The Great Storyteller

Translated by: ShawnSuh

Edited by: SootyOwl

Upon arriving home, Juho went straight to his room. There were scribbled notes about Wol’s manuscript scattered about the desk.

“Little messy around here.”

After spending quite some time at Hyun Do’s residence writing, Juho felt the need to clean up his room, which was filled with boxes of various sizes and shapes and stacks of manuscript paper. ‘Maybe I should move the bed to the living room and make more room in here,’ Juho thought, shaking his head shortly in after.

“It’s not bad as is.”

Then, sitting down, Juho immersed himself in thinking about Wol. The years he had been born and died, his debut title, experiences, appearance, personality, relationships, things he liked and disliked, where he was from, his writing style, his go-to subject, and his frequently used vocabulary. Given that Wol had already died, getting a hold of information like that was hardly a challenge. Understanding Wol’s life would help Juho interpret his book. Feeling the need to better understand the author, Juho opened his laptop to start writing.

“Snow? Again?” Juho murmured, looking up at the sky in a dream with which he was well acquainted by that point. Seeing as nobody was around, it seemed like Juho would have to wake up empty-handed, which left a bitter taste in his mouth. After looking around, Juho went into the building in front of him, entering a room through a sliding door, which was half-way open. There were traces of three people having sat at the table.

“Back so soon?”

That time, there was only one person in the room. Juho stared dazedly at the silhouette sitting against the wall, which was waving their foot instead of their hand to greet him.

“Typical.”

If Hyun Do had been around, that would have been the word that would’ve come out of his mouth. In the end, Wol finally showed himself to the young author. Laughing frivolously, Wol asked, “Drink?” waving the bowl of rice wine. Staring at the milky liquid sloshing precariously in the bowl, Juho shook his head. Despite Wol’s careless movements, the wine didn’t spill over.

“I don’t drink.”

“Yeah, right.”

Juho stared at Wol, who was chewing on a dried squid leg without a care in the world. Sighing internally, Juho observed the author carefully.

“Do you know who I am?” Juho asked.

“I read your book,” Wol said, cackling. Judging from his confident attitude, he seemed to know who Juho was, which made the young author wonder if Wol knew his secret. Nevertheless, Juho asked nonchalantly, “What did you think?”

“It was all right,” Wol replied unhesitantly. A profound sense of disappointment washed over Juho. However, completely unfazed, Wol looked intently toward the young author, who rubbed his hands together and said, “You must be pretty upset that I’m working on your book, then.”

“Not really,” Wol said, his chest puffing up and shrinking as he emptied the bowl unhesitantly. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Wol said, “You see, I trust my friend’s decision.”

“… and I don’t have the same credibility,” Juho said.

“You’re doing fine.”

Juho didn’t find those words comforting at all. Wol seemed both warm and cold at the same time, and Juho was starting to understand why: he could no longer write and he hadn’t been able to for a very long time.

“You don’t seem well, Mr. Kang,” Juho said.

“Is that so? It must be the wine.”

“Is your stomach upset at all?” Juho asked, and Wol remained silent, drinking his rice wine. “You’ve been having indigestion, haven’t you?”

At that, as if he heard something of interest, Wol’s face changed all of a sudden.

“Huh! Are you a doctor or something?”

“An author, actually. Would it have been better if I were a doctor, though?”

“Not at all,” Wol replied emphatically, pointing at Juho and saying, “You know exactly how I died. Yet, you give me that nonsense?”

However, Wol didn’t seem angry. Rather, he seemed lively. Juho carried the conversation on cautiously, “Mr. Lim told me once that I’m similar to you and that I should always be careful not to have indigestion.”

“Is that right? So, you know what this life is like, which means you should be able to finish my book just fine!”

“I wanted to hear your side of the story.”

Sitting completely still, Wol remained silent.

“How were you going to end the story?” Juho asked.

“Getting right to the point, are we?”

“I don’t think you understand, Mr. Kang. There’s nothing more anxiety-inducing than a story that cuts off in the middle.”

