The Great Storyteller

Translated by: ShawnSuh

Edited by: SootyOwl

“The protagonist, Yun, was named and created after the author himself.”

‘That’s not true,” Juho thought.

“Between the mysterious, anonymous author and the protagonist who moves about at night, there’s a resemblance in the impression that the two give off.”

‘Good, I think I can relax.’

Juho was able to stay at ease up to that point. That blog post had started from the hypothesis that ‘The Trace of a Bird’ had been written based on the life experiences of the author. The blog emphasized that the protagonist of the book and the author himself were of the same age.

However, what Juho had written was a novel. It was imagination that came out of his head. It was a made-up story. It was a lie that had been finely dressed in the spirit of prose. It was not entirely inaccurate to say that the author’s experiences had had some influence in his writing, but the book wasn’t about his story itself.

“So, who wrote this?”

“He goes by HongSam on the internet.”

Unfortunately, HongSam couldn’t be more wrong. Yet, the kids seemed to think otherwise.

“This sounds plausible, doesn’t it?”

“I get the impression that it might well be,” Seo Kwang and Sun Hwa said to each other.

“What is it saying? I can’t really see.”

At Bom’s curiosity, Sun Hwa gave her a brief summary of the blog post.

HongSam’s claim was as such, “The author has a detailed, yet brilliant style of writing. Despite his young age, he possesses a distinct personality. The author gradually builds up the story into a climax. His deceivingly mature writing has shocked and touched the hearts of many. The true surprise of this book lies in the sentiment that’s being communicated to the readers. For an author to be able to capture such profound emotions in his writing, one can only assume that he must have lived through experiences that inspired him. Therefore, just like Yun, the protagonist of ‘The Trace of a Bird,’ there’s a chance that the author may not be attending high school. Even if this conjecture is not entirely true, I carefully entertain the possibility that the author detached from the outside world at some point in his past.”

Having read up to that point, Sun Hwa took a moment to catch her breath before moving on to the next page. At the end of the post, there was a final conclusion for the modern-day-people who simply couldn’t afford the time to read such a post.

“In other words, considering all the hypotheses thus far, the image of the author, Yun Woo can be portrayed as a beautiful girl enjoying a book on a warm, sunny day.”

“What?” everyone doubted what they had just read.

‘What? A warm, sunny day? A beautiful, book-loving girl?’

Sun Hwa didn’t appear to be impressed either. On the other hand, Seo Kwang had a happy smile on his face.

“Sigh, what is this?” she said.

“What? it’s nice. A beautiful, innocent, book-loving girl,” Seo Kwang countered.

“This is delusional. Come on! ‘A beautiful girl enjoying a book on a warm, sunny day?’ We got excited for nothing.”

“Yeah, this is straight up delusional,” even Bom was taking a firm stance in the matter.

Juho nodded his head to blend in with the others, “Yep. Delusional.”

He was dumbfounded by what he had just read, ‘A beautiful, book-loving girl? Am I, Yun Woo, actually associated with these words? My common, high-school-student self would be seriously disappointed.’

“I think Yun Woo is male,” Sun Hwa said confidently.

Juho rooted for her silently, ‘That’s right, Yun Woo is a he.’

“Why do you think that?”

“That’s what I’m hoping for, a good-looking guy who’s also my age.”

Juho quickly retracted the cheers directed at Sun Hwa.

“I wish him to be a muscular, high school boy.”

In an instant, Juho had discovered the ideal tastes of two individuals. To be associated with a book-loving girl or a muscular, high school boy was quite a burden for him.

“Muscular. You don’t say.”

“Then, what about ‘book-loving girl?’ Right Bom?”

“Yeah, right!”

“What’s wrong with ‘book-loving girl?’ Juho, say something.”

Juho shook his head firmly. Seeing the loathing expression on Juho’s face, Seo Kwang realized that no one was around to take his side. For the time being, he took a step back.

“Of course, this is HongSam’s personal opinion, so I admit that there could be some bias in his words. Still, his observations up to that point sound plausible, don’t they?”

