Translated by: ShawnSuh

Edited by: SootyOwl

As Juho was about to head over to cla.s.s, something caught his eyes in the corner of the hallway . It looked like a person who had been rolled up into a giant ball . Recognizing the appearance from behind, he struck up a conversation .

"What are you doing here?"

It was Seo Kw.a.n.g .

"What are you doing?"

"I just had a flashback about my shameful past," he shoved his fingers between his hair and ruffled it .

Seo Kw.a.n.g was writhing violently .

"What brings you here?"

"I followed you . "

"Did you hear?"

"I did . "

Seo Kw.a.n.g had been following Juho since he headed to the staffroom with the homeroom teacher . He had wanted to know the reason for Juho not winning the contest . He went into the staffroom and pretended to be waiting for a teacher as he eavesdropped on the conversation between the two .

It was hard to make out what the teacher was saying, but Seo Kw.a.n.g was able to get a grasp of what they were talking about . After all, Juho's compositions tended to be provocative .

He was relieved on one hand, but he couldn't bear the shame of thinking even for a moment that he had surpa.s.sed Juho with skill . In the end, he ran out of the staffroom . He couldn't help but writhe in shame as he blamed himself .

"I'm not sure what's going on in your life, but hang in there . "

It was an irresponsible encouragement .

Seo Kw.a.n.g remained crouched and said, "I was confused because of you . What did you write to be disqualified? Give it here . "

After a brief moment of thought, Juho asked, "How do I know you're not going to run off with it?"

"What are you talking about?"

'How provocative!' After talking to the teacher, a small seed of hesitation sprouted in Juho's mind .

The teacher had said it himself with a calm voice, "You did well . I enjoyed reading it . "

If Juho had been about the same age as the teacher, Seo Kw.a.n.g wouldn't have been so shocked . Juho was old . As old as he was, he had experience . He was different from Seo Kw.a.n.g, who was still in his reckless youth . He had probably thought to himself, 'If I work really hard, I'll be able to write like him when I'm older . '

Juho thought about the time when Seo Kw.a.n.g came over to his house . Seo Kw.a.n.g hadn't been calm . He had no idea that it took Juho thirty years of blood, sweat, and tears to get to where he is .

"It might be a bit overbearing for underage readers . "

At his words, Seo Kw.a.n.g quietly stood up . Then, he put out his hand .

"I want to read it . Sincerely . You've got to follow the desires of your heart, right?"

That was what Juho had said when Seo Kw.a.n.g first opened up about wanting to be a novelist .

Without saying anything further, he took his paper from the top of the pile and handed to Seo Kw.a.n.g . He watched his paper reach Seo Kw.a.n.g's hand and went on his way .

Seo Kw.a.n.g stayed in the hallway and leaned against the wall . He paused briefly . His hands were getting sweaty . He took a deep breath and looked at the paper . Along with a circle around the word 'plaster figure,' the page was filled with neatly written characters .

In a single breath, he read Juho's heartfelt composition . The noise in the hallway faded away, and he heard the rustling sound of a bird in a distance .

"Ha"

That was the first thing he said after reading the paper .

'This is it . This is the feeling . '

A sense of satisfaction filled him up from deep within . That was the reason why he read .

"This guy drives me nuts!"

The story was about a plaster figure who went on a journey to find his place in the zoo . It saw all kinds of things . Animals, people, love, peace, violence, murder… At the end, the plaster figure looked back at himself—his powerless self who could do nothing apart from getting moved around by others .

The next day, the plaster figure was found shattered to pieces, and the story came to a bitter end .

"What a rascal . He has guts to write something like this at school . "

The story had a dark tone to it . It was filled with s.e.x between animals, murder and violence . Yet, there were characters who loved and longed for peace in the middle of it all . Everyone was different . They each lived accordingly with their opinions . There was no right answer . n.o.body was better than the other . And, at the end of it, was the plaster figure itself .

"So, who's the culprit of breaking the plaster figure?"

Seo Kw.a.n.g imagined the figure shattered to pieces . Scattered debris . Broken shapes . There were no weapons of any sort within its proximity . The figure shattered its own sh.e.l.l . It broke the sh.e.l.l that was carved to look like somebody else and went on a journey to find its true ident.i.ty . It was nothing like what it had been seeing . It was neither bon.o.bo nor people . It never loved . It never knew peace . It was indifferent towards murder and violence .

