347 Bet On Coin And Yun Woo 2 (1/2)
Translated by: ShawnSuh
Edited by: SootyOwl
Juho was visiting central Manhattan, which was always booming with people. Standing in his place, he watched the pedestrians walking past a memorial not too far from him. At that moment...
”Mr. Woo,” a voice called to the young author. When Juho turned around, he saw Nabi displaying her usual intellectual smile. Leading Juho toward her car, which she had parked nearby, she took the young author to a restaurant she had made a reservation to ahead of time.
”I knew things were about to get busier, and boy was I right?!” she said as she updated Juho on the things that had occurred recently. Juho realized that was his second time driving across the streets of Manhattan in Nabi's car. The first time, Nam Kyung had also been there.
”Back then, I was here to watch the award ceremony on TV.”
”And now, you're going to one in person,” she said, adding that both the people at her work and her clients were waiting anxiously for the ceremony. Nabi wasn't afraid to show her excitement. Coin and Yun Woo, the long-awaited battle between the two authors was finally happening.
”Are you confident?”
”About?”
”Beating Coin.”
Looking at the traffic ahead, Juho replied, ”I'm not sure.”
”OK, let's be honest for a second here. You want that award, don't you?”
”I do.”
”Then, I guess you gotta win.”
Juho chuckled at Nabi's remark. At which point, she lowered her voice and added, ”Frankly, it feels surreal that we're talking about winning an award with Kelley Coin as one of the competing nominees. This will take some getting used to.”
Despite the nervous tone, she looked quite confident. Observing her expression, Juho asked, ”Who do you think will get the award?”
”Why, you, of course!” Nabi said sincerely and without hesitation. Shrugging, Juho replied, ”That kind of puts pressure on me.”
Although she didn't buy what Juho had said, she said, ”Well, we're not the ones giving the award. Don't worry about it too much.”
Then, recognizing the inconsistency in her statement, she added, ”As in, we should be cautiously optmistic.”
”Right. Well, the ceremony's still far away, anyway.”
”You're right.”
The antic.i.p.ation was starting to boil over. However, Nabi didn't go out of her way to bring it up to Juho.
”Well, what did you wanna talk about today?”
She swallowed nervously at Juho's question. Then, trying to sound as light-hearted as possible, she said, ”There's a TV show that wants to cast you.”
At that, Juho's eyes narrowed.
---
”Where's Yun Woo?”
”How the h.e.l.l should I know?”
Coin was at a high-end hotel restaurant as one of eleven invitees, every one of which were bestselling authors whose books had sold millions. Because Coin tended to be left out of social gatherings between authors by default, his presence was an unusual one. Of course, he had been invited to the gathering only because the inviters had been under the a.s.sumption that he would've brought Yun Woo along.
”I might as well be chewing a rubber tire,” Coin said, spitting the meat out on a napkin. Amid the uncomfortable silence, a daring soul spoke up. Two of the authors on the table had gotten into an intense argument with Coin, nearly leading to a legal dispute.
”Seems like the food isn't to your liking,” Kings said. Being the oldest of the eleven authors at the table, Coin remembered him having held a party in Germany in order to celebrate having sold a hundred million copies.
”I really didn't feel like coming here, but I couldn't stand that these people were trying to use me to their own benefit, so I thought I should stop by. I couldn't tell whether they were just trying to p.i.s.s me off or invite Yun Woo,” Coin said, putting the knife down almost as if throwing it and chugging the sparkling water in the winegla.s.s. Then, another author sitting next to Kings said, ”I was looking forward to meeting Yun Woo, honestly.”
”I know. Which is exactly why I'm here,” Coin said. The only reason he had bothered to show up at the gathering had been to see the disappointment on the authors' faces. At Coin's edgy remark, the author clenched their lips tightly, appearing disgusted. Every author on the table, with the exception of Coin, knew better than to start a conflict with the infamous author. If necessary, Coin wasn't afraid to sling mud, even against somebody of higher social standing. However, Coin's prominence had often prevented others from retaliating. While wealthy, Coin acted as though he had nothing to lose. To be more precise, he wasn't afraid to lose all he had, which made him an opponent to be avoided at all costs. Although he seemed to be relatively well-behaved as of late, it wasn't long before the authors found out that he had hardly changed, especially the two who had picked a fight with him.
”I told you not to start anything with him. He even filed a lawsuit against a press company not too long ago. Tamed? Well behaved? Yeah, right.”
While half of the authors on the table focused on eating their food while avoiding eye contact with Coin, the rest of them were intimidated by his presence. Only Kings had a welcoming smile on his face.
”There's always next time. Seems to me that Mr. Coin here seems to think there was an ulterior motive for our invitation. Though, I am glad to have such an unusual guest. In any case, please, let's be respectful to one another.”
The table grew silent. Meanwhile, with an oblivious look on his face, Kings said to Coin, ”I heard you're close friends with Yun Woo! It's always fun to be able to connect with the younger generations.”
”What do you know?” Coin said. He was the only author in the literary world who dared to speak to Kings in such a manner. ”Haven't seen any new books from you lately. Are you planning on retiring soon?” Coin asked.
”I can't say, but I appreciate that you're waiting.”
”This conversation is going nowhere. I doubt you'd be able to connect with younger folks,” Coin said, drinking from his thermos. Then, locking eyes with another author, who gave him a strange look, Coin asked, ”What are you lookin' at? You have something you wanna ask?”
”Oh, no. Uh… Actually…” the timid author said, hesitating while rubbing his scruffy chin.
”Well, spill it.”
Being significantly younger than Coin by more than ten years, the author had a medical school background, which he had utilized in his successful debut t.i.tle. Since its release, his book had been a steady bestseller. With the recent news that stood out to him lingering in his mind, the author said, ”I was wondering if you're planning on attending the award ceremony.”
At the mention of the award ceremony, somebody stepped on the timid author's foot, and Coin clicked his tongue at the subject that was far from interesting to him. As though untactful and oblivious, the author kept on, ”You were nominated for the same category as Yun Woo. Do you think you'll win?”
”What are you? A reporter?”
”No, an author, actually.”
”An interviewer, maybe?”
”I'm an author.”
”Which magazine do you work for?”