The Great Storyteller

Translated by: ShawnSuh

Edited by: SootyOwl

The two had seen Yun Woo in person, and Somang still had vivid memories of that day. Seeing a subtle smile growing on the boy’s face, the middle schooler also smiled. At that moment…

“You guys have seen Yun Woo?”

“Ah! You scared me!”

… A high-pitched voice came out of nowhere. In order to identify the owner of the voice, Somang leaned her head back as far as she could. It was one of her classmates, who was going through a major growth spurt. Despite being the same age as Somang, the classmate was significantly taller. On top of that, her lanky appearance made her look like a broomstick. Since she was someone with whom Somang shared secrets, Somang included her in the conversation.

“Do you remember when Yun Woo was talking to our teacher?”

“I do,” the classmate said, nodding. In order to retrieve Somang’s phone, which she had forgotten, the three had gone to the community welfare center. Sobbing uncontrollably all the way to the welfare center, the middle schooler had been on the verge of losing her mind. Staying by her side in order to comfort her, the boy and the classmate had willingly gone into the building with Somang.

“I found it!” Somang exclaimed with tears still falling down her face, picking up the phone from a locker and lifting it up toward the ceiling. A sense of relief washed over her. Simultaneously, an even greater wave of shame came after as her misery concluded anticlimactically.

“Watch your belongings from now on, OK?” the classmate said, patting Somang on her shoulder.

Nodding in agreement, the boy said, “Let’s head back.”

At that moment, as an unexpected sound came out of nowhere, the three hid in the classroom by reflex. While they were holding their breaths, waiting anxiously for the moment to pass, they heard the voice of one of their teachers.

“It is such a pleasure to have you.”

“Well, you kind of threatened to talk to the reporters otherwise, so…” another voice answered.

“Haha! That was just a joke! In any case, I’m a firm believer that good deeds like this must be known to the public, Mr. Woo.”

‘Mr. Woo?’ the three wondered simultaneously, their eyes darting back and forth to each other, only to shake their heads in confusion. Meanwhile, the voice got closer and closer to the classroom they were hiding in.

“Thanks to your generosity, the school was able to provide our students with better quality desks and redo the flooring. We were also able to afford a new paint job for our buildings, including the dormitory buildings for our students! Once again, it’s all thanks to you, Mr. Woo. The school has become a much better environment for our students.”

The three heard the voices drawing even closer as the door to the classroom next door opened. Their lips were parched.

“You could’ve sent me a picture of the place,” somebody by the name of Mr. Woo said, and the teacher let out a hearty laughter. It was clear from the laughter alone that the teacher was quite fond of Mr. Woo.

“Well, that’s not the same as seeing it in person. If you being Yun Woo kept you from visiting us during the day, then all I have to do is show you around the moonlit classrooms.”

“I see that you have a way with words. I can see how you used to be a poet at one point.”

“You flatter me, Mr. Woo.”

Feeling the urge to scream, Somang covered her mouth with both of her hands. When the classmate and the boy looked up, feeling that Somang was breathing slowly, they saw that the middle schooler’s jaw had dropped open. She was an avid Yun Woo fan and was never without the young author’s books. Just like the author’s alias, their encounter was quite the coincidence. Fiddling with her phone, Somang asked under her breath, “Yun Woo has been making donations?”

Yun Woo was in the hallway of that same building. Somang stared intently at the door of the classroom they were hiding in. While a part of her wanted the young author to walk through it, another part of her wanted him and the teacher to walk past it. As the image of the young author’s face came up to the surface of her mind, her heart started thumping as if it would jump out of her chest.

“Oh! If you look that way toward the restroom…”

As the teacher’s voice started to fade into the distance, Somang breathed out, feeling relieved. Then, the boy tapped her on the shoulder and pointed toward the door, gesturing for her to leave the classroom. Just like that, the three bolted out of the building. Somang couldn’t forget the look on the boy’s face that day. Tapping on his hand, she asked, “So, are we not gonna do anything about this?”

“Do anything about what?”

“We know something nobody else does!” she said, forcing her face in between the boy’s face and the book he was reading. At which point, he shuddered.

“That’s a Yun Woo book you’re reading, you know. Are you really not gonna do anything about this?”

“Well, what can we do?”

“What everyone else can!”

“Then, buy me a house.”

“You’ll have to give me about thirty years.”

Then, Somang moved on to her classmate, who appeared to be thinking the same thing as her.

“I agree that there’s a lot we can do. Especially in this day and age.”

As the boy looked up quietly, the classmate waved Somang’s phone and said, “Besides, it’s not like these people are doing anything important.”

