Translated by: ShawnSuh Edited by: SootyOwl OK . What did I say was the beginning of a novel? Asking questions! Sun Hwa answered quickly . As of late, the club activities had been made entirely of learning various theories on writing . The room was filled with excitement . Then, try to decide what you want to write about . There are no limits . I dont care if its a short story or a full-length novel, as long as youre confident that you can write it within half a year . Yes, Mr . Moon! everyone exclaimed with enthusiasm . With that, he walked over to the window toward the hallway, and then to another toward the schoolyard . He was creating an environment optimized for thinking . A refres.h.i.+ng breeze blew into the room . From his seat, Baron quietly sketched what he saw . The pencil moved about busily on his sketchbook . After Mr . Moon stepped out of the room, the club members quietly closed their eyes . Juho was alone in his mind . Hyun Do had challenged him to go out and taste different things . That challenge motivated him to seek after something new . How can I make something new? he thought . After a long chain of questions, he eventually found himself in a maze . Whats new? Whats not new? Because we get used to whats new, wouldnt that mean there isnt such a thing as new? Rustle . The breeze blew on the pages on his desk, making them flap lifelessly . A new page . Is this what I want? What does the word new mean to me? Juho kept thinking . New meant something that didnt exist in the past . In terms of writing, it was the beginning of an occurrence . In terms of a person, a fetus . In terms of the Korean language, it was before the invention of the language in December of 1443 . A new story . A new life . A new language . All of those things didnt exist in the past . In that case, creative writing in and of itself was the process of creating something new, which would render thinking useless . All he had to do to create something new was to keep writing . Juho didnt feel content with the conclusion . He wanted to wrestle with his thoughts some more . Something more colorful . Something a little more foreign to him . Something different from the norm . What else is there? Places he had never been . Things he had never seen . Juho closed his eyes briefly, and then opened them . Nothing had changed . The same old room came into view . The same old club members and their same old seats . Is there no way I can think of anything new in here? Juho felt his shoulders . They were more tense than usual . I should try to relax . After some time, the club members started to reach a decision on what they wanted to write . However, Juho was still staring dazedly out the window . Do you want to get tteokbokki with us? asked Sun Hwa . Everyone else was deciding on what to get at the snack shop, but Juho shook his head slowly . No, thanks . I have to be somewhere . Eh? Where? While briefly staring at the ceiling, Juhos lips parted, and he announced, The beach . . Eh? Leaving a puzzled Sun Hwa behind, Juho left the science room before anyone else . He took out his phone on his way out of the school . The first method of transportation he thought of was the subway . Hed be able to reach the Incheon sh.o.r.e in about two hours . Leaving a text for his mother, Juho made his way into the station . Next station is… a voice sounded from the speakers in the station . The train came, and its doors slid open . Those who had arrived came out of the train while those who were leaving went into it . Looking at the gap between the platform and the train, Juho walked in . As the doors closed with a loud hiss, he found himself a seat . The train started moving . While the train shook, a smile spread across his face . He had left for a sudden adventure in order to see something new . To be in a new place . Once he put his heart into it, everything fell into place with ease . At an incredible speed, the train moved toward the next station, roaring loudly . Juho looked out the window from his seat as he checked for his stop . He was about thirty stops away . There was plenty of time to think . He leaned back on the backrest . The handles shook just as his body did . Leaning his head against the window, he felt the vibrations of the train . Everything shook . Going somewhere felt like it involved being shaken countless times . The train came to a stop . Once the doors opened and closed, it started moving again . It was a sight he would be seeing repeatedly . He felt a cold, artificial breeze blowing from the ceiling . With his eyes closed, he felt all of the movement around him . Clonk, clonk . It sounded like the world was about to come to an end . The same sound came from within the train . After some time, it got rather cold in the train . The coldness pierced into Juhos nose . It was different from the breeze he had felt in the science room . His senses were being disrupted by the artificial breeze . It told him that he was getting farther from nature . A person walked past, followed by a cold breeze . Its a made up breeze . Does that make it new? he thought . The train came to a stop once again, and the doors opened and closed . Soon, the train started moving again . Eventually, it reached a frightening speed, and Juho felt somewhat anxious . What if I feel dizzy? What if I feel queasy and throw up? I dont want to be seen vomiting… he thought . He got used to the vibration and the cold . Does this mean theres nothings new in here anymore? He tried holding his breath . Still, the train kept moving . He was