The Great Storyteller

Chapter 38 - Pollen in the Air (1)

Chapter 38: Chapter 38 – Pollen in the Air (1)

Translator: – – Editor: – –

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Hey everyone,

SootyOwl and ShawnSuh here. We are loving the response you guys are having for the novel and for the work we are doing translating it. We come bearing some news that some of you might not like. As you know, The Great Storyteller is a Korean novel. Under and Munpia’s partnership to bring Korean novels to a greater audience, Munpia requested that their novels go premium after 40 chapters in order to protect their copyrights and for their authors’ benefit.

We hope the you guys stick with us as we watch Juho’s future change together, but we understand if you are unable to.

Thank you for your understanding.

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Translated by: ShawnSuh

Edited by: SootyOwl

Chapter 38 – Pollen in the Air (1)

After signaling himself, Juho slowly picked up the pace. The park was quiet. The sound of his footsteps rang throughout. As he went further into the park, he smelled something similar to wet dirt.

Rather than setting a strict route, he chose to run around the park, turning accordingly whenever he reached an intersection.

From time to time, he saw the elderly sitting on wooden benches. ‘Perhaps they came out to improve their endurance too,’ Juho thought as he ran, gasping for breath.

“I’m so tired.”

Still, he felt significantly better than he had in the past. His body had been pickled in alcohol then. Now, his body was filled with youth. It was a body much less likely to break.

He thought about what had been on the news the previous night. The number one cause of death for people in their teens, twenties and thirties was suicide. With their healthy bodies, the young had no choice but to take their own lives.

“Gosh, I’m dying.”

His head was spinning as if he had inhaled too much oxygen, but he didn’t stop. The distorted scenery slowly regained its shape. He was slowing down.

“Haha.”

He let out some laughter in between the heavy breathing and felt the corners of his mouth turning up. It was fun. Despite the slower pace, he kept running. Suddenly, he thought of school.

‘Will I be able to survive through the day?’ he asked himself.

“Bah, whatever.” He set the rest area in the distance as the finish line and kept on with every bit of strength he had left.

*

“What’s with him?”

“I don’t know,” Seo Kwang responded as he looked at Juho sprawled on his desk like a wet towel.

Sun Hwa tapped him with her toes as if she were checking to see if he was dead.

“He looks really tired. Shouldn’t we let him rest?” Bom said timidly, but Sun Hwa didn’t stop.

Juho didn’t feel like moving a muscle. Soon, he waved his hands in the air as he sat up. One side of his cheek was red from leaving his face against the desk.

“What?” he asked as he rubbed his cheek.

“I wanted to make sure you were alive.”

“I’m alive and well, ma’am,” he calmly declared his survival.

Now he understood what a dead battery probably felt like. After squeezing out every bit of energy, it closed its eyes with a sense of accomplishment. Though, he felt bad for the teachers. He’d been sleeping through his classes up to that point.

“What did you do last night? C’mon, sharing is caring.”

“You want to come out and exercise with me?”

“What about that statement is sharing or caring?”

“Exercising is nice and caring.”

“All I need is enough strength in my hands to pick up a book.”

“Did you exercise this morning?” Bom asked.

“Yeah. I just ran around the park.”

“You’re so diligent.”

“Nah, he’ll probably last for another three days or so,” Sun Hwa said after Bom.

‘Three days. Considering his condition at the moment, she might be right.’ He stretched his weary body.

“So, what brings you to our class?” he asked with a yawn.

“OK, but don’t be shocked,” Sun Hwa said.

After making eye contact with Bom, they pulled out pieces of paper from their backpacks. They were transcriptions. Because of the multitude of new trainings exercises as of late, transcribing had been labeled as an independent activity.

In other words, it was optional.

“Ta-da! We finished our transcriptions. Just wanted to show off.”

They must have chosen to write more. Her proud expressions made him think back to his high school days. It was adorable. Seeing something to the end accompanied a definite sense of accomplishment.

