Novelist Running Through Time - Chapter 101



Only Krnovel

EP 4 – Hunting Reds

I became aware of my parents’ survival around the second year of middle school, but the first time I encountered them was after I became an adult.

Immediately after the overwhelming worry of ‘what should I do for a living from now on’ was resolved with Professor Hakjun Koo’s declaration, ‘You, become my student.’

As Professor Koo Hak-jun’s assistant and a freshman at his university, I was enjoying the spring that had finally arrived in my life.

Of course, there was a minor mistake where the department assistant casually revealed the fact that I was from an orphanage, which resulted in me being criticized, but that was only a minor pain compared to the countless hardships I have experienced in my life. Isn’t frustration the way a man grows?

In any case, when a person is full, he or she does philosophy. The wealth records of numerous philosophers throughout history prove this.

So, in an unusual way, I went on a journey to find my roots. I decided to confront my parents who abandoned me.

I officially contacted my parents through Saebit Spring Orphanage, and after some deliberation, they met face-to-face with me.

So I had one meeting with two wrinkled men and women.

The two remarried and had one or two children, and each faced the biggest mistake of their youth with different expressions.

However, the differences in facial expressions only resulted from differences in personality, and the emotions beyond the facial expressions they showed were the same.

The moment they saw me, they shed tears, were embarrassed, and were afraid.

When I was young, I foolishly believed that love would last forever, but the karma suddenly came to me.

To them, who had tried to forget my existence and were searching for new happiness and peace, my sudden arrival was a painful but impossible wound.

That’s how I learned that my very existence was someone’s regret, a distortion, a mistake, a secret I couldn’t tell my spouse, and an indelible stain on my life.

It was not the reunion that my innermost heart had dreamed of.

The reunion of parents and children after almost 20 years ended with only scars on both sides.

Nevertheless, when I think back to those days, there was a minimum of decency between us.

That dignity is human-to-human etiquette. We respected each other’s lives.

They acknowledged the pain I had experienced because of their mistake, apologized in tears for it, and attempted to pay alimony. I refused the money for my dignity.

On the one hand, I recognized that they were humans and not demons, and I decided to quietly disappear to preserve the peace they had worked so hard to achieve.

That’s how the long bad relationship ended.

Even as I died before them, the tragedy of one family (those who were) came to an end.

But in the twisted flow of time, I came face to face with my roots again.

About 10 years ago, I got to see them.

It was at a quiet and isolated location somewhere in Seoul prepared by Baekhak Entertainment.

They were much younger than I knew them. The two men and women in their early to mid-30s had no wrinkles on their faces and were still beautiful enough to attract the opposite sex.

They had not yet remarried, and of course they had no children other than me, and there was no spouse who should not have discovered my presence, so they seemed a little more confident.

They seemed less wise than I knew, they lacked the maturity and responsibility typical of parents raising children, and they seemed not to be financially stable.

and···

It was uglier than what I knew.

They did not come alone. By their side were their brothers and sisters. These were people who gave me greedy smiles and fawned over me, asking me to call them uncle, aunt, aunt, and uncle.

My parents found this situation distressing and embarrassing, but they did not try to stop their siblings from trying to welcome me into their family.

Someone who was proud to be my uncle pushed his little child towards me and claimed that this child was your cousin.

Only then did I come to my senses and say that I was angry about the situation and that I could not agree with the claim.

And then, an ugly argument ensued.

The other side insisted on reuniting, and I refused.

At the time of my divorce, I told them that they had left me in an orphanage instead of raising me, and that I had absolutely no intention of serving them as my parents and reuniting with them as a family.

However, the other side seemed to have already completed their legal preparations and put pressure on me by explaining the complex concepts of parental rights and custody.

However, no one knows these issues better than someone who attended an orphanage. I warned him that in this case, I could file a claim for loss of parental rights in the family court, and that I could appoint a lawyer to protect my personality, and I named one by one advisors who were ready to help me at any time. Director Choong-jae Moon, Director Yang-wook Lim, Professor Hak-jun Koo, President Seung-won Baek, Deputy Director Baek Seol, writer Chang-woon Park, etc.

The debate gradually became a private matter rather than a legal one.

They criticized me for not following the principles, and I protested, saying that they were the ones who broke the law of heaven in the first place.

I also insulted them by saying that this argument was all about coveting my property, and they tried to deny that fact and found fault with my tone.

And the same story was repeated several more times. No further progress was made in logic, and only harsh words were exchanged against each other.

My blood cousins, whom they had brought in to placate me, burst into tears in the harsh atmosphere, and some weak-hearted people turned pale when the situation progressed like this and tried to mediate our fight.

However, both parties were already extremely excited. I insulted their character as best I could, and the other side, who was enraged, hurled indiscriminate abuse and threatened me.

And in the end, my biological mother broke down in tears. My father’s relative, who was fighting with me, accused me of being an immoral person in this situation.

And my biological father punched his younger brother who accused me of being a pervert. My biological uncle collapsed with blood streaming from his nose. A horrified scream echoed through the restaurant.

