The Great Storyteller

Translator: – – Editor: – –

Translated by: ShawnSuh

Edited by: SootyOwl

“What do you think, Mr. Moon?” Sun Hwa asked.

“What do you mean?” Mr. Moon asked in response as he took his seat.

Sun Hwa shed some light on the latest hot topic in school.

“As in Yun Woo.”

“What about him?”

Mr. Moon seemed to have no clue of why that name was coming up. Having assumed that Mr. Moon would already know about the matter, Sun Hwa asked again in surprise, “… Do the teachers not know about this yet?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about Yun Woo”

“Who doesn’t know Yun Woo?” Mr. Moon genuinely didn’t seem to be aware that the renowned celebrity was in his class. Right as Sun Hwa was about to reveal the truth, Juho intervened.

“Yun Woo comes to our school.”

“… What?”

“What the!? I was going to say that!”

Juho swiftly avoided Sun Hwa fierce glare at him, but Mr. Moon was sitting still in shock. Though he was hardly startled by anything, he was frozen in place by what he had just heard. That moment, another person stood up from his seat in disbelief. It was Baron. The two hardest people to surprise, sitting across from each other, staring out. It was quite a sight.

As for Baron, he had no friends in his class who would share the news with him. It would make sense that he hadn’t known until then. Judging from their reactions, it seemed like the rumor was yet to spread throughout the entire school.

With a smile, Seo Kwang asked Baron, “You didn’t know Baron? I saw some third-years coming by”

“Yun Woo is in this school?”

“Yeah. She’s in Class Seven. She’s pretty.”

“She? Yun Woo is a girl?”

“I know. What HongSam said in his blog is right.”

Baron and Seo Kwang began to have a deep conversation about HongSam. HongSam was a famous blogger who believed Yun Woo was female.

Having heard about HongSam earlier, Juho visited his blog one day. Along with his ridiculous opinion on Yun Woo’s true identity, there were also reviews of books across various genres. Unlike Juho’s expectation, there were quite a few regulars who visited his blog.

HongSam seemed quite humorous and skilled in identifying the core message of a book. There was not a moment of boredom.

Even Juho purchased a book at some point after having read his blog, so that proved it. Listening to Baron and Seo Kwang’s conversation, Juho quietly nodded. Ignoring the boys, Sun Hwa continued with her story about Yun Woo for Mr.Moon.

“She sounded like an artist when she talked. Apparently, once she closes are eyes and feels her inspiration, her hand writes on its own. Isn’t that fascinating? I’m telling you, she’s a genius.”

“She was surrounded by other students the entire day. Even so, she answered every question without showing any sign of fatigue .”

“Hm,” Mr. Moon groaned vaguely at Sun Hwa’s and Bom’s words. His expression was similar to Seo Kwang’s when he had gone over to see ‘Yun Woo.’

“Why wouldn’t Yun Woo join the Literature Club? She’s a novelist,” Sun Hwa said.

Then, Juho replied, “Well, just because someone is a novelist doesn’t mean that person has to be a part of the Literature Club. Maybe Yun Woo wants to experience other things because she’s already a novelist.”

“I guess so. I don’t know if I’d feel comfortable if Yun Woo was part of the club.”

“How so?”

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s shameful to try to write something in front of a professional. Besides, we’re the same age.”

After a brief silence, Juho’s mouth opened, “Shameful?”

“Well, it’s just… embarrassing. It’s like holding a candle to the sun.”

“Is that right?”

“Alright, enough chit-chat.”

Mr. Moon clapped his hands and calmed the excitement. For a while, the Literature Club had been focusing on improving vocabulary and transcription. The members had been harvesting words from the sea, land, their respective homes, and streets.

“We’re going to be using our bodies today, so let’s move the desks.”

They acted according to Mr. Moon’s instruction. They separated the two rectangular desks that were next to each other and lined them up into a single row. The five sat on one side of a desk while Mr. Moon remained on the other side on his own. It looked like Mr. Moon was being interviewed for a job. He took out a notebook he had brought with him and continued with his instructions.

“In this notebook, you will find various words. One person has to explain the word I show him or her, and the rest of you have to guess.”

“Is this a quiz?”

Juho had seen another quiz of a similar format on the TV, so Mr. Moon explained the difference between that class and the TV show, “There is no time limit. Make sure you focus more on explaining than guessing the correct answer. We have a lot of time, so take your time observing your surroundings. Explain as if you were listing the characteristics of the object. You’ll get it as we go on.”

It was still confusing. Seo Kwang was called first because he was sitting on the left-most side of the desk. Since Mr. Moon said that everyone would have a turn, Juho was made last.

Mr. Moon stood behind the members who were sitting and revealed the word on his notebook to Seo Kwang. It really felt like the speed quiz on TV.

Seo Kwang hesitated for a brief moment when he saw the word, but soon stammered his way through. Although there was no time limit, he started speaking faster and faster.

“Uh, so this. It’s an image of a city. The first thing that comes to mind when you think of a city.”

“Fanciness? Bright lights?” Sun Hwa was blurting out whatever she could think of, but Seo Kwang shook his head.

“It’s far from fanciness. Opposite, in fact. It melts under heat! Also, it cracks when it gets… old?”

“Most things melt under heat and crack with age.”

Ignoring Juho, Seo Kwang continued, “In literature, they use this word to portray something bad about a city. Gray! It’s gray; it’s used in construction, and you can find them in residential areas. They use this for building streets, and if you fall on it, you’ll hurt your knee. Maybe it’s usually mixed with a few other things. It’s gray.”

