The Great Storyteller

Edited by: SootyOwl

Nam Kyung thought about Yun Woo as he pulled up his glasses. Whenever he saw him, he was always reminded of another author, his favorite author, Hyun Do Lim. Yun Woo had just spread his wings. Hyun Do Lim was a widely respected author. Yun Woo had taken a risk, while Hyun Do Lim was stable. They had nothing in common, from their ages to their appearances, but for some reason, they shared a similar feel.

‘I kind of want to go with Mr. Lim,’ Nam Kyung thought. However, that wouldn’t be easy because he was known to be stingy about writing testimonials for other authors. His reason was always that he was simply too busy to write something for another author. Although, the gentle manner in which he declined the requests said otherwise. He seemed rather free.

He was an outstanding writer, and Nam Kyung was itching to read his book.

Nam Kyung had made up his mind. He was certain that he’d get turned down, but he still decided to give it a try. ‘Besides, who knew for sure?’

He looked over the manuscript that would be sent to Hyun Do Lim and thought, ‘This should do,’ and gathered up his courage before sending it.

Nam Kyung was turned down in no time, and the editor-in-chief asked him as he chuckled, “Didn’t work out, huh?”

“Hahaha!” Mr. Maeng patted Nam Kyung’s back as he stood defeated.

“He was so polite.”

He knew what the outcome would be, but he had decided to give it a shot anyway. After taking a deep breath, he looked up. It was still worthwhile. When he had talked to Hyun Do Lim over the phone, Mr. Lim was rather impressed and astonished. That gave Nam Kyung more confidence.

A few days later, a testimonial from Dong Gil arrived at the publishing company. After reading it, Nam Kyung smiled brightly.

“A piece that walks on thin ice. It tells me that I’m just as guilty,” he had written in his clean, and precise style that was distinct to him. It suited Yun Woo’s book well.

*

Juho got off the subway at a station where he had only been once. While feeling familiar and foreign at the same time, he walked up the stairs and out to the surface. Cars spewed out their fumes in the hot air, and people walked busily past him.

Juho had been to that street once. There was a building that he remembered, and another that he didn’t.

As he crossed the street, the park’s entrance became visible, the same one he went to for the essay contest. It had been some time since he’d finished his new book, and Juho finally accept Yun Seo Baek’s invitation from after the contest.

He followed the map on his phone. The closer he got to her house, the more the sound of the city faded away.

‘Bark! Bark!’ a dog barked, and he thought of a dog he had seen on the countryside once. Though it looked nice, it was somewhat dirty.

At the end of an alleyway, there was another alleyway, so he kept walking. After being lost for a brief while, he eventually came out of the alleyway into an open space with a big house and a small vegetable garden in the front of it. It was surrounded by trees and it was just old enough to look rather welcoming, like a house in the countryside.

He felt the cool breeze. Everything else felt distant.

The house had no gate or walls, so he kept walking past the front yard and toward the door. As he was about to ring the doorbell, he had heard a voice from the back of the house and walked in the direction of the sound instead.

There was a low wooden bench. Yun Seo was there.

“Ah, you’re here!” she welcomed him without even being startled. Juho bowed to her.

“Hello, Mrs. Baek.”

“Welcome! Did you get lost on your way at all?”

“A little bit, but I’ve been around the area before, so I eventually found my way.”

“Good, good. Come have a seat.”

She waved her hand to tell him to take a seat. There were fresh fruits that she had just brought out: melons, bananas, apples, and a watermelon. It was way too much for just herself.

“So how’d it go with your book?” she asked. From the time he met her, he had written consistently and finished it. However, he wasn’t sure of how to answer her question. After a brief moment thinking, he said, “I finished it, somehow.”

She smiled at his answer.

“That’s all that matters.”

“Right.”

There was a gentle silence. As he enjoyed the silence, a plateful of fruits came into his view.

‘Did she bring all of this out for me?’ Even then, there was way too much. Then, he remembered that he heard a voice on his way in.

“Is there another guest over?”

“We always have guests. That’s how it is in my house.”

She was referring to her pupils. Mrs. Baek was known for accepting a number of pupils. In the past, there had been quite a few people who had learned from her while they’d stayed at her house. Now, there were significantly less people wanting to become writers, and less people were coming up to the city, so she adapted a teaching format that resembled a private institute. The times were changing.

‘Pupil.’ When Juho thought about that word, two people came to mind: Joon Soo Bong and Geun Woo Yoo.

“So where’s your guest?”

“I believe he went out.”

“Mrs. Baek,” a familiar voice sounded, and Juho thought briefly as he looked ahead, ‘What do I do?’

“Mrs. Baek, I’ve brought the tea. It’s the green tea Joon Soo bought.”

“OK. Thanks for buying the fruits too.”

Juho heard another person behind him. There were two familiar voices then. ‘What do I do?’

“Who’s the guest?” the voice said, referring to Juho. He turned around slowly, and his eyes met Geun Woo, who held a tray with a tea set. Joon Soo was smiling gently next to him.

“Eh?”

“What brings you here?”

It didn’t take long at all for the two to recognize Juho, and they looked at each other.

“You know him, Joon Soo?”

“Yeah, you too?” Geun Woo asked looking at Juho.

