VOLUME 5
MARKETING IMMERSED IN EVERYDAY LIFE
I guess my work will start monitoring this too.
No way.
People from my work and my mom aren't allowed in this space.
DON'T FORGET TO POST 3 TIMES A DAY!
This one book is the outcome of so much passion and dedication.
While watching the books disappearing into the shredder,
I was reminded of something the poet, Amy Lowell, once said.
She said that books are the quintessence of our lives.
I want to share these precious lives with as many people as possible
so that I won't be ashamed to face the trees.
I got this. I can do it.
EVERY GYEOROO EMPLOYEE IS A MARKETER
The moon is too beautiful.
You're right.
The moon is beautiful, isn't it?
Instead of "I love you,"
Sōseki Natsume said, "The moon is beautiful."
It was a night that made me think of him.
With that said, the book of the day is...
The correct expression is "boss around,"
not "boss round."
It's "washing dishes," not "washing dish."
And the correct expression is "decline an offer," not "decline a offer."
LUCKYBOY STARTED FOLLOWING YOU
KIM JAE-MIN
PRESIDENT OF GYEOROO PUBLISHING
CULTURAL INDUSTRIALIST WHO FOSTERS KNOWLEDGE AND CULTURE
A friend of mine whom I hadn't seen in a while complained to me.
"Jae-min, my books aren't selling. My company is about to go bankrupt."
He owns a small publishing firm.
He's passionate and competent.
Is our society abandoning printed books altogether?
Compared to him, I'm incredibly blessed.
I sure am a lucky boy.
Gyeoroo's books are still loved by the readers.
Yes, never slow down and keep going.
ACCEPT, BLOCK
BLOCK
GO YU-SEON
DIRECTOR OF GYEOROO PUBLISHING ELEGANTLY SINGLE
I translated a K University professor's paper into English.
Just to kill time and as a hobby, of course.
Well, I'm not saying I'm lonely.
My precious alone time.
Do you know how happy this sense of satisfaction makes me feel?
Mr. Kim, you're the most exemplary leader to everyone who work at Gyeoroo.
I admire you.
What is poetry?
It's the core of every artistic inspiration, you know.
It's the source.
And that's what you guys create. You write poems.
How incredible is that?
Why bother writing good poems?
No one ever reads them.
My poems are free.
They're all over the Internet.
Some jerks
uploaded my entire poetry book.
I'd make a fortune if I could earn
even just 100 won per poem.
LUCKYBOY STARTED FOLLOWING YOU
"Luckyboy." What, "boy"?
Until what age are you considered a boy?
I get that you're the boss, but so what?
Block.
Why are you all being so mean to me?
Why did you guys all block me?
Luckyboy. Do you guys hate me or what?
Eun-ho, you answer first. Why did you block me?
I didn't know it was you.
Hey, how could you not know?
I clearly wrote, "President of Gyeoroo Publishing."
I see. I thought someone was pretending to be you.
I really had no idea either.
What's going on? Am I a social media outcast?
-Am I, Ms. Song? -Yes.
He has no conscience.
Must we really see
this narcissistic salesman even online?
-Follow me back, okay? -Okay.
-Song-i. -Yes, sir.
Follow me back.
-Let's be good. -Okay.
He's so cute.
NOTIFICATION
Ms. Go, you're the idea bank of Gyeoroo.
You're a mentor who every employee admires.
WEEKLY SCHEDULE
WEEKLY MEETING, EXECUTIVE MEETING
MARKETING MEETING FOR PARK JEONG-SIK'S NEW RELEASE
Are you sure you want to try again? After what Ms. Go did to you?
What did she do? I'm fine.
What would you like to order?
I'd like that one. A lot of veggies with plenty of sauce, please. Make it two.
No, go easy on the sauce for one of them.
-Go easy, please. -Big Witch doesn't scare me at all.
I heard Hui-su got into the international school.
Hey, it shows how capable you are as a mom.
-You're so impressive. -What are you talking about?
