Novelist Running Through Time

TL: KSD

The Baekhak Arts Middle School’s Creative Writing Department went through a lengthy deliberation to decide on their school trip destination.

However, that deliberation soon turned into a chaotic scene of petty alliances and disorganized bickering…

Tokyo, London, Taipei, Istanbul…

Among the countless candidates vying for attention, schemes of collusion, betrayal, and all manner of crafty tactics ran rampant.

Yet, the indecisive class rep, lacking any solid leadership, was simply swept along in this turmoil. Truly, who could truly say they were thinking about the future of the Creative Writing Department?

Thus, the Soccer Club, which had been biding its time, sprang into unified action, seizing control of the class rep, the teacher’s podium, and the blackboard, officially finalizing the school trip destination as Jeju Island.

The justification offered was to reduce the financial burden on classmates who couldn’t afford an overseas trip, but the true reason likely lay in the fact that the soccer club president’s hometown was Jeju Island…

Of course, there were also rebels who opposed this tyranny. However, they couldn’t withstand the sheer force of those soccer-crazed lunatics and their battle-hardened leg muscles, which they put to use every lunch break by chasing after a ball. These opposition fighters collapsed, unable to resist.

But the soccer club overlooked one crucial fact…

That the school trip wasn’t decided by departments but rather by grade levels.

And when it came to school trips, it was all about Gyeongju.

Thus, the Soccer Club, thoroughly defeated in the grade-wide vote, had to quietly board the train to Gyeongju. Indeed, the flow of history was this ironic…

EP 10 – Starry Sky

“What are you doing?”

Gu Yu-na’s words snapped me out of my reverie.

Caught off guard and not wanting to admit to the trivial thoughts I had been lost in, I quickly made an excuse.

“Just… watching the world go by.”

“Hm…”

Gu Yu-na let out a skeptical hum, scrutinizing me like a guard watching a suspicious prisoner. Then, turning her attention back to her phone, she started tapping away at a message she was sending to someone.

Relieved to have dodged her interrogation for now, I leaned closer to the window under the pretense of ‘watching the world go by’, avoiding Gu Yu-na in the seat next to me.

What filled my vision was the roadside scenery flying by, streetlamps and trees passing in a blur.

In the fast-moving panorama, the only things that remained still were the blue sky and the white clouds.

The clear weather made me sigh involuntarily.

“Haah…”

What’s the point of a sky like that? If only it could rain, maybe this trip would get canceled…

At this moment, all I wanted was to go home.

If they let me return home now, I swear I’d put all my effort into truly relaxing for once. I’d wrap myself in my blanket, cocoon myself in a corner of my room, and do absolutely nothing. Please, just let me…

Tap, tap.

Contrary to my desperate prayer, “the reason I want to go home” tapped lightly on my arm.

She may be small in stature, but this terrifying girl looked at me with unreadable eyes that concealed untold depths.

“Y-Yu-na, what…?”

“….”

Without answering, Yu-na pulled out a small ginseng candy from her pocket.

It was the candy she had extorted from Park Chang-woon earlier.

Unwrapping the candy, Yu-na brought it close to my face.

I gave her a look that said, What exactly do you expect me to do with that? In response, she answered with a bizarre command.

“Ah. Do it.”

“…?”

“Open. Your mouth.”

I just stared at Gu Yu-na without saying anything.

In turn, Gu Yu-na silently stared back at me.

We stared at each other like that for quite a while.

But the meaning behind each of our silences couldn’t have been more different. My silence carried the plea, Please spare me. Hers, however, was a pure manifestation of her unshakable will, an almost inhuman force, compelling the other party to submit to her intentions.

This wasn’t even a fight I could win in the first place.

“…Ah.”

I obediently went ‘ah-‘.

Gu Yu-na’s finger entered my mouth, leaving behind the bitter-sweet taste of a red ginseng-flavored candy before retreating.

Then, with a faintly satisfied expression, she pulled out her phone and started tapping away on the keyboard.

The way she looked, it felt like she was either reporting to someone or documenting something, and it sent a chill down my spine.

It was like being a lab rat caught by a scientist…

“Ah, aah…”

I savored the bitter aroma of red ginseng filling my mouth and looked up at the clear sky where white clouds drifted by.

They were white like wool, with no sign of turning into dark storm clouds. A sudden typhoon sweeping in and canceling the school trip seemed like a complete impossibility.

The sky had abandoned me.

“Save me…”

As if to outright deny my desire to escape from the suddenly strange Gu Yu-na, the terminal for the KTX to Gyeongju loomed closer in the distance.

***

The Seoul Station KTX terminal was caught in an unexpected commotion.

In the space famously associated with trips to Busan, it was now swarmed by middle school students who were scarier than zombies.

While Baekhak Arts Middle School was small in student numbers as an arts-focused school, gathering an entire grade together was no small crowd.

And these weren’t just any middle schoolers, they were arts students.

