Chapter 304 (1/1)

Published at 20th of March 2019 02:18:12 AM

Chapter 304: 304

Translated by: ShawnSuh Edited by: SootyOwl ”I didn't think I'd run into you here . What a coincidence!” Juho gave no answer as he didn't find the occasion surprising, especially somewhere a public event was set to be held . By the time the smile on the reporter's face started fading, the employee came rus.h.i.+ng into the hall, unsure of whether to drag the reporter out or not . ”h.e.l.lo, Mr . Woo . h.e.l.lo, Sung Pil,” the other reporter, who had come into the hall with the employee, greeted the two authors, handing them her business card . ”Myung Sil Oh . Reporter/Journalist . ” ”Oh! Right!” the reporter who had rushed into the hall let out while also pulling out his business card, which seemed to be from a different agency . ”Do you have time to chat?” Myung Sil asked . When Juho looked at the other two authors, they seemed to be caught off guard by reporters' presence, something neither of them was used to . Although Juho wouldn't have hesitated to decline if he'd been the only one there, the other two authors were in desperate need of exposure . ”Are you presenting today, Mr . Woo?” the male reporter asked . Studying his business card, Juho said, ”I can't disclose that . ” ”C'mon, now . Work with me here! What brought you here today?” ”As you can see, this is an exhibition hall . I came to look around . ” As the reporter chuckled, Juho decided to speak sparingly . ”But you already have the ma.n.u.script you'll be presenting ready, right? How do you think your readers will respond?” ”Hard to say . ” ”My understanding is that there was a slight problem during the signing, which makes me think there is such a thing as being too successful . Do you think your partic.i.p.ation in this event will exacerbate the issue that came up during the signing in any way?” ”No . ” ”Are you worried that you'll make a mistake at all?” Juho noticed that the reporter was starting to show his true intentions with his questions and his stance on the young author's partic.i.p.ation in the event . Despite being a reporter, whose job was to get to know the other person better, that reporter was exposing himself instead, making Myung Sil's silence look significantly wiser . To the reporter asking about his fear of making a mistake, Juho answered, ”My understanding is that the whole point of this event is to show the process of writing . ” Judging from the expression on his face, the reporter also seemed aware of that . However, paying no attention to his expression, Juho added, ”Besides, it's not uncommon to make mistakes during the writing process, don't you think? If there's a sentence that the author feels like it's not quite right, then all they gotta do is get rid of it . Right?” ” . . . Right . But if there's a process, then there has to be a result . Don't you think there's a possibility that your ma.n.u.script will fall short to those of your fellow authors?” It was getting clear that the reporter didn't like Juho very much . ”That's definitely a possibility . ” ”Which means, presenting that to readers would be a very risky move on your end, right?” ”You can say that . ” ”Then, did you decide to partic.i.p.ate aware of that?” ”Yes . ” ”Why?” At that, Juho looked up at the stage, and said, ”If I were a sham, then I'd be a lot more troubled by now . ” Knowing his ident.i.ty, his editor-in-charge had brought the event up to the author without trouble . Similarly, those who didn't doubt Yun Woo's ident.i.ty didn't wrestle with doubt . Rather, knowing that there was always some danger involved in every matter, they did their best to prepare for the unexpected without panicking . At that, the reporter's expression hardened ever so slightly, and his bombardment of questions came to an abrupt end . Looking away from him, Juho looked toward Myung Sil, who pointed toward the two authors who stood behind Juho . ”And I'm sure you'll be having a candid conversation with those two gentlemen?” Without giving an answer and without offering any encouragement or comfort, Juho started walking away . Meanwhile, the fis.h.i.+ng pond owner stared at the young author . ”I'm gonna get going . ” With that, Juho turned around and walked out of the hall despite the male reporter trying to stop him . Then, he arrived on the second floor, which had been designated for the authors only . The location allowed for a bird's-eye view of the entire hall . When he glanced down, the hall was empty . There were no reporters or employees . Then, as he made himself a cup of green tea by the water dispenser, Sung Pil appeared out of nowhere . ”How'd it go?” Juho asked . To which, Sung Pil stared intently at him and said, ”I couldn't speak well, unlike you . ” Juho shrugged at Sung Pil's unexpected compliment . Shaking the cup in his hand, Juho asked his friend if he'd like something to drink . ”No, thanks . ” Sung Pil said . At that moment, the door opened, making Juho think that the reporters had caught up with them . ”Huh! You two are early!” Silver Rings said, waving at the two . Then, without hesitation, she asked them, ”When did you guys get here? Did you get to look around?” ”We got here pretty early . We got a good look around the place, including the stage . ” At that, she let out a long sigh . ”If only I had had the time . My part-time s.h.i.