Her husband got promoted to director.
-Seriously? -It's not that impressive.
He should become the CEO before he quits.
How nice would that be!
Hey, you have nothing to be envious about.
Your father-in-law gave you some of his assets.
Well, you know. We just got something little.
He put the house we're living in now under my husband's name.
Your retirement is taken care of.
Enough, ladies.
We're sorry, Yu-seon.
For what?
She's single and has no kids. We should be more considerate.
Why? I own three houses.
And I am a director.
I even got my doctorate degree recently.
I don't envy you ladies.
My feelings can never get hurt at gatherings like this.
Today's drinks are on me.
I have to go home and read up on some stuff for work.
Why is she such a stuck-up?
What's her problem?
Let's stop hanging out with her.
She stole my idea once, but it won't happen again.
I won't let her do that to me twice.
This will be fun.
Give me some hints.
-Hints? -Yes.
Shall I say, marketing tips?
-Marketing tips? -Yes.
A hint. Just one, please.
-Why you... -Don't try to cheat.
You must come up with it on your own.
You're so mean.
You just watch. I'll do an amazing job.
This is tasty.
Good girl.
-Is it good? -Yes.
Give me some hints.
GYEOROO PUBLISHING
NEW BOOK MARKETING STRATEGY MEETING AT 11:00.
This marketing meeting
is usually led by Ms. Seo, the head of marketing.
But the thing is...
THE GRAY WORLD
Since Ms. Go started out as a marketer,
it often ends up being a tug-of-war between them.
Ms. Go's blurb was chosen last time,
so Ms. Seo won't want to lose this time.
When their idea war turns into an emotional fight,
which tires everyone out, that's your chance.
Let's do this meeting.
-Dan-i, is everything ready? -Yes.
You did it by yourself?
Jeez, people. I can't believe no one helped.
Hello.
Ms. Go.
May I sit in on the meeting?
Why would you want to sit in on the marketing strategy meeting?
Knowing the details about the progress
might help me find more things that I can do.
Thanks for wanting to help,
but since you're on the Task Support Team, it's none of--
Sure, you may sit in.
You're also supporting the Content Development Department,
so knowing more details
will help you support the team better.
Come on in. It'd be good for you to observe the meeting.
Thank you, sir.
All right, let's get started.
Before we decide on the number of copies,
how did it go with Ji Seo-jun, the designer?
It must've gone well. I mean, Mr. Kim went too.
Is the rumor true?
The rumor that Gyeoroo was after the rights
and locked up Mr. Kang because of it.
It didn't go well.
He doesn't want to work with us.
That's because you went. It's all your fault.
Why the heck did you follow him?
What are we going to do now?
I DREAM OF ECONOMIC FREEDOM
THE LION IS IN
TEARDROPS
Is this everything?
Sir, these books are quite damaged.
-I'll get you undamaged copies. -No, it's okay.
If I don't buy these, they'll be returned to the publishing company
and end up being shredded.
I can read them just fine. I'll take them.
Here you go.
Gyeoroo's books are always on the steady-seller list. It's amazing.
Two out of five steady-sellers are from Gyeoroo.
That's because they were written by Kang Byeong-jun.
They're masterpieces.
Good for them.
Oh, right. Revolution by Kang Byeong-jun.
Didn't your firm own the publication rights?
There's more.
Whispers of the Sky, Cry of an Island,
and that book, Mother, too. Gyeoroo took everything.
Anyway, Gyeoroo irks me.
You said you were going to get Ji Seo-jun on board.
So we were going to print 10,000 copies of the first edition.
If he comes up with a nice design for this book,
we'll easily sell 10,000 copies.
You two, what did you do?
You said you'd persuade Ji Seo-jun no matter what.
Let's just print 7,000 copies.
It's not like getting a good designer guarantees more sales.
Well, Mr. Kim. You're the one who said that.
Who'd buy 7,000 copies of a book by a no-name rookie author?
Why did you make a book that won't sell to begin with?
