“Am I late?”

“No, writer. You’ve come just in time.”

“It suddenly started snowing, so I left early, but I still got stuck in a jam right as I arrived.”

“I was surprised too. There was no mention of snow until just yesterday.”

Yoo Jungtae placed his bag on the chair and dusted off the snow on his shoulders.

“I think we should get some coffee before we proceed. What do you say?”

“Great.”

“Which one would you like?”

“I’ll go with a latte.”

The journalist headed to the counter. Jungtae took out his phone and placed it on the table. It had been a long time since he had done an in-person interview. This was the first time after he received a prize for a long-running historical drama, so it had been about 7 years.

“Here you go, writer. A warm latte.”

“Thank you.”

He took a sip of some bitter coffee and only then did the residual chill in his body melt away.

“You’re busy these days, aren’t you?” asked the journalist.

“I’ve been getting just a few more appointments than usual.”

“I told my company I was going to interview you, and they came to me with so many questions. My whole team is a fan of your drama that it is to the point that we watch it during get-togethers.”

“I guess the viewing rate was thanks to you then, huh.”

“I think my contribution is...