Chapter 35

Chapter 35

TL: KSD

A writing contest.

Gather participants, throw a topic at them, and they write a piece within a limited time. Then, the judges pick out the best-written piece.

It could be hosted by a famous literary arts foundation, by local governments offering prize money, in parks, or in gyms.

I first met Gu Yu-na at a writing contest themed Cicada.

Amidst all the harsh criticism poured on me for not writing the cicada-praising novel the judges wanted, she quietly approached me and said,

I liked it, though.

What did you like?

Honestly. Arent you tired of cicadas?

It was in the first year of middle school.

We met in a neighborhood park on the outskirts, where the cicada sounds were audible, under the shade of trees blocking the warm sunlight, both holding manuscript paper and a pen in our hands.

The two young novelists laughed together at the narrow-minded judges, scoffed at the ghostwriting culture prevalent in the writing contests back then

And laughed at each others writing.

What is this supposed to be!

Its called over-emotional main character.

Fix your setting! Your writing style is like some web novel.

Are you looking down on web novels now?

Eventually, we fought and went our separate ways.

And then we met again at the next writing contest.

Tsk. Youre here too?

None of your business.

Did you fix the over-emotional main character?

We fought and separated again.

And met again at the next contest.

Why did you win the gold prize! I dont accept this!

Sorry, cant hear you over the sound of my silver prize.

You! Make sure you come to the Baekhak Youth Literature Award writing contest next month! Well compete again there!

I was in humanities middle school, and she was in arts middle school. But that didnt hinder our meetings. We were writers, oddballs wandering the country to have our clumsy writings acknowledged.

Although I was publicly branded as a loser at school, when I met her at the writing contests, I was the most merciless critic, a proud novelist.

And her rival.

Despite living in different places and growing up in different environments, our dream of becoming novelists connected us.

As time passed, we grew up together.

We learned from each other, taught each other, shared the most precious memories, comforted each other through the most painful wounds, and naturally became each others other half.

Half of my personality resembled Gu Yu-na, and half of her personality resembled me. When I imagined the future 10 or 20 years later, she naturally fitted into that imagination, taking the seat beside me.

I can still vividly remember her appearance. Her long hair that she tied differently following the trends, and her static face that barely changed its expression.

She was much shorter than me, who was not tall, but her small face made it not so noticeable. A destructive lifestyle pattern that couldnt manage without her mom, sister, or me.

The wisdom to distinguish between coldness and rationality, the minimal social skills developed after many trials and tribulations. The defenseless smile and tears she showed whenever she deeply immersed in my writing.

I loved those things.

I cant possibly forget her appearance.

Yu-na was originally

But the appearance of her that reappeared,

Was too different from what I remembered.

Was she this young?

To the point where I momentarily entertained such a foolish thought.

EP 3 Magic Sword~nim, please control me!

Crunch. Crunch.

The sound of chewing hard cookies.

And then the rustling sound of turning pages.

The disorganized and untidy appearance of the study made it hard to guess that its owner was a novelist representing the Korean literary world and a current university professor.

Of course, Gu Hak-jun keeps his office at the university tidy. He just doesnt want to put in the same effort at home.

So, Gu Hak-jun was eating Matdongsan (TL: a type of snack) at his chaotically organized (a phrase known to those in the know) desk, reading Guitar by Author Moon.

Keuhhhh

No need for beer. The refreshing writing style, the fresh emotional lines, and the delicate insight into the underbelly of the city were indeed drinks with the true addictiveness of alcohol.

How could a primary school student write this?

Its a novel so good that, even if a university student had written it, one would want to kidnap them and make them a graduate student immediately.

The novel was so substantial that each time it was read, new aspects would freshly catch the eye.

Something Professor Gu Hak-jun always emphasizes in class.

Fill even the empty spaces between the lines with writing

Author Moon had already internalized this teaching.

There wasnt a single thing from start to finish that he didnt like.

How could this be!

A genius, genius

And that genius was within his grasp.

The literary world may not be one giant force, but Baekhak Arts Middle School and Baekhak Arts High Schools Department of Creative Writing were places fully under Gu Hak-juns influence.

It was possible to watch Author Moon grow from the sidelines, and even to expedite his graduation to get him into university early.

Hehe.

Every time Gu Hak-jun thought about having Author Moon in his hands, a smile naturally came to his face. In the past, thinking about the future of Korean literature used to make his chest tight and breathing difficult, but now, even in the shower, the thought of Author Moon would bring a smile to his face at the.

However, Gu Yubin did not particularly enjoy her fathers smile. It bothered her to see him smiling like he would give everything to someone other than his daughter.

Whats so funny?

If Moon In-seop saw this, he wouldve started a lengthy discourse saying, Its a manifestation of the desire to satisfy through a bond with the father, the deficiency created by discord with the mother. The evidence can be found through this book you wrote., but fortunately, Moon In-seop was not here.

So, Gu Hak-jun, noticing Gu Yubins mood, awkwardly closed the book and smiled.

You know the feeling of finding an author who shares your sentiments.

But still, isnt your fandom a bit too much? You even decided on Author Moons school.

Thats just nurturing future talent

Nurturing future talent by going to an orphanage for volunteer work? I heard you even made kimchi.

Haha, volunteering isnt a bad thing, is it?

Gu Yubin felt as if she and her younger sister had lost their father to Author Moon. That insolent brat!

I get that about Dad, but why is Yuna acting like that? How could she change schools just because of Moon? Leaving the school she was perfectly fine with.

Haha

In a broader sense, writing contests are not much different. Moon In-seop, who emerged from the bloodbath of competition by tearing through the writings of other kids, is a testament that, although somewhat cruel, its indeed an effective method of education.