We're having this meeting now
to figure out a way to make it sell.
The industry itself is faltering, so how about 5,000 copies to be safe?
Even that's considered a lot these days.
For the first edition, some firms only print 2,000 or 3,000 copies.
We signed a contract with this author three years ago.
A number of plans fell through.
Hey, after spending the entire year and making countless edits, 3,000...
We won't even make as much as I've spent on buying him meals.
Mr. Kim, please try to speak politely during meetings.
This guy started speaking casually first.
Did I?
Then 5,000 it is. Let's start with 5,000 copies.
Since it's his debut novel,
we'll do a good job with marketing and get the word out.
Then we can print more.
I have a question.
You keep saying "10,000 copies" and "5,000 copies."
Does that mean the number of books?
Then are you saying you will only sell 3,000 or 5,000 books?
Who hired her?
You did, for her strong academic background.
Hey, you can hear me now?
Do you have superpowers?
Can you read people's minds?
For the first edition, let's go with 5,000 copies to be safe.
Do we have a marketing theme?
Yes, my team prepared a presentation.
This is mine,
-but you can take a look. -Thank you.
The author is a total rookie though.
The story itself is great,
so that should be the main focus for our marketing strategy.
This is a great idea.
The summary of the plot in the form of webcomic
will intrigue the readers.
What about this idea is great?
Well, I don't know much about marketing.
We'll have to find a webcomic artist and summarize the plot.
I think it'll take too long.
Then what's your idea?
-To define our target audience. -We did, those in their 20s and 30s.
Not many people are fans of webcomics.
I'll get the most popular webcomic artist on board--
That will cost more than what we've paid the author.
Our marketing budget can cover--
Let's focus on online marketing.
We'll target genre fiction fan communities.
-Okay, I think that's a good idea. -What does everyone else think?
What about offline marketing?
As we wait for news to spread online,
we'll lose offline opportunities.
Is there a divide between online and offline spaces these days?
We obviously have to do some online marketing,
-but the webcomic should-- -Well...
I've come up with an idea as well.
Scrap the webcomic idea. Revealing the story first won't do us any good.
Spoilers will be everywhere.
Still, I think it'll definitely intrigue the readers.
These days, people are more drawn to visuals than texts.
Well, is there anything else
-we can highlight in our marketing? -Yes, what else?
Why don't we cover it instead?
Why does she keep interrupting?
Why don't we hear her out since no one else seems to have any ideas?
Aren't you curious about her idea?
-Yes. -Yes.
Dan-i.
Tell us.
Why is she using that?
That's so old-school.
Digital is the way to go.
IRREPLACEABLE BOOK PROJECT
-What's that? -Cool.
Readers these days are picky.
The more you market a book, the quicker they get sick of it.
But if you don't market it enough, they forget about it.
The thing is, if there's something unique about the book,
that only it can have,
people will be instantly intrigued.
I wondered what could arouse their curiosity
and thought we should focus
on the fact that the author is a rookie writer.
Right.
A rookie has no achievements to boast about.
If we're unclear as to exactly what we can showcase,
how about we just don't show the author or the book?
Let's not show them at all.
That's how I
came up with the idea for this Irreplaceable Book Project.
NO AUTHOR, NO TITLE, NO SYNOPSIS
No one will be able to see the author's name, synopsis or the title.
It'll be like a gift.
You never know what you'll get.
The excitement of ripping off the wrapping paper.
Even though I bought it with my own money, I still have no idea what's inside.
A gift for myself.
That's interesting. No one has heard of the author anyway.
If people can read them at bookstores,
all the damaged ones will be returned to us.
This project
is about an irreplaceable book
selected by you, only for yourself.
A special gift for yourself.
That's the main idea of the project.
Still, if we don't offer a single hint,
will people buy a book that is completely wrapped up?
Even for comic books, the cover is always visible.
Why would anyone buy that, not knowing what could be inside?
They'll know it's a book. It'll be sold at bookstores.
When we open gifts, we usually don't know what's inside.
