Novelist Running Through Time - Chapter 206



Only Noblemtl

The Novelist Who Leapt Through Time Episode 206

“A shadow flickers in the dark practice room.

Lee Soo danced in the dark.

This was essentially an act no different from drinking. This was true in the sense that they overworked their bodies in order to escape reality.

However, while drinking harms the body and leaves you with a sense of self-destruction, practicing can give you self-satisfaction while taxing your body.

If my skills improve, wouldn’t I be able to show a better performance on the next stage?

I don’t know when the next stage will come to them.

So in the dark, I dance without thinking.

Then suddenly.

Even as Lee Soo danced, he felt that he did not understand the meaning of dance.

Of course, it’s not that I don’t know much about dancing itself. The harsh practice caused the dance moves to seep into every bone.

Just coming out to Jeonju makes me excited. Just as your hands, not your head, remember the front door number of a house you have lived in for a long time, the same goes for dancing.

In accordance with the lyrics singing about love, they make appropriately powerful and cool movements. Like all idol choreography.

But what on earth does this mean?

Lee Soo thought that way as he performed the most beautiful choreography only when seen by the bottom camera looking up at him at a 45-degree angle.

If this dance that sings of love is like a shell designed only for the aesthetic satisfaction of the audience, giving up a lot for the aesthetic satisfaction of the audience, then Lee Soo’s life was also like that.

Lee Soo doesn’t know love.

Lee Soo’s love is sleeping quietly in the contract. It’s not that you can’t date if you want, but album sales weren’t enough to allow you to have a secret relationship with the help of the company.

Suddenly, Lee Soo’s love became something like that. What I have to give up to set an example for my younger siblings, what I have to pay attention to, and what I always have to act like.

That’s not the only thing Lee Soo gave up on.

On a weekend evening, you eat greasy food while sitting around with your family. A trivial conversation you have while wandering around the university campus with your friends. The game’s ending is so touching that you stay absorbed all night with your parents nagging you, and by the end you’re dragging your feet on your own…

Things that men in their early 20s crave.

Extremely primitive things.

Actually, it’s nothing special, but it’s really special and ordinary at the same time.

Lee Soo signed a contract to exchange those things for sweat in the practice room.

In return, Isu decided to become special.

Thousands of people invested time and money just to meet Lee Soo, receive cheers on a stage where tens of thousands of people looked up to him, and decided to leave their mark by appearing on broadcasts watched by tens of millions of people.

But is it a process or a result?

Is this a process of labor for the hundreds of millions of won that will one day be recorded in your bank account? Or is it in itself the realization of the self you dreamed of?

If we look back at this time when all our long-term dreams and efforts are about to go to waste…

Everything felt dreamy.

Lee Soo longs for an illusion but also dreams of an illusion. He hopes for the happiness of an ordinary young man without knowing what it is, and dreams of success as a star without knowing what it is.

It’s shaking like that, hanging on a thread.

They dance a dance that even they don’t know the meaning of.

A shadow flickers in the dark practice room… 」

EP 12-Marionette

“So, if you look at the conflict structure of this ‘Marionette’ novel, it seems to be largely a confrontation between the cold world represented by the White Crane Group and the Rapid Boys, but in reality, it is a conflict between the idol Lee Soo and the human Lee Soo… ”

As I continued to explain, I heard Min Hyo-chan whispering to Lee Soo.

“Hyung, is that really true? Lee Soo vs Lee Soo-ya?”

“I don’t know…”

I don’t know what I don’t know. You revealed everything during your interview with me.

Anyway, no matter what Lee Soo himself thinks, the Lee Soo in the book has already fallen into my hands.

So, I decide what kind of person Lee Soo is.

I continued my explanation to President Baek Seung-won, who looked at me with a serious expression.

“Therefore, the title ‘Marionette’ does not mean a weak and independent idol who is controlled by the company, but rather refers to a shell-like self that drifts between the desires of an idol and the desires of a human being and is manipulated by desires.”

“Uhm…”

“However, it is because of that desire that Isu is barely able to endure it. My desire as an idol made me endure the arduous training, and my desire as a human made me take care of my younger siblings as the leader of a failed idol. However, do modern people have the space and conditions left to go one step further than such primal desires… to pursue truly beautiful things and to pursue true self-realization? Perhaps we are all slaves controlled by our ‘situation’? “This Marionette is a novel written with such thoughts in mind.”

