Chapter 241
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 241
Chapter Title: The Mirror
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July, with its scorching sun.
Summer vacation at Yeoul Arts Middle School had begun.
After packing his bag with books, notebooks, and writing utensils, Seojun glanced at a paper on the corner of his desk. It was the list of summer vacation assignments from school.
Unlike in elementary school, there was no daily journal to write, but there was one group activity.
They had to read one of the required novels for adolescents and hold a book discussion. They were required to submit their personal impressions of the book, any changes in their thoughts after the discussion, and the opinions of their group members.
Seojun's group, Group 3, had decided to meet today, less than a week into summer vacation, to get their homework done early.
This was because vacation was the most active time for attending auditions.
Putting his bag down, Seojun put on a pair of non-prescription horn-rimmed glasses. Except for when he was filming *Escape*, he had never worn glasses, so it felt awkward. Seojun fiddled with the glasses a few times while looking in the mirror, then smiled faintly and pulled his usual black cap down firmly.
‘If I use my ability on top of this, it's unlikely anyone will recognize me.’
Gazing at the shimmering pattern on the back of his hand, Seojun slung the bag he had placed on the floor over his shoulder and left the room.
“Looks like I can take off from Wednesday to the end of the month.”
“Hmm. That’s pretty long.”
Seo Eunhye and Lee Minjun, who were in the living room looking at a calendar and discussing where to go for their summer vacation, looked up at the sound of the door opening.
Seeing Seojun ready to go out, Seo Eunhye and Lee Minjun, who had already heard he was going to work on his vacation homework, smiled.
“You’re leaving now?”
“Yeah.”
Lee Minjun glanced at the clock.
“It’s not even 11 yet. Didn’t you say you were meeting your friends at 2?”
“There’s a bookstore next to the café where we’re meeting. I want to look around a bit.”
“What about lunch?”
“There are plenty of restaurants nearby, so I’ll grab something.”
“Don’t just eat snacks. Get a proper meal.”
“Okay.”
Adjusting his cap once more, Seojun put on his sneakers and grabbed the doorknob.
“I’m heading out!”
“Alright.”
“Watch out for cars!”
* * *
Right next to the café where he was meeting his friends was the bookstore Seojun wanted to visit. It was a large chain bookstore with branches all over the country, so it was spacious and had many customers coming and going.
Pulling his cap down firmly again, Seojun opened the door to the bookstore.
Cling.
As he stepped inside, the air conditioning cooled his heated body. After enjoying the cool air for a moment, Seojun walked further in.
“Alright, let’s start looking.”
Seojun let out a light sigh and stood in front of a bookshelf filled with short stories.
The first semester had flown by and summer vacation had arrived, yet Seojun still hadn't chosen a script for the graduation performance.
There were famous plays with publicly available scripts, and there were also plays previously performed by Yeoul Arts Middle School alumni, but none of them felt right.
He had searched and searched, even considering using one of the scripts or synopses that came into Cocoa Entertainment.
However, since other students also had to perform, the time allotted for the graduation performance wasn't very long. This meant he would have to shorten the story or only stage the climax. He wasn't too fond of that idea, so he had put it on hold for now.
‘Still, I need to find something soon...’
He had to gather the cast, build the set, and rehearse.
Feeling a bit anxious about the lack of time, Seojun had retrieved an ability from the Library of Life last night.
[(Good) Dandelion Seed's Connection - Lowest Grade]
A dandelion seed will find a connection for you.
Range: 200m
Not only did the connection have to be within 200 meters, but he also had to be careful not to miss the tiny, white dandelion seed floating on the wind. Perhaps because it was the lowest grade, the range was only 200 meters.
‘Do I have to wander around all summer vacation?’
Scratching his cheek, Seojun turned his head and went back to browsing the novels. Just as he was flipping through the pages, he sensed someone approaching.
“Excuse me, young man.”
“...Yes?”
“Do you like books?”
At the man's question, Seojun discreetly took a step back.
‘I might expect this on the street, but I never thought I'd hear it in a bookstore...’
And he'd managed to spot Seojun, who was even using an ability to dim his presence. The man's determination to find someone to talk to was palpable.
‘That aside.’
Best to avoid strangers. When Seojun closed the book he was looking at, showing signs of leaving, the man quickly held out a business card.
