Novelist Running Through Time - Chapter 103



Only Krnovel

EP 5 – Love Story

“Hahahahahaha!”

A senior with pink hair pointed a finger at me and then fell backwards holding his belly button.

And even when he fell backwards, he didn’t stop pointing and laughing at me.

“I thought you were a thief? Who wouldn’t be a novelist? I have so much imagination! Hahaha!”

“Don’t laugh.”

“Hehehehe! Woohoo! Ugh! Uhehehe!”

I rolled up the blanket I was covering into a ball and threw it at Senior Min’s face.

Min Hyo-chan took the blanket regardless and calmly took the blanket from me and wrapped it around his body, saying, ‘Actually, I wanted to cover myself with this.’

But didn’t Gu Yuna suddenly throw a kick to Min Hyo-chan’s side?

“Guehek!”

To be precise, it was closer to a stab than a kick.

Gu Yu-na’s big toe dug into Min Hyo-chan’s ribs exactly like an awl.

With an expressionless face, Gu Yuna took my blanket from Min Hyo-chan, who was rolling around on the floor in pain.

So, I held out my hand towards Gu Yuna, thinking I was going to return it, but Gu Yuna just covered me with my blanket.

“…Aren’t you going to give it back?”

“The spoils belong to the winner.”

“Yeah, right…”

I awkwardly held up my lost hand, like someone who had offered to shake hands but had been rejected.

I still don’t fully understand Gu Yuna’s personality. It looks like I still have a long way to go.

Respect the strong and destroy the weak!

A diet of the fittest, survival of the fittest!

Zen Master Yuna Gu had been well-versed in the cruel nature of this world since childhood…

I added one more phrase to the ‘manger or great encyclopedia’ in my mind and took out another blanket with a yellow furry animal drawn on it from the closet built into the wall.

Kim Byeol, who was sitting uncomfortably on the floor, looked at me in bewilderment.

“How many blankets are there?”

“Senior Kim… you saw my secret…”

“what. “Give me one too.”

Kim Byeol snatched the blanket from my hands. Then she spread out her skirt and sat down comfortably. I guess I wasn’t very considerate.

I took another blanket from the closet and put it on. And I sat down between Min Hyo-chan and Gu Yu-na, who were rolling around.

“Tsk… Anyway, thank you everyone for your concern. “I’m not sick anywhere, and I’ve been skipping school lately because I’ve been focusing on writing.”

“But you should have contacted me!”

“If I may make an excuse, don’t you say anything every time Senior Kim skips school because of his schedule? “I thought it would be okay since writing is a schedule for me, but I feel like I unintentionally bothered a lot of people, so I’m really sorry.”

“joy! “You just need to know!”

“……”

“……”

It was my first time meeting Kim Byeol since the emergency staircase incident, so the longer we talked, the more awkward the atmosphere became.

When Kim Byeol avoided my gaze with a slightly embarrassed look, I spoke up to change the subject.

“Anyway, I have to serve something to guests when they visit, but I’m a bit sorry that I don’t have anything to eat at home. Should I have something delivered right now?”

Min Hyo-chan, who had been rolling on the floor, suddenly got up.

“are you okay! I already ordered chicken and pizza! “Rosé tteokbokki and cheese balls are also available as side dishes!”

“Oh my, Senior Min, aren’t you spending too much money?”

“are you okay! Because you decided to buy it!”

“Me?”

“huh!”

“when?”

“now!”

“okay···”

I nodded quietly.

And then he winked at Guy Yuna.

Gu Yuna nodded.

Gu Yu-na’s big toe dug sharply into Min Hyo-chan’s ribs.

“Gyaaaaagh!”

It was winter.

* * *

Baekhak Entertainment’s Publication Management Department has over 10 employees.

About three of them are assistants temporarily dispatched from the public relations team, but even taking that into account, it can be said that the staff is excessive to care for one literary writer.

Of course, President Baek Seung-won is not giving it away like a fan just because he is a fan of the writer. (It is true that he is a fan. He claims to be a fan of all the celebrities in his agency.)