In the midst of this, Min Hyo-chan and Rapid Boys were heard again.

“You mean you didn’t write this to destroy the White Crane Group out of pity for us…?”

“I don’t know, why do you keep asking me…”

“My brother is the main character.”

“I don’t know…”

“Hey, I don’t even know what he’s talking about. “Is that Korean?”

“I don’t know, I’m scared. “I guess it’s a liberal arts department…”

I listened to the local broadcast of the ungrateful Rapid Boys arts and physical education servants who had forgotten the grace that had brought them out of the mire and entered with one ear and let it go with the other.

And then he talked about the conclusion.

“Therefore, although Marionette is an idol promotion novel, it is already a complete work in itself. Marionette is a closed story. “We can’t force Season 2 to continue for the sake of promotion.”

Baek Seung-won secretly raised his hand.

“wait for a sec.”

Then he suddenly speaks to his personal assistant.

“Did you take note of this?”

“yes?”

“It’s a comment from the original author, so I think I could use it as a reference when writing lyrics. “Didn’t you take notes?”

“S-sorry… !”

“Then do it.”

It was a short conversation, but I felt like I got a glimpse of the cold and sensitive side of Baek Seung-won, a man who is “a prickly, nervous, suspicious, and workaholic who neglects his family, but is warm to his celebrities.”

Baek Seung-won, who had hardened his expression for a moment when facing his personal assistant, relaxed his expression again when he looked at me.

“therefore… “The drama has been concluded neatly, but you’re saying that we can’t make a season 2 because of this?”

“If we go into Season 2 like this, from then on it will no longer be the novel ‘Marionette,’ but a promotional fanfiction, ‘Cheer Up, Rapid Boys.’”

“I want that ‘Usssssssss, Cheer Up Rapid Boys’?”

“What do you think about leaving it to writer Koo Yu-bin?”

* * *

– You kind of novelists talk a lot anyway… This is White Crane! It’s a place where you can get cracked.

– I don’t like it.

– How much is it? How much do you need? How much can I have you?

– I’m not selling it.

– shit! I thought I could have you this way!

After the scuffle, which can be roughly summarized as this, I was able to barely escape from Baekhak Entertainment.

I leave CEO Baek Seung-won, who is glaring at me with the eyes of a hawk looking for his prey and has lost his appetite, and exit into the lobby, where several people follow me.

Most of them were Rapid Boys members.

“Thank you so much, Writer Moon.”

“Inseop, you are truly our honorary member, so you can introduce yourself as an idol wherever you go.”

“Damn… thank you! Moon Leader!”

“You’re already the leader…?”

After that, he became the first manager of management.

“The other day… I was sorry. I guess I didn’t have enough insight. “Thank you so much for helping our kids like this.”

“you’re welcome. “I wrote it because I liked it.”

And the personal secretary who was chosen by the president.

“Come on, writer! I’m really sorry, but could I ask for comments on the interpretation of the novel ‘Marionette’ via email in the future? ?”

“I visit Baekhak Entertainment about two to three times a week, but people don’t know much about it. “I will talk to you face-to-face, not via email, but when I visit, if I have time.”

“ah! thank you! By the way, what kind of business are you visiting? ? I can make it as convenient as possible… ”

“Massage chair in the lounge on the 6th floor.”

“… ?”

As I was leaving Baekhak Entertainment, I sent away the people who came to see me off one by one.

In the end, it was two familiar faces who accompanied me to the doorway.

“That’s right… (really…)”

“Ha ha ha ha ha…”

Now, the familiar complaints of pro-Japanese activist Lim Yang-wook, who even sighs in Japanese.

And next to him, Baek Seol is smiling as if he is embarrassed.

In the end, only the people I saw every day remained.

As always, Lim Yang-wook pretended to be angry even though he wasn’t really angry (because the result was good).

“There’s really nothing we can do about this troublemaker!”

“Shall we bring my parents?”

“sorry. “I was wrong…”

After sending Im Yang-wook away with a sharp blow, Baek-seol smiled reassuringly and settled the situation.

“Well, somehow it was resolved well!”

Baekseol smiled gently and restrained Lim Yang-wook, but did not forget to leave a warning to me.

“But next time you make an accident, please tell me in advance, writer… ”

I tried to nod my head obediently, but something bothered me so I spoke back.

