The Great Storyteller

Translated by: ShawnSuh

Edited by: SootyOwl

Juho was visiting central Manhattan, which was always booming with people. Standing in his place, he watched the pedestrians walking past a memorial not too far from him. At that moment…

“Mr. Woo,” a voice called to the young author. When Juho turned around, he saw Nabi displaying her usual intellectual smile. Leading Juho toward her car, which she had parked nearby, she took the young author to a restaurant she had made a reservation to ahead of time.

“I knew things were about to get busier, and boy was I right?!” she said as she updated Juho on the things that had occurred recently. Juho realized that was his second time driving across the streets of Manhattan in Nabi’s car. The first time, Nam Kyung had also been there.

“Back then, I was here to watch the award ceremony on TV.”

“And now, you’re going to one in person,” she said, adding that both the people at her work and her clients were waiting anxiously for the ceremony. Nabi wasn’t afraid to show her excitement. Coin and Yun Woo, the long-awaited battle between the two authors was finally happening.

“Are you confident?”

“About?”

“Beating Coin.”

Looking at the traffic ahead, Juho replied, “I’m not sure.”

“OK, let’s be honest for a second here. You want that award, don’t you?”

“I do.”

“Then, I guess you gotta win.”

Juho chuckled at Nabi’s remark. At which point, she lowered her voice and added, “Frankly, it feels surreal that we’re talking about winning an award with Kelley Coin as one of the competing nominees. This will take some getting used to.”

Despite the nervous tone, she looked quite confident. Observing her expression, Juho asked, “Who do you think will get the award?”

“Why, you, of course!” Nabi said sincerely and without hesitation. Shrugging, Juho replied, “That kind of puts pressure on me.”

Although she didn’t buy what Juho had said, she said, “Well, we’re not the ones giving the award. Don’t worry about it too much.”

Then, recognizing the inconsistency in her statement, she added, “As in, we should be cautiously optmistic.”

“Right. Well, the ceremony’s still far away, anyway.”

“You’re right.”

The anticipation was starting to boil over. However, Nabi didn’t go out of her way to bring it up to Juho.

“Well, what did you wanna talk about today?”

She swallowed nervously at Juho’s question. Then, trying to sound as light-hearted as possible, she said, “There’s a TV show that wants to cast you.”

At that, Juho’s eyes narrowed.

—

“Where’s Yun Woo?”

“How the hell should I know?”

Coin was at a high-end hotel restaurant as one of eleven invitees, every one of which were bestselling authors whose books had sold millions. Because Coin tended to be left out of social gatherings between authors by default, his presence was an unusual one. Of course, he had been invited to the gathering only because the inviters had been under the assumption that he would’ve brought Yun Woo along.

“I might as well be chewing a rubber tire,” Coin said, spitting the meat out on a napkin. Amid the uncomfortable silence, a daring soul spoke up. Two of the authors on the table had gotten into an intense argument with Coin, nearly leading to a legal dispute.

“Seems like the food isn’t to your liking,” Kings said. Being the oldest of the eleven authors at the table, Coin remembered him having held a party in Germany in order to celebrate having sold a hundred million copies.

“I really didn’t feel like coming here, but I couldn’t stand that these people were trying to use me to their own benefit, so I thought I should stop by. I couldn’t tell whether they were just trying to piss me off or invite Yun Woo,” Coin said, putting the knife down almost as if throwing it and chugging the sparkling water in the wineglass. Then, another author sitting next to Kings said, “I was looking forward to meeting Yun Woo, honestly.”

“I know. Which is exactly why I’m here,” Coin said. The only reason he had bothered to show up at the gathering had been to see the disappointment on the authors’ faces. At Coin’s edgy remark, the author clenched their lips tightly, appearing disgusted. Every author on the table, with the exception of Coin, knew better than to start a conflict with the infamous author. If necessary, Coin wasn’t afraid to sling mud, even against somebody of higher social standing. However, Coin’s prominence had often prevented others from retaliating. While wealthy, Coin acted as though he had nothing to lose. To be more precise, he wasn’t afraid to lose all he had, which made him an opponent to be avoided at all costs. Although he seemed to be relatively well-behaved as of late, it wasn’t long before the authors found out that he had hardly changed, especially the two who had picked a fight with him.

“I told you not to start anything with him. He even filed a lawsuit against a press company not too long ago. Tamed? Well behaved? Yeah, right.”

While half of the authors on the table focused on eating their food while avoiding eye contact with Coin, the rest of them were intimidated by his presence. Only Kings had a welcoming smile on his face.

“There’s always next time. Seems to me that Mr. Coin here seems to think there was an ulterior motive for our invitation. Though, I am glad to have such an unusual guest. In any case, please, let’s be respectful to one another.”

The table grew silent. Meanwhile, with an oblivious look on his face, Kings said to Coin, “I heard you’re close friends with Yun Woo! It’s always fun to be able to connect with the younger generations.”

“What do you know?” Coin said. He was the only author in the literary world who dared to speak to Kings in such a manner. “Haven’t seen any new books from you lately. Are you planning on retiring soon?” Coin asked.

“I can’t say, but I appreciate that you’re waiting.”

“This conversation is going nowhere. I doubt you’d be able to connect with younger folks,” Coin said, drinking from his thermos. Then, locking eyes with another author, who gave him a strange look, Coin asked, “What are you lookin’ at? You have something you wanna ask?”