“It’s already over if it ends with ‘a beautiful, book-loving girl.’”

“Come on, guys! The responses in the comments section aren’t all that bad.”

By then, Seo Kwang had already lost his friends’ trust, so he quickly moved on to the main point, “This isn’t the point. It’s bait. If Baron falls for this, then that’s all that matters.”

“You really think he would fall for something like that?”

“Just watch. I’ll be the first to get him to write.”

Seo Kwang sprung out of his seat.

It wasn’t long until Seo Kwang returned with a sad face. ‘A book-loving girl’ must have been of little help.

“Back already?” Juho asked.

Seo Kwang answered sadly, “Do you know what renders bait useless?

“What?”

“When it loses its freshness. Baron had already known about the blog post. He looked at me like I was the most pathetic person. I couldn’t have known in my dreams that he’d already known.” Seo Kwang continued with a defeated expression, “If Baron knows about HongSam’s blog, then he’s definitely a fan. I’m sure of it.”

Seo Kwang explained to his friends that HongSam was a famous blogger among Yun Woo fans. It was hard to understand why he was famous, let alone trustworthy.

Seo Kwang grabbed his hair in despair. He seemed discouraged that the plan he had been so sure of had ended in failure. Juho thought about consoling his friend, but Sun Hwa’s laughter beat him to it. There was no way she would leave him alone, especially when he was so vulnerable.

“I knew it. Some big-talker you are.”

“I underestimated how big of a fan Baron was,” Seo Kwang said as he angrily clenched his fists.

“You shouldn’t beat around the bush when you’re trying to win a person’s heart, you know. You gotta tackle it head on.”

“You’re really into this whole head-on approach. What are you, a boar?”

“Would you like to find out what it feels like to be rammed by a boar?”

Seo Kwang was bursting with anger from Sun Hwa’s mocking, but Sun Hwa was not someone who would let another person call her names, especially something like ‘a boar.’ Bom was standing next to her anxiously as Sun Hwa started getting ready to ram into Seo Kwang.

Even in midst of all of that, Juho’s heart was not in peace. Baron being a fan of Yun Woo meant that he was a fan of Juho. Baron, a fan.

Having a fan was not something foreign to him. If anything, he was closer to being familiar with it. Before he returned to the past, he had even come out in public. Compared to the present, there had been more people around him, including fans. Still, the emotion Juho was experience was something he was not used to.

A friend-turned-fan. A fan-turned-friend. It was merely in a different order, yet there was a blatant difference. Baron hadn’t been a friend from the get-go. It was embarrassing. For some reason, Juho’s palm started itching.

“Then, Juho must be the only person left.”

“Me?”

“Yeah, you. Everyone else approached Baron in their own way, except for you.”

There was hope in the way everyone looked at him, and Juho scratched his face and responded, “Don’t put your hopes up. You’ll be disappointed.”

“Who said anything about hoping? So, did you have anything in mind, like a plan?”

‘Then how do you guys explain the curiosity in your eyes?’ Juho thought. Then, he continued with a smile on his face, “I do have a plan.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a secret.”

Both Seo Kwang and Sun Hwa jeered at his answer. They got along only in moments like that. Juho ignored their jeering and said, “OK, guys. That’s enough.”

Even though he was someone being jeered at, Bom looked even more anxious than him. He stared into the ceiling for a brief moment and stood up from his seat.

That moment, the bell started ringing. It was the end of recess. ‘Damn it.’

Juho sat back down, and Sun Hwa and Bom returned to their class. Seo Kwang asked as he sat next to Juho, “So, what are you going to do?”

“I’ll tell you when I get back.”

“The teacher’s coming!”

As class started, Juho stared out the window and organized his thoughts.

Juho climbed the stairs up to the second years’ floor. He thought about the writing he needed to get from Baron as he went up the stairs. To figure out a way to move Baron’s heart, Juho had been watching Sun Hwa, Bom. and Seo Kwang. Juho had been observing things during recess, lunch, P.E., remote classes, club activities and after school. Those were the times when he could naturally run into Baron.

