The Great Storyteller

Translated by: ShawnSuh

Edited by: SootyOwl

“What’s the secret to becoming a better writer?”

“What’s the secret to speaking better English?”

“How did you guys invest in yourselves to reach where you are?”

“What’s it like to be popular?”

“How many cups of coffee does Kelley Coin drink in a day?”

“What are the award ceremonies like in the US?”

“Have you met a lot of celebrities? Were any of them Hollywood actors?”

“Tell us more about Jenkins!”

“How come you’re not a fan of doing movie adaptations?”

“Did you really donate a billion dollars?”

Juho and Seo Kwang each answered an array of questions. As time passed and the students opened up more, the number of questions also started to grow. It was a rather comfortable atmosphere, and there was frequent laughter throughout the Q&A session.

“Was it fun being part of the Literature Club?”

At that, Seo Kwang answered without hesitation, “It’s what made school fun.”

Juho nodded in agreement. At which point, the students got even more excited and said, “We saw Juho’s short story in the literary magazine! Everyone else’s were really good too!”

“Man, that was ages ago! I didn’t know it was still being read,” Seo Kwang said.

“Do you guys keep in touch with your old clubmates?”

“Yep! We had a drink together not too long ago.”

“Were you ever jealous of Juho’s writing?”

Rubbing his chin, Seo Kwang answered, “You know, I used to wanna be a writer at one point.”

“Really!?”

“But I gave up because of Yun Woo, though.”

“Egh!”

Seo Kwang was clearly getting a kick out of the students’ reactions. In order to remind him of that, Juho tapped him on the leg. However, the translator didn’t let up.

“I mean, he was already a professional writer by that point, right? But he was still super serious, even against amateurs like me! I don’t know about you guys, but no amateur in their right mind would wanna be up against Yun Woo.”

“All right, then. Suit yourself,” Juho murmured, taking a step back. Then, a shout came from the back.

“But Mr. Woo’s a good translator too! Were you at all intimidated by that?”

At which, Seo Kwang put on a complacent smile and said, “I’m not backing down twice.”

If Sun Hwa had been there, she wouldn’t have hesitated to scold him for his pretentious attitude. At that moment, another student raised their hand, and Juho locked eyes with them. Their eyes were filled with curiosity.

“What is it like to achieve your dream?” the student asked, firmly believing that the two had achieved their respective dreams.

As Juho hesitated, Seo Kwang glanced over at the author and said, “It’s nice! It feels good. I also feel relieved.”

Juho chuckled, indicating that he agreed with Seo Kwang.

“I thought you didn’t stop pursuing your dreams until you dropped dead.”

At that moment…

“Nope.”

… Mr. Moon interjected, rising from his chair. Although the students groaned, reluctant to part ways with Juho and Seo Kwang, they simply couldn’t keep them any longer. After all, the two were the center of attention in their respective fields. In the end, Juho said goodbye to the students with Seo Kwang’s remark still lingering in his head.

“Let’s go,” Mr. Moon said. While waiting until the club activities period was over, Juho and Seo Kwang sat under the same tree they used to sit under, drinking coffee and taking pictures with the students, or signing autographs for them. Then, as the two got into Mr. Moon’s car, the students in the schoolyard exclaimed, impressed.

“Where are we going?”

“To eat.”

Mr. Moon’s car was filled with books. Scanning through them, Seo Kwang asked, “Have you ever given your students a ride?”

“A few times when I was a homeroom teacher.”

“Why?”

“There was a student who just stopped showing up to school, so I had to visit their home with another teacher. Ha! I was seriously on the verge of quitting back then,” Mr. Moon said with a cheerful smile on his face.

Then, Juho asked as he opened the window, “What are we eating?”

“Why don’t we go for some barbecue? Call everyone else.”

“Already on it! Are you buying, Mr. Moon?”

“You little… You’re both better off than I am.”

“Apparently, Yun Woo’s dirt poor after making that billion-dollar donation.”

“Enough with the rumors already!”

