Such a pure and clear world,
A New Lyricism in Korean Literature: Lee Ju-ran's New Novel

Now that we are torn apart, broken and collapsed,
Finally, the 'feeling that there is a next time' has arrived.

“I love Lee Ju-ran’s novels, which don’t rashly assume they know anything, but rather know how to step back and simply observe suffering” (novelist Park Sang-young), “They are consistently tense without dramatic scenes, perfect without a grand plot, full of poetry without poetry, and show the end of sadness without triumph” (poet Park Yeon-jun).
Since beginning her career in 2012, Lee Ju-ran has garnered unrivaled support for her unique lyricism that gently permeates rather than loudly asserts.
His novels have been praised as being 'stories that seem plain yet sparkle with wit, and stories that seem indifferent yet feel warm.'
The third collection of short stories by a thoughtful novelist who looks into the gaps between people and words, “Nothing Happened?” has been published.


The narrators in the novel wanted to live ordinary lives like everyone else, without any greed, but the world rejects them too easily.
'I' am staying in a small town with a wounded body, as if the rope I was holding on to with difficulty was let go.
There, I recover quietly and slowly by spending my daily life eating, drinking, walking, and talking with people.
Pain and sadness are everywhere, including memories of failure, childhood wounds, and separation from family, but even amidst them, warmth shines through in these eight short stories.

You've worked hard so far, so take a break for a while.
I didn't say anything, but he said that to me.
I nodded obediently at my mother's words.
I felt sorry for myself because it seemed like I was the only one who broke down so easily.
---From "Nothing special?"

That night I cried quietly.
It was night, my mom was asleep, and I had taken a nap and woke up in the evening and couldn't fall back asleep.
I held my breath, but it was difficult to hide my crying in a 5-pyeong studio apartment, and my feelings were complicated.
It was past midnight, past 2 o'clock, and in my mother's room, there was my mother, the room, and me. My mother's snoring was small, the room was small, my crying was small, everything was small, it was that kind of night.
---From "Nothing special?"

If you're afraid of breaking up, just love more.
Right?
---From "Nothing special?"

For a moment, I remembered that room from long ago.
There are memories that you want to forget but can't, and there are memories that you don't want to forget but can be forgotten.
I think that memories are something that we must keep remembering and talking about.
I can't live every moment remembering, but I kind of hated it if it meant someone's death.
---From "Nothing special?"

And then I quietly closed my eyes.
There was no sound, only the occasional chirping of birds.
It wasn't a grand wish, but I just hoped that I would get to know myself as I changed, that we wouldn't fight every day, and if we did, that we would make up.
---From "Nothing special?"

After much thought, I quit my job and spent some quality time with my mom.
I thought I was stuck in a swamp, but it was so bad that I started to wonder if there was a good thing about being stuck in a swamp.
I thought, "It turned out so well, unexpectedly."
Maybe Mom felt the same way? Those were the saddest, yet happiest days of my life.
It was like my mother letting go of the rope she had been holding on to with such difficulty. I was sorry and grateful that she had been waiting for me to have time, and that she had been in pain. So we did our best for each other.
It was heartbreaking to hear my mom say things like, "Thank goodness, it's so good, I'm really happy now," but I think I held on with those thoughts, too.
I had only received from my mother my whole life, so back then I wanted to give her everything, but there wasn't much I could give her.

You will be alone now and you may cry a lot.

My mother said that, and whenever I hear crying coming from next door, I often think back to her words.
---From "People"

When I lived near the company where I worked with Eunyoung, I thought about my knees every day.
Every time I bent my knees, I thought of my knees.
I knew people were kneeling on each other's knees and looking up at the sky, but I used to think that my knees were just wearing out, that I was wearing them out myself.
---From "People"

I think people's minds are always changing.
In the meantime, you live with the memories of that day or with the feelings of that day.
People who live with such memories or with such feelings.
---From "People"

It was just tofu, I thought, and somehow it felt a little warm.
---From "Adult"

It was a road where the once lush things were drying up one by one, but there were still more things that were alive.
---From "Adult"

For four years now, I've been signing contracts every four months.
I kept working on the contract, but my heart was always pounding.
So, if I had put more passion into it, who would have believed me?
Who said that the more anxious and nervous you are, the more you try your best.
---From "Adult"

You have lived your life to the fullest.
The lady who gave me soju and beer while I was crying.
A middle-aged woman who only drinks beer but also drinks soju.
---From "Adult"

Even though I knew it wouldn't work, I kept going and I will keep going.
How can that be?
Just do it.
Because it would be good if you did it.
My mother was always the type of person who spoke to me through her actions.
I think the lady is honest.
---From "Adult"

I ate warmed up pumpkin porridge.
Then, suddenly, I shed a few tears. It wasn't because the pumpkin porridge was so delicious, nor because I was sad about something.
It was because of the merciless warmth that I was now receiving everything that my mother had lived her life to the fullest.
---From "Adult"

Eunyoung was a good person just by being with her and just looking at her, and even when I couldn't see her, she was still a good person.
Eunyoung is that kind of person to me.
---From "Adult"

How many laps did I go around?
Now I was running away from the lady and mixed in with other people, and when I got tired, I would stop for a moment and then run again.
The lady told me that it's good to do that when things are too hard.
---From "Adult"

I wonder if I can spend next spring with Eunyoung again.
On a dark night walk, I smell the faint scent of lilacs drifting from somewhere, and on weekends, I dig up mugwort in Jun-kyung's field and eat a simple meal with a bowl of mugwort soup and pickled cucumbers.
Eunyoung quietly disappeared one summer night during a period of prolonged tropical nights.
---From "Summer Night"

I wish life were just a two-hour climb up a low mountain like this.
I don't even want anything like healing.
---From "For"

I think it will be a home for you.
huh.
Let us be each other's home.
I was going to say that I thought he would be a burden, but I misspelled the letter ㅁ as ㅂ and instead he said that we should be each other's home.
I couldn't tell you it was a typo.
Because the words, “Let’s be each other’s home,” were so incredibly good.
It was so unbelievable and I wanted to believe it, but after a few days, I couldn't believe it either.
---From "People of This World"

If I think about it, I have my own way of dealing with sadness, but I also don't know what to do when I'm happy.
Maybe it's because there haven't been many happy things lately.
Lack of experience.
Lack of joy, so to speak.
I thought about it, and every time I did, I would chew over Bora's words that being happy and being joyful are probably different things.
---From "Evening in Seoul"

Because some words and feelings can never be expressed unless they are said at that time.
So, I will say what I want to say... ...when I really need to say it.

---From "Evening in Seoul"

next.
Yes, there is usually a next time.
I used to live with the thought that there would be a next time, and I had forgotten that thought for quite some time, but now I often take the next time for granted.
After the days when I was sure that words would never come again and the days when I promised myself not to live too happily, Bora and I share what's left.
So, that's how we became friends.
---From "Evening in Seoul"

Hyun-kyung held Jae-han's hand for a moment and then let go.
Hyun Kyung-ah.
well.
You have to live well.
Jaehan said again.
huh.
Live well.
Hyun-kyung said that and walked towards the taxi with the 'reservation' light blinking.

---From "In Paju"