Chapter 8: I Will Protect That Smile

[Hello, Author. This is O Jo Seon, the head of Believe Publishing.]  

[Believe Publishing is a subsidiary of the Believe Publishing Group, a well-capitalized publisher.]  

[Since our founding in May 1995, Believe Publishing has supported the release of Dragon Braza and established ourselves in bookstores and rental shops...]

Opening the email, the message began with an introduction of the publishing company.  

Dragon Braza was a staple material that appeared everywhere without fail.  

“Could the benchmark for success be Dragon Braza?”  

Even as time passed, it had secured its place in everyone’s mind as a representative fantasy masterpiece.  

It seemed like a reasonable standard.  

“Surely, it’s not as big as Harry?”  

Or works like “Solo Leveling” that dominated the 2020s.  

Silently closing my mouth and thoughts, I moved on to the next part.  

There was no need to give myself a headache over it.  

[Immersed in a fresh shock unlike anything seen before, I was captivated by your work.  
A calmness and genius beyond one’s years at ten years old.  
Using floating words in the void, the protagonist’s struggle and growth overcoming the looming crisis was an invincible and promising story.  
Author, if you haven’t signed a contract yet, we at Believe would like to work with you.  
Below is our contact information and email address. Please reach out to us.  
Sincerely, O Jo Seon at Believe Publishing.  
02- … **(@0604.061)]  

Ah!  

“This is it!”  

It was the first contact email I had ever received from a publishing company in this life.  

I always believed a contact would come someday, but now that I actually got one, my heart raced.  

“Wait, how did royalty structures work these days again?”  

Calming my pounding heart, I reviewed the structure of paper book contracts.  

“If I remember correctly, rookie royalties are 6%, established authors get 7–10%, and famous authors receive 12% or more, right?”  

Then the current contract terms would be around 6%, maybe at most 7%.  

For a fifteen-year-old, that wasn’t bad at all.  

After all, the paper book market was doomed to decline soon.  

*Since the 2000s, as the e-book market grew, paper books gradually shrank, and print runs lowered to 3,000–5,000 copies.*  

Contract periods typically lasted five years.  

Knowing the industry well enough, I had no worries about getting scammed.  

“I owe a lot to Author The Page.”  

Back in the rental shop days, we joked calling him a veteran author, an old hand, but thanks to him, I properly understood the publishing industry’s structure.  

“Am I the king now? Haha.”  

Did that author debut in the early 2010s? It’s vague, but at least I debuted about ten years earlier than him.  

*Though we’re far apart, and I probably won’t meet him in person, I want to help him someday.*  

If the chance ever comes, I want to express my gratitude.  

“Now, I wonder what faces Mom and Dad will make if I tell them?”  

A smile escaped me. I was bursting with the urge to brag immediately.  

Checking the clock, it was still early before my parents came home.  

Alright!  

“Then back to focus!”  

Since I’m still a minor, I didn’t send a reply right away.  

I decided it was better to tell my parents first and then proceed with the contract process.  

“Oppa, I’m going to meet my friend.”  

At that moment, I heard my younger sibling’s voice from the door. She was bundling up in layers, preparing to go out.  

“Da Hye, here’s 2,000 won.”  

Most of her money was kept by Mom and Dad. It was probably money saved for her.  

Since my own wallet was empty, I pulled out 2,000 won and handed it to her.  

“Are you giving this to me?”  

“Yeah, if you get hungry while hanging out with your friend, buy some tteokbokki.”  

“Wow, Oppa, you’re the best! I’ll use it well.”  

Da Hye cheered, clapping her hands happily. Her stomping feet and smile were so endearing.  

If I could see that smile every day, 2,000 won was never a waste.  

It was actually a very valuable investment.  

“That smile—I’ll definitely protect it, Oppa promised.”  

Clutching the money to my chest, I made a silent vow.  

“I’ll be back soon, Oppa!”  

