The Great Storyteller

Chapter 41: Pollen in the Air (4)

Translator: ShawnSuh Editor: SootyOwl

As expected, Nabi was sharp. Night. Darkness. The reason why Juho painted everything with darkness in the story was because he liked it. It must have had something in common with what he wanted to say.

“Just… being born and alive felt really different to me at that moment.”

She listened to him with a serious expression.

“I’ve been mostly alone at school. I’m not very social. Because of that, I had all the time in the world to write.”

It had been true. Thanks to his nonexistent social life, he had been able to finish a full-length novel.

As Juho answered her with a smile, Nabi spoke about her past, “I was alone in my old jobs as well. Adults have the same tendency to ostracize people. I even heard somebody talking about me in the restroom. It was painful. I’m a people pleaser, but it’s really greed at the core of it. You can’t please everyone. Somebody in this world is definitely hating me even to this moment.”

Nobody wanted to be hated, and she probably knew how weary it felt.

“Still, I caught myself being greedy again. I guess I haven’t learned my lesson.”

Despite her feelings, she still considered how others felt. She hoped that the other person would consider her feelings in return. She kept trying as if she had never been hated. Maybe that was possible because she was aware that it was impossible to please everyone. It also meant that somebody in that world was fond of her. Juho and Nabi heard children laughing in the distance.

“I didn’t have a dream. I didn’t have a purpose either. I had all the time in the world, yet I did nothing,” he said.

This pattern had remained consistent as he had gotten older. When he had been accused of ghostwriting, he had left the literary world. He had been all alone. He had drunk and gambled everyday. He had gotten used winning and, soon after, losing everything he had earned. He had known that the people around him had been tricking him. He had known that he had been nothing more than a bag of money to them. Still, he hadn’t been able to stop on his own. He had been angry about fact that there were many things in his own heart and body that were out of his control. He had drunk angrily. It had been a vicious cycle. ‘Whenever I think about that time, I smell a corpse,’ Juho thought. Although the time kept ticking, he had remained still. It had been a state closest to death. A person who was alive couldn’t smell like corpse. Yet, his body had reeked with the stench of death.

“So none of the characters at night are actually alive. They’re less alive than a baby in his mother’s womb. They’re immature.”

“…”

Even as a young student in the past, he had known he had been dying. It had been dark, and it had been night. A morning that would never come. Back then, that’s what he had been looking at. Having listened to Juho, Nabi said quietly, “I see. Will you excuse me for a moment?”

Then, she headed to the restroom. In the meantime, Juho took a sip of his drink.

“Whoa, boy… This is insane! It’s freakin’ amazing!” she murmured while leaning on the sink. If only she had permission to shout for joy, ‘Everyone, look! I’m talking to Yun Woo! He’s the youngest and the sexiest author I’ve met! Come see for yourselves!’

She had to put her hand over her mouth to force her excitement down. Her body was shaking.

“This is why I can’t quit.”

There were countless interpretations to a single book. It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that there were as many as the number of readers. None of them gave an objective answer. Each critic was different. Even the words of an expert had no value if the readers didn’t accept them. If somebody had been captivated by a book, it would be natural for them to be interested in the person who had created it. Among the countless people in that world, people who were in love spoke in a distinct language. That was the same for an author. Nabi decided to revisit ‘The Trace of a Bird’ with the author’s own interpretation.

“OK. Breathe in, breathe out. Calm down.”

She fanned at her flushed face. The maturity coming out of Juho’s mouth was unbelievable. It was dreamlike. ‘Maturity dressed in baby skin. You’re lethal, Mr. Woo,’ she thought.

“I’m so geeking out on this.”

Since she was young, she had always been fond of writers. They looked stylish to her eyes. Her emotions had reached its peak as she went into middle school. Yook Sa Lee, Dong Joo Yoon, Tae Joon Park, Tae Won Lee, Sang Lee, So Wol Kim, Yoo Jung Kim, etc. Her heart raced whenever she thought about their lives and works. Of course, she didn’t share that side of herself with anyone. She had only been active in a blog, under an alias.

“Man, I really made it as a geek. I’m so happy!”

She quickly fixed her makeup and made a resolution in her heart, “I’m getting that exclusive partnership, no matter what.”

“Sigh.”

Despite the resolution, she had failed. Yun Woo was stronger than she thought.

“How many times did he…”

She tried to think of how many times Yun Woo had declined her offer, but quickly gave up. She felt like she’d feel discouraged if she revisited each and every time he had said no to her.