Right.
"It takes a lot of confidence to release a book without revealing any information."
Will people think so and become curious?
If we print key quotes from the book on the wrapping paper--
Mr. Cha, you read my mind.
Whatever we want to highlight can be printed on the wrapping paper.
It'll also tell the readers what kind of genre it is.
How about we give it a shot?
Yes, we lost Ji Seo-jun because of somebody anyway.
We can treat the wrapping paper like a cover.
It'll certainly capture people's attention.
If this project becomes a success,
we can apply the idea to our next releases as well.
Okay. Ms. Song, you edited this,
-so work on the project with Dan-i. -Yes, sir.
All right. If it doesn't sell, we can just remove the wrapping paper.
-We have nothing to lose. -Good, nice work.
-Well done. -That was a fresh idea.
My, I think it's such a brilliant idea.
Thank you.
-Great. -Nice job.
-Good work. -I learned from you today.
Nice meeting, everyone.
Nicely done.
Thank you.
I love the idea. I really mean it.
I can tell you know what marketing is about.
Great work.
"THE STORY ABOUT YOU AND ME" THE GRAY WORLD
EDITED BY SONG HAE-RIN, MARKETING BY KANG DAN-I
My, you're already in charge of marketing for a project.
I'm so proud of you, Dan-i.
You know that nuts are good for your brain, right?
Eat this and keep up the great work.
Thank you.
Hey, Eun-ho.
Aren't you calling it a day?
I've found many cases where the wrapping marketing method was used.
It has been done in the UK as well as in Japan.
And the feedback was pretty good.
I'll share this with Dan-i.
She's probably seen it already.
You think so?
Right. From her presentation earlier,
I could tell she did thorough market research.
Hae-rin.
What... Why?
What did I do wrong this time?
You're pretty amazing.
I mean, about Park Jeong-sik.
You pushed for it after reading his submission.
I didn't think it'd work as he lacked foundation.
A genre fiction writer
who used to write web novels
is standing right next to me now.
I learned that foundation can be built over time.
I read the book while preparing for the meeting. It's good.
In the past three years,
he gave up twice, but you brought him this far.
I'm impressed.
Don't just talk about it. Buy me dinner today, then.
Where do you want to go?
Let's go there. The drive around Mount Bukak.
We went there last fall.
The place we went to after you got dumped by your third boyfriend?
I told you so many times that I dumped him.
Is that important?
Okay, meet me in the parking lot in ten minutes.
-Bye. -Good work.
-Great work today.
I'll be off, then.
-Bye. -Good work.
First floor.
Hey.
Are you coming home late?
Why do you ask?
If you're coming late, I'm going to eat udon outside.
Do you know a place?
I found a nice place.
It's a seven-minute walk
from the bus station.
I'll buy one for you if you want. I think they have take-out.
No, wait there. I'll go right now.
-Hae-rin. -Yes?
I'm sorry. Something just came up.
I need to go home. Let's eat next time.
Oh, well. I guess I'll just go back to work.
Let's eat once the book is out.
Hurry up and go. I'll be off now.
Bye.
CAMELLIA
It's nice eating out after work.
It feels like a dream.
How did you live for the past 11 years?
I never got off work because I never went to work.
What's Ms. Song like?
I need to work with her on Park Jeong-sik's book.
What's she like? Is she cold-hearted?
No, not at all.
She's competent, shrewd, and keeps her private life out of work.
You don't know how hard she is on the new hires, do you?
Especially with Ji-yul.
Ji-yul should be grateful that she met a senior like Hae-rin.
What's with that face?
The red bra was Ms. Song's, wasn't it?
There were other clothes there too.
I know you're dating her. Hae-rin, the so-called Little Witch.
What makes you think that?
Am I wrong?
Didn't you go see her when you got drunk the other day?
Then whose house did you go to?
I thought you made up with her that day.
Then why were her clothes in our house?
Why do you think? Does it bother you?
What?