To some, it might not be a big deal that they had transcribed an entire book. However, Juho genuinely celebrated with them.

Seo Kwang looked at the stack of paper with envy.

“I still have a long way to go. You guys are fast.”

“This is nothing. Mr. Moon complimented us too. He gave us some candy.”

Sun Hwa took out a strawberry flavored lollipop from her pocket.

“Oh... I don’t like strawberry flavored things.”

Seo Kwang’s weak rebellion came to an end with Sun Hwa scoffing at him.

Juho thought as he rested his weary body on the desk, ‘I should get back into transcribing.’

Though he had been making small progress, he struggled with consistency.

Nevertheless, his writing was potent. Every element was primitive. When one stared into it long enough, it almost felt like he was being eaten alive. Without warning, it plunged deep into the hearts of the readers and then left them in the dust.

“Well, I should finish it at least.”

The two were smiling brightly, and Juho wanted to get a taste of that same joy.

However, he completely crashed as soon as he got home.

‘I knew this wasn’t going to be easy.’

*

He opened his eyes to the sound of his alarm the next morning and the morning after that. That day marked his third day. He had been on the verge of giving up on the second day, but he couldn’t go back to being lazy after one day. Whatever it was, he wanted to commit to it for at least three days. After washing his face with cold water, he dragged his aching body outside.

“I’m here.”

“Hey, I’m here.”

Then, there was a guy waving his hand in front of the park. It was Sung Pil.

He had been showing a strong interest since Juho first brought up his morning exercise routine on the phone. He wanted to exercise with him, in the same place.

“Don’t you live far from here? Aren’t you tired?”

“It’s not too far. I’ve been to this park a lot.”

Juho couldn’t stop him when Sung Pil himself was so insistent.

“Still, the park feels different in the morning.”

Juho agreed. An object changed its appearance depending on the time.

As he stretched, Sung Pil asked, “Where’s your finish line?”

“I’m not sure. How’s the rest area in the center of the park sound? There’s a vending machine there too.”

Sung Pil nodded. He had understood Juho immediately. ‘He really must come here often.’

“Do you exercise regularly?”

“Yeah, my dad loves soccer, so I’ve followed him to his morning soccer practices a few times.”

His life was the opposite of Juho’s. Juho had never been active. On the other hand, maybe Juho’s lifestyle had enabled him to work consistently throughout his writing career.

“Be good to your dad.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, of course.”

Despite the slight deviation, Juho finished stretching. He waited for Sun Pil to finish warming up as his body moved up and down. After watching him, Juho asked, “Should we start?”

“Sounds good.”

Then, Sung Pil stood next to Juho.

“Ready, set,” Sung Pil said.

At his signal, Juho positioned himself. Sung Pil had a strong presence, and it felt refreshing to be running with another person.

Juho heard him breathing in. It was the moment before the start.

“Go!”

The two simultaneously moved forward. Juho ran twice as fast as his usual pace. After running shoulder to shoulder with Sung Pil, he hesitated. At that rate, he’d completely burn out before reaching the finish line. He slowed his pace down. When that happened, the figure next to him also flinched. Sung Pil looked back. He was looking at Juho like he was taking all the fun out of the race.

“You comin’?”

Juho answered calmly, “I have my own pace.”

“I’m goin’ ahead if you don’t catch up.”

It was a childish taunt, but Juho answered him with a nod and a chuckle, “Be my guest.”

At that, Sung Pil thought for a brief moment and shouted, “Ha!”

He let out a strange shout every time he took a step. The elderly who were sitting on the benches slowly turned their heads in Sung Pil’s direction. They didn’t seem startled by him. The branches were shaking. ‘Well, ain’t that something.’

“How about you bring your voice down just a tiny bit?”

“You’re here!”

“Yes, I’m here, captain obvious,” Juho calmly answered. “I told you, I have my own pace.”

“Well, this is my pace,” Sung Pil shouted with excitement. “Alright! Let’s race!”

