September 2007
Monday, after school,
Hana and Mija were resting in the dormitory.
“…”
“…”
It was a rare quiet moment of relaxation.
The ‘genius fever’ that had heated up South Korea all summer had suddenly cooled down due to the unexpected news of the economic crisis from the United States.
Because of this, many events were canceled, and Hana was able to spend a rare quiet day.
Although the press and broadcasting station interviews continued…at least the ‘national pride’ madness had calmed down a bit.
Hana stared blankly at her phone.
“…Mija.”
“Yeah?”
Then, her dorm roommate Mija looked back. She had been uploading her comics to an illustration submission site on her laptop.
Hana made a silly face, something she hadn’t done in a while, and said,
“I think there’s a bug.”
“A bug? What do you mean?”
“My balance at the securities company.”
“Why?”
“…I think there’s a money duplication bug.”
“A money duplication bug?”
“Suddenly, my account balance keeps increasing.”
Mija tilted her head.
“Hana-chan, isn’t it because you’ve been doing advertisements? You’ve been on TV a lot, so I think a lot of money’s been coming in.”
“…The total amount, including that, has multiplied several times.”
“…?”
Mija still didn’t understand. She was still a dream-filled middle school student and had no interest in the stock market or Hana’s investment activities.
She just had strange thoughts.
‘If there’s a money duplication bug, wouldn’t it be solved if you went to the bank and complained?…But if the money is increasing, maybe she should stay quiet.’
Finally, Hana snapped out of it and muttered while lying down on her bed.
“…I should buy my uncle a new house for his honeymoon. My goodness, though, the front digit of my balance hasn’t changed.”
“…Oh, right. That’s amazing.”
“…”
“?”
Mija looked at her blank-faced roommate.
“…”
Hana, who had been staring blankly at the air, suddenly spoke.
“Mija.”
“Yeah?”
“Is there anything you want to eat?”
“Well…”
“How about we order some jokbal or sweet and sour pork? One per person… We could invite Mari, Juri, or even all of Dorm 7. I’ll pay for it.”
“Huh? Right now…? It’s too late. If we eat a late-night snack at this hour, the dorm supervisor will scold us.”
“…Yeah. Right, I guess.”
“Uhihit, Hana-chan, you’re acting weird today. Doing random things all of a sudden. If you’re gonna treat us, do it tomorrow at dinner.”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
“…”
“…”
Hana flipped over onto her stomach. But as if she couldn’t contain her excitement, she flailed her short limbs like a penguin.
“Uooo…!”
-Thud thud thud!
With her face buried in the bed, she murmured in a low voice,
“…So this is what financial freedom feels like. It’s unexpectedly amazing.”
“…?”
“Hey, Mija… Even ten years from now, I’ll carry you to victory. Just keep following me. I can take you all the way to Mars.”
“…??”
‘What is she even saying? This kid who’s two years younger than me…?’
Mija thought Hana-chan was rambling more than usual today.
‘…Must be that time of the month again. I’ll go ask the dorm supervisor for some painkillers tomorrow. But why does she always get hyper when it’s that time of the month…?’
She turned her focus back to her laptop screen. She had just uploaded a comic, and comments were already rolling in. She read them with satisfaction.
-This is so funny lol
-Your art style is so unique!
-Feels like you actually went to an art school…
“Uhihit.”
Mija was pleased.
Her habit of uploading drawings since elementary school had helped her develop a keen sense of what kinds of stories people liked. Now, she no longer felt nervous about posting her work on any site.
The comics she had uploaded this time were about unique experiences from Hanul Comprehensive Arts School, presented in a school-life manga format. The response was better than she had expected.
‘Of course, practicing anatomy with Hana-chan helped a lot…’
Technically, the manga research club was just a hideout created for Mari, but while Hana and Mari were abroad, Mija had stayed behind and trained diligently, remembering Hana’s teachings.
‘Koto-chan from the workshop said she’s already selling her family’s traditional crafts to people…I can’t let myself fall behind.’
And the result…
-The way this artist draws characters is so charming lol
-Looks rough at first, but the anatomy is freakishly accurate…
-The sketchy style hides solid fundamentals.
“Uhihit…!”
With her self-esteem fully charged, Mija left the submission site and started web surfing. She casually searched for various things on a portal site.
“…Oh, right. Koto-chan said she’d send me the photos from when we went to the festival in Kyoto during summer break.”
Mija checked her email account. As she opened it, memories of the summer festival she attended with her overseas friend flooded back.
