Hankuk University of Foreign Studies isn’t very close to my officetel.
But if I ride my bike along the river, I can get close enough.
Despite the wind, I pedaled on.
I had some things to sort out.
The first thought that crossed my mind was:
Why did Geumhong want to meet me?
The second thought was that I had something to tell her about translation.
There was something I wanted her to do for the translation of That House...
Squeak—
I stopped my bike.
Geumhong was sitting on a bench by the riverbank.
Her hair was tied back.
She wore a long padded coat.
Her face was bare of makeup.
She looked every bit a "graduate student," but I didn’t mind.
“Professor Geumhong!”
“Oh? Hyekyung! You came quickly!”
I sat down next to Geumhong, who was waving at me.
“Why are you out here in the cold? I said I’d let you know when I arrived.”
We were supposed to meet at a café up the riverbank.
“I just wanted to get some fresh air. I’ve been cooped up for so long that I needed to stretch a bit.”
She smiled brightly.
“…How’s your studying going?”
“It’s tough. But I think it’s more enjoyable than when I first started in the Creative Writing program.”
I remember the first time I saw Geumhong.
She had looked sensitive and anxious back then.
But all that had disappeared, and she was much more lively now.
“Oh, the reason I suddenly asked you to meet is…”
Geumhong handed me a small shopping bag.
“What’s this?”
“To be honest, I wanted to go to the book concert. There are so many seminars in translation and interpretation... but the year-end seminar on the 28th includes a significant presentation. I was going to skip it to come, but…”
"But what?"
“My professor asked me to present. It’s a chance that someone from another school would find hard to come by. So I made my choice. I decided to attend the seminar.”
Geumhong said this with a hint of regret.
But I was okay with it. Truly.
If I were in Geumhong's shoes, I would have done the same.
“Did you do well on your presentation?”
“I placed third. Just barely made the cut.”
“Really? That’s amazing! I bet everyone was really competitive. What was your presentation topic?”
“To be honest, there are many veterans who are far better than I am. You can’t even count how many people are good at English. But I graduated from the Creative Writing program. My focus was on understanding the author’s intent from the perspective of a translator and conveying that in English vocabulary. That’s what I studied and presented.”
Your English skills will naturally improve over time.
Studying abroad is also an option if things get desperate.
But it's not easy to cultivate an eye for "literature."
Geumhong hadn’t wasted her experience from the Creative Writing program.
It was indeed a wise choice.
“Anyway, I wanted to apologize for not being able to go to the book concert and also to share my success. Oh, what’s in the shopping bag is a candle. Just a year-end gift.”
“…Thank you. I haven’t done anything for you.”
“Not at all! You give me work every time. It really helps me a lot.”
Geumhong glanced at me cautiously and then asked,
“Have you found a new translator?”
I turned to look at her.
It was time to get to the point.
“Professor Geumhong.”
“Yes?”
“You're on break right now, right?”
“Yes.”
“Then I think you need to start studying thriller literature from now on.”
“…What?”
“My next work is a thriller. And I plan to launch it in the U.S. market right away.”
Geum-hong's eyes widened.
“B-but as I mentioned…”
“I’ll find a new translator.”
“Then…”
“Please do the rough translation, Geum-hong.”
Rough translation.
This meant laying down the important points before starting the actual translation.
Hiruki had said:
— But... I think I would somehow utilize the existing translator, asking them to pinpoint the key aspects of the writing before diving into the full translation.
That was quite a reasonable suggestion.
Pinpointing the ‘points’ of the translation.
In other words, analyzing the sentences with the knowledge that my writing would be translated.
No one was more familiar with that than Geum-hong.
She had translated all my works up to this point.
And to send That House to the U.S. market… that task was essential.
“The manuscript will be ready in a month. If it’s too much pressure, it’s fine if you don’t want to. But I would appreciate it if you could.”
I knew it could be a burden.
This was an important time for Geum-hong.
