150 There is no Yun Woo 3 (1/2)
Translated by: ShawnSuh
Edited by: SootyOwl
”Utopia is a tourist attraction, so everyone there walks about peacefully, enjoying the scenery. Unfortunately, those folks can't stay in their bubbles forever. It would cost them money for them to settle in Utopia, and whenever I steal that money from them, the look on their faces alone makes my job worthwhile. They can't do a damn thing about it even when I take it from them in plain sight, and they don't even dare fight back, standing there, looking like idiots.”
”Seems like you get a kick out of seeing the look on those people's faces.”
”You're damn right,” Bill said with a mischievous yellow smile.
”You don't think they aren't resisting because they're are afraid of you, do you?”
”Eh?”
”They're letting you keep their stuff, because they have homes to return to.”
”What stuff?”
”Money. Those people have something much more valuable than money. For example, they have their lives. What good is happiness or comfort if you're dead? They can always go on another trip. Those people have fought through countless battles throughout their lives, so they have wisdom.”
Bill gave him no answer, but he wasn't angry, so Juho observed him quietly.
”That's the first time I've heard something like that,” he said weakly, and his voice echoed in the streets. ”I got my money stolen once myself, and this whole time, I blamed myself for being an idiot. Why didn't anyone tell me this yet?”
Although Juho wanted to encourage him, he decided to change the subject instead.
”If you're looking to complain, Coin's the person you're looking for.”
”Coin?”
Instead of giving him an answer, Juho looked for the baby mouse. It was yet to return home, still lingering around the pile of trash.
”So, why did you break up with her?”
He got to the main point. Bill was still in love with Susan, but why would he want to break up with her? Pondering for a little while, Bill answered, ”Susan, too, had something that was more valuable than me. For example, her life.”
Then, he searched through his pockets once again, only to be reminded that he was empty-handed.
”I was sick and tired of getting abandoned and deprived. I hated that I had to live my in fear of those things, so I brought it up to her first, and she saw right through my weaknesses, then left without hesitation. That's when I realized that I wanted her to stay by my side out of my own selfishness.”
”How did she leave you?”
”She was sad, and then she left.”
”Sounds like she's not as foolish as you.”
Susan was inherently different from Bil, and she was someone Bill could only dream of becoming. Strong and wise, she had mourned the fact that she had been abandoned by someone dear to her, but at the same time, she didn't wallow in her sadness.
”Susan is wise.”
”And thieves are dumb.”
Bill had given Susan up, and he dreamed of becoming like her. His love for her was similar to admiration, a dream or objective. That was the kind of person Susan was to Bill.
He had said that the only thing he could steal was money because it was the only thing that he could grab with his hands. In that case, who was it that took Bill's love and dreams away? Utopia. The rich. The slums. It had to be something much greater, much more than an individual could handle.
”Tell me more about Susan.”
Unlike previously, he listed everything he knew about Susan, who was no longer with him. He still had vivid memories of her, and Juho wanted to tell him that it was not too late, that she hadn't fully detached from him. He wanted him to know that there were still remnants of her within him.
”I see,” Juho answered.
Unfortunately, he couldn't interfere in anyway. Juho was in a world created by Coin, and he had no choice but to listen to Bill quietly.
”Well, I better get going.”
”You're gonna keep your promise, right?”
”Of course. What is it that you want?”
After contemplating for a little while, he asked, ”Do you think I'll be able to see her before I die?”
He searched through his pockets yet again, and of course, there was nothing.
”Yes,” Juho gave him an affirmative answer.
Then, Juho opened his eyes and saw Coin's original manuscript in the monitor screen. It read: 'I'm leaving you.'
From that statement, Juho was able to understand Bill's position a lot better.
Bill was a thief who was also deprived of something. Just like all people, he lived by giving up one thing while obsessing over the other, and he couldn't bare to accept such sad but obvious truth. In fact, he was hurt by it, and there was no one to comfort him. He never learned how to control his sadness, and he wandered about the alleyways like a lost baby mouse.
Along with a faint alcoholic odor, he gave off a foul smell and searched through his pockets habitually. Juho remembered what Bill had wanted: to see Susan once again.
”Coin loved Bill,” Juho murmured and moved his hands busily on the keyboard. He knew for certain that Coin loved Bill, and that was the reason why the author gave Bill what he wanted, shaping his last moments so that he could see Susan one more time. Pretentious and ambitious, Bill was also timid and foolish.
Juho looked at the manuscript, and saw the title, 'Belongings.' Happiness, money and love. Whose were they? Being careful not to leave any trace of his creativity, Juho translated as close to the original as possible.
---
”So tired,” Juho muttered groggily as he buried his head on his desk, and Bom asked as she looked behind her, ”Are you sleeping?”
”Not yet.”
”So you're about to.”
Juho didn't bother denying her. He had translated well into the night, and as he was yet to be familiar with the process. Translating was proving to be much more exhausting than he anticipated. Juho felt almost as if he was being robbed by Bill, and the longer he interacted with the thief, the more he became conscious of his own deficiencies. Coin was an incredible author, and as Juho got further with the translation, he felt that all of Coin's choices were indisputable. At the same time, he found himself wondering what he would have done if he were in Coin's shoes, asking, 'How would I have treated Bill?'
No matter what he wrote, it would look entirely different from Coin. As the author, Coin was the only person who was capable of writing the book Juho was translating, and at the end, Bill had only been visible to Coin. He felt his eyelids getting heavy. His head had been filled with thoughts of Bill and Coin lately, and it had been the first time in a long time that he had filled his mind with thoughts of another author's work.
”Well, that's a sight I hadn't seen in a while,” Seo Kwang said as he poked at Juho. Even though Bom tried to stop him, Seo Kwang didn't listen.
”What?”
A hoarse voice sounded from the desk, and Seo Kwang asked, ”What were you writing last night?”
He asked that in a rather friendly manner, unlike his fingers.
”I didn't write anything,” Juho said as he waved his hands.
”You're lying. I know what kind of person you are now.”
It wasn't clear as to whom Seo Kwang was trying to impersonate, but it was less than impressive.
”C'mon. Tell me. Please. I'm an eternal fan ever since I ran into you that day by coincidence.”
(TL's Note: This is Seo Kwang's subtle wordplay using Juho's two aliases.)
As Seo Kwang called his name desperately, Juho looked up and said, ”I'm serious. I'm not writing anything.”