It was still unclear what Seo Kwang was describing. Still, everyone had an idea.

Sun Hwa exclaimed, “Concrete!”

“Correct!”

Everyone turned around and found the word ‘cement concrete’ written on Mr. Moon’s notebook. In parenthesis, it was also written “‘concrete’ counts as an answer.”

“Maybe? Why’d you say maybe?”

“Hey, it’s not like I’m studying architecture. How much would I know about concrete?”

“Even then, you shouldn’t say something if it’s not a fact.”

“You try it!”

At that, Sun Hwa walked out confidently to the front. She looked intently past the other club members in their seats and then at the notebook. For a brief moment, she was lost in her thoughts.

In the meantime, Juho saw an artist sitting toward the middle of the desk, recording the activity of the Literature Club members. His hand moved about his sketchbook.

As Juho watched, Sun Hwa began her explanation, “OK. So, this is something that comes out during important scenes. There’s a song about it too. It looks prettier from afar.”

“You don’t look that pretty even from afar, so it can’t be you.”

“I’m going to hurt you!”

Sun Hwa raised her fist at Seo Kwang as he mocked her. At Bom’s awkward laughter because of them, Sun Hwa continued, “It’s season-sensitive. Each has its own place, but some don’t… and there’s a lot of them. It’s not visible during the day, but only at night. Oh, him! It has something to do with his name!”

Then, Sun Hwa pointed fiercely at Juho. All eyes were fixed on him as she pointed out suddenly. ‘Juho. Woo-Juho’ (TL Note: Wooju sounds like the Korean word for space).

“Mozart really liked this!”

“Oh, stars!”

“Correct!”

Seo Kwang got it right this time.

‘I guess space does have something to do with it,’ Juho admitted to himself while thinking about his name. Then, he proceeded to ask a question, “Mozart liked stars?”

“He composed music about it. Wouldn’t you think he did?”

Juho stopped himself from acting on his urge to ask “what makes that assumption so different from Seo Kwang’s?”

Next, was Bom. She seemed nervous to be standing in front of the others.

“You got this!” Sun Hwa cheered for her while shaking her arms. Seo Kwang joined in by shaking his hand at her. Juho, too, clapped gently as a means of encouragement.

As soon as she saw her word, Boom started talking, “It’s delicious. Um, it’s usually for dessert and everyone sits around it. Uh, and some don’t have seeds.”

“Watermelon?”

At ‘seedless,’ Sun Hwa had thought of watermelon, but it wasn’t the right answer. Bom gently waved her hand in denial and continued.

“You can get drunk from it if you drink it. It can be made into candy or a poem. You don’t eat the peel or the seeds.”

“You don’t eat the peel? Is it an Orange?”

“Really? You get drunk from drinking an orange?”

As Seo Kwang and Sun Hwa quarreled, Juho quietly raised his hand. His answer may have been somewhat subjective, but he immediately understood from one of the clues: ‘you can get drunk from it if you drink it.’

“Grapes!”

“That’s correct.”

“I was thinking the same thing!” Seo Kwang exclaimed. Then, he critiqued one of Bom’s clues, “I eat every part of the grape, even the peel and the seeds.”

“What for?” Sun Hwa questioned him in response.

With an apologetic expression, Bom told him, “I don’t eat the peel or the seeds, so I just said it without thinking.”

“Well, I guess that makes sense. There’s not even a time limit, but this is so nerve-racking.”

So far, every person had shown a tendency of talking or trying to talk faster. Everyone was getting anxious because they felt like they were competing in a quiz show.

“I guess I’m next,” Juho said as he stood up from his seat.

From the front, he faced Mr. Moon holding his notebook. It really was like a quiz show. Juho’s eyes met with Mr. Moon’s. Without hesitating, he turned the page. The word ‘snake’ was written on the notebook, and he took a moment to think.

‘Snake, snake.’

Juho immediately thought of the snake wine, but quickly moved on to a different image. He wasn’t old enough to be thinking about such a thing.

“This has no fins, wings, or legs, but it lives in both the water and the desert. It’s known to be poisonous. It’s very seductive, but even if you give into its charm, you won’t end up taking off your clothes.”

“That’s so suggestive!” having shouted such a thing, Seo Kwang was left with no choice but to face Sun Hwa and her pitiful glare.

“It signifies wisdom and medicine, and it has hundreds of ribs. It’s the only reptile among twelve animals, and it won sixth place in Kyung Joo.”

That was more than enough, and the three answered simultaneously, “Snake!”

“Correct,” Juho told everyone.

Then, he quietly returned to his seat. Looking at him, Seo Kwang thought to himself, ‘He’s good.’

Having been training his vocabulary so far, Seo Kwang could only acknowledge the skill Juho possessed. Juho excelled in language. Sun Hwa and Bom were both competent, but Juho was on a different level. He had the cognitive skills, but there was something about him that set him apart.

At that moment, Bom asked Seo Kwang, “I’ve been thinking this since last week, but doesn’t Juho speak really comfortably?”

“Yeah!” Seo Kwang agreed with her enthusiastically, and Bom was slightly taken aback by such passionate response.

“We’re running out of breath as is, but there’s no hesitation in his speech.”

“That’s not fair.”

Sun Hwa and Seo Kwang glared at Juho. Even if they were to complain, he had nothing to say in response. He stared into the ceiling and, choosing to mumble through his words, he said, “Maybe it’s because I like snake wine?”

The End