59. Reading Session
Bitna Choi took up the freshly made pajeon and moved quickly. Lee Do-jin, Yeon-si-moon, and Rachel Walker put it on her seat.
Yeon Si-mun ate the green onion with an expression of doubt.
“Oh.”
And that uneasy expression was soon relieved.
It must have been because the taste was better than expected.
“If you do a little more, it will be enough without me.”
Bitna Choi’s expression also improved.
“That’s good!”
And suddenly, Bitna Choi also sat down.
“I’ll pour you a glass for you. Seniors. hehehe.”
Choi Bit-na clung to Yeonsi-moon and Rachel and poured her makgeolli.
“Well, it tastes good.”
Rachel savored her makgeolli in an un-American tone.
“But why are you pouring alcohol? Junior.”
For some reason, Rachel tilted her head as she saw Choi Bit-na, who was actively following her makgeolli.
Bitna Choi showed a kind smile that she doesn’t normally do.
“As a junior, I’m just being polite to my elders and seniors.”
Her words contained a very shallow confidence that she was at least a year or two younger than her predecessors.
“Our Junior Bitna seems to be afraid of women sticking around Junior Junior Dojin. I think he intends to get drunk quickly and send him to the dormitory… It’s not a very noble idea.”
Rachel suddenly put her hand on the shoulder of Lee Do-jin, who was sitting still next to her.
“Men and women cross each other’s lines, and most of history begins while drunk.”
At those words, Choi Bit-na’s normally red face turned redder.
“What…what nonsense are you talking about! In a Confucian country! This is not America!”
Rachel chuckled.
“Confucianism is a piece of sh*t. It seems that the juniors do not yet know this rugged animal kingdom.”
After 30 minutes, the stalls closed. The three women and Lee Do-jin went back to their respective rooms in a good mood, moderately drunk.
***
The second half of the festival passed quickly. Park Seong-gu eventually became the first-year male winner of the arm wrestling competition hosted by the martial arts club. The fundamental physical overwhelming was the biggest factor in the victory.
“Whoa-hoo!”
It’s also a while to enjoy the victory while posing with both arms.
“Lee Do-jin! Come out! Where are you!”
Park Seong-gu called Lee Do-jin to take revenge for yesterday. However, Lee Do-jin had already joined the chess club after seeing the referee of her second-year seniors’ match.
Lee Do-jin, who came out of the gymnastics club, headed toward the food stall booth of the cooking club.
“Um…wait a minute.”
The problem is that the number of people who took pictures together during the course was 4 people.
“Teacher! You’re here! As expected, you’re loyal!”
Lee Do-jin exchanged greetings with Choi Bit-na, who was working hard to create pajeon, and helped her serve. It was the moment when I was about to fix my daily routine with helping the cooking club.
-Jinah Do.
“Oh, Hwa-yeon.”
The person who called Lee Do-jin this time was Baek Hwa-yeon.
-Can you help our club?
“Huh?”
– Just kidding. Just come and play. No one comes, it’s cold.
Unlike Choi Bitna’s tension, it was very low and static.
“What are you doing in the club?”
-Reading session.
“…A recital?”
The gate opens. Dungeon opens. A recital in an age when monsters roam the streets?
I’d rather understand during regular club activities, but a reading during a festival.
“Hunter theory recital or something?”
-No, literary readings.
Ah, literature.
“It seems that the head of the club is really serious about reading.”
-So. After… Even at the end of the century, I think you will lock yourself in the library alone and read aloud.
“I don’t know if I’ll be of any help.”
-It won’t be this quiet when you come. Don’t you check your personal gram?
Personal Gram. SNS was used by most of the age groups, from elementary school students to middle-aged people.
“Why is that?”
– Try searching by putting a wooden sword or your name in the tag.
Lee Do-jin hung up the phone and entered the personal gram. I’ve never posted a post, but I made an account, so it wasn’t difficult to check.
I put
# In front and searched.
“…What is this?”
The contents were all trivial.
A journey following the wooden sword seat.
A pilgrimage to the holy places of festivals by representatives of freshmen in the first year.
Lee Do-jin felt his bones hurt. For some reason, it seems that it was not because of her mood that she sometimes felt the gazes staring at her carefully.
I could understand why Baek Hwa-yeon was so sure it would help.
Wouldn’t all the people who followed him watch the reading even by chance?
Lee Do-jin clicked her tongue inside her and headed to her reading club.
“Hello.”
Lee Do-jin lowered her head. Because she was someone she had met once before. Kang Chan-hyung and Baek Hwa-yeon. She was and she was the one who allowed him to study in her reading club room.
“Oh, yes. Long time no see.”
“I hear you’re doing a recital.”
“…Hwayeon called it.”
“Yes.”
The plausible booth in front of the club room was literally chilly. As if it were a sanctuary in the demon cave, only the booth area of the book club room was occupied by people.
That’s right.
Who would stop looking at the panel that reads
No one wanted to be serious when everyone was eating and chatting.
