. Woo-Jin had never interacted with anyone else on the site. He had always received only three kinds of messages — praises and encouragements; negative criticisms, asking questions such as ‘You call this writing?’; and last but not least, messages from publishers, offering to publish his novel.

Woo-Jin had no plans to publish his novel in the first place. He was surprised and amazed when he first received these messages from publishers, but he was now indifferent toward them. Hence, regardless of the type of message he received, he no longer cared about them and had stopped reading them for the most part.

Nevertheless, he wondered who sent the message, so he opened the message window, where the number of unread messages had increased. He saw the publisher's name and closed the window without any regrets. The important thing for him to do right now was to fix his writing style and perfect it, as well as improve the composition of his writing. Woo-Jin decided not to think about anything else; he was very eager to work hard and write today.

“Ack! Oppa, what happened to your face?” Woo-Hee asked in shock because her brother’s face had always looked clean and bright but had now become rough and sunken.

“What are you doing at home at this time? Aren’t you supposed to be in school?”

“Today is Sunday.”

“Ah…!”

Woo-Jin had lost track of time. He had been sitting in his room writing, not knowing what day or time it was. He knitted his brows as the bright light shone on his face.

“You’ve been cooping yourself in the room recently, so mom is worried about you. What exactly have you been up to?”

“I’m merely expressing the pain of writing with my body. We’re all living in pain, struggling to express the thoughts and worries that have been occupying our minds.” Woo-Jin gave a prolix explanation of his situation, similar to how he wrote his novel.

“You used so many words, and yet I’m having a hard time understanding what you’re saying. If I write a report like that, I’ll fail.” Woo-Hee’s words were nothing personal, but as soon as Woo-Jin heard it, he walked over to the sofa and collapsed onto it. For some reason, Woo-Hee’s remark was similar to the constant malicious comments left by his readers.

“Have you been reading novels online and leaving comments?” Woo-Hee could have possibly done so as she was usually into comics and novels. Woo-Jin asked his younger sister seriously in a bid to confirm the possibility of a family conflict.

“Oppa, I’m a senior in high school! I don’t have time for things like that.”

“I did everything I wanted to do when I was a senior in high school, though.” As soon as Woo-Hee heard Woo-Jin’s indifferent words, she ran to her brother and threw Indian Rice[1] at his back. Woo-Hee was nowhere close to being called stupid, but she was just an ordinary student compared to her brother.

“I’m trying to tell you to have faith in yourself. You’re my younger sister, after all. How different would you be from me? It’s okay for someone like you to take it easy once in a while.”

“But I’ll feel anxious and uneasy if I don’t study. I’ll probably feel scared.”

“So, do you feel scared even now?” Woo-Jin wanted to know if Woo-Hee was anxious even while resting at home on a Sunday, to which she shook her head.

“That’s not bad. So, just a moderate amount of anxiety?” Woo-Jin was relieved after hearing his sister’s response as she didn’t seem to be as stressed as most seniors in high school yet, but he decided to get further confirmation.

“You’re really not reading novels online, right? Is your username ‘skypetals’ or something like that by any chance?”

“I prefer reading physical copies of novels or comics. And you’re well aware that I can’t browse the internet much because staring at the computer screen makes my eyes hurt. Besides, I don’t have the luxury of time to care about things like that right now!” Woo-Hee was annoyed because she had to shoot Golden Ball in school next week.

“What kind of school makes a fuss about getting their seniors involved in something like that?”

“You’re doing it too? Isn’t that just for people who signed up for it?”

“The principal says it’s mandatory for the top ten students in each grade. Ugh! Everybody knows you’re my older brother, so it’ll be extremely embarrassing if I mess up early on!” That was Woo-Hee’s greatest concern. The depressing concern was understandable, but Woo-Jin simply patted his sister on the shoulder halfheartedly. He felt sorry for her, but all he could think about at the moment was his novel. Be it Golden Ball or anything else, there was no need for Woo-Hee to worry.

On the other hand, Woo-Jin felt that he was the one who was pressed for time. For some reason, it seemed as though the more he wrote his series, the more his quality of life slipped. He had also become too sensitive.

