19
19. The Woman in New York (2)
Just because it looked like a documentary didn’t mean it actually was one.
‘Amazing..... It’s making my appetite shoot up.’
I guess this was why people who had received professional training were impressive.
If anyone could do it, there would be no reason for anyone to study that particular field.
‘The camera I bought isn’t even that good.....’
I had dropped my phone while filming before, so whenever we ate dinner in the yard, I tended to use a camera instead.
It was more convenient and safer that way.
‘They say a master doesn’t care about his equipment, but when it comes to cameras, you have to care.’
Of course, the quality of this video wasn’t as outstanding as a documentary shown on television.
Still, I was amazed that Mina could produce this level of quality even with a cheap camera.
“Wow..... But you didn’t touch the raccoon video?”
“Yes. I thought about editing it, but I figured it would be better to just leave it as it was.”
There was a saying that something felt natural because it was awkward.
Since I, rather than Mina, had filmed it in the first place, it might simply have been too messy to edit.
“But is Emma still sleeping?”
“We should wake her up soon.”
I needed to go to sleep soon too.
---
As soon as he arrived at work, Aaron turned on his computer first.
He had received an email as soon as he woke up that morning.
‘I hope it was worth holding myself back and reading this.....’
Aaron had never experienced burnout before, but that didn’t mean he was immune to it.
Everyone experienced some kind of crisis in life, even if they never actually suffered from burnout.
He didn’t overwork himself because he wanted to think of himself as a human being rather than a robot.
That was one of Aaron’s principles.
‘As expected.....’
Aaron opened the email and briefly looked over the manuscript before letting out a faint laugh.
Normally, he would have given the author the email address of the company’s editorial department, but he had given his
personal email address to Shin-yong Kwon.
He wanted to see what kind of final manuscript the writer he was interested in would send him.
‘He still has the desire to be a writer.’
There were countless writers in the world, and some of them had retired.
They might call it retirement, but the word “retirement” didn’t truly exist in the world of writers.
‘People who have the profession of a writer never truly retire.’
Their passion had simply cooled.
If someone gave them the passion to burn brightly again, they would once again bring their stories out into the world.
Aaron had already seen many writers like that.
“The story hasn’t changed, but the details have gotten better.”
Adding simple words.
Removing unnecessary words.
Changing the wording of certain sentences.
The changes were so minor that most people wouldn’t notice them, but they showed just how much Kwon Shin-yong cared
about his work as a writer.
“If there’s one disappointing thing..... it’s probably the English.”
Even after correcting the awkward English, there were bound to be some unnatural parts.
The editorial department would take care of those minor issues.
“But I think the title should be changed.”
He felt that the current title didn’t fit with the novels being released these days.
Aaron recalled the contents of the novel for a moment before opening the file.
---
It felt like I had done nothing but sleep.
Time had passed so quickly that the word “helplessly” came to mind.
“.....I slept way too long.”
When I woke up, it was already approaching four in the afternoon.
I normally didn’t sleep for more than eight hours, but apparently, the fatigue that had accumulated throughout the night
had caught up with me.
“Ugh.....”
Crack!
The same sounds I had heard the previous night began coming from my body again.
My body didn’t feel particularly heavy, but I didn’t feel refreshed either.
‘I’m still in my twenties..... Am I going to completely ruin my body at this rate?’
I did help the older man with farm work as exercise, but I felt that I needed to exercise properly if I wanted to return
to writing.
‘There’s that saying that no matter what you want to do, you should build up your stamina first.’
Twisting my body from side to side, I got out of bed and instinctively looked for my phone.
“There’s an email.”
When I checked my phone, I found an email waiting for me.
It was from Aaron, and along with several explanations, there was also a file attached.
“Change the title?”
When I opened the file, I found several titles listed inside.
‘None of them really catch my attention..... Is the title [The Woman in New York] really that bad?’
I liked it because it clearly conveyed what the story was about, but apparently, some people thought it was too simple.
“The title..... I’ll decide later. Should I eat first?”
With that thought, I left my room and went downstairs.
When I reached the first floor, Father and Mother were sitting on the sofa, but something seemed strange.
“That raccoon.....”
The raccoon was sleeping on Mother’s lap while Father was looking at it affectionately.
“You mean Bori?”
“.....Bori? Are we eating barley rice today?”
Does barley even grow in Canada?
“No. I mean this raccoon. Its name is Bori.”
“Ah..... Bori?”
At those words, my mind froze for a moment.
“You gave it a name? What are you going to do if you get attached to it?”
“We can raise it. Why are you so worried?”
“That’s true, but.....”
In the first place, I couldn’t take it back to Korea, nor did I have any intention of doing so.
If Jeongmin’s family wanted to raise it, what could I say?
“But why Bori?”
“Because of its color.”
“.....I suppose so.”
Well, it did have patches of yellowish fur, so calling it the color of barley wasn’t completely wrong.
“More importantly, have you been sleeping all this time?”
“Yes. Is there anything to eat?”
“Ah. Then why don’t you wait a little longer? Jeongmin and Mina went to Costco to buy some ingredients.”
“Ah..... Okay.”