Seo Kw.a.n.g looked out of the window . The figure was probably still on its journey . It had probably not accomplished anything yet . He imagined it wandering about the streets .

He didn't feel any pain .

"I'll join you . "

He took a step toward the empty stairway .

"Sun Hwa won the award in our cla.s.s . "

After gathering in the science room, the members started discussing the contest results amongst themselves . As Juho announced Seo Kw.a.n.g had received the award, Bom responded as if she were looking to exchange results . She looked happy . Sun Hwa also proudly raised her hands in response, and Baron joined in .

"Did you get an award too, Baron?"

"I know how to write . I just don't," he answered brusquely . He might not say much, but he said what he needed to .

"We did an amazing job!" Bom exclaimed with joy . Every member did a remarkable job in their respective cla.s.ses . After keeping his mouth closed, Seo Kw.a.n.g said, "So, I guess that means the three of us are getting fried chicken . "

"I'm sharing it with Bom . "

At Sun Hwa's words, Juho added at once, "Then who would be so generous as to share their chicken? Baron? Seo Kw.a.n.g Kim?"

n.o.body answered .

"Kind of quiet, don't you think?"

"It's a trend nowadays to have a whole chicken to yourself . Sorry, bud . "

"A trend, you say . "

"I had no idea you guys were so trendy . "

As Seo Kw.a.n.g and Sun Hwa quarrelled, there was a sound of the door opening . A mouth watering aroma filled the science room . Mr . Moon had brought fried chicken as he'd promised . He almost looked heroic holding bags of fried chicken in his hands . The two stopped their quarreling and cheered out loud . Juho clapped gently .

"I brought fried chicken . "

He put down the bags of chicken onto the desk . It seemed like more than enough for three people, and Juho counted six boxes .

"I brought some for the partic.i.p.ants too . Let's dig in . "

"Mr . Moon, you're the trendiest person in this room . "

That day, the Literature Club became one with fried chicken .

The sky was especially blue . The clouds were slowly floating by . The sun was busy at work, trying to s.h.i.+ne its light through the clouds . Juho looked up to the clear sky until his neck hurt . There was faint scent of sunscreen . It was Bom . Sun Hwa and Bom sat together, applying sunscreen to their faces . Their movements seemed adept .

Baron was with his sketchbook under the shade of a tree, and Seo Kw.a.n.g was watching the ants pa.s.sing by .

At that moment, Juho saw Mr . Moon from afar, walking towards the club members .

"Mr . Moon, why are we meeting in the yard?"

"We're running today," he said nonchalantly .

There were other activities taking place in the schoolyard, like badminton or soccer . The Literature Club had reserved a portion of the yard . There were straight lines drawn on the ground, so it was a good place for a sprint race .

"Why are we running?"

"Is this an endurance training?"

Sun Hwa and Seo Kw.a.n.g had asked simultaneously . Mr . Moon put his hand over his eyes to protect them from the bright sunlight and answered . "From this moment on, you will sprint from here to there . Run until you're out of breath, and then we'll immediately pick up our pens . Write whatever sentence comes to mind first . Make sure it's full of life . "

It was a creative teaching method .

Though he didn't exercise regularly, Juho was looking forward to running for the first time in a very long time . Again, Mr . Moon emphasized that it was a sprint race . Immediately after the race, the members would pick up their pens and begin writing .

'What kind of things would this race bring out?' Juho wondered curiously .

"Stretch your bodies first . National Exercise, go . "

While he drew the starting and finish lines on the ground, the members stretched . In contrast to the awkward movements of the first-years, Baron went through the National Exercise with swift and controlled movements .

"Are you running too, Baron?"

"We'll see . I wanted to stretch just in case . "

Soon, Mr . Moon came back and told Baron, "Everyone's going to be running in pairs, but you're more than welcome to run on your own . "

"I'll do it . "

Just like that, everyone partic.i.p.ated in the race . Seeing everyone turning their wrist and ankles after finis.h.i.+ng stretching, Mr . Moon said, "Now, why don't we start the race? Juho . Seo Kw.a.n.g . "

"Yes, sir . "

"Hi . "

First up were Juho and Seo Kw.a.n.g . The two stood next to each other in front of the white starting line .

Once the cloud had pa.s.sed the sun, the grains of sand sparkled brightly . When Juho moved his feet around, feeling the sand underneath, a dust cloud rose . There were sounds of the other clubs sharing the schoolyard . They were chanting here and there .

"Are you a good runner?" Seo Kw.a.n.g asked .

It was obvious that he was probing his opponent, and Juho answered with a faint smile, "I'm alright . You?"

"I'm alright too . "

There was an odd tension between the two . Mr . Moon had a silver whistle of mysterious origin in his hand, and Sun Hwa cheered on loudly, "Woohoo!"

At her cheering, the students playing badminton looked in her direction .

While the two were waiting for a starting signal, a soccer ball rolled toward them, and Seo Kw.a.n.g gently kicked it away . It flew in a good direction .

While that was happening, Juho took the time to stretch some more .

"By the way, what should I write? Something like 'my heart is thumping?'"

"We'll see when we get to the finish line . "

'What comes out will depend on our condition when we reach the finish line,' thought Juho .

The two positioned themselves . The white finish line was visible from afar .

'All I need to do is run . No thoughts . With everything I got,' he reminded himself .

Mr . Moon put his whistle to his mouth .

"Ready?"

Go!

The whistle blew loudly . The signal resembled a scream, and the moment he heard it, Juho flexed his legs and bolted off .

He felt his sight getting narrower by the second . Seo Kw.a.n.g wasn't even visible . The shape of his surroundings distorted, and his body started wobbling . Yet, he saw one thing .

The white line .

'Run, run, run, with everything you got,' Juho thought to himself every moment his foot touched the ground . The seconds before reaching the finish line, he heard Seo Kw.a.n.g catching up to him and thought to himself, 'I don't want to lose . '

"Goal!" somebody shouted .

When Juho reached the finish line, he couldn't see anything . There was nothing but heavy breathing .

Juho slowed down for some time after he had gone past the finish line . His sides were in pain, and his thighs were sore . When he leaned forward, his heart thumped out of control . His wet, sweaty hair covered his sight . That moment, he heard Mr . Moon's voice, "Start writing!"

He grabbed the piece of paper that was next to the finish line . It was slightly crumpled, but he paid no attention . Then, he scribbled, "I'm dying . "