She comes to my place when she gets drunk
to talk about work and her boyfriend.
To her, I'm just a senior at work whom she respects.
And to me, she's just a cute junior.
And her parents think of me as their daughter's colleague.
I guess that's why they gave you kimchi.
I thought you were dating her.
Mind your own business. It's my personal life.
You don't even care
whom I like or date anyway.
I'm done eating.
Hey. I'm not done yet.
-I'd like to pay. -Okay.
-It's 23,000 won. -Okay.
-Here. -You must be siblings.
You guys seemed so friendly with each other,
so I thought you were a couple.
We're not siblings.
Come on, Dan-i.
But I'm not finished.
CAMELLIA
Don't come over when you're drunk. You can't anymore.
-What? -I live with a woman now,
so you can't.
I'm sorry. Something just came up.
Let me see if I got my paycheck.
I should tell her about mobile banking.
Good job to me for working hard for a month.
Please take your passbook.
It's my first salary.
Dong-min must be crazy.
Look at this. Am I confused?
What is this?
Maybe it's alimony.
He told me he was penniless when we split.
He said he had no money.
Didn't you get a call?
He never even called Jae-hui.
Then what about an email? He could've sent you something.
What?
Hi, Dan-i. It's me.
It's already been a year since we split.
Back then, things were so hectic for me.
OMG.
What's gotten into him? He's dope!
He was a total savage.
That money was my alimony.
For Jae-hui's tuition.
"OMG. Dope. Savage."
Don't say stuff like that. You make books.
It's fun.
It makes me feel like a troublemaker again.
But what has gotten into Dong-min?
I wonder if he's suddenly feeling sorry for Jae-hui.
Why did you like him?
What?
I still don't get why you fell in love with him.
I don't know either.
I don't think I have ever thought about love in depth.
From the moment I met him,
he was fun to be around, and he was good to me.
Back then, I was foolish enough to think that was love.
What about now? What do you think love is?
I'm not sure.
If that's actually what love is,
I feel like it's a little boring.
But back then, my feelings for him were sincere.
So that seems to be enough.
That means you've never been in love.
I guess so. But there's nothing I can do about that.
It's all over for me now.
Let's go somewhere on the weekend. I got paid.
I'll pay. It's been a while since I last treated you.
I wanted to get you a gift with my first paycheck.
What do you want?
I'm not sure. Let's see.
Think of something nice.
Dan-i, do you remember buying me a padded jacket
with your first paycheck?
-Yes. -Why did you buy me that?
Isn't it obvious?
It was winter, and it was cold.
I'm sure other people were cold as well because it was winter.
So why me?
Do you have a problem with that?
No, I don't have a problem.
But I'm saying you should think about it.
What's there to think about?
It was winter,
and I figured you could wear it on top of your uniform.
Forget it. Let's just drop it, you dummy.
What's your problem?
You know, there are times when you act like a wacko.
Fine, I'm the lunatic. Happy now?
You lunatic.
Are you drunk?
Are you not going there tonight?
The place you went to after getting drunk.
Who's the girl?
I thought it was Hae-rin.
Forget about it. You don't know who she is anyway.
-You're so complicated. -Fine.
I'm complicated and a lunatic. Are you happy now?
Why are you picking a fight?
We had a nice day, but you're ruining everything now.
You're the one who ruined it.
What's this?
Why are you holding my hand?
I've been holding it for a while.
You're right.
-That looks delicious. -Let's just go.
Let's eat it.
Hey, let's just go. I'll get fat.
-You should get a little fat. -Stop it. Let's just go.
-No. -You're too skinny.
The hedgehog is angry again.
That's all because of the baby kangaroo.
Ji-yul.
Who in the world uses whiteout
to edit a manuscript?
I thought it'd be better
to erase and edit the mistakes.
Are you kidding me?
Do you even know what your job is?
Do you think it makes sense for an editor
not to be aware of the basic rules of editing a manuscript?
I'm sorry.
Yes, you should be sorry.
You should be very sorry.