“What should I read?”
The head of the reading club took out a book.
“It’s a collection of short stories written by club members. Of course, there are no novels written by Hwa-yeon. Not a single word has been written.”
Baek Hwa-yeon cleared her throat.
“So much! If you suddenly have to write a short story, how do you write it in a month or two? Yes? I’ve never written one before.”
The head of the club didn’t hear that and continued talking.
“I put a lot of effort into making it. I probably won’t make anything like this again in my life anyway.”
The senior manager wearing horn-rimmed glasses sighed.
“I put a lot of effort into the design, after all.”
Lee Do-jin took a look at the book as a whole.
What a hardcover.
The outer cover in ultramarine blue. A golden square frame on the front that scatters gold.
And the title Embedded in gold inside the box was pretty in terms of design.
“I planned to give this book to anyone who reads one of the seven short stories included in the book.”
“A few people read it yesterday and today and received it.”
The manager suddenly spread her right hand.
“Doesn’t that mean you took five people?”
From noble mtl dot com
“Why not, right. Three yesterday. Two today.”
“How many did you make?”
“500 Volumes.”
I see. If this continues, the remaining 495 books may end up in the club’s insolvency.
Lee Do-jin rolled his head in his own way.
“Wouldn’t it be better if I sold it at 10,000 won per book? I think the book will sell because it’s pretty.”
It was a very rational decision.
But the senior manager shook his head at once.
“No.”
“What is your reason?”
“If you’re going to sell it, you have to sell it for 20,000 won. It cost quite a bit to match the design with the hardcover book. And I didn’t make it to make money. It’s a lot of money.”
“Then…”
The manager sunbae corrected his horn-rimmed glasses with his index finger. For some reason, it seemed that the light was going to flash through the lens.
“I have to listen to the reading. Making a book together with the members was the most important thing, but the second most important thing was to make the academy resonate with many people reading it.”
Lee Do-jin seemed to feel the spirit in the body of the head senior, a theory student who was far from martial arts or magic. I can’t do that.
The senior manager continued.
“Reading is as great an act as writing. Telling stories to people who can’t read with their eyes. By reciting a narrative with one’s own voice, it breathes life into a sentence.”
I will give out a collection of short stories only if you read them aloud.
I could feel the determination close to that belief in the words of the senior manager.
“Now is the time for someone to read aloud on that podium.”
Senior manager spoke lines like a theater actor standing on stage.
Lee Do-jin suddenly wanted to say something out of the blue. Soon she lifted her head and looked around before she realized what she meant.
People huddled together in front of a booth that was empty.
‘This isn’t even the Pied Piper.’
About 30 people.
More than 30 people gathered together believing in a single gram post that said they found Lee Do-jin at her reading club booth.
It was extremely rare for an academy cadet who was not even a celebrity to attract such attention. This is what Dojin Lee did.
It was easy to recognize because Lee Do-jin carried a wooden sword case on his back, just like art students carry a crater box on their back.
“Read it aloud just once. I’ll give you anything later.”
The manager senior stared at Lee Do-jin.
Lee Do-jin nodded her head slowly. It’s not like she didn’t get anything. During the written exam, she went to the study room for a few days because she made good use of it.
After opening the book, the manager senior began to quickly look through her book.
She then decided on a short story and gave it to Lee Do-jin.
Dojin Lee confirmed the title of her short story.
“If you’re going to sell medicine, you have to sell it properly. I think it would be perfect if you read it aloud.”
“Okay.”
Lee Do-jin stepped onto the podium.
Then, exclamation flowed from the mouths of about 30 men and women who had gathered. In an instant, several more people gathered.
Some people took out their cell phones and started filming. The scene and voice of the reading on the podium would permeate.
Lee Do-jin clicked her tongue inside her, but didn’t think to stop it. Because she was the expected category.
And if you shoot like that, it will be publicity for the reading. Lee Do-jin, who organized her thoughts, sighed deeply.
And then I started reading .
“The gunner stopped walking after wandering through the woods for a while. He couldn’t tell whether it was a comrade or a bear that was approaching him with a rustling sound.”
Lee Do-jin’s voice rang out. The surrounding area became quiet. Lee Do-jin’s low-pitched voice had the power to draw the audience’s attention.
“The catcher thought. The right foot of his colleague was bitten off by a bear an hour ago. The existence shaking the ground and running furiously right now is definitely a bear.”
After finishing reading a paragraph, Lee Do-jin briefly looked up and scanned the faces of the audience.
A very familiar blind swordsman with long straight hair was smiling with his eyes closed. Dojin Lee faced him and smiled.
“I gave strength to the gun barrel. I had to remember the past when I was skilled. The past where I pierced the head of a human, not a beast, dozens of times. A black figure popped out of the bush. I pulled the trigger without hesitation. I could see the darkness collapsing between them.”
A strange festival went by.
“Damn it. The catcher spat out disgust. It was his colleague who was sprawled out.”
With a strange reading.