The End

Translated by ShawnSuh Edited by SootyOwl As Juho was about to head over to cla.s.s, something caught his eyes in the corner of the hallway . It looked like a person who had been rolled up into a giant ball . Recognizing the appearance from behind, he struck up a conversation . What are you doing here It was Seo Kw.a.n.g . What are you doing I just had a flashback about my shameful past, he shoved his fingers between his hair and ruffled it . Seo Kw.a.n.g was writhing violently . What brings you here I followed you . Did you hear I did . Seo Kw.a.n.g had been following Juho since he headed to the staffroom with the homeroom teacher . He had wanted to know the reason for Juho not winning the contest . He went into the staffroom and pretended to be waiting for a teacher as he eavesdropped on the conversation between the two . It was hard to make out what the teacher was saying, but Seo Kw.a.n.g was able to get a grasp of what they were talking about . After all, Juho 39 s compositions tended to be provocative . He was relieved on one hand, but he couldn 39 t bear the shame of thinking even for a moment that he had surpa.s.sed Juho with skill . In the end, he ran out of the staffroom . He couldn 39 t help but writhe in shame as he blamed himself . I 39 m not sure what 39 s going on in your life, but hang in there . It was an irresponsible encouragement . Seo Kw.a.n.g remained crouched and said, I was confused because of you . What did you write to be disqualified Give it here . After a brief moment of thought, Juho asked, How do I know you 39 re not going to run off with it What are you talking about 39 How provocative 39 After talking to the teacher, a small seed of hesitation sprouted in Juho 39 s mind . The teacher had said it himself with a calm voice, You did well . I enjoyed reading it . If Juho had been about the same age as the teacher, Seo Kw.a.n.g wouldn 39 t have been so shocked . Juho was old . As old as he was, he had experience . He was different from Seo Kw.a.n.g, who was still in his reckless youth . He had probably thought to himself, 39 If I work really hard, I 39 ll be able to write like him when I 39 m older . 39 Juho thought about the time when Seo Kw.a.n.g came over to his house . Seo Kw.a.n.g hadn 39 t been calm . He had no idea that it took Juho thirty years of blood, sweat, and tears to get to where he is . It might be a bit overbearing for underage readers . At his words, Seo Kw.a.n.g quietly stood up . Then, he put out his hand . I want to read it . Sincerely . You 39 ve got to follow the desires of your heart, right That was what Juho had said when Seo Kw.a.n.g first opened up about wanting to be a novelist . Without saying anything further, he took his paper from the top of the pile and handed to Seo Kw.a.n.g . He watched his paper reach Seo Kw.a.n.g 39 s hand and went on his way . Seo Kw.a.n.g stayed in the hallway and leaned against the wall . He paused briefly . His hands were getting sweaty . He took a deep breath and looked at the paper . Along with a circle around the word 39 plaster figure, 39 the page was filled with neatly written characters . In a single breath, he read Juho 39 s heartfelt composition . The noise in the hallway faded away, and he heard the rustling sound of a bird in a distance . Ha That was the first thing he said after reading the paper . 39 This is it . This is the feeling . 39 A sense of satisfaction filled him up from deep within . That was the reason why he read . This guy drives me nuts The story was about a plaster figure who went on a journey to find his place in the zoo . It saw all kinds of things . Animals, people, love, peace, violence, murder At the end, the plaster figure looked back at himself his powerless self who could do nothing apart from getting moved around by others . The next day, the plaster figure was found shattered to pieces, and the story came to a bitter end . What a rascal . He has guts to write something like this at school . The story had a dark tone to it . It was filled with s.e.x between animals, murder and violence . Yet, there were characters who loved and longed for peace in the middle of it all . Everyone was different . They each lived accordingly with their opinions . There was no right answer . n.o.body was better than the other . And, at the end of it, was the plaster figure itself . So, who 39 s the culprit of breaking the plaster figure Seo Kw.a.n.g imagined the figure shattered to pieces . Scattered debris . Broken shapes . There were no weapons of any sort within its proximity . The figure shattered its own sh.e.l.l . It broke the sh.e.l.l that was carved to look like somebody else and went on a journey to find its true ident.i.ty . It was nothing like what it had been seeing . It was neither bon.o.bo nor people . It never loved . It never knew peace . It was indifferent towards murder and violence . Seo Kw.a.n.g looked out of the window . The figure was probably still on its journey . It had probably not accomplished anything yet . He imagined it wandering about the streets . He didn 39 t feel any pain . I 39 ll join you . He took a step toward the empty stairway . Sun Hwa won the award in our cla.s.s . After gathering in the science room, the members started discussing the contest results amongst themselves . As Juho announced Seo Kw.a.n.g had received the award, Bom responded as if she were looking to exchange results . She looked happy . Sun Hwa also proudly raised her hands in response, and Baron joined in . Did you get an award too, Baron I know how to write . I just don 39 t, he answered brusquely . He might not say much, but he said what he needed to . We did an amazing job Bom exclaimed with joy . Every member did a remarkable job in their respective cla.s.ses . After keeping his mouth closed, Seo Kw.a.n.g said, So, I guess that means the three of us are getting fried chicken . I 39 m sharing it with Bom . At