+ft had to be today… Wow! That's a good lookin' stage!” she said, raising two thumbs toward the stage . Of course, there was no response of any sort . Then, she plunked down onto the second from the last seat . ”Aren't you guys nervous? I'm so anxious . ” ”Not yet,” Sung Pil said honestly . ”You're a tough one, aren't you? I don't know why, but I've been so nervous all day . Even as we're speaking! Maybe it's because I'm next . ” She would be the second author to present on the stage . Then, wrapping her neck with both of her hands, she said, ”I'm SO excited! Just look at that gorgeous stage! I'm gonna jam to some good music while I write . ” As she had implied with her question during the meeting in Zelkova's conference room, she seemed like she was bringing music to the presentation, which was quite unusual for a writer . ”Is that how you normally write?” Juho asked . ”Yes . There's always been music in my life . ” ”What are you gonna listen to?” ”Why, some good ol' rock, of course! Punk, psychedelic, alternative, you name it . s.e.x Pistols is my favorite!” Juho imagined her writing, lost in the aggressive sound of her favorite music . It was hard to imagine what kind of story she would write . Instead, he brought up a sentence that occurred to him just then . ”Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die . ” The phrase referred to the reality of one's life, when they were too young to die, but the world around them was simply too corrupted for them to live in . Widely-known, the phrase had also been quoted in a movie starring one of the members of s.e.x Pistols . As her eyes widened, Silver Rings took off her jacket, revealing the very phrase tattooed on her arm . ”Now I get why Yun Woo's been so successful . ” ”I don't think it has anything to do with rock, though,” Sung Pil said, only to be ignored by Silver Rings . Walking toward Juho, she started raving about rock music . Although Juho did his best to play along, he simply didn't know enough to be able to keep up with her . Then, when she moved on to Sung Pil, she was disappointed by the extent of his knowledge as the only relevant thing he knew about genre were the words Heavy Metal . At that moment, Sung Pil said, ”The audience is coming in,” and Silver Rings turned her attention to the stage as the seats filled up, as if pouring water into a cup . Every member of the audience had a page of ma.n.u.script paper in their hands from the hands-on experience segment of the exhibition . Before long, the hall became filled with the sound of the buzzing crowd . After checking the stage, the staff turned the projector screen on, which displayed a blank page . Now, all there was left was for the author to make an appearance . Staring at the empty stage, the audience members waited anxiously for the author . ”They're all looking for Yun Woo,” a voice that belonged neither to Silver Rings nor to Sung Pil said . It was the student abroad, who was taking his seat at the end of the row while pointing toward a certain spot in the audience . Even without seeing where that was, Juho was immediately able to know what he was trying to say . ”Oh, how devastated these souls will be when they discover that they won't be seeing Yun Woo on the stage today,” he murmured . ”You're late,” Juho said, ignoring the student abroad's murmur . ”Our hero isn't even here yet, so I'm still on time, technically . ” ”There he is . ” At that, the four of them looked toward the stage . The fis.h.i.+ng pond owner was coming up to the stage, looking deathly pale . ”Oh, no . ” At the sight of an author who looked nothing like Yun Woo, a wave of disappointment started rising within the audience . The student abroad clicked his tongue at the fans' blatant att.i.tude . ”He looks so nervous . I hope he doesn't pa.s.s out or something,” Silver Rings said . Just as she had said, the fis.h.i.+ng pond owner seemed like he was about to collapse onstage at any given minute . Then, taking the microphone that was handed to him by a staff member, the fis.h.i.