“We’re having a book talk in 10 minutes, could you please help fill a seat?!”
“Uh...”
“I’m not a suspicious person, really. I’m an employee of a publishing company! You can ask the bookstore staff. It’s happening right next door. This is the book! It has nothing to do with religion!”
As Seojun watched the man ramble on, he noticed something.
A tiny dandelion seed, small as a speck of dust, swayed in the air before settling on the book the man was showing him. Seojun blinked as the dandelion seed made itself at home, as if it belonged there.
‘Looks like a 'connection' can be with an inanimate object, too.’
‘It's great that I found it sooner than expected... but what book is it?’
He could just find the book the man showed him, buy it, and go to the café.
But seeing the man's desperate expression, Seojun took out his phone to check the time. Seeing this, the publisher's employee brightened up and quickly spoke.
“You can leave in the middle!”
“I’ll do that, then.”
“Thank you!”
As Seojun accepted the book, the man continued.
“The seats are first-come, first-served, so you can sit anywhere. This book is not for sale, so you can keep it. And if you have time, if you could read a few pages beforehand...”
After giving a few more explanations, the employee hurried off to find more audience members.
Watching the man's retreating figure, Seojun looked down at the book the employee had given him. A yellow dandelion had somehow taken root and bloomed, its petals swaying gently on the book's cover.
[The Mirror]
Seojun turned past the cover, which depicted a woman looking in a mirror.
‘Hmm.’
Seojun smiled faintly as he rapidly read through the words, sentences, and story.
He felt a little sorry for his parents, who had told him to eat a hearty meal, but it seemed he would have to have lunch at the café.
* * *
“...I think I’m going to die.”
Choi Daye, the author of [The Mirror], couldn't stop her legs from trembling.
Despite being the healthy type who never got seasick on a rolling ship or carsick in a car, Choi Daye felt nauseous and dizzy just sitting in her chair. Her face was so pale that a bookstore employee had even asked if she was alright.
If you were to ask what possessed her to hold a book talk in such a state, it was because this was her last chance. She had been overjoyed when the novel she'd worked on for years was finally published, only for it to sink into obscurity without gaining any recognition.
This was the opportunity her publisher and editor had painstakingly arranged to promote her book, which was otherwise digging its own grave.
They hoped that even a single line in an article might attract some interest. They had rented the smallest space in a large bookstore with heavy foot traffic and created a promotional event they called a book talk.
‘...But no one will probably care.’
The image of an empty audience made Choi Daye's stomach churn. She felt terribly sorry for her publisher and editor, who had worked so hard until the very end, insisting that her novel was truly interesting.
“Ms. Choi. It’s time to start.”
“Ah, yes!”
At the bookstore employee's call, Choi Daye shot to her feet. *Hoo, hoo.* She took a few deep breaths and made her way to the event space.
The venue for the book talk was small. There was a single chair and a small table with a water bottle at the front, facing twenty chairs for the audience.
With trembling hands, Choi Daye walked forward without even daring to look at the audience, sat down in her solitary chair. Then, she slowly looked up.
!
About ten people were sitting in the audience. They varied in age and gender. Three of them were reporters the publisher had invited.
The number was higher than she'd expected, and Choi Daye managed to calm her anxiously pounding heart. She had imagined the worst-case scenario: a completely empty audience.
Unlike the satisfied author, the publisher's employee watching from the side let out a quiet sigh. He'd handed out books all over, yet this was all they got.
“We will now begin our talk with Ms. Choi Daye, author of [The Mirror].”
Since it was a small event, the publisher's employee acted as the host.
“Ms. Choi, would you please introduce us to [The Mirror]?”
“...*The Mirror* is about a female psychiatrist and the stories that unfold as she meets three different people. The three stories seem separate, but they are all connected.”
The employee would ask a question, and Choi Daye would answer.
The inspiration for writing *The Mirror*, whether there were similar situations in real life, if it was modeled after a real event... As the Q&A continued between just the two of them, two people with bored expressions stood up.
Then, another person checked their watch and left. Two of the three reporters shook their heads and departed.
The audience of ten was suddenly halved. A shadow fell over the faces of Choi Daye and the employee. As people left one by one, the resolve of those still seated began to waver.
“Should we go too?”
“I’d feel too bad leaving now...”