‘Ah, that was such a great time…’
There were two new emails.
One of them was from her friend, Koto Mirei, containing photos from their Kyoto summer festival trip.
In the pictures, Mija was dressed neatly in a deep blue yukata, captured in various moments of the festival.
However, the only photo Goto and Mija had taken together was a single picture of them linking arms. Even that one had Goto’s face looking silly, giving off a somewhat suspicious impression.
Geez… Sometimes, this girl is really out of it.
Mija sighed as she recalled Goto’s usually composed face.
“Goto-chan always takes pictures of my face but never of herself. That’s why we only have this weird photo together. I should ask her to send me some of her pictures later.”
Grumbling, she clicked on the next email.
[Subject: Hello, HaRuko-nim. I’m from the webtoon editorial department…]
“…?”
Mija stared blankly at the email. As she clicked it open, she saw the logo of a well-known portal site the very one she was currently logged into along with the name of a webtoon representative.
[…Therefore, we would like to meet in person to discuss an official serialization contract with you. Our headquarters is located in Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do…]
“…?”
Mija rubbed her eyes vigorously.
But the email didn’t change.
“…”
[An official serialization contract with the author…]
“…”
Mija turned to the side and let out a dumbfounded voice.
“…Hana-chan. Hana-chan!”
“Hm? What? Should we order something to eat?”
“No, that’s not it!”
“Okay.”
“I-I-I think I just got invited… to be a webtoon artist. I got an email about it.”
“…?!”
Hana shot up from her bed. She quickly scurried over to Mija and leaned in close to check the email for herself.
“Freeze! No card switching!”
“W-What does that even mean, Hana-chan?”
“It’s a thing.”
“…?”
While Hana carefully read through the email, Mija was still feeling lightheaded. She had always dreamed of becoming a manga artist, but now that a real opportunity had appeared, she was utterly overwhelmed.
“Hoo…! Hoo…!”
She took deep breaths, trying to calm her pounding heart. After all, she was just an ordinary middle schooler.
Hana finally finished reading the email and confirmed its authenticity.
“…It’s real.”
“Real?”
“It’s legit. Mija, they actually want you to serialize a webtoon on this portal site.”
“…”
Mija and Hana looked at each other.
“…”
“…”
Then, at the same time, both of them shouted in unison, their arms bent at weird angles like the shape of ‘ㄴ’ and ‘ㄱ’.
“Gooohhh?!?!”
“Hoeeek?!?!”
*
Mija’s living room was bustling with activity.
Mija’s grandmother smiled gently with her eyes and handed out snacks to the girls sitting next to her granddaughter.
“Our Mijjang’s friends are so lovely. I don’t know how only such cute and beautiful kids gathered here. Eat a lot, and take your time to relax before you leave.”
Hana, Mari, and Juri cheerfully responded to her words.
“Yes, thank you!”
“Yup!”
“Ahaha, thank you.”
Hearing their lively responses, Mija’s father also smiled warmly.
“Mijjang has become much calmer and more mature these days. I think I know who she’s been learning from.”
Mija’s mother Layla who looked just like Mija, spoke in fluent Korean.
“…It would’ve been nice if our Mijjang could improve her English skills too. Maybe not as bad as last year, but she’s still barely passing, so I’m worried.”
“…!”
At those words, Mija, who had been nibbling on her snack, flinched.
Layla smirked as she noticed.
“Mijjang, you can manage both, right?”
“…Yeah!”
Mija beamed.
In the end, with her parents’ approval, Mija finalized her webtoon serialization contract. Of course, since she was still a minor and had to continue her studies, they compromised on a biweekly serialization instead of a weekly one.
The editorial department, who had initially assumed Mija was just an ordinary student when they reached out to her, was shocked when they met her in person.
And there was something else that left them even more surprised.
—W-Wait, you’re really from Hanul?
—Uh… yeah…
—Your character is really unique…
With solid fundamental skills and an incredibly unusual background, the editorial team decided that Mija was a talent worth nurturing.
Thus, with both sides reaching a smooth agreement, the contract was successfully signed.
And today, to celebrate Mija’s contract signing, they decided to have a small party.
Hana, Juri, and Mari congratulated Mija.
“Mijjang, congrats on your official serialization!”
“Congrats!”
“Mija’s officially an author now? That’s amazing!”
Receiving such ‘amazing’ congratulations from her friends, Mija grinned brightly.
“…Yeah!”