Chapter 12
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Through the Vineyard Sunset
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Scene.12 Through the Vineyard Sunset...
The characters, events, and places in this story are works of fiction created for the novel and may differ from reality.
Scene.12 Through the Vineyard Sunset...
“A writer, and a drama writer at that. You must be incredibly famous.”
As Kang Man-dong looked astonished, Kim Seong-hui waved her hands dismissively, looking embarrassed.
“No, not at all.”
“Don't be modest. I see now you're someone quite remarkable. Not just anyone can become a writer, you know. And not just any writer, but a drama writer.”
Hearing that Kim Seong-hui wasn't suicidal but was traveling to write a new drama, he first felt a sense of relief.
‘Still, just in case, I should probably check...’
“Mind if I look you up?”
“Oh, there's no need to search for me. How embarrassing...”
Though she acted embarrassed, Kim Seong-hui seemed pleased inside, her face breaking into a smile.
“Well, I'll take that as a yes. Let's see here.”
Kang Man-dong immediately pulled out his smartphone and started searching.
After typing in "drama writer Kim Seong-hui" and looking up her works, Kang Man-dong tilted his head and looked at her.
“Writer Kim.”
“Yes, sir.”
“There's a strange article here.”
“What?”
As Kim Seong-hui looked at him, asking what he meant, Kang Man-dong handed her the smartphone.
“Writer Kim Seong-hui disappears...?”
Kim Seong-hui quickly tapped on the article.
-Queen of Rom-Coms, Writer Kim Seong-hui. Out of contact for over a month. According to an associate, she is said to be planning a new work, but a reliable source suggests she may have left the industry after feeling inadequate. Writer Kim Seong-hui, who debuted with 'Autumn Romance,' has been churning out a series of works that are essentially self-plagiarized...
“What is this unbelievable bull... ahem, nonsense!”
Reading the article with a furious expression, Kim Seong-hui immediately checked the author's name.
'Issue Fact, Reporter Park Man-hae?'
As a thought flashed through her mind, Kim Seong-hui searched for articles by Park Man-hae.
He was the very guy who took every chance to tear her down while fawning over Park Yu-mi as if she were a sacred idol. On top of that, Issue Fact was a third-rate garbage publication that only wrote and spread rumors for the sake of rumors.
The only person who knew she had left on a trip to write was Yu Han-seong, so the "associate" Park Man-hae mentioned must have been CP Yu. But as for the "reliable source"...
“Park Yu-mi, you... really, until the very end.”
How could she do something like this? It's not like she'd ever done anything to hurt Park Yu-mi!
Why! Why, go this far! Why was she so hell-bent on destroying her?
If she were here right now, I'd slap her across the face.
Unable to contain her anger, Kim Seong-hui let tears stream down her face.
Kang Man-dong, who had handed her the phone, could only stand there awkwardly, not knowing what to do.
“Ahem. Um, Ms. Kim.”
“...”
“Ms. Kim?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well. I don't know what's going on... but stay strong. Life throws all sorts of things at you. That's just how it is, isn't it?”
He'd picked her up when she looked half-dead and even fed her, and now a single article made her look like she was about to die all over again. This would make all his effort for nothing.
“Yes, I suppose so. But this is just wrong. How could a person be so... I just don't understand it.”
Unprompted, Kim Seong-hui unleashed a torrent of stories, from the rumors that had plagued her since her debut to the harassment she'd endured from established writers.
She seemed desperate for anyone to understand even a fraction of her frustration, so Kang Man-dong simply nodded and listened to her story.
“If I can't finish my script... it'll be just like that woman, Park Yu-mi, said. What should I do?”
“Uh...”
He wanted to ask why she was asking him, but the atmosphere was so tense it felt like she might actually kill herself if he did.
“Sir.”
“Yes, Ms. Kim.”
“I can't leave.”
“What?”
“Until I finish writing! I have to stay here at Camu.”
“Ahem. It's not that I don't understand how you feel, Ms. Kim, but you need a room to stay in.”
“Yes. So. Please let me stay here in the main house. I'll pay double the rent, no, triple.”
“Oh, dear. That's a bit... There are no women here. It's just two men living here, so for a grown young lady to move in...”
Seeing Kang Man-dong's troubled expression, Kim Seong-hui quickly grabbed his arm.
“Sir, please help me. I have to write, no matter what, and if I leave here, I have nowhere else to go... Please!”
He'd called her over because her behavior was worrying and he intended to ask her to leave, but now it looked like he was about to get saddled with a burden.
“I'm begging you. Think of it as saving a life.”
“Your situation is pitiful, Ms. Kim, but...”
“If you kick me out too, I might just drop dead right here.”
“Hey, you shouldn't say things like that so carelessly.”
Kim Seong-hui practically fell to her knees, clinging to Kang Man-dong.
Kim Seong-hui knew she was being unreasonable and throwing a tantrum, but she couldn't return to Korea without having written a single line.
“Ahem. Forcing it won't make the words come any easier... You'd be better off returning to Korea.”
“I have to write! Even if it kills me! I absolutely have to! Sir. Please!”
“I'm telling you, only men live here. What if something uncomfortable happens?”
“Just think of me as a niece visiting from far away. Can't you just treat me casually?”
“Good grief. This is frustrating. Alright, I get it. Stand up. I'll think about it. For now, go back to your room.”
“You'll really think about it?”
“I'll think about it, but... I can't stand filth...”
“...”
At Kang Man-dong's words, Kim Seong-hui's face flushed red again. She remembered her utterly filthy room.
“I'll go clean it right now. I'm actually a very neat person, you know. I just went half-crazy agonizing over ideas. I'm not normally like that, ever. So. Please, I'm begging you.”