Baron was ordinary. Just like all the other students, he took classes, took naps during recess, ate and read or drew during lunch. He was also a loner.

His life outside of the club didn’t look very different. Although, he didn’t seem to study the materials that were different from the lessons, unlike how he was during club activities.

Bait.

Juho has been looking for a bait that Baron would find irresistible. Then, finally, Juho found what he had been looking for.

Baron was also keeping his eyes on a person, and that person was his female classmate. Juho labeled her in his mind as ‘Baron girl.’ Juho knew nothing about ‘Baron girl.’ He’d never met her before, let alone talk to her. However, one thing was certain, that girl, very much like Baron, didn’t talk to anyone around her. In other words, she too was a loner.

Juho arrived at Baron’s class. He looked for Baron, but he didn’t seem to be around. Not only that, but there seemed to be a commotion in the classroom. ‘What’s going on?’ thought Juho.

“Give it to me, now.”

There was a threatening voice. With an angry look on her face, a girl wearing a red hairpin was standing in front of another girl. It was ‘Baron girl.’ Despite the girl angrily demanding something from her, ‘Baron girl’ was sitting completely still without saying a word.

For a brief moment, Juho was able to catch a glimpse of her looking like she was being wronged.

“You were the only person in the classroom during P.E. You’re the person who took my cell phone, aren’t you?”

‘Aha!’ Juho understood what the commotion was about from that sentence alone. The girl wearing the red hairpin suspected ‘Baron girl’ of being the thief who stole her cell phone. Everyone in the class was watching the two, but nobody dared to get between them to help resolve the conflict.

“Don’t you just sit there quietly! Give me back my phone, now!”

The girl wearing the red hairpin was getting worked up. The cell phone must have been quite expensive. When a student lost an item, it didn’t end with just a heartache. Not only would she have to withstand scolding and punishment from her parents, but she would also have to live on without her cell phone until her parents bought her a new one. There was no way she could afford a new cell phone on her own. Juho had no trouble living life even without a cell phone of his own, but to another, it could be something more important than her life.

The girl wearing the red hairpin was fiercely glaring at ‘Baron girl.’ Seeing how angry she was, her phone must have meant a great deal to her.

“I just got it yesterday. I’m sure you’d want one being that it’s the newest model, but it belongs to me. I won’t cause any more ruckus, so please just give it back to me.”

Her tone was rude, yet desperate. Having lost her latest-model-phone, the girl was growing more flustered by the minute. She was already certain that ‘Baron girl’ was the culprit. After listening quietly up to that moment, ‘Baron girl’ finally opened her lips, “How many times do I have to tell you that I didn’t steal it?”

“If not you, then who? You were the only one here in the classroom during P.E.”

Sure enough, ‘Baron girl’ wasn’t just simply staying silent. Rather, she had already given her final answer. In spite of that, the girl wearing the red hairpin was not letting up. It was a standoff.

At that moment, Juho realized something that bothered him. This was a school. There was always a thief in a school. That thief struck regularly and stole textbooks, portable gaming consoles and, at times, even slippers. Usually, the range of victims spanned a class. If one’s friend sitting next to him got his textbook stolen, there was a good chance that both of their textbook had been stolen.

In a case like that, the entire class became infuriated. On the other hand, others became anxious about becoming the next target. That was the common progression of such a scenario.

Juho looked around. Everyone was just watching with fascinated looks, which meant that the girl wearing the red hairpin had been the only victim so far.

“Still persisting, are you?”

The girl was furious. Her patience must have worn out. Juho realized that the situation no longer granted him the luxury of watching from afar. She was trembling with fierce anger, looking like she’d slap ‘Baron girl’ at any moment.

Juho’s lips parted.

“The teacher’s looking for you.”

“What?”

‘Baron girl’ looked at Juho with a shocked expression on her face. She wasn’t the only one looking at him at that point. Many others had their eyes fixed on him, and Juho repeated, “The teacher’s looking for you.”

<A Beautiful, Book-Loving Girl> The End