Do You want to Add 'Yun' to Your Contacts?

Yang Yun wanted to talk to that rotten author personally, but when he called once before, no one picked up, and after his meeting with a corporate representative at lunch, he had to make an unplanned visit to a filming site because of some last-minute changes. Since he was never alone and always on the move, he felt it was rather unwise to make a call, so Yang Yun decided to send a message once he was sitting in the car to the studio.

Justin Wang had sent him Jie Jie's number, so he added her on his messenger and typed in a simple message. A minute later, he was already done and closed the app. All this happened even without his secretary noticing.

-

On the other side of the city, Shin Jie Jie spend the rest of her morning until later at noon talking to Mari, drinking a second coffee and eating a bagel with cream cheese and bacon. The two of them chatted vigorously about what happened after they disconnected.

"Why would you say no?" Mari asked, shocked at the outturn.

"I know I must have been crazy! I regret it! I regret it very much!" Jie Jie nodded in agreement. After getting called repeatedly crazy by her friend, she started to believe it herself, that she has been too hasty with her decision.

"You don't sound like you regret!"

"Ah, that's because this new bagel is really yummy! It's rubbed in oregano and rosemary, perfect with cream cheese and bacon!"

"Yes! Ah, have you tried the new green pesto flavour? That food stall is so good!"

"Already tried! The lemon and basil one is better though."

"No, I think... Ah! Wait! You're trying to change the topic!"

Jie Jie laughed at her friend's antics, but deep down, she did regret her hasty decision. Justin Wang had said that the terms were still negotiable, she should have tried to negotiate in her favour first and decline the offer if things didn't sit well with her.

"I was just so angry - you should have heard those starting conditions!" She admitted, "They treated me like some noob, thinking I would enslave myself for money..."

Since this wasn't her first time talking about selling the rights to a book, she knew that those demands made by the other side were totally over the top.

"Girl, for a Million Dollar I would probably give them my tiny apartment on top of the rights to my works, you know?" Mari can always draw more. If she has to let go of a few illustrations and comics, then why not make fast cash? There is no guarantee that any of her works will bring food on the table in the future.

"For a Million, I would even draw your whole story as a comic, you know? That's how much money it is." She started to doubt her friend's family's background. Was Jie Jie, in fact, a wealthy family's daughter? Or did she has another pen name and already made so much money that she can easily afford to turn down a big deal? Or was she overworked to that extent?

For the time they had known each other, Jie Jie had always been living a very conscious and frugal life. She was never overspending, never looking for unnecessary luxury, though she knewhow to enjoy life. But that doesn't mean that she was content with her life. They both had the dream to make it big, to get their work out there to the world. Mari wanted to get successful, to move into a bigger apartment, to raise money. She had always thought that Jie Jie had the same, if not even bigger dreams than her.

Jie Jie had worked so hard in the past, writing day and night whenever she had time. To think that she managed to publish her work was a reason to celebrate, but no matter how well established her pen name was now in the publishing world, it wasn't a guarantee for her ride to the top to be pleasant and smooth.

"Heck, you should have taken the Million and even if you don't want to write, just hire a ghostwriter and you would still have enough money left to live comfortably."

"You have a real talent in making people feel miserable, Mari."

She shoves the bagel aside. Losing her appetite, Jie Jie put her head on the table and sighed deeply. The more and more they talked, the more she felt like a big fish has gone through the net. The regret has finally sunk in, making her angry at herself. She was so hot-headed over the success these days that she involuntarily thought that she could finally be free from the shackles.

"I just say: Next time, think twice before you make a decision, ok? No, make it thrice! You have always been carrying your heart on your sleeve, also being too direct."

"There won't be a 'next time'. Do you think there are that many millionaires who are into a gay novel?"

Why was that guy even interested in her novel anyway? Maybe he was an eccentric who didn't know how to blow his fortune or was he gay? But she doubted that a gay person would read her stories because those stories were far away from reality. That story was pure entertainment - far from the literature that would usually show up on a bestseller list. If she had made that deal, it would have thrown over the world of publishing.

"I think I am going back to bed now, Mari..." Jie Jie felt tired all of a sudden.

"You truly are beyond repair. Okay, just forget the matter. What's done is done. You are still a bestseller author, Shin Jie Jie!"

"Thanks, Mari. And don't forget the illustration, I only have to edit the chapter now, it's practically done."

"Alright, leave it to me. Talk to you soon."

"Talk to you soon."

Afterwards, Jie Jie crawled into bed and hid under the cover. It was just afternoon, but she was already dog-tired. She did nothing for the whole day apart talking on the phone, eating and sitting around, but she was exhausted.

With the cover over her head, it felt like it was night time and she could soothe her guilty conscience. A light flashed. It was her phone which she took with her. She liked to read until she falls asleep or checks mails in bed. It was a habit many modern people developed over the time of owning a smartphone.

It didn't take long for her to sit upright again in bed. Revealing a shocked face, she stared straight at her messenger. A conspicuous message showed up on the screen.

>> Do you want to add 'Yun' to your contacts? <<

The friend request wasn't the problem but the name.

"That's the name of this 'Emperor of Heaven' guy!" She exclaimed. Seeing the message, she was half surprised, one-fourth happy and one-forth suspicious. She had declined the offer, so what did he want now? He had added her around noon, but it was only now that she saw it.

As soon as she added him to her contacts, a message popped up. Her anticipation soon turned into anger. This so called Emperor sent her only one sentence:

>How much do you want?<

Who do you think you are!!

"Coming straight to the topic? Do you think you're the only one who can play this game?!"

Her cautiousness was thrown over the window since her curiosity has been replaced by anger.

-

His phone vibrated when Yang Yun was at the filming site. The shooting has continued, and he has decided to watch a little bit since he was here already. Since he had nothing to do, he took a look and found out that that rotten author has finally answered.

"Took her long enough. What was she doing anyway." He clicked his tongue and opened the messenger.

She wrote: >How much do you have?<