Became an American Retro Novelist - Chapter 142



Only Noblemtl

142.

In downtown Los Angeles, where we often go, there is a regular bookstore.

I didn’t frequent this place that often. Most of the books I bought were from the comic book store, and the rest I borrowed from the high school library.

Still, today, after a long time, I found a book to buy at the bookstore, so I went out with Jiwoo.

It was early fall, and I was peacefully waiting for the Stanford entrance ceremony while serializing ‘About T: Waitress’.

I took a bus to downtown and walked for about 10 minutes to get to the bookstore.

As I entered the store, I looked around and thought.

‘I never dreamed I would ever buy a book like this in my life.’

What we’re going to buy today is a magazine that could be called a textbook for the popular teenagers of the 1980s.

The name was ‘Dolly’.

“It’s here!”

Jiwoo, who was more excited than me, jumped up and picked up the magazine that was in front of the counter.

A blonde woman wearing a blue and purple jacket and with her hair blown up like a hard rock singer was smiling on the cover. She was even wearing heavy makeup, so she looked so intense that she could have been a serial killer in a horror movie if only there was a background to support her.

The cover text that is usually found in magazines surrounding women caught my eye.

[Are you ready for a wonderful fall?!]

[How to look stylish with just one pair of jeans – revealed!]

[Become popular with your friends with a funny joke!]

‘It’s so 80s-esque.’

I laughed awkwardly.

In fact, the thing that I felt the most disconnected from when I returned to the 80s was this ‘fashion’. To me, who still enjoys wearing mostly neutral clothes and will continue to do so in the future, the visuals that seemed to shout ‘This is the 80s!’ while being dyed in all sorts of natural colors felt quite awkward.

‘Well, it’s like this in magazines, but in reality, it’s rare to see someone wearing it this badly.’

Alexa, Jiwoo, and Doopi didn’t wear clothes with such a colorful feel. Maybe when Alexa wears casual clothes, she uses strong colors or patterns? Even then, it wasn’t this excessive.

As I was concentrating on the magazine cover, Jiwoo, who was next to me, spoke with sparkling eyes.

“Alexa is in this magazine?”

“Yeah, that’s right. I’m sure.”

“Hehe, should I buy three volumes?”

“no.”

I shook my head and picked up all the magazines on the stand.

······I heard Alexa was in a magazine, so I should hand it out here and there.

Exactly ten volumes.

After we finished paying neatly and came out, we went to the cafe right in front of us, each opened up a copy of ‘Dolly’ and started looking for the part where Alexa appeared.

As I was checking out magazine models posing all over California in a variety of designs and colors, I spotted a familiar face.

“Oh, brother! Here! Here it is!”

It was about halfway through the magazine. And Jiwoo seemed to have discovered Alexa at about the same time.

Alexa is smiling brightly in the sun, her skateboard tucked under her waist.

He wore a ball cap backwards, a white t-shirt with short jeans, and a red baseball jacket lightly tied at the waist for a pop of color. It also looked good with the red sneakers.

“Wow, it’s so pretty!”

“Yeah. It came out really well.”

There were a few more after that.

Even in the photos taken with other models, ‘our’ Alexa’s presence was clearly outstanding. Should I say that she really looked like she was alive and breathing in that scene? That figure holding the skateboard was also very······ Huh? What is this? No matter how many times I look at her, she’s beautiful. Anyone would fall in love with her. I want to put her in my pocket.

“······Brother. I’m going to break through the magazine.”

“It’s okay. I bought a lot for this.”

About a month ago, Alexa contacted ‘KH Agency’ based on a business card she received from Hollywood and started working as an exclusive model there. It seemed like she was planning to start off as a commercial model for fashion magazines, and then gradually build up her career and branch out into other areas.

To that end, Alexa began various types of training, and the agency decided to cover all the costs. It also seemed that the model pay was well in line with industry practices.

After synthesizing the story and the information I heard from Julia, I couldn’t help but conclude that ‘K.H’ was a pretty decent agency.

‘Actually, in a way, it’s natural.’

‘KH Agency’ was a new company that had been established not long ago.

In a situation where each model was lacking, they decided to invest in Alexa Flair, who made Californians and many people across the country laugh at the cheerleading national championships.

I thought it wasn’t a bad decision.

Suddenly, I remembered what an entertainment agency representative I met in my past life had said to me.