+ng pond owner mustered up the courage to greet the audience, ”h.e.l.lo . ” Weak-sounding applause came from the audience . ”Thank you all for coming,” the author said, reciting the lines he had memorized ahead of time . Meanwhile, the members of the audience listened to him quietly, completely devoid of any excitement . Rather, there were clear signs among them that they were experiencing a sense of loss . ”Let's begin . ” With that, the author sat in front of the laptop, took a deep breath, stretched his fingers and placed them on the keyboard . As he started typing his first sentence, the same words appeared on the screen simultaneously: The hunt turned out to be a failure today . Without saying a word to each other, the authors on the second floor concentrated on the words that were appearing on the screen . The author onstage had chosen a story about hunting, and indicative of his current occupation, he was portraying the act of hunting in great detail . ”This is not bad at all!” Silver Rings said, impressed . The story appearing on the screen was definitely enough to convince the audience that the author was presenting alongside Yun Woo for a reason . It was an interesting subject and quite riveting . Then, looking away from the stage briefly, Juho looked in Sung Pil's direction . ”So, this is what it's gonna be like,” Sung Pil said, fixing his eyes on the author on the stage writing in front of the readers . ”I think I'm getting the gist of this . ” Aside from experiencing it personally, there was no other way to understand the current atmosphere in which the fis.h.i.+ng pond owner was writing . Now, Sung Pil was starting to finally understand, and the three others looking down at the stage had to be having similar realizations . ”I'm kind of afraid now that I know what this is like,” a voice came from the seat at the end of the row . It was the student abroad . To which, Silver Rings agreed, ”They say people are most daring when they're ignorant . I feel like being that ignorant person all of a sudden . ” ”You mean, you wanna be more daring?” Sung Pil said, correcting her, and Silver Rings shrugged in a light-hearted manner . The lighting on the stage, the focus of the audience, and the sentences getting exposed on the screen in real time, it was a riveting sight . ”I better step up my game,” Sung Pil said, making Juho wince . When seeing the presentation taking place in person, they couldn't help but feel that they had to give it their best . Resting his chin on his hand, Juho said nonchalantly, ”I wonder what it would look like if I screw this up…” ”But you were so confident in front of the reporters . ” ”That doesn't mean I'm not worried,” Juho said, identifying with what the student abroad had said: ”I'm afraid now that I know . ” ”What's with you, though?” Sung Pil asked, looking intently at Juho . ”What?” ”You look like Silver Rings . ” ”What does that mean?” Juho asked . ”It means you look like you're anxious to write . ” As Sung Pil clarified, Juho looked toward the stage . Although clearly shaking, the author onstage was tackling the challenge before him one word at a time . In the end, the fis.h.i.+ng pond owner hadn't given in to fear . ”Because n.o.body's looking for Yun Woo anymore . ” Later, the fis.h.i.+ng pond owner successfully finished his presentation . --- ”h.e.l.lo!” The next day, at the same time and place, Juho, Sung Pil, the student abroad and the fis.h.i.+ng pond owner watched Silver Rings' presentation from the second floor . As if a musician would with their audience, she pointed the microphone toward the members of the audience . Although they responded with similar disappointment to the day before, they were caught off guard by the author onstage pointing her mic toward them . Despite the weak response, she didn't let up . ”Let's try this again . h.e.l.lo!” ”h.e.l.lo . ” As the audience started responding more enthusiastically, a satisfied smile appeared on Silver Rings' face . ”Today, we're gonna have some background music,” she declared . Then, pointing at the desk on the stage, she said, ”I have my entire playlist on that laptop over there . Whenever I'm thinking about what to write, I always have music playing in the background . It's kind of like a strange study habit, something I'm sure we all have at least one of . ” Walking around the stage freely, she interacted with the audience, not minding at all whether they were responding to her or not . Then, sitting at the desk, she started going through her playlist . She seemed to let her mood make the decision for her . ”You know what? Let's go with something heavier today . ROCK AND ROLL!” she shouted, throwing her fist in the air . As the members of the audience started breaking out into laughter, they were immediately caught off guard by the jarring death metal tune and its distinct growling vocals . ”I hope that flies,” the student abroad said, furrowing his brow . Silver Ring was the only person lost in the music . ”She's got quite the stage presence,” the fis.h.i.+ng pond owner said quietly, sounding like he admired the author on the stage . ”You did great yesterday,” Juho said, and the fis.h.i.+ng pond owner looked at the young author with a look of satisfaction on his face . ”I'm sure it was nowhere near Yun Woo's level, but I sure did my best . All I can do is wait for the results and enjoy the event,” the fis.h.i.+ng pond owner said, whispering, ”I look forward to your presentation, Mr . Woo . ”

