Chapter 60: Chapter 60 – HongSam’s Confession (2)
Translator: – – Editor: – –
Translated by: ShawnSuh
Edited by: SootyOwl
“Tiring!?” Seo Kwang grumbled at his mother’s playful words.
“Make yourself at home. Feel free to read whatever you want,” she said.
Seo Kwang took Juho to a place in the innermost part of the store. It was quite far from the register, so they didn’t have to worry about their conversation being overheard.
“What would you like to drink? We have good bread too. Whatever you want, you can have it for free.”
Though Juho turned her down respectfully, she brought out drinks and a generous amount of bread.
“Thank you.”
“Of course! There’s a lot more.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
While Seo Kwang left for a moment, Juho looked around the store. There were all kinds of books, from nursery rhymes to self-help to literature. Among all the books, nursery rhymes were the most common, especially the ones from overseas. All written in their original language, there were enough to fill an entire wall.
“Those are our store’s main products. Our store is well known among nursery rhyme collectors,” Seo Kwang said with a laptop in his hand. A customer was behind him.
“Hello,” Seo Kwang’s mother welcomed the customer with a bright smile. He ordered a drink and picked out a book for himself. He seemed to be a regular.
“Having distinguishing qualities is essential for neighborhood bookstores. Although, I can’t really read them because they’re in English.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“Sure is. I’m sure you understand what it feels like to wait desperately for a translated copy of a book from your favorite author.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” Juho answered with a smile.
Then, Seo Kwang clapped as if he’d remembered something, “You speak English right? So annoying!”
“Why don’t you learn?”
“It’s a lot easier said than done.”
“That is true.”
Learning a language was not easy. James had told Juho once about his struggle with teaching foreign students. Whether teaching or learning, putting in the effort was necessary for both parties. Language was a delicate tool.
“What’s with the laptop?”
“I thought it’d be better to show you.”
He turned the laptop on and went into a familiar looking blog. ‘HongSam’s World of Books,’ it was Seo Kwang’s blog.
“You really are HongSam.”
Juho came to that realization once again as he watched Seo Kwang managing the blog. It was the moment when the corporate worker HongSam became the high school student Seo Kwang in his mind.
“You’re a good writer,” he said sincerely. Seo Kwang might have been a better writer when it came to book reviews.
“That’s flattering. Well, I’m pretty confident when it comes to reviewing books even though I kind of struggle with original stories.”
“Like what Mr. Moon pointed out.”
Mr. Moon had often pointed out Seo Kwang’s plot development. He had to find it difficult to come up with a story of his own.
‘Maybe it’s because he has so many books in his head,’ Juho speculated light-heartedly.
“Look at this.”
After glancing over to the register, he set his laptop in front of Juho. He didn’t want his parents to know. Juho looked at the screen with a faint smile. There was an email written in spotty grammar.
“A foreigner?”
“Yep.”
“Is this your first love?”
“Hey, speak quieter,” Seo Kwang said with his index on his mouth.
“Good times,” Juho smiled without even realizing.
The email was from a person with the nickname “Ginger.” ‘HongSam and Ginger… that’s a curious combination,’ he thought as he read the email. In summary, the point of the email was:
“I’d like to meet you in person.” Juho asked as he looked away from the screen, “How did “Ginger” find out about your blog?”
“So…” he said quietly even though his mother was busy dealing with a customer. “I think she’s a foreigner who’s been studying Korean. She probably found my blog while looking for a Korean novel. It would have been a good resource for her since it’s a blog that focuses on book reviews. So, she visited frequently.”
“Your reviews are written colloquially. That makes sense.”
“I got a message from her one day, and it turns out that she has a similar taste in books, so we started talking over email, mostly about books and Korea.”
As proof, his inbox was full of emails he had exchanged with Ginger. Seo Kwang was full of life when he talked about her, and Juho listened quietly.
“She’s twenty-five years old and lives in the UK. She watches a lot of K-dramas and listens to a lot of K-Pop, so she started studying Korean. That’s when she fell in love with Korean novels.”
‘A love that they overcame the time difference,’ Juho thought.
“Have you seen her face?” he asked.
“Nope.”
“Phone number?”
“Don’t know.”
“What if she’s a dangerous person?” he asked as he looked through the emails.
“I’m trusting she’s not.”
Their relationship had evolved from discussing common interests to something more. From Juho’s point of view, she didn’t seem to be lying either. She had never asked for money and she had taken the initiative to ask to meet. Of course, it wouldn’t hurt to expect the unexpected.
“And she’s into you?”
“Yep.”
Juho clicked the next email. Ginger’s affection had become very apparent at the very end of it.
“She is into you.”
