378 The Spirit of Wol Kang 2 (2/2)
”Those are some helpful words, Wol,” Hyun Do said sarcastically, clicking his tongue. However, he didn't necessarily look annoyed. In fact, he was smiling. Juho looked intently at him.
”So, what did you decide to do?” Hyun Do asked, looking toward Juho, who got straight to the point.
”I decided not to kill the protagonist,” Juho replied.
”And the client?”
”I'll probably end up killing him off.”
”And why is that?”
”Because I need the character if I am to push the protagonist to cross the point of no return.”
”Why must you do that?”
”Because I wanna see the protagonist survive the crippling predicament.”
”How far did you get with the story?”
”I've started on the protagonist's future.”
Then, Hyun Do nodded, saying, ”Seems like things are going a lot smoother than I thought.”
”I got some help from Mrs. Baek.”
”You mean you drew it out of her.”
Nevertheless, the fact that Juho had received help from Yun Seo remained true.
”You said you've tried to finish the manuscript before, right, Mr. Lim?” Juho asked.
”That's right,” Hyun Do replied.
”What was your story like?”
”What are you gonna do with the information?”
”It'll be reference.”
”I'm not telling you.”
”I'm sorry?”
At that moment, Juho saw Wol's face rush past, above Hyun Do. The stress from the dream seemed to have had an impact on the young author's perception of reality. As Juho furrowed his brow, Hyun Do said, ”You gotta write your own story.”
After remaining quiet for a little while, Juho asked, ”Is it because it's not finished? Is that why you'll never show me the manuscript?”
”That's part of it.”
”Seems to me that you're not exactly in the position to give Mr. Kang a hard time, Mr. Lim,” Juho said, and Hyun Do chuckled quietly. Juho moved on to another question, ”How did Mr. Kang come to accept that his life was coming to an end?”
After looking into the air for a brief moment, Hyun Do replied haphazardly, ”I'm not sure.”
”You don't know?”
”How would I?” Hyun Do said, locking eyes with Juho. At which point, Juho realized that Hyun Do had misunderstood the question, much like Yun Seo had.
”How did you come to accept Mr. Kang's death, Mr. Lim?” Juho asked.
Picking up his mug, Hyun Do replied without drinking from it, ”Up to the moment of his death, I tried to turn his last hours into writing, killing him off in all sorts of ways, be it meaninglessly, heroically, meaningfully, silently, agonizingly, or peacefully. Wol clung on to me with all kinds of looks on his face.”
Death tended to stir up negative, unhealthy thoughts, and an author's thoughts were bound to turn into writing.
”But after he died, I couldn't write a single word.”
”Because your imagination had come true?”
”No. I realized that I was exhausted. So, I took some time away from writing, and soon, I was able to get back on my feet and write,” Hyun Do said, murmuring, ”I still can't forget the moment when his spirit left him.”
At that, Juho looked up. With the exception of the unreleased manuscript, there had been no mention of spirits in Wol's books.
'I'm sure Mrs. Baek did something similar,' Juho thought to himself while imagining her writing.
”That was my first time seeing a person die in front of me, but I gotta admit, it wasn't all that special. Though, I had a hard time accepting it as reality back then.”
Hyun Do had been slowly accepting his friend's death over the years. Although life was long, the moments within it were short-lived. Juho imagined Wol standing on the beach and looking out into the ocean as if he was frozen in place.
”Why don't we go for a walk?” Hyun Do asked.
”I'm sorry?”
”I need to get some air.”
Initially opening his mouth as if he were about to say something, Juho rose from his seat instead of speaking a word. After walking around the office for some time, the two made a stop at a convenience store in order to buy some water.
”...”
Noticing the employee glancing over in Juho's direction, Juho pulled his hat down. The employee seemed quite lazy, taking no interest in helping out his customers, his eyes fixed on the screen of his phone. As a faint swear came from the speaker of the phone, the employee burst into laughter out of nowhere. Juho studied the look on Hyun Do's face as the older author calmly paid for the water.
”I don't need a bag,” Hyun Do said as the employee was about to put the water bottle into a plastic bag.
To which, the employee mumbled, ”M'kay,” not even bothering to enunciate his words.
”Thank you,” Hyun Do said, turning around.
”Yep,” the employee said haphazardly.
As Juho stood in a daze, Hyun Do asked, ”Did you wanna get something? If you're hungry, pick something. I'll buy.”
”It's OK.”
Although Juho wasn't all that hungry, bringing business to a store whose employee was less than willing to help his customers was simply not appealing to the young author. Nodding calmly, Hyun Do opened the door, ringing the bell attached to it, which sounded louder than usual for some reason.
”What do you think he was talking about on the phone?”
”He was probably talking to a friend.”
”But he's working, though.”
”He clearly doesn't want to be.”
At that, Juho chuckled and said, ”Well, as long as he keeps that up in front of his boss, he'll get what he wants in no time.”
”Society is what ruins the individual,” Hyun Do said, opening the water bottle, which splashed all over the place and wet Hyun Do's hands. ”See? You can't get water unless somebody sells it to you. In a manner of speaking, we give things value.”
”There's a water fountain there.”
”You don't get it,” Hyun Do said with a dry chuckle, which diffused the tension. As Juho followed Hyun Do, who was walking ahead, he saw a homeless man sitting in front of a large billboard sign, begging.
”Look at him… He's such a fake…” somebody walking past him said. With a hook coming out of a sleeve, the homeless man seemed to be missing his hands. Although having heard the complaints coming from behind him, Juho didn't feel a thing. In fact, he thought likewise. Once rush hour passed, the homeless man would probably pull his hands out of his sleeves and go back home in an imported car. For that reason, there was no reason to be generous to him.
”Do people like that even deserve to live?”