Novelist Running Through Time

The filming at New Light Spring Orphanage was a major project jointly undertaken by Baekhak Cultural Broadcasting (BMB) and Baekhak Entertainment’s own production team.

It was impossible to keep it a secret.

Although the footage was still in the editing phase, people present on-site were spreading stories online, and information was gradually leaking.

Even Baekhak Publishing’s Publishing Planning Department, who had been watching them closely within the industry, could not have been unaware of what happened on the set.

“It’s unbelievable…”

Yang Sung-jun, the department head, was in despair.

Despite several verifications, there was not even a hint of evidence that the rumors were false. This meant that the writer Lim Yang-wook had found was indeed a ‘real’ genius.

“Why on earth…?”

His mind was filled with question marks.

Why did such luck find its way to that guy?

Did Lim Yang-wook really find a genius?

Why did a genius, absent for decades, emerge just now?

At first, it was unbelievable. But the rumors coming in every moment spoke the truth.

Once he reluctantly accepted reality, his rationality returned. And his cold rationality made a bleak judgment.

“Damn it…”

His rationality said this.

The person who had brought that genius’s writing to Baekhak Publishing, only to be rejected and even buried using the company’s resources, could never survive.

So, to live, he had to do something.

“…”

Right. I can’t die here.

Venom swirled in the bloodshot eyes of Yang Sung-jun, the department head.

EP 2 – Other

The eventful shooting was over.

At the orphanage, my image had become that of a monstrous genius author.

The perception was more focused on ‘monster’ than on ‘genius author’.

“Hello.”

“No, you…!!!”

The children and teachers I encountered around the corner looked at me with eyes as if they had seen a monster and ran away in terror.

Moon Chung-jae, the director of the orphanage, looked at me with a soulless expression and smiled sadly, while Bang Jeong-ah, the teacher, also smiled awkwardly, avoiding my gaze.

“Ah, hello In-seop.”

“Why are you avoiding my eyes, Teacher Bang?”

“Oh, isn’t the weather great today? Well then, goodbye.”

Teacher Bang Jeong-ah scurried away from me with quick backward steps.

If even the most virtuous person in our orphanage acted like this, it was obvious how others would react.

“That guy, in front of the camera at our orphanage…”

“Shh! He might hear…”

“How could a kid be like that…”

“He’s a monster…”

“That guy, he doesn’t have parents, right?”

“…?”

As I walked through the corridor, I heard all sorts of whispers. Some genuinely found me creepy, while others joined in to tease me.

I couldn’t stay in the orphanage anymore and ran out.

“Isn’t this too much?”

At a quiet café near the orphanage, I called Lim Yang-wook and vented. Sipping iced Americano through a straw was somewhat refreshing.

Lim Yang-wook asked me with a dumbfounded expression.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in school today?”

“Yes.”

“Then why are you here now?”

“What about it.”

“School is…?”

“…?”

School attendance? Is that something you can eat? As I made a face that seemed to suggest that interpretation, Lim Yang-wook chuckled. I laughed too, since the joke went well. We easily laughed at trivial things.

Everything was going smoothly.

Lim Yang-wook had succeeded in the gamble of his life, and I too had regained peace of mind by publishing my book.

So, the only conversation between us was not serious talk, but trivial personal matters.

“Don’t worry too much about the people at the orphanage being creeped out by you. They also need time to adjust to you. Except for a few, no one knew you were such an old soul.”

“That’s true.”

“Hey. Naruto also experienced such pain and frustration when he was young. You have to overcome that much to become great!”

I asked Lim Yang-wook.

“What’s Naruto?”

Lim Yang-wook widened his eyes in astonishment.

“You don’t know Naruto!”

“Yes.”

“This guy! How can you not know Naruto!”

Lim Yang-wook explained in great detail, almost angrily, about what the manga Naruto is, who the main character Naruto is, and what the story of the manga is all about.

I summarized his lengthy story simply.

“So, it’s a Japanese manga? You could have just said that instead of explaining for so long.”

“You really have lived your life in vain, haven’t you?”

Yes, I have lived my life in vain.

But not anymore.

“I’m only in the 6th grade, what do you mean by living in vain?”

I muttered this to myself and looked out the window. It seemed that spring was slowly giving way to summer, as people’s clothes became lighter and the sky was clear.

While I was observing the urban landscape, Lim Yang-wook patted my shoulder roughly.

“How’s school life these days?”

“I wouldn’t know, I haven’t been going.”

He looked at me with a sly glance as I answered petulantly.

