Translated by: ShawnSuh Edited by: SootyOwl The day after arriving in Germany, Juho spent the entire day going on walks, visiting the library and the museum nearby . First, Juho decided to start with the places that Nabi had recommended . The agent knew her way around the city . Thinking about the upcoming schedule in pa.s.sing, Juho sat at the desk in the room and tried writing down the words that came to him . Ducks, child, gelato . As usual, the story that came out of them was far from satisfactory, which kind of made the young author worried about the long-antic.i.p.ated sequel to Language of G.o.d . Gettin hungry . After a two-hour nap, hunger was the first thing that came to his mind . Despite feeling half asleep from the jetlag, Juho got out of bed to order room service, thinking that hed go out again after eating, perhaps see the city at night . At that moment, while Juho was looking through the room service menu, the once peaceful evening quickly turned into chaos . The doorbell started ringing and his phone started vibrating shortly after, followed by the knocking sound coming from the door . In order to grasp the situation, Juho reached for his phone first . Upon seeing the name on its screen, he felt wide awake all of a sudden . Is he really here? he thought, rising from his seat . That took forever . Of course . Kelley Coin appeared as Juho opened the door, holding his phone on one hand while clenching his other hand into a fist . While Juho was glad to see him, it was simply too sudden . I thought there was a fire or something, Juho said, rubbing his face . Did you just get out of bed? Yes, I did . Itd be nice if you could let me know ahead of time from now on . I did . At that, Juho checked his phone, which showed a text from Nabi and a few missed calls, including the call from Coin . It was the very call that Juho got while Coin was banging on the door . As Juho was writing a reply to Nabi on his phone, he said to Coin, Id prefer if you called a little sooner . Although Juho hadnt seen him in a long time, Coin was just as impatient as the last time they met . Opening the refrigerator, Coin took out a bottle of iced coffee and started drinking it . Then, he sat on the couch, looking at the interior of the room in an arrogant manner . What brings you here? I wasnt expecting youd come here, Juho asked . What are you talking about? I got to Frankfurt before you did . Thats not what Im asking, you know . I heard you were in town, so I thought we should grab some dinner together . After Staring intently at him, Juho stated, Youre bored . … Which he didnt deny . There isnt a whole lot to see here, either . Its just as boring as the States . Youre not planning on saying that at the fair, are you? Juho asked, realizing what it must be like for Isabella, who had to deal with Coins infamous temper on a regular basis . Drinking the water he had bought from a store outside the hotel, Juho sat across from Coin . Youre gonna be onstage, right? The theme is… Meet the Author, isnt it? Yeah . What a ha.s.sle, Coin replied, his face twisting into a scowl almost immediately . The Frankfurt Book Fair was a ma.s.sive fair with over a hundred partic.i.p.ating countries every year . That year, there were over eight thousand companies partic.i.p.ating in the fair, and suffice to say, the local newspaper wrote about the fair on a daily basis . It was in that very fair that Coin was partic.i.p.ating . a.s.suming that hed be busy, Juho hadnt reached out to Coin on purpose . However, to his surprise, Coin turned up in front of his door . Shouldnt you be preparing? I have enough time, Coin said, resting his chin on his hand . Then, he asked, What about you? Being well aware of what he was referring to, Juho replied with a mellow smile, I got nothing to prepare for . No interviews? Nothing? Nope . I didnt make any plans whatsoever . So, you have all the time in the world to dilly dally, huh? Coin said, clicking his tongue, envious of the young authors lax schedule . Im sure the Korean publishers wouldve loved to have you promote for them . The Asian section is nowhere near as popular . Why arent you partic.i.p.ating? You might have been able to turn things around for the booths in the Asian section, especially the South Korean booth . I dont think I couldve helped in any way . Besides, I wasnt even planning on coming at first . As boring as usual . Then what changed your mind? Its not the fair, Ill tell you that much, Juho said, subtly changing the subject . Although slightly annoyed by it, Coin drank his coffee without complaining . I do NOT wanna go to this thing, Coin said genuinely . You should be telling that to Isabella . I wouldnt be here if she listened . Juho shrugged nonchalantly and said, Isnt it a pretty big segment, though? Created for the one and only Kelley Coin? Please . Feel free to take over if you like it that much . You know what? Im famished . Youre buying, right? Juho asked, remembering how hungry he was getting . After glancing at the menu on the table, Coin said, What do you want? And after some thought, Juho replied, Sausages . --- Isnt that Kelley Coin? Being conscious of his surroundings, Juho cut the sausage on his plate . People in the restaurant were, one by one, starting to recognize Kelley Coins presence . Although the two were sitting at the innermost table of the restaurant, that did hardly anything to keep them from the eyes of the public . Not only was the restaurant quite small, but the tables were spread out uniformly . I feel like it gets a lot harder to stay unrecognized whenever were together . People around them were speaking in German . Although Coin didnt speak it, he had an idea of what they might be talking about . By tomorrow, Im sure the world will know that you had sausages for dinner today . Doesnt matter . Whats so interesting about me coming to Germany on vacation? And thats how you find out that there are people flying to Germany just to see you . Juho chuckled, doubting anybody would have that kind of time . Germanys a big country, you know . If people find out that youre in Frankfurt, wouldnt they make the connection that youre here for the book fair? You know how one-dimensional these people can be . And the fair is ma.s.sive . Shrugging, Coin looked around and said, Well, they wont bother us while were eating . a.s.suming their thoughts can get that far . It was a warning of sorts . Of course, n.o.body in their right mind would dare to interrupt Coin during a meal . d.a.m.n it, Id kill for a beer right about now, Coin said, taking a big bite of his Schweinshaxe . By that point, Juho had lost count of how many times he had heard Coin say those very words . However, he did understand where Coin was coming from . In actuality, almost everyone in the restaurant was enjoying a gla.s.s