At this age, the mindset of a typical middle schooler is split half-and-half between ‘what makes me unique’ and ‘I’m special’. Now, add a collective outbreak of ‘artist syndrome’ to the mix.

The danger of this far surpassed that of a zombie virus. A zombie infection might end your life once bitten, but the embarrassing memories created by artist syndrome would haunt you for the rest of your life.

A vivid example of this was unfolding before my eyes.

-!!!

-!

-♪

As they waited for the KTX, a group of music department students began an impromptu busking performance.

The violinists from the classical music department, who usually bickered like mortal enemies, were now collaborating with the guitarists from the practical music department in a soul-stirring ensemble. Beside them, students from the practical dance department were breakdancing energetically.

But the performance didn’t seem aimed at entertaining the audience. Rather, it appeared to be a physical expression of ‘Look, I’m an artist!’

It was evident in the overly elaborate flashy techniques they struggled to execute in front of passersby in the station concourse.

The head teacher of the practical music department, passing by with a smirk, casually commented:

“It’s weird. Do you only have kids who can’t play?”

The kids continued their performance undeterred, protesting loudly.

“What’s your problem?! Go away, teacher!”

“Booo!”

“Because music is the only drug permitted by the country…”

The teacher bantered back with a few pointed remarks.

“Aren’t you embarrassed to busk with that level of skill?”

“Skills are honed through real-world experience!”

“Oho…”

The middle schoolers afflicted with artist syndrome were clearly on track to become the arts school teachers of tomorrow.

And artist syndrome, it turns out, is contagious.

“Hey, hand me that violin.”

“Wait, teacher, you know how to play the violin?”

The practical music teacher didn’t answer verbally. Instead, the moment the violin was handed over, a sound so delicate and refined emerged that it utterly outclassed the earlier performance.

The students cheered far louder than the passing pedestrians, impressed beyond words.

Watching this unfold from behind, Park Chang-woon clicked his tongue.

“Aigo… What a pity. Our Creative Writing Department kids are so pitiful. No flashy talents to show off on the streets like this…”

Usually, the one who responds to Park Chang-woon’s such laments is ‘Teacher Kim’, who proclaims himself as Park Chang-woon’s right-hand man and first defender.

But today, it was Moon In, who had been sticking to Park Chang-woon’s side to avoid Gu Yu-na, who spoke up. Teacher Kim, watching this, silently wondered why Moon In was even mingling with the teachers.

“Literature isn’t a performing art.”

“And who says literature isn’t a performing art? Poetry readings are fun, you know. Just because no one watches them doesn’t mean they’re not fun…”

Park Chang-woon then grabbed a hapless student from the Creative Writing Department who happened to enter his line of sight.

“Hey, Chang-su. Go stand next to them and recite some poetry.”

“But I write novels…”

“So what?”

The students of the Creative Writing Department, after three years of enduring Park Chang-woon’s madness, had learned the appropriate method to deal with him.

Smile awkwardly, take small steps backward, and quietly flee.

But whatever you do, never turn around and break into a sprint.

He’ll chase you.

It’s a basic rule of survival: never show your back to a predator…

“Hmm…”

However, when you gaze into the abyss, you must be careful that the abyss doesn’t gaze back into you.

If the students had studied Park Chang-woon, then Park Chang-woon had studied the students.

A man suspiciously well-versed in the ways of the MZ Generation, Park Chang-woon uttered a magical incantation.

“Scared, huh?”

“…!!!”

A student, mentally overpowered by Park Chang-woon, stumbled forward as if possessed, heading toward the busking area.

Turning on his phone and reciting something under his breath, the student clasped his hands and opened his mouth in a pure, clear voice.

“Counting the stars, at night…”

The aspiring novelist began reciting a poem, his wistful eyes glimmering with emotion as he pronounced each word with care.

But his impromptu poetry reading did not last beyond the title. The uncouth arts students nearby erupted in outrage, dragging the poor literature student away.

“Get that guy out of here!”

“Who does he think he is, reciting poetry here?”

“I didn’t like the idea of a humanities kid joining our arts school to begin with…”

“Beat him! Let’s kick the crap out of that lit nerd!”

“Uhuhuhu…”

The unfortunate literature student was hauled into the arts students’ mob and promptly disassembled, figuratively speaking.

Park Chang-woon watched the scene with amusement before turning away.

“Looks like one of my toys broke…”

“…!!!”

With the demeanor of a cold, heavenly demon, Park Chang-woon issued a command to his trusted enforcer.

“Teacher Kim, should we grab a squid leg or two on the way?”

“Yes, sir!”

Teacher Kim sharply bowed, loyally obeying Park Chang-woon’s imperial decree.

Moon In began to question whether fleeing Gu Yu-na and siding with Park Chang-woon had been the right choice after all.

***

However, that doubt did not last long, as Gu Yu-na herself decisively put an end to any need for such questions.

As Moon In sat in a four-seater KTX cabin with the teachers, quietly snacking on squid legs, a shadow suddenly loomed over him.

