Chapter 157

The reason why both Nana and Han-bom made strange sounds without saying anything was simple.

It was because it didn’t make sense. Of course, Muk Ha-neul’s novel was not a complete originality; rather, it was a cliché story. The reason this book sold well was that it was familiar. Being familiar meant it was somewhat guaranteed.

Muk Ha-neul just varied it a little.

So, it was a very simple story. The claim that Muk Ha-neul’s novel was plagiarism didn’t make sense at all. If “Sky Mushroom” was plagiarism, then there would be no story in the world that wasn’t. Every novel could claim to be plagiarized by saying it drew from “Sky Mushroom.”

Isn’t it plagiarism to have the same human as the protagonist?

Isn’t it plagiarism to deal with the same male-female relationship?

It was a matter of that level.

So, we were just confused and didn’t worry at all about Muk Ha-neul.

The person who raised the plagiarism issue was an older female writer. She had been active in the literary world… but she hadn’t shown anything significant since her debut and was no longer active.

According to her, Muk Ha-neul was claiming that people had forgotten about her own book around the time she alleged that Muk Ha-neul plagiarized her novel.

However, there was a significant flaw in that statement. We hadn’t forgotten her. We had never known her in the first place.

“How will this turn out?”

“I think the possibility of it going to court is zero. It’s incredibly hard to be recognized for plagiarism under copyright law. Even in the genre scene, there are almost no cases where plagiarism leads to legal punishment, so unless the plagiarizing author admits their fault and apologizes, there’s nothing that can be done.”

“Is it really that hard?”

“Unless you’re stupid enough to control C and V the sentences. Even in that case, copyright law is a complaint-based crime, so if the plagiarized author finds it bothersome and gives up, there’s nothing that can be done. The more popular the work, the harder it gets. Loyal readers will shield it.”

“You tell me it’s plagiarism, but you’ll keep watching it?”

“That doesn’t matter. What matters is being fun. To put it extremely, as long as it’s entertaining, even if the author commits crimes beyond plagiarism, or if it’s ideologically opposite, people will still watch it.”

Because,

“It’s fun.”

“…Aren’t we fools?”

“Readers, and we, are always fools, right? In fact, it’s a bad but natural thing, and it’s not something that can easily be criticized. Anyone can find themselves in such a position. Authors, directors, painters, musicians, etc., becoming infatuated with someone’s work. Once that happens, you can’t stop it. The emotion of love is something we can’t control.”

Film director Roman Polanski is a great director who will go down in history. People sympathized with the unfortunate event he went through and loved his movies. However, he was also a despicable criminal who committed child sexual abuse. Many turned their backs on him.

Yet, there were still many who loved Roman Polanski. He received awards even after the truth was revealed and was both despised and respected by many people.

The reason was simple. It was because he made great films. Many fell in love with his movies.

Fun does not simply mean joy and pleasure. When I watched his films, I was shocked profoundly. It wasn’t a pleasant emotion, but I would express that I found the movie interesting.

Lee Cheon came to mind.

He was also respected by many even after the scandal arose because he wrote good novels. Of course, there were those who despised him as well.

I was… a victim of that person.

That’s why I could no longer read that person’s books. It was revolting.

However, many others would still read that person’s books and study them. Completely unrelated to my feelings.

Because they had, as Han-bom expressed, fallen in love.

What crime Lee Cheon committed was irrelevant.

“I wasn’t the one who was wronged!”

I understood that feeling.

I still despised Roman Polanski both then and now, but if asked to watch his movies again, I would not refuse. Even while detesting and hating him, I acknowledged his work. It was hard to even mention Lee Cheon’s works.

The reason was quite obvious.

I wasn’t the victim of Roman Polanski.

Of course, he was indeed a horrifically despicable criminal. This thought doesn’t change. Considering he did things worse than what I experienced, I could applaud if he died right now.

However, I hated Lee Cheon even more than Roman Polanski, thus I could feel the gap between the two feelings.

If I, who despises him, feels that way, how about those who have fallen in love?

For them, what the author did doesn’t matter. What matters is the work. If they can continue to see the work they have fallen in love with, trivial matters don’t count.

As long as ‘they’ weren’t the ones wronged.

“That’s ultimately it. Even if a close friend, acquaintance, or family commits a crime, we can hardly easily abandon them. The work we have fallen in love with can become friends or family to us, and foolishly, we cannot let them go. Even if everyone points fingers, that person, that work, whom we can’t abandon.”

I smirked at Han-bom’s words. She didn’t need to mention the most common example from over there. Really, she was an incredibly foolish and annoying woman, but sometimes when she spoke thoughtfully, she appeared different.

“Do you have such a work, Seol-guk? A work you can’t abandon regardless of what the author did.”

“Maybe I did.”

I didn’t know if I had such a work.

Could I perhaps become such a work for someone? This time a laugh escaped me. I was abandoned without being loved by the person who created me, how could that be possible?

“I have one. Though it’s an extreme example, even if the author committed murder, I don’t think I’d be able to abandon that book.”

“What is it?”

