362 Yun Woos Translator 4 (2/2)
”There are a lot of those,” Ms. Song said. Then, Mr. Maeng looked to the stack of submissions on his desk. The results by the judging panel were coming out that day, and he a.s.sumed that the judges were busy discussing the winners.
”Wh?”
”What is it?”
”Mr. Woo's here, apparently,” Ms. Song said, looking at her phone. Locking eyes with each other, the two made their way to the lounge.
”Mr. Woo.”
After being brought to the lounge by one of the employees, Juho looked up at the voice calling to him. There was already a cup of coffee in the author's hand.
”h.e.l.lo,” Juho greeted them, putting his phone in his pocket.
”We weren't expecting you to come all the way here,” Mr. Maeng said, seeing Nam Kyung's name on the screen of the author's phone in pa.s.sing.
”I was curious about the results.”
”We could've let you know,” Mr. Maeng said.
”I was already out, so I thought I should pay a visit. Would you like some coffee?”
”Please.”
As Juho pressed the b.u.t.ton on the vending machine, a dark-brown liquid trickled down into the cup.
”The judges have finished their evaluations, right?”
”Yes. The results should be out soon,” Mr. Maeng said.
”Well, that's the end of the first round. There were so many submissions.”
”We wouldn't have had this many partic.i.p.ants if it hadn't been for you, Mr. Woo.”
”Please,” Juho said, chuckling. Then, as the vending machine finished making the coffee, Juho handed a cup to each of the two editors. The lounge was filled with the pleasant scent of coffee.
”I think we ended up choosing a lot more people than we had initially planned on. About twenty people.”
”That makes sense considering the number of partic.i.p.ants,” Juho said.
”Though, there will be only one winner in the end.”
”Were there any hidden talents?” Juho asked.
”Of course! There were so many talented people. Frankly, people tend to land jobs in translation through connections most of the times, so this is definitely an unusual opportunity. On top of that, these are people who are pa.s.sionate about your books, so the compet.i.tion has been really fierce.”
”We also got a lot of submissions from seasoned translators. Though, we don't exactly know who they are.”
”There were a lot of people who work in completely irrelevant fields too. Reading their translations is actually pretty fun.”
Then, the two editors looked at the author simultaneously and said, ”Though, we did want to see you translate it yourself.”
”Kind of sad that it didn't happen.”
”Oh, no. We already have twenty people competing for the next round,” Juho said, shaking his head.
Although chuckling, Mr. Maeng smacked his lips. However, Ms. Song still seemed to have trouble moving on.
”I saw your translation. The moment I saw it, I found myself thinking: 'This is it!'”
”Is that right?”
”Since when have you had such a developed sense of language, Mr. Woo?”
”I wasn't born with it, I'll tell you that.”
”What's the secret?” Ms. Song asked. Then, as if remembering something, she lifted her fingers and said, ”I heard they're showing your translation to the contestants during the second round interviews!”
”You're kidding, right?” Juho asked. There was no way to know what kind of questions would be asked during those interviews. Then, just as Ms. Song was about to speak, Mr. Maeng said, ”There comes the Chief.”
When Juho looked in the direction Mr. Maeng was looking, he saw Nam Kyung, who made haste upon seeing Juho.
”There you are! You're early,” Nam Kyung said.
”The wait wasn't too bad though, thanks to these two fine editors.”
Nam Kyung seemed exhausted for some reason, but that also made sense when considering he had been in the conference room up to a moment ago. Then, Juho reached his hand out.
”What are you asking for?”
”The results.”
A smile appeared on Nam Kyung's face.
”Aren't you making it too obvious to me, Mr. Woo?”
”The winner of the contest will be translating my book. I think it's only polite to greet them in person.”
Without further questions, Nam Kyung handed him a stack of paper, which contained the numbers of the twenty contestants who were moving up to the second round. When Juho flipped to the next page, he saw the personal information of the twenty contestants, which Juho skimmed quickly. Meanwhile, the three editors watched the author anxiously.
”So, these are the lucky twenty,” Juho said.
”That's right.”
After remaining quiet for a brief moment, Juho returned the stack of papers to Nam Kyung.
”How are you doing?” Mr. Maeng asked. Instead of giving an answer, Juho shrugged, and the editor scratched his cheek awkwardly at the author's ambiguous att.i.tude.
”Well, I better get going,” Juho said. At that moment, Nam Kyung stopped him.
”How about you and I go out for a meal? I have something to tell you regarding the contest.”
”Sure.”
Since Juho didn't have any plans, he accepted Nam Kyung's request willingly. Upon arriving at the restaurant, the two placed an order, and when the food came out, the editor started eating in a hurry. He seemed famished. Juho was told a myriad of information about the contest, among which were the dates and the place where they would hold the interviews with the twenty contestants. Eating his tofu soup, Juho organized his thought.
”You seem to be in a good mood. Did something good happen?” Nam Kyung asked.
”Why do you ask?” Juho asked back, his hand holding the spoon still in the air.
”I noticed that you've been smiling.”
Rubbing his nose, Juho replied, ”Maybe.”