The hate post that Somang had been reading up to a moment ago shook along with the phone in the classmate’s hand.

“So, are you suggesting that we write a post?”

“You’re a good writer.”

The boy was the best writer in his class, and the teacher would often compliment him. As he clenched his lips, Somang crossed her legs and said, “Honestly, since that night, I’ve been thinking that I wanted to tell others what we heard and I have a feeling that I’m not the only one thinking about this.”

Letting out a small sigh, the boy replied, “Let’s go.”

“Where?”

Furrowing his brow slightly, the boy said, “What do you mean where? The computer room! I have an idea in mind.”

“Yes!” Somang exclaimed, balling her hand into a fist and following her classmate, who was already thinking about which website would maximize their efforts.

“There should be sheets of paper around here somewhere.”

“I’ll keep a lookout,” Somang said, looking out the window of the computer room. The three swiftly carried their plan out into reality.

—

“Shouldn’t we be on our way by now?”

“There’s still time,” Coin said confidently without even checking the time. Because he knew that Coin could take care of himself, Juho didn’t say anything else on it.

“Maybe I should’ve shown you around more.”

“I saw enough.”

“What about a gift for Susan?”

“I took care of it,” Coin said, looking hassled. Then, lying on the sofa like he did at his place, Coin said, “You really need a hobby.”

“That was out of the blue.”

“Look at this place. There’s nothing here,” Coin said, looking up at the ceiling.

Chuckling, Juho replied, “You’re starting to sound like Mr. Jenkins.”

“He might be an asshole, but he does bring up a good point once in a blue moon,” Coin said.

“He would have really appreciated that if he were here.”

“Don’t be silly now.”

“So, what are you gonna do when you’re back home?” Juho asked.

“I’m thinking about starting on a script. I’ve been getting screenplay requests for a while now.”

“What would it be about?”

“Love.”

Considering Coin’s personality and tendencies, it was a rather curious subject for him.

“It’ll look nothing like your version of love. Ugh! Reading that was like chewing on a piece of already-chewed-up gum.”

“Chewed-up gum as in…?” Juho asked. Coin was referring to ‘An Insect Leaves No Trace.’

“That’s right. An old, forgotten love that’s long lost its meaning.”

“Does that mean first love isn’t an actually love?”

“No. It’s a memory.”

“Then, why don’t people call it first memory?”

The two had a lengthy conversation on the subject until Coin rose from his seat and loaded his belongings into the cab.

“We’re not done. Get in,” he said, forcing Juho to get in the cab with him. Sighing, Juho got in and sat next to him.

“This is why you get stupid questions like: ‘Do you have a girlfriend?’”

“What kind of logic is that? I get questions like that because people plan to ask them ahead of time.”

The airport was quite busy. Walking across the terminal, Coin walked up to the check-in counter. Having talked for a lot longer than usual, Juho walked over to the vending machine. While he was contemplating his choice between a Coke and coffee, a person struck up a conversation with him.

“‘Scuse me. Aren’t you Yun Woo?”

After checking where Coin was, Juho hesitated for a brief moment before saying quietly, “Yes, I am. Hello.”

“Oh, my!”

The person with the pair of glasses on their head looked at the young author, thrilled to see him. Meanwhile, Juho accidentally chose a pineapple drink.

“Uh… Would you mind if I ask…”

Although Juho couldn’t really make out what they were saying, he nodded as he got the gist of the question.

“Did you really donate a billion dollars?”

“A billion dollars?” Juho asked, having trouble believing his ears.

“Yes, a billion dollars.”

Juho was caught off guard by her genuine respect and admiration. He didn’t consider himself worthy of such attention.

“Why did you think of donating all that money? That’s unbelievable!”

“Uh… What?”

“Seems like you do a lot of good deeds. And you’re still young! If only my son were half the person you are…”

Juho found himself at loss for words. The number billion lingered in his head, leaving his thoughts in disarray. He couldn’t make sense of the situation. Subconsciously, Juho reached into his pockets. They were empty. He had left his phone at home. In the end, he had to resort to what he could do best at the moment.

“Would you like a picture?”

“That would be an honor! Gives me something to brag about to my son!”

Bringing himself into the frame, Juho took a picture with the lady. Then, when they parted ways, Juho saw Coin talking on the phone. At which point, Juho rushed toward him and asked, “Do you know what I just heard?”

“Hold on,” Coin said, raising his hand and focusing on the phone call. Seeing as Coin was scanning him up and down, Juho started to sense trouble. Then, with the phone still next to his ear, Coin asked, “Did you make a billion-dollar donation?”

Juho simply couldn’t make sense of the situation.

