Chapter 149

I will no longer deny it.

I was a bit shocked by the news about Han-bom. Even though I knew that Ham Yejin quitting her job didn’t mean she would break up with me.

Why did she suddenly make such a choice? And why without saying a word to me? Of course, I understand that changing jobs is her own freedom and has nothing to do with me. Nevertheless, I couldn’t help but think about it.

Is being a National Intelligence Service employee a job you can just quit like that? I have no relevant knowledge on the topic, so I can’t say much.

Maybe Han-bom misunderstood. I found myself hoping that she did. After returning home, I decided to call Ham Yejin.

Unfortunately, the timing was such that the call didn’t go through.

Should I ask her through a message? Somehow, that didn’t sit well with me. I was quite a bothersome person myself.

Fortunately, the disconnection didn’t last long.

When my phone rang at night, I checked who it was and immediately answered.

[Hello?]

[Yes, hello. Seol-guk.]

Ham Yejin answered the phone with her usual calm tone. It had been quite a while since I heard her voice, as we had only communicated through messages since the day Han-bom moved in.

[Yes, are you doing well?]

[I am. What’s the occasion for the call?]

[…I wanted to ask you something.]

[What is it?]

[I heard you’re changing jobs.]

A moment of silence followed. I worried it might be an ominous sign, but soon I heard Ham Yejin sigh.

[It’s about Han-bom, right?]

[Yes? Yes. I heard from her.]

[She told me not to say anything, but really….]

This side of her was truly unfamiliar. Ham Yejin didn’t hide her irritation about matters connected to Han-bom. Until then, she had seemed almost saintly, so her human side was surprisingly refreshing.

However, I sometimes wondered if she didn’t express any annoyance at all because she was merely putting up with me.

[It’s nothing major, really. I’m just transferring departments.]

[Department?]

[I’m thinking of quitting the National Intelligence Service. I’ll be moving to a different department.]

[Is that… really that easy? Is it even possible?]

[Since I am a public figure, quitting itself isn’t that difficult. There are ways to transfer departments.]

In any case, the fact that she was quitting my department was definitely a decision she made of her own volition. Her vague attitude about how she would go about it made it seem like she was hiding something she shouldn’t say, but it somehow felt like she was making excuses to me.

[So… you’re effectively quitting my department.]

As I uttered those words, my heart ached for some reason. Had I grown attached to her? Even though we could meet as much as we wanted afterward. But, sensing my gloomy mood, Ham Yejin awkwardly continued.

[No, no, it’s not like that. I’ll still be keeping my position.]

[Huh?]

[I’ll be moving to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.]

…Excuse me?

[The reason I didn’t mention it was that I wanted to tell you after it was confirmed. It’s not final yet. The topic came up briefly at a party with Han-bom, and it just came out. I didn’t mean to hide it.]

[So you’ll be handling my department at the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family… because of me?]

The fact that Ham Yejin was willing to continue dealing with my department was certainly a good thing, but this made me feel uneasy in return. Could it be that she was moving specifically because of me? Such a presumptuous thought couldn’t be helped.

[I won’t deny it, but quitting was something I was planning to do anyway. Because of what happened previously.]

[…] I’m sorry.

That brought up painful memories. Ham Yejin had experienced both of her TS patients, whom she was previously in charge of, committing suicide. If she had gone through such experiences, it wouldn’t have been strange for her to quit earlier. If anything, it was likely that she had missed her timing because of me.

[So, really, it’s nothing substantial. You don’t have to worry about it. After all, my family opposed me working here anyway, so it’s actually a good thing.]

[Really….]

Though saying it like that wouldn’t make my discomfort disappear, I tried to pretend it did. It seemed more polite.

By the way, it seems Ham Yejin’s family didn’t welcome her working at the National Intelligence Service. Even if it’s a respectable office job, it wasn’t an unusual concern. In fact, I had no idea until now that she rarely talked about her family.

All I knew was that Park Il-Woong, her aide, was from a fairly wealthy family.

That said, I didn’t want to pry about her family here. If she didn’t want to talk about it, then it was best not to push. I really didn’t need to know.

[Thank you.]

[For what?]

After that, we engaged in ordinary conversation, checking in on each other and discussing daily life. We weren’t the type to talk for long, but after we hung up, I realized we had been on the phone for thirty minutes.

It was quite enjoyable.

