Several years passed without any news of her, Lee Minho and Hwang Jaejin gave up in trying to find her. Instead, they focused themselves in creating a good image for them so that when Choi Sujin really appeared in front of them later, they had something to brag on.
Meanwhile, away fromt the bustling city of Seoul, it was pretty much windy in Jeju. It was in the middle of autumn and the wind carried a bit taste of salt everywhere. Hot and piping soup as well as some snacks fit the weather were seen in food stalls across a big hotel. Many people came down only to taste the heavenly flavor of the food in front of it. Among them was a petite girl whose hair was tied up in a bun with a thick scarf around her neck.
She was slurping down her soup and hissing as the hot soup burnt her tongue a bit. The weather was seriously too cold for her. After years of enjoying the tropical weather in Indonesia, autumn in South Korea was enough for her to feel extremely cold.
That was why she stopped by the stall to enjoy a cup of fish soup before she continued her steps towards the hotel.
"Hello, I'm here for the seminar. Could you, please, tell me how I can get there?" She asked the lady in the receptionist warmly.
"One second, Miss. Could you, please, show us your invitation?"
"Sure." Choi Sujin pulled out her invitation that she got from her mentor and smilingly gave it to the lady.
The receptionist took her invitation and scanned the barcode bar. After that, she came out from behind the desk and personally led Choi Sujin towards the hall, leaving her friend taking care of the front office.
Choi Sujin expressed her gratitude towards the lady as soon as she got to where her seat was. After making sure that she had sat properly, Choi Sujin looked around her and found out that there were not many people around. Well, since there was still around thirty minutes to the opening of the seminar, Choi Sujin thought that there would be more people coming in a moment.
She fished out her phone from her bag and started to browse some information and things from the internet. Light chuckled escaped her mouth as she read news about her friends.
Jang Min Ah was having a world tour concert. Choi Sujin had not had any contact with her ever since their last meeting before she went MIA. Even so, once a week, there would be an email from Jang Min Ah. However, the content of the email could make Choi Sujin's lips and eyes twitched in helplessness.
Jang Min Ah was cursing her every week in her email, but in the end, she would tell Choi Sujin to contact her. She even threatened to end their friendship, but every week she would keep sending her messages. It was either she cursed her or she would say how much she missed her.
Ah, just remembering the content of her messages would make Choi Sujin's lips twitched.
Sometimes, she would also talk about how those two boys nagged at her about how Choi Sujin left them without any news.
Well, Choi Sujin intentionally did that to them. It was not like she hated those men, but she just thought that she must put some distance between them lest their fans would trample her to death.
Therefore, even after she had returned to the country for months, she didn't say anything to them. After all, she had cut off any contact with them ever since she left them. They didn't know her new contact, which was perfect for her to keep avoiding them.
She had not met Jang MinAh as well since that girl was exceptionally busy with her schedule, but she didn't tell her either that she had returned to the country. What if she accidentally told those beasts about it?
Choi Sujin kept her phone back in her bag when she heard the sound of microphone. The front seats was practically full by now. As soon as she looked up, she met with a pair of eyes which filled with warmth. A smile bloomed on her face as she got up and made a slight bow at the owner of those eyes.
After doing so, she returned back to her seat as she saw that person had taken her seat, too.
Who was it?
That was her mentor. Her name was Kim Yoo Jin, a senior writer whose scripts and novels were able to attract attention from many viewers and readers. Many people loved her scripts. She also wrote couple of books about writing scripts and her experiences in this field of work.
Teacher Kim, was what people usuallly called her, was her mentor now. Choi Sujin was her fourth and last disciple. She was accepted to be Teacher Kim's disciple only a month ago after she brought two of her half-finished works to her. After waiting for almost a week, she got a call from Teacher Kim's assisstant saying that the respected teacher was asking for her.
That was how she became Teacher Kim's disciple; the fourth and the last, based on what the later said. Her three senior brothers and sister were starting to pave their career into film industry. They would only need some pointers occasionally, so Teacher Kim's time would all be for teaching Choi Sujin to improve herself in writing.
This opportunity to attend the seminar also came because of her mentor. The speaker of this seminar was Teacher Kim's friend, Teacher Kang. He was also a writer, a very popular one and there was a gossip saying that he was Teacher Kim's old crush.