The front door closed with a click, and silence filled the house.  

Only the soft hum of the refrigerator echoed gently.  

“Let’s really focus. Concentrate.”  

Today's goal was five chapters. I planned to finish everything before Mom and Dad came back.  

Gathering my willpower, I immediately dove into work.  

***

Oppa has changed a lot recently.  

Maybe it was since the day he held me and cried.  

That day, Oppa cried so sorrowfully.  

I didn’t know why, but seeing that scene made me uneasy.  

It was a completely different feeling from when someone has a crush.  

I felt sorry for Oppa and worried if he was sick.  

Thankfully, what I feared didn’t happen.  

Oppa wasn’t ill. He was healthy. That alone was a blessing.  

“Mom bought me a doll this time. Look at this.”  

Lost in thoughts about Oppa, Arin suddenly opened the room door and showed me a doll.  

“Wow, that’s a Charming Mimi makeup doll.”  

The Mimi doll had long blonde hair and was the 8th edition Shinmi model.  

I had wanted that doll so badly.  

But knowing the family’s situation, I had given up on it.  

“Pretty, isn’t it?”  

“Pretty. Arin’s lucky.”  

Arin’s family lived much better than ours.  

She had everything she wanted and always wore pretty clothes.  

My clothes were...  

“You should ask Mom to buy one for you too.”  

“Hm? Ah, no.”  

I shook my head at Arin’s suggestion.  

Since I was little, I wanted many things, but Mom never bought them.  

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to, but she probably couldn’t.  

I think I realized our family was poor around then.  

The day I first understood that fact was terribly embarrassing.  

Honestly, it still is.  

“It’s weird. Wanting something but saying no.”  

“When you visit our house, you’ll see. Hehe.”  

Truthfully, I wanted those things too.  

But I didn’t want to show it.  

Because I was embarrassed.  

“Enough of that talk. It’s time for piano academy.”  

“Already that time?”  

I wanted to attend piano academy too.  

But that was probably impossible.  

I waved to Arin and turned toward home.  

Sssshhh!  

“Ah, it’s raining.”  

After parting from Arin, heavy rain suddenly poured on the way home.  

I quickly ducked into a nearby stationery and snack shop to avoid the rain.  

“Oh, new paper dolls are out.”  

On one wall of the shop, pretty paper dolls were hanging.  

Mimi dolls were too expensive to buy, but this I could afford with the money I had.  

“Should I buy it?”  

In my hand was the 2,000 won Oppa gave me to buy tteokbokki with his friends.  

“Hmm... no. Oppa likes tteokbokki too. I’ll buy tteokbokki and eat it with Oppa.”  

The gloomy feelings caused by Arin melted away surprisingly fast as I thought of Oppa.  

“Auntie, please give me 1,000 won worth of tteokbokki. Also, some sundae, please.”  

I decided to wait here until the rain stopped.  

***

["Do you know how to get good at math?"  

My second oldest sister, her face flushed red, came into the room and asked.  

“Getting good at math? That’s easy.”  

It wasn’t that difficult.  

“Oh? What is it?”  

A bright smile bloomed on her flushed face. She must have been quite anxious.  

“Nothing special. Just memorize and understand.”  

“Damn it, should I kill her?”  

Genius people really were unlucky.]  

“Done.”  

I lifted my hands off the keyboard.  

It was 5:20 p.m.  

I had reached my goal before my parents came home.  

“I go through this every time, but I’ve really become a monster.”  

A monster who writes more than five chapters a day. I was almost afraid of myself.  

If this were my past life, I might have written up to 2,000 chapters a year.  

Authors typically write between 1 to 2 million characters a year, and just looking at this shows how incredible writing five chapters a day is.  

“I finished revising too. Hmm, when will Dad get home?”  

I turned my gaze outside the window.  

Sshhh!  

At that moment, the sound of heavy raindrops came through.  