It was possible for a person to fall in love with a person who they had never met. Communication was what made that possible. Instead of verbally, the two had been talking to one another through emails. They had introduced themselves to one another and told one another about themselves, things they liked and disliked, things they found fun or boring, good days, bad days… They knew about each other’s current life.
“Yep,” he answered quietly.
“So, what’s the issue?” Juho asked.
Issue. At that word, Seo Kwang’s expression suddenly grew darker, and Juho had an idea. They had feelings for each other, yet Seo Kwang couldn’t answer her email willingly. It hadn’t been his doubt or the distance between the two.
“Is it age?”
Seo Kwang dropped his head, writhing in pain.
“Why did I do that? I shouldn’t have cared so much about sounding convincing. I shouldn’t have faked my age. Now, I have to lie to someone I consider to be my destiny. I have to trick her,” he said with his head buried in his arms.
Juho read the email again. ‘I’ll be visiting Korea this month. I’d like to meet you then.’
“How old does she think you are?”
“… the same age.”
Twenty-five. Seo Kwang had added eight years to his age, but Juho suggested a simple solution, “Just be honest.”
“Sigh. It’s not that simple,” he added. “Imagine if I’d said ‘Actually, I’m seventeen.’ It’d be over.”
Seventeen. He was young, an underage, at that. He wasn’t even old enough to buy alcohol. There was no way to know how Ginger would respond, so it made sense that Seo Kwang was struggling so much.
“So, are you planning to keep lying to her?”
“… I don’t want to do that either.”
“Of course,” he answered. “Then, I guess you just gotta be honest.”
“Ughhh,” Seo Kwang grumbled.
Juho thought about the significance of Seo Kwang revealing his actual age. According to her emails, Ginger seemed to be polite and someone who acted with common sense. He had predicted that a twenty-five year old Ginger would not consider a seventeen year old Seo Kwang as a romantic partner.
“You know that, right?”
“…”
Seo Kwang knew, and that’s why he had been hesitating. The two had been communicating and sharing each other’s lives. Unfortunately, Seo Kwang was neither twenty-five nor a corporate worker.
“It was so nice…” Seo Kwang said.
“Waiting for her replies had been the most heart-fluttering moments of the past seventeen years.”
Juho stared at him intently.
“Man, some lover you are.”
“Please don’t make fun of me,” he answered sadly as he thought of Ginger. “I don’t want to lie to her, but I don’t want to tell her the truth either.”
Juho didn’t feel that criticizing would be necessary. There was no use in crying over spilled milk. In all this, Seo Kwang was probably the person who was hurting the most.
“You still have to write back to her, right?”
Seo Kwang nodded sadly. He really didn’t want to trick her and he had been constantly fighting with the thoughts in his mind. Otherwise, he’d simply walk away from the situation and he’d justify himself as he did. For that reason, he needed someone to question him so that he could come up with an honest answer.
“How do you want to do this?” Juho asked. There was a brief moment of silence, and he sipped on his drink as he waited for an answer. It was grapefruit-ade, sweet, and slightly tart. The surface of the cup was covered with droplets of water that flowed down the cup pulled by their own weight.
Finally, Seo Kwang responded, “I’m not going to trick her.”
“And then?” he asked.
“I’ll see her. I’m done hiding behind my nickname.”
“OK. Now, it comes down to how you’re going to write your reply,” Juho said as he savored his drink.
“Ahhh!” Seo Kwang cried. The fear seemed to revisit him as he came closer to the core of the issue.
“Why don’t we write something sincere, like when you’re reviewing a book?” Juho suggested in order to prevent him from backing out.
“I’m a timid loser at heart.”
“Don’t you think that will work somehow?”
With first loves, being snazzy had no value whatsoever. Apparently, next to alcohol, it was the second scariest thing to be drunk on. Juho rooted for his friend’s first love that was both sweet and slightly tart.
With his hands on the keyboard, Seo Kwang asked Juho as he hesitated, “Can you help?”
“You’re asking now?”
“You’re the best thing that happened to me.”
“Why don’t you tell that to your love?”
“You speak English,” Seo Kwang said with his lips clenched.
“I do.”
“Help me translate, will you?”
With all the work she had put in writing back to him in Korean, he must have wanted to reciprocate her efforts. There was no reason to say no.
“Alright, anytime,” Juho accepted willingly.
He had never translated before, but he wasn’t worried. He had been keeping himself busy, getting familiar with his language acquisition device. It should be just as useful for translations.
“Here goes nothing,” Seo Kwang said. He wrote to be as honestly as possible.
‘Maybe the person who really looks like an author here is Seo Kwang,’ Juho thought in passing.