“I looked into things like early graduation or a gifted program for you. What do you think?”

“You didn’t have to go that far for me.”

“What are you talking about? Technically, I’m your manager, so of course, I should do this.”

I had already finished my Americano. I sucked up the coffee that had settled under the ice.

“I’ve looked into taking the GED. School life isn’t fun at all. The kids keep ostracizing me.”

“It’s not you ostracizing the other kids?”

“That’s not entirely untrue.”

“Well, from what I see, you and kids your age really don’t seem to be on the same level.”

Lim Yang-wook thought for a moment and then confided in me with a troubled expression.

“But at least you have someone to complain to when you’re bullied. I don’t.”

“You were bullied too, Mr. Lim? At your company?”

Lim Yang-wook reflected on his company life. If his company life since he joined could be summarized, it would be something like this:

– Are you promoting Lim Yang-wook already? Someone from a provincial university?

– That Lim Yang-wook guy. He doesn’t have a Seoul National University diploma, does he?

– Anyway, he’s a lost cause since college, so let’s get rid of him as soon as he’s promoted!

– Woah!

Ugh. Suddenly, my head hurts. Lim Yang-wook barely managed to shake off the unidentified voices automatically replaying in his head.

“Are you okay?”

Lim Yang-wook turned his head. The boy was looking at him with concern.

“What happened to make you like this?”

Lim Yang-wook spoke to the boy with eyes sticky with thick, black darkness.

“Do you really want to know? About what I went through at the company? Why I lost all my hair?”

“No, I think I’d rather not know.”

“Right. Good thinking.”

Then, Baek Seol approached with a tray carrying bread and coffee.

“What are you two talking so enjoyably about?”

Lim Yang-wook teased her.

“Why did it take you so long to choose bread?”

“Not all bread is the same, you know? Choosing bread is a serious matter.”

Baek Seol retorted cheekily and sat a seat away from Lim Yang-wook, with Moon In-seop in between. She bit into the bread and looked blissfully happy.

“Mmm~”

Lim Yang-wook, who had eaten any bread without tasting it, seemed to have regained his appetite and shamelessly begged Baek Seol.

“Just one bite.”

“No way.”

Moon In-seop observed Baek Seol as was his habit. He was surprised that she was wearing rather expensive clothes. When Baek Seol noticed his gaze, the boy offered the delayed congratulations.

“Ah, congratulations. You got promoted, right? Assistant Manager?”

Baek Seol, who had been promoted from employee to assistant manager, smiled awkwardly and corrected the title.

“Thank you, Author-nim. But I think I prefer the title of ‘editor’ over assistant manager.”

“Yes, Editor-nim.”

“Ahaha, actually, the title of editor doesn’t really suit me either. To be honest, this time too, except for taking book orders over the phone in the warehouse, I feel like I haven’t done anything.”

Baek Seol made a self-deprecating remark, as if something was bothering her.

Surprisingly, Lim Yang-wook, who always criticized Baek Seol for being just an assistant and not a real editor, raised an objection to her self-deprecating remark.

“Baek Seol. If you’ve published a book, you’re an editor. What are you talking about?”

“Is, is that so?”

“If you’ve been holed up in the warehouse selling books all weekend, you’ve been a bookseller.”

“Th, thank you.”

“Yes.”

Lim Yang-wook said this and then abruptly changed the subject, appearing aloof. Baek Seol, unsure how to continue thanking him, awkwardly smiled and changed the topic.

“So, why have we all gathered here?”

Moon In-seop answered.

“I called you because I was bored.”

Lim Yang-wook added to the conversation.

“Now that we’re together, let’s have a meeting of the original members of the Publishing Management Department. Hey, Author Moon. How’s the preparation for your next work?”

“No.”

“Well then. Let’s work hard. Meeting adjourned.”

Lim Yang-wook stood up from his seat.

“Shall we go eat udon?”

“You’ve made quite a bit of money, how about sushi?”

“Sushi sounds good.”

* * *

For Lim Yang-wook, who used to eat convenience store lunches in a basement parking lot office filled with the smell of exhaust, without even a corporate credit card, the meaning of having one was significant.

Lim Yang-wook, extremely excited, wielded his newly received corporate card and filled the stomachs of Baek Seol and Moon In-seop.

Baek Seol suddenly thought. This must be registered as a business meeting. Isn’t it wage theft to just chat and eat like this?

When she asked if this was really okay, Lim Yang-wook’s response was remarkable.

“We had a meeting earlier.”