Seo Kwang tapped on the screen of his phone busily as the car came out of the schoolyard and passed through the gate. Juho looked at the school building as it faded into the distance. Although a lot of things had changed, there were still traditions being upheld to that day. That evening, the entire group of former Literature Club members got together over barbecue.

—

“Eat more.”

“That was quite enough.”

“You’re such a wimp sometimes,” Yun Seo said as Hyun Do rinsed his mouth with water. Looking at him putting his chopsticks down, Yun Seo stuffed her mouth with meat and vegetables. Since the weather had started to get warm, eating outside of the house was no longer an issue. Should the weather have been colder, it would’ve been unthinkable. A pleasantly warm breeze came along.

“Juho seems to be doing well. He was here with Song Hak not too long ago. Oh, have you met Song Hak?”

“He’s one of your former pupils. He teaches at a high school, doesn’t he? You wouldn’t stop talking about him at one point,” Hyun Do said, and Yun Seo started giggling.

“Have you read Juho’s English novel, yet?”

“I have.”

“I’m starting to think that he’s actually afraid of water, not birds.”

As Hyun Do looked toward her, Yun Seo put on a mischievous look and said, “Did you get that impression at all? I kept getting the same impression while reading ‘River’ too.”

A story of a person drowning and a story about a protagonist who suffocates to death, there were definitely commonalities between the two novels.

“Why don’t you ask the author yourself?”

“Should I?” Then, remembering something all of a sudden, she changed the subject, “Oh! Didn’t you say you had started working on something? Any progress on that?”

“Yes, I did. Nothing major, though.”

There were countless readers waiting for Hyun Do’s new book. Yun Seo had heard that the author had received an offer from a publisher recently.

“I thought you were done with writing the plot? You’re taking your sweet time,” Yun Seo said, resting her chin on her hand.

Nodding, Hyun Do replied, “There’s something I’ve been thinking about.”

At that, Yun Seo stopped moving her chopsticks and asked, “Which is?”

“A person, actually.”

“Who?”

Raising his cup, Hyun Do said, “A pupil.”

“That’s a real head scratcher.”

Hyun Do was known for refusing to write testimonials for other authors. Similarly, he had never judged contests or taught aspiring writers like Yun Seo did. He took no interest in lecture offers either, no matter the compensation for them. On top of that, he wasn’t fond of giving advice to other authors. It was simply his natural inclination.

“I mean, you could always give it a shot? I’m sure authors would line up to learn from you.”

“Should I?” Hyun Do replied, flicking on the surface of the cup, which resonated with a clear sound.

“Eh?!” Yun Seo let out while looking at Hyun Do with widened eyes.

“You seem surprised.”

“Well, it’s just that I was expecting a different answer, I guess.”

“I’m actually willing this time.”

“Willing to take in a pupil?!”

“Not necessarily.”

“Then, what are you saying? Do you wanna try teaching one of my classes?”

“There’s no need,” Hyun Do said, adding, “When are you seeing Juho again?”

—

“Hey, you. Been a while,” Juho said, patting the dog on the head. The dog started wagging its tail upon seeing Juho. It had been a while since Juho had been to the neighborhood. Yun Seo still seemed to be healthy and Joon Soo and Geun Woo were still wrestling with their manuscripts as usual. Geun Woo, in particular, seemed quite depressed, which made Juho think that he was in a rut. Joon Soo was still delivering lectures at university campuses. Serving multiple purposes, Yun Seo’s house was a classroom on one hand and a studio on the another. At that moment, the dog, which had been lying on the ground indifferently while Juho was patting it, sprung up all of a sudden and started wagging its tail again.

“What is it?” Juho asked, looking around and wondering if its owner was returning home. Then, he saw a person walking up the steep hill. At which point, Juho also sprung up.

“Mr. Lim.”

“I see that you two have met.”

It was Hyun Do. Having no recollection of being informed that he was visiting, Juho was genuinely caught off guard by his appearance. Thinking back on it, Yun Seo had seemed somewhat brighter than usual.

