Blank is difficult / E / You and I goodbye / An empty heart / Murder is like love, love is like murder / Cold summer / Do you have a younger sister? / Smiling without knowing she's hurt / Raindrops are falling on my head / My sister is innocent / Author's note

“Don’t give up your heart.

“We were a little broken, but not destroyed.”
With this in mind, we have endured

After breaking up with her lover and falling into a deep lethargy where she couldn't even wash, the only thing she could do throughout that cruel summer was write letters on a Facebook page offering relationship advice.
However, a few years later, Kyung-ae meets 'Sister', the operator of the dating advice page 'Sister is Not Guilty', who used to send simple solutions in reply, at work.
As a team leader without any team members in the Bandomi Machinery Sales Department, Sangsu endured the humiliation of being a parachute employee and lived a double life at night under the name of "Sister."
In fact, there was another hidden connection between Gyeong-ae and Sang-soo, who met as a team leader and a team member at the same company, that they were unaware of.
Two people who lost their precious friends in the 1999 Incheon bar fire.
Kyung-ae was also a survivor of the accident.
Unaware of the connection, the two open their hearts to each other and grow closer with a special affection…

At first glance, "The Heart of Respect," which can be read as a love story between two people, is so rich in subject matter and meaning that it is difficult to read it with just one method, and if you are not careful, you may miss many keywords scattered throughout the work.
The strike that Gyeong-ae wages against the injustice of the Bandomisin factory and the work ethics and voices of the other colleagues who participated in the strike, especially the character of 'Mr. Cho', leave a deep impression.

“Work, jobs are really important.
Mr. Park Kyung-ae, in Japan they say that inexperienced fishermen fear storms, but skilled fishermen fear fog.
If you live well, you will avoid fog in the future.
Let's live without being afraid of something bad happening right now.
“I will do the same.” (Page 30)

And there is one incident that runs through the inner lives of the two characters, Gyeong-ae and Sang-soo.
The actual fire at a bar in Dong-Incheon in October 1999 is remembered as a heartbreaking incident in which 56 people died after the owner locked the door and told the students to “pay and leave.”
For Gyeong-ae and Sang-soo, who share the same wounds, this fire incident is not simply a thing of the past, but a sorrow that is still ongoing.
Even though the fire killed dozens of people, people trivialize the grief and sorrow over the deaths by simply noting that the deaths were caused by high school students drinking alcohol.
Kyung-ae and Sang-soo mourn the loss of their precious friend in this accident, and show how the survivors endure life and continue to mourn in their own way after the disaster.


Meanwhile, all the female characters in this work are strong, but they are “people who have to be in pain when they are in pain” (p. 102).
From Gyeong-ae's mother, Gyeong-ae's friend Miyu, to Kim Yu-jeong, the team leader of 'Bandomishing', they support each other and help each other move forward together.
The dating advice page 'Sister is not guilty' run by Sangsu is also an extension of this.
To those who have lost love and cannot continue with their daily lives, Sangsu conveys his feelings with kind words like “Go to sleep quickly” and “Let’s eat some food” in the name of “sister.”


Gyeong-ae and Sang-soo, who have been living broken lives due to accidents they experienced as children, the early death of their parents, cold treatment at work, and a breakup with a lover, learn the heart of 'Gyeong-ae' (respect) to love and respect someone through each other, and become stronger on their own.
Let us realize together that to ‘respect’ a person means to understand and share his or her pain.


