The Great Storyteller

Translated by: ShawnSuh

Edited by: SootyOwl

A breeze came along and blew against the peaceful, unsuspecting lake, causing it to waver. Standing in his place, Juho stretched his wrists and ankles.

“What about you? Would you want to go on TV with me?”

“I hate interviews.”

“I’m sure you do.”

“Even if I were to decide to appear on the show, the kind of questions they would ask are obvious,” Coin said with his legs crossed, yawning. Seeing that Coin was responding in the way that he had expected, Juho chuckled quietly.

“All of my friends seem to think I should go,” Juho said, feeling the tension on his inner thighs as he stretched his legs. Seo Kwang had called the night before. When Juho had asked about the TV show in passing, his bookworm friend had said emphatically, “BY ALL MEANS! Whatever they end up capturing on that camera will be precious data for the future generation.”

Juho hadn’t found that argument all that convincing however. Meanwhile, Coin sneered and said, “I know my interviews are popular, and I don’t need some surveys to prove that.”

“Jenkins was saying that I should go for it too.”

“Don’t you ever bring up that name.”

Unlike Juho, who had been staying in Coin’s residence, Jenkins had been leaving and coming repeatedly, all without notice. It was similar to when he would visit the young author in his hotel room.

“Though, I’d hate to miss out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

“You mean it would be the perfect opportunity for me to humiliate you?”

“Maybe I should just go for it. What do you think?”

“Why?”

“Everyone around me seems to want me to.”

“Don’t be silly now.”

“Well, what about you?”

“…”

What made the decision difficult was the fact that Juho felt ambivalent toward it. Part of him wanted to appear on TV with Coin while another part of him didn’t, which meant that he had reason to both decline and accept.

“There shouldn’t be anything within the fine print, right?” Juho asked.

“It’d be too easy otherwise, don’t you think? If you’re not feeling certain, then try to negotiate something with the producer.”

“Are you gonna do it, though?”

“Are you?”

Their conversation wasn’t going anywhere. Then, as Juho remained quiet, Coin made a suggestion out of nowhere, “Maybe we should let coincidence guide us.”

“You mean me?” Juho said, looking up at him. Then, Coin reached into his pocket and took a coin out. At which point, Juho immediately understood what he was going to do.

“That’s making the coin do all the work.”

“Call it.”

“Tails.”

After deciding on tails being that they would appear on TV together and heads being that they would decline, Coin nodded, pulled out his hand, and started counting down.

“Three.”

Squatting, Juho looked up at his hand.

“Two.”

Coin placed the coin on top of his thumb. At which point, Juho swallowed nervously, wondering what it would mean if the coin fell and got stuck in a groove somewhere. ‘Would it be the direction it was tilting at that point?’

“One.”

As Coin flicked his thumb, the coin shot up into the air, spinning quickly. As the sunlight reflected off of it, Juho covered his eyes. Then, upon hearing a dull sound, Juho moved his hand away from his eyes and saw that Coin was sitting on the ground. The numbers became visible on the coin.

“Tails,” Juho said, locking eyes with Coin.

“Damn it.”

Just like that, the decision was made between Coin and Yun Woo.

—

‘Yun Woo and Coin Reported to Appear in an American TV Interview Together.’

‘It’s Official! Yun Woo and Coin Said to Appear Together on TV. Taping Schedule Set. “We’re Looking Forward to Working with Them.”‘

‘Renowned American TV Show Live Streaming on the Internet. Yun Woo and Coin Said to Appear Together. Fans Fired Up with Excitement. Taping Said to Start on the Eighteenth.’

‘Yun Woo’s Agency Speaks on the Author’s Decision to Appear on TV. ‘His First Public Appearance since the End of His Service in the Military.”

‘Coin and Yun Woo’s Appearance Draws Massive Attention. What Will They Talk About?’

‘The Web Responds to Yun Woo and Coin’s Appearance on a TV Interview. How and When to Watch the Interview.’