“I won’t be doing this for long.” Woo-Jin felt he couldn’t keep living like this; he decided to post only up to a hundred chapters and use it as a study before deleting it. He still had ways to go as a writer. It was too early for him to be publishing a series, but he did it anyway because of his greed. It was a moment when a reckless attention-seeker quietly raised the flag of defeat. It was also the outcome of a celebrity with a lot of free time on his hands reaching his limit as he passionately fulfilled his desire to write.

“Skypetals! I’m not stopping because I lost to you… Yeah, it’s for the sake of a remake!” Woo-Jin was tired of being tormented by malicious comments and disrespectful attention-seekers. Just like that, he made an excuse and justification for himself.

After a few days, Woo-Jin finally published his 100th chapter and deleted his novel without any regrets. It was a sudden departure of a novel that had been gaining popularity from the get-go. Several readers had expressed their sadness and disappointment, sending messages to the writer hoping he would pick it up where he left off again. They had also posted comments on the site's bulletin board for everyone to see.

However, as soon as Woo-Jin deleted the novel, he never logged onto the site again. Finally, two years later, an overseas publisher published an English version of his novel and found its way back to Korea, allowing his readers to read his writings they had been dying to read once more.

Until the writer’s identity was revealed, it was inevitable for suspicions surrounding the novel and the writer to circulate, along with allegations of plagiarism. However, it was a story that had yet to be told.

Woo-Jin used up his stockpile of chapters and posted up to chapter 100. Thereafter, he enjoyed the peace of mind for the first time in a very long time. The experience of writing and publishing his series online was akin to hearing public criticisms and jeers to his face when he was performing on the streets in his past lives. Naturally, it was incomparably better than the latter because he could safely hide behind the mask of anonymity.

Nevertheless, from Woo-Jin’s point of view, the emotional stress he had to deal with in both situations was the same. At least when he was performing on the streets, he had the pride and arrogance that stemmed from the public’s inability to keep up with his standards. On the other hand, the current Woo-Jin was spiraling because he felt extremely dejected, lamenting how poor his writing was. And it was rather severe.

Because he was criticized for his imperfect writing, he lost all confidence and felt very daunted. Ultimately, he was only able to calm himself and think rationally after he had decided to delete the novel.

“It’s just a minor setback,” Woo-Jin muttered as he wiped the condensation from the mirror with his hands after taking a shower. Publishing his series wasn’t all that bad. The more he wrote, realizing where he went wrong, the more problems he couldn’t objectively see back then were clearer, and the better his composition and writing style became.

“I’ll never give up. Just you wait. I’ll stick it to you one day, petals or whatever your name is!” Woo-Jin made up his mind and singled out one particular person among the people who mocked him under the guise of giving him advice instead of leaving malicious comments.

Anonymity was great in this regard — nobody knew Chae Woo-Jin had written a novel and taken it down after his feelings got hurt. There was also no way for Chae Woo-Jin to find out who those disrespectful attention-seekers that had greatly tormented him were. So there was still room for Woo-Jin and those people to escape.

Woo-Jin came out of the bathroom; he patted his rough and dull face before taking a sheet mask out of the refrigerator. The sheet mask that Kwak Eun-Hyuk strongly recommended was certainly effective. After trying it out for himself, Woo-Jin bought it in bulk and shared it with his family.

After using the cold sheet mask and finishing his skincare routine with anti-aging cream, Woo-Jin hugged Woo-Sa tightly and climbed into bed. He hadn’t been able to get a good night’s sleep recently because he had been thinking about his novel and even dreaming about it in his sleep. However, after taking a long bath, he fell into a deep slumber for the first time in a while as soon as he got in bed with Woo-Sa.

“Woo-Jin, are you sleeping?” A few hours later, the housekeeper picked up the phone and went to his room. When she found Woo-Jin sleeping in bed, she was flustered and hesitated for a second. Woo-Sa was the first to discover her presence; as soon as it leaped to its feet, Woo-Jin opened his eyes and sat up as well. He rubbed his eyes and was greeted by the sight of the elderly woman standing there. He looked quizzically at her because she rarely went into his room.

“Woo-Hee’s school just called. Please pick it up.”