And my biological father collapsed on the spot, his hands and legs shaking.

He sobbed like a child.

I looked at him and tried to guess his feelings. Why on earth did they bring their relatives? Was he unable to overcome his coercion, or did he want to make people say things he couldn’t do?

Maybe he thought everything would work out just like in the movies. But you never thought it would happen like this.

But in the end, this is just my guess, and I will never know his inner thoughts.

I don’t know.

The human mind cannot be expressed clearly in any words. It is that complex and bizarre.

So, in relationships between people, all that remains is the result. Humans cannot accurately understand the intentions of others, and unobserved intentions are ultimately unclear and unknown.

So no matter what the intention, only the result remains.

And today’s meeting had the most terrible and tragic outcome. If everyone here thinks about this moment in the future, they will say that only grief and regret remain.

In the end, I realize that while they may be my biological family, they cannot be my social family. And he left, concluding that he would not agree to it if he coveted the status of a legal family member.

It’s over.

* * *

“……”

Home, no, I don’t have a home.

I returned to my studio and was dazed for a while.

Everything I had just experienced felt like a dream.

It was hard to believe it was reality.

But it was reality.

In this way, this world often throws unbearable trials at weak people like me.

“······ah.”

Since it was a dinner party and they were playing a game together, there is no way they could have eaten there.

I couldn’t even eat dinner, but I stayed in the corner of the room for a long time, and the things in my stomach were screaming that they were going to starve to death.

okay. I need to eat something.

You have to eat to live…

But when I opened the refrigerator, there was nothing there.

Empty coffee cans, chocolate wrappers, triangular gimbap wrappers, and other trash that I put in because I didn’t want to throw them away were just rolling around.

Fortunately, I found an unused can of coffee among the empty tombs of canned coffee and drank it down to relieve my hunger.

Then I sat down on the children’s office chair and looked up blankly at the ceiling of the room.

Eventually, I quietly closed my eyes and looked into my heart.

A storm was raging inside my mind.

Why on earth does this only happen to me? Why wasn’t I born into a normal family? Why couldn’t I meet parents who loved me? Did I commit some sin in my past life? Come to think of it, I did kill someone. Right me.

What is the difference between the parents in my memories and my parents in reality? Are they the same person or different people? Is time a straight line or a plane? Is humanity growing or degenerating?

How should I accept them? What if they do something to me? What on earth caused this misfortune? Why am I suffering…

Unanswerable questions tormented me until dawn.

After suffering like that for a while, I suddenly saw a book on the desk.

‘Hunt commies’.

An autobiography written as if he was vomiting after suffering from terrible pain as a child.

I was encouraged by that.

Should we hold our breath and wait for the storm in our hearts to pass?

no. I already knew how to weather the storm.

And it was already in front of me.

“……”

Paper and pen.

With these two things, you can escape from the painful reality even for a moment.

And leaving all the sadness behind in that world.

That was my literature.

* * *

“what? one week?!”

“To be exact, it’s been more than a week. Since there was a holiday…

Min Hyo-chan scratched his head nervously.

Kim Byeol, who was shocked, quietly listened to Min Hyo-chan.

“Anyway, that guy who’s a writer hasn’t been to school for a while. He thought he was on some kind of entertainment show, but when I asked the teacher, he said there was no communication from the company. “They call me truant.”

What was waiting for Kim Byeol, who returned to school after a long time, was the news that the writer was half missing.

The atmosphere in the club room could not have been more depressing.

Gu Yu-na was gloomily hugging a pillow in the corner of the club room, and Min Hyo-chan also looked worriedly at Moon In-seop’s well-being.

“I’ve been busy with events these days, so it’s only been a while since I noticed it. And there are a lot of kids like that at our school. “I haven’t been to school for a few weeks because of my schedule…”

“That’s enough! So why aren’t you coming? “Where does it hurt?!”

“I’m so worried because I don’t know that…”

Apparently, something happened while Kim Byeol was filming the movie.

The three members of the club spent a few more days with such worries.

However, the literary people eventually stopped going to school, and their patience eventually ran out.

“I’ll take a look.”

In the end, Kim Byul contacted Baekhak Entertainment.

Management Team 2 received Kim Byul’s request and handed over Lim Yang-wook’s phone number.

– hello?

“hello. My name is actor Kim Byeol. “He is also a friend of a literary writer.”

Kim Byeol explained the whole story to Director Lim Yang-wook, who was Moon In-seop’s manager, and asked about the writer’s whereabouts.

But wasn’t even Lim Yang-wook unaware of this situation?

– what? He skipped school?

“What if you don’t know that!”

It was so absurd that Kim Byeol spoke bitterly at Lim Yang-wook without even realizing it.

Kim Byeol thought, “Oh my gosh.” She was embarrassed because she couldn’t get the words out of her mouth.

Fortunately, the same was true for Lim Yang-wook, as he was in a hurry without even having time to point out Kim Byeol’s rudeness.

– No, well, he’s the kind of guy who randomly trashes schools, but it’s a bit strange that he didn’t tell me about that in advance…

At that time, Lim Yang-wook on the other end of the phone chatted with someone for a moment.

