Prologue ___7
1 ___11
2 ___17
3 ___23
4 ___34
5 ___43
6 ___51
7 ___59
8 ___67
9 ___77
10 ___84
11 ___93
12 ___105
13 ___110
14 ___126
15 ___138
16 ___151
17 ___164
18 ___172
19 ___182
20 ___188
Epilogue ___201
Commentary on the work ___209
Author's Note ___221

From that day on, everything stopped.

To Soyi, her father was “a man who always thought of others before himself or his family” (p. 9).
Long ago, at a beach where we went to play with our close family, Dad jumped into the sea without hesitation to save Yuju who had fallen into the water.
Young Soyi watched her father risk his life.
That moment was vividly remembered by Soyi.
And a few years later, my father, who was working as a commercial facility manager, made the same choice again when a fