Novelist Running Through Time
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. Aren’t 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 other’s writing.

– What is this supposed to be!

– It’s 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. You’re 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 don’t accept this!

– Sorry, can’t hear you over the sound of my silver prize.

– You…! Make sure you come to the Baekhak Youth Literature Award writing contest next month! We’ll compete again there!

I was in humanities middle school, and she was in arts middle school. But that didn’t 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 other’s 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 couldn’t 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 can’t 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 doesn’t 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?”

It’s 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 wasn’t a single thing from start to finish that he didn’t 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 School’s Department of Creative Writing were places fully under Gu Hak-jun’s 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 father’s smile. It bothered her to see him smiling like he would give everything to someone other than his daughter.

“What’s so funny?”

If Moon In-seop saw this, he would’ve started a lengthy discourse saying, ‘It’s 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 Yubin’s mood, awkwardly closed the book and smiled.

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

“But still, isn’t your fandom a bit too much? You even decided on Author Moon’s school.”

“That’s just nurturing future talent…”

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

“Haha, volunteering isn’t 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…”

“Even if Yuna is stubborn, why did Dad listen to her?”

“It worked out well, didn’t it? Both are of the same age, one eligible for early graduation, and the other a year ahead… If children who love writing interact from a young age, won’t they positively influence each other?”

“You’re not trying to pair them up, are you?”

“Yubin…”

Gu Hak-jun called Gu Yubin’s name with a gentle smile. It was a soft way of admonishing. Gu Yubin slightly softened her previously prickly attitude.

“I’m sorry.”

“Just try to understand a bit. Yuna is still a child. She might want to go to the same school as her favorite author. Don’t be too hard on her.”

“When have I ever been hard on them!”

Gu Yubin grumbled and flopped down on the sofa.

And then she looked at her father and smiled faintly.

“But Yuna likes Author Moon?”

“Hm? Isn’t that so?”

“From what I’ve seen, that’s not the case?”

* * *

“Why didn’t you kill her?”

“…Huh?”

“The girl with the guitar. Wouldn’t it have been right to kill her?”

I know.

The Gu Yubin in front of me is not the Gu Yubin I knew.

Even if she were, what right would I, who have already let her go, have to approach her?

So, it’s right to leave.

I should live my life,

And Gu Yubin should live hers.

Just watching her from a distance…

That should be enough.

So, as I resolved to organize my feelings and create some distance,

She suddenly approached.

Gu Yu-na did.

“I think it would have been right to kill.”

“What, what do you mean by that, Yu-na?”

Gu Yu-na, who hadn’t even properly introduced herself to me yet, pulled out a book from her pocket with an expressionless face and handed it to me.

It was ‘Guitar’.

“That girl is that boy’s dream, right? Then, wouldn’t it be better if she remained an unreachable destination? It would have been cleaner if she had either remained missing or died.”

Let’s summarize the situation.

The new transfer student who just arrived, as soon as the teacher left, walked up and initiated a book discussion with the class’s most famous figure.

The reaction of the other students?

– What’s with her…

– I know that girl. She’s Professor Gu Hak-jun’s youngest daughter…

– Why is she like that?

– There were rumors that she was extremely rude to a writing contest judge… guess they were true…

– What in the world…!

– Should we kill her? Class president?

– Calm down. Acting impulsively is your bad habit.

Whispers from all directions reached my ears, to the point where sweat formed on my forehead.

However, Gu Yu-na, without taking her eyes off me, poured out her words in an emotionless voice.

“Why did you save the girl and have her meet the boy at the end? It suddenly turned into a Japanese romance novel. Did you compromise?”

“Uh. Um…”

“The Cause of Death was clean. A heavy highlight, like sinking into darkness. You can do it if you try. So why did you ruin the ending of Guitar? To make it look good for others? Are you concerned about the shallow criticism that anything dark is automatically artistic?”

As Gu Yu-na’s criticism became more intense, the watching students’ gazes grew more serious.

It naturally looked like she was picking a fight. There were even whispers about whether it was time to call the teacher before a big fight broke out.

