Tick. Tick.
The sound of the wall clock filled the space as Shiro clenched his fists. Sweat formed on his forehead while he glanced at the man sitting on his sofa.
"Hmm…"
He flipped the paper and proceeded to read the next page without showing any emotion on his face. His gray suit and slicked-back hair did nothing to ease Shiro's nerves.
After a few more minutes, he finally opened his mouth.
"This is…"
His soft voice made Shiro's face beam.
"...trash."
Smack!
Shiro's body flinched when he saw the man in a suit throw the pile of papers he was reading onto the table and stood up.. His muscular body cast a shadow in front of Shiro, forcing him to take a step back.
Shiro stuttered,
"I, I'm… I'm…"
"Haa…"
Shiro trembled at his heavy sigh.
"How many times have I told you? You can't keep on doing this, Shiro! How many times have you hinted about conflicts you never bothered to actually tackle?! And the romance! Oh, the romance! That was the only thing that might actually keep your readers invested, but what did you do? Yeah? You killed the female lead, who's one of the most popular characters in your novel! What in the actual hell is happening inside that tiny, puny, little brain of yours?!"
Baek Seungho, Shiro's editor, didn't hesitate to voice out his concerns. He'd long since stopped sugarcoating his words.
"You keep on building the plot, layering foreshadowing in each chapter, full of mysteries, but end up not solving a single thing! Get your shit together already! As if it wasn't enough—why do all the villains lose their brain cells when faced against the main character?! What, you dumb them down to make things easier for you as the writer?! Revise this part—no, actually, re-do the whole fucking thing! Try to do something different, at least innovate, for goddamn's sake! Seriously!"
Seungho kept on being patient because this writer, Shiro, is known for writing this kind of munchkin novel, but today, he's had enough. He finally said what he wanted to say all this time.
Shiro teared up,
"B, but I tried my best, too, okay?! I really did! But it's too much! I told you, I didn't even wanna write any romance! I didn't want romance in my story, but you kept on pushing me for it! Isn't it your fault, too?! Why are you only blaming me?!"
"Ah, seriously! You don't even understand, do you? I was just telling you what could help your story get better sales! Why did you have to do this? How many drafts have I seen by now? Never mind the other two, you can't release the last part of your book like this!"
Shiro bit his lower lip. Listening to his editor's brutal remarks was never easy, especially this time, when he was already having a hard time recovering from his writer's block. He started writing new parts of his best-selling book for his comeback but nothing's ever gone his way since.
He had told himself before Baek Seungho arrived at his apartment that he'd fight back and defend his novel, but now that he's facing the man, he couldn't think of any rebuttal at all.
Looking at this, Baek Seungho paused.
Dammit… I didn't mean to lash out like that. Haa…
This wasn't the first time he worked with Shiro. In fact, they've been working together for years now. He had been there since Shiro got his first award as an author and stayed with him as his editor even when he was in a slump.
Tsk, don't make that kind of face, now. I've been patient with you, alright? Trying to make me the bad guy here…
Seungho frowned and sat down. He picked the papers up from the table.
"Look, you're gonna have to re-write the whole thing, if you really want to make a comeback. The way things are right now, I don't think even your avid readers could defend this kind of ending. Try to look at things the other way, yeah?"
Shiro stayed still, not responding to any of his words. The young man remained silent while his tears fell continuously to the point that Seungho had to stop talking.
Seungho scratched his head and heaved a huge sigh.
"...I'll come back tomorrow."
He patted Shiro's shoulder lightly and took his belongings. Seungho snagged a last look at Shiro's crouched back before closing the door and the creaking sound slowly faded away.
Later that night, when Seungho got back home, he cooked some instant ramyeon and turned on the television. He slurped the noodles and sipped the salty soup as if he were in a race, with his hair still wet after his quick hot shower.
"Slrrch! Ah, that's so good! I'm living such a good life, seriously!"
Seungho leaned back, and stroked his stomach with a smile.
He stared at the ceiling for a moment, and sighed. Shiro's sad back before he went home came to his mind.
I was too harsh, wasn't I? But, but! We've been working on it for so long now, yet he still can't get it right! If I don't say it, who will? Should I just let him flop, then? Right, is that it? Should I have done that?
The cup of empty instant ramyeon came to his view, making him frown even more.
Right now, he's probably eating ramyeon again…
"...Ah! Geez, seriously, I got it!"
He stood up, frantically cleaning up his mess and turning off the tv. He wiped his damp hair with the towel on his shoulders.