~

Time flew by quickly. A month had passed since the busy beginning of the year for everyone but me…, two months … and during that time, three noteworthy events occurred.

The first was the release of my book.

I hadn’t expected it to come out this quickly, but I was informed that the progress accelerated due to unexpected events. A video of me singing a poorly performed song on stage became a massive hit, significantly raising my profile among the younger audience.

Initially, I felt relieved thinking that I would soon be forgotten, but at some point, it made a comeback, and my videos started appearing everywhere.

The main contributors to this were the viewers of internet broadcasts. There’s this feature called “Yido,” where if you pay, the streamers’ broadcasts show the videos you’ve submitted, and for some reason, these guys kept uploading my video all day long.

At one moment, I was about to sue the original uploader, and Ham Yejin even offered to help if I wanted. It seemed like she wanted me to pursue it.

However, I didn’t act on it due to my conversation with Han-bom.

“You don’t need to think too negatively. At least no problematic composites are coming out, and your image has turned out quite positively. This is regarded as an essential element, so it’s a kind of popularity. Popularity brings power. I understand that it feels bad, though. If you choose to sue, that will be up to you.”

“Don’t be sly in how you call my name.”

That conversation wasn’t the sole reason for my change of heart. Aside from that brief chat, we had discussed extensively. What kind of repercussions would arise if I really pursued legal action? Would it escalate further, or what if a strange composite came out?

Ultimately, I dropped the lawsuit; however, I did issue a warning. With the publisher’s help, even though I wasn’t planning to sue over the videos themselves, I made it clear that if any bizarre composites emerged or problems occurred, there would be no leniency.

The rare strange composites that had been around almost disappeared around that time, making the situation look somewhat normal now.

Furthermore, the publisher, based on this incident, decided to hasten the book’s release, asserting that I could capitalize on the newfound recognition, leading to my book being published even faster than I had anticipated.

The publisher’s strategy was successful, and quite a few copies of the book were sold. In fact, based on sales trends, it sold significantly more than my previous work. The sales figures of “The Boy’s Womb” had accumulated over several years, and after my rise to fame, they skyrocketed. Thus, it was not surprising, but still, it was hard to believe that one poorly sung song could lead to such successful sales for a new release.

“Half of those who bought it probably didn’t even read it, right?”

“…Then why did they buy the book?”

“Merchandise…?”

Han-bom’s words resonated quite seriously with me, and I hugged my head.

“Think of it this way: something good is better than nothing. You made a lot of money! Thanks to that, I bought a TV and a bed.”

“Then why are you here watching it?”

“I have no money to buy a TV.”

Living as neighbors made me understand why Ham Yejin was close to Han-bom. Though she was infuriating and someone I wanted to slap sometimes, she was surprisingly clever and amusingly silly.

Even her bothersome habits seemed to recognize the boundaries I had set for myself. The only time she crossed the line was when she put something weird in the food.

Anyway, my book “Pregnant” came out and was doing better than I expected.

The reason was perplexing, but as Han-bom said, I was still earning money.

The second noteworthy event was the contest.

Muk Ha-neul won the grand prize at the contest. Naturally, the book was published. Even faster than I had anticipated.

And… it became a massive hit compared to me. Having read it, I could see it was a well-written novel. It was levels above Muk Ha-neul’s previous works, and it made sense that it won the grand prize.

Most importantly, even though it dealt with relationships between men and women, it consciously avoided the gender conflict currently dividing South Korea, adding extra points for that. If it had focused on that aspect, it might have been easier to succeed, but there was also a significant chance it could fail.

It seemed everyone was increasingly tired of such a world, and sometimes they wanted to see something milder.

The sharply rising sales figures were astonishing, honestly, immensely surprising. The quality of the novel was undoubtedly at a level that warranted the grand prize, but such novels came out frequently. The success resulting in sales at this level was not solely due to the quality of the writing but also timing and luck. Most importantly, the fact that Muk Ha-neul was a young and beautiful woman likely contributed to the virality.

Thus, I occasionally caught Muk Ha-neul on my newly bought TV. Surprisingly, she appeared actively on media such as TV shows and YouTube. It seemed like she wasn’t originally inclined toward this, so seeing her energetically engage was somewhat surprising. Her insincere ruse during the broadcasts was a little amusing.

While she acted all coy on the show, she would usually be sprawled next to me, nagging at me.