Novelist Running Through Time
Chapter 43

TL: KSD

It was my first time attending a company dinner party somewhere. I was never a company employee, neither in the past nor now. However, I knew roughly what a company dinner was like. I had seen it in dramas.

Cheers with a shout of “For us!” followed by the superiors throwing risky jokes at their subordinates, and the villains openly badmouthing the ostracized female protagonist until the second-generation chaebol male lead arrives in his Mercedes to take the female protagonist away. Isn’t that a frequent occurrence at these gatherings?

I may not know much, but I understood that it wasn’t normal for a company dinner to have the atmosphere of a funeral home.

And the person who had turned the publishing management department’s dinner into a funeral home atmosphere was sitting right in front of me.

Staring at me expressionlessly.

“…….”

“…….”

Film director So Tae-woong.

The winner of the Golden Bear award at the Berlin International Film Festival.

After a long silence, he suddenly bowed his head.

“Hello, I am Director So Tae-woong.”

An awkward greeting and business cards were exchanged.

“I’m Moon In-seop. I write under the pen name Mun-In.”

“Oh, yes, I’m Lim Yang-wook, the head of the publishing management department.”

“Hello! I’m Baek Seol, the deputy head!”

The employees at the other tables were silently listening to our conversation.

Since it was a table for four, Baek Seol naturally reached for the tongs and scissors.

I added, just in case.

“Ah, she is the daughter of the late Chairman’s nephew.”

“Hmm.”

So Tae-woong silently picked up the tongs and scissors.

His movements were quick.

EP 4-Red Hunter

Watching the beef sizzle on the grill, I was filled with various thoughts.

The first thing that came to mind was why I had disliked beef all this time.

Reflecting on it, it seems I didn’t dislike the food “beef” but the social meaning behind the word.

‘Expensive food’

With only enough allowance from the orphanage to barely buy manuscript paper, how could I afford to eat beef?

I was the fox, and the beef was the grapes hanging from the high tree.

Those who cannot obtain something unreachable convince themselves of their dismal reality. They brainwash themselves into thinking, “I hated it from the beginning.”

But because of that, the fox longs for the grapes…

“Yum…”

I put the beef in front of me into my mouth. My young body doesn’t know the taste of beef. It’s tough, bland, and greasy. It’s the body of an age that would prefer chicken skewers and pork ribs.

However, the reason I find beef delicious is surely in the mind.

The taste of the grapes I finally obtained was very sweet.

Addictively so.

“How is it?”

“It’s really delicious.”

But I am not a fox who has successfully climbed the grapevine but a fox that has merely placed its mouth on a grapevine that fell on its own.

I have returned through time, but all this success and fame were not entirely achieved through my own effort.

Thus, getting addicted to the taste of these grapes would only turn me into a plump fox swollen with fat.

“I would like to adapt ‘Red Hunter’ into a movie.”

Therefore, the most important factor in accepting this offer was not its commercial potential but its artistic value.

So instead of a ‘Yes!’ as Lim Yang-wook might have wanted, a ‘Why?’ came out of my mouth.

“Red Hunter.” (TL: Red in novel name and other places is referring to communists)

One of the 16 novels I published along with Cause of Death. And it was the longest one.

Naturally, its content is about ‘hunting commies,’ that is, hunting socialists.

And the protagonist is an independence activist.

In other words, ‘Red Hunter’ is a historical novel, and naturally, Director So Tae-woong’s next project was going to be a historical drama.

“It’s a painful history. The ideological struggles among the independence activists… Despite their sacrifices for our nation, there were not a few among them who turned against each other due to ideological differences. What were your thoughts on unfolding such history through your writing?”

“…….”

There’s no reason to write a novel.

You just write…….

But if I said that, I’d be buried on the spot, so I made an excuse as roundabout as possible.

