245 The Double Crown 6 (1/2)
Translated by: ShawnSuh
Edited by: SootyOwl
Upon being reminded by the young author that he had had his hands on the trophy that previous night, Nam Kyung's face lit up.
”I gotta see the trophy myself,” the editor said as he walked right past Juho. Then, while Nam Kyung was busy making a big fuss after seeing the trophy sitting haphazardly in Juho's carrier, the young author left him be and went downstairs.
Coin was cooking the egg in bacon fat, which gave off an irresistible smell. Juho helped Coin by putting the soup into bowls until Nam Kyung came down. Seeing as though the young author was acting tactfully, Coin didn't say anything.
”Man, I gotta say, Mr. Coin. You're a great cook!” Nam Kyung complimented the author with a cheerful expression on his face, unlike his normally rigid demeanor. Coin shrugged it off.
”All I did was panfry,” he said while cutting his bacon.
”Which is one of the foundational skills in cooking.”
”This is good bacon,” Juho chimed in, and instead of giving him an answer, Coin brought mashed potato up to his mouth. Meanwhile, looking unbothered, Nam Kyung chewed away at his food.
”What do you have going on today?” Juho asked the editor.
”Why do you ask?” he answered.
”I wanted to look around a little.”
Because of the location, Juho had to be accompanied by someone else even if he wanted to go out alone because he had to rely on those with driver licenses. Meanwhile, with an ambiguous expression on his face, Nam Kyung said, ”I do have plans to visit a publis.h.i.+ng company in the afternoon.”
”Great. Do you think you can take me with you? You can just drop me off anywhere.”
”Without a guardian? I can't do that.”
”It's really OK.”
”On the off chance that you get into some sort of accident, things will become much more complicated. We might not have to deal with the language barrier, but might I remind you that we're in another country, Mr. Woo,” the editor said, clearly with no intention of letting the underaged author loose. Although Juho didn't have a problem being on his own, he also understood that Nam Kyung was justified in his att.i.tude, especially as an editor. With that, Juho had to make due with going on walks around the house.
”I'll take you,” Coin interjected. And sensing the puzzled look the guests were giving him, the author explained, ”I'm the one who invited you here, so I should see it to the end.”
”You're not gonna leave me in the middle of nowhere, are you?”
”If that's what you want.”
Juho imagined Coin forcing him to get out of the car in the middle of nowhere, shouting, ”This is the end, kid!” By contrast, Nam Kyung was delighted by Coin's suggestions. Frankly, looking around the country while staying in Coin's house was an incredible luxury.
”Well, I'll be counting on you,” Juho said as he finished his meal.
Letting Susan know that he had enjoyed the soup, the young author went upstairs to his room, which was the second to the left from the stairs. The first room on the right was for Nam Kyung. As he was going into his room, Juho saw the tightly shut door to Coin's room. Although he briefly entertained the thought of taking a peek, he chose to prepare to go out instead of carrying it out.
”What's with that hat?”
”Is it weird?”
”You'll look right at home standing in the cornfield.”
Because he had started showering when Juho when to get his hat from his room, it wasn't until much later that Coin showed up, after the show Susan had been watching had ended. Juho was puzzled by why he had taken so long when he saw the author in his T-s.h.i.+rt, unshaved.
Then, putting on his sungla.s.ses and hat, which looked like the type explorers would wear, he rushed the young author, ”Shouldn't you cover yourself up a little more? What if people recognize you?”
”No need when I grow out a beard. This is how I usually dress. Must I make more adjustments to my lifestyle for you?”
Juho looked at him. Although he was unmistakably Kelley Coin to Juho's eyes, Coin had already covered more than half of his face.
”Aren't those the same sungla.s.ses you were wearing in Korea?”
”You have a good memory,” Coin said as he started the engine. The car started moving without trouble. While his car was clean for the most part, the cup holder had vivid coffee stains on it. When Juho cracked the window open, he was greeted by the earthy scent in the air.
”This place is ma.s.sive,” Juho said. The entire area was flat, even into the distant horizon. Having lived near the mountains all of his life, it was quite an unusual sight.
”It's nice, isn't it?”
”It sure is,” Juho said in response to Coin's confident remark. It was a nice place indeed. Peeking his head out the window, the young author looked back at the house as it grew farther away into the distance. The white building reflected bright lights, enough to make his neighbors complain to him about it. If he had had any, that is. Built in the middle of nowhere on flatland, the house looked more steadfast than lonely.
”What you lookin' at?”
”You know, that house looks a lot better from afar.”
Instead of looking back while driving, Coin revisited his memory of the appearance of his house.
”My house looks beautiful, no matter from where you look at it.”
”Right. Your house is known for its interior,” Juho said, remembering an article about the beautiful interior of the infamous author's house. ”I heard you had somebody you met during an interview do the interior of your house. Is that right?”
”That's right. You know your facts.”
”I also heard that he's one of your only friends.”
At that moment, as the car shook violently, and Juho immediately closed his mouth.
”It's a professional relations.h.i.+p.”
”Gotcha.”
From then on, they remained quiet for a while. Then, by the time a corn plantation appeared in view, Juho opened his mouth again and said, ”Where are we going again?”
”There's nothing but corn around here, so I'm taking us downtown. They have some stores and restaurants there, at least. Well, I don't know if there's gonna be anything to do for a kid like you. Maybe a basketball court?”
”I've been to the restaurant, though.”
At the mention of the restaurant, which Susan had taken Juho and Nam Kyung to, Coin nodded his head. Then, he raised one of his fingers on the hand with which he was holding the steering wheel.