She placed third in the seminar presentation?
That meant she would receive numerous invitations to seminars.
A conventional path to making a name in the translation field.
But if she collaborates on the translation of That House?
…Her vacation would just fly by.
She would enter the next semester unprepared.
That would naturally be overwhelming.
So, this was…
“It’s Geum-hong’s choice.”
Geum-hong couldn’t say anything.
She seemed a bit confused.
“Could you give me some time to think?”
I nodded.
Truthfully, I didn’t have the luxury to wait.
But Geum-hong would need time to consider.
“Hey? It’s past midnight.”
Geum-hong glanced at her phone clock.
It was true.
As we chatted in the chilly breeze… the new year had begun.
Brrr— Brrr— Brrr— Brrr—
Brrr— Brrr— Brrr— Brrr—
Our phones buzzed like crazy.
“It’s quite a commotion. I guess it’s New Year messages.”
“Looks like it.”
But we didn’t bother to check our phones.
Instead, we were the first to greet each other.
“Happy New Year, Geum-hong.”
“…Happy New Year to you too. I hope this year goes well as well.”
Just because it’s a new year, not much changes.
My daily life flows pretty similarly.
The only difference is what I’m writing.
After finishing my morning workout,
I made a quick call to check in on Hyekyung’s parents.
And with the remaining time… it’s writing That House.
I drew the curtains, creating a dark atmosphere for writing my thriller.
With the feeling that someone was looking down on me from behind.
Nervous and intrigued.
While I was writing like that,
Ding dong— Ding dong—
Ah, it seems Ji-hoon has arrived.
We had planned to have a ‘strategy meeting’ today.
Even though I told him he didn’t have to come on New Year’s Day, Ji-hoon insisted he would.
I opened the front door.
Sure enough, there stood Ji-hoon, looking somewhat exhausted.
But he was carrying a lot of stuff with him.
“I told you it’s okay to take the day off. Why did you bring so much?”
Ji-hoon shook his head, as if to say not to ask.
“I’m on my way back from my parents' house. It’s better to work than to listen to all that nagging. I feel like there’s blood dripping from my ears.”
I chuckled.
So, he’s avoiding the holiday nagging.
Jihun placed the bundle he brought on the dining table.
“My mom packed this for you. She said it’s sad that you’re all alone.”
Hmm… While Jihun might look pitiful, regardless,
“Make sure to thank her. Let’s eat together.”
“I’m fine. I ate until I was stuffed because of my mom’s urging.”
Jihun waved his hands in dismay.
Inside the bundle were all sorts of food.
Braised short ribs, japchae…
I’m not particularly enthusiastic about the holidays, but this is a bit touching.
“By the way, it must be tough for you to leave your house.”
“Are there still reporters waiting outside your house?”
“Yes. It’s terrible. That’s why I don’t go out much either. Oh? Are you writing a thriller right now?”
Jihun gazed down at my laptop.
“Yeah. I’m in the middle of it.”
“What’s the title?”
“That House.”
“Hmm… It has a nice ring to it. I never imagined you’d write genre literature.”
“I’ve been having a lot of worries.”
“What kind of worries?”
“Well, I suddenly thought about it the other day—will my reputation affect the evaluation of That House?”
“That’s probably true, right? Whether domestically or internationally. If it’s written by ‘Lee Sang,’ people will probably view it differently.”
“Genre literature has a different field, and if you think about it, I’m a newcomer… It’s odd to have a reputation.”
And that kind of reputation usually works against you.
“Ah… That’s true. Even if I use a pen name, I feel like I’d get found out quickly.”
Jihun became serious as if it were an unexpected matter.
I slapped his back lightly.
“First, let’s get to work.”
“Ah, yes. Sounds good. I have plenty of work to do.”
Jihun and I sat across from each other at the table.
“You told me to find out about American publishers for genre literature.”
“That’s right.”