“Woo-Hee’s school?” Woo-Jin was alarmed because he thought something had happened to her at school, so he quickly answered the call. As he imagined all kinds of terrible things, Woo-Jin’s voice was shaking a little when he answered the call.

“Hello.”

— Are you Woo-Hee’s oppa, Chae Woo-Jin?

“Yes, that’s right. Did something happen to Woo-Hee?”

— That’s not the case….

After hesitating for a moment, Woo-Hee’s homeroom teacher gave him a brief explanation. They were shooting Golden Ball today, and Woo-Hee made it to the top three finalists. Her teacher had also added that they were sure Woo-Hee would most likely emerge victorious.

Last Sunday, Woo-Hee had mentioned in passing that they would be shooting Golden Ball. It seemed like that was happening today. Usually, in situations like this, parents would typically make a trip down to school and show their faces. The issue here was that their parents were not currently in Korea. Her parents were attending a jewelry fair in Paris, making Woo-Jin Woo-Hee’s temporary guardian for the time being.

“Ah….”

— Yes. I think Woo-Hee will be the winner, so it’ll be less than ideal if none of her family members show up.

Woo-Hee’s homeroom teacher was having a hard time asking Woo-Jin directly to make a trip down to the school. Woo-Jin could sense their struggle over the phone. Woo-hee must have told her teacher not to bother him. According to what he heard, it didn’t seem like her homeroom teacher was insisting that Woo-Jin had to be there in place of his parents — most likely, the school, or rather, the principal, and the production crew had pressured them to give Woo-Jin a call.

“I want to go as well as I want to be there for my younger sister. But this is not something I can decide on my own. I have to call my agency and get their permission first.”

It would have been different if Woo-Jin had gone there and appeared on the show by chance, but since that wasn’t the case, Woo-Jin answered carefully. Perhaps, that was a satisfactory answer, so the homeroom teacher’s voice became more at ease. The teacher told him that the school had prepared an event that would commence after the winner had been decided, so he still had some time to do the necessary preparations, and there wasn’t any need for him to rush.

After hanging up, Woo-Jin called Kang Ho-Soo. Kang Ho-Soo also expressed that he wasn’t in the position to make any decisions until after he had contacted the agency directly, so Woo-Jin couldn’t get an immediate answer. A few minutes later, Kang Ho-Soo called and gave him the green light and ordered Woo-Jin to stay home and not go anywhere until he and Hwang Yi-Young got to his place. As he would be appearing in a TV program, he was a celebrity first before his status as a guardian, so he always had to take the TPO (time, place, and occasion)[2] into consideration.

Since he was going to school, Hwang Yi-Young picked out a simple suit for him. It was summer, so he wore a navy suit with a white shirt underneath. As for his makeup, she only used powder and sunscreen on his face without using any color-tinted makeup products.

“You seem to have lost some weight on your face, but the makeup looks good on you. The powder settles seamlessly without looking cakey. The light will not make your face look oily or shiny.” Hwang Yi-Young applied powder on Woo-Jin’s face even though he had great skin to prevent his face from looking shiny because of the camera flashes. His makeup today was aimed at achieving the bare minimum. After she was done with his makeup, the ‘bare-faced makeup look’ that would deceive everyone was now complete.

Right after he was done preparing, Woo-Hee’s homeroom teacher called and informed him that his sister was the last person standing. Woo-Jin arrived at her school just in time — he was neither late nor early. He headed to the auditorium where the program was being filmed. The students, teachers, and parents he had walked past on his way from the parking lot to the auditorium exclaimed as soon as they saw him.

“What is Chae Woo-Jin doing here?”

Reality hit Woo-Jin once again as soon as he saw the surprised reactions of the parents who didn’t know his sister attended this school. It was a completely different reality from where he was heavily criticized, receiving all kinds of comments on the internet as a fantasy novel writer. As soon as they saw him, they flocked towards him, making it hard for him to push through the crowd and make his way to the auditorium.

1. 인디안 밥 (literal translation: Indian rice) – the name of a snack in Korea. ☜

2. ‘TPO’ is the term that originated in Japan, which refers to a person accommodating themselves to a particular situation and acting appropriately. ☜