The publication management TF team is the prototype of the publication management department.

The goal of the TF team was to create an ‘entertainment agency for writers’ and create ‘star writers’!

Although the TF team was destroyed once, Lim Yang-wook, the only survivor of the TF team, continued the cause.

And the publishing management department set off a brilliant signal by creating a star writer called ‘Literature’.

In short, the publishing department was currently in the midst of expanding its business to become an ‘entertainment agency for writers’…

“But what should I do if I pay this four months?”

“I’m sorry! “I’m sorry!”

Lim Yang-wook, who had gone on a business trip to directly negotiate with a large Japanese publisher in order to export a literary writer’s book to Japan, fed Baekseol a meal as soon as he returned to Korea.

In a mountain where there are no tigers, the fox is king. In a department without Director Lim Yang-wook, Deputy Director Baek Seol is the king. And the king must take responsibility for all matters and lead them.

The employees were shivering as Baek Seol, the princess of the white crane lineage, was being criticized in the conference room next to the department, but the two people continued to provide sound criticism and sound correction.

There is something sticky between people who have been together since the beginning when there was nothing.

Lim Yang-wook also did not scold the person too excessively, but ended his bitterness after making a moderate point.

“Mr. Baekseol. “Inseop needs to know whether this guy is going to school or not.”

“I did ask on the phone…”

“okay? Then why didn’t you check the status? “I heard it ended badly with my family.”

“You said you were okay and that you didn’t have to come…”

“Then it’s not completely Baek Seol’s fault. Anyway, Inseop doesn’t seem to be able to live on his own, so I need to get someone to help him. “You walk around pretending to be an adult, but you’re still a child!”

At this point, the two finished reporting on Moon In-seop’s personal information. There were more than one business expansion being pursued by the Publication Management Department.

First of all, there is a project to bring writers other than literary writers to the agency. We are already in the process of signing contracts with three popular novelists, and we are also maintaining positive contact with Professor Hakjun Koo.

And since this business credibility was based on the belief that the publication management department’s signature literary writer was successful, they were also monitoring whether the movie ‘Communist Hunt’ was going well.

But the most important thing was still this.

“Anyway, Manager. How was the negotiation?”

“I managed to get through it. “We’ll start with autographs and guitars and go in little by little.”

Entered Japan.

Translating and exporting books by literary authors to Japan.

That was the biggest challenge currently facing the publication management department.

Of course, it’s not easy.

The differences between the Korean and Japanese publishing industries are so great that comparison is meaningless. The Japanese publishing industry was such a huge market. Depending on the counting method, it was somewhere between 2nd and 3rd place in the world.

To put it bluntly, there are no ‘large’ publishing companies in Korea. All of them are small and medium-sized enterprises by legal classification.

However, in Japan, there were many large publishing companies classified as ‘large corporations’. The number of digits for 0 is different.

In fact, it could be said that entering the Japanese publishing industry ‘smoothly’ was very difficult, given that many of the large publishing companies were controlled by one conglomerate.

Here, ‘smooth’ means not being blinded in sales distribution, not being pushed off bookstore shelves, not being disadvantaged in book promotions and newspaper advertisements, finding the right translator to translate the book, and all kinds of miscellaneous work during the book distribution process. It is possible to sell books in Japan without being threatened.

Of course, it is very difficult for foreigners, especially Koreans, to run a smooth business in Japan. The detailed reasons are omitted.

However, Lim Yang-wook achieved that difficult task and came back.

Through the connections I made during my days as an ace in the publishing planning department, I managed to squeeze in and get through the line.

Thinking about how much alcohol and cursing he had to drink and curse upon returning from Japan, Lim Yang-wook naturally felt nauseous.

“But what if I can’t protect the house…”

“S-sorry…”

I’m not just saying that I didn’t notice that Moon In-seop was skipping school and living like an outcast in his studio.

Baekseol was making minor mistakes in other areas as well, causing the department to stumble.

