After breaking up with Oh Jin-woo,
I immediately called editor Mitsuharu.
“Hello. This is Lee Sang.”
—Ah, Mr. Lee Sang! This is Mitsuharu.
“Hi. It’s been a while. Last time, I only contacted you via email.”
—Haha… that’s right. Anyway, I’m glad to hear from you. I have good news to share today.
“Good news? I’m curious.”
—I think you might have expected this! The Japanese edition of Starting Again has gone into its 10th printing as of yesterday.
As he said, it was something I anticipated.
But now that it has come to fruition, it’s only natural that I feel good about it.
“Thank you for your hard work, Editor. It’s all thanks to Domark Publishing.”
They had been doing their best to promote my book.
Occasionally, they faced attacks from right-wing groups.
The publishing industry in Japan is still quite conservative.
—What are you saying? The Outsider is also out of its first printing and we’re preparing for its third edition. It’s really impressive. But, Mr. Lee, if you’re going to send the book to overseas publishers, you’ll need to sign another contract with us…
As expected.
The previous contract was only half-finished.
It only stated, “If it exceeds 10 printings, we will proceed with mediation.”
So a detailed contract needed to be negotiated afterward.
It was something I had to do anyway.
While in Japan, I planned to clear my mind and write poetry.
“Sounds good. I’ll go there. I have some work this week, but I’ll go next week.”
The ‘work this week’ was the premiere of the film The Outsider.
If it weren’t for that, I would have gone right away.
—Oh? Will you be coming? Thank you, Mr. Lee. Domark will cover your round-trip flight and accommodation costs.
“Just the flight ticket, please. I’ll handle my accommodation. I’m thinking of staying in Japan for a while.”
—If you’re staying for a while… how many days do you have in mind?
It’s now early August.
I needed to return by September when classes start.
“Hmm… about two weeks.”
This trip to Japan will be a bit longer.
At a study cafe in Hapjeong-dong.
Five young critics were hard at work studying.
Once a month, they gather to discuss a book that’s difficult to read alone.
The book for this session was Georg Lukács’ The Theory of the Novel.
It was a theoretical work that must be tackled in literary studies.
‘What is the modern novel?’
The four critics debated this difficult question.
Their faces were lively.
One critic read the preface of The Theory of the Novel.
“How fortunate was the era when one could read the map to the path leading to the stars? And how fortunate was the time when starlight illuminated that path?”
“In short, it means that in modern times, there is no predetermined path of destiny called ‘the stars.’ In the past, paths were defined at birth by class, gender, religion, etc., but now we have to forge our own way.”
“Portraying the lives of those who have lost the stars—”
“Is what modern novels are about. It shows people wandering in the dark without a set path.”
“Seeing that chaos, readers may find their own paths in life. That’s one of the important roles of a novel. Even if it’s not a star, it might be a small light, right?”
A constructive discussion about the essence of the novel.
The critics engaged in the conversation with scholarly fervor.
And among them was Ji-hoon.
A little later, during a break.
“Let’s take a break—anyone want to go for a smoke?”
“Ji-hoon, I do.”
Fellow critic Park Min-woo followed Ji-hoon outside.
He was also the person who exchanged manuscripts for the Daehan Literary Award with Ji-hoon.
Inside the smoking booth.
The two naturally talked about the Daehan Literary Award.
“You must have had a hard time reviewing for the preliminary round, too, Min-woo.”
“I thought my eyes were going to fall out.”
“Me too. Why are there so many novels in Korea?”
Ji-hoon’s joke made Park Min-woo smile wryly.
He didn’t seem to be in a good mood.
“Is something wrong?”
With a dark expression, he spoke to Ji-hoon.
“… Actually, I followed you here because I have something to say.”
“Something to say?”
“I think you’ll find out eventually, anyway.”
“Why are you being so serious about it?”
Ji-hoon chuckled.
Park Min-woo took a deep drag from his cigarette.
“I didn’t make it past the preliminary round for Sesano.”