357 The Truth Behind One Billion Dollars 2 (1/2)
Translated by: ShawnSuh
Edited by: SootyOwl
The two had seen Yun Woo in person, and Somang still had vivid memories of that day. Seeing a subtle smile growing on the boy's face, the middle schooler also smiled. At that moment...
”You guys have seen Yun Woo?”
”Ah! You scared me!”
… A high-pitched voice came out of nowhere. In order to identify the owner of the voice, Somang leaned her head back as far as she could. It was one of her cla.s.smates, who was going through a major growth spurt. Despite being the same age as Somang, the cla.s.smate was significantly taller. On top of that, her lanky appearance made her look like a broomstick. Since she was someone with whom Somang shared secrets, Somang included her in the conversation.
”Do you remember when Yun Woo was talking to our teacher?”
”I do,” the cla.s.smate said, nodding. In order to retrieve Somang's phone, which she had forgotten, the three had gone to the community welfare center. Sobbing uncontrollably all the way to the welfare center, the middle schooler had been on the verge of losing her mind. Staying by her side in order to comfort her, the boy and the cla.s.smate had willingly gone into the building with Somang.
”I found it!” Somang exclaimed with tears still falling down her face, picking up the phone from a locker and lifting it up toward the ceiling. A sense of relief washed over her. Simultaneously, an even greater wave of shame came after as her misery concluded anticlimactically.
”Watch your belongings from now on, OK?” the cla.s.smate said, patting Somang on her shoulder.
Nodding in agreement, the boy said, ”Let's head back.”
At that moment, as an unexpected sound came out of nowhere, the three hid in the cla.s.sroom by reflex. While they were holding their breaths, waiting anxiously for the moment to pa.s.s, they heard the voice of one of their teachers.
”It is such a pleasure to have you.”
”Well, you kind of threatened to talk to the reporters otherwise, so...” another voice answered.
”Haha! That was just a joke! In any case, I'm a firm believer that good deeds like this must be known to the public, Mr. Woo.”
'Mr. Woo?' the three wondered simultaneously, their eyes darting back and forth to each other, only to shake their heads in confusion. Meanwhile, the voice got closer and closer to the cla.s.sroom they were hiding in.
”Thanks to your generosity, the school was able to provide our students with better quality desks and redo the flooring. We were also able to afford a new paint job for our buildings, including the dormitory buildings for our students! Once again, it's all thanks to you, Mr. Woo. The school has become a much better environment for our students.”
The three heard the voices drawing even closer as the door to the cla.s.sroom next door opened. Their lips were parched.
”You could've sent me a picture of the place,” somebody by the name of Mr. Woo said, and the teacher let out a hearty laughter. It was clear from the laughter alone that the teacher was quite fond of Mr. Woo.
”Well, that's not the same as seeing it in person. If you being Yun Woo kept you from visiting us during the day, then all I have to do is show you around the moonlit cla.s.srooms.”
”I see that you have a way with words. I can see how you used to be a poet at one point.”
”You flatter me, Mr. Woo.”
Feeling the urge to scream, Somang covered her mouth with both of her hands. When the cla.s.smate and the boy looked up, feeling that Somang was breathing slowly, they saw that the middle schooler's jaw had dropped open. She was an avid Yun Woo fan and was never without the young author's books. Just like the author's alias, their encounter was quite the coincidence. Fiddling with her phone, Somang asked under her breath, ”Yun Woo has been making donations?”
Yun Woo was in the hallway of that same building. Somang stared intently at the door of the cla.s.sroom they were hiding in. While a part of her wanted the young author to walk through it, another part of her wanted him and the teacher to walk past it. As the image of the young author's face came up to the surface of her mind, her heart started thumping as if it would jump out of her chest.
”Oh! If you look that way toward the restroom…”
As the teacher's voice started to fade into the distance, Somang breathed out, feeling relieved. Then, the boy tapped her on the shoulder and pointed toward the door, gesturing for her to leave the cla.s.sroom. Just like that, the three bolted out of the building. Somang couldn't forget the look on the boy's face that day. Tapping on his hand, she asked, ”So, are we not gonna do anything about this?”
”Do anything about what?”
”We know something n.o.body else does!” she said, forcing her face in between the boy's face and the book he was reading. At which point, he shuddered.
”That's a Yun Woo book you're reading, you know. Are you really not gonna do anything about this?”
”Well, what can we do?”
”What everyone else can!”
”Then, buy me a house.”
”You'll have to give me about thirty years.”
Then, Somang moved on to her cla.s.smate, who appeared to be thinking the same thing as her.
”I agree that there's a lot we can do. Especially in this day and age.”
As the boy looked up quietly, the cla.s.smate waved Somang's phone and said, ”Besides, it's not like these people are doing anything important.”
The hate post that Somang had been reading up to a moment ago shook along with the phone in the cla.s.smate's hand.
”So, are you suggesting that we write a post?”
”You're a good writer.”
The boy was the best writer in his cla.s.s, and the teacher would often compliment him. As he clenched his lips, Somang crossed her legs and said, ”Honestly, since that night, I've been thinking that I wanted to tell others what we heard and I have a feeling that I'm not the only one thinking about this.”
Letting out a small sigh, the boy replied, ”Let's go.”
”Where?”
Furrowing his brow slightly, the boy said, ”What do you mean where? The computer room! I have an idea in mind.”
”Yes!” Somang exclaimed, balling her hand into a fist and following her cla.s.smate, who was already thinking about which website would maximize their efforts.
”There should be sheets of paper around here somewhere.”
”I'll keep a lookout,” Somang said, looking out the window of the computer room. The three swiftly carried their plan out into reality.
---
”Shouldn't we be on our way by now?”
”There's still time,” Coin said confidently without even checking the time. Because he knew that Coin could take care of himself, Juho didn't say anything else on it.
”Maybe I should've shown you around more.”
”I saw enough.”
”What about a gift for Susan?”
”I took care of it,” Coin said, looking ha.s.sled. Then, lying on the sofa like he did at his place, Coin said, ”You really need a hobby.”
”That was out of the blue.”
”Look at this place. There's nothing here,” Coin said, looking up at the ceiling.
Chuckling, Juho replied, ”You're starting to sound like Mr. Jenkins.”
”He might be an a.s.shole, but he does bring up a good point once in a blue moon,” Coin said.
”He would have really appreciated that if he were here.”
”Don't be silly now.”
”So, what are you gonna do when you're back home?” Juho asked.
”I'm thinking about starting on a script. I've been getting screenplay requests for a while now.”
”What would it be about?”
”Love.”
Considering Coin's personality and tendencies, it was a rather curious subject for him.
”It'll look nothing like your version of love. Ugh! Reading that was like chewing on a piece of already-chewed-up gum.”
”Chewed-up gum as in…?” Juho asked. Coin was referring to 'An Insect Leaves No Trace.'
”That's right. An old, forgotten love that's long lost its meaning.”
”Does that mean first love isn't an actually love?”
”No. It's a memory.”
”Then, why don't people call it first memory?”