“So, are you still pushing and pulling with Yun Woo?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

A coworker asked while giggling obliviously, “Is he that difficult? He’s not even that old.”

“Age is not the issue here.”

“I was jealous that you got to meet him, but now I’m glad that I don’t have to go through what you’re going through.”

“You little… I’m going to have you work with Coin if you don’t shut up.”

She brought up the names of American authors who were infamous for their temper, and her coworker immediately backed down.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m going home now. Clean up after yourself.”

“Yes cap’n. You’re going on a business trip tomorrow right? Have a safe trip!”

“Thanks.”

When she arrived home, she prepared for her business trip. She dragged her weary body into the shower. After it, she took out her luggage. There hadn’t been as much progress with Yun Woo as she would have liked, but she hadn’t given up just yet. She had been incredibly busy as of late. The fact that she had heard from an agent she was close with was proof of that. He was an American named Molley, and she was thinking about what he had said.

“I’ve heard the news about this sixteen-year old debuting as an author. Frankly, I’m still on the fence. It takes time for an author to really bloom. However, you seem to be certain of this, so I’ll trust you for now. We’ll discuss more in detail in person.”

There had been anticipation and doubt in his message. It was understandable. An author in his mid-forties was considered to be young in the world of literature. In that field, debuting at the age of sixteen had to carry some significance. Yet, she was not concerned. Both the author and his work were outstanding. Even Molley, who was much more experienced as an agent, would understand the moment he read the book.

She was already able to picture the meeting in her head. Molley would be drawn by Yun Woo’s charm. Other publishing companies from other parts of the world would see what their agents had brought back and race for an idea. ‘It won’t be long until offers from overseas start flooding in,’ she thought. It was ecstatic just to think about it, but she wasn’t going to let that stay in her imagination.

“I’m doing it. I’m doing this.”

She lay on her bed. She wanted to fight for the exclusive partnership even more. To an agent, an exclusive partnership was like a blinker to a horse, allowing it to keep looking forward. Sometimes, it took years of investment. A lot of things had to be spent. Spreading an author’s book was not an easy task by any means. In order to make it through that long and strenuous journey, an exclusive partnership was essential. She had to believe the fact that she would be rewarded for the amount of effort she would have put in. It wasn’t wise to keep working while bearing the loss. There had to be an insurance, and she wasn’t going to let anything get in her way.

That book had been written by Yun Woo, and she was certain of its international success. She wanted to take that project on at all cost and she believed she had what it took. After a brief thought, she reached for her cell phone above her head. A series of signal sounds soon turned into a voice, the same voice she had just heard earlier today.

“Hello?”

“Hi, how you doin’ Mr. Woo? This is Nabi Baek.”

Juho answered with his distinct tone of voice, “What are you calling about?”

“Do you have some time tomorrow? There’s something I need to tell you before I leave for a business trip.”

“I do have time.”

One of the perks of being a student was that he had relatively more time than others who were older. She wanted to have another talk with him before her trip. Her schedule was about to get tighter, and she wouldn’t be able to meet with him in person as often. After deciding on a time and a place, she hung up the phone. It was time for a final negotiation.

“I’m really doing this,” she resolved in her heart once again.

After finishing up the call, Juho looked at his work in progress in vain.

“I had a good feeling about this.”

The paper had gone cold since the call. He put down his pen and stretched. He felt pain in his tense shoulders. She was probably not going to beat around the bush tomorrow. ‘She’s a tenacious one,’ he thought with a faint smile.

“I believe it’s here.”

He made his way to the place where he and Nabi had decided to meet. The situation was changing. He reminisced to the actual first encounter with her when he had been actually sixteen.

Back then, he hadn’t known anything about copyrights. Of course, Nam Kyung had given him an explanation, but he must have thought that the adult would take care of it. Although it had been his business, he had had a hands-off attitude. He had already been as full of himself as he could have possibly been. Failure had not even crossed his mind. The book had actually been doing well. He had had no clue of what kind of change that was going to bring.

‘This could be worse than before. Maybe I don’t even get to be homeless this time,’ he thought as he tried to calm himself. It was still much better than leading the same life he had in the past. He was living through a miracle. When he arrived at the cafe in the park, Nabi was already waiting, and she waved at him.

“You’re early.”

He was also early, but she had been even earlier. She seemed to believe that it was not professional to keep her client waiting. The two agreed on walking around the park, each with a warm cup of coffee.