Novelist Running Through Time - Chapter 101

TL: KSD

If Baekhak Publishing is described as a company of elites who are high in status but poor in earnings, then Baekhak Cultural Broadcasting could be said to be a company of elites who are not only high in status but also earn well.

So what makes the difference?

The scale of capital?

The type of industry?

The quality of side dishes in the cafeteria?

None of the above.

The answer given by PD Shim Yeon-ho of BMB Variety Department was simply… a positive mindset.

EP 7 – Isomor

Baekhak Publishing and Baekhak Cultural Broadcasting are closely related. If we were to humanize corporations, we could call them ‘brothers’.

It’s not merely because they are part of the Baekhak Group family; rather, they truly sprouted from the same root.

Publishing and broadcasting have the same origin.

If categorized, they both fall under <Media>.

Thus, in old times, the roles of newspaper journalists and broadcast journalists were ambiguous, and even novels were printed in newspapers and treated within the same industry.

(This is why newspapers organize various literary awards)

Although now the economic disparity between the two brothers has widened to the point where the poorer elder, Baekhak Publishing, is now in a position where he has to search for Baekhak Cultural Broadcasting like Nobita looking for Doraemon, the fact that they are brothers remains unchanged.

Thus, PD Shim Yeon-ho of BMB Variety Department also heard about what happened at Baekhak Publishing.

‘I heard that renowned editors were shot down one after another by a author?’

The editor who discovered the author had been screwed and was temporarily demoted, while the editors trying to intercept the author faced one humiliation after another, this rumor was widespread in the industry.

It’s not just because the industry is small, stories of someone getting screwed spread faster than light.

However, when everyone else laughed at the editors of Baekhak Publishing’s ‘failures’, PD Shim Yeon-ho scoffed at their ‘spirit’.

‘Why give up there?’

Those who despair after one failure will never succeed.

One must rise above failures to grasp success.

Armed firmly with a positive mindset, one must adopt a different attitude towards the world.

And so, that’s what Shim Yeon-ho did.

“Ah- I’m really sorry, PD-nim. Our author Moon says he wants to focus on writing for a while due to his condition and suspend broadcasting activities… It seems difficult to participate in the variety show as you mentioned. Still, thank you so much for the great opportunity, and if there’s a chance to work together in the future, anytime…”

PD Shim Yeon-ho did not take the balding representative from Baekhak Publishing’s words as just a rejection.

A negative attitude is a dangerous disease that leads to stress, reduced work performance, and various cardiovascular diseases.

At times like this, one should borrow the power of positivity.

“Hmm…”

He wants to focus on writing, so he’s declining the appearance – X

If we guarantee time for writing, he’ll make an appearance! – O

“Okay!”

Shim Yeon-ho then headed straight to Baekhak Arts Middle School.

It was a move befitting the notorious Crazy bastard of the Variety Department.

* * *

“Here…! I brought him here!”

The pink-haired Min sunbae’s head was dripping with so much sweat that it seemed like his hair dye would wash out. But I was in no condition to worry about him.

A ‘current idol’ Min something sunbae, who practices dance for hours a day, had run till he was like this, there was no way my legs would be okay.

But Min something, aptly nicknamed as ‘factory idol’ for lacking human feelings, was only focused on showing a note to the MC on the stage.

“Hubae! I brought the hubae! What place am I in?”

The MC, holding the microphone, shouted with a refreshing vocal power.

“Okay! Arriving in 2nd place, the Department of Applied Dance gets 60 points!”

Woooooooooo-!!!

The cheer, though from merely dozens of people, exploded like a bomb along with a memo being written on a distant whiteboard adding 60 points.

That was the value of my running.

“Phew……!”

Min Hyo-chan wiped his sweat-soaked pink hair vigorously with a towel around his neck, tilted his head back, and basked in the cheers of his friends.

Then, he coldly shook off my hand.

“What’s this? Why are you still holding on? You’re making me sweat.”

“What?”

“Heh heh… You’re of no use to me anymore.”

Min Hyo-chan said, imitating some villain as he pulled away his hand. Given his poor acting skills, it seemed like a bad idea for him to consider acting after debuting as a solo artist from group activities.

It must have been a joke from Min Hyo-chan, but the problem was that I had no strength left in my legs; I stumbled like a newborn deer and inevitably fell down.

The third-year students in the Department of Applied Dance were shocked at the sight.

“That guy, what the…!”

“Ah… Hyo-chan!”

“Hyo-chan, how could you just discard your junior like an old rag!”

“Memo… Rapid Boys’ Min Hyo-chan, incidents and controversies…”

“I knew Hyo-chan would do something like that. He had a weird look.”

“Does Min Hyo-chan have a personality issue?”

“I was disillusioned. I’m leaving the Rapid Boys fandom.”