Let me see that.
This...
Goodness, this is...
It's nice and clear.
This will help you learn how to edit a manuscript.
Memorize everything.
She does have potential...
I'm sorry.
-Ji-yul. -Yes?
My desk is over there.
My mom thought I should get a comfortable chair
since I always work late editing manuscripts.
Is that not allowed?
Is there a rule saying we're not allowed to bring our own office chairs?
-No. -Right.
There's no such rule.
-There's no such rule. -No.
-There shouldn't be such a rule. -It doesn't exist.
Gosh, can I try sitting on it?
Dan-i, I think we need to have a meeting.
-It looks nice. -Where are you right now?
I thought of a few phrases on the weekend.
Yours are a lot similar to mine.
The book is really interesting.
I hope it sells well.
Any other thoughts?
I think we should leave out
The Declaration of the White among the list of short stories.
I also wanted to take that one out.
But the writer insisted on keeping it.
It's very different from the other stories.
So I thought it'd be better to extend the storyline
and make it into a novella instead.
Good idea. We don't have much time until it gets published.
So let's try to convince the writer.
Did you ask for me, Ms. Go?
Is your meeting with Ms. Song over now?
Yes, there were a lot of additional things we needed to research.
I think I told you already.
Pardon?
I told you to focus on your actual job.
The dry cleaner's.
-The post office. -Yes, ma'am.
Yes, Ms. Go.
Again.
Yes, Ms. Go. I'm on my way.
Dan-i.
You're not a troublemaker anymore. You're an intellectual.
You shouldn't harm people. You can't do that.
You shouldn't. Hold your temper.
Intellectual, my ass. This darn...
I've got work to take care of outside.
I sent extra materials via email.
Read it and we'll discuss it tomorrow.
Sure thing. I'll go over every word.
MS. SONG
Yes, Ms. Go!
Wouldn't this be the best for wrapping?
Yes, it's simple and neat.
It gives off a smart vibe too.
A fountain pen font would seem like the best choice too.
That sounds nice.
I looked up some calligraphy artists.
How about this font?
WRITER PARK JEONG-SIK
RECEIVING FAX
NOTICE OF CONTRACT TERMINATION
Hold on.
What do you want to eat?
-When? Right now? -Yes.
Dan-i, get your purse. We're off to Gangneung.
Seriously? This again?
He's in Gangneung again?
-Really? -Unbelievable.
He's at it again. The notice of contract termination.
Why is he doing this again?
-What a douche! -Is he insane?
Why? What's going on?
Aren't we off to lunch?
Lunch isn't the issue at the moment.
Damn it!
Are you kidding me?
Maybe he didn't like our marketing.
How many times has it been already?
I don't get it.
He can't end a contract by just returning the deposit.
What about our time and effort?
What about Hae-rin's hard work?
Can someone explain what's going on?
It's the book Hae-rin and Dan-i have been working on.
The writer doesn't want to publish it.
Apparently, he wants to terminate the contract via fax.
It's the third time already.
I can't believe it. Is he serious?
Does publishing stop if the writer terminates the contract?
Won't we get to publish it?
It's not as easy as it sounds since we put in resources too.
We can't ask the writer to pay it back.
And we can't cancel right before its launch.
Then, we must change his mind then.
Are we in the right place?
I'm going to kill him.
I poured three years into this.
Is being a writer all that matters? What about my hard work?
You better be prepared because
I'll teach him a lesson.
Shouldn't we stop her?
Why? I'll teach him a lesson too.
Are they trying to make things worse?
Mr. Cha, Ms. Song, hold on!
Mr. Park, this is Song Hae-rin.
Open up so we can talk.
Mr. Park!
Park Jeong-sik, open up!
Avoiding us won't solve anything.
What a nutjob.
You run away and go into hiding whenever you please.
Just know that you're dead meat today.
-Open up! -Please, don't.
Mr. Park.
We came all the way from Seoul to see you.
No one's home, you know.
He left about an hour ago.
