The Great Storyteller

Translated by: ShawnSuh

Edited by: SootyOwl

“Hm,” Juho let out, unable to read on any further. Closing the book, he pushed it aside. The epic background music, dazzling visuals, performances, and directing were all still lingering in the young author’s mind. The movie had been epic, stylish, and most of all, a great movie. Seeing his writing made into another form of art was always a joy, and it came with a sense of accomplishment. However, that was about the extent of the experience.

“Why aren’t you reading it? It’s your book, isn’t it?”

When Juho looked up, the student abroad came into view. It had already been years since they had presented onstage. Juho had reached out to him upon arriving in the States. He looked exactly the same as he had when Juho had last seen him in Korea. As he gave the young author a puzzled look, Juho replied, “It’s been a while since we last saw each other. Thought we should spend some time talking instead.”

“I’m OK either way,” the student abroad said, glancing at the book and biting into his hamburger. He had been eating when the young author had arrived at his house. After a failed attempt to revisit ‘Language of God,’ Juho put the book back on the shelf, where every single one of Juho’s books could be found. Although he had heard countless readers tell him that they owned all of his books, seeing the collection with his own eyes made for a strange experience. As if avoiding them, Juho started to look around the room, which was quite indicative of the student abroad’s personality: well organized. Upon spotting collection of LPs, Juho asked, “Not a fan of rock, I see?”

“Not at all,” the student abroad replied emphatically. The place belonged to his older sister and her husband, whom she had met when she had come to the States as a student abroad. Her husband was American and deeply in love with her.

“Anyway, I was so touched when you called,” the student abroad said.

“You were?”

Chewing the lettuce in his hamburger, the student abroad replied, “You’re staying on the downlow after getting discharged from the military. You haven’t made a single public appearance, even after the movie was released. Frankly, I was starting to get curious about you. Hearing it through Jenkins is just not convincing.”

“You could’ve called,” Juho said.

“…”

Juho saw the student abroad moving his dry eyes busily.

“I tend to be an overthinker. I wasn’t sure if you’d remember me after becoming the Great Storyteller.”

Chuckling quietly, Juho took the book he had received from the student abroad, saying, “Or, it could be that you were really busy.”

It was the novel he had published in Korea. The first edition had started at five thousand copies, the second edition had gone into print almost immediately since it was a steady seller.

“Not the most impressive figure in front of Yun Woo, really,” the student abroad said, sounding almost sarcastic. That was exactly why bringing numbers into a conversation with an author tended to make things uncomfortable.

“I thought I should try to make the most out of your absence, but it seems like it got buried by your movie. My sister and brother-in-law went out to see it, actually. It takes her a month to finish reading my books.”

“I’m sure it’s because it’s directed by Jenkins.”

“Quite the opposite, actually. The novel came first, which means he wouldn’t have been able to make a movie like this if it weren’t for you.”

Juho shrugged light-heartedly. Then, he opened his mouth wide and ate what was left of the hamburger, crumpling the wrapping paper afterward.

“I don’t know much about movies, but he seems to have done one heck of a job with the adaptation. Good enough for the fans of the original series.”

“Yes, he did. I enjoyed the movie myself.”

Sitting back down, the student abroad asked, “If you had said that to a reporter, the movie would be making double the money it’s making.”

“It’s already doing well enough as is,” Juho said, and the student abroad didn’t deny it.

“What have you been up to?” the student abroad asked out of nowhere. However, the young author answered without hesitation, “Why, I was in the military.”

“And then?”

“And then I wrote.”

“I thought so,” the student abroad said, nodding. Yun Woo wrote no matter where he was. To the student abroad, Yun Woo was an author who would choose to pick up a pen rather than a rifle in a battlefield in an attempt to tell as many people as possible about the pain of war. At which point, the student abroad thought that he’d like to see the young author release a war story in the future.

“Honestly, there was a piece that I’d been meaning to write since before I went into the military.”

After thinking quietly for some time, the student abroad narrowed his eyes. The time of the young author’s enlistment crossed his mind.

“Wait, you’re not telling me that you went into the military to write, are you?”

“That’s part of it.”

“… You really know how to keep someone on their toes,” the student abroad said. The ambiguity in the young author’s response was bound to stir up curiosity. Rubbing his hands together anxiously, the student abroad asked determinedly, “If I were to ask which piece it was, would you tell me?”

At which, Juho replied nonchalantly, “‘Language of God.'”

From Juho’s standpoint, he had no reason to hide that there was a new work in progress. The final draft had already been sent to the publisher and was probably in the middle of a translation process.

“‘Language of God?'”

“Yes, the sequel.”

However, things looked very different from the student abroad’s standpoint. It was the long-awaited sequel to ‘Language of God,’ which was about to come out to the world in the near future.

“You mean there’s going to be a new series!? You’re working on it!?”

“It’s already finished.”

The student abroad found himself at loss for words. Unlike his usual self, he seemed to have trouble maintaining a calm look on his face.

“Kind of cruel, don’t you think?”

“I’m sorry?”

“I thought I’d be able to take it slow during those two years you were gone. First, the movie. And now, a whole new series? Why don’t you just take over the world while you’re at it?”

Juho blinked awkwardly. The student abroad’s face was flushing bright red, the corner of his mouth twitching.

“I don’t know if you can tell, but I’ve been on a frenzy since the movie was released, which was some quality work to say the least. Before I knew it, I picked up ‘Language of God’ and I’ve been on a marathon ever since. And now, you’re telling me that there’s going to be a sequel? That there’s going to be yet an entirely new series that will inspire me all over again? Do you understand where I’m coming from, Mr. Woo?”

“Uh… sure.”

“No, you don’t. So, when is it coming out?”

“There should be articles turning up soon, but I can’t say for certain.”