Kim Byul realized that it was Japanese.

“Are you in Japan by any chance?”

– yes. I went on a business trip overseas… and I didn’t take care of Inseop well.

Lim Yang-wook spoke to someone again in Japanese for a moment, and then concluded the conversation with Kim Byeol in a perplexed voice.

– First, I will tell our staff to visit the writer’s house to check on his well-being. Thank you so much for telling me, please…

“ah! “We will do it!”

– yes?

Kim Byeol made eye contact with Gu Yuna and Min Hyochan for a moment.

They looked at Kim Byeol and nodded.

In this way, Kim Byeol gathered everyone’s will and answered.

“The three of us will go! Are we in school now? Doesn’t Inseop live near the school?”

* * *

“Are we here…?”

Kim Byeol checked the officetel lake with a confused look. But when I took her note out of her school uniform pocket and checked, it wasn’t this house.

At that time, Gu Yuna tugged on the hem of Kim Byeol’s shirt.

“Over there.”

“ah!”

Kim Byul, Gu Yu-na, and Min Hyo-chan arrived in front of Moon In-seop’s studio.

Pink-haired Min Hyo-chan activated the door lock and sought confirmation from the members.

“Open…?”

When Min Hyo-chan entered the four-digit password, the door opened with a short mechanical sound.

The three members of the club cautiously entered Moon In-seop’s studio.

“Is there…?”

“anybody home···?”

“excuse me···”

Inseop Moon’s studio, which I entered for the first time, was cold.

It was appropriate to say that it was empty.

The heating was turned off, so cold air was on the floor, and even though it was evening, it was dark because the lights were not turned on, and there was nothing to be seen except the furniture that came standard in the officetel.

The only signs that someone lived in this house were the shoes, bag, and school uniform at the front door.

Kim Byeol cautiously entered the studio, feeling a bit creepy at first glance.

Inside a dark, cold house where you don’t feel like you’re popular.

A living room without any furniture.

There was a closed door there.

It probably looked like a door leading to the master bedroom.

“Are you inside…?”

Kim Byul carefully opened the door.

And within it…

A body lying on the desk-

“Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah -!

Min Hyo-chan jumped at the sound of Kim Byeol’s scream, and Gu Yuna froze in shock.

Kim Byeol fell to the floor foaming at the mouth and barely got up with her legs shaking.

And I took a closer look at the master bedroom.

At least there was a bookshelf, a blanket, a desk, and a chair here.

There was a monitor, keyboard, manuscript paper, stand, and Moon In-seop scattered on the desk.

And Moon In-seop was breathing up and down quietly, making breathing sounds.

For a moment, Kim Byeol, who had mistaken Moon In-seop for a corpse, became very upset and approached him with great strides.

And just as he was trying to force Moon In-seop to wake up by hitting him on the back.

‘what.’

She noticed that Moon In-seop was holding a manuscript carefully even while he was sleeping.

As if it were everything he owned.

“……”

Kim Byeol felt a certain earnestness in that sight.

So I quietly closed the door and walked out.

Before I knew it, Gu Yu-na and Min Hyo-chan were asking with their eyes. Is the boy okay?

“huh. “I’m sleeping on my desk.”

“Oh, really. Making people worry, that bastard…”

“Leave it alone. “Because you look very tired.”

Kim Byeol collapsed on the living room floor. There was no sofa so he had no choice but to sit on the floor.

Min Hyo-chan and Gu Yu-na followed Kim Byeol and sat down on the floor. The floor where the cold settled was cold.

“He lives without turning on the heating…”

“Iknow, right.”

After confirming that the writer was safe, the three people sat down to share their relief.

Because it was an emotion shared not with words but with looks, there was no conversation between them.

The three of them sat around for a while and tried to control their shock.

Then it seems that mischievous thoughts begin to arise. Min Hyo-chan smiled.

“Well… should I get some food and then go?”

“Of course I should.”

At Min Hyo-chan’s suggestion, Kim Byul crossed her arms calmly and nodded.

Min Hyo-chan laughed mischievously and blew wind at Gu Yu-na.

“If you made people worry like this, shouldn’t you buy something? huh? “What do you think, Yuna?”

“admit.”

“then. then.”

Kim Byeol, who was straightening her skirt while sitting down, spoke bluntly.

“Guys. Let’s turn on the heating. “I’m freezing to death.”

“Where is the boiler?”

“You have to find that. “Are you trying to get your senior to do it?”

“Yes, senior…”

Just like that, the three people walked into the writer’s house without permission, turned on the lights, and turned on the heating.

At that time, Gu Yuna pointed out the window with her finger.

“Over there, outside…”

“uh? “Is it snow?”

White particles began to fall outside the dark window.

White snow slowly covered the dark city. Countless snowflakes fluttered in the black sky.

The three people stared blankly out the window for a long time, captivated by the beautiful scenery.

It was the first snow of the year.

One
fantasy, modern,

2 Comments 5.0 / 14
Petit Gondue 2023.07.16 10:59 Declaration
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