390 The Crows Whereabouts 3 (1/2)
Translated by: ShawnSuh
Edited by: SootyOwl
After giving Crow, who was behind him, a glance, Juho went inside. Although appearing to be flabbergasted, the aspiring writer followed the author into the shop. When Juho greeted a young employee, she greeted him back with a friendly smile.
”Mr. Woo! Been a while!”
”I've been busy.”
”The usual?”
”Make that two, please.”
”There's a table further in. Please, help yourselves.”
Walking past the walls of books and through a s.p.a.ce that wasn't visible from the outside, Juho and Crow made their way to the table. They were at a store that had been pa.s.sed down to Seo Kw.a.n.g by his parents. As the aspiring writer looked around confused, Juho said, ”You can stick around until you finish your tea.”
Sitting across from him, Crow said, ”You know, Mr. Woo, you can be kind of...”
”Friendly?” Juho interjected, smiling and sitting down. The colorful couch and pillows gave the s.p.a.ce a completely different feel from the rest of the store. Looking around intrigued, the Crow said, ”You must be a regular here. It seems like this place has been around for a while.”
”My friend owns it.”
”There are so many books here. It's almost like a bookstore.”
”He does read quite a bit.”
Nodding haphazardly, Crow pulled out a book at random and skimmed through it. When the tea arrived at their table, the aspiring writer picked up his cup thoughtlessly and drank it, only to discover its horrid taste. Frowning, Crow put the cup down and said, ”Good stuff.”
It seemed like he had meant just the opposite.
”Do you come here whenever you go out for a walk?”
”When I feel like it.”
”Like today?”
Lowering his cup, Juho warned the aspiring writer, ”If you're thinking about camping out here and waiting for me to turn up, I'd suggest you think of a different plan. I don't come here on a regular basis.”
”Yes, sir,” Crow said. As the air sank into silence, Juho opened the book he had picked out from the shelf.
Fumbling with the ma.n.u.script in his hands, Crow asked, ”Are you gonna write here, Mr. Woo?”
Without taking his eyes off of the book, Juho replied, ”Yes.”
”When?”
”After you leave.”
At that, Crow let out a long groan and said, ”You can just pretend I'm not here, you know.”
”Guess you have a point,” Juho said nonchalantly, and the aspiring writer dropped his head. However, instead of letting up, Crow started to talk even more. ”What have you been working on, Mr. Woo? Is it coming out soon? I loved your book last year. It was almost like drinking that healthy tea you like so much. Bitter, but good for you.”
Chuckling quietly, Juho asked, ”Which one of my books do you like the most?”
”'Trace of a Bird!'” Crow replied without hesitation, which caught Juho off guard. Juho had written a number of books that had been better received than his debut t.i.tle by that point. Needless to say, Crow's ravings about the book were less than interesting to the author since he had heard those same compliments countless times over the years.
Studying the aspiring writer, Juho asked himself, 'What are the odds of somebody nicknamed 'crow' coming to me and asking to be my student? Is this a coincidence?'
At that moment...
”Huh! What do you know?! It's Yun Woo!”
… A head peeked in through the bookshelf.
”Mr. Ahn!?” Crow let out, startled by Seo Joong's presence in a way that made him seem like a crow flapping its wings.
Staring at the aspiring author, who was blinking awkwardly, unable to think of a way to introduce himself, Seo Joong asked Juho, ”Who's this?”
”Just some aspiring writer who followed me here while begging me to teach him,” Juho said nonchalantly.
”You? Teach? You've got guts, young man,” Seo Joon said, smiling. Then, looking back, he called out to someone who seemed to have come with him.
”Mr. Uhm!?” Crow murmured.
Darting back and forth between Seo Joong and Dong Gil, Juho asked, ”What brings you two here?”
”Why, we're out for some tea, of course. We've been coming here pretty often as of late. Seems like Seo Kw.a.n.g isn't around today?”
”He's busy with work from what I've heard.”
”Ah, right. Wait a minute... You don't think he's getting ahead of you in life, do you?”
”I think he is.”
While Juho and Seo Joong were chatting, Dong Gil glared at Juho piercingly and asked, ”So, you're taking in a pupil?”
Juho shook his head; Dong Gil smacked his lips; and Seo Joong nodded and said, ”So what if he's taking in a pupil? Can't hurt to try.”
”It's easier said than done.”
Sitting at Juho's table without hesitation, Seo Joong said, ”There isn't much to it. You just have to make sure that you don't burden yourself with it.”
”That's why you need to grow up,” Dong Gil said.
”But you don't take pupils either. You say it's a ha.s.sle,” Juho said, and Seo Joong crossed his legs. There were what seemed like clumps of mud on the hems of his pants.
”It's true, though. There's no bigger ha.s.sle than teaching someone.”
”Are you for it or against it? Pick one,” Dong Gil told Seo Joong irritably, shaking his head. After all those years, the two hadn't changed one bit. Meanwhile, Juho looked toward the aspiring writer, who was enthralled by the presence of the two authors.
”I'm guessing you read their books a lot too?” Juho asked.
”Yes, I do. I look up to them both,” Crow said unhesitantly, which was just the answer Juho had been looking for.
”Then, why don't you try asking one of them to be your teacher? I don't know about Seo Joong here, but Dong Gil has a lot of teaching experience from the lectures he gave when he was younger. I'm sure he's a much better teacher than I am,” Juho said.
However, Crow scoffed and said, ”I'm not as fickle as I seem, Mr. Woo.”
”Think about where we first met.”
”I won't repeat myself,” the aspiring writer said emphatically, oblivious to the look on Seo Joong's and Dong Gil's faces.
”Did we just get rejected?” Seo Joong asked.
”I… didn't think this through,” Crow said awkwardly. However, Juho drank his tea, paying no attention to him.
”Just so you know, Yun Woo HATES your type,” Seo Joong said bitterly. Then, putting his arms on the table, he placed his chin on his hands, blocking Juho's view. ”You see, opposites attract, but as far as I can tell, you're a little too fickle. It's a bit much, really. You're young and full of vigor. Something tells me that you're gonna do something big. Do you know what Yun Woo was like when he was young? He was just the opposite of you,” Seo Joong said.
”Quit yapping and sit up,” Dong Gil said. However, Seo Joong didn't let up.
”The way I see it, I don't think you have what it takes,” he said. At which point, Crow became pouty-lipped, his emotions blatantly showing on his face. Seeing that, Seo Joong puffed up his chest confidently.
Just as the aspiring writer was about to retort, Dong Gil said, ”He gets worse the more you react. Just brush it off.”
”Oh, c'mon! Where's the fun in that?”
Then, Dong Gil looked toward Juho in a way as if asking: 'Are you really not interested?'
”Well, how've you two been?” Juho asked.
”Same ol'.”