The Great Storyteller

Translated by: ShawnSuh

Edited by: SootyOwl

Some people would’ve taken the book if things had risen to such a degree, but Baron was quite stubborn. Of course, it made sense considering that he had joined the Literature Club to draw.

Sun Hwa watched him as he went back inside without regrets. She cringed and pouted her lips.

“He’s playing hard-to-get. It doesn’t hurt anyone to write anything for someone.”

“Don’t be too disappointed,” Bom encouraged her. As if she had been waiting, Sun Hwa nodded.

“You’re right. This ain’t over yet.”

She was determined. Standing a few steps away from where Baron was, Seo Kwang said with a serious face, “I didn’t think he’d turn her down. He’s cold.”

“Seriously. I suppose the head-to-head strategy is a fail.”

“What?! Are you saying that we have to win him over?”

“I’m not sure.”

There wasn’t much information on Baron. The strategy had been a fail, but seeing how Sun Hwa wasn’t about to give up anytime soon, things were unclear at that point. Sun Hwa was willing to tackle things head on until the end. ‘Besides, who knows?’

“Let’s go back to class for now.”

The first years went their separate ways before the bell. That was the last recess, when they could rest peacefully.

Sun Hwa ran up the stairs in every recess. She was persistent about talking to Baron. Because of that, the rest of the club members had to follow her around.

“Hello, Baron.”

“Hey.”

“Please write me something while you’re at it.”

“Go.”

Or…

“Baron, where you going?”

“To the restroom.”

“Then, could you write me something there?”

“No.”

Or…

“Baron, do you know what’s for lunch?”

“I don’t know.”

“I knew you wouldn’t, so I looked into it. It’s rice curry. It’d be great if you could write me a review after…”

“I’m not eating.”

Still, she didn’t give up.

“Baron, how’s this class?”

“So-so.”

“I’m concerned about my future. Could you write me something encouraging?”

“You worry about your own future.”

Although Baron answered awkwardly at first, having a visitor between every class was quickly getting old. As he walked out of the restroom, Sun Hwa asked, “How was your number two, Baron?”

“…It was number one.”

“Is that so? I brought a book in case you get bored while you’re on the toilet.”

“I said it was number one! I don’t need that either,” Baron answered her looking fed up.

The three who had been following Sun Hwa spoke up tiredly, “Is there anything she won’t say?”

“That’s Sun Hwa for you.”

“Yeah…” Bom answered quietly with her head lowered, as if she was embarrassed.

Things were getting physical. Whenever there was a chance, Sun Hwa walked up the stairs to look for Baron. She wasn’t even having long conversations with him, a few exchanges at most.

To get Baron’s answer, she moved tirelessly.

“Admirable,” the three murmured.

Both of Sun Hwa and Baron were incredible. They could probably do anything they wanted with such persistence. On top of that, seeing how Baron was resisting Sun Hwa, there was no way that he would end up having to co-sign anything by force in the future.

The quarrel between the two lasted until after school and well into club activities. Baron rejected her until the end.

With the exception of Baron, the four headed to the science room and leaned against the desk. When was the last time they had to go up and down stairs like that? They were exhausted.

“Recklessness won’t work.”

“What do you mean recklessness? We’ll connect eventually.”

‘Does she ever get tired?’ She was still saying the same things, and Juho responded with a weak voice, “I can’t do this much longer.”

“Me neither. Baron’s actually kind of patient. I would have driven Sun Hwa out if I were him.”

“At least he’s not the violent type.”

“More like Buddha.”

“Are you guys talking behind my back right now?”

“Calm down, Sun Hwa.”

What stopped her wasn’t Bom, but Mr. Moon and Baron’s sudden appearance.

“Are you guys coming from P.E? Why do you all look so tired?”

The members couldn’t deny those words.

“We’ll be officially starting our activities today.”

“Yes, sir.”

“What do you think we’re going to be doing?”

That was an unexpected question.

“Whatever we have to do today.”