With that, Kim Seong-hui scurried off. It looked like she was really going to start cleaning.
“This is why I don't usually take in people from back home. I should have just turned her away from the start. Why did I have to get involved?”
He'd been happy to meet a fellow Korean after so long, which made him care without realizing it, and that had turned into meddling.
“I should've just pretended not to notice, like I usually do. What a headache. Ah, why did she have to look like she was at death's door? It really messes with a person's head. Aish!”
*
Kang Man-dong did some more searching on Kim Seong-hui.
“So she was a pretty famous writer in Korea. The Queen of Romance.”
While looking over her list of works and the reactions to them, Kang Man-dong saw Writer Park Yu-mi pop up as a related search, so he looked her up too.
She hadn't outright cursed her, but she couldn't hide her agitation when talking about Park Yu-mi, which made him curious about their relationship.
“The Queen of Romance and the Sorceress of Romance. They've given them names perfect for milking the rivalry. Kim Seong-hui is the Cinderella of realistic romance, and Park Yu-mi is the wicked stepsister of fantasy romance. They've openly compared them to get a rise out of them.”
Rivalries can exist in any field, but the problem was that they were calling one realistic and the other fantasy based on the writers' looks.
The attractive Kim Seong-hui represents a plausible romance, while Park Yu-mi is an impossible, imaginary romance. The jerks who shamelessly wrote such articles were a problem, but so were the ones who agreed, blew it out of proportion, and snickered about it. What a pathetic way to live.
“It's always these types of people. If they have nothing better to do, they should just wash their feet and go to sleep. All they do is get on other people's nerves. Truly pathetic. So pathetic.”
Kang Man-dong clicked his tongue repeatedly, then spotted a photo of Park Yu-mi on the side of the page.
And the moment he saw the picture, he got it.
“Now I see why she torments Writer Kim so much.”
Kim Seong-hui was a writer, but she was beautiful enough to be an actress. Park Yu-mi, on the other hand, just from her face, looked like she had quite a temper. She must have been furious about the comparisons of their looks, and then to have articles like this come out...
“Even so, making things up to torment someone is just wrong. It's not like Writer Kim went around bragging that her romance was realistic or that she was Cinderella. Why pick on an innocent person? Tsk, tsk. This Writer Park is a real piece of work. If she's going to be angry, she should be angry at those reporters.”
From being called a writer who slept her way to the top to the recent accusations of self-plagiarism, most of the articles with these strange undertones were connected to Issue Fact and Reporter Park Man-hae.
It was enough to make one mistake Park Yu-mi and Park Man-hae for siblings.
He could now understand why Kim Seong-hui said the two were in cahoots.
However.
“Writer, no matter what, I can't give you a room in the main house. My Yu-hyeon is coming home after a long time. And I'm the type who can't stand to see my son be uncomfortable.”
Kang Man-dong closed the search window.
“Everyone in this world has their own problems. People have to live their own lives. I'm sorry.”
*
Back in her room, Kim Seong-hui cleaned with all her heart and soul. She scrubbed even the window frames, worried he might use the dust there as an excuse to say no.
“This is the only place left. If I go anywhere else, I won't even be able to breathe, let alone write. I have to write here, no matter what.”
If someone were to ask why here of all places, she wouldn't be able to give a specific reason.
It was hard to explain in words, but this place just felt comfortable.
Her writing was still completely blocked, but she felt like she was on the verge of finding something.
It was a vague feeling, but it wouldn't go away.
Until she figured out what it was, she would absolutely not leave this place.
For the past few days, she'd done nothing but hole up in her room and drink, and her body was clearly worn out. Who knew a little cleaning could be so...
She had no strength left in her body.
“I'm exhausted.”
After spending the entire afternoon cleaning and even doing laundry until sunset, she was completely drained.
Through the window, she saw the crimson sunset warming the vineyard.
“No matter how many times I see this... it's beautiful.”
As the sun sank halfway below the horizon, the surroundings began to darken.
She leaned against the balcony, melting into the scenery.
It felt as if the sunset were paint, and she was immersing herself in it, becoming one of the scattered specks. Though she saw it every evening, it was marvelous and mystical every single time.
As a drama writer, she lived at the nexus of storytelling and visuals... but could she ever describe this with the words she knew, with the sentences she could form?
Perhaps that was why, whenever she watched the sunset, as a different shade of red—though always the same—settled over the world, everything felt insignificant, and even her own existence seemed to fade.
Just then, through the sunset that was so red it was almost black, someone crossed the vineyard.
A guitar slung over one shoulder. A man with a small backpack. His shoulder-length hair swayed gently in the sea breeze. She couldn't see his face clearly, but combined with the sunset, he created a strange, captivating atmosphere.
It was a picture of beauty, just like the photograph on the postcard she'd found at the general store.
The sound of a guitar, a soft whistle. A charming song by Kim Kwang-seok came to mind.
Where the wind blows.
To that place I go.
Like your hair...
She didn't sing out loud, but the lyrics flowed through her mind, and she hummed the tune.
As she stared blankly at the scenery and the man, like someone in a trance, she remembered being told she had to leave the room for a new guest.
As dusk fell, the sunset faded, and the fleeting emotion that had stirred within her scattered.
And suddenly, a wave of anxiety washed over her.
“Don't tell me... he's not the one this room is for, is he?”
The owner had said he'd think about it, but it seemed unlikely she'd get permission. She would try asking again, somehow, but the vibe she got told her as much.
“Ha, still... I wish I could stay, at least until today is over.”
She'd had no choice but to arrive after sunset, but she really didn't want to be chased out in the same way.