“That would be…”

Han-bom smiled softly. With a composed expression and a subtle smile, Han-bom had the power to make any man fall in love. She was that beautiful. As Han-bom winked, she brought her index finger to her lips.

“Shall we keep it a secret of a woman?”

~

As mentioned, Park Chan-wook visited Han-bom’s house on the weekend. I had already claimed my spot at Han-bom’s house with the game console, and Han-bom went to greet him.

Lying down and gripping the game console, I stole a glance at Park Chan-wook and said, “Oh, you’re here. Just a moment, I’m finishing this.”

“…You seem a little different after three months.”

It was a critical moment, so I couldn’t help it. Games had a way of being like that. And how well did you really know me?

By the way, I was almost not playing the PC game LOI anymore. My memories with Ji Kang-hyeon and Seo Jae-ah didn’t end well, and I lost interest because I cursed too much in the chat.

But in the end, I indeed needed something to pass the time. I mean, a person can’t just write and watch YouTube all the time.

Though I had acquired it by chance, and it reminded me of someone named Seo Jae-ah, it was surprisingly a perfect substitute.

I initially hesitated a bit, but Han-bom made me play a game that was so boring it blurred my memories. Upon reflection, that game might not have been trash after all.

After that, I had been clinging to the game Han-bom had shown me for three days now. Compared to when I started with Han-bom, this was so much more enjoyable.

“Ah, I caught it!”

After struggling with the boss monster for 30 minutes, I cheered softly. Suddenly, I was tackled.

“Hey, what did you do to him?”

“How rude! Why do you assume I did something?!”

“Isn’t it rude that he’s calling me ‘he’?”

I replied and chuckled slightly. Honestly, the atmosphere from when we parted was completely gone. Park Chan-wook was looking at me as if I were an alien. I greeted Park Chan-wook.

“Yeah, right. Anyway, it’s been a while.”

“Yeah, it has been.”

And then silence.

In fact, there wasn’t much to talk about.

All the important things like thank-yous had been shared beforehand, and we said goodbyes as if we wouldn’t meet again after that.

Now that we met again, there wasn’t anything particularly special to talk about. The reason I came was just to greet him anyway.

“Um, have you been doing well?”

“Not really. Didn’t you hear?”

“Oh, that… Sorry.”

“No need to apologize. Anyway, we’ve greeted each other, and now…”

“Are you telling me to leave now?”

“No! Don’t go! Let’s hang out!”

“…I’d like that, but with you acting like this.”

By the way, he’s calling me “noona” now. It’s been just over three months, but given our age difference, it seems hard to call me by name.

I didn’t intend to linger much longer either. After all, it felt a little inappropriate to intrude on a couple enjoying a cozy date at home, no matter how you looked at it. It seemed Han-bom thought differently, but I stood up holding the game console.

“Well, I’ll be heading back now, so you two enjoy.”

“Thank you.”

“Hmmm, don’t go.”

A woman in her 30s pouting can also be cute. No wonder that guy confessed to her. Oh, speaking of which, I had something to say. I’d told Han-bom, but not Park Chan-wook yet.

“I won’t come looking for you, so you can feel free to do what you want without worrying about me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Night undertakings.”

“Are you insane?”

If I had stuck around for another year, I would have faced the humiliation of being called insane in front of Han-bom. Thank you for holding back.

“Please don’t say that with that face. I feel like I’m going to get arrested.”

“Anyway, I’m leaving.”

I heard some nonsense from behind like ‘our Seol-i wouldn’t say such a thing,’ but I didn’t look back.

By the way, Park Chan-wook left Han-bom’s house the next morning.

He did, he did.

~

Occasionally, Park Chan-wook would drop by Han-bom’s house, and April arrived.

The plagiarism issue surrounding “Sky Mushroom,” which I thought would soon fade away, continued longer than expected. For the first time, or rather, it was really the first time the counter author gained attention from the media, and they were busily criticizing Muk Ha-neul. Currently, the scandal surrounding the most talked-about author in South Korea was turning into a pleasant topic among people.

Naturally, public opinion favored Muk Ha-neul, but perhaps because she was an author who shot to fame too suddenly, there were quite a few people who stood on the opposing side out of jealousy. Still, the number of such people was extremely small compared to those who supported Muk Ha-neul.

If Muk Ha-neul had been a man, or had shown radical thoughts in her writings or broadcasts, the development might have been reversed, but since she never revealed such things, she was able to rise as she did, so the premise of that was a flawed assumption from the start.

It didn’t seem like the other party intended to escalate it to court, as they seemed to be simply drawing attention while boosting their book sales. Even infamy was still fame. Was this their basis for making a comeback? Although they hadn’t really been successful enough to call it a comeback.

Still, worried as I was, I called Muk Ha-neul.

[Yes? Ah… that thing. I totally forgot about it.]

It seemed she was hardly concerned at all.

[The other party doesn’t intend to go to court. If we respond, it’ll just blow up and get noisier. Non-response is the answer.]

In fact, Muk Ha-neul’s publishing company dismissed it as nonsensical rambling and was not responding at all. But even if she wasn’t concerned at all, it was pretty impressive.