At Seo Kwang’s answer, Mr.Moon nodded lightly. They were going to be doing what they needed to do that day. What could that be?

“What do you think I was referring to?”

As soon as she heard the question, Sun Hwa remembered the principal’s speech at the beginning of every semester. They were all about attitude or state of mind. She raised her hand and replied, “A pure, unadulterated heart.”

Without hesitation, Mr. Moon made a ‘X’ with his hands.

“All of our hearts have already been attacked by microscopic dust. Next,” he said it refreshingly. It would have felt like fresh air to people who had been breathing polluted air.

‘How can he say things like that to his students?’

Sun Hwa pouted her lips, not knowing if she was wrong or if she was offended by Mr. Moon’s answer. Next was Seo Kwang. His answer wasn’t all that different from Sun Hwa’s, “How about basic endurance? The P.E teacher always says that we need to work on our endurance.”

“I don’t expect endurance from kids who get less activity time than prisoners. Next.”

“Wow! Really?! Do we get less sunlight than prisoners do?”

“That was a bit harsh,” Seo Kwang murmured. He was a growing teenager who would soon be taking on the burdens of the future of the country. The prisoners were burdened by their crimes, but it was hard to tell who was actually being punished at that point.

“I’m not sure. What could it be?”

“It’s not body or the mind… What else is there?”

Bom and Sun Hwa exchanged words as they contemplated on the answer. It didn’t seem like it was coming to them. Juho was watching Seo Kwang complaining about the harsh reality of the moment. In that moment, his eyes met with Mr. Moon’s.

“What do you think the answer is?” asked Mr. Moon.

That was the first official day of club activities, so Juho stared into the ceiling for a little while and asked, “We’re going to be writing, right?”

“Yes.”

“You need a good vocabulary if you are to write.”

“So?”

“That must mean we have to know our lexemes.”

Mr. Moon made a big circle with his hands.

“Ding, ding, ding!”

It was the most lifeless sound effect. Perhaps for that reason, even after finding out the answer, they weren’t all that excited. Sun Hwa and Seo Kwang had a moment of realization and exclaimed, “Aha!”

“The answer’s simpler than I thought.”

“The thing that’s really important when you write is vocabulary.”

Mr. Moon opened his hands. At the end of them was Seo Kwang.

“What do you think about when you can’t think of a word?”

“Eh? What do I think about? Um… I think… that I can’t think of anything?”

“Not exactly wrong, but not exactly what I’m looking for either.”

Next, Mr. Moon pointed to Bom. Slightly flustered, she continued, “Um… So… I think that it would be nice if the word I’m looking is written down somewhere… Because it feels like it’s not in my head.”

Her voice was growing timid, but Mr.Moon nodded.

“That’s right. There’s the answer I’ve been looking for. We look around when we can’t think of a word. That is a subconscious act which assumes that the word we’re looking for can be found in our surroundings. Therefore!” he emphasized the last word, accentuating his point. “We take the words that are rolling around out there and make them ours.”

Those were interesting words. Everyone seemed to be half-curious and half-concerned. For now, Baron was also listening to Mr. Moon.

“You each own a pouch.”

“A pouch? We don’t have a pouch.”

After Seo Kwang’s answered, Mr. Moon dropped his head as if the fun was spoiled.

“Use your imagination and come up with an answer. You’re all part of the Literature Club, where it’s all about creativity.”

Mr. Moon was making a ridiculous demand.

“This so-called vocabulary pouch. In there, you’ll find words that you use often, whereas there won’t be any words that you don’t use. As a starting point, an author should know a vast number of synonyms. Imagine filling up that skinny pouch of yours with words. Filling up that pouch until it’s about to explode is the quickest way to develop your vocabulary. Prepare for the winter that’s about to come in your heads. This is to prepare for the ‘food shortage.’”