But to me, who had mastered ‘Gu Yu-na Linguistics’ and ‘Gu Yu-na Behavioral Psychology,’ the true meaning was clear.

That expressionless face was actually not expressionless. To me, it was ‘regret’.

“Uh-huh. I see.”

There’s no such thing as a bad Gu Yu-na. Numerous experiments have proven that warm attention and strict discipline can soften Gu Yu-na’s unrefined aggressiveness.

So, with a warm smile, I opened my mouth.

“So, you didn’t like the ending of Guitar?”

“Yes.”

“So, you liked everything else?”

“…Yes.”

“Thank you.”

“Yes!”

Communication. Success!

Having said all she wanted to say, Gu Yu-na slightly lifted the corners of her mouth. It was an expression revealing satisfaction and pride.

She swiftly turned around and returned to her seat that the teacher had assigned. Her gait was more aptly described as ‘toddling’ rather than ‘striding’.

In my memory, Gu Yu-na unconsciously took on the appearance of someone in their 20s, but the actual Gu Yu-na from 10 years ago was smaller than I imagined.

“She’s just a kid…?”

Watching Gu Yu-na mistakenly sit in her desk mate’s place, then move to the next seat with an expressionless face after being scolded, I felt like I could see the future clearly.

That kid.

Her school life doesn’t seem like it’ll be smooth…

* * *

The method of teaching writing in the Department of Creative Writing is through creation and critique.

Writing and learning by evaluating each other’s work.

Since both the evaluator and the recipient can broaden their horizons by understanding others’ opinions, it’s quite productive for group activities, notorious for being hotbeds of slander and defamation.

However, since writers tend to not have the best personalities, evaluating each other’s work often leads to minor arguments, violence, assault, verbal abuse, mockery, throwing objects, crying, and even death threats. There’s a reason why Korea is not a country that permits the possession of firearms.

Anyway,

The instructor for the creative writing major declared another brutal battle royale today, as usual.

“Alright, today is critique time~”

Interpretation: You understand, right? Now, go ahead and kill each other.

Originally, throwing young children into a pit to fight until only one survives is a traditional educational method passed down through generations in Eastern classics. The Tang family from Sacheon Province is known to be deeply versed in such education.

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, it’s 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.

“It’s mediocre.”

“What?”

“The basics aren’t there. Leaving aside that all the dialogue sounds like it’s coming from one person, why write novels when you can’t even properly arrange subjects and predicates?”

“That, that’s…! Poetic Freedom! Like Cheong In-ha! You don’t know that?”

“I know. But you’re not Cheong In-ha. Everyone has their own literature. Also I don’t really like Cheong In-ha’s writing. The subject-verb agreement is a mess, making it hard to read. Just like yours.”

To Moon In-seop, Gu Yu-na’s words were interpreted as ‘Even famous writers have flaws. Don’t 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-na’s ruthless critique did not stop there.

“Why does the protagonist’s 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, isn’t it just about how life is hard and you hate your parents? That’s 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 can’t distinguish between cruelty and literary merit.”

That day, Yu-na made two students cry.

It was her first day after transferring.

* * *

“Oh, Yu-na, don’t 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.

“I’ll just play against the wall.”

“That, that’s 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 father’s influence, brought about her own downfall. Sᴇaʀᴄh the ɴøᴠel Fɪre.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

“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? It’s 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! It’s a reading discussion club-”

“Hey! How is that a creative writing club! That’s just your clique!”

“Creative Writing Club Logos! Logos! Logos, join us! Please! Without you, we’re 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 Byul’s 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 shouldn’t 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 one’s 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 can’t ignore experience…

-I thought she only played childish roles.

-Her acting has improved a lot. Was I the only one who didn’t 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?”

“I’m trying to start a club, but we need at least four people. We’ve got three so far. Me, Yu-na, and Kim sunbae.”

“What kind of club is it? I mean, I haven’t even signed anything…”

“It’s a Popular Culture and Arts Study Club, and Kim sunbae, you’re the president. Hurry and sign.”

“Okay…”

****

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