Translated by: ShawnSuh Edited by: SootyOwl I didnt think Id run into you here . What a coincidence! Juho gave no answer as he didnt find the occasion surprising, especially somewhere a public event was set to be held . By the time the smile on the reporters face started fading, the employee came rus.h.i.+ng into the hall, unsure of whether to drag the reporter out or not . h.e.l.lo, Mr . Woo . h.e.l.lo, Sung Pil, the other reporter, who had come into the hall with the employee, greeted the two authors, handing them her business card . Myung Sil Oh . Reporter/Journalist . Oh! Right! the reporter who had rushed into the hall let out while also pulling out his business card, which seemed to be from a different agency . Do you have time to chat? Myung Sil asked . When Juho looked at the other two authors, they seemed to be caught off guard by reporters presence, something neither of them was used to . Although Juho wouldnt have hesitated to decline if hed been the only one there, the other two authors were in desperate need of exposure . Are you presenting today, Mr . Woo? the male reporter asked . Studying his business card, Juho said, I cant disclose that . Cmon, now . Work with me here! What brought you here today? As you can see, this is an exhibition hall . I came to look around . As the reporter chuckled, Juho decided to speak sparingly . But you already have the ma.n.u.script youll be presenting ready, right? How do you think your readers will respond? Hard to say . My understanding is that there was a slight problem during the signing, which makes me think there is such a thing as being too successful . Do you think your partic.i.p.ation in this event will exacerbate the issue that came up during the signing in any way? No . Are you worried that youll make a mistake at all? Juho noticed that the reporter was starting to show his true intentions with his questions and his stance on the young authors partic.i.p.ation in the event . Despite being a reporter, whose job was to get to know the other person better, that reporter was exposing himself instead, making Myung Sils silence look significantly wiser . To the reporter asking about his fear of making a mistake, Juho answered, My understanding is that the whole point of this event is to show the process of writing . Judging from the expression on his face, the reporter also seemed aware of that . However, paying no attention to his expression, Juho added, Besides, its not uncommon to make mistakes during the writing process, dont you think? If theres a sentence that the author feels like its not quite right, then all they gotta do is get rid of it . Right? . Right . But if theres a process, then there has to be a result . Dont you think theres a possibility that your ma.n.u.script will fall short to those of your fellow authors? It was getting clear that the reporter didnt like Juho very much . Thats definitely a possibility . Which means, presenting that to readers would be a very risky move on your end, right? You can say that . Then, did you decide to partic.i.p.ate aware of that? Yes . Why? At that, Juho looked up at the stage, and said, If I were a sham, then Id be a lot more troubled by now . Knowing his ident.i.ty, his editor-in-charge had brought the event up to the author without trouble . Similarly, those who didnt doubt Yun Woos ident.i.ty didnt wrestle with doubt . Rather, knowing that there was always some danger involved in every matter, they did their best to prepare for the unexpected without panicking . At that, the reporters expression hardened ever so slightly, and his bombardment of questions came to an abrupt end . Looking away from him, Juho looked toward Myung Sil, who pointed toward the two authors who stood behind Juho . And Im sure youll be having a candid conversation with those two gentlemen? Without giving an answer and without offering any encouragement or comfort, Juho started walking away . Meanwhile, the fis.h.i.+ng pond owner stared at the young author . Im gonna get going . With that, Juho turned around and walked out of the hall despite the male reporter trying to stop him . Then, he arrived on the second floor, which had been designated for the authors only . The location allowed for a birds-eye view of the entire hall . When he glanced down, the hall was empty . There were no reporters or employees . Then, as he made himself a cup of green tea by the water dispenser, Sung Pil appeared out of nowhere . Howd it go? Juho asked . To which, Sung Pil stared intently at him and said, I couldnt speak well, unlike you . Juho shrugged at Sung Pils unexpected compliment . Shaking the cup in his hand, Juho asked his friend if hed like something to drink . No, thanks . Sung Pil said . At that moment, the door opened, making Juho think that the reporters had caught up with them . Huh! You two are early! Silver Rings said, waving at the two . Then, without hesitation, she asked them, When did you guys get here? Did you get to look around? We got here pretty early . We got a good look around the place, including the stage . At that, she let out a long sigh . If only I had had the time . My part-time s.h.i.