It's the young writer, right?
My gosh, this is great.
Do you remember me?
I came by last year and the year before that.
When will Mr. Park be back?
-I'm not sure. -I already knew. His car was gone.
Do you have any rooms left?
One, two...
Mr. Park, we arrived an hour ago from Seoul.
"Mr. Park, we love you." And make a heart.
You look pretty.
This is Kang Dan-i who's in charge of marketing.
-She's your number one fan. -It's your turn.
Our chief editor drove all the way here.
One, two, three.
We came all the way here to eat jjajangmyeon.
We were worried that you might come back
while we went out to eat sashimi.
Mr. Park, there weren't any rooms left,
so we're waiting outside in the cold.
I said there's a vacant room you can wait in.
What are you doing out in the cold?
Don't tell him about the vacant room.
You must tell him we were like this all day.
My gosh.
Darn.
Mr. Park, Gangwon Province sure is cold.
You must've been very lonely here.
I'm curious though.
Are all writers this psychotic?
-Gosh. -Or...
is it just him?
-No, of course not. -Mr. Park!
-No. -No?
Follow him.
Hold on a second, Mr. Park.
I'm so sorry.
Mr. Park!
Is there still no reply?
I told him that we'd wait here.
It's Mr. Kim.
Yes?
We met him last night but didn't get a chance to talk.
Right.
I think...
Well, I think that
he got nervous because the release is close.
I was like that too.
I do my best when writing it,
but the thought of having the whole world see it
puts me in a state of panic.
He said this the last time.
He doesn't know if he has the talent to end his story.
There's no such thing as a genius though.
Mr. Park will know that too.
Every writer struggles with his writing every day.
What will happen to the stories if they don't
come out into the world?
To a writer, his writing is like his baby.
What are you saying?
Enough about Mr. Park. I'm talking about our sales.
Did you see this month's sales?
Mr. Park is here.
I guess he's ready now.
That's how I felt.
As the launch date drew near,
my novel suddenly seemed like trash.
I finally calmed myself down,
but receiving the marketing materials made me more nervous.
"A book I give to myself as a gift."
That's the concept, right?
I'm worried that the disappointment might be doubled.
Mr. Park, can I be brutally honest with you?
Your book won't do well in sales.
What?
People these days don't read books much.
Unless it's a best seller, you sell less than 3,000 copies.
What this means is that
only 3,000 people will laugh at it
and only 3,000 people will say it's crap.
Only 3,000 people?
I can write whatever I want
and be humiliated I guess.
Then I'll soon forget
and be forgotten.
I guess I could do that.
However, we're enamored by your writing,
so we'll do our best to sell it.
We wish to make secondary copies
and have many more people read it.
Your writing is great.
Thank you.
Ms. Song is the one I should apologize to.
She helped me every time I faltered.
Also, her too.
Ms. Kang Dan-i.
Her words brought me great comfort yesterday.
Mr. Park, if you're there,
please hear me out.
I spent 11 years as a housewife.
To raise my child, I took time off from work.
I only started working again a month ago
after a seven-year break.
Before I joined this publishing house,
I thought that I could do my best if anyone just hired me.
However,
when I actually got the job,
I suddenly got really scared.
I didn't know if I could do well.
What if I couldn't?
I was worried.
However, those thoughts
went away as soon as I took a step forward.
Once I started my job,
the fear disappeared.
All that was left was my will to do better.
And now, I enjoy my job.
I'm even in charge of marketing your book now.
I...
really want to do a good job.
Your book is truly great.
I want it to be published so that many can read it.
What do you like about it? Explain concretely.
It wasn't just once. She read it multiple times.
She even memorized some of the phrases she liked.
That's why I got a haircut this morning
and came back with a fresh mindset,
so to speak.
It didn't exist until yesterday.
You're right.
It's a book you published.
I tear up when a new book comes out.
Hold on. We can't just let this day pass.
A photo?
-Ta-da! -Where did you get those?
-Right here. -You keep those in there?