“… … “Didn’t I tell you?”

“… … ”

“… … ”

Silence followed between the three.

This means that refutation is impossible.

It was like that.

This incident was first reported to Baekhak Bookstore and then carried out.

But since they wouldn’t publish it, I published it as a web novel…

So, if I had to be honest, I would say that rather than saying that I had an accident, I would say that Baekhak Library was not a vessel to embrace me!

Who can deny this hard fact? If you ask the Rapid Boys members, they will all unanimously nod their heads and say, “Go ahead.”

However, Baekseol seemed unable to accept this sharp fact, so she momentarily bit her lip and glared at me.

“… !”

It is certainly.

That’s an expression that ‘seriously’ makes me want to hit honey on the head… !

Of course, it wouldn’t have hurt that much if I got hit with honey chestnuts by slender Baek Seol, but I was afraid that my conscience would be crushed before my skull if I even hit Baek Seol with honey chestnuts, so I held back.

“I’ll be careful in the future… ”

“Zvl Btogdr… ”

* * *

“What should I do with this? We have to go back to work…” ”

“Let’s take the subway.”

“Shall I call another manager? It happens to be Baekhak Entertainment. If there is anyone left, one person will serve as a pinch hitter… ”

“are you okay. really.”

Even the moment Yangwook Lim and Baekseol left in the car, they opened the driver’s and passenger’s seat windows and looked at me with worried eyes.

After seeing them off, I started walking through the city center alone.

The reason is simple.

This is because Magi-hoon, who was supposed to drive me home, was on vacation.

Lim Yang-wook and Baek-seol told me to accompany another substitute manager until the end, but I didn’t even think about doing that.

It was difficult to get a car from a manager I had never met, but the lifestyle of having a ‘chauffeur’ was something that suited the Gu family more than me.

It doesn’t suit me.

So I consciously avoided extravagance.

Because I thought that was ‘what makes me unique’.

At that time, it rained.

“uh?”

It wasn’t that hard of a rain, but streams of water fell from the cloudy sky.

I quickly ducked to the corner of the building and bought a 6,000 won long umbrella at a convenience store.

But as I swipe my card and leave the convenience store, the rain has stopped before I know it.

“ah… ”

Apparently it was a shower.

The sunlight shining brightly through the dark clouds illuminated the world, but I could not look up at the sky and instead lowered my head and looked at the umbrella.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to me.

‘In the old days, I would have run in the rain… ‘

It is less than a few dozen meters to the subway station. Since I was going to take the subway anyway, it was just a matter of taking a little trouble.

How inconvenient was it that I spent 6,000 won? It was the equivalent of lunch money when I worked part-time at a convenience store, enduring all kinds of insults.

This may be because now 6,000 won has become an amount that does not mean much to me.

Now that I think about it, I have changed a lot without knowing it, even while staying away from money and fame.

I grow succulents, move my studio as if it were a meal, and buy a 6,000 won umbrella without hesitation.

Is it just a change in lifestyle, or is it a more intimate change?

When the environment changes, people also change.

As time passes, people change too.

It’s probably greedy for both of us to want me to remain the same even though I’ve changed.

Just as the old Yuna in my memories and the old Yuna of today are different,

Maybe I too have become a very different person from the person I knew in the past.

So what direction will the change take?

What kind of adult am I becoming?

What kind of things am I being swayed by?

I thought about that as I looked at the umbrella in my hand.

“… … ”

The gaze leaves the umbrella and heads towards the sky.

The sun is creeping down, but the sky is still cloudy and full of dark clouds.

The headquarters of Baekhak Entertainment, soaring high as if crossing the gray sky.

Even today, desire, capital, and beauty are stirring within me.

As for the changes that Rapid Boys will face, it will be difficult not to get caught up in that huge trend.

I pitied the failed idols and translated their situations, joys and sorrows, and the human agony between dreams and desires into novels.

And now, the years of secret pain they experienced were to be consumed, consumed again, and used as promotional materials, dictated to all kinds of news and magazines.

The novel ‘Marionette’ will also be transformed into Rapid Boys’ next album ‘Marionette’.

In this way, art, even in its deepest parts, is controlled by reality until the very end.

Maybe that’s the real ending of ‘Marionette’?

I was shaken for a long time in a subway crowded like bean sprouts.

I think I was thinking that with a frown on my face.