However, the boy was a master of half-hidden techniques, knowing how to conceal 30% of his internal energy. He could have slaughtered all his group mates without them being able to utter a word if he wanted, but he chose to avoid unnecessary bloodshed and the accumulation of karma.

But Gu Yu-na, who had just made her debut in the literary world, or rather, the martial arts world of literature, was different.

The tremendous literary talent inherited from her father,

The inferiority complex and murderous intent nurtured while growing up with her sister.

Unable to control those, she revealed her internal energy and caused a bloodbath.

Its mediocre.

What?

The basics arent there. Leaving aside that all the dialogue sounds like its coming from one person, why write novels when you cant even properly arrange subjects and predicates?

That, thats! Poetic Freedom! Like Cheong In-ha! You dont know that?

I know. But youre not Cheong In-ha. Everyone has their own literature. Also I dont really like Cheong In-has writing. The subject-verb agreement is a mess, making it hard to read. Just like yours.

To Moon In-seop, Gu Yu-nas words were interpreted as Even famous writers have flaws. Dont blindly follow others writings out of admiration, but build your own foundation to write strong literature,

But that was because Moon In-seop had spent nearly a decade peering into the abyss until his mind got somewhat twisted, whereas others took her words at face value.

Gu Yu-nas ruthless critique did not stop there.

Why does the protagonists direction change at the end? Did you want to make the ending emotional? Forcing the character into a twist ruined the story.

The novel pretends to be philosophical, but in the end, isnt it just about how life is hard and you hate your parents? Thats just an expulsion of emotions, not philosophy. You need to take a step further with unique ideas. This novel is a failure.

It seems you cant distinguish between cruelty and literary merit.

That day, Yu-na made two students cry.

It was her first day after transferring.

* * *

Oh, Yu-na, dont you have a partner? Shall I pair up with you?

The girl, dressed in spinach-colored gym clothes and holding a tennis racket, shook her head stiffly.

Ill just play against the wall.

That, thats okay?

Yu-na, holding her tennis racket and ball, headed towards a wall in the corner of the gym. While others paired up for practice, she played tennis against the wall alone.

The astonishing thing was, our Department of Creative Writing had an even number of students. Dividing an even number by 2 somehow resulted in a remainder. This is the math of the humanities.

Such arithmetic miracles frequently occurred around Gu Yu-na.

Trash appeared in an empty locker as if mocking the laws of physics, and solid objects like erasers and pencils seemed to evaporate, and seeing Yu-na get stuck with cleaning duty every week in a bi-weekly rotation made me think she, too, was caught in a twist of time like me.

Thus, Yu-na became ostracized. Her disastrously poor interpersonal skills, surpassing even her fathers influence, brought about her own downfall.

Sigh

Despite consciously trying to keep my distance from Gu Yu-na after our first encounter, inevitably, she would catch my eye as we lived in the same class.

Today, too, Yu-na was eating her lunch alone. Her usual expressionlessness made her seem dignified even while eating alone, but seeing her pick at her favorite sausage and vegetable stir-fry revealed her true feelings.

I turned away from Gu Yu-na, who looked like an abandoned kitten, but even after returning to the classroom, she was still alone.

But that afternoon.

Just before school ended.

Ah! Right! Our class has two new transfer students!

The homeroom teacher came in for the last roll call and called out Gu Yu-na.

The homeroom teacher announced one fact to us.

Do you two have any clubs you want to join? Its not mandatory, but our school has very active club activities-

Before the explanation could continue, cheers erupted from the mouths of the classmates.

All the cheers were directed at me.

Join our club!

In-seop! We, the creative writing kids, have our own club! Its a reading discussion club-

Hey! How is that a creative writing club! Thats just your clique!

Creative Writing Club Logos! Logos! Logos, join us! Please! Without you, were doomed!

In the midst of the cheers, I looked at Gu Yu-na.

Because the indifferent homeroom teacher had specifically called the two of us to stand up, we were the only ones standing in the class.

Because of that, I could directly see the expression of Gu Yu-na, who was being publicly ignored by all the other kids in the class.

Her face looked as if she was about to cry any moment.

Damn.

I was trying to keep my distance this time.

Teacher, can I talk to you about the club later?

* * *

After the short film, Cause of Death, was released, Kim Byuls daily life changed slightly. Although the film was a box office failure, it proved her acting skills, and she began to receive some work.

This is why one shouldnt underestimate short films. A film is ultimately a visual medium, and anyone with eyes can watch and judge for themselves.

Whether a movie makes money or not, as long as it is well-made, it can help ones career.

As a result, Kim Byul got the opportunity to be cast in a supporting role in a commercial film by a fairly renowned director and was currently in negotiations with the company side.

But what pleased Kim Byul more was that the third-year acting students started acknowledging her after watching her short film.

-Did you see Cause of Death?

-Seems like you cant ignore experience

-I thought she only played childish roles.

-Her acting has improved a lot. Was I the only one who didnt know

Kim Byul sat aloofly at a window seat in the corner of the class, feeling her hair flutter in the breeze coming through the window gap, and listened indifferently to the murmurs of her classmates with an impassive face.

Her eyes were directed outside the window, but all her senses were focused on her hearing.

Therefore, Kim Byul could immediately notice that an outsider had entered the class.

Turning her head, she saw a familiar figure.

Kim sunbae.

What, what? Why are you here?

It was Moon In-seop.

The boy extended a pen and paper to Kim Byul.

Please sign.

What is it?

Im trying to start a club, but we need at least four people. Weve got three so far. Me, Yu-na, and Kim sunbae.

What kind of club is it? I mean, I havent even signed anything

Its a Popular Culture and Arts Study Club, and Kim sunbae, youre the president. Hurry and sign.

Okay

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