‘Coin and Yun Woo Said to be Interviewed by a Renowned TV Host. Fans in America Getting Fired Up! Who Were Some of the Guests in the Past? Pictures Included.’

‘Yun Woo, the Heartbreaker of the Broadcasting Industry? Why Did Choose to Appear on American TV?’

‘The Award Ceremony Approaches. Will a Miracle Happen Again? What Would Yun Woo Say?’

‘The Eccentric Problem Child of the Literary World Reported to Appear on TV with Another Author. The Head-Scratching Friendship between Yun Woo and Coin.’

‘One Hundred Million Copies Sold Combined? The Two World-Class Authors Join Forces. How Did the Producer Bring the Two Most Elusive Authors in the World Together? A Closer Look.’

‘How did Yun Woo and Coin Come to Decide to Appear on TV Together?’

“The day has finally come!”

“Isn’t this their first time appearing on TV together?”

“Man, I remember when Yun Woo first revealed his voice! Coin had called him out of nowhere. My heart skipped a beat back then! Yun Woo was essentially forced to reveal his voice!”

“I still don’t get how those two could be friends.”

“I heard a story about the book fair in Germany. They must know each other.”

“I’ve seen them talking about each other, but never as guests on a TV show, let alone together.”

“Yun Woo’s staying at Coin’s place as far as I know.”

“This makes me think that Yun Woo has been heavily influenced by English literature. There are times I feel like I’m reading classic literature when I’m reading his books.”

“I heard he read a lot of Korean literature too.”

“I think he was just influenced by a lot of different people.”

“I feel like he would have grown up reading Yun Seo Baek, Wol Kang or Hyun Do Lim. Maybe he’s from a different generation? He’s actually close to Yun Seo Baek and Hyun Do Lim, isn’t it?”

“Yun Woo reminds me of Wol Kang. Granted, Yun Woo is much younger. People used to call Wol Kang a genius back in the day too.”

“Hope this interview goes on air soon! I’m sure there’s going to be a translation at some point.”

“Considering how many blogs out there are about Yun Woo, I don’t think it’ll take long at all.”

“I don’t know if I can trust Coin. Hope he doesn’t cross the line somehow.”

“I have a feeling that he’ll cause some sort of trouble too.”

“Aren’t they playing mind games with each other right now? Heard they’re nominated for a literary award in the same category. It’s by vote too, so you can usually tell from the preliminary results. Most people seem to think that Coin and Yun Woo will be the final nominees.”

“There’s still some time, though. You never know. There might be another author who’s better than Coin OR Yun Woo. Maybe they might even break Yun Woo’s record.”

“I heard there’s this Chinese author who’s looking really promising? Apparently, that market started expanding like crazy a few years back.”

“I don’t think Yun Woo’s ‘youngest’ title will be broken anytime soon.”

“I doubt he’ll be able to beat Coin, though. He might be a jerkwad, but he sweeps every major literary award there is.”

“Personally, I hope Yun Woo wins.”

“People seem to really like Coin’s new book too, and I honestly agree with them.”

“Isn’t Yun Woo technically the challenger, though? Coin’s already won a number of literary awards, every single one of which is recognized worldwide. As far as science fiction awards, he’s won EIGHT so far.”

“That’s because he’s been around longer. I don’t think that’s a fair comparison.”

“I wonder if anything’s changed now? Eh, I don’t know.”

“What we should be mindful of here is that Yun Woo isn’t just another author. I was in awe when I read the sequel. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been following him since he was a teenager, but that book definitely felt like it had been written by an adult.”

“He wrote that book during his two-year military service. I think he definitely has a shot at winning.”

“I have a feeling that Yun Woo will win.”

“But he’s up against Coin, though.”

“I vote Yun Woo.”

“Same here.”

“I vote Coin. I still remember Yun Woo’s translation of his book.”

“Dang, that’s true.”

“Rooting for you, Yun Woo!”

“Wonder what they make of the situation themselves.”