—

‘Yun Woo Donates a Total of One Billion Dollars? Reports Flooding in. ‘Yun Woo Helped Us.”

‘Yun Woo Makes a Whopping One-Billion-Dollar Donation! Evidence Turning Up. The Author’s Past Interview Draw Massive Attention.’

‘Yun Woo’s Net Worth? His Ranking as an International Author?’

‘A British Author Was Reported to Have Donated 1.8 Billion Dollars. Will Yun Woo Follow in His Footsteps?’

‘Yun Woo’s Massive Donation. Partnered with Fernand, One of Yun Woo’s Recent Books Was Known to Have a Million Copies of Its First Edition…’

‘Yun Woo Contributes to Finding Cures to Major Diseases? Yun Woo’s Profit Up to This Point? The Winner of the Nebula Award, ‘Language of God’ Has Been Exported to Roughly Forty Countries…’

‘War, Poverty, Homelessness, Single Mothers, the List Goes On! Evidence of Yun Woo’s Good Deeds Coming to Light.’

”The Glory of Traitor?’ More like, ‘The Glory of Yun Woo!’ His Massive Donations. What’s His Net Worth? The Admirable Life Choices of the Twenty-Three-Year-Old Author.’

‘How Did Yun Woo’s Donation Come to Light? “It All Started with a Community Welfare Center.”‘

‘Yun Woo Suffering From Malicious Comments on the Internet? “We Can’t Let That Happen!” Yun Woo’s Heart-Warming Secret.’

‘The Controversy Surrounding Yun Woo’s Hugo Nomination. The Web Targets the Author. The Students Who Wrote about the Author Speak Up: ‘We Just Couldn’t Keep It to Ourselves.’ Yun Woo’s Secret Revealed.’

‘Yun Woo’s Past Interviews Go Viral Again. The Filming Crew Taken Aback by the Author’s Humble Lifestyle. Is His Humility the Secret to His Writing?’

‘Every Donation Reported Having Been Made under Juho Woo. Will Yun Woo Become One of the Highest Grossing Authors in the World?’

‘What is Yun Woo Donating to? The Globe Focuses on the Author’s Generous Deeds. Fans Applaud the Great Storyteller.’

‘”Yun Woo Declining His Nomination to the Hugo Award Was a Wise Decision.” Pyung Jin Lee Speaks on the Recent Scandal Surrounding the Literary Award.’

‘Yun Woo’s Officials Speak Up Regarding the Donation. ‘We’re in the Process of Correcting Any Inaccurate Information Floating Around.’ Yun Woo Confirmed to Have Donated Large Sums of Money. ‘We Ask Fans to Refrain from Making Any Unfounded Assumptions.”

—

“One billion? ONE BILLION!?”

“What I would do to live his life.”

“I wanna live like him.”

“How much does he make anyway??”

“Seems like there are all sorts of rumors floating around. Did he really donate one billion dollars, though?”

“C’mon, this is Yun Woo we’re talking about. One billion should be nothing to him.”

“Those kids who stood against the haters! Whoever you are, I salute you!”

“I’m sure those haters are not very happy to hear all the good news about the author.”

“They’re the ones who kept calling him fake to start with.”

“The kid who wrote that post is in middle school, apparently. But, man, he really is a good writer.”

“I saw the three on TV! Seems like Yun Woo’s been donating to a lot of different places. Apparently, the director of the welfare center used to be a poet.”

“For the haters out there: don’t waste your time.”

“If I made that much money at that age, I would have bought everything I ever wanted. House, cars, video game consoles, desktops…”

“I think most people would. You gotta spend it while you have the money.”

“Yun Woo spends it on donations, though.”

“No wonder he’s never got in trouble. There’s a cause to every effect.”

“Feel free to make some donation to me too, Yun Woo.”

“If I made enough to be able to donate a billion dollars, I would NOT work. Why does he even write?”

“Seriously. He even went into the military. Why does he live so modestly?”

“I guess that’s art?”

“I saw an article saying that he donates 90 percent of his profits. As for the one-billion-dollar donation, I don’t know what to make of that.”

“It probably adds up to about the same amount.”

“He’s discussed it with an expert for a while, apparently. From what I heard, he’s working with a trustworthy organization.”

“He makes and donates a lot.”

“Why does he even write when he makes that much money?”

“If I were him, I’d buy a building somewhere and live off of the tenants’ rent alone.”

“If I were Yun Woo, I’d go on a long vacation, twenty years at least. In any case, I wouldn’t live the way he lives.”

“That’s kind of what makes him so trustworthy, though. He writes while he has the money, so it makes me think that he’d continue to write even if he were broke.”