“While I was looking into it… a few American publishers contacted me. It’s probably because of the Euro Literature Prize.”
“They want to publish your book?”
“Exactly. Oh, but this is a bit complicated… I made a brief PowerPoint, so let’s take a look together.”
Jihun opened his laptop and launched the PowerPoint.
First, the first chapter.
The cover of A Day to Live Again and a table divided into two columns.
“A Day to Live Again is an essay, right? The left side of this table lists publishers that would be good for A Day to Live Again… well, the ones known for essays. The right side shows the places that contacted us about publishing A Day to Live Again.”
“Are there any overlaps?”
“Yes. Look here.”
Jihun clicked the mouse once.
Several publisher names turned blue.
“These publishers are the intersection. There are currently two.”
He clicked the mouse again.
The pros and cons of the two publishers were neatly listed.
“Just read through and choose.”
“You’ve done a lot of preparation. I get it for now. You can go, and I’ll think it over.”
“Sounds good. Then let’s move on to the next part.”
The Outsiders and Etc. proceeded similarly.
When did all these contacts come in?
It’s impressive how Jihun organized everything one by one.
“This time it’s a thriller-specific publisher.”
A list of dozens of publishers appeared.
“Thrillers are quite popular in the U.S., so there are many publishers. Honestly, I don’t know which one to choose.”
“Let’s just look at the top ten. Avoid the ones below unless necessary.”
“I think so too. Oh, I’ve organized some of the representative features of each publisher, so take a look.”
I flipped through the PowerPoint slides.
The chapters seemed endless.
Maybe it’s because the country is so big; the publishers are quite diverse.
Publishers with lots of money.
Publishers that support newcomers well.
Publishers that include illustrations in their books.
Publishers that only distribute books in the southern U.S.
In contrast, publishers that only distribute books in the north.
Publishers that rank successful authors every month.
Publishers that are good at promoting on social media.
A publisher famous for its contests…
Contests?
“Jihun, what’s this ‘contest’ about?”
Jihun glanced at the PowerPoint and said,
“Oh, this is a somewhat funny publisher. It’s called ‘Noodle,’ and it’s about fifteenth in the genre rankings.”
Fifteenth, huh.
It’s not that big, but considering the scale of the U.S. market, it can’t be dismissed as small.
By the way,
“What’s funny about it?”
“It’s a publisher that only operates through contests. They hold contests twice a year and select about five winners per genre. They only publish those authors’ books. To get published by ‘Noodle,’ you absolutely must pass their contest. No exceptions for established authors. It’s a blind submission, so you have to compete based on your skills. That’s why many unique newcomers appear, like a grandma writing horror or a truck driver writing romance fantasy.”
…Really?
I liked the operation method of ‘Noodle.’
Contests offer a kind of equality of opportunity.
If I can pass that fair opportunity without any reputation… no one would be able to say anything to ‘Lee Sang’ writing genre fiction.
But Jihun said,
“I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s not so much that it sells well to the general public, but it has a strong core fan base. You could definitely go to a much larger publisher, so just know that such a place exists…”
“What are the contest dates?”
“Pardon?”
“What are the contest dates?”
“Uh… give me a second.”
Jihun searched for something on his phone.
“It’s early March.”
About two months from now.
That’s plenty of time.
One month for writing, one month for translation.
I smiled broadly.
“Why are you smiling? You’re not thinking… are you?”
“I have to send That House to Noodle.”
“Huh? Why? There are fourteen better places!”
I shook my head.
“This is the best option. If I want to erase my reputation, I need to erase it completely.”
“But… then there will be a lot more work to do. You’re now a well-known established author, so everything has to be conducted secretly… and…”
Jihun cautiously said,
“…the translation has to be really good. It’s a contest, after all.”
I suddenly realized.
Submitting to a contest means competing against authors whose first language is English.
But that doesn’t justify giving up on ‘Noodle.’
“Jihun, let’s find a translator first.”