“The new ‘Language of God.’ A whole new series. I can’t believe it!”

At that moment, they heard somebody approaching the house from the outside.

“Your sister must be back.”

Although looking slightly disgruntled, the student abroad sprung up from his seat and rushed down the stairs. Juho followed him.

“Hey! Get down here and ask me about the movie!” the sister shouted as if she had a desperate need to talk about the movie with someone. “Get your butt downstairs! You have NO idea how anxious I was that Jenkins might crap all over the novel!”

“All right! You don’t have to shout!” the student abroad said. Then, noticing an unusual smile on her brother’s face, she asked, “What’s with your face? You’re freakin’ me out.”

“What about my face?”

“That smile of yours! What did you do by yourself while I was gone?”

“I’m not alone.”

“You know, if you have a date, you better take that outs…”

When Juho walked down the stairs, the first thing that came into view was a shopping bag that was taking up about half the couch. Then, locking eyes with a lady sporting a tight ponytail, Juho rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Hello.”

“Wait, am I seeing things?”

“I told you I was having a guest over.”

At that, the sister punched her brother in the stomach, saying, “You didn’t say anything about the guest being Yun Woo!”

“Honey, you forgot somet… Oh, my!”

“Hello.”

The husband, who came in through the door while spinning his car keys on his finger, responded similarly to his wife. Wiping his mouth, he asked, “Can anybody explain to me why Yun Woo’s here?”

“I was graciously invited by your brother-in-law.”

“Uh… right. I mean, welcome! So good to have you at our home!”

“Here I was thinking that he was gonna be some loser who read books all day. And what does he do? Brings Yun Woo over out of nowhere,” the wife murmured. Then, slapping her brother on the shoulder, she added, “Not too bad. Not too bad at all!”

Juho shook hands with her husband, who had a firm grip. Since the sister and her husband had turned up, everyone spoke to each other in English.

“Can we all take a picture first?” she asked, and Juho nodded affirmatively.

—

“Did you see the movie?” the sister asked while putting a slab of meat on to the grill. Insisting on treating the young author to some food, she had put together a small barbecue party in the backyard. Although Juho had declined repeatedly, she had insisted even more emphatically, saying, “It’s OK! We do this often. Don’t be shy!”

Her husband nodded in agreement. Along with lamb chops, drumsticks, steak, and short ribs, there was also some Kimchi and slices of Halloumi cheese on the grill, sizzling and looking incredibly appetizing. On top of that, there was an array of vegetables and a salad.

“This is a lot of food,” Juho said, and the student abroad replied nonchalantly, “Nah, this looks about right.”

“Of all the characters in ‘Language of God,’ I like One the most. I’m obsessed with him! When you see how he changes from his childhood, before and after he leaves on that journey, and just how he changes throughout the book, it makes me feel like I’m watching my own child growing up,” the sister said, waving the tongs in her hand. As she cut the slab of meat into smaller pieces, her husband stepped in to finish the rest.

“Are you a wine person?” she asked.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not much of a drinker.”

“Ah! Would you like some Coke instead, then?”

“Yes, please.”

Then, she looked at her brother, gesturing for him to go to the kitchen and bring out the mentioned items. Clicking his tongue irritably, the student abroad rose from his seat.

“Make sure to bring out some plates too!” she said, kicking her brother in the buttocks.

“So, going back to the book, I went into the theater with a certain image in mind. Of course, it didn’t exactly match what I saw in the movie, but the movie was so well-made that I found the image in my head starting to change. Especially the six-fingered tribe member playing the violin. It was so much better than what I had pictured.”

Juho listened to her quietly. Meanwhile, her husband moved all the pieces of meat on to a plate, putting one into his own mouth while he was at it.

“Apparently, they filmed in New Zealand. What did you think? Was it similar to the image you had in mind when you wrote the book?”

Staring into the air, Juho reminisced about the movie and said, “I actually met with Mr. Jenkins before coming here. We watched the movie together.”

Jenkins was now in another country because of a prior engagement. Before he left, Juho saw the delight on the director’s face with his own eyes.

“Yes! I heard him bragging in an interview.”

“He seemed like he was really proud of his work. Is it true that you were shedding tears of joy afterward?”

Jenkins seemed to have added his own twist to his statement yet again. With a sigh, Juho shook his head.

“I didn’t cry, but it was quite a moving experience.”

After the movie, Jenkins had followed the young author all the way to his hotel and drunk to his heart’s content. It had been a celebration of sorts. Despite having scheduled events for the next day, he hadn’t been afraid to get drunk.

“If you were to give it a rating, what would it be?” the student abroad asked while carrying a bottle of wine, some Coke and plates.

“Way to rain on my parade,” the sister said, giving her brother a disgruntled look. However, the student abroad didn’t let up, acting as though he had the right to know.

“A rating?”

“Yes. In a number. I wanna know how satisfied you were with the movie.”

“Hm. I didn’t even do this in front of Mr. Jenkins.”

“And that makes me wanna hear it more,” the student abroad said.

“You’re supposed to talk about stuff like this behind someone’s back,” he added, giving off an ill-natured vibe. After some contemplation, Juho replied, “You know what, I don’t think I can do it.”

“C’mon, now. Don’t be like that. Is that another way of saying that it wasn’t perfect?”

“I think the meats done,” the brother-in-law said, cutting off the student abroad while he was clinging to the young author, bringing several platefuls of grilled meat to the table. In comparison, there was significantly more meat than vegetables, and needless to say, everything was quite tasty. While Juho was tasting everything one by one, the student abroad’s sister asked out of nowhere while pouring herself a glass of wine, “So, Mr. Woo, how good of a writer is my brother?”

Feeling like a teacher meeting a parent, Juho barely managed to swallow the piece of meat in his mouth.