“Oh, trust me, I know. My writing tends to charm people,” Wol replied. Although cunning with his words, his attitude remained playful and light-hearted.

“What happens to the protagonist?” Juho asked.

“Who knows?” Wol replied.

“Does he take the customer’s offer? Does he actually kill someone?”

“The answer should be in my writing. Don’t you think?”

“In what ways are you similar to the protagonist?”

“Me? Similar? I’m me, and a novel’s a novel. You shouldn’t treat the two the same,” Wol said, rising from his seat with a bowlful of rice wine. Then, walking over to the sliding door, he threw it out, staining his shoes.

“I appreciate you pestering me. I was starting to get bored,” Wol said with a mischievous smile. Then, licking the rice wine off of his hand, he said, “Ask Yun Seo or something. She’ll know,” sounding as though getting ready to leave. At which point, Juho hurriedly bombarded Wol with questions, “What was your mindset when you wrote that book? What were you trying to say? What kind of story were you writing? What does the protagonist want? What kind of choices does he make?”

Instead of giving him an answer, Wol nodded slightly. Despite the amount of rice wine he had had to drink, he didn’t seem drunk at all. In fact, he had the look of an innocent child on his face, similar to the one Juho had seen on Yun Seo’s face.

“Look up,” Wol said and Juho did just that. There was a bright light, which gave Juho a bad feeling.

“It’s morning…”

Upon opening his eyes and rubbing them, Juho sat up on his bed still feeling groggy from the dream’s lingering effect. The room was quite bright.

“Damn it,” Juho let out, sighing. Sitting completely still on his bed, he immersed himself in thought.

—

“Oh-ho-ho! You look like crap!” Geun Woo said, sounding amused. Letting out a big yawn, Juho replied, “Thanks. You look like you’re in a good mood.”

“Is it obvious?” Geun Woo said, clearly not intending to hide it. Sitting next to him, Joon Soo sighed as if worried that his colleague would never grow up. Wearing his usual welcoming smile, Joon Soo asked, “Did you not sleep well last night?”

“No. I had a rough night,” Juho said, drinking the tea Joon Soo had brought out, which tasted kind of bland. Juho had gotten used to drinking stronger tea during his stay at Hyun Do’s residence. Smacking his lips, Juho put the mug down. Catching on to his reaction immediately, Joon Soo asked, “Is the tea not to your liking?”

“Oh, no. It’s just that it’s been a while.”

Then, fiddling with the mug, Juho asked, “When’s Mrs. Baek coming back?”

“She went out for a walk, so it won’t be long now.”

“That reminds me. We had no clue that Mr. Kang had an unfinished book,” Geun Woo said, resting his chin on his hand while grumbling.

“My jaw dropped open when I heard it! I kept asking Mrs. Baek what it was about, but she wouldn’t tell me.”

“She wouldn’t?”

“She said that you were working on it and that I should wait till it was released,” Geun Woo said. Then, glaring fiercely at Juho, he added, “If you ruin that book, I’ll make sure you never write another book again.”

“How intimidating,” Joon Soo said mockingly.

“Joon Soo! Seriously!?” Geun Woo exclaimed.

However, Joon Soo deftly ignored his remark and changed the subject, “Personally, I couldn’t be happier about this situation.”

“Why?”

“Mrs. Baek’s been very, very passionate as of late,” Joon Soo said, putting his hand on his chest while appearing deeply impressed.

“What do you mean?” Juho asked.

“Mr. Kang’s unreleased book? Getting released after all these years?” Geun Woo said as if Juho was asking an obvious question.

“It makes her thrilled.”

“She, Mr. Kang and Mr. Lim used to be rivals.”

Then, the room sank into silence, which indicated to Juho that they were all thinking the same thing: Mourning Wol’s death and the past while waiting for the three rivals to reunite in another form. At that moment, looking up as if remembering something, Joon Soo said, “Wait a minute! Do you even have time to be out here with us?”