“Oh, no. Uh… Actually…” the timid author said, hesitating while rubbing his scruffy chin.

“Well, spill it.”

Being significantly younger than Coin by more than ten years, the author had a medical school background, which he had utilized in his successful debut title. Since its release, his book had been a steady bestseller. With the recent news that stood out to him lingering in his mind, the author said, “I was wondering if you’re planning on attending the award ceremony.”

At the mention of the award ceremony, somebody stepped on the timid author’s foot, and Coin clicked his tongue at the subject that was far from interesting to him. As though untactful and oblivious, the author kept on, “You were nominated for the same category as Yun Woo. Do you think you’ll win?”

“What are you? A reporter?”

“No, an author, actually.”

“An interviewer, maybe?”

“I’m an author.”

“Which magazine do you work for?”

“… I’m a writer.”

It took the timid author a while to realize that Coin was blatantly looking down on him, refusing to answer his question. Then, other authors started to chime in as they barely managed to muster up enough courage to speak up.

“Well, this should be interesting. This is Coin’s first nomination in five years. Though, he did go to the award ceremony on somebody else’s behalf.”

“I was there too! I felt so lucky that I got to witness the youngest winner of the award getting announced.”

“You were up for a short story, right?”

“That’s right. Along with another author sitting at the table next to us…”

As the conversation naturally moved on to the award ceremony, Coin was also having a chat with Kings.

“I’m betting on Yun Woo.”

Coin calmly sought out the person to whom the voice belonged, who turned out to be the author who sitting next to him, the one who had a background in journalism. Writing mostly for a science magazine, he had sold over thirty million copies.

“Yun Woo had never invested this much time into a book before. Of course, time and result aren’t always proportionate to each other, but the story about the traitor was exceptional.”

At that moment, the author with the medical school background raised his hand and said, “Personally, I read Mr. Coin’s book many times. It was great! A world untainted by murder, just before the first murder in human history took place. I thought it was incredibly charming.”

“Aren’t you a Coin fan by default, though?”

“I guess I am,” the timid author said, looking at Coin with an awkward smile. Then, another author, who had a blank expression on his face, added, “Regardless of who wins, both books were outstanding.”

“But it’s impossible to take authors out of the picture completely. People already view the ceremony in a certain way. To them, it’s a showdown of sorts. I guess I should be thankful that I’m not one of the judges who have to endure the pain of having to choose one over the other.”

“Speaking of judges, have you heard anything new?”

“I’d be lying if I said no, but…”

“I’m not rooting for anybody in particular, but I do have somebody in mind that I wish would get eliminated.”

At that moment, the table sank into an awkward silence, and Coin rolled his eyes to look at the author across the table. Being a familiar face, Coin was well acquainted with the author’s scowl.

“It’s always entertaining to watch the idiots who think that polar bears live in the South Pole.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means Yun Woo and I already came to a consensus, and nobody has time to listen to your crap,” Coin said, rising from his seat. Meanwhile, the author sitting across the table turned slightly away from Coin with his arms crossed. Then, walking over to him, Coin grabbed the chair the author was sitting on.

“I did kick some serious ass, though.”

“What?”

“I know. I’m not the easiest person to be condescending to,” Coin said, eating a shrimp off of the author’s plate and wiping his hand on the tablecloth. “I’m leaving. Watch your teeth, Mr. Kings. They tend to overcook their meat here.”

“I’ll give you a call sometime.”

“Don’t bother.”

Then, as Coin left the hotel without even looking back, his phone started ringing immediately after he switched silent mode off.

“What?”

“Why didn’t you answer the phone?”

“I was busy,” Coin replied, wondering if Isabella had already found out. Thankfully, it was about another subject. Instead of scolding the author, the editor said, “Somebody wants you on their show. Now, keep listening before you hang up.”

With his hand in his pocket, Coin waited for his editor impatiently.

“How would you like to appear on TV with Yun Woo?” she asked. Having been waiting with his mouth parted open, Coin said, “Go on.”

—

After a short jog, Juho stared at the lake in front of his eyes, where Coin had brought him at one point. Catching his breath, he made his way toward a bench.

“You were pretending to run, weren’t you?” Coin asked, examining the young author.

“What? You want me to sprint around the lake?”

“That works too.”

“No, thanks,” Juho said, stretching instead of sitting on the bench. The park was still as quiet and unoccupied as ever. There was a big zelkova tree that created some shade.

“Have you decided?” Coin asked. Needless to say, he wasn’t there to watch the young author exercise.

“I don’t know yet.”

Similar to Coin at the authors’ gathering, Juho had heard only one thing from Nabi.

“What do you think would happen if we were to appear on the show together?”

The two authors had been asked to appear on a certain TV show, one on which Coin had already appeared. Going to great lengths to accommodate their guests, the show tended to invite authors to interviews often, not to mention that they also tended to pay their guests quite well. Picturing them sitting shoulder to shoulder on the set, Juho scratched his cheek.

“Well, I’d be appearing with Kelley Coin himself, so I don’t intend to make light of this.”

“What’s that mean?”

“It means I would NOT want to get involved in some accident.”

To that day, there had never been an author who had appeared on TV alongside Coin. Nobody had been willing to appear on TV with a walking time bomb, and Nabi had also been quite concerned about that.

“So, are you turning it down?” Coin asked.