26 Chapter 26 - A Harsh, Bitingly Cold Winter 1 (1/2)
Translated by: ShawnSuh
Edited by: SootyOwl
”Man, I'm tired,” Juho said as he stretched out his arms towards the ceiling.
Since the contest had been announced, he had started writing in various styles: portraying characters' faces from their respective point of views, describing an object's texture, setting a rock as the narrator of the story, describing the feelings of grass, and more. In the case of the story about the grass, the plot was mostly made of motion sickness. Some days, Juho experimented with a story entirely made of short-tempered characters. Stories like that were like time bombs, ready to blow at any minute. Since there wasn't enough time for transcribing anymore, the transcription assignment had become an optional homework. There was no punishment for not doing it. Yet, every member in the Literature Club chose to transcribe at home to improve their writing skills.
That day, the literature club was busy writing as always. Everyone seemed spaced out from exhaustion. Juho massaged his shoulder and groaned involuntarily. As he moved onto the other shoulder, Sun Hwa let out in a depressed tone, ”I'm afraid of reading what I wrote. I've been finding out more and more how much my writing actually sucks.”
”It's embarrassing to read your own writing,” Bom agreed with her.
A piece of writing that came into existence no more than a few minutes prior came back to haunt the writer as an unbearably embarrassing past. One often felt the urge to lock it away for eternity, and Sun Hwa wanted to write everything all over again.
”We have to push through. If we start revising now, we won't be able to finish it in time even if we have three years,” Seo Kwang said weakly.
”If you're seeing how your writing could have been improved, then it also means you're learning how to write better in the future. Don't be so ashamed,” Juho encouraged the two people who were writhing in shame.
Regardless, there was little effect. Sun Hwa looked at her draft, feeling dejected.
”Yeah, you're right. But it doesn't take away from the embarrassment,” she said as she slammed her draft onto the desk.
”Man, I wanted my story to be prettier. My mind gets so hectic whenever I start writing.”
Juho smiled faintly at her rant. It was a good mindset to have. A writer had to be aware of his own greediness more than anything else. It didn't mean that they shouldn't be possessive either. When writing, one had to focus on writing alone. The moment their greed took over, the writing would naturally lean toward pleasing the reader. It would dress itself in bright colors. It would become clouded by obscure jargon while the exploration within the story turned excessive. Wearing too much makeup would damage the skin. It was the same for writing. It got damaged by disingenuity. That was how a piece of writing became pretentious.
Rustle.
Bom reached into her bag and took something out. It was chocolate. The Literature Club was flexible about bringing snacks. For that reason, the members often snacked on sweets after they finished writing. Wanting to share, Bom handed out her chocolate. Each single piece of it was wrapped, so it was easy to eat. After thanking Bom, Juho popped the chocolate into his mouth. There was an explosion of sweetness. It felt rejuvenating, and everyone sat up in their seats.
”Bom brings the best snacks.”
”I feel much better.”
”Pretty good.”
Sun Hwa, Seo Kwang, and Baron said in order, and Bom smiled brightly. Juho opened the window of the science room to let out the sweet smell of chocolate. A pleasant breeze rushed into the room, and he stood in front of the window for a moment for some fresh air. That moment, Juho turned around at the rustling sound. Bom was picking up the wrappers spread across the desk, so he helped her.
”It's OK, I'll just finish it,” she said.
Juho answered by folding one of the wrappers into the shape of a notepad.
”It'll be quicker if we do it together.”
Juho and Bom picked up the chocolate wrappers from the floor. When Juho looked up, he found Seo Kwang and Sun Hwa with wrappers in their hands. Baron was doing the same. Since there weren't that many, all the wrappers were picked up in no time.
”Rock, paper, scissor,” somebody suggested as a way to decide on a person to take out the trash.
Although Bom had volunteered, the game had already started. Juho joined in. In the end, Bom took part in it as well. 'Rock, paper, scissor.'
”Ah!”
”Yes!”
Seo Kwang lost, and Sun Hwa gladly saw him out. He walked out into the hallway mumbling, and Juho also waved his hand at him. When Seo Kwang came back, he was accompanied by Mr. Moon. After getting a piece of chocolate from Juho, Mr. Moon said as he was chewing on the chocolate, ”Now, I'll teach you how to polish your writing. You finally get to revise all the embarrassing things you've been writing so far. Doesn't that make you happy?”
Sun Hwa cheered. It was at least ten times more effective than Juho's encouragement. Seo Kwang and Bom also welcomed Mr. Moon. While watching the members' response, Mr. Moon questioned Juho, who was sitting quietly in his seat, ”Aren't you happy?”
”I am,” he answered quickly.
”Now, shall we begin?”
Without hesitation, Mr. Moon began to write out an example on the chalkboard. As usual, it was an abrupt start.
”Juho Woo, read it.”
At Mr. Moon's words, Juho read the sentence out loud, ”I'm a person who eats baguettes frequently, even when I came to Korea on a trip, I had more baguettes than kimchi stew, so I think I might as well have gone to France instead.”
It was a strange and awkward sentence.
”Look at this sentence. It's hard to tell what it's trying to say because it's lengthy and awkward, right?”
”I'm running out of breath.”
”It kind of feels awkward.”
”I can feel his stream of consciousness.”
Juho looked at the word baguette.
”Something isn't quite adding up here. When a beginner tries to write a longer sentence, this is the result they end up with. That's why longer sentences are harder to work with. Even authors go through several polishing processes when they're writing a lengthy sentence. As for you guys, get used to writing shorter sentences.”