“How’ve you been?”

“I’ve been well. How about you?”

“Same,” Hyun Do replied nonchalantly, kneeling in front of the dog, which started nuzzling him and panting excitedly. It was behaving in a completely different way from just a moment prior, when it had been alone with Juho.

“You seem really close to the dog,” Juho said bitterly.

“We’ve come to know each other over time.”

“I didn’t realize it knew so many tricks.”

The dog was now standing on its hind paws. Even while greeting the dog, Hyun Do’s back was straight. Then, after staring at his back for a little while, Juho caught on to what Hyun Do had really meant.

“Do you like to travel?”

Blinking in confusion for a brief moment, Juho replied in a hurry, “Yes, I do.”

Hyun Do nodded, and the air sank into silence. The dog’s tail looked almost like a propeller by that point.

“So, Yun Seo thinks that…”

Juho listened to him intently.

“… There are a lot of authors who are curious about my writing process.”

“I’m sure there are,” Juho said genuinely and playfully. “I’m one of those people.”

“Is that so?”

Turning away from the dog without hesitation, Hyun Do went down the hill. Staring at him disappearing into the distance, Juho sat next to the dog, which moved away from him. Only then, did Juho realize that Hyun Do had been investigating him.

—

“Why Juho…?” Geun Woo murmured, burying his head. By that point after dinner, Hyun Do had already left. Juho was looking up at the dimming sky.

“How come only Juho gets to visit Mr. Lim’s studio!?” Geun Woo shouted. While Juho tried to comfort him with an awkward smile on his face, Yun Seo calmly drank her tea.

“I think it’s time to go to bed, Geun Woo.”

“Why you?” Geun Woo let out, sounding almost resentful by that point. “Why not me?”

“Beats me,” Juho replied haphazardly. At which point, Geun Woo started shaking.

“Well, good for you! I’ll probably never see his writing space in my lifetime, but don’t mind me. I’m just a nobody. Ugh! I feel like I’m having indigestion just thinking about it.”

“You probably ate too much,” Juho said, shrugging and adding, “Well, I’ll learn enough for the both of us.”

“You prick!” Geun Woo said, his eyes changing all of a sudden. “Life’s been good for you, huh? Being in the spotlight with your translator, making some billion-dollar donation… Well, I hope you learn through this experience that there’s always going to be somebody better than you.”

“C’mon, Geun Woo. How old are you now?” Joon Soo said, letting out a small sigh.

Nevertheless, Juho nodded slowly and said, “Yes, I’m planning on it.”

“Ugh! You’re SO annoying!” Geun Woo said, picking up his phone irritably and calling somebody.

“Hello? Choi?”

“Wow, Geun Woo. You’re really something else,” Joon Soo said, shaking his head with a disgusted look on his face as Geun Woo spread rumors in front of Juho. Sang Choi was even more narrow-minded than Geun Woo was. Then, Geun Woo handed the phone to Juho, who took it from him.

“What about me?” Sang Choi asked as soon as Juho brought the phone up to his ear. Resisting the urge to chuckle, Juho dealt with the romance writer haphazardly and hung up the phone. Thankfully, Sang didn’t call back, most likely because he was calling other authors.

Looking at her pupils, Yun Seo asked, “Should I talk to Hyun Do and ask him to take you guys too?”

Then, Geun Woo dropped his head and became bashful all of a sudden, “I feel kind of shy…”

Contrary to Geun Woo, Joon Soo said calmly, “If I don’t earn the opportunity myself, then how meaningful would that be? Right, Mrs. Baek?”

At that, Yun Seo waved her hand in denial, as if she had expected her pupils’ answers.

“Then, you two better focus on writing rather than wasting your energy elsewhere. Didn’t you miss a deadline not too long ago, Geun Woo?”

At that moment, Geun Woo quietly let up. Meanwhile, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere, Juho thought to himself, ‘I wonder what Mr. Lim’s studio is like?’