“What do you mean?” Geun Woo asked gruffly.

To which, Joon Soo replied in a calm tone of voice, “You said that you missed another deadline recently.”

“Oh, my! Did you HAVE TO bring that up in front of Juho!?”

Looking at Geun Woo, Juho asked, “Did you miss another deadline?”

“No, it’s just that…”

“That’s right. Yet, he keeps doing things that he’ll regret,” Joon Soo said.

Rolling his eyes as he tried to think of an excuse, Geun Woo succumbed to his anger, saying, “I had a lot on my plate, OK!? I’ve been getting a lot of work from different places lately!”

“That’s all the more reason to build credibility.”

“Well, I can do it.”

“I mean, you can tell me that all day…”

“I got scolded by Mrs. Baek too the other day.”

Then, raising his eyebrow, Juho asked, “Has anyone told you that you’ve gotten kind of cocky?”

“Who do you think I am? I’m not you, you know.”

“Well, have you?”

“OK! I have! What do you think Mrs. Baek scolded me for!?” Geun Woo barked back, scruffing his hair and adding, “I’m NOT missing another deadline. I swear! I’ll bet my right hand on it!”

At that moment…

“I don’t think your hand is worth that much.”

… A voice came from the door, and the three rose from their seats simultaneously in order to greet Yun Seo. Looking toward Juho, she said, “Hey, Juho.”

“Hello, Mrs. Baek,” Juho replied, sounding slightly more nervous than usual.

Handing the bagfuls of fruit to her pupils, she asked, “You’re not just here for dinner, are you?”

“I had something I wanted to ask you, actually,” Juho replied.

“… Come with me.”

After locking eyes with Joon Soo and Geun Woo briefly, Juho followed Yun Seo.

“How was it staying with Hyun Do?” she asked light-heartedly.

“Oh! It was very good,” Juho replied with a slight delay and after looking around her room, which was where Yun Seo would usually talk privately with her pupils, including Geun Woo. Although Juho had visited the house more times than he could count, the young author had never been to Yun Seo’s room prior to that day. Since he wasn’t a pupil of hers, he had had no reason to be there. Contrary to Hyun Do’s residence, which had been dull and achromatic, Yun Seo’s room had a much more comforting atmosphere, and the green sofa only served to accentuate that.

“It’s bleak there, isn’t it?” she asked.

“A little.”

“He has a stubborn side to him, so he has to do what he wants. It doesn’t matter how many times I talk to him. It wasn’t any different when he was renovating the place either.”

Then, remembering the painting in the room he had stayed at Hyun Do’s residence, Juho said, “There was a painting in the room I used.”

“I had to force him to take it,” she said, seemingly curious about what had happened during his stay. Juho answered her questions one at a time.

“Did you learn a lot?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Did you see him write?”

“I did.”

As Yun Seo nodded, Juho clenched his hands into fists and said, “I read Mr. Kang’s manuscript too.”

“Yes, so I’ve heard. I was told that he handed it over to you,” Yun Seo said, chuckling quietly. “Heard you read all of my husband’s books. I’m guessing that you had already made up your mind the moment you started reading that white book. Am I right? I mean, it is tempting.”

At that, Juho fessed up. Then, studying Yun Seo’s expression, he asked in passing, “Is it OK that I finish it?”

“Well, the press is already raving about it. You wouldn’t wanna stop now and make a fool of yourself.”

“It doesn’t matter what the press thinks.”

“If I were you tell you to stop, do you think you would listen to me?” Yun Seo asked, sounding slightly mischievous, which felt very similar to Wol.

“Probably not…” Juho said.

“I know. You can be stubborn too.”

At that, Juho lowered his head. There was yet another reason for why he couldn’t stop.

“Honestly… I’ve met someone.”

“Who?”

“Mr. Kang.” Yun Seo remained silent at the unexpected response. Fumbling with his fingers, Juho added, “I asked him how the story ended, but he never told me.”