Just like that, Min Hyo-chan, who had been a hero in the Department of Applied Dance, became a traitor in just three seconds. Such was the cold reality of the Korean entertainment industry.

“N-no, I…! I didn’t mean to do this…!”

While Min Hyo-chan was desperately protesting on the proverbial people’s court, an unnamed senior from the Department of Applied Dance helped me up.

“Hey, are you okay? Want an electrolyte drink or something?”

Unlike the neatly dressed Literature and Creative Writing students, it was common to see seniors in stylish crop tops in the Department of Applied Dance.

This crop top seemed to be a shirt bought temporarily for a school festival, and the fact that they wore it neatly tied up to expose their bellies, regardless of gender, gave me a slight glimpse into the madness of the Department of Applied Dance.

(By the way, there was no mention of festival shirts in the Literature Department.)

The senior who helped me up was also a male. I tried my best not to stare at his muscular six-pack and exposed belly button while greeting him.

“Ah… thank you.”

But the response I got was a bit strange.

“Hey, aren’t you that guy?”

“Yes?”

“Do you write by any chance?”

I nodded since I did write.

Suddenly, the unnamed senior shouted to those around us.

“Are you really an author?!”

* * *

As a result of getting tangled in a bald editor’s evil business model, Moon In-seop, an ordinary returnee, achieved a celebrity-like level of recognition.

And naturally, he also clinched the title of a celebrity at Baekhak Arts Middle School.

Despite Baekhak Arts Middle School’s reputation as ‘a school attended by many current celebrities’, actual middle school-aged celebrities were rare.

That reputation itself was a rumor spread by the school’s PR department to attract ‘current celebrities’ as much as possible, and minor celebrities were inherently rare.

Therefore, the ‘a school attended by many current celebrities’ Baekhak Arts Middle School was actually closer to ‘a school attended by many aspiring celebrities’, and naturally, those with the highest ambitions were in the Department of Applied Dance.

Unlike non-popular sports like modern dance/Korean dance/ballet, Applied Dance was bluntly more akin to K-pop idol dance, or broadcast dance.

Hence, while schools with high standards in modern dance/Korean dance/ballet departments are called prestigious, schools with a high proportion of Applied Dance Departments are called ‘idol academies’ in both a positive and negative sense.

Baekhak Arts Middle School was a typical idol academy.

Thus, although Baekhak Arts Middle School had enrolled Moon In-seop, a celebrity not typically ‘Applied Dance’-like but more ‘ballet’-like, he himself was making a name in the broadcast industry, so to the students of the Department of Applied Dance, Moon was a role model.

“Please take a picture with me!”

“Are you really friends with Hyo-chan?”

“I loved your book~”

“Have you ever thought about learning to dance?”

“If Min Hyo-chan is blackmailing you, wave.”

Moon In-seop, who often struggles to attend school regularly, seldom sees even the Literature and Creative Writing students, let alone those from other departments.

When this rare creature, who barely manages a 50% attendance rate, makes an appearance, the students from the Department of Applied Dance swarm around Moon In-seop, chewing him out and enjoying his company to their hearts’ content.

Despite despising the popularity of the Department of Applied Dance, the students from the Modern Dance Department, who secretly crave its mainstream appeal, are still too young to be dominated by such dark emotions and instead, consider Moon somewhat a rival. Consequently, they too gathered around him in droves.

Thus, the Applied Dance booth quickly became crowded with people.

Moon In-seop found himself trapped by a wall of people.

Since every single brick in this wall seemed to possess its own intelligence, breaking through was an exceptionally difficult task.

There’s a reason why celebrities always have managers shouting, ‘Excuse me, coming through!’

‘I’m fucked.’

Regretting not calling Ma Ki-hoon, thinking what need was there for a manager at a school festival, just at that moment when Moon In-seop was having second thoughts, thankfully, he heard the long-awaited sound from somewhere.

“Excuse me! Coming through!”

However, the person who came was not there to ‘fetch’ Moon but to ‘catch’ him.

“I’m Shim Yeon-ho from BMB Broadcasting Station, Variety Department! Coming through!”

* * *

Originally, it would be the school’s duty to expel any unauthorized visitors, but such actions are typical only of weak public schools bound by all sorts of red tape.

(Normally, this red tape is referred to as law.)

On the other hand, Baekhak Arts Middle School, a private institution, was able to make more flexible decisions.

Thus, the desires of Chairman Baek Yi-hyun who wanted to promote the school, and PD Shim Yeon-ho, who wanted to ‘kidnap’ Moon In-seop, converged, leading Moon In-seop to meet the PD in the ‘faculty training center’ reception room.

“It’s been a while, Author Moon! Happy to see you here!”

“Hello.”