Sun Hwa 39 s words, Juho added at once, Then who would be so generous as to share their chicken Baron Seo Kw.a.n.g Kim n.o.body answered . Kind of quiet, don 39 t you think It 39 s a trend nowadays to have a whole chicken to yourself . Sorry, bud . A trend, you say . I had no idea you guys were so trendy . As Seo Kw.a.n.g and Sun Hwa quarrelled, there was a sound of the door opening . A mouth watering aroma filled the science room . Mr . Moon had brought fried chicken as he 39 d promised . He almost looked heroic holding bags of fried chicken in his hands . The two stopped their quarreling and cheered out loud . Juho clapped gently . I brought fried chicken . He put down the bags of chicken onto the desk . It seemed like more than enough for three people, and Juho counted six boxes . I brought some for the partic.i.p.ants too . Let 39 s dig in . Mr . Moon, you 39 re the trendiest person in this room . That day, the Literature Club became one with fried chicken . The sky was especially blue . The clouds were slowly floating by . The sun was busy at work, trying to s.h.i.+ne its light through the clouds . Juho looked up to the clear sky until his neck hurt . There was faint scent of sunscreen . It was Bom . Sun Hwa and Bom sat together, applying sunscreen to their faces . Their movements seemed adept . Baron was with his sketchbook under the shade of a tree, and Seo Kw.a.n.g was watching the ants pa.s.sing by . At that moment, Juho saw Mr . Moon from afar, walking towards the club members . Mr . Moon, why are we meeting in the yard We 39 re running today, he said nonchalantly . There were other activities taking place in the schoolyard, like badminton or soccer . The Literature Club had reserved a portion of the yard . There were straight lines drawn on the ground, so it was a good place for a sprint race . Why are we running Is this an endurance training Sun Hwa and Seo Kw.a.n.g had asked simultaneously . Mr . Moon put his hand over his eyes to protect them from the bright sunlight and answered . From this moment on, you will sprint from here to there . Run until you 39 re out of breath, and then we 39 ll immediately pick up our pens . Write whatever sentence comes to mind first . Make sure it 39 s full of life . It was a creative teaching method . Though he didn 39 t exercise regularly, Juho was looking forward to running for the first time in a very long time . Again, Mr . Moon emphasized that it was a sprint race . Immediately after the race, the members would pick up their pens and begin writing . 39 What kind of things would this race bring out 39 Juho wondered curiously . Stretch your bodies first . National Exercise, go . While he drew the starting and finish lines on the ground, the members stretched . In contrast to the awkward movements of the first years, Baron went through the National Exercise with swift and controlled movements . Are you running too, Baron We 39 ll see . I wanted to stretch just in case . Soon, Mr . Moon came back and told Baron, Everyone 39 s going to be running in pairs, but you 39 re more than welcome to run on your own . I 39 ll do it . Just like that, everyone partic.i.p.ated in the race . Seeing everyone turning their wrist and ankles after finis.h.i.+ng stretching, Mr . Moon said, Now, why don 39 t we start the race Juho . Seo Kw.a.n.g . Yes, sir . Hi . First up were Juho and Seo Kw.a.n.g . The two stood next to each other in front of the white starting line . Once the cloud had pa.s.sed the sun, the grains of sand sparkled brightly . When Juho moved his feet around, feeling the sand underneath, a dust cloud rose . There were sounds of the other clubs sharing the schoolyard . They were chanting here and there . Are you a good runner Seo Kw.a.n.g asked . It was obvious that he was probing his opponent, and Juho answered with a faint smile, I 39 m alright . You I 39 m alright too . There was an odd tension between the two . Mr . Moon had a silver whistle of mysterious origin in his hand, and Sun Hwa cheered on loudly, Woohoo At her cheering, the students playing badminton looked in her direction . While the two were waiting for a starting signal, a soccer ball rolled toward them, and Seo Kw.a.n.g gently kicked it away . It flew in a good direction . While that was happening, Juho took the time to stretch some more . By the way, what should I write Something like 39 my heart is thumping 39 We 39 ll see when we get to the finish line . 39 What comes out will depend on our condition when we reach the finish line, 39 thought Juho . The two positioned themselves . The white finish line was visible from afar . 39 All I need to do is run . No thoughts . With everything I got, 39 he reminded himself . Mr . Moon put his whistle to his mouth . Ready Go The whistle blew loudly . The signal resembled a scream, and the moment he heard it, Juho flexed his legs and bolted off . He felt his sight getting narrower by the second . Seo Kw.a.n.g wasn 39 t even visible . The shape of his surroundings distorted, and his body started wobbling . Yet, he saw one thing . The white line . 39 Run, run, run, with everything you got, 39 Juho thought to himself every moment his foot touched the ground . The seconds before reaching the finish line, he heard Seo Kw.a.n.g catching up to him and thought to himself, 39 I don 39 t want to lose . 39 Goal somebody shouted . When Juho reached the finish line, he couldn 39 t see anything . There was nothing but heavy breathing . Juho slowed down for some time after he had gone past the finish line . His sides were in pain, and his thighs were sore . When he leaned forward, his heart thumped out of control . His wet, sweaty hair covered his sight . That moment, he heard Mr . Moon 39 s voice, Start writing He grabbed the piece of paper that was next to the finish line . It was slightly crumpled, but he paid no attention . Then, he scribbled, I 39 m dying . With All His Heart 4 The End