“Sseu-eup…”

In Lim Yang-wook’s opinion, it was not because Baek Seol was a person lacking in ability.

In the first place, everyone knows that Baek Seol is a water truck manager. The practical work is done by the staff, and Baekseol only has to supervise from above. And Baek Seol was the person who could do that.

But now, Baek Seol was preoccupied with other things, not his work as a deputy manager.

Lim Yang-wook, who had secretly anticipated this whole situation, shouted.

“ah! That’s why I told you to leave the translation to someone else!”

“Well, that’s not possible!”

Baekseol, who obediently listened to Lim Yang-wook’s bitter words, rebelled against the manager for the first time.

Baekseol, whose dark circles almost reached her cheeks, revealed her earnest desire as she preciously hugged the writer’s novel ‘Gita’.

“I can’t leave this to another translator! “From the moment I first saw it, I decided I would translate it!”

“Then Baek Seol can translate that and get another translator for the rest! “How many English literature experts are there in Korea!”

“no, I do not want!”

“It will turn around, Jeungmal.”

Baek Seol didn’t do this purely out of his own greed. (So, half of it is self-greed)

“For other translators, this might be a job that brings in money every time they translate a page of this book, but not for me! “Of course, wouldn’t my translation produce much better results?”

“Hey, how many translators do I know…”

“Did they get an English literature degree from Oxford?”

“……”

Lim Yang-wook thought. Shameless bastard.

“And the translator you said you knew, you’re talking about him, right? I have more than one thing to point out about his translation…”

“okay! surrender!”

That’s how Baekseol stubbornly won the translation job.

Because I have to leave this department next year.

Because I have to break up with the writer forever.

And because he had to give up the novel work he so desperately wanted, forever.

Lastly, I wanted to leave something in the boy’s path.

As Baek Seol left the conference room, he quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

and.

Lim Yang-wook, who was watching the scene from behind, was smiling pitifully.

I know better than anyone else how it feels to not be able to do what you want to do.

“…Oh, my dear.”

So, after Lim Yang-wook got off work, he personally went to the boy’s studio to take care of Moon In-seop.

In his hands were several nutritional supplements and side dish gift sets.

Suddenly, Lim Yang-wook knocked on the studio door.

Looking forward to the expression on Moon In-seop’s face when he receives a surprise gift.

“hey! Inseop! “Are you inside?”

No answer came back.

“···Inseop?”

Because he had the door lock key, Lim Yang-wook easily entered the studio.

And the studio was empty.

Lim Yang-wook stood in the living room for a long time with a blank expression.

* * *

Saebit Elephant Orphanage is back after a long time.

I stood at the entrance to the orphanage with a blank expression for a long time.

There were a couple of banners hanging at the entrance to the orphanage.

The contents are as follows.

[(Gyeong) Congratulations on the film adaptation of writer Moonin’s ‘Communist Hunt’ (congratulations)]

[Saebitneulbom Orphanage’s pride, special exhibition by literary writers]

I whined and stared blankly at Teacher Bang Jeong-ah, who was climbing the ladder and putting up a banner.

And my eyes met with Teacher Bang Jeong-ah, who noticed someone’s gaze.

“……”

“……”

Teacher Bang Jeong-ah looked at my face and then at the banner.

And then he looked at my face and took a look at the banner.

“Keuungcha…”

Teacher Bang Jeong-ah retrieved the banner and rolled it up as if nothing had happened.

Then he came down from the ladder and greeted me warmly.

“Ah, hello! Inseop! It’s been a while?”

“Your face looks very flushed.”

“Well, you’re here because it’s the weekend! Come on in!”

“I’ve already seen the banner, right?”

“Hey, guys, guys – Inseop is back!”

Teacher Bang Jeong-ah, whose face was bright red, ran away at a brisk pace, holding the banner at her side.

I followed her into the New Bit Spring Orphanage.

Anyway, I laughed because it seemed like there was never a day that this damn orphanage ran smoothly.

It was one day at the beginning of winter.