150 There is no Yun Woo 3 (2/2)
”Then, what were you doing last night?”
”I was thinking about someone,” Juho said tiredly, clasping his head.
Then, Bom covered her mouth with her hands, exclaiming, ”No way!”
”Who is it!? Spill it! Is it someone I know?”
”You might, yeah.”
At Juho's answer, both Seo Kwang and Bom grew all the more excited.
”What's their name?” Bom asked.
”Bill.”
”... A foreigner?” Bom asked in a shaky voice, and Juho gave her an affirmative answer. Bill was a foreigner.
”Kelley Coin? As in Bill from his book, 'Belongings?'”
”Yep. That Bill.”
Then, Seo Kwang's face distorted from utter disappointment, and Bom let out a quiet sigh as Seo Kwang explained things to her.
”You really know how to get people's hopes up. You've been into Kelley Coin's books, huh? I heard that he was in Korea not too long ago!”
”Yep. I met him.”
Then, the two jumped with excitement.
”What!?”
”We met,” Juho reiterated, and the two jumped from their seats, making Juho look up, similar to the time he had conversed with Bill.
'Bill must have been looking up at me like this.'
As he stared dazedly at the two, they grabbed Juho by his arms all of a sudden.
”What's this about?”
Without getting an answer, they dragged him out of the class and walked through the hallway toward the room that hardly anyone paid attention to aside from the Literature Club members. Then, closing the door, Seo Kwang shouted, ”Yun Woo met Kelley Coin!”
It was like the story 'The King with Donkey Ears.'
”How and why did you guys meet? Did you guys know each other before?” Bom poured out a series of questions. As Juho contemplated which one to answer first, the door flung open all of a sudden. Startled, Bom and Seo Kwang turned around and saw Baron and Sun Hwa standing by the door, gasping for breath.
”There you are.”
”I knew you'd be here.”
Then, Baron walked toward Juho and grabbed his shoulder, saying, ”You met Kelley Coin, didn't you?”
'How'd he know?' Juho wondered as both Seo Kwang and Bom stood there asking themselves the same question. Then, before Juho even had the opportunity to ask, Sun Hwa opened her mouth and said, ”The media is going crazy right now, saying that Kelley Coin mentioned Yun Woo. Apparently, he came to Korea to meet Yun Woo, and he did actually meet with him. He asked Yun Woo to translate his book.”
It was a summary that was both clean and straightforward, and there was nothing uncomfortable about it. It was the result of having trained in the Literature Club. Then, Juho imagined Coin disclosing the news of having Yun Woo translate his books without discussing it with his editor, Isabella, before. After all, he was unstoppable.
”Translation?”
”Yeah. Apparently, Yun Woo's going to be translating one of his books. This is Kelley Coin we're talking about!”
Then, with her mouth agape, Bom murmured, ”So, that's why you said Bill…”
”Bill?” Sun Hwa asked, but Bom was too taken aback to give her an answer. Then, Juho looked at Seo Kwang, and saw that he was also looking at him. Seo Kwang stood quietly for a little while, and then began to ask questions uninterruptedly, ”Oh, my gosh. THE Kelley Coin? Traveled all the way to Korea to meet Yun Woo? How's your nose? Did he punch you?”
”I'm OK, fortunately,” Juho answered quietly.
”Is Kelley Coin that famous?” Sun Hwa asked Bom, and Bom explained things to Sun Hwa by using a famous comic book author as an example. Then, Sun Hwa gave Juho an envious look.
”So, where's the autograph?”
”... 'Scuse me?”
”His autograph. Where is it?”
Juho raised his empty hands, saying, ”I don't have it, unfortunately.”
As disappointment appeared on Baron and Seo Kwang's faces, Juho added, scratching his head, ”Honestly, I forgot.”
”That was the opportunity of a lifetime!”
”I'm sure we'll meet again.”
”Oh, I'm sure, Mr. Woo. When the day comes, get us his autograph too.”
”The perks of having Yun Woo as a friend.”
Then, the door flung open once again, and the five pairs of eyes turned toward it. Bo Suk was standing by the door, and the room sank into a sudden silence.
”I heard Yun Woo?”
The club members exchanged glances. Although it was always possible to give her an ambiguous explanation, Juho knew that she wasn't a bigmouth. Besides, even if she were to go around telling others, no one would take her words seriously.
Then, Juho looked at his three classmates and the junior who were frozen in place. None of them was so narrow-minded as to criticize Juho for telling the freshman about his identity.
”You heard right,” he said, and the others gasped. ”I'm Yun Woo.”
Juho smiled, and Bo Suk's eyes sparkled with curiosity. Then, remembering him recommending books written by Yun Woo, she turned her eyes to Seo Kwang.
”So, that's why you said Yun Woo…” she said and checked the hallway calmly before walking into the room and closing the door. ”Are you really Yun Woo and Won Yi Young? THE Yun Woo that Kelley Coin came all the way to Korea for, who's also getting his hands on translating?”
”Yep.”
At the brief, yet emphatic answer, her mouth gaped open, and she exclaimed, ”That's unbelievable!”
She was quite impressed.
”Oh, my goodness. Is this real? Did I just become one of Yun Woo's acquaintances!? Wow!”
”That's right. I understand what you're feeling right now, but try to calm down,” Sun Hwa said as she patted Bo Suk on her back, but the freshman grew all the more excited as if Sun Hwa's words had had the opposite effect.
Then, she asked a random question out of the blue, ”Juho, did you study abroad?”
”Study abroad?”
”Yeah. The internet's going crazy right now with people saying that Yun Woo's a foreigner, mixed, a student abroad, a relative of Coin, or a member of Mensa. There are people questioning whether an eighteen year old is translating a book, and some are even claiming that he's not actually eighteen!” she said in disbelief. ”And I get to ask all those questions to Yun Woo in person!”
Sensing that his school life was about to become a lot more tiresome, Juho briefly second-guessed his decision to disclose his identity to the freshman.