Part 1

Video meeting… 8
Early retirement… 20
The transfer student upstairs… 31
Nothing to take a picture of… 37
Walk… 45
Purple Mask… 58
In front of the hospital… 67
False homework… 76
An Inconvenient Invitation… 82
Three people…92

Part 2

Strange Friends… 104
With eggs… 113
Pride… 121
Same friend… 128
A month later… 139
Purple Mask Club… 147
I feel miserable when I see you… 163
Dad's Song… 178
Rumi… 192
Things to do… 197
Reasons to Call Your Name… 208
Graduation… 219

Author's Note … 230

A new work by Moon Kyung-min, author of "Hulhul"
I spent the hottest and coldest season than anyone else
Our story at the age of thirteen

Author Moon Kyung-min, who has vividly and delicately depicted the inner lives of young teenagers in works such as "Hulhul," "The Reason We Want to Protect Dogs," and "Uturi Hanarin," has returned with a story that is only possible when you are thirteen years old, a story so immersive that you will have to read it all the way to the end in one sitting.


Choi Bo-ri, a 6th grader, lives in anxiety and darkness.
This is because the large company my father worked for was forced to restructure and lay off employees through unfair dismissals, and my father was embroiled in a difficult battle with the company.
With her father and mother at odds, her father not coming home, and her mother holding back her gloomy situation, Bori, who has nowhere to turn, feels a secret envy and inferiority complex towards her best friend Rumi, who seems happy despite being in a similar, if not worse, situation to her.
This is because Lumine's family was a remarried family, her father was unemployed, and she had younger siblings to look after, yet they seemed to live in a bright and harmonious atmosphere without any shadows.


Bori, who was unable to open up to Rumi about her feelings of inexplicable misery and bitterness, one day discovers a dark and twisted face similar to her own in Sehee, a transfer student.
Bori, who is attracted to honest sarcasm rather than obvious comfort, gets caught up in Sehee's calm expression as he oppresses the children, and ends up getting involved in school violence, which ends up hurting Rumi deeply.
Then, Bori is confronted with a shocking truth that is right in front of him...

“I wanted to build up my strength.
Make your fist out of diamonds
“I wanted to smash a huge boulder in one fell swoop.”
The thirteen-year-old's exciting leap into the heart of life

"We Were Thirteen" is a junior novel that depicts the growth story of two children who endure a hotter and colder season than anyone else and stand up firmly after overcoming pain and wounds.
The author, who spoke of "the pain that the world must know and that relatively few people face as if it were their fate" through the bestseller "Hulhul," talks about "the wall of reality that young teenagers who are moving forward into the middle of the world inevitably encounter."


The unfair dismissal of her father and the discord between her parents were like a rough storm for thirteen-year-old Bori.
In front of the wall of reality, Barley's heart wavers and breaks.
Her father, who left home after saying “Take care,” and her mother, who came home from work every day exhausted and cried quietly, were all heavy burdens to Bori.
The only comfort was the song my father used to enjoy listening to.
Even his best friend Rumi can't be of much help.
Although he became close to Se-hee, who had a shadow like him, Se-hee was not a true friend to Bori either.


Will Barley be able to overcome the challenges that beset her and protect herself? The author meticulously weaves together the anxieties and worries of the two children, Barley and Rumi, and the severing and re-establishing of their relationship through dramatic events.
This is a masterpiece that meticulously builds up the emotional lines of the main characters and delicately yet candidly depicts the process through which the children overcome the hardships of the world that befall them.

And yet I dream
We move forward again

How can such small children save each other with all their hearts?
The author movingly depicts the world of children, which is not much different from that of adults, by interweaving the stories of Bori and Rumi.
The thirteen-year-old teenagers in the work walk uprightly through a world that is by no means easy even for adults.


“Many people dream of a better world.
Those who dream get up again even after being disappointed.
Because there is faith.
They believe that everyone, regardless of their circumstances, their mindset, or their abilities, should be able to pursue their own happiness.
(Omitted) I wanted to write a story about children who went through a difficult time.
“I wanted to create a story about children who overcome difficult times and take a step toward a better world.” _From the author’s words

"We Were Thirteen" conveys the will and hope to move forward to those who have experienced or will experience painful times through the narrative of Bori and Rumi, who are in a confusing and difficult time.
I realized that nothing in this world is easy, but like two children who persevere and move forward little by little.
Like all of us 'thirteen year olds' who dream and stand up no matter what happens.
This work, which brilliantly depicts children taking steps forward while confronting the challenges and harsh realities given to them, is a profound coming-of-age novel that instills will and hope in those living in a world that is not always smooth.

Curriculum linkage
5th grade, 1st semester, Korean language 2.
Appreciate the work
5th grade, 1st semester, Korean language 10.
Become the main character
6th grade, 1st semester, Korean language 8.
In search of the character's life
6th grade, 2nd semester, Korean language 1.
The characters in the work and me