The Great Storyteller

Translated by: ShawnSuh

Edited by: SootyOwl

“Somebody use your slipper to kill it! This is the chance to be hero!”

“Ahh! I’m scared!”

“Somebody kill it!”

Sensing hostility from the humans, the centipede moved about all the more busily. Only, it was headed in a bad direction. The students ran away screaming while its countless legs moved restlessly. The standoff continued at a distance. The hallway was growing increasingly chaotic.

“Move.”

At that moment, one of the students took off his slipper and started walking toward the centipede. Others who appeared to be his friends gave him an exaggerated cheer. There was playfulness in the boy holding the slipper in his hand. Without hesitating, he approached the centipede and raised his hand up. Underneath him was the centipede.

Juho reached out to stop him.

“Wait!”

The voice didn’t belong to Juho’s. At that slightly awkward, yet resounding voice, the boy stopped what he was doing. The others stopped talking.

It was the foreign teacher. He was known as James. His Korean was still awkward. Many students trembled with anxiety that he might try to strike a conversation with them. To those students, English was a much greater fear than a mere centipede.

Seeing the crowd of students on the first years’ floor on his way to prepare for class, James approached them. Flustered, the boy holding the slipper was struggling for words. Others who had been cheering and those who had been screaming were all staring at that, tall foreigner of a teacher. They hoped somebody would give him an explanation.

Unaware of the students’ heart, James spoke without hesitation. Of course, in English.

“Oh, my! There’s a centipede here. I have an idea of what the situation is. This is a rather threatening presence for the adorable first years. But we must not forget the fact that we’re all part of nature. A slipper is not a tool for murder. It’s an object that protects your feet. Now, let your slipper serve its purpose.”

Surprisingly, the student understood and placed his slipper back onto his foot. Of course, it wasn’t because he was fluent in English. As he backed out, he spoke to one of the students who had been cheering for him.

“That was lit! I just understood everything he was saying!”

Body language was rather universal. James’ body language communicated his thoughts with an admirable result. With such an amazing communication method, his lack of fluency in Korean didn’t seem to be an issue.

“Somebody bring me a dustpan and a broom. I’ll take the centipede out.”

At James acted out using a broom, the students looked at each other. “Who wants to go get it?” As big of a crowd as it was, nobody wanted go.

As he watched, Juho went into the class and grabbed a broom and a dustpan out of the cleaning supply closet.

“Thank you.”

With care, James placed the dustpan in the centipede’s path. It took interest in the orange plastic, and crawled right into it. James waited until its long body had thoroughly made its way into the pan, then said proudly to the students around, “Please go back to your classes. You should rest during recess.”

Even with a dustpan with the centipede in it, James’ gestures made sense to the students. The crowd disbanded, and they all went their separate ways.

“Aren’t you going?”

“I’m getting the broom and the dustpan back. You go back and enjoy the rest of the music.”

“OK. Have fun!”

After sending Seo Kwang back, Juho walked alongside James. With a puzzled expression on his face, James asked him, “Is there a problem?”

“The broom and the dustpan in your hands belong to our class, so I wanted to take it back. I wanted to see the centipede returning to nature too.”

James seemed surprised for moment, but hearing his native language for the first time in a while, he replied with gladness.

“Your English is really good. I’m surprised. Do you have any friends who are foreigners?”

Juho thought of Baron for a brief moment, but he was more fluent in Korean than English. Besides, they hardly talked to each other.

“No.”

“Or maybe you’re from another country yourself. Are you an exchange student?”

“No way.”

“Are you mixed?”

“No. I’ve never been to another country.”

James groaned at Juho’s answers to his questions, even predicting his next question. He thought briefly and continued, “Then there must have been an opportunity in your life I’m not aware of,” he said confidently.

Juho’s language acquisition route had been slightly different from the norm. After some consideration, Juho replied, “I somehow found myself like this.”

At his vague answer, James laughed heartily. He seemed to be thinking that Juho had a secret that he was too shy to talk about. If that was the case, then that was a big plus for Juho, and he quietly swallowed his explanations. As James laughed, his hands moved left and right, which meant the centipede in the dustpan was being tossed around. It didn’t seem like it was a comfortable ride for the centipede.

At the school’s backyard, James swung his arms like a discus thrower. The centipede flew through the air and landed on a leaf. After observing its surroundings, it went on its way. ‘I hope it doesn’t get lost this time.’

After looking at the centipede for a while, James suddenly started talking, “You can learn a language rather quickly given the opportunity. The reason why our students struggle so much with English is because they’re not given the opportunity. Without it, there’s no drive, and the process only becomes painful.”

Writing out dictation out of concern for a grade or the future was just exhausting. Learning was not the result.

“A classroom is not where you start. You have to go out and find that opportunity. Only then, you can learn a language. That’s the start. It honestly doesn’t feel real to me that I’m teaching English to these students. It kind of feels like you’re watering a dying plant with wine instead of water.”

That was a rather uncommon analogy. His body language seemed to be easier to understand, so Juho asked light-heartedly, “So, is your Korean awkward because you weren’t given the opportunity?”

“Haha, that is correct. I’m still looking for an opportunity to learn. I’m also single.” Then, James added playfully, “Do you know any women? Introduce me to them.”