They might even get involved in a romantic relationship, but Choi Sujin didn't want to find out about it more than she needed to know. Prying into someone's love life was never her thing, let alone it was her mentor's life.
Choi Sujin silently took a deep breath as she focused her attention towards the stage. The seminar was about to start soon. As soon as it started, she changed into student-mode, learning with all her might.
"The key to create an alive story is for you, the author, to enjoy it first. When you write with all your heart, the emotion inside your story will reach your readers. If you think that one scene in your story is only for prolonging or dragging the plot, that it's not important whether it's there or not, then the readers will feel the same thing, too."
"They will feel bored, and that's because the writer feels bored when she or he writes that part. Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, my fellow writers and authors, enjoy your work first."
"An actress or an actor will only be able to show or feel one character's emotion. But as the author or writer of that story, we need to feel, to immerse ourselves in every character we create. Dear junior writers, you're going to have a whole lot different and complex personality after you're done with your masterpiece."
"Every author or writer knows about this fact, but sometimes we need a constant reminder about it." Teacher Kang said with a warm smile.
What he had said made her stunned in enlightment. Somewhere deep inside her heart she knew that he was right. She knew about this fact, however sometimes she was too deep in plotting against her own characters that she forgot that she needed to put emotion inside. A reminder was what she needed to remind her about the cruciality of this thing.
"My old friend came today. You guys must have known her. It's so hard to invite her, you know, but she came. Since it is such a rare occasion, maybe she would like to grace us her presence and say some words to you all." The smile on his face turned mischievous as his eyes darted towards the line of audiences.
"Teacher Kim, please do me some favor here." Teacher Kang said jokingly.
A round of applause was heard as soon as Teacher Kim's name was mentioned. Those who sat in the front seats must have known about her presence, but those who sat in the back didn't know about it. Therefore, there were some surprised gasps here and there as well as excited clapping.
Choi Sujin watched as her mentor stood up and bowed slightly towards the man on the stage then the audience. With confident steps, she walked up the stage and shook hands with Teacher Kang. They even hugged each other for a brief moment.
"Well, Teacher Kang, you really like to put me on the spot here." Teacher Kim said with a smile. "But as an old friend, I think I should relent to your trick once in a while, so that you won't hold a grudge against me."
Teacher Kang grinned as he shrugged his shoulders. He was silently admitting that what she said was true. Seeing the cute interaction between two older generation made the audiences giggled.
"He has said all the things needed to be said, what else should I say?" Teacher Kim said in helpless voice. "A story or a book you wrote, it's like your own diary. They are as precious as your own babies. Pour your heart into it and you will create another masterpiece for yourself. Don't force it and let it flow."
Her voice was reverberating throughout the room, making it was impossible for anyone to miss her words. Even as her disciple, Choi Sujin couldn't help but be in awe with her mentor.
"Actually, I came here because of my disciple." Teacher Kim smiled at Teacher Kang.
"What? Don't you have three already? Which one of them is here with you this time?" Teacher Kang asked through his own microphone.
"None of them. This is my last disciple." Teacher Kim still maintained her smile on her face.
"What? You accepted the last one already?" Teacher Kang jolted from his seat as he stared at her increduously.
"Anyway, I'll introduce her to you lest you find her one day and forcefully say that she is your disciple." Teacher Kim grinned mischievously. "Just kidding, of course. Please don't take it to heart." Teacher Kim chuckled lightly as she said it to the audiences.
Choi Sujin had the urge to facepalm herself as she heard her mentor teased Teacher Kang in public like that. However, most people knew how eccentric an author could be, therefore no one would comment about it.
The seminar ended with a great success even though there was a bit of change in the plan where he invited Teacher Kim on the stage. After the event ended, Choi Sujin was called by Teacher Kim to follow her. As expected, she was introduced to Teacher Kang and got some 'wisdom' from the said man.
However, because those two old fellow still needed time to catch up on any gossips, Choi Sujin found an appropriate excuse for herself to distance herself from them.
As soon as she exhaled breath of relief and inhaled the cold air outside the hotel, she prepared to return to her own hotel. She had just arrived in the parking lot when she heard someone was calling out for her with her old nickname.
She wasn't supposed to react. She should have just ignored it. Yet, her first reaction was to scold that person.
"Shorty!"
"Shorty, your *ss!"