‘Food Shortage, huh?! Interesting choice of words.’ Running out words as an author was definitely a nightmare. It was like having to starve to death in a winter that came without notice. Juho had never struggled to think of a particular word, but he did possess an unusual fear. He was afraid of using up all the words that he kept inside of him. It was not a pleasant thought.

Mr. Moon continued to give out instructions.

“From now on, you guys have try to recall words. Keep them in your mouths and clasp them in your hand.

“But words are not physical beings.”

“And that’s a good thing. Biting and sucking on something alive is the quickest way to get arrested. Thankfully, words, as they explain themselves, mean words. They may not be physical, but you’ll find them everywhere.”

Mr. Moon spun his hand around and pointed to his surroundings.

“It’s not overstatement to say that the world you’re currently living in is made of words. House. Car. Drink. Money.”

As expected, he was blurting out things that a student wouldn’t be able to understand. ‘Underage drinking is illegal, Mr. Moon,’ thought Juho.

“Same goes for this room.”

“Now that you mention it, I think I’m slowly coming to grasp of it all. It feels like this room is shrinking as if it weren’t real. It’s like magic,” Seo Kwang said it light-heartedly.

That storage room called a science room was full of things that weren’t used in a regular basis. Naming those things alone would bring in quite a few words.

“See, speak, listen and write. Interpret. It’s not a bad idea to refer to a dictionary and create an example using words. You could always cite a phrase that you may have walked by or from a book. You have plenty of pieces of paper. Fill them up all the way. Be affectionate.”

The more difficult the instructions became, the darker their expressions grew.

Mr. Moon encouraged his students, “Let’s try getting the words out our mouths. Say them with your lips, write them down and then organize them. Write them on the piece of paper you brought, including the words that other people found. You can interpret them on your own later. Let’s start with Sun Hwa.”

“Yes, sir.”

Sun Hwa stood up courageously. She seemed confident. As she looked around preparing, Mr. Moon brought a stopwatch and showed it to her.

“Say as many words as you can in two minutes. Since it’s your first time, I’ll set a limit. Say anything you can find in this room.”

“I’m ready. Whenever you are.”

It was her first time, but it didn’t seem all that challenging. If the limit was the things that one could find in the room, she could simply say what she saw.

“And… begin!”

Sun Hwa started swiftly. Her eyes met Seo Kwang’s, who was sitting across from her.

“Seo Kwang, Juho, Bom, Baron, Sun Hwa.”

“We’re words too?”

“Proper nouns. Stop disrupting me. Eyes, nose, mouth, ears, forehead, hair, shoulders, chest, torso, arms, legs.”

Sun Hwa answered Seo Kwang quickly and named the things that she could find in the room one by one.

“Door, windows, desks, chairs, counter, mannequin, wall, poster, globe, earthquake model, storage, earth, dinosaur bones, um… Then, lab coats, beakers, cellophane, alcohol lamp, cobaltic chloride, filter paper, spuit, plastic syringe, rubber gloves, mask, goggles, microscope, um… What was that called… That weird liquid.”

“What’s a weird liquid?”

“What was it called?”

Sun Hwa began to stutter. She pointed at a brown glass container with a liquid in it. It was probably for an experiment, but the first years mostly learned about theories, so there was no way they could know. Having decent grades, Sun Hwa must have seen it somewhere, but it seemed like her memory was failing. She could just move on, but she wouldn’t give up.

Juho added, “You can just say liquid. It’s a word.”

“Really? Wait! You’re right! Liquid, and…”

She looked around frantically. She had already named most of the things in the room. The hands of the members that were writing her words had also come to stopped. Sun Hwa was getting flustered. She had thought two minutes wouldn’t be enough. She could’ve never known that it would’ve been too much time. She felt like she had already said everything she could, but she could no longer see the words that filled the room. ‘What else was there?’ Sun Hwa looked around again. There wasn’t going to be anything new. ‘Is this it? Barely?’ It seemed like a lot. Time was up, and Mr. Moon shouted stop.

<Inside of a Pouch (1)> The End