Translated by: ShawnSuh Edited by: SootyOwl Malddong was among the lowest cla.s.s of servants who took care of the horses in the stable . Unfortunately, his dim-witted character led him to his demise after getting kicked by a horse . For a character that had been modeled after a real person, it was rather merciless . My husband told me once that hed rather get kicked to death by a horse than suffer through tuberculosis, so I tried to make his dream come true, she said light-heartedly as she smiled . There was affection behind it . She was still in love with her eccentric husband . Bark! a dog barked in the distance, and she laughed at the sound of it . If Wol was still around, hed have run out the door to pet that dog . Her pupils didnt stop her from reminiscing about her loved one . She slowly turned her head and looked at Juho, and he quietly stared back at her . You remind me of him for some reason . I do? Of course! My husband was the best looking man Ive ever met . Haha . For some reason, I can sense the trace of time from you . Its rather baffling considering your appearance . Thats interesting, maam . Indeed… my husband often acted much younger than his age . He was the polar opposite of you, but maybe thats why Im getting the feeling that you two are similar . Its an honor, answered Juho with a smile . Yun Seo looked intently and quietly at his face . Bark! the dog barked again . Why was it barking? It was rather loud, yet, having heard it repeatedly, it started to sound weak . Juho remembered his first encounter with the dog . It was when he had walked into the alleyway . That was when he first became aware of the dogs existence . Maybe its calling for its owner . A dog on a leash barks loudly as it waits for its owner . If the owner was the narrator, what kind of story would that be? he thought . What were you thinking when you heard that? Yun Seo asked . Juho blinked quietly for a brief moment . He hadnt quite understood her intention behind the question . You mean the dog? Yes, the barking sound . The dog was still barking . What had I thought of when I heard the dog? What was it? Juho tried to remember . Mrs . Baek, Juho probably doesnt understand what youre asking . It took us a while before we were able to give you a proper answer . Quiet, said Joon Soo . He had somehow managed to shut Geun Woo up while maintaining his friendly look . Yun Seo waited quietly for Juhos response . He couldnt give an answer because there was no answer . The house was filled with silence, and Juho moved around for no apparent reason . The air was heavy . He had no choice . He had to answer honestly . I thought that dog was barking, said Juho as he scratched his head . It had been no more than that . His thought hadnt gone far beyond . A dog is barking in the distance . Its barking with gusto . It must have smelled someone that isnt its owner . Hahaha! Yun Seo laughed . See? Shh, Geun Woo and Joon Soo were still whispering . All Juho did was answering honestly . Yun Seo nodded and asked again . Then? Then? Suddenly, Juho remembered Mr . Moons go-to phrase . Not exactly wrong, but not exactly what Im looking for either . What kind of answer was she looking for? Im sure a lot of things came to you the moment you heard the dogs bark . Then, they died out in the blink of an eye . It all happens at once, so its difficult to distinguish the process, but its not impossible either . Try to pick out the thoughts in your mind while theyre bunched up together like a lump of mud . Itll help you to keep them organized . Once you have them organized, your thoughts will be at your disposal when you need them . Whether it was a conscious effort or not, the brain interpreted signals coming in from the outside . Juho, then, took his time exploring his thoughts . The sound of barking . What was hiding behind it? After a brief momentary thought, he opened his mouth and asked, That I should go meet the dog? Deeper . Predicting yourself is also a way to go about this . Think about all the things you were thinking about at the same time . What would you have thought? Dig deeper . What were the thoughts that I was having . Predict yourself, he concentrated . He had heard a barking dog . Then, he had thought, A dog is barking . Mrs . Baek asked a question . Then, what else was there? What kind of thoughts was I having? For now, tell me what you know, Yun Seo gave him a hint . He spent a brief time organizing his thoughts and said, Dog, puppies . Commonly seen animal . Symbol of loyalty . A figure of speech for describing a loyal person . Mammalia Carnivora Canis . Domesticated wild animal . Common companion animal . History of its domestication goes back as far as 9,500BC . Walks on four legs . It has five toes in its front paws and four in its hind paws . Sharp teeth . Developed sense of smell . Sensitive hearing . Duration of pregnancy can range anywhere from sixty-two to sixty-eight days . Capable of reproducing approximately one year after birth . Gives birth to four to six puppies at once . Its offspring feed on their mothers milk for six to seven weeks . They start eating softer food around the fourth week . It has emotions and it expresses them through barking . There are cases of abandonment, in which they often die or adapt to nature and become wild dogs . Its widely understood to be on bad terms with cats . Its trainable . In as long of a history as it has had with humans, there are countless books that beautifully portray their relations.h.i.