*Splash*  

The moment my eyes shifted, the rain poured down suddenly. What a disaster.  

“Did Da Hye take an umbrella?”  

I worried about Da Hye going outside.  

I checked the umbrella at home.  

“Oops.”  

The umbrella was still right where it was. I had to go out and get it. I put on my hat, grabbed the umbrella, and stepped outside.  

Choi aaah!  

Once outside, the sound of rain grew even louder. The raindrops were falling almost sideways.  

“It’s not even March yet. What kind of storm is this? If Da Hye gets wet, she’ll catch a cold.”  

I opened the umbrella and headed toward the house of the friend Da Hye often met.  

It was a detached house with a yard, about 3,000 paces away.  

*I hope we don’t get separated on the way. If we do, that would be bad. Ah, it’s cold. My pants are all soaked.*  

My pants were soaking wet. The umbrella wasn’t enough. That made me worry more about Da Hye.  

“Oppa, Oppa!”  

From a distance of two buildings, I heard Da Hye’s voice.  

She was taking shelter from the rain inside a snack shop, unable to leave the building.  

Fortunately, we didn’t get separated on the way.  

“Are you wet anywhere? Get on my back.”  

I checked all over Da Hye. Her clothes were dry and fluffy.  

“Hmph.”  

“There was only one umbrella. It’s too small for us to share. Get on my back, and I’ll cover you with the umbrella.”  

It had been so long since I last carried my younger sibling on my back. Memories flowed.  

A bittersweet feeling welled up.  

“I’m heavy.”  

I never thought I’d hear that from my little sister.  

This was new.  

“Just because you’re little doesn’t mean you’re heavy. Have you seen me working out lately? Even if you were two or three of you, I’d still carry you. Hurry up and get on.”  

Ignoring her words, I bent my knees and stretched out my back.  

“Am I really getting carried?”  

She looked doubtful but secretly smiled.  

What could a kid weighing just over 30 kg be so scared of?  

I realized she was now at the age where weight matters.  

“Don’t worry. Oppa’s confident he can carry you even when you grow much bigger. So get on.”  

No matter what rough waves called hardship hit you, I am ready to become a breaker and protect you.  

If you get hurt, I’ll hurt in your place.  

In this life, I will definitely protect you.  

“Da Hye, only see good things, wear good things, and always live happily with a smile.”  

“Hurry up. I’m getting tired of waiting.”  

“Don’t fall, or Oppa will be mad. Hey!”  

My hesitant younger sister finally climbed onto my back.  

“Hey, is this heavy?”  

A little over 30 kg pressed down on me. As expected, she was quite light.  

“Not heavy at all?”  

“Really.”  

“Liar.”  

“Every day, I could carry you.”  

“Liar. Geez, Oppa, you’re mean!”  

Da Hye pushed a black plastic bag forward.  

From it came the sweet and spicy scent. Even without looking, I knew.  

“Tteokbokki!”  

Choi aaah!  

Her playful yet shy voice blended with the sound of rain.  

“Oppa likes tteokbokki too. I bought it to eat together. Did I do good?”  

The raindrops tapping on the umbrella sounded unusually warm.  

“You thought of me?”  

I nodded.  

“Thank you for thinking of me. My little sister’s the best.”  

Da Hye was warm-hearted and thoughtful.  

A smile never left her lips.  

*Let’s go home and eat with Mom.*  

I’m really glad you’re my little sister, Da Hye.  

In the next life, I want to be your Oppa again.  

Feeling my sister’s body heat, touch, and breathing, I slowly took steps home.  

***

*Oppa, you know, I’m so happy you’re here.*  

Looking at Arin, I felt a bit jealous, but there was something Arin didn’t have.  

That was a caring Oppa who carried me home on his back.  

I closed my eyes and rested my cheek against Oppa’s back.  

Oppa’s back was so warm and comforting.  

I earn money and buy happiness. Episode 8  

Full of dreams.