Kids these days _007
Love After the Full Moon _063
The Moment We Become _115
On Faith _175

Commentary | Oh Eun-kyo (literary critic)
Our Nonexistent Future, Our Existing Heat _261

Author's Note _287

The time I spent with the precious people who have been with me
I want to believe that it is strong,
The love and tears of young people trying to grasp that hope

A unique feature of this book, which is a compilation of four short stories, is that the main character's name is attached to the page where each story begins.
They are Kim Nam-joon of “Kids These Days,” Go Chan-ho of “Love After the Full Moon,” Yoo Han-young and Hwang Eun-chae of “The Moment We Become,” and Lim Cheol-woo of “On Faith.”
Except for Lim Cheol-woo, Yoo Han-young's lover, the characters are all in their thirties, but their colleges, majors, the ages at which they entered society, their personalities, and their family backgrounds are all different.
These people, who were hired at the same time at their first job (Kim Nam-joon - Hwang Eun-chae), best friends at work (Go Chan-ho - Yoo Han-young), superiors and subordinates at work but openly confide in each other (Yoo Han-young - Hwang Eun-chae), or lovers and partners (Go Chan-ho - Kim Nam-joon, Yoo Han-young - Lim Cheol-woo), are directly or indirectly connected in the four works.
In this way, these characters, who were once the main characters, reappear as supporting characters, reveal unexpected sides of themselves and trigger new incidents, adding to the fun of reading a serial novel.

"You know, senior, I didn't want to hear compliments, I just wanted to be treated like a human being." (Kids These Days)

Nam-Joon, who started working as an intern at a magazine at the age of 26, does his best in everything with “the overheated passion typical of a freshman in society” (p. 20), but gets scolded harshly by his boss, Bae Seo-Jeong, who is only four years younger than him, whenever he gets the chance.
One day, while he was experiencing the bitterness of social life day by day with no sign of becoming a full-time employee even after completing his probationary period, he heard insulting words from Bae Seo-jeong, and unable to bear it any longer, he called Bae Seo-jeong out into the hallway.
This work, which deals with the dark side of 'kids these days', a derogatory term used by superiors to refer to subordinates, and the absurdity of office life, is a highly sympathetic story that contains the vivid resentment of the so-called 'incomplete life'.

“Character is destiny.
“Afterwards, I repeated those words over and over again.” (Love After the Full Moon)

Chan-ho, who spent his twenties meeting people through online communities and going from club to club right after taking the college entrance exam, is envious of the stable relationship of Han-young, a friend at work who shares his sexual identity.
Then one day, Chan-ho meets Nam-joon through a dating app, and begins a long-term relationship for the first time in his life with Nam-joon, who is completely different in appearance, personality, and occupation.
This work is not only a self-confessional novel that tells how the polar opposite personalities of extroverts and introverts achieve harmony in their relationships, but it is also a socially engaged story that makes us think about what kind of systems are necessary for a complete cohabitation between “just two people” (p. 86).

“What kind of life did they have?
“How are they similar, and how are they different?” (The Moment We Become)

Han Yeong-eun, who was transferred to the new Digital Marketing Team in the Marketing Headquarters, is suddenly separated from the new team leader Eun-chae, the team members Eun-chae brought over from her previous company, and even Chan-ho, who was her teammate and close friend.
However, with his characteristically optimistic personality, he forms a team with his same-age team leader, Eunchae, and becomes recognized by the company for his successful YouTube content.
However, Han-yeong suffers mental anguish due to the harsh office politics of his direct supervisor, Jin Yeon-hee, and the news of his aunt Lina's illness, the only one in the family who knows the secret of Han-yeong's sexual identity.
This work, which shows the lives of Eunchae, Jinyeonhee, and Aunt Lina, who have the commonality of being graduates of women's universities, through Hanyoung's perspective, deals with the struggles women face in social life, while also making us think about the differences in their intersections, and meaningfully highlighting the individual lives and choices of these women in different situations.

“I have decided.
“I decided not to make any rash promises about things like the future.” (On Faith)

Cheol-woo feels disillusioned with life after the false life and absurd death of his lover Y, whom he had never suspected, and quits his job as a photographer.
However, as her relationship deepens after meeting Han-Young by chance at Y's funeral, she ends up living with him and regains her vitality as she achieves her long-held dream of running an izakaya in Itaewon.
The short-lived happiness is short-lived, as the store faces the risk of closing down due to a global pandemic and even Han-yeong, shocked by his aunt's death, begins to wander outside, causing Cheol-woo to lose faith in life once again.

This novel, which features all the main characters including Namjun, Chanho, and Hanyoung and serves as a curtain call to mark the end of the story, is a masterpiece that contains the core meaning of the collection.
The story, told through the voice of Cheol-woo, the only main character nearing his forties, reveals the cruelty of life: efforts toward a better future can go down the drain at any moment, and relationships thought to be solid can crumble like sandcastles.
It is precisely for this reason that the novel seems to whisper the truth that humans are fragile beings who cannot help but feel lonely even when they are with someone.

“When I read Park Sang-young’s novels, I am reminded of moments in my life when I felt deep loneliness.
(……) A person looking at a large cracked glass window that would not be strange if it broke at any moment.
Outside the window, heavy snow falls and a loved one walks out of reach.
“I was able to gaze at that lonely yet beautiful landscape for a long time in this book.” _Choi Eun-young (novelist)

The four included works were written in 2021 and 2022, when the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world like never before.
This is why the story so poignantly captures the social distancing and resulting isolation amidst the pandemic, as well as the suffering of minorities who are further discriminated against and excluded.
Park Sang-young, who has always been in tune with his contemporaries, wrote in his “Author’s Note” that he hopes that “all those who endure daily life” will “not be stigmatized or ostracized.”
"On Faith," with its sharpened perspective on the ills of society, is a worthy new masterpiece by Park Sang-young.

“All four novels in ‘On Faith’ depict people who are alone or isolated in landscapes where heavy rain and snow fall.
The dark world, the feeling of isolation, the serene faces of people accustomed to misfortune, coolly cut off the world's unrepentant, forward progress.
They feel terribly uneasy, unable to make up their minds about anything, but they feel they can no longer throw themselves into an uncertain future.
A different tomorrow will become possible by properly thinking about this fragmented time.
Park Sang-young's novels are now in this premonition." _Commentary, literary critic Oh Eun-kyo

■ Author's Note

In the past few years, as the pandemic has swept the world, we have experienced our daily lives being shattered.
There were countless instances of involuntary isolation, and I lost my balance in body and mind.
As I wrote the novel, I kept thinking that I hoped that no one would ever be stigmatized or ostracized because of their illness.
Looking back, I see that my wish is engraved in every sentence of this book.
I am a person who is vulnerable to hope, and I still believe that a weak faith can save humanity.
Even in the midst of despair, I had no choice but to sit down at my desk and write this story.
Because that was my job and all I could do.
I hope this story reaches everyone who is struggling to survive their daily lives.

July 2022
Park Sang-young