“That was a meeting?!”

“You’re too strict. Ah- the author has to write his next work so we can sell the book or something! The broadcast hasn’t even aired yet, what else is there to do?”

“But this is too much! Getting paid without doing any work!”

“Young people these days have such strange romantic notions about work.”

Nevertheless, Lim Yang-wook, not wanting to be accused of being a wage thief by his much younger subordinate, somehow steered the conversation back to work.

“Hey, Author Moon. When are you going to write your next work?”

“Are you rushing me already?”

“You said the sixteen books were written in the past! So, you have to write something new!”

“This place really is a black company.”

It wasn’t a serious admonition. The tone was playful. But Moon In-seop took it seriously.

Lim Yang-wook didn’t know, but Moon In-seop was already writing a . It just wasn’t to his liking.

What kind of writing should I do? How do I make this writing satisfactory? These were always lingering questions that never seemed to be resolved, despite constantly thinking about them.

If only there was a small clue.

Then, Baek Seol clenched her teeth quietly.

“Damn it.”

It was an inappropriate expression for the setting, so both Lim Yang-wook and Moon In-seop looked at her in surprise.

Baek Seol, startled and blushing, hurriedly tried to explain why she was angry. Her words came out a bit jumbled in her fluster.

“No! No! It’s just, I was checking something on my phone!”

“Yeah.”

“Actually, when I was taking book orders in the warehouse, it felt like I wasn’t doing much, so I kept monitoring Baekhak Publishing’s responses.”

“You’re serious about this job.”

“Of course! Anyway, there’s this critic named Oh Min-sang, and he definitely seems like someone paid by Baekhak Publishing.”

“Yeah, right. I used to manage that guy.”

“Really?”

“But why him?”

Baek Seol showed them her smartphone. Lim Yang-wook and Moon In-seop leaned in to see the small screen.

「The rumor in the literary world is that Author Mun In is indeed a minor. Setting aside whether it’s true or not, it’s unfortunate that there’s this argument that everything is forgivable just because he’s a minor.

I rather hope he’s not a minor. Out of respect for his literature. But if he is a minor, it seems that respect will disappear.

If he is a minor, wouldn’t it prove that all the writings he has produced are not based on his own insights but are derivative works copied from the insights of some classic?”

He wrote a level of writing that did not match his age. The excitement over a child writing ‘convincingly’ is akin to the joy felt watching a child’s adorable performance.

What kind of emotion can be found in insincere writing? Maybe it would have been better if he had hidden his age forever. Mun In.」

Baek Seol burst out in anger.

“Isn’t this just infuriating?!”

Lim Yang-wook clicked his tongue.

“He must have been paid a lot.”

Moon In-seop admired and nodded his head.

“Oh. This is quite good.”

“…?”

“In-seop, what do you mean?”

* * *

“Assistant Manager Kim. Is this… really true? Are you sure?”

Director Yang Sung-jun doubted the credibility of the information he received. His subordinate assured Director Yang with utmost certainty.

“Yes! There are official disciplinary records! We even contacted the school for confirmation. Although no actual punishment was carried out due to a smooth settlement, we’ve already secured the administrative disciplinary record that remains.”

Director Yang’s disbelief wasn’t due to the dubious explanation of his subordinate.

It was just.

He was truly, truly astonished that such fortune had come his way.

“Puhahaha!”

Yes. The heavens are indeed fair!

If Lim Yang-wook was given a genius author, then it’s only right that I receive this kind of fortune.

No. What went to Lim Yang-wook wasn’t fortune in the first place.

The heavens were on his side.

“Wow… To think such a thing could happen in life. Well done, Assistant Manager Kim.”

“It’s nothing! I just conducted the investigation as you instructed, Director!”

Director Yang Sung-jun patted his subordinate’s shoulder, acknowledging his achievement.

And he smirked and murmured to himself.

“School violence, huh…”

The incident that Lim Yang-wook’s revolving genius author committed was really not ordinary.

He called his orphanage ruffians to beat up other kids and confessed that he had lied about being bullied by the kids.

He was truly an incorrigible villain. And that evidence was in the hands of Yang Sung-jun. It was an official record documented in the school’s computer network.

Yang Sung-jun relished the feeling of all the pent-up frustration in his heart being washed away at once.

It felt so refreshing. Just thinking about bursting Lim Yang-wook’s bubble at his highest point and dragging him down.

“This first broadcast is going to be something to look forward to.”

Farewell, Lim Yang-wook.

****

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