Chapter 249
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 249
Chapter Title: The Boy in the Black Cap
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“Oh my god…”
The shock of seeing Lee Seojun appear on the jury show was brief. Relieved that it wasn't the terrible scenario she had imagined, the marketing team employee checked her messages.
>Lee Seojun is going to be on the jury show!!
>What? Does that mean our book is going to get buried?
>Probably. This is just a graduation performance, after all.
>What do we do about all the preparations we’ve made?
>But ours is being released on N-tube… so maybe it’ll be okay?
>…Don’t you think that show will be uploaded to Plus+?
>Oh no. We’re screwed.
Every call, text, and BananaTalk message was about their book, ‘Mirror’, being overshadowed, urging her to help come up with a new promotional plan.
>Editor-in-Chief: Just get here.
It seemed everyone had come into the office on a weekend. Reading the last message, the employee shot up and got ready to leave.
It wasn't the worst-case scenario she had pictured, but it felt like a close second.
Just as she finished getting ready and was about to leave the house, her phone rang.
Assuming it was the publishing house, she glanced at the screen and saw a flood of BananaTalk messages and texts still pouring in amidst the incoming call.
“Now what is it?”
The employee swallowed hard and went online.
[The Novel Chosen by Actor Lee Seojun, ‘Mirror’]
“What the.”
She was starting to get confused about whether this was the worst thing or the best thing to ever happen.
* * *
“They say life doesn’t go according to plan, but it’s not every day that things change this drastically in a matter of minutes, right?”
The other employees nodded in agreement at one of the editor’s remarks.
“Because he’s an actor, the changes and the reactions are all blockbuster-level.”
“Um… can we unplug the phones before we continue this conversation?”
The conference room at Yeongung Publishing.
The president nodded at the suggestion, as the ringing of phones could be heard even through the walls. At his approval, the employees sitting closest to the door rushed out and started unplugging the phone lines.
Once the publishing house fell silent, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
“We expected something like this, but it’s more intense than we imagined.”
The president massaged his temples, feeling like he could still hear the phantom ringing.
“So, what happens to our plan?”
“I know. We thought word would leak from the school, but this is faster than we anticipated.”
“Let’s start the meeting, shall we?”
At the president’s words, the staff quieted down, and the editor-in-chief began to speak.
“I believe we can proceed with the plan to put a QR code on the book’s sash that links to the N-tube video. We have Yeoul Arts Middle School’s consent, and we’ll have a ‘Coming Soon’ screen up until the video is posted.”
Whether people read the novel first and then watched the play, or vice versa, the QR code would make it easy for them to access it.
“We should release the books now, right?”
“Yes. We were trying to stockpile as many as possible… It’s earlier than planned, but with the news articles out, now seems like the right time.”
The president nodded with a look of disappointment.
The plan had been to stockpile as many books as possible and then release them all at once when the news of Lee Seojun’s play broke, landing it on the bestseller list. The news had just come out a bit too soon.
“If only it had been October, that would have been perfect.”
“You’re telling me.”
It was still mid-September.
It was only a two-week difference, but the employees all looked disappointed. They knew how difficult it was to create a single bestseller.
“What’s done is done. Right now, we need to prepare for the increase in demand… no,”
The president let out a hollow laugh and changed his wording.
“We need to discuss how we’re going to supply the books to prepare for the explosion in demand.”
* * *
Reporter Choi from the culture desk tapped his foot impatiently as he dialed the number again.
He was calling Kim Hyungwon, the editor in charge of ‘Mirror’.
He was the one person Choi knew who could turn this situation into an even bigger story.
“If only he’d give me one interview… It looks like he’s getting calls from everywhere.”
He had been on his phone for an hour straight, but he couldn’t get through. Just as Choi was about to hang up and redial until Kim Hyungwon picked up, the line connected and he held his breath.
-Hello.
Kim Hyungwon’s voice came from the other side of the phone.
“I finally got a hold of you!”
-Hello, Reporter Choi. Thank you for the article on the book concert.
“I should be thanking you. The view count on that article is going through the roof right now.”
It was an article he had posted two months ago, but somehow people were finding it.
“So, how did you get in touch with actor Lee Seojun? Could you give me a little hint?”
-Haha. It wouldn’t be right if you didn’t know, Reporter Choi.
“…Pardon?”
Choi tilted his head at Kim Hyungwon’s words.
Since they had already decided in a meeting to release the story about the book concert, Kim Hyungwon could answer comfortably.
-Do you remember the student who was asking all those questions? The male student in the black cap.
“Hmm. I remember him.”
Holding his phone, Choi skimmed through the copy of ‘Mirror’ he had been reading while trying to call. It was a memento from the book concert, bearing author Choi Daye’s signature. The fact that he already had his hands on a copy that everyone else was desperately searching for was thrilling.
“His dedication stood out, asking so many questions when no one else was. The conversation between him and the author is what got me interested in ‘Mirror’ in the first place. You can’t see his face well, but he’s probably in some of the photos I put in the article.”
Come to think of it, he remembered recording the book concert to capture the atmosphere vividly. The Q&A between Choi Daye and the student in the article was transcribed from that recording.
‘Where did I put that recording…’
If he organized it again and wrote a new article, it would surely get a lot of views.
‘I should have photos too… Where did I save them?’
Just then, Kim Hyungwon’s excited voice reached his ear.
-That student was him.
Choi, who had been clicking through files on his computer, tilted his head. They were talking about actor Lee Seojun, so why bring up a student?
“What? What do you mean?”
-That student was actor Lee Seojun.
Choi, who had just opened a folder named `[(July)Mirror/Author Choi Daye/Book Concert Materials]` and clicked on the first photo, felt his jaw drop.
“…What?!”
His eyes widened and shook as he stared at the side profile of the student in a black cap on his monitor.
* * *
[A Meeting with the Author of ‘Mirror’, Choi Daye.]
<Written by Choi Daye, ‘Mirror’ is a captivating novel featuring three episodes and a single overarching story that connects them… (rest omitted)>
(Photo from the book concert)
(Photo of people getting autographs after the book concert)
(Summary of Q&A between the author and a reader)
-Wow. The book is sold out, so I’m reading stuff like this instead.
-So there was a book concert two months ago.
-That reader asks some good questions. Just reading the questions and the author’s answers seems really interesting.
=Same here. That reader must have read the book really carefully.
-I want to read the book, but I can’t find it anywhere!
As people searched high and low for information on ‘Mirror’, the novel chosen by Lee Seojun, a single article about a book concert caught their eye. It was just two photos and a short summary, but the Q&A between the author and a reader strangely piqued their curiosity.
>Wow. Does the publisher even want to sell books? There are no copies in the bookstores.
>All I see are articles about the book concert.
>And they’re all just copy-pastes of the first article. There’s no new information.
Park Sungwon chuckled at his friends’ messages and replied on BananaTalk.
<(Photo of the cover of ‘Mirror’ with author Choi Daye’s signature)
>You did? A book concert?
>Haha, nice photoshop job, haha.
>…Wait, were there only five people there?
>People left in the middle.
“Hmm?”
At his friend’s question, Park Sungwon tried to remember.
Five of the ten people had left, leaving five in their seats.
There was a man who looked like a reporter holding a camera, two women who seemed to be friends, a male student in a black cap who was asking a lot of questions, and himself.
>OMG. OMG…
>And the guy in the black cap kept asking questions?
>He spoke really clearly, right?
>Did he have, like, an aura or something?
>Whoa… This is insane.
>Look at this. (link)
[(Exclusive) The Day ‘Mirror’ Author Choi Daye Met Actor Lee Seojun!]