Chapter 33: He’s Nearby (1)

Translated by: ShawnSuh

Edited by: SootyOwl

Seo Kwang reached the finish line soon after and collapsed onto the ground. He, too, was quick to reach for a pen, but it wasn’t long before he stopped writing. It couldn’t have been a long sentence.

“I won’t lose next time,” he said as he gasped for breath.

“I’ll be ready.”

“No, don’t be.”

Juho couldn’t afford to indulge in the moment of victory. He had beaten Seo Kwang by a hair, probably by less than a step.

“It’s kind of refreshing actually,” Seo Kwang said as he stood up.

“It’s been a while since I ran like this.”

It had been different from running to measure endurance in P.E. They ran with everything they had. They didn’t let anything hold them back. An innocent competitive spirit sprung out of their hearts.

Juho looked at his paper with the single phrase written on it. The result hadn’t been so great.

As the two were panting, Sun Hwa and Bom prepared for their race.

“Hyah!” Sun Hwa shouted.

The two girls had already passed the midpoint and were headed toward Juho and Seo Kwang. Juho watched them running desperately as their bangs flapped to and fro.

When they were about three steps away from the finish line, they slowed down. They had already reached a finish line in their minds.

There was a contrast between them and Juho and Seo Kwang, who only slowed down well past the finish line.

In the end, Sun Hwa came in first and grabbed her side as she coughed.

“Oh, my! I’m dying,” those were the first words that came out of her lips.

Bom staggered her way toward her piece of paper. However, she couldn’t start writing. Instead, she had her hands on the ground, catching her breath.

“Ah! I’m dizzy,” Sun Hwa said as she rubbed her side. Bom nodded.

“You guys are terribly out of shape,” having caught his breath by the time the two were running toward him and Juho, Seo Kwang said mockingly.

Perhaps he wasn’t aware of the fact that what went around, came around. ‘Who was it that had gasped for breath just a moment ago?’

“I saw you crawling,” Sun Hwa mocked him back.

As he was about to speak out of annoyance, Juho calmed him down and said. “I’m beat. Can we do this later?”

“It’s Baron’s turn.”

At his words, everyone turned their eyes to the starting line. His determination could be felt all the way from the finish line. He almost looked like a predator that had spotted a prey.

“Ready, go!”

As soon as the whistle blew, Baron strode ahead. Just watching him run felt refreshing. He was fast, really fast.

“He’s so fast!”

“What the heck? Since when was he so athletic? Didn’t he used to be in the Art Club?”

As he ran past them, the four who kept their eyes fixed on Baron followed him. A wind followed Baron as he ran past Juho. His hair flapped.

“He’s already here!”

As if he wasn’t even tired, Baron calmly walked toward the other club members. He put his hands up and posed for his victory, and the freshmen looked at him with respect.

The sole artist in the club not only had the writing skills to win an award for the essay contest, but he was also an impressive runner. He was multi-talented.

“Baron, that was amazing!”

“I see why you wanted to run by yourself.”

Juho pulled a piece paper for Baron as he walked toward him.

“You should write too, Baron.”

He stared at the paper for a brief moment and responded with a confident face, “Write this down for me. ‘He resembled a gust of wind.'”

It wasn’t long before the adulation turned into jeering.

—

“Baron, let’s go get some tteokbokki (stir-fried rice cakes).”

“Tteokbokki?”

“All that running is making us hungry.”

All the first years had already agreed to the idea, so Baron was the only person who had to be informed. He nodded willingly, and they decided to meet at a snack stand in front of school.

“What if I get sick tomorrow? I hardly exercise, so my muscles are probably not used to working so hard.”

“You should’ve exercised more.”

“Look who’s talking.”

“It is true that you’re out of shape.”

“Baron!? You too??”

Everyone chimed in at Seo Kwang’s exaggerated remark. Amid it all, Bom spoke up, “You’ll feel better if you massage your legs with a warm towel.”

At that, Seo Kwang answered as if he had met his savior, “I knew I could count on Bom. She’s always the first to clean up at the end of the day.”

From the snack party to the fried chicken party, Bom had always been the first person to pick up the trash. It was like a habit.

At his compliment, she waved her hand in denial. She was the only person who wasn’t aware that Seo Kwang was getting a kick out of seeing her uncomfortable.

“There she goes again.”

“I’m serious. I just have a peculiar personality. If I see a mess, I have clean to it. It bothers me otherwise.”

“You’re so modest.”

Seeing her face flushing bright red, Sun Hwa spoke up. She said as she slapped Seo Kwang on the back, “We all know Bom’s nice, so you should stop talking about it now.”

Juho saw Seo Kwang twisting his body in pain and chimed in, “I knew this was going to happen.”

Baron responded, “Why didn’t you do anything to stop them?”

“They’re not going to listen anyway. Besides, it looks good.”

“What about it?”

The fact that they were able to play around with each other meant that they had gotten that much closer. It wasn’t common in a club for the members to grow closer with one another as a whole. Being small in numbers definitely had its advantages.

“They seemed to be having fun too.”