[What people want from the characters in the media is ultimately drama.]

In that sense, Alexa, who had already made a big impact as a cheerleader in high school, was clearly a rare talent.

If, in an interview or something, she had said, “Actually, I was the one who didn’t prepare my thoughts on TV at that time,” it would have been an interesting topic for the interviewer, and the public would have more of a chance to remember Alexa’s face and name compared to other typical models.

‘I hope things go well for you in the future.’

I kept looking at Alexa in the magazine and smiling.

***

Alexa started modeling, Doofy got a job as a designer at a toy company, and Jiwoo started seriously thinking about his career path as a third-year student.

We graduated and started going our separate ways, but I didn’t regret it. We were all working hard in our own places.

It was the same for me too.

I started serializing ‘About T: Waitress’ to meet the demands of California Pictures.

Tony and Alice’s growth and love have come to an end, but the show wanted to continue showing the story of the two people after that, to quench people’s thirst for this story and keep them interested until the drama comes out.

And in order to flexibly unfold that process, I strongly planted the color of a ‘side story’ while writing this ‘About T: Waitress’.

There may be different definitions for each writer, but I think of a ‘side story’ as a piece of writing that later unfolds a story that was difficult to include in order to maintain the flow of the work.

For example, how will Alice, who has grown up, come into conflict with the cheerleaders who bullied her and resolve the issue?

‘It would have been strange if this story had been inserted while the previous trilogy was being serialized.’

However, the story that came out later in the form of a side story received an enthusiastic response from readers.

‘That’s much more than I thought.’

To a slightly embarrassing degree.

‘Mother’, ‘Double spy’, and ‘Princess quest’ all had their own charms and had thick fan bases, but ‘About T’ in particular received an enthusiastic response from fans that was even more enthusiastic than I expected.

And the reason, I thought, came from ‘character.’

Starting with the two main characters, Tony and Alice, and creating many characters, I took motifs from encounters I had during my high school days. Perhaps that is why readers felt like they were living people, like close friends to themselves.

Even if I just look at the fan letters that are constantly being sent, there are quite a few readers who pay attention to characters that I wasn’t particularly aware of.

For example, Lucas, the nerd character who helped Tony with his proposal and became friends with him.

[Lucas is so cute! Let him appear a little more! Please tease him!]

······Suddenly, a fan letter that felt like a distorted love for him came to mind.

Anyway, by understanding the needs of the readers through fan letters, I focused on bringing the characters to life as much as possible while writing this series.

It shows the sweet romance between Tony and Alice, and also includes scenes of them hanging out with their friends, and even includes a scene where Alice confidently speaks her mind in front of Carmela, who is ignoring her. Then, when the boss suddenly gets sick and cannot come to work, the story ends with the two joining forces to block the incoming customers.

Alice still hadn’t forgiven Carmela, but she hadn’t held it in either.

The more he kept the matter to himself, the more the result was that he only acknowledged it.

‘It’s a story that’s easy to read and fun. If it were made into a drama, it would be something you could watch while taking a break.’

While the serialization of ‘About T: Waitress’, consisting of 10 episodes, continued, I also quickly wrote the sequel, ‘About T: Coach’, until it was completed.

The story follows Tony as he coaches elementary school football before entering college.

Set in the same time period as ‘About T: Waitress’, the story follows Tony, who is not used to taking care of children, as she struggles, meets new people, and discovers a new side of herself.

As with the previous series, we paid attention to giving the spin-off a unique color and bringing the characters to life, while at the same time trying to make it as light, relatable, and universally moving as possible, like a Hollywood family film.

I sent the novel I wrote to Julia Chandler and she contacted me soon after.

[I read the work well.]

“Thank you. How was it?”

[There’s no need to say much. The elementary school characters featured here are really cute. How about writing ‘About T: Elementary’ later using these friends as material?]

“If we expand like that, there will definitely be a backlash at some point. I don’t like it.”

[Haha, just kidding. Just kidding.]

Somehow it didn’t feel like a joke.

But Julia nodded as if she understood my firm answer.

The ‘About T’ series ultimately had to stay within the ‘teenage genre’ category. The story of Tony and Alice going to college and adjusting to the new place could fit into that category, but it was never set against the backdrop of kids.

[I recently had a meeting with California Pictures, and they seemed to like ‘Waitress’ quite a bit. They said they liked it because the cheerleaders weren’t always villains.]