of beer with their food, fitting to the reputation of the country . (TLs Note: Schweinshaxe is a roasted pork hock, a dish traditional to Germany . ) I saw an array of them at the grocery store . It was impressive . Are you telling me to get one? Juho remembered the conversation they had had some time ago when Coin had shared his personal experience with alcoholism . You said it yourself, youd be back in h.e.l.l the moment you let alcohol touch your lips . Ugh . I hate myself . Why did I have to drink myself to near death? I cant even enjoy myself a drink anymore . Well, what can you do? I hate myself, Coin said, fiercely chewing his meat . Youre really hard on yourself . Although, youre under a lot of criticism even as we speak, Juho said, avoiding the gazes directed toward them . You know, this would be the perfect time for you to tell me something along the lines of Oh, you gotta love yourself more . Dont give up, even if everyone else around you does . I thought you werent into that kind of stuff? And feel free to add something like, What harm is there in having a drink or two every now and then? . Haha, Juho let out, catching on with some delay that Coin was cracking a joke . The serious look on Coins face made it nearly impossible to distinguish if he was joking or being serious . If thats what you want, then, so be it . Love yourself, but properly . That way, you dont have to drown yourself in alcohol, Juho said, brus.h.i.+ng his hand across the hat on his head . Words tended to carry different meanings depending on the person delivering them . In that case, who would be in a better position to say what he had said to Coin? Yun Woos successful self, or his wretched self? Acknowledge that you need help . You said that was the first step to recovering from alcoholism, right? I did . Most alcoholics are in denial that theyre addicts . Yet, they keep pouring alcohol down their throats . n.o.body can think when their brain is pickled in alcohol, Coin said, agreeing with Juho . And whats at the end of that road? Youre dead . What else is there? Looking intently at him, Juho said, So, in this case, to neglect is to die . As if he were stating the obvious, Coin tilted his head, saying, Isnt that obvious? Even two-year-olds would know that much . Do not lie . Isnt that one of the first things you learn about survival when growing up? Theres a reason why thats common knowledge . One can tell themselves that theyre OK all they want, but does that really change anything at the end of the day? Thats just negligence . I almost died back then . The conversation stopped briefly as Juho brought a piece of sausage up to his mouth . Then, he briefly immersed himself in thought . I think thats Yun Woo sitting with Coin . As the air sank into silence, Juho heard the whispers around him and Coin . Meanwhile, Coin guzzled down on his water, as if he would a beer . Then, he asked Juho, Wait, what brought you to Germany? Juho looked up at Coins question, thinking, I guess he didnt forget . Meanwhile, Coin was busy eating the meat off the bone, a sight that looked quite threatening for no apparent reason . What did you come here for? Coin repeated himself . I got an offer . An offer? What offer? Juho looked around, locking eyes with a few people . Although most people pretended not to look in their direction, Juho was well aware that they were keeping their eyes on him and Coin, which made it a less-than-ideal setting to tell Coin the truth behind his visit: to write a sequel to Language of G.o.d . I dont think its something I can bring up in here, Juho said . At that, Coin put the bone down and reached into his pocket for a pen with the same hand he had been holding the bone . Then, along with a piece of tissue, he pushed it toward to the young author . Huh, didnt think he would bother, Juho thought to himself, impressed by Coins eagerness to hear him . Is this really necessary? Were still eating . I cant stand being curious . After putting a piece of sausage into his mouth, Juho picked up the pen and wrote: Materials for the sequel of Language of G.o.d . Writing in progress . Upon reading the message written on the tissue, Coin took it and blew his nose with it, which echoed through the entire restaurant . Speaking of Destroy after Reading . Ill make sure to flush it down the toilet . Thanks . Juho didnt go out of his way to add that Coin was one of the reasons that had brought him to Germany . After replaying the words that had been written on the tissue, Coin murmured, Yun Woo, writing a sequel . Youre doing it, arent you? he asked . Thatd be nice, Juho replied . Well, this just got interesting . Im still kind of lost, though . But youre gonna make it happen, eventually . I dont know… Whatever it is, do it well, and go to the award ceremony yourself, Coin said . At which, Juho chuckled quietly . Arent we getting ahead of ourselves here? I havent written a single word yet . It means Im not going to another ceremony for your a.s.s . I thought itd probably be better to warn you now than later . Of course . There was no way that Coin would offer words of encouragement without a catch . After finis.h.i.+ng their meal, the two authors left the restaurant, Coin turning down every autograph and photo request . Juho, on the other hand, stayed behind briefly to take some pictures with a few people, which made him have to rush to catch up to Coin . After sunset, the streets of Frankfurt were just as exotic as they had been during the day . There are a lot of people out even after sundown . Coin answered indifferently, as if he had no interest in the people whatsoever . Of course, Juho was well acquainted with that att.i.tude by that point . Oh! I saw this manual traffic light on the way . Thats something you dont see every day where Im from . Really? Youre getting excited over a traffic light? You dont see things like that anymore these days, especially when everythings automated . Sometimes, its more efficient to keep things manual . That is true, I guess . At that moment, just as Coin was about to ask the young author for the location of the hotel he was staying in, a loud commotion came out of nowhere . When Juho turned in the direction it had come from, he saw two people about to get into a fight at any given minute . Judging from their faces, which burned red, both of them seemed to be drunk . I guess youll find drunk people anywhere in this world . Drunk people fighting, I might add . Things were only getting tenser, and neither party looked like they were about to back down, drawing the attention of those around them . Without getting involved themselves, the pedestrians simply watched the quarrel from a distance . As the two drunkards held each other by the collar of their s.h.i.+rts, Coin asked the young author, What are they saying?