The Great Storyteller

Translated by: ShawnSuh

Edited by: SootyOwl

Juho wrapped up the cleaning and went out to the hallway to throw out the trash. There used to be a trash can in each classroom, but being that it was hard to maintain, they were removed by the school. Instead, the students were to use a community trash can at the end of the hallway.

Standing at the front of the trash can, Juho began separating the recyclables from his trash: a pen missing its lid, an eraser about to break in half, the crumpled up school newsletter, small pieces of paper, etc. They were all found on the classroom’s floor.

“What’s this?”

After he had finished separating the recyclables, there was another piece of paper lying on the hallway floor that caught his eyes. It must have fallen out of Juho’s trash. Judging from the torn pages and crumpled up surface, it looked like it was treated roughly. When he saw the neat writing on the paper, he picked it up.

“This…”

Juho was shocked. He was familiar with what was written on the crumpled up paper.

“Is this… a transcription?”

It was part of a transcription of the book Juho had written. The neat penmanship abruptly came to an end.

‘Who wrote this?’ thought Juho. Transcriptions were something Juho had been working on himself. It was part of the daily routine of the Literature Club. The purpose of it was to become a better writer.

‘Could this belong to someone who aspires to be a writer? Then there must have been better books. Why did this person choose ‘The Trace of a Bird’ of all books?’ Juho was having trouble understanding the motive of the transcriber. Besides, did it mean something that Juho had found it next to a trash can?

Seeing the homeroom teacher from a distance, Juho shoved in the crumpled up paper into his pocket and finished cleaning.

‘How boring.’

It was the math class. The teacher, with his lower belly bulging out, had a simple teaching method. He wrote out the equations and the process on how to solve them. Then, as a final touch, he added a short and quick explanation to what was written on the chalkboard.

The math teacher was surprisingly popular among the students. It wasn’t because of his friendliness or his appearance, but because of his writing and equations.

With his pinky finger sticking up while using the white chalk, his handwriting was neat and consistent. His craft reached its climax when he started drawing figures on the board. His drawings were comparable to those of an art teacher. They were steady and three-dimensional.

What was funny was that even the teacher himself found satisfaction in his craft on the chalkboard. After class, on his way out, he looked at what he had written and drawn and smiled in a way that he never would to his students. For some reason, Juho thought of Mr. Moon. It felt like he had figured out why the math teacher was able to come to school so consistently.

While Juho was spending time looking at the chalkboard, he noticed a disturbance in the class. When he looked around, he saw a small piece of paper being passed around. They were exchanging notes. Usually, he would have ignored it, but that time was different.

There was a much bigger number of people exchanging notes with one another. It wasn’t just a note between two individuals. Rather, it was a note being passed around to the entire class. It seemed more like a telegram than a note at that point, and Juho became curious. ‘What’s written on that paper that has to be passed around in the middle of class?’

Eventually, the note reached Seo Kwang. He seemed confused about getting the note since he was reading his book on the down low, but soon, he opened it to read it. Juho stared intently at his back.

His shoulders started moving up and down. Seo Kwang was quite shaken. He took his eyes off the note and looked around at his surroundings. It seemed like he was trying to find some sort of confirmation. Whenever his face passed by Juho, he could see the shock in Seo Kwang’s face.

‘What was going on?’ Juho tried to remember if anything had happened around that time of his life, but nothing came to him.

After Seo Kwang had his moment, he quietly turned around to Juho and handed him the note. After anticipating reading it, Juho took the note without delay. For some reason, the paper was getting floppy. It must have been passed around the entire class. The moment Juho opened the floppy piece of paper, he had to stop himself from gasping out loud.

The paper was filled with small letters. It read, “Yun Woo is in our school.”

‘Is my cover blown? It doesn’t really seem like it,’ thought Juho.

There wasn’t much he could do in that difficult-to-understand situation. For that reason, Juho stared out the window absentmindedly until the math teacher left the classroom with a satisfied smile.

“Hey,” Seo Kwang called, quickly turning to Juho as soon the class ended.

With a slight determination, Juho answered, “What?”

Seo Kwang responded with a serious face, “Let’s go.”

‘Go? Where?’

“Where?”

“To meet Yun Woo.”

“What?”

Juho was still confused. ‘Where can anyone go to find Yun Woo? He’s sitting right in front of you. What’s happening?’

“Let’s hurry. The others went ahead.”

“Where are we going?”

“What were you doing during class when the note was being passed around? Come on, I’ve heard she’s in Classroom 7.”

“I was paying attention to the lesson, of course,” Juho said, although he was actually spacing out then.

As he caught up to Seo Kwang hurrying his steps, Juho was slowly came to grasp things. ‘That must mean there’s another Yun Woo in this school aside from myself. In Classroom 7 at that.’

“Could it be a case of identity theft?”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

Seo Kwang exclaimed with excitement, “It’s just as I thought, a girl!”

“Who?”

“What do you mean who? Yun Woo, obviously!”

“What? Yun Woo’s a she?!”

“Yeah, she must be really pretty.”