+ft had to be today… Wow! Thats a good lookin stage! she said, raising two thumbs toward the stage . Of course, there was no response of any sort . Then, she plunked down onto the second from the last seat . Arent you guys nervous? Im so anxious . Not yet, Sung Pil said honestly . Youre a tough one, arent you? I dont know why, but Ive been so nervous all day . Even as were speaking! Maybe its because Im next . She would be the second author to present on the stage . Then, wrapping her neck with both of her hands, she said, Im SO excited! Just look at that gorgeous stage! Im gonna jam to some good music while I write . As she had implied with her question during the meeting in Zelkovas conference room, she seemed like she was bringing music to the presentation, which was quite unusual for a writer . Is that how you normally write? Juho asked . Yes . Theres always been music in my life . What are you gonna listen to? Why, some good ol rock, of course! Punk, psychedelic, alternative, you name it . s.e.x Pistols is my favorite! Juho imagined her writing, lost in the aggressive sound of her favorite music . It was hard to imagine what kind of story she would write . Instead, he brought up a sentence that occurred to him just then . Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die . The phrase referred to the reality of ones life, when they were too young to die, but the world around them was simply too corrupted for them to live in . Widely-known, the phrase had also been quoted in a movie starring one of the members of s.e.x Pistols . As her eyes widened, Silver Rings took off her jacket, revealing the very phrase tattooed on her arm . Now I get why Yun Woos been so successful . I dont think it has anything to do with rock, though, Sung Pil said, only to be ignored by Silver Rings . Walking toward Juho, she started raving about rock music . Although Juho did his best to play along, he simply didnt know enough to be able to keep up with her . Then, when she moved on to Sung Pil, she was disappointed by the extent of his knowledge as the only relevant thing he knew about genre were the words Heavy Metal . At that moment, Sung Pil said, The audience is coming in, and Silver Rings turned her attention to the stage as the seats filled up, as if pouring water into a cup . Every member of the audience had a page of ma.n.u.script paper in their hands from the hands-on experience segment of the exhibition . Before long, the hall became filled with the sound of the buzzing crowd . After checking the stage, the staff turned the projector screen on, which displayed a blank page . Now, all there was left was for the author to make an appearance . Staring at the empty stage, the audience members waited anxiously for the author . Theyre all looking for Yun Woo, a voice that belonged neither to Silver Rings nor to Sung Pil said . It was the student abroad, who was taking his seat at the end of the row while pointing toward a certain spot in the audience . Even without seeing where that was, Juho was immediately able to know what he was trying to say . Oh, how devastated these souls will be when they discover that they wont be seeing Yun Woo on the stage today, he murmured . Youre late, Juho said, ignoring the student abroads murmur . Our hero isnt even here yet, so Im still on time, technically . There he is . At that, the four of them looked toward the stage . The fis.h.i.+ng pond owner was coming up to the stage, looking deathly pale . Oh, no . At the sight of an author who looked nothing like Yun Woo, a wave of disappointment started rising within the audience . The student abroad clicked his tongue at the fans blatant att.i.tude . He looks so nervous . I hope he doesnt pa.s.s out or something, Silver Rings said . Just as she had said, the fis.h.i.+ng pond owner seemed like he was about to collapse onstage at any given minute . Then, taking the microphone that was handed to him by a staff member, the fis.h.i.