—

“PLEASE, don’t do anything out of line.”

As the car rocked up and down, Juho sat up in his seat.

“Mr. Woo’s here too, so don’t you make any unnecessary comments. You know how sharp these people on staff can be, right? Remember how they got you last time? Even the thought of that article makes me grit my teeth.”

“I heard you.”

“As in, I don’t want any phone calls complaining about you.”

“All right.”

“Don’t get all ticked off just because there’s no coffee around.”

“I brought my own.”

“Make sure not to say anything bad about other authors.”

“I didn’t say anything false.”

“Don’t pick fights with critics either.”

“I’ll take responsibility. Don’t you worry.”

“I worry about how your books do whenever we get written accusations against you.”

“I won against ’em all. What’s there to worry about?”

“That’s not what we’re talking about, you know.”

Meanwhile, Juho let out a small yawn. Isabella and Coin had been arguing for quite some time now.

“You’re not nervous at all, are you, Mr. Woo?” Nabi asked, and Juho nodded affirmatively.

“You have a heart of steel,” she said, smiling confidently as though she already knew the young author wasn’t fazed.

“Call it an inclination,” Juho said, thinking of Nam Kyung, with whom he had talked to on the phone the night before. Despite being back in Korea, the editor had made all kinds of a fuss.

“Make sure to watch what you say.”

“What is there to watch?”

“Stay calm and don’t get too excited just because you have Coin next to you.”

“It’s not like we just met.”

“If they keep asking you a question you can’t answer, don’t give in, even if they keep pestering you.”

“I won’t.”

Despite having watched the young author be interviewed a number of times already, Nam Kyung had sounded like he was anxious. He had to be expecting the worst: the young author’s mistake leading to the downfall of his career and putting Zelkova’s reputation at stake.

“Though, part of me does feel kind of nervous today,” Juho told Nabi, glancing over at Coin, who gestured as if to poke his eyes out. At which point, Nabi chuckled awkwardly. Coin looked quite annoyed. Then, as the car stopped at a red light, Isabella said while looking toward Juho, “I was surprised. I was certain that you’d turn me down.”

Nabi nodded in agreement. Although Juho understood where they were coming from, Juho had had little choice in the matter.

“I didn’t think I’d get tails either.”

“I was at loss for words when I heard that you and Coin decided to appear on TV after a game of heads or tails,” Isabella said, bringing her hand up to her forehead as if imagining the possibility of the coin showing heads:

“I guess we’re not doing this after all,” Yun Woo says. To which, Coin replies, “Yep. It seems that way.”

It would have been quite the disappointing result. After thinking of the producer, who had reached out to her with all sorts of accomodations in order to interview the two authors, Isabella gave up. Seeing as though her expression was getting darker and darker, Juho quickly changed the subject.

“So, I was told that there was going to be a mini-game after the interview?”

The show was known to play a brief mini-game, which tended to change depending on the guest, after interviews. It was to accommodate the viewers.

“What kind of questions should I be expecting?” Juho asked. The game he had been told to expect ahead of time had been a quiz. Although competing against Coin, there was no risk of the game getting overly competitive. On top of that, it was simple and had a promising result.

“People in mass media love to pull pranks on other people.”

“It couldn’t be harder than the title of each other’s books or the year they came out, right?” Coin asked nonchalantly, picking his ear.

“That puts me at a disadvantage.”

“How?”

“Well, think about the number of books you’ve published.”

“Pff. Come on. How strict would they really be?” Coin asked, still sounding uninterested.

“Well, you said you were up for it, so I’m gonna give it my best. Don’t get mad at me later for losing.”

“Oh?! You wanna bet?”

“What do you get if you win?”

“You get ready to walk around Manhattan… buck naked.”

“If YOU lose…!”

As things started to get heated, Isabella interjected and said, “Before we get to that, I’d appreciate it if you both focused on the interview.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Juho replied. Meanwhile, Coin turned toward the window and looked out. Their destination appeared in the distance.