Chapter 41 (1/2)

Chapter 41

Translated by: ShawnSuh

Edited by: SootyOwl

As expected, Nabi was sharp . Night . Darkness . The reason why Juho painted everything with darkness in the story was because he liked it . It must have had something in common with what he wanted to say .

”Just… being born and alive felt really different to me at that moment . ”

She listened to him with a serious expression .

”I've been mostly alone at school . I'm not very social . Because of that, I had all the time in the world to write . ”

It had been true . Thanks to his nonexistent social life, he had been able to finish a full-length novel .

As Juho answered her with a smile, Nabi spoke about her past, ”I was alone in my old jobs as well . Adults have the same tendency to ostracize people . I even heard somebody talking about me in the restroom . It was painful . I'm a people pleaser, but it's really greed at the core of it . You can't please everyone . Somebody in this world is definitely hating me even to this moment . ”

n.o.body wanted to be hated, and she probably knew how weary it felt .

”Still, I caught myself being greedy again . I guess I haven't learned my lesson . ”

Despite her feelings, she still considered how others felt . She hoped that the other person would consider her feelings in return . She kept trying as if she had never been hated . Maybe that was possible because she was aware that it was impossible to please everyone . It also meant that somebody in that world was fond of her . Juho and Nabi heard children laughing in the distance .

”I didn't have a dream . I didn't have a purpose either . I had all the time in the world, yet I did nothing,” he said .

This pattern had remained consistent as he had gotten older . When he had been accused of ghostwriting, he had left the literary world . He had been all alone . He had drunk and gambled everyday . He had gotten used winning and, soon after, losing everything he had earned . He had known that the people around him had been tricking him . He had known that he had been nothing more than a bag of money to them . Still, he hadn't been able to stop on his own . He had been angry about fact that there were many things in his own heart and body that were out of his control . He had drunk angrily . It had been a vicious cycle . 'Whenever I think about that time, I smell a corpse,' Juho thought . Although the time kept ticking, he had remained still . It had been a state closest to death . A person who was alive couldn't smell like corpse . Yet, his body had reeked with the stench of death .

”So none of the characters at night are actually alive . They're less alive than a baby in his mother's womb . They're immature . ”

” . . . ”

Even as a young student in the past, he had known he had been dying . It had been dark, and it had been night . A morning that would never come . Back then, that's what he had been looking at . Having listened to Juho, Nabi said quietly, ”I see . Will you excuse me for a moment?”

Then, she headed to the restroom . In the meantime, Juho took a sip of his drink .

”Whoa, boy… This is insane! It's freakin' amazing!” she murmured while leaning on the sink . If only she had permission to shout for joy, 'Everyone, look! I'm talking to Yun Woo! He's the youngest and the s.e.xiest author I've met! Come see for yourselves!'

She had to put her hand over her mouth to force her excitement down . Her body was shaking .

”This is why I can't quit . ”

There were countless interpretations to a single book . It wouldn't be an overstatement to say that there were as many as the number of readers . None of them gave an objective answer . Each critic was different . Even the words of an expert had no value if the readers didn't accept them . If somebody had been captivated by a book, it would be natural for them to be interested in the person who had created it . Among the countless people in that world, people who were in love spoke in a distinct language . That was the same for an author . Nabi decided to revisit 'The Trace of a Bird' with the author's own interpretation .

”OK . Breathe in, breathe out . Calm down . ”

She fanned at her flushed face . The maturity coming out of Juho's mouth was unbelievable . It was dreamlike . 'Maturity dressed in baby skin . You're lethal, Mr . Woo,' she thought .

”I'm so geeking out on this . ”

Since she was young, she had always been fond of writers . They looked stylish to her eyes . Her emotions had reached its peak as she went into middle school . Yook Sa Lee, Dong Joo Yoon, Tae Joon Park, Tae Won Lee, Sang Lee, So Wol Kim, Yoo Jung Kim, etc . Her heart raced whenever she thought about their lives and works . Of course, she didn't share that side of herself with anyone . She had only been active in a blog, under an alias .

”Man, I really made it as a geek . I'm so happy!”

She quickly fixed her makeup and made a resolution in her heart, ”I'm getting that exclusive partners.h.i.+p, no matter what . ”

---

”Sigh . ”

Despite the resolution, she had failed . Yun Woo was stronger than she thought .

”How many times did he…”

She tried to think of how many times Yun Woo had declined her offer, but quickly gave up . She felt like she'd feel discouraged if she revisited each and every time he had said no to her .

”So, are you still pus.h.i.+ng and pulling with Yun Woo?”

”Isn't it obvious?”