+ng pond owner mustered up the courage to greet the audience, h.e.l.lo . Weak-sounding applause came from the audience . Thank you all for coming, the author said, reciting the lines he had memorized ahead of time . Meanwhile, the members of the audience listened to him quietly, completely devoid of any excitement . Rather, there were clear signs among them that they were experiencing a sense of loss . Lets begin . With that, the author sat in front of the laptop, took a deep breath, stretched his fingers and placed them on the keyboard . As he started typing his first sentence, the same words appeared on the screen simultaneously: The hunt turned out to be a failure today . Without saying a word to each other, the authors on the second floor concentrated on the words that were appearing on the screen . The author onstage had chosen a story about hunting, and indicative of his current occupation, he was portraying the act of hunting in great detail . This is not bad at all! Silver Rings said, impressed . The story appearing on the screen was definitely enough to convince the audience that the author was presenting alongside Yun Woo for a reason . It was an interesting subject and quite riveting . Then, looking away from the stage briefly, Juho looked in Sung Pils direction . So, this is what its gonna be like, Sung Pil said, fixing his eyes on the author on the stage writing in front of the readers . I think Im getting the gist of this . Aside from experiencing it personally, there was no other way to understand the current atmosphere in which the fis.h.i.+ng pond owner was writing . Now, Sung Pil was starting to finally understand, and the three others looking down at the stage had to be having similar realizations . Im kind of afraid now that I know what this is like, a voice came from the seat at the end of the row . It was the student abroad . To which, Silver Rings agreed, They say people are most daring when theyre ignorant . I feel like being that ignorant person all of a sudden . You mean, you wanna be more daring? Sung Pil said, correcting her, and Silver Rings shrugged in a light-hearted manner . The lighting on the stage, the focus of the audience, and the sentences getting exposed on the screen in real time, it was a riveting sight . I better step up my game, Sung Pil said, making Juho wince . When seeing the presentation taking place in person, they couldnt help but feel that they had to give it their best . Resting his chin on his hand, Juho said nonchalantly, I wonder what it would look like if I screw this up… But you were so confident in front of the reporters . That doesnt mean Im not worried, Juho said, identifying with what the student abroad had said: Im afraid now that I know . Whats with you, though? Sung Pil asked, looking intently at Juho . What? You look like Silver Rings . What does that mean? Juho asked . It means you look like youre anxious to write . As Sung Pil clarified, Juho looked toward the stage . Although clearly shaking, the author onstage was tackling the challenge before him one word at a time . In the end, the fis.h.i.+ng pond owner hadnt given in to fear . Because n.o.bodys looking for Yun Woo anymore . Later, the fis.h.i.+ng pond owner successfully finished his presentation . --- h.e.l.lo! The next day, at the same time and place, Juho, Sung Pil, the student abroad and the fis.h.i.+ng pond owner watched Silver Rings presentation from the second floor . As if a musician would with their audience, she pointed the microphone toward the members of the audience . Although they responded with similar disappointment to the day before, they were caught off guard by the author onstage pointing her mic toward them . Despite the weak response, she didnt let up . Lets try this again . h.e.l.lo! h.e.l.lo . As the audience started responding more enthusiastically, a satisfied smile appeared on Silver Rings face . Today, were gonna have some background music, she declared . Then, pointing at the desk on the stage, she said, I have my entire playlist on that laptop over there . Whenever Im thinking about what to write, I always have music playing in the background . Its kind of like a strange study habit, something Im sure we all have at least one of . Walking around the stage freely, she interacted with the audience, not minding at all whether they were responding to her or not . Then, sitting at the desk, she started going through her playlist . She seemed to let her mood make the decision for her . You know what? Lets go with something heavier today . ROCK AND ROLL! she shouted, throwing her fist in the air . As the members of the audience started breaking out into laughter, they were immediately caught off guard by the jarring death metal tune and its distinct growling vocals . I hope that flies, the student abroad said, furrowing his brow . Silver Ring was the only person lost in the music . Shes got quite the stage presence, the fis.h.i.+ng pond owner said quietly, sounding like he admired the author on the stage . You did great yesterday, Juho said, and the fis.h.i.+ng pond owner looked at the young author with a look of satisfaction on his face . Im sure it was nowhere near Yun Woos level, but I sure did my best . All I can do is wait for the results and enjoy the event, the fis.h.i.+ng pond owner said, whispering, I look forward to your presentation, Mr . Woo . . .