‘No, Yun Woo is not a girl.’ No matter how much Juho screamed it on the inside, Seo Kwang couldn’t hear him. As much as Seo Kwang was excited about Yun Woo being a beautiful girl, it was merely an information regarding a case of identity theft to Juho’s ears.

In the front of Classroom 7, there was a crowd of people who had come to see Yun Woo after hearing the rumor. Seo Kwang and Juho made their way through the crowd into the classroom. Inside, was another crowd surrounding a girl in a large circle. It was obvious that she was the thief who had stolen the name “Yun Woo.” When the two got closer to her, she was busy answering questions from other students.

“How did you think of writing something like that?”

“You know, there are a lot of people who are scared of pigeons lately. I was on the street one day and I heard a lady screaming. I thought she was in trouble so I went to her, and sure enough, it was because of a pigeon.”

“I’ve seen people do that.”

“Me too, me too! I saw this mom who was covering her daughter’s mouth when some pigeons were flying away because they’re dirty.”

“It makes sense though. They do kind of look harmful even at a glance.”

‘Pigeons?’ Juho was dumbfounded. As soon as the fake Yun Woo finished, other students surrounding her began to chime in.

“After seeing that, I had an idea. I thought it’d be interesting to make the protagonist a person who suffers from a phobia of birds.”

“I see.”

“What’s the secret to writing well?”

She was coming up with stories that could likely exist. Another question came out of the circle of people surrounding the girl. With a smirk, she answered sincerely. The mole on her cheek moved up as she smiled.

“Hm. How should I say this? I just let my hand do the work. You close your eyes, and think of an image, things you want to write about. Then, your hand will move on its own.”

“Wow! How long did it take you to write the entire book?”

“The first draft didn’t take long to finish. Maybe a week?”

Juho clenched his fist from embarrassment. ‘Why am I feeling embarrassed? What kind of nonsense is she saying about her hand moving on its own? How do you write with your eyes closed? One week? Where did that come from? ‘The Trace of a Bird’ is nearly a full-length novel. One week is nowhere near enough. What’s this about?’

As Juho shook in agony, another person raised his hand to ask another question, “The way your book described fear or terror was incredibly realistic. A lot of people are saying that it’s based on experience.”

“I’m sorry. That’s a bit of a sensitive question. I’m not sure if I can answer it.”

‘Who does she think she is? Does she have no shame? Well, I suppose she couldn’t have guessed that the real Yun Woo came to this school. She must be acting because she’s not aware that she’s being watched by the real Yun Woo.’

That had never happened when Juho had revealed his face in the past. Yet, it was still somewhat of a familiar sight. Conversely, at that time, Juho had been the one surrounded by the crowd.

Juho had spent his days in school being in the center of attention. At times, students from other schools would come visit him to find out if the rumor was true. He couldn’t help but notice himself in that imposter. Still, her bluffs were getting out of hand.

“That was kind of unexpected.”

At that moment, Juho heard his friend’s murmur. There was a contrast in his voice from a moment ago. Yun Woo must have been quite different from what Seo Kwang had imagined. Juho looked at him and asked, “What kind of person were you hoping Yun Woo to be?”

“Well, hm. If you put it that way, it makes it harder for me to answer. I guess pretty?”

After some hesitation, he eventually answered with a joke, and Juho laughed it off without asking any further.

Juho felt a little better. He looked at “Yun Woo,” who was the center of attention. The mole on her cheek was moving about on her face whenever she smiled.

With his eyes on the girl, Juho’s lips parted, “Can I ask a question too?”

“Yun Woo” nodded and accepted Juho’s request. There was confidence in her face as if she could answer anything. To tackle the most fundamental curiosity he had, Juho asked, “You’ve been anonymous up to this point. Why reveal yourself now?

Everyone had been friendly to her so far. At that point, there was no use in asking her to prove that she was real. For that reason, Juho decided to take a roundabout approach. He didn’t show her any hostility. Rather, he asked as if he was genuinely curious.

She seemed caught off guard for a moment, but soon, she straightened her face and answered Juho’s question, “I’m a little flustered myself. I didn’t think my cover would get blown like this. One of my friends saw the original copy of my book. I didn’t want to be a liar.”

‘The original copy, she says.’ Juho reached into his pocket, and his hand caught something. A worn-out piece of paper rustled in his hand. Although he had no basis for it, Juho felt confident.

‘This is from her.’

Juho slowly pulled his hand out of his pocket.

“I see. You don’t like to lie.”

“Yes.”

“You have a rough future ahead of you,” Juho said to her as the sole person who knew the conclusion Yun Woo had come to. There was no benefit in borrowing that name.

Having misunderstood him, she smiled innocently and said, “I think it’s better than being a hypocrite. If you’re uncomfortable at heart, you can’t write well.”

“Wow! That’s amazing.”

Juho thought for a moment and made her a final question. There were other students to his sides who were itching to ask her questions themselves.

“How does it feel to be Yun Woo?”

She smiled brightly and replied, “Great!”

<Yun Woo is in Our School (1)> The End