“The first thing taught to children in school is patriotism, isn’t it? You are living on the sacrifices of the independence activists, so always be thankful for this and love the country that was hard-won from foreign forces… While learning about such history, I thought about shedding light on the lives of the independence activists who are sanctified. But as I studied, I realized that perhaps their stories were not solely noble and beautiful.”

“Ah…”

Director So Tae-woong’s admiration lasted a bit longer. It seemed like I had passed his test at this moment. A test to see if my level of intelligence was genuine or not.

With a slightly brighter expression, So Tae-woong continued.

“You’ve thought about this deeply. I respect that, regardless of age.”

“No, thank you.”

“But that’s not exactly why I wanted to make a movie…”

“…?”

Director So Tae-woong closed his eyes for a moment, then smiled contentedly.

“I thought it would be incredibly fun to make it into a movie.”

“What?”

“What do you think? Author Moon also seems to share a similar sense, don’t you feel the same excitement?”

What? Did one of Korea’s top directors just say ‘I don’t really understand the significance of the independence movement, but it seems like it would be fun to make into a movie, so let’s do it’?

Finding it hard to accept this reality, I was momentarily stunned, when Director So Tae-woong started acting suspiciously friendly, even placing meat on my rice.

“Let’s talk purely from the content perspective. Most movies about the independence movement have been ‘heroic’ stories. Stories where heroes unite their strength to save the world from evil. But my view is different.”

“…”

“The genre of the independence movement is ‘noir’. It’s not about fighting a single villain but fighting against a state, a society, a system. These were anti-establishment figures. Therefore, a more vocal, stickier noir is more appropriate.”

“Ah… Yes…”

“And the lifeblood of noir is suspense. The tension that lies like fog on the stage floor from the beginning to the end of the story. That’s what’s most important.”

So Tae-woong confidently pulled a book from his pocket.

And, like throwing a winning card on a card game table, he proudly placed the book on the table.

“And in this novel…” Sᴇaʀch* Thᴇ ɴøvᴇl_Firᴇ.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Naturally, the novel was ‘Red Hunter’.

“……the suspense is alive.”

“…”

“That’s why I wanted to make it into a movie.”

* * *

“So, what happened?!”

“What do you mean what happened? I made some excuses and ran away. Adapt a novel about an independence activist killing another independence activist into a movie in Korea? Are you insane?”

“What are you talking about! You have to grab that opportunity!”

Kim Byul clutched my shoulders as if she was looking at someone who had torn up a winning lottery ticket.

She shook my shoulders wildly and bombarded me with questions almost like threats.

“So Tae-woong! So Tae-woong! You don’t know ‘Time of Massacre’? ‘Murder Performance’? Haven’t you heard of ‘Leviathan’, ‘Hwahwa’, ‘Bias Polarization’?”

“I don’t know any of those.”

“Then go watch them right nooowww!”

If Kim Byul were a dragon, breath would have come out of her mouth.

But since Kim Byul was human, saliva did instead.

I stared at her with a face now damp with spit.

“…”

“…Ahem! Maybe I got too excited. Sorry.”

“Kim Sunbae hasn’t forgotten the emotion of shame, I see.”

“I said I’m sorry…”

Kim Byul awkwardly smiled and handed me a handkerchief. By now, I was getting used to her volatile emotional swings and facial expressions, so I wasn’t particularly surprised.

Kim Byul approached me as I dabbed my face dry with the handkerchief, continuing the conversation.

“But still… I’ve been a fan since I was young.”

“And you’re not young now?”

“Shut it! Every scene in Director So Tae-woong’s movies is a piece of art. Especially the more you know about movies, the more you see it. The amount of symbolism and metaphor in a single scene would surprise you too.”

“I know he’s a great director…”

I don’t know much about movies. That’s because I’ve hardly ever watched any.

Not just because of the ticket prices, but also because my hobbies start and end with books.

Yet, I know Director So Tae-woong.