+p, he took a deep breath after pouring everything he knew about dogs out . While hed been thinking about whether he should be say more, Geun Woo asked, Do they teach things like that at school nowadays? No, I just happen to enjoy watching The Animal Kingdom . I should check it out . I recommend the bon.o.bo episode to you . Yun Seo asked again when Juho finished making the recommendation, What else? There had to be more, but he was getting closer . He was able to tell that from Yun Seos expressions . So, he calmly retraced his thoughts, calling back the ones he had let pa.s.s . There, he found emotions . I thought of its heartbeat, Juho had thought of the dogs heartbeat as he heard its low resounding cry . How so? I wanted to portray it into a sentence . He had wondered if there had been a way to describe it in writing, a sound that can only be made by a live animal . On the flipside of its rigid surface of knowledge, there were emotions breathing with life . Juho felt it subconsciously and wanted to express it into writing . Yun Seos smile grew bigger . She had found his answer satisfying, which told him he might be going the right direction . What was behind it? He looked up to the ceiling . What was I thinking? He wanted to include the dog in his writing . He had also thought about potential stories he could write with a dog . He had imagined the dog barking before the narrator . Why did I want to include the dog? Adorable, he murmured . I thought the dog was adorable . He had found the dog adorable as it barked at him . It had smelled a stranger, and tried to protect its owner . He had thought that he wanted to go meet the dog, pat it and scratch underneath its chin . Yun Seo smiled quietly, and Juho was made certain by that smile that he had the answer shed been looking for . An author is a person who writes . Yes, maam . What kind of sentence did you want to write? All . He didnt make any distinctions . He believed that he could write whatever he put his heart into it . He believed that an author was a person who was capable of that . However, it wasnt entirely true . There was something he wanted more than others . His heart went out to it first . There were things that one could and could not find in novels . When my heart is tugging . He had been fond of the dog barking . Its sound resounded in his heart . It had moved him from within . After receiving a signal, his emotions had transferred it onto his hands and made him feel urgency . It made him feel like he had to reach for his pen . The mere sound of a barking dog had had such a profound impact on him . Ive been way too easy, said Juho as he chuckled . Try presenting it in another way . She smiled brightly . He understood what she had been trying to teach him . After some thought, he came to realize the processes he went through when writing . There was a big difference between acting on cognitive awareness and depending on the subconsciousness . He felt at ease and like hed gotten his hands on something that only existed in the form of a sense . At that moment, he couldnt help but think repeatedly of a certain individual . The woman in the white dress, exposing her stretched out belly that hung loosely . The woman who had run after her baby . Juho wanted her to regret . Her life had been destructive and immoral . Yet, he had been desperate to catch her at the cliff when she threw herself off . He had hoped to catch her by the hand . However, she had already vanished in the dark . What was I thinking as I watched the world around me came cras.h.i.+ng down? It had been the regret of not being able to protect her . Why did I want to protect her? It had been because he had been in love with her . He had been loving her from the time her mouth had just opened up on her empty face . That was why he had been in such pain . That was the reason why he had wanted her to regret so badly, and he finally came to realize it . Barbecue for dinner! Geon Woo said with excitement . The meat was in the center of various side dishes and fresh vegetables . Everything on the table looked scrumptious . Eat! Theres plenty more of where that came from, Yun Seo said as she scooped out the rice to the bowls . The rice in the reddish brown bowl had an appetizing s.h.i.+ne to it . It looked like it would even be good with kimchi alone . Thank you Mrs . Baek! With Yun Seo tasting the stew, everyone else picked up their chopsticks . Juho started with the side dishes that were around him . While he ate, Joon Soo stood up from his seat with his plate to take some meat over for Juho . I bet you were hungry . Eat more . Impressed, Juho almost exclaimed out loud from his kind-hearted consideration . Here, try the pepper too . Its really hot . In contrast to Joon Soo, Geun Woo was anxious to share his experience with the pepper with Juho . Hed been breathing raggedly after taking a bite and had chugged his water in a hurry . Geun Woo was quite the rowdy person . Im OK, thanks, declined Juho firmly as he brought the meat up to his mouth . It had been perfectly cooked . This is great, Mrs . Baek . Shes an amazing cook, said Geun Woo as he tried to cool his tongue down . Everything on the table had been delicious so far, and there was plenty of food . Shes also generous, added Joon Soo gently, and Juho remembered the pile of fruits she had brought out earlier .