The shadow was small.

A chill ran down his spine. He turned around cautiously, only to see…

An expressionless Gu Yu-na.

“…”

“…”

The silence that followed was painfully awkward. Moon In tried to read her expression.

It wasn’t the kind of blank face that others might see.

To Moon In, who was something of an expert in decoding Gu Yu-na’s expressions, this was a true blank face.

Moon In felt a sense of crisis.

“…Didn’t you say you were going to the bathroom?”

Moon In, who had escaped from Gu Yu-na saying he needed to use the bathroom, tried to answer.

“Oh, um, on my way back, Teacher Park Chang-woon said he’d buy me some squid legs…”

At that moment, Park Chang-woon’s voice rang out from across the table.

“I don’t recall saying that.”

Moon In looked at Park Chang-woon with eyes like Yoshi abandoned by Mario.

Park Chang-woon avoided his gaze, chewing his squid leg as he looked off into the distance.

Moon In’s escape attempt was officially over.

“Come here.”

“Yes…”

At Gu Yu-na’s gesture, Moon In stood up like a puppet on strings, completely resigned to his fate.

He moved as someone who knew what happened when Gu Yu-na was truly angry.

Gu Yu-na led him to a two-seater, firmly planting him in the window seat.

Then, taking the outer seat for herself, she blocked his escape route. Glancing at him, she gave a single-word command.

“Wait.”

And with that, she disappeared somewhere.

As Moon In sat there trembling in fear for a few minutes, Gu Yu-na finally returned.

In her hand was… a squid leg.

“Here.”

Moon In, with shaking hands, carefully accepted the squid leg.

Gu Yu-na’s eyes said, ‘Eat’.

Moon In hurriedly peeled the squid leg and began to eat. He chewed furiously at the tough snack, struggling to swallow it, when Gu Yu-na murmured softly under her breath.

“If you wanted one, you should’ve just said so…”

At that moment.

Moon In completely abandoned his plan of avoiding Gu Yu-na during the school trip.

And by then, the other Creative Writing Department students also began to sense that something unusual was in the air. A strange tension rippled through the group.

***

Gu Yu-na’s strange behavior continued even after that.

When they arrived at Gyeongju, the ancient capital of the Silla Dynasty, and visited Cheomseongdae, a must-see stop on any school trip:

-Let’s take a picture. It’s one of those photos with a cat filter.

-Uh… okay…

When they reached Bulguksa Temple with its thousand years of history, and ate Dabota Bread in order to study the architectural significance of the Dabotap Pagoda.

-Don’t buy your own. I’ll cut mine in half, so you can eat that.

-I kind of wanted to eat a whole one…

-Then I’ll buy another one, and I’ll cut that in half for you.

Gu Yu-na stuck to Moon In like glue, behaving oddly the entire time.

Of course, Gu Yu-na’s eccentricity was nothing new, but this time, something about it was different.

She was acting like a child who had learned how to date by watching videos on the internet.

Particularly baffling was how she seemed to follow some rigid principles like <All pictures must use the cat filter> or <All food must be split and shared evenly>. (Which, in fact, she did.)

And so, that evening.

When they finally unpacked their bags and settled down to shake off the fatigue of the first day of their school trip, even Gu Yu-na’s friends, who feared her,couldn’t help but ask her about it.

“Y-Yu-na…?”

The class rep, who had been dragged into the soccer club’s coup earlier due to her timid nature, hugged a pillow to her chest and cautiously sidled up to Gu Yu-na, who was lying as still as a corpse.

At the sound of her voice, Gu Yu-na’s eyes snapped open.

“What.”

The class rep flinched as if she had just watched a horror movie but mustered a bit more courage to ask her question.

“Did something… happen between you and In-seop?”

Though it was only the rep who voiced the question, every girl in the room, everyone sharing the dormitory with Gu Yu-na, which included all the girls in the Creative Writing Department, was silently listening with rapt attention.

“Not really.”

“C-Come on… just be honest with me. You can tell me.”

“Really, nothing happened.”

Gu Yu-na’s curt response left the rep looking helplessly around the room.

Her gaze clearly said, ‘I’ve done what I could, so I’m retreating now.’

But the collective will of the people did not permit her retreat.

Pushed by their pleading looks, the rep pressed on with more determination.

“Did you guys have a fight?”

“…”

“You know… sometimes couples have fights. If something’s bothering you, you can tell me.”

And then, in the next moment.

Gu Yu-na dropped a bombshell that shattered the past three years of assumptions about the third-year students of Baekhak Arts Middle School’s Creative Writing Department.

“We’re not a couple.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

Like an atomic bomb detonating, silence reigned in the immediate aftermath, with only the blinding flash of the revelation lingering in the air.

Moments later, the deafening noise followed, spreading across the room.

And so, that was how it happened.

That night, everyone in the girls’ dormitory screamed like people whose souls had left their bodies.

*****

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