“Seriously, can’t you talk quieter?”

The two raced one another. Juho was running much faster than usual, but although he was running faster, he didn’t feel like giving up. That time, Juho ran ahead of Sung Pil.

‘Since I’m running fast, I might as well run as fast as I can,’ he thought.

“Haa!” Sung Pil followed with a roar.

Juho put a bit more strength into his legs. Though the hill wasn’t very steep, it was incredibly exhausting to run through. He was much more tired and running much faster than when he would run alone. It was also slightly more fun.

He should’ve been slowing down by then, but he was still running. He didn’t even think about that news report, which was evidence that he was focusing on the present.

“I can see the top!” Sung Pil shouted.

Before Juho realized, he had already caught up to him.

‘I’m not blind, you know,’ Juho wanted to answer him, but his lungs had already reached their limits. Sung Pil was also breathing heavily. Their bodies were sending signals for the lack of oxygen.

“I’m dying.”

That moment, Juho’s eyes met with Sung Pil’s. At once, he picked up his pace, and Sung Pil did the same.

They saw the white line at the entrance to the rest area in the distance. It was the finish line. By the time Juho thought that he was less than five steps away, his body had already passed the white line. As he crossed it, Sung Pil crossed next to him.

After the race, the two threw themselves onto a wooden bench to catch their breath. They might as well kiss the rest of the day goodbye.

‘I’m sorry Mr. Moon,’ Juho silently asked for forgiveness. Sung Pil was already lying on his back on the bench. Everytime he breathed, his chest moved up and down.

Juho giggled at the sight.

“At least no one’s going to think that you’re dead.”

“Isn’t that obvious since I’m not dead?”

“Well, I guess so.”

“I’m so thirsty... the vending machine is too far away.”

“Seriously.”

Their eyes met again, and they raised their hands at the same time.

“Rock, paper, scissors!”

“Dang it!”

Sung Pil squirmed from the shock of defeat while Juho sat comfortably on the bench and enjoyed his victory.

“What are you doing here still? I’m parched.”

“Grr.”

After lingering around for some time, Sung Pil got up from the bench and staggered his way toward the vending machine. Juho saw him looking through his pockets to look for change, but for some reason, he returned empty-handed. He didn’t seem too thrilled.

“What’s the matter?”

“I forgot my wallet.”

“Sigh.”

In the end, Juho had to pay for the drinks.

‘OK, you came from far away,’ he justified himself. With gratitude, Sung Pil drank his water,

“Oh, yeah! Much better.”

“Drink slowly. You’ll choke.”

He was really enjoying his water, and Juho too quenched his thirst. A sip of cold water after exercising was as sweet as honey. Careful not to drink too fast, he slowly gulped away at his water.

“Have you been working on anything lately?” Sung Pil asked.

Juho answered after taking another sip of water. He thought of his recent work that had had an animal from the zoo as the protagonist, “Elephant.”

“An elephant?”

“And alien.”

“An alien??”

That moment, there was a thunderous sound. It almost sounded like it had come from an elephant. Juho turned to Sung Pil to look at him. He rubbed his stomach and murmured shamelessly, “I’m kind of gettin’ hungry.”

In the end, they even had breakfast together before parting ways.

*

Nabi Baek was on edge. Perhaps excitement was a better way to describe her state. That year marked her tenth year in the industry. She was definitely not a rookie, and it had been a while since she had been that nervous.

Nabi was an agent. Her job was to manage a number of authors in the country and to import or export copyrights. Though her work consisted mostly of importing copyrights, she had always had the ambition of making Korean books known throughout the world.

Now, she was about to meet Yun Woo.

Juho was a one-of-a-kind author. There was no one like him in the history of Korean Literature. Not only was he the youngest person to debut as an author, but his debut work was drawing massive amounts of attention. On top of that, he had remained anonymous because he was still a student.

“Do I finally get to meet this elusive author today?”

Chapter 38 – Pollen in the Air (1); The End