Having been roped into attending, these people had no real interest in [The Mirror] or its author, Choi Daye. Just as the employee was sighing internally, a boy in a black cap and horn-rimmed glasses raised his hand.
Not expecting anyone to ask a question, the employee called on the boy with a bewildered expression.
“Yes, the young man there.”
“I have a question for Ms. Choi Daye.”
“Y-Yes?”
Startled by being addressed so suddenly, Choi Daye stammered.
“A-A question?”
“Yes. I’m curious to know what you think of the female protagonist.”
Choi Daye, though flustered, answered calmly.
The student in the black cap didn't stop there. He asked question after question, as if he had prepared them in advance. Faced with a reader asking such detailed, insightful questions about her own book, Choi Daye became excited and eagerly shared her intentions and thoughts.
As the questions and answers flew back and forth like a game of ping-pong, the remaining reporter and the three audience members flipped through the books they'd received from the employee, nodding along.
“Hearing it like this makes it sound interesting.”
“I know. I should read it properly later.”
Although only five people remained, the book talk concluded in a much better atmosphere than expected. With a happy expression, Choi Daye signed the books held out by the reporter and the three audience members.
The three audience members and the reporter, who had even filmed Choi Daye signing books, left, and finally, it was the last boy’s turn.
“Thank you so much for reading it.”
Choi Daye said with a bright smile to the boy in the black cap.
“I’m sorry, I feel like I didn’t read it properly since I was in a rush.”
“What?”
At the student's words, Choi Daye and the publisher's employee next to her tilted their heads in confusion. The student who had helped make the book talk a success smiled.
“You gave me the book just a little while ago.”
“...Ah!”
Only then did the employee remember the student he had handed the book to just ten minutes earlier. Choi Daye looked puzzled. The employee quickly gave her a meaningful look, and the boy smiled and continued.
“The book was interesting. Could you please sign it?”
“Oh? Yes!”
“But there’s something I’d like to ask...”
“What is it?”
She felt like she would grant him almost any request. Seeing Choi Daye's sparkling eyes as she asked, the boy gave a small smile.
“Can I adapt this into a play?”
“A-A play?”
While Choi Daye was flustered by the unexpected proposal, the publisher's employee, who had instinctively started thinking about secondary rights and contracts, remembered he was talking to a student.
“Where would you be performing it?”
“It’s for a school graduation project.”
“Ah...”
Unlike the flustered but relieved Choi Daye, the employee nodded with a look of disappointment.
“A play that isn’t for commercial gain is fine. Of course, we can’t write the script for you...”
“I can handle the adaptation, but my school’s graduation projects get uploaded to N-tube.”
“Ah. Then that’s a problem...”
Since the play would likely follow the book's plot, putting it on N-tube would mean a high chance of the story being leaked.
‘But it's not like the book is selling anyway...’
Choi Daye wanted to see her novel reborn as a play. The employee also briefly considered that it could be good promotion. For that to happen, it would have to be well-made.
“Hmm. What school do you go to?”
“Yeoul Arts Middle School.”
‘So he's a middle schooler.’
He was tall, so I thought he was in high school. Yeoul Arts Middle School. Choi Daye’s eyes widened.
“Yeoul Arts Middle School... isn’t that Lee Seojun’s school?”
“You’re right. Don’t tell me actor Lee Seojun is involved?”
“That would be amazing.”
The employee and Choi Daye laughed and joked.
Both of them had already made up their minds.
“Ah, we can’t decide this on our own. The publishing house has to hold a meeting.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure to convince them.”
“I’ll help too.”
At the kind words from the author and the employee, the boy, who had been silent for a moment, slowly took off his black cap. As his face was slowly revealed, the eyes of Choi Daye and the employee gradually widened. The boy, now having taken off his horn-rimmed glasses as well, smiled and spoke.
“Hello. I’m Lee Seojun.”
Choi Daye and the publisher's employee unknowingly held their breath, their mouths falling wide open. The owner of the name they had just mentioned in jest was standing right here.
Actor Lee Seojun said with a bright smile.
“I was hoping to make a play out of this...”
“Do it!”
“Please do!”
The answers came before Seojun could even finish his sentence.
A meeting at the publishing house? The plot being leaked? None of that mattered.
“You absolutely have to make it!”
Faced with the burning intensity in Choi Daye’s and the employee’s eyes, Seojun gave an awkward smile.