383 The Crow Never Dies 4 (2/2)
As Juho tried to chuckle it off, Nam Kyung sprung up from his seat and said, ”I'll get this story made into a book as soon as I can. Things are about to get a whole lot busier around here.”
Then, just as he was about to leave the apartment, Nam Kyung turned around and bowed to the young author, saying, ”Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this, Mr. Woo.”
”Of course. I'm counting on you, Mr. Park.”
As Nam Kyung left the apartment with the ma.n.u.script in his hands, Juho sank into his chair, let out a long sigh and dialed a certain number. The person answered almost immediately.
”Yes?” Hyun Do replied in a calm tone of voice.
”I did it, Mr. Lim,” Juho said.
”And the ma.n.u.script?”
”I handed it over to my editor.”
”So, is it done?”
”Well, it still needs to be revised. Where are you, Mr. Lim?” Juho asked.
”I'm at my office, writing.”
”Huh?! I thought you'd be at home.”
For some reason, the young author had been a.s.suming that Hyun Do would be writing peacefully at his home when the time came to deliver the news to him.
”Well, even if you had been home, I wouldn't have hesitated to go down there to show you the ma.n.u.script. Even if it had been snowing out.”
”Well, good thing it's summer,” Hyun Do said, chuckling. Then, he asked, ”Question is: do you even have the energy to go out?”
”Honestly, I'm so tired that I can't move a muscle.”
”Seems like you need to work on your stamina, young man.”
”C'mon, Mr. Lim. You have to cut me some slack. This wasn't just some ordinary story. It was tricky to say the least.”
”Right.”
The conversation came to an abrupt halt, and Juho waited for Hyun Do patiently.
”Wol…” Hyun Do said.
”Uh-huh?”
”... will probably never bother you again.”
”... What makes you say that, Mr. Lim?”
”You learned everything you needed to.”
”But, I still have so many questions I wanted to ask him!”
”So did I,” Hyun Do said calmly. Juho clenched his hand into a fist. Being left in the dark all over again was not something Juho was willing to accept.
”I'll force him to, if that's what it takes.”
”Is that what he told you to do?”
”Yes. Mr. Kang told me the same thing you did: to write my own story. Then, he flipped everything upside down. His standards, the order, everything. Even if you were to have something to say, there would be nothing I could do about it now,” Juho said.
”Is that so? Well, I'm looking forward to it,” Hyun Do replied. As he hung up, Juho sat in place for a little while, exhaled, and chuckled.
”I guess that's it, then,” he murmured, looking down at his empty hands. Yawning, he lay down on the couch while feeling as if he'd fall into a deep sleep, with no idea that he would be having another dream…
”Mr. Kang??”
… A shocking one, at that. Noticing a white mound in front of him, Juho realized that it was Wol lying still under the white sheet, completely silent. The sheet was even covering his face.
”Never seen a dead body before.”
At that moment, Juho remembered something he had been forgetting. Wol had pa.s.sed away in a snowy winter.
”Mr. Kang?”
Wol remained still. When Juho pulled the sheet off, the dust on it tickled the inside of his nose. Being the only source of sound in the environment, Juho sat down next to Wol.
”So, what is death?” Juho asked. He had been afraid to hear the answer when Wol had promised to tell him what death meant if Juho were to go in the water.
”Why does death exist?” Juho asked Wol, who lay almost lifelessly, but peacefully.
”I'm not telling you a thing,” Wol said. Juho was still looking down at him.
”Why not?” Juho asked.
”Because I'm dead?” Wol replied in his usual, light-hearted voice. His black, unkempt hair reminded Juho that Wol had died much too young.
”Lucky b.a.s.t.a.r.d,” Wol said playfully.
”I'm sorry,” Juho said by reflex.
”You don't have to act like you've committed a crime, you know. Don't be like that. n.o.body's a victim here.”
”But…”
”If you don't accept that soon, you'll die.”
Juho clenched his lips.
”I never accepted that I was sick. At least, for a long time.”
”Can we stay on track here?”
”If an alcoholic denies that they're addicted to alcohol, they can never stop drinking.”
Juho listened quietly, his trembling hands still holding on to the white cloth.
”Since you came back from the dead, you have to experience death all over again,” Wol said, rubbing his stomach.
”I don't wanna die,” Juho said, terrified by the author's stiff movement.
”Me neither,” Wol said like a child. Soon, returning to his adult voice, he added, ”Think about how you got so lucky.”
”I was trying to write,” Juho replied.
”That, you did.”
”... At the cost of selling myself.”
”You mean your shameful past?”
”Yes. I was trying to write.”
”You did the right thing,” Wol said, his lips parched. The air was quite dry. ”Maybe there is no such a thing as coincidence after all.”
”What do you mean?” Juho asked.
”I wonder if G.o.d gave you a second chance because of your name.”
”But, my name isn't actually Yun Woo.”
”What did I just tell you? To look away from the truth is to die.”
Feeling p.r.i.c.ked in the heart, Juho dropped his head and asked, ”What must I do?”
There was a concern that Juho had been living with ever since he'd come back from the dead. It had been like a ticking time bomb hidden deep within him, and there was no way for him to free himself from it.
”Do you think I'll die on the same day as the first time?”