“······? He is a villain, right?”

[That’s true. But maybe because Alice was so good at giving Carmela water in the novel, she seems like a character you can’t hate.]

“Oh, I agree with that.”

I thought the three cheerleaders were clear bullies and therefore absolutely indefensible. However, in the novel, that part was somewhat toned down, and since Alice herself, who had grown up, stood up to them and beat them up, I thought it was understandable to feel that way.

‘How will those three people be portrayed in the drama?’

Suddenly, when I thought about making it into a live-action film, I felt a little happy.

***

The long-awaited Stanford University entrance ceremony has finally arrived.

About a thousand students gathered at the ‘Frost Amphitheater’.

Everyone sat in the audience in front of the stage, dressed casually, and Stanford University faculty and staff came out and hosted the event.

I didn’t want to be in the crowd, so I went a little late and sat in the back. It was hot in Stanford in September, and I felt suffocated when I was in the crowd. No matter how much sunscreen I put on, it only blocked the UV rays, and there was nothing I could do about the heat.

Because of that strategy(?), I ended up sitting close to my mother, who came with me to the entrance ceremony.

And then I watched the Stanford University entrance ceremony unfold… boringly.

One thing that was unique was that there was a church in the university, and the pastor there prayed for me and the freshmen. It didn’t end there, but people in charge of spiritual life in the university came out and blessed me.

I feel like my heat resistance has increased by about 5.

[This concludes the entrance ceremony. Each student is requested to follow the instructions and move to each department building.]

The entrance ceremony, which lasted about an hour on a cool and slightly warm afternoon, ended.

The students gathered there seemed deeply moved by the fact that they had become part of Stanford, one of the most prestigious schools. I, too, was in a similar situation, but I had experienced college admissions in my previous life, so I couldn’t express my emotions as much as they did.

I checked the schedule using the guidebook I received upon entering.

“They told me to go to the department building and attend orientation.”

“Um, should I go too, Mom?”

“I don’t think that’s necessary. If you’re nearby, why don’t we take some pictures together?”

“No. No. Our god has entered college, so he should make friends and stuff. Isn’t that okay? He can make friends here, eat well, sleep well, and study hard, right?”

“Yes, Mother. Whose son is he?”

I confidently answered my mother who was worried like a mother.

My mother shed tears of joy at the fact that her grown son had been accepted into such a great college, and I could only smile awkwardly in front of her.

After that, I chatted lightly and drove my mother to a nearby bus stop. My mother, who had been trying hard to suppress her emotions, returned home with a smile on her face until the very end, waving her hand inside the bus.

So I was left alone in this dirty, wide Stanford.

“Phew.”

After looking around, I smiled at the numerous vehicles heading to their respective universities.

As expected, Stanford was incredibly large.

That’s why my heart was pounding. Like a cowboy at the beginning of a gold rush.

I confidently got into my new car, the Renault Alliance, and headed to the College of Arts and Sciences building. As I followed the signs that appeared here and there, I smiled at the feel of the soft seats and the smell of a new car.

At the time, the Renault Alliance was considered a fairly ‘normal’ vehicle. It was a mid-sized sedan released in 1983, and was often purchased as a first car by children from wealthy families, and many young adults just starting out in society also drove it.

Actually, I could have bought a better car, but I didn’t feel like doing that right now, so I went with the four-door version of this guy, which was black, the same color as my hard-boiled Nine Thousand typewriter.

After arriving at the College of Arts and Sciences and parking my car in the parking lot, I followed the signs that had been temporarily set up for new students and entered the orientation hall for new students in the Department of Creative Writing, College of Arts and Sciences.

The first thought that came to mind was that I liked the large circular lecture hall.

There were about twenty freshmen, including me.

Almost all white, five black, one Hispanic, and I’m the only Asian.

‘I’m nervous for no reason.’

I tried to pretend I was okay and sat down in the seat closest to the door, and after a while I noticed someone with a large build entering the classroom after me.

I looked back, wondering what was going on, and there was a tall, skinny white male student wearing glasses standing blankly in front of the door.

He said.

“Is this the place? Where I will begin my college life.”

“······.”

“······.”

While everyone was just looking at each other, he opened his mouth confidently.

I was quite surprised by his bold and confident statement, so he stopped and pushed up the bridge of his glasses.

“Raise your hand if you watched ‘About T’ today.”

End

(142)