It's a secret that no one knows.
Finally, our new book is out. Coming soon!
You're here.
Where did you go after making an employee take care of the shop?
-Did you wait long? -Just give me the purse.
You know you're here to get a freebie, right?
I wonder if it'll look good on Dan-i.
It's pretty.
Everything suits her anyway.
You were always busy when we were dating,
but you ran over here when you heard I had it.
I was on my way here.
Is that so? You were on your way here?
Does Dan-i understand you if you put it that way?
Does she think that you were really in the vicinity?
Stop beating around the bush and be honest with her.
About what?
You like Dan-i.
When you work,
you seem to really love it.
Oh, please. You work hard as well.
Being unlucky in relationships has made me dive into work.
That's odd. I find you absolutely charming.
You could probably get any man you like.
The guy I like doesn't like me back.
He doesn't even know that I do.
Why aren't you answering me?
You love Dan-i.
Am I wrong?
You're right.
I think I do.
The guy I like
told me this one day.
Whenever he drinks,
he ends up wanting to see this person.
So whenever he drinks,
he ends up going to her house.
Where did you go last night?
Where the girl I like lives.
Does she have a crush
on Eun-ho?
That's why
whenever I got drunk,
I went to his house.
"I also go where the man I like lives when I get drunk."
That was my reasoning behind it.
But he didn't know how I felt about him.
When Dan-i smiles, I'm happy.
When Dan-i cries, my heart breaks and it drives me crazy.
When she struggles, I struggle too.
I miss her when she's not with me.
If that's love, I guess I love her then.
You must tell her then.
But I don't know
if I like her as a friend or for who she is.
I can't tell.
I'm curious about my feelings too.
Aren't you being too careful?
The Cha Eun-ho I know is more impatient than this.
Yes, I'm being careful.
But I'm going to be way more careful that people might think I'm indecisive.
I want to check 100 more times
how deep my feelings run for her
and how strong her feelings are.
I also want to wait until the day my feelings are
reciprocated by hers.
She's not someone I can easily date and break up with.
To me, Dan-i is
that important to me.
She comes to my place when she gets drunk
to talk about work and her boyfriend.
Let me get this straight.
Ms. Song likes Eun-ho.
When Eun-ho drinks,
he goes to someone else's house
because he likes someone else.
Did you drink again?
I have nowhere to go.
I have nowhere to go again.
Ms. Green Onions.
What are you doing here?
ON MY FIRST BIRTHDAY AFTER LOSING MY MOM, DAN-I COOKED FOR ME
IT WAS THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER
SOME RELATIONSHIPS ARE LIKE GIFTS. THAT'S WHAT OUR RELATIONSHIP IS LIKE.
I FEARED MY GOOD DAYS WERE OVER AND I COULDN'T RUN ANYMORE
BUT I CAN RUN AGAIN
I READ DAN-I'S FAVORITE BOOKS TO UNDERSTAND HER
THAT'S HOW I LEARNED MORE ABOUT HER
THE MOMENT I SAID I LIKED A LAKE I SAW WHILE ON THE BUS, SHE HIT THE STOP BUTTON
WHEN I'M WITH HIM, I WISH THE MOMENT
WOULD CONTINUE AND MY DAY WOULD LAST LONGER
HE DIDN'T ASK WHEN HE KNEW I WAS STRUGGLING
WE JUST HAD A SILLY CONVERSATION
ROMANCE IS A BONUS BOOK
Instead of meeting by chance,
why don't we call ahead?
Why do you keep meeting a guy you know nothing about?
Her friend was Ji Seo-jun?
I am interested in Ms. Kang.
A guy you barely know said he was interested,
and you just nodded along.
I can't control my feelings anymore.
That's love, you know.
You and Kang Byeong-jun... What's your relationship?
The secret behind the title of the novel, April 23.
You and I are a "we."
That guy, Ji Seo-jun...
He's just a separate individual.
Does he hate me?
Or does he like Dan-i?