Because of the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Comparable to the Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion and the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or, the Berlin International Film Festival’s Golden Bear is awarded to the winners of one of the top three film festivals in the world.

Not to mention, it’s not just movie buffs who arbitrarily dubbed it “the top three film festivals”; it’s officially recognized by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations as one of “the top three film festivals in the world.”

So what happened after winning there?

Director So Tae-woong became a K-movie director.

There was about a week when his name was all over the broadcasts. So, even I came to know his name.

And now, such a person is interested in adapting my novel into a movie…

I’m very aware it’s an incredible opportunity.

“Then why did you refuse!”

“I didn’t refuse. I just asked for some time to think…”

“Are you playing hard to get in front of So Tae-woong? Have you lost your mind? Go and cling to his ankles and beg him to adapt it! And mention there’s a good actress named Kim Byul, see what he thinks!”

“Finally revealing your wicked intentions…”

Setting aside Kim Byul’s terrifying and wicked plans, there was a bit of hesitation in handing over ‘Red Hunter’ to Director So Tae-woong.

The problem wasn’t with the director, but with the novel itself.

‘Red Hunter’.

A dark, sticky, bloody noir novel about the ideological struggles among independence activists…

It’s one of the heaviest topics I’ve dealt with in my novels.

The problem is, I wrote this novel with a very light heart.

Everyone has desires. The desire to be different from others, to be special.

Sometimes, this desire twists, effortlessly stepping over what others consider sacred.

Here are some examples:

-Love songs are boring! Listen to my rock spirit!

-Hip-hop… the only drug allowed by the country…

-Do you find Pine bud Drink bitter? I find it sweet… (TL: Pine bud Drink (솔의눈) is a korean drink. )

Usually, this terrifying desire visits around the second year of middle school, and I wasn’t exempt from that curse.

Yes.

The literary attempt to ruthlessly destroy the sanctity of the independence movement, to shed light on the individual circumstances of independence activists, and to depict the desperate struggle of individuals against a society…

Ridiculously, it wasn’t my work.

It was a piece written by ‘Moon In-seop of the Shadows,’ who found out his parents were alive while being bullied.

* * *

If I had known it would come to this, I would have buried that novel forever in the annals of time, but I was swept up by Lim Yang-wook’s momentum and brought it back to the present, a decision I bitterly regret.

I blame Director So Tae-woong.

Why did he have to fixate on ‘that novel’ of all things?

Is it okay to handle heavy history with such a light heart? And what would the public reaction be?

But time mercilessly ticked away, and I was thrown into the gaps of my schedule without a moment to ponder.

“Ah! Author Moon has arrived!”

“Hello, PD-nim.”

A BMB variety show PD, whose face I had grown familiar with after a few meetings, greeted me with a bright smile.

Today is the first meeting day for the new variety show I’m joining. It’s a show where intelligent people come together for a trip. If it feels like you’ve seen something like this before, you’re not mistaken. After all, when one variety show format succeeds, it’s common for others to follow suit.

Lim Yang-wook decided that proving my level of knowledge through broadcasts repeatedly would be advantageous for gaining popularity, and as a result, he placed me in a variety show where I could flaunt my intellect.

And there was another advantage.

“Author Moon! Welcome.”

“Hello, author-nim.”

“Ha-ha! It’s nice to see everyone here, welcome.”

Gu Hak-jun was a regular member of this variety show.

He warmly welcomed me, placing his hand on my shoulder and introducing me to the other members. The first meeting occurred in a respectful atmosphere, as all the members were of considerable age.

Of course, this scene was also being filmed.

Just as the initial greetings were concluding.

The PD gave us some additional announcements.

“Ah, everyone. Along with Moon In-seop, we have invited another guest for this shoot.”

The PD, beaming with a smile, announced that they had managed to secure another participant for the show at the last minute, introducing the new addition.

“Let me introduce you! The winner of the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin International Film Festival, a representative director of Korea!”

Ah.

Please, no.

*****

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