375 An Elusive Moon 6 (1/2)

Translated by: ShawnSuh

Edited by: SootyOwl

As the conversation started to steer in an unexpected direction, Seo Kwang felt a sense of crisis. On the other hand, Juho looked completely unfazed, drinking from the straw peacefully as if completely unaware of what he had just said. Feeling burdened by what he had just heard, Seo Kwang looked at Juho with narrowed eyes.

”Don't you do anything stupid after you're done with that manuscript!”

”Stupid? Like what?” Juho scoffed asked nonchalantly. However, Seo Kwang remained serious.

”Whenever I see you, I get the feeling that you'll die early.”

”OK, that's just a-whole-nother level of trash talk.”

”It's not trash talk. It's a legitimate thought. You tend to rush things, you know.”

Seo Kwang had often felt like Juho wouldn't live as long as the others, something that caused him significant anxiety. Anything rushed tended to yield a similarly precarious emotional experience. Then, seeing that Juho had stopped talking, Seo Kwang rubbed his eyes and corrected himself in a hurry, ”As in… like a dog.”

”A dog?”

”You know, they grow really fast!” Seo Kwang said, feeling relief when Juho chuckled. Then, leaning back on his chair, Seo Kwang tossed the rice puff up into the air and caught it with his mouth. Glancing over at Juho, the translator said, ”Well, since you've already committed to it, you might as well give it all you got.”

”What?”

Then, Seo Kwang took the rice puff in his hand and crushed is, the snapping sound fading into the air.

”It's already hard enough as is to wait.”

Given that the white book would be a collaboration between Wol Kang and Yun Woo, almost all of their fans would feel like Seo Kwang. Juho rubbed his chin. He was well aware of the expectations that would be put on him when he agreed to finish Wol's book.

”You mean you can't wait to find out if I'll make a fool out of Wol Kang or not.”

”That's part of it,” Seo Kwang said. Curiosity of that was bound to exist when taking up a task that had been left unfinished by another person.

Massaging his shoulder, Juho replied, ”I wonder if you'll be the first one to show up at my door to beat me up for doing Mr. Kang a disservice.”

”Me? Beat up Yun Woo? Nah, I doubt that. I'll just keep it at cursing you out.”

Juho imagined the disappointed look on his friend's face, something with which he was well acquainted. In his past life, Juho had learned for the first time that disappointing someone could hurt significantly more than getting beat up.

”I gotta see him, no matter what,” Juho murmured, resting his chin on his hand. Meanwhile, Seo Kwang stared at Juho with a slightly disconcerted look.

”Don't do anything extreme, my friend.”

Although it was better to stay alive, Wol Kang was still nowhere to be found. Juho remembered having heard about Wol from Yun Seo at one point. According to her, he had been incredibly stubborn and tended to do whatever he pleased. Apparently, he had also tended to be rather unpredictable, which meant that he would only show up when he felt like it.

”Sigh...”

Juho was tempted to draw him out somehow, but the young author's position didn't allow him to focus solely on Wol either. Between the late author and Juho, there existed a crow.

”Is everything OK?”

When Juho looked up, he saw his editor's shiny head.

”It's nothing,” Juho replied and asked, ”How's the manuscript?”

”I think we can keep it as is.”

Juho was paired up with a new editor, someone assigned by the editor-in-chief. Looking quite nervous, the new editor took the manuscript from the young author. Due to the nature of the work, most editors tended to be quite sociable. Those who weren't so tended to work hard to improve that aspect of themselves. The editor in front of the young author seemed to fall under the latter category. Staring at his balding head, Juho asked, ”Are you hot?”

”I'm sorry?” the editor asked, looking up, his face glistening.

”You seem to be sweating a lot,” Juho said.

”Oh, I'm fine. Thank you for your concern.”

The new editor's attitude was somewhat rigid. Remembering the editor-in-chief, whom he had met at one point, Juho nodded. The editor-in-chief had been confident in the editor's skills, and Juho hadn't gotten a bad impression from the editor either. Besides, in Juho's mind, it was more interesting that there were editors as diverse as authors.

”This part here...”

”Yes?” Juho replied, looking at the spot his editor was pointing. It was the part where Juho had lost control of his emotions while writing. Then, placing the final draft next to the first draft, the editor started his explanation, rushing slightly to get the words out of his mouth.

”So, this book is definitely on the darker side of things.”

”You think so?” Juho asked, tilting his head. Although the young author hadn't intended for the novel to be heavy, he was also aware that it wasn't light-hearted either.

Seeing the look on the young author's face, the editor added in a hurry, ”Not that it's a bad thing. The struggle between the crow and the protagonist is completely justified.”

”Right,” Juho replied calmly.

Then, clearing his throat, the editor added, ”It almost feels as though the two characters have dedicated their lives to fighting, but at the same time, it doesn't make you wonder if it's really necessary to fight that hard, which only happens because the narrator specified what the crow is to him. There's something very convincing about their struggle.”

Juho listened intently to his editor and his feedback. As far Juho could tell, the editor was speaking very cautiously.

”But, things get a little less straightforward toward the end of the story.”

”Less straightforward… Right,” Juho said, nodding in agreement. By then, the editor seemed to be much more at ease.

”The crow becomes much too metaphysical toward the end, which, in turn, makes the narrator look like he's losing his mind. Of course, that isn't to say that it's wrong in any way! The narrator definitely has issues that he needs to deal with. Personally, I was hoping that the story would stay a bit more rational,” the editor said, wiping the sweat off of his forehead with a handkerchief.

”I understand. It's something we've already discussed,” Juho said.

Just as he had said, the editor had suggested that the author take a slightly less ambiguous approach toward the end. Since Juho had been thinking something similar, the author had been able to take up his editor's suggestion. On the other hand, Juho tended to go overboard with the abstract, and Nam Kyung had often pointed that out to him. In actuality, it had been a habit that had come with age. As Juho grew older, his stamina also naturally diminished. Therefore, when he wrote, he left things ambiguous rather than being deliberate. The contrast was comparable to the difference between a sinking beer bottle and a professional swimmer diving into the water. Then, pushing the edited version toward the editor, Juho said, ”So, I made some changes accordingly.”