Chapter 37: Chapter 37 - A Dream Hed Been Waiting For (2/2)
”I needed to make money,” he answered bluntly, without a moment of hesitation. It was very Mr. Moon-like.
Juho rephrased his question, ”So, why couldn't you become a writer?”
Mr. Moon answered with a bitter smile, ”Because I didn't have 'It.'”
'What didn't he have?'
”What's this 'it' you didn't have?”
”Leg strength.”
That had been an unexpected answer, and Juho was confused. 'Did he have weak legs?' he wondered.
”A novelist is a special occupation.”
”In what sense?”
”All you do is pick up your pen, but you still need endurance. Physical labor is at the core of making a living as a novelist.”
It wasn't something he would say typically, yet he was very sure of it. 'Physical labor' was a word that was quite distant from a word like 'genius.'
”Is there a person you think of when you hear the word 'genius writer?'”
Countless names raced through Juho's mind, but none of them fit the description of being a genius. He knew how much struggle and anguish went into writing a single sentence.
”Nope.”
Mr. Moon nodded.
”Yes, of course. There is no such a thing. What value does a G.o.d-given talent have before physical labor? I gave up because it was way too tiring.”
Juho smiled. He was able to relate to Mr. Moon. Writing was not an easy task. An author fell into a pit of shame on multiple occasions throughout the day. He felt ashamed and embarra.s.sed about his writing. Yet, he had to face it. He edited and revised constantly. He dug through the depth of his being and came to face all the junk that was at the bottom. Although the junk started to contaminate the well, he didn't stop.
This process spanned anywhere from months to a lifetime.
”It's like a marathon.”
No matter how strong their lungs were, a runner was bound to grow tired. At some point, they would fall. In that moment, talent wasn't what kept them going. It was their leg strength that supported them. It helped them fight through the exhaustion. That strength came from the heart.
”Then, what'd be an appropriate name to call authors who have the leg strength?”
'Genius' alone wasn't big enough to embrace all of those authors, so Juho asked Mr. Moon. He had failed and walked away from the path he had been on. Yet, he was smiling. He had lived on. That wasn't the only path there was to life after all, and he had started running again on a different path.
Somethings were more visible from the distance. If anybody knew, Mr. Moon would know something about this. He would know what was at the end of the path he had left behind.
He answered with a genuine smile, ”A great storyteller.”
A gentle breeze rushed into the room. Juho took a deep breath and felt the breeze in his lungs.
”At the end of the day, there is no such thing as a genius writer. I was dreaming of something that never existed in this world.”
”It's your freedom to dream.”
A dream allowed one to embrace things that didn't exist in the world. That was why people dreamed carelessly and envied.
Juho reminisced about the past filled with anxiety. The word 'genius' had disappeared in a moment. It had hid itself like a candle in the wind. It was such a fragile word.
Soon, Mr. Moon was no longer in the shadow. His full figure had become visible again.
”What I'm trying to say is that the talent that you possess is not as useful as you think.”
Juho sat quietly with a smile, and Mr. Moon asked again, ”Do you want to be a novelist?”
Juho didn't answer immediately. He looked at his feet and then the ceiling. 'A novelist. The great storyteller.'
”Yes.”
With a satisfied smile, Mr. Moon said, ”If that's what your heart desires, then so be it”
At the familiar remark, Juho couldn't help but laugh out loud. Mr. Moon couldn't achieve his dreams. He had failed and walked away. In a person like that, Juho had found a dream that he'd been waiting for all along.
Things were different from how they used to be. He no longer wanted to be an ordinary writer. Though it sounded slightly childish and exaggerated, he wanted to be 'great,' the great storyteller.
”Then start with your endurance, at least to the level where you can write without huffing and puffing after sprinting for a few seconds.”
”Yes, Mr. Moon.”
Juho took Mr. Moon's advice to heart. As he thought of an exercise plan, Mr. Moon started talking while looking at Juho's paper, ”Boy, kids nowadays are such good writers. Did you go to the same private inst.i.tute as Yun Woo or something?”
”I've never gone to a private inst.i.tute.”
”Then, you're not Yun Woo himself or anything like that, right?”
Juho quietly laughed off his unexpected remark.
'That's not funny Mr.Moon.'
After meeting with Mr.Moon, he realized what he had been lacking in himself. It was endurance that could keep him on his feet when something or somebody tried to bring him down. It would allow him to move forward on his own. He needed endurance when he wrote.
The next day, he woke up at dawn and rubbed his heavy eyes as he got out of bed. After was.h.i.+ng his face in the bathroom, he felt a little more awake.
When he went out to the living room, his mother was there. She must have woken up with the sound of running water.
”Why are you up so early?”
”I wanted to go out for a run.”
”At this hour?”
”Yeah, I wanted to work on my endurance.”
”OK, be careful.”
His mother seemed somewhat surprised by his answer, but without saying much, she went back to bed. He put on his running shoes and went outside. He stretched as he looked up at the dark sky before the sunrise. In order to avoid muscle aches, he made sure not to make any quick or sudden movements.
Once he reached the park, he started running. There were no cars or bicycles. There weren't many obstacles, so it was safe for him to focus on running without paying too much attention to his surroundings. The park itself was quite big, and most of all, he liked that there were very many trees.
”Ready, set, go.”
Chapter 37 - A Dream He'd Been Waiting For; The End