“I really enjoyed ‘Peaceful Uninhabited Island.’ Did you know I was the one who recommended you to Director Park? But after watching the broadcast, I regretted not bringing you myself if you were going to be like this…! When did you become so articulate? Hahaha!”

Although private schools are also bound by the Education Administration Law, the existence known as the ‘Chairman’ is more like the deity of a private school, rather than merely a corporate representative. The mundane rules are meaningless before divine providence.

Since Park Chang-woon, the madman of the Literature and Creative Writing Department, who could kill the deity himself, was absent from school, there was no one to protect Moon In-seop.

Why the department head of Literature and Creative Writing, Park Chang-woon, was absent on the day of the school festival, nobody knew. Not even the teachers in his department knew since he didn’t talk about it and simply took an unannounced leave.

Originally, Park Chang-woon doesn’t listen to anyone weaker than him. And nobody had the guts to text the former Minister of Culture (who got fired within a week due to a swearing scandal) to ask why he was absent.

How can this not be called irony when Moon In-seop fell into the clutches of two greedy adults due to such a tragic overlap?

Fortunately, though, Moon In-seop knew how to defend himself.

“I don’t want to.”

Caught off guard by this unexpected turn of events, Chairman Baek Yi-hyun was flustered, while PD Shim Yeon-ho desperately dragged up the past.

He was the PD who had produced the special broadcast on New Light Spring Orphanage and was also responsible for Moon In-seop’s first variety appearance.

But it was to no avail.

“I’m sorry.”

If Baek Yi-hyun is the god of Baekhak Arts Middle School, and Shim Yeon-ho is the god of the film set, then Moon In-seop is the supreme and terrible genius author who would even blaspheme against gods.

To someone who has died once, worldly values mean nothing. And one who fears nothing meaningless has no fear.

And if ignorance makes one brave, knowledge makes people free.

Moon In-seop, the most free ‘flying teenager’ of this school, flew away like a butterfly right in front of the Chairman.

“Wait, just a moment… Author Moon!”

But PD Shim Yeon-ho did not give up.

Unlike the Chairman, whose stomach is full from being a chaebol, he is an ordinary office worker. The intensity of his desperation was different.

Shim Yeon-ho (34, PD) put his pride aside and chased after the fleeing Moon In-seop.

PD Shim Yeon-ho caught up with him quickly. Catching a boy wrapped in a blanket and scampering away with short legs wasn’t hard.

However, convincing him to stand in front of a camera was the difficult part, so PD Shim Yeon-ho ran alongside the fleeing Moon In-seop, continuously chattering to persuade him.

“If it’s about not having enough writing time, I can guarantee that! It’s a literary variety show, you know?!”

“Why, why are you chasing me…?”

“Just this once! Come out just once! I’ll negotiate with the director and make sure your pay is top-tier, okay?! No, I don’t even need to negotiate. I’ll set the terms myself on my discretion. If anything goes wrong, I’ll just write a apology letter!”

PD Shim Yeon-ho pursued Moon In-seop as persistently as stalker or maybe even the second So Tae-woong.

Their chase continued until Moon In-seop returned to the Literature and Creative Writing Department booth.

Moon In-seop’s terrified instincts instinctively sought out a beast, no, a person who would protect him.

Accordingly, the moment he entered the Literature and Creative Writing booth, PD Shim Yeon-ho’s pursuit was forcibly cut off.

As proven by Ma ssi from a certain orphanage, those who act on what they believe to be right have no hesitation.

Only righteousness and morality.

With such firm belief, one can even slay a Buddha upon meeting, or cut down a patriarch.

“Yu-na! Help me!”

Thus, Gu Yu-na met the PD, and headbutted him.

Like a bolt of lightning, the avatar of chivalry dressed as a log slammed into PD Shim Yeon-ho.

Gu Hak-jun, who witnessed his daughter who had been sitting on his lap suddenly running out and headbutt someone, opened his eyes and mouth wide in shock.

PD Shim Yeon-ho, who was suddenly attacked by the log monster, was hit in the solar plexus by Gu Yu-na’s round head and fell to the floor, rolling around.

“Arghhhh…!”

Amidst the silence that fell over the Literature and Creative Writing booth following the agonized screams of PD Shim Yeon-ho, Gu Yu-na, a true chivalrous fighter of this era who cares only for her own conscience, flashed a winner’s smile.

“Are you okay, In-seop?”

“I’m fine, but that man…”

“Then it’s all good.”

Gu Yu-na sat back down with a subtly pleased smile.

Moon In-seop quietly helped PD up, guessing that he probably wouldn’t be able to avoid appearing on the variety show.

And PD Shim Yeon-ho, with an intrigued expression, watched the girl wearing the log dress.

That’s how the variety show, <Let’s Become a Novelist!>, started.

*****

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