the only thing still while everything around him vibrated . Clonk, clonk, the train shouted noisily as it raced through the dark tunnel . Familiarity removed emotion and the need for thinking . It also removed anxiety, as well as joy and expectation . There was nothing left in the train . Nothing to get used to . None of the things he had gotten used to were in the train . Why am I in here again? Why am I going forward? He couldnt remember . The train stopped, the doors opening and closing . Then it started moving again, as it always had . He felt the train rock and saw the handles shake . As it rushed past the dark shadows, the coldness started to pierce through his body . When he couldnt hold any longer, he breathed out, taking a deep breath . He smelled the fragrance of the ocean . Next station is… Yet again, the train came to a stop, and the doors slid open . Juho walked out of the cold s.p.a.ce within the train, looking back . The train had already closed its mouth, heading toward the next station . Without hesitation, Juho went on his way . The beach, Juho murmured, looking at the enormous puddle before his eyes . Wavelets rushed in his direction . The salty breeze ruffled through his hair . As he pushed the hair out of his face, he walked toward the water, getting closer . The sand under his feet felt all the more foreign . Green seaweed covered the beach . In reality, the beach was no more than a beach . Juho didnt feel anything new, except for the hair tickling his face . Haha! With an hollow laugh, he sat down on the sand . The wave rushed up to the very tip of his shoes . The sand somehow ended up in his mouth, making him have to spit it out . He stared out at the horizon as the sun sank lower and lower . Time pa.s.sed . Although hed come a long way, he didnt feel all that different . If anything, he found himself feeling overwhelmed by the majestic water, stretching endlessly at the horizon like the sky . What can I get out of this place? At that moment, a large seagull flew by, crying . The place was filled with oversized things . Enormous . Wide . Vast . Hm? Juho felt that he was at the brink of inspiration . He looked around at his surroundings . The sea, the sky, sand, seagull . Everything was large, making it hard to fit it all in a glance . There wasnt anything like it where he was from . Everything there fit in a single glance, even for the highest of buildings . All it took to see the top was to look up . Juho thought back to the things he had written so far . Yun spent most of his life at home . The mother and her son also lived within a contained s.p.a.ce . Something new . Immense scenery . Purpose and travel . If he were to put it all into writing… Fantasy . It would have to be fantasy . A journey with a purpose in search of things that did not yet exist in the present . For some reason, he felt glad about the word that he had just spat out . It would be a different world . The thought alone was enough to excite him . A world simply too big to take on . Thats what he wanted to write about . Energized, Juho clenched his hands into fists . Grains of sand rushed into his palms and out between his fingers . This is small . There was something new in that scenery after all . Small grains of sand . Limp seaweed . The seafoam that could never reach Juhos shoes . Not everything was grand and enormous . I want to write about this too, he murmured as he quietly counted the grains of sand in his hand . There were two things he wanted to write about now . A story that resembled the sea and the sand . One long, one short . Should I try writing two separate stories? Juho thought, closing his eyes . No . A voice sounded nearby, and Juho turned to look . There was a woman burying her head in the sand . Dont write about me . Thin and soft, the voice almost sounded like it would be lost in the wind . As Juho was about to approach her, another voice sounded behind him . Pathetic . It sounded c.o.c.ky, and less than pleasant . A tall, well-dressed man looked down at the woman in the sand . If you dont like it, youre more than welcome to leave . The woman dug deeper into the sand . Are you ignoring me? No . What? I said no . I cant hear a thing . My ears must be full of sand . She no longer tried to communicate with the man, but Juho interjected, Hey! Cut it out . Theres no need to be rude . Are you hangry or something? The man didnt hesitate to show his displeasure . Did you call me just so you could joke around? Without humor, wed living in one boring world, my friend . The man scoffed arrogantly . You dont need c.r.a.p like that when youre traveling . You think so? The silk on his body fluttered around in the wind . Youre kind of arrogant, Juho said after observing him quietly . I deserve to be . Ignoring the man, Juho looked to his left . The woman was walking away . Where you goin? She jumped in place . Her long, untidy hair covered most of her face . Long-sleeved s.h.i.+rt . Long pants . It all looked too warm for the weather . Its hot, isnt it? The woman didnt say anything or try to run away . She was barely capable of communicating with other people . Her personality contrasted with her wide, open surroundings . The man, too, was standing quietly in his place . The waves were breaking briskly . Suddenly, Juho chimed up, Should we all go into the water or something? The man frowned at Juhos suggestion . This water exists so that we can cross it . Its a way for us to see something bigger . As unlike as it was of his rude personality, he gave a rather substantial answer .