‘Is he asking a student about introducing him to women? This school somehow has a number of teachers who don’t act like they’re teachers.’

“I may be fluent enough in English to not require further education in the subject, but I’m still a student.”

“Huh!? So you didn’t learn English because you were into foreign women? At that age, the interest toward the opposite gender tends to be more intense. I went out a lot too when I was in school.”

Somehow, James appeared to be filled with confidence as he reminisced about his past. Juho’s father would make a similar face at times. Everyone’s memory tended to beautify itself, both natives or foreigners alike.

“Thanks for lending me these. I’ll see you in class.”

James handed the broom and the dustpan back to Juho and went into a classroom at the opposite side of the building. He was a pleasant person, a master of body language, and lover of nature. Juho thought about the kind of story that would come out with James as the protagonist, ‘It’d probably have a feel of a rowdy street concert with cheerful melodies and cymbals that were particularly loud.’

“Aren’t you determined.”

Sun Hwa had been the first to act on the mission given to the club members, the mission of getting a writing sample out of Baron. Accompanied by Bom, she came to Juho’s class and said, “I’m going to try talking to Baron today. Don’t stop me.”

“I’m not going to. Do you have a plan though?”

“Of course! I may not look like it, but I can afford to be comfortable with my grades. I’m a thinker.”

“Don’t you mean you just gave up on your grades?”

Sun Hwa glared at Seo Kwang as he sneered at her. Bom spoke up in midst of the staring contest, “Sun Hwa has really good grades. Even in middle school, she was in top ten in the entire school. She’s works really hard.”

“You hear that?”

“Huh! I’m surprised you even have time to study when you read so many comics.”

“Everything’s a balance. I’m a woman of wisdom, so it’s a piece of cake for me to hit two rabbits with one stone.”

“At the very least, I can see that you lack humility.”

Juho spoke up to put the conversation back on track, “So how are you going to approach Baron?”

As if she was waiting for that, Sun Hwa replied with a smile, “Head on.”

“I thought you said you were a thinker?”

Bom laughed nervously at Seo Kwang’s remark. She seemed to be struggling to think of words to vouch for her friend. Considering her demeanor so far, it suited her.

Regardless of grades, there was no hesitation in the way Sun Hwa treated people. One could argue that the depth of a relationship wasn’t proportionate to time, but with the exception of Baron, everyone in the Literature Club had grown very close to each other almost instantly. That was partly due to Sun Hwa’s proactivity. Seo Kwang appeared to be social, but he’s had a cautious and watchful side. Bom didn’t speak much or act on things proactively. In other words, Sun Hwa was basically the captain.

“What good is a strategy when you’re trying to win someone over? If your heart connects with that person, you can relate with them about anything.”

“OK, so let’s say that what you’re saying is true. How are you going to connect your heart with Baron?”

In response to Seo Kwang, Sun Hwa took out a book. There was a drawing of a hill on the cover. Covered in dirt, the five characters from the book were climbing that very hill. They generally gave off a pleasant impression.

“This comic is all that it takes to connect with a person heart-to-heart. You would know, Seo Kwang. A book has the power to move people’s hearts.”

“So, a book. Guess I don’t have a choice. I’ll be rooting for you.”

Before they knew, their hearts were connecting. It would have been ideal if things played out like they had done between those two, but how would Baron respond?

Like a captain, Sun Hwa ran up to the second years’ floor. The other three followed.

Bothered by Sun Hwa asking him to come out, Baron walked out into the hallway. Bom looked at Sun Hwa, looking even more nervous than her friend. Seo Kwang and Juho observed with fascination.

“Baron.”

“What?” he blurted out a short reply.

As if she had been expecting it, Sun Hwa continued, “Would you write me something?”

Straight to the point. There was no beating around the bush to keep him happy. She stood tall and confidently before Baron. It was admirable. Having that kind of side to her, perhaps Sun Hwa was the toughest one in the club. With that spirit, she was worthy of being a general.

As if she were putting down her sword, Sun hwa pulled out her comic book.

“This was the comic that moved me the most my entire life. When you read this, you’ll find yourself getting filled with companionship. I guarantee it. If you write about how deeply you’ve been moved, you’d be able to write at least ten pages. Baron, please by my companion.”

Bom turned pale. As if she didn’t see that, Sun Hwa was confident. ‘How would this plan work? Would it bring down Baron’s wall?’

Appearing dumbfounded, Baron smirked, “No.”

“Oh, come on!”

The two began quarreling. It was an argument between Sun Hwa trying to get Baron to take her book, and Baron rejecting her. He seemed to be caught off guard by how proactive Sun Hwa had been. It was visible that Baron didn’t know what to do. He was not used to such an initiative. Perhaps that was going to work after all.

“Baron, the bell’s about to ring. I have to go soon. Please, take it.”

“I said I don’t need it. Just go already.”

“If you read this book, you’ll be shedding tears before you know it, and your writing will practically write itself. You’re going to want to find a companion and go on an adventure. Then, come find me in class.”

“I don’t know where your class is, and I’m not planning on going there. Not to mention, I’m not writing anything.”

“Fine. Please just take the book then. Just the book.”

The two kept on quarreling, but even until the end, Baron didn’t take the Sun Hwa’s book.

<Charades> The End