“If you’re really hungry, there’s some bread on the table. You can eat that for now.”
“Got it.”
Bread digested quickly, so I decided to eat that for the time being.
‘White bread.’
There was a packaged loaf of bread sitting on the table.
It was soft and fluffy, but honestly, it was cheap bread that I found less tasty than Korean white bread.
‘Of course, that’s if you eat it plain.’
Humming to myself, I opened the bag of bread, took out two slices, and placed them on a plate.
“Where’s the maple syrup?”
“You’re going to put syrup on it?”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to toast it?”
“I’m just going to spread it on.”
“It’s in the upper section of the refrigerator.”
Honestly, it would have tasted better if I had made toast, spread butter over it, and drizzled maple syrup on top.
‘Too much effort.’
I was starving, and if I put the bread in the toaster, I would have to wait for it. I would also have to cut the butter
into an appropriate size and spread it.
It was more than good enough to simply pour maple syrup over the bread like this.
‘The maple syrup sold in Canada has such a strangely strong aroma.’
I took the maple syrup out of the refrigerator and poured it directly over the bread on the plate.
Since too much would make it overly sweet, I poured just enough before immediately putting it into my mouth.
‘It really is sweet.’
Maple syrup’s greatest advantage wasn’t just its sweetness. Its subtle maple fragrance was its best quality.
Apparently, the higher the grade, the stronger the aroma of maple syrup became, but even the syrup I was eating had a
rich fragrance despite not being particularly high grade.
‘It goes well with crispy bread too, but.....’
If I had had enough time, I could have enjoyed it even more, but I was satisfied with this.
I stuffed the two slices of bread into my mouth in no time and put the plate in the sink.
“Ah, Shin-yong.”
Just as I was about to quickly wash the plate, Mother, who had been petting Bori, suddenly called out to me.
“What is it?”
“Your mother called.”
“My mother? What did she say?”
“You’re leaving next week, right? She called about that.”
“Ah..... Then I’ll call her.”
“You don’t need to wash the plate. Call her first.”
“Yes. Okay.”
Even though she said that, there was only one plate, so I quickly rinsed it with water anyway.
As soon as I went into the backyard, I took out my phone and called my mother.
Beep..... Beep.....
‘What time is it in Korea right now?’
Korea was fifteen hours ahead, so it should be seven in the morning there.
‘Is she still asleep?’
I was just about to hang up and call again a few hours later when I heard her answer.
“Hello?”
“Ah. You’re already awake?”
“I’m on my way back from taking a walk. I’ve been going for morning walks lately.”
“Ah..... Isn’t it hot?”
“It’s bearable. More importantly, when did you say you were coming?”
“I think I’ll leave next week. Hmm..... I think I’ll arrive in Korea around Thursday.”
“Really? I was going to call because I thought you might have forgotten, but I guess you haven’t.”
“How could I forget?”
There was a reason I was going to Korea next Thursday.
That Sunday was the anniversary of my father’s death.
“I’ll bring you a souvenir.”
“Forget the souvenir. More importantly, have you gotten plenty of rest?”
“Yes. I really did.”
I had rested so much that the word “happy” naturally came out.
I had learned what it meant to enjoy myself, and I had truly understood what rest was.
I felt a happiness as though the seven desires that had disappeared were flowing through my body again.
“My son’s voice..... sounds a lot better.”
“Does it?”
“You always used to speak so quietly.”
Since we had mostly communicated through email and messages, it had been a long time since we had spoken on the phone.
It was only my voice, but even Mother could tell that many things had changed about me.
“Oh. I wrote something in English, and I recently signed a contract for it.”
“Really? Then are you going to become famous like Harry Potter?”
“Haha. That would be like a dream. It’s absolutely impossible.”
“But I guess you’re able to write again?”
“Yes. I think I can start writing again now.”
“......”
At those words, Mother remained silent for a long time.
“Shin-yong. I’m going to hang up now.”
Only after quite some time did I hear Mother’s voice again.
For some reason, her voice sounded like it was trembling.
“Yes. Take care of yourself.”
After the call with my mother ended, I instinctively looked up at the sky.
It was a habit I had developed after coming to Canada.
Whenever my emotions were turbulent or I didn’t want to think about anything, I would stare blankly at the sky.
“It’s beautiful.”
It was always in the same place, yet it always greeted me with a different appearance.
That was what the sky was like, and that was what happiness was like.
People always said it was the same, yet it gave us a happiness that never grew tiresome.
“Let’s go inside.”
After staring at the sky for a long time, I eventually went back inside.
“You’re up?”
“You’re awake.”
When I entered the house, Jeongmin and Mina were putting away the ingredients they had bought.
“Oppa, Oppa!”
Mina suddenly noticed me while organizing the groceries and pulled out her phone from her pocket.
“Look at this! This!”
“What is it?”
When I looked at her phone, I saw the channel name, [A Korean City Boy Who Came to Travel in the Canadian Countryside].
“What about it?”
“Look at the subscribers!”
“Subscribers?”
I tilted my head and checked the subscriber count.
“10.....thousand?”
“Yes! Ten thousand!”
The number of subscribers had skyrocketed.