Sangsu (…) shrank back, just like Gyeongae would have done.
My heart sank as if I had been doused with cold water.
The spirit died and shrunk.
Understanding someone meant falling together like that. (p. 208)
I felt that sharing pain was something that spread so quietly and slowly.
As the night deepens, and equally as the morning dawns. (pp. 318-19)

The one book that will remain in your memory for a long time

There is not a single sentence from author Kim Geum-hee that speaks of the intangible 'heart' that can be discarded.
Sentences that contain the delicate texture of the heart, such as sadness, excitement, loneliness, and longing, make you pause and take a deep breath.
"The Heart of Respect," filled with sentences that you want to keep close by and read slowly and carefully, contains a gentle voice that seems to completely pour out our hearts.
As evidenced by the many reader reviews that say they cried, laughed, and received great comfort, the book captivates the heart with its delicate expressions, charming characters, and the fun and emotion that only a full-length novel can offer.
For readers who have been waiting for a single novel that will fill this summer with a story they will remember for a long time, 『The Heart of Respect』 will remain with them for a long time.


A novel that received rave reviews from readers in 2030!
The enthusiastic response from 300 pre-book reviewers

It was the best, most unforgettable novel I've ever read.
Choi Hye-ryeon

This book was a source of comfort and consolation to me from beginning to end.
Lim Kyeong-ae

More than anything, I felt encouraged.
When my legs were shaking, this novel gave me support.
I think that a good novel, above all else, moves the heart.
It's a very good novel.
I recommend this book to your heart.
Kim Young-seong

If you ask me why I should read this novel, I would say first of all, of course, because it's fun.
There were sentences that kept stopping me, and there were sentences that I had to swallow my tears and read.
Shin Ye-eun

It's fun from start to finish.
While reading it, I felt sad, funny, and very warm.
jisoo

I shed tears many times while reading “The Heart of Respect” in the bathtub, in the library, and in the cafe.
It wasn't because I was sad.
I liked it, I liked it so much I cried.
I felt like I had been waiting for a Korean novel like this for a very long time.
And it felt like I received a warm and affectionate reply to that long wait.
Kwon Eun-kyung

There's another author who makes you wish the story would never end as you read on.
Kim Soo-hyun

Countless sentences shake my heart.
I was so immersed in the novel that it took me a long time to come back to myself.
Hwang Cho-rong

An acquaintance who has been following the serialization of this book has personally declared that this book will be the best Korean novel of 2018.
And I, too, could quietly nod to his words as I closed the bookcase.
Jeong Ha-young

Anyone who has ever lost their heart will surely find refreshing comfort in 『The Heart of Reverence』.
Lee Yoon-joo

I never knew that the fact that there was a writer who looked at someone's life so intently and vividly would be such a comfort to me at this point.
I offer my overwhelming admiration for this work and its author, whose end I hoped would never come.
Lee Eun-ji

Kim Geum-hee's sentences have the power to comfort each and every person and ultimately hold their hand.
That's where I find comfort.
Let's not forget, let's not give up.
As long as we are human, let us not lose our ‘respect’.
Jo Si-hyeon

This novel was a 'comfort' to me.
There were times when my heart felt like it was being read.
But I also felt comforted and healed by the other characters who calmly comforted me.
You're not the only one, everyone is going through this, enduring it.
Lee Young-ah

How could you not love this writer? I'm not sure.
I have definitely changed from before to after reading this novel.
I will remember all the feelings that arose, no matter what the reason.
factor

After reading the novel, I began to see feelings I had not seen before.
My heart that I didn't know about.
Cha Yu-o

Warm and respectful words of goodbye are included in 『The Heart of Respect』 for those who have survived loss and abandonment.
After reading a novel with all my heart, a baseless hope suddenly arises in our tired and weary hearts, telling us that we must now live.
Park Geum-mi

Today I can still walk home along the riverside road alone, and I am still able to do so.
Then it will work.
I can walk alone today too, and so I can live.
Between the hearts and minds piled high.
And I hope that's the case for all of you who come across this book.
Park Sol

The language of empathy and the warm comfort that the novel conveys will remain with me for a very long time, becoming a precious milestone in my life, just as Gyeong-ae cherished the language he left behind.
Moon Geum-ran

Anyone who has ever suffered from love will nod their head at author Kim Geum-hee's sentences that describe the heart of reverence, and when nodding isn't enough, they will shed tears.
Because I was like that too.
Kang Shin-won