Nobody complained about how Mr. Moon taught them. Everyone enjoyed writing.

Juho remembered him saying that he had brought back the Literature Club to make school more fun, but there was no way a Literature Club could be fun.

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“I’m so hungry.”

“What are you going to get?”

“Are you getting fritters?”

At Juho’s words, everyone started thinking about what they were going to order. The members left the front gate and walked into the alleyway where the snack stand was. Juho was following them from behind. As he walked, he felt something foreign. Somebody had grabbed him. As he stopped in his tracks, the hand came off of him.

“Hold up.”

It was a low voice. Juho turned his head to see a boy standing behind him. He didn’t recognize the boy’s uniform.

“What is it?”

As Juho stopped, everyone else stopped walking and looked back. They seemed just as confused by the appearance of that mysterious student from another school. Juho felt a slight wariness and asked, “Do you have a business with me?”

“Yes,” the boy affirmed.

For a brief moment, Juho stared at his eyebrows. They were really thick. There was a brief pause and Seo Kwang stepped up, “You seem like you’re from another school. What’s your business?”

The boy took a moment to look at Juho, his uniform, and his trail, then he opened his mouth, “I was told that Yun Woo is here.”

‘Yun Woo.’ Juho immediately took his eyes off the boy’s eyebrows.

“What?” Seo Kwang asked in a weak voice.

What had just come out of that boy’s mouth was just as random as his sudden appearance. ‘Did he just say Yun Woo?’

“Yun Woo? As in the author?”

“Yeah, I’m here to meet Yun Woo. Could you let him know?”

Juho thought about where to begin, ‘How do I correct him?’

“Who told you that? Who said Yun Woo’s here?”

“What do you mean?”

This time, the boy had a confused look on his face.

“Who told you that Yun Woo’s in our school?”

“Everyone knows. I heard she’s really pretty.”

‘No. Yun Woo’s not a she, let alone pretty,’ Juho barely swallowed those words.

The boy observed the situation and said, “I saw you guys running. I saw you writing something too. I asked the people playing badminton, and they told me you’re in the Literature Club. Wouldn’t that mean you know where Yun Woo is?”

‘I see,’ Juho thought.

As he grasped the situation, he sternly shook his head.

“The rumor about Yun Woo isn’t true.”

The boy scowled as if he had just heard something unexpected.

“I’ve heard some people even got an autograph.”

‘That’s true. By a girl named Ina Jang,’ thought Juho.

“Some people have pictures of her too.”

He listed one evidence at a time. His desire to meet Yun Woo was apparent in his voice. Sadly, the rumor wasn’t true.

“It’s a long story. Anyhow, the point is that the rumor is a hoax.”

The boy stayed silent. It was apparent from a glimpse that the air surrounding him was sinking. He was easy to read. His thick overall build gave off a strong impression, especially his eyebrows.

Juho turned his attention to his eyebrows again. It wasn’t simply because of their thickness. He felt a sense of déjà vu.

‘Where did I see that face? Those eyebrows look so familiar. I could’ve sworn I’ve seen him before.”

The boy suddenly asked, “Can you direct me to a police station nearby?”

“Police station?”

“I have a business to attend to.”

‘Business?! He was a busy student, that one. After coming to look for Yun Woo, his next stop a police station?’

“What’s the business?”

“This.”

The boy raised his hand. There were dollar bills folded in half. It was hard to count how many there were, but it was definitely not a large sum of money. Juho asked curiously, “Did you find that?”

“Yes.”

“How much is it?”

“Three dollars.”

‘What a surprise?! Who would have thought there was a student like this in this age?’

This student was asking Juho for direction to a police station so he could return the three dollars he had come across.

‘Goodness!’ Juho felt sad that he was finding that boy’s decision to be unrealistic.

Maybe he had seen that strangely familiar boy in ‘Good Samaritan of the Month’ on TV.

As he was busy thinking, a voice came from behind. It was coming from quite far. He turned around and saw that the other club members were getting further away.

“We’re starving, so we’re going ahead! Take your time!”

Before he had time to say anything, they had disappeared into the alley.

“Well, that happened.”

In the end, Juho and the boy were the only people left.

‘Maybe I should invite him to join us while I’m at it,’ he thought.

It was possible that he might be able to find the inspiration for his next book from that boy. He opened his mouth as the boy waited for an answer, “Hey, can we eat something first? All that running is really making me hungry.”

The boy hesitated, but soon nodded.

“It’d be nice if you could tell me more about Yun Woo. By the way, how to get to the police station.”

Since he was interested in getting to know that boy, Juho accepted. The two made their way into a nearby fast food restaurant.

As they waited for their turn, Juho asked, “Are you a fan of Yun Woo?”

“No,” the boy shook his head without hesitation.

After the unexpected answer, Juho made another question, “Then, why’d you go through the trouble of coming to my school to meet Yun Woo?”

“I wanted to see my rival’s face.”

At his confident declaration, Juho took a moment to think.

‘Did I have a rival like this?’

Chapter 33 – He’s Nearby (1); The End