“I remember you saying that you’re part of a Literature Club. Are you Mrs. Baek’s new pupil?” Geun Woo Yoo asked. He had written a book titled ‘Sad Face,’ which showcased his distinctively depressing style.

“Well, I guess it makes sense that you’re here. You were part of an essay contest, so you must want to be a writer,” said Joon Soo Bong. Though he had a somewhat shallow fanbase, he was an incredibly skilled writer.

All of those authors somehow knew Juho, but the two had never met Yun Woo, so Juho found himself in a sticky situation.

While he smiled awkwardly as he thought about how to introduce himself, Yun Seo asked, “Should I say it? Or did you want to say it yourself?”

She seemed to understand Juho’s situation, and he decided to come clean.

“I will,” he said as he felt Joon Soo and Geun Woo staring at him. “Hello, I’m Juho Woo.”

Joon Soo’s eyes widened at the sudden introduction. On the other hand, Geun Soo nodded as if he knew. In order to properly introduce himself, Geun Woo was about to say something, but at moment, Juho quickly interjected, “I’m also Yun Woo.”

At that, Geun Woo froze, and his mouth dropped open. He blinked twice. Before he had a chance to say a word, Joon Soon said enthusiastically, “Aha!” There was gladness behind his voice. “I read your writing at the contest! I thought so! I thought it was too good for a student. You were Yun Woo all along!”

“Haha.”

“It makes sense that you ran out of time considering how much time you had spent outside. On top of that, the build up was rather long. It didn’t seem like it was contest worthy in any way. You knew you weren’t going to finish, didn’t you?”

“Well, yes. I did.”

“Joon Soo, move aside for a minute.”

As Joon Soo was about to say something while smiling brightly, Geun Woo pushed him and stood in front of Juho with his mouth still open.

“You’re Yun Woo?”

“Yes.”

“As in Yun Woo, the author.”

“Yes.”

“Then...You... that day... no, that book... so...” He seemed rather confused. “You’re lying,” he said in disbelief.

“Would I dare lie about something like that in front of the greats?”

“Well... it’s just... no, it can’t be,” his face was filled with embarrassment.

“I’m sorry about winning that contest,” Juho said.

“Agh!”

“Hey, hey! I’m not sure what’s going on here, but please, calm down,” said Joon Soo as he patted Geun Woo on the back. Despite his gentle words, Geun Woo ruffled his hair with both of his hands.

“I’ll never be able to forget this. I won’t be able to sleep tonight. I knew I was going to regret it, but this... this... ” he murmured.

“Come sit and have some fruit,” Yun Seo said amid the chaos.

Things calmed down after some time, and Juho and Yun Seo sat facing Geun Woo and Joon Soo on the bench.

With his head lowered, Geun Woo was quietly chewing an apple.

“So what brings you here, Yun Woo?” Joon Soo asked.

“I invited him. We met in the park on the day of the contest,” Yun Seo answered instead. Juho nodded. “I wanted to go take a look, so I went. Then, I found a kid writing on the ground.”

“That was me.”

“I approached him, but he didn’t even notice. I looked at what he was writing out of curiosity, and it turned out that he’d been writing something completely irrelevant to the topics given at the contest.”

“Irrelevant?”

“Didn’t you say it was a contest?” Geun Woo asked quietly. Like Juho noticed in their last encounter, he got over things rather quickly.

Juho said, looking in his direction, “I was working on something at the time, and I suddenly had an idea for wrapping up the story.”

“You don’t mean that you’ve been working on another book, do you?” Geun Woo asked, laughing.

“That’s right. My next book.”

“Huh?”

Joon Soo coughed while mid-sip of his tea.

“What? A new book? Did you just say that you wrote another book? Yun Woo did? Now?” Geun Woo asked with an odd look on his face.

“Yes, why do you ask?” Juho asked calmly.

“It hasn’t even been a year since your last book came out. ‘The Trace of a Bird’ is still the number one bestseller across the nation.”

“I already sent the manuscript to the publishing company.”

“Wow,” exclaimed Geun Woo.

“You’re one brave kid. Aren’t you worried about the outcome? What if it doesn’t do as well as your last book?”

“Geun Woo, I think you should stop there if you don’t want to regret that later,” warned Joon Soo with a warm smile. Geun Woo said no more.

“It’s OK, Mr.Bong. Mr.Yoo brought up a good point. I did think about that at one point,” Juho said as he smiled.

Geun Woo said as he waved his hand, “Please, you don’t have to be formal with me.”

Although Juho was trying to be polite, he quite enjoyed the fact that he was being recognized as an author.

“Same for me,” Joon Soo added.

“If you say so,” Juho said.

“So, what made you write another book so soon?” Geun Woo asked.

Juho thought about the question. The word ‘soon’ made him think.

‘Had it really been as soon as Geun Woo described?’ Juho had already been an author for three decades before he returned to the past. Without that experience, he wouldn’t have been able to write the book.

He had been afraid of failures. The word had always been accompanied with anxiety. He had always written in a hurry, as if he were being chased. The outcome had always been less than average.

In the past, his next book had been the beginning of his downfall. He didn’t want to live the way he had then and he didn’t want to fail. However, he couldn’t write without accepting failure as a fact of life. That’s how writing had always been. An author wouldn’t be able to write a single word if he was afraid of failure.

“Like I said, I was concerned at one point.”