"Alright, fine. Tomorrow, I'll go talk to my manager and extend the deadline for him again. And then…"
Seungho paused,
"...then, I'll go buy him his favorite cake…"
Shiro loves it when he brings him his favorite strawberry shortcake, so it'll definitely cheer him up.
The milk has been spilt. The only thing he could do now is give Shiro his sincere apology. He himself knew how hard Shiro must be working, so he shouldn't have said that.
But I did. That's why I'll just have to make up for it.
At times like these, he could feel the gap between him and Shiro. Seungho has been a functional member of society for more than ten years now, unlike Shiro, who's only in his younger twenties.
That kid needs to be hardened, seriously. But…
"...Sigh, maybe he didn't have to hear it from me? Ah, I don't know anymore."
Seungho lay on his bed, trying his best to ignore Shiro's lonely back from his memory. Tomorrow is another day, and it means an opportunity to make up with the young writer. Thinking that, Seungho closed his eyes with a smile on his face.
***
Tap, tap, tap!
Deep into the night, in front of his computer, Shiro wildly taps his keyboard as loud as he can to fill the silence in his apartment.
His fingers didn't stop even when his nose was starting to feel runny from drowsiness. The sadness he felt from being criticized by his editor earlier couldn't compare to the annoyance he's experiencing right now.
To channel all that rage to his stories, that's what he does best.
He was on hiatus after his award-winning book got a live-action adaptation. His career was doing well, despite a lot of critics. In the end, because he knew how to write fast-paced plot and drama, readers still ended up loving it. But after his best-selling book got a lot of success, he found himself on a writer's block.
Shiro tried over and over again to write but he always felt overwhelmed. He's been working for a year now for the new parts of his book he wanted to release, but each time he gives it to his editor, he keeps on rejecting it and making him rewrite. Shiro doesn't even know how many times he's revised his new book.
Frustration is slowly devouring him. He remembered his editor's words to him earlier.
'Why do all the villains lose their brain cells when faced against the main character?! What, you dumb them down to make things easier for you as the writer?!'
'Try to do something different, at least innovate!'
Shiro gritted his teeth.
Something different... something different, huh?
Sure. If that's what you want. Let's try to do something different. You're saying I write dumb villains? You damn editor... Fine. Why don't you do it yourself, then?! I'll make sure you'd see something you'd never seen before!
Shiro scrolled up his screen and changed one of the character's names on the screen.
「Baek H̶a̶e̶m̶i̶n̶ Seungho」
His face, full of spite. Just thinking about his editor made him want to write nonstop. Shiro's glare became visible from his glasses.
At least here... I'll make sure you suffer as much as you can... and I'll give you a death no one's ever seen before!
A small light came through his computer, a spark even the writer himself couldn't see.
***
The next morning.
"Hwaaahh... hmm?"
Baek Seungho yawned but he stopped when he saw his surroundings.
"...huh?"
A ceiling with a huge chandelier, and an incredibly spacious modern room that looked like a set from a rich 3rd generational chaebol* one that you can only see in films.
Seungho rubbed his eyes,
"...what? Am I dreaming?"
Huh? Why is my voice so high?
He touched his throat, checking if something was wrong.
Ding ding!
[System:
Congratulations! You've been given the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and have been transmigrated to this world!]
"What?"
A floating blue screen suddenly came to his view.
"Transmigrate… to this world? What in the hell is this?"
He tried to touch it but his finger only went through the screen.
W, what is this? It looks like those things you can see in comics… is this a prank? But is it even possible to do this?
"Haa… I'm still dreaming, huh?"
Seungho laid down on the bed and pulled the blanket up, not paying any more attention to the strange thing that popped up in front of him.
Maybe if I tried to sleep again, I'll wake up.
"Mmnn…"
The sound of another man's voice made him flinch. Seungho looked at his side where it came from. It was a man with striking features sleeping beside him.
His body crashed on the floor as he quickly retreated away from the bed, pulling the blanket with him.
"W, w, what? What is this? Who is that?"
Seungho looked down but his eyes widened when he saw his body naked underneath the blanket.
"Ahh!"
His screams were so loud that the strange man on the bed opened his eyes, scratching his ears.
"Tsk, so fucking loud… huh?"
"Eh?"
The two of them looked at each other in surprise. The morning light poured through a window twice as tall as the man he didn't know, and he frowned at Baek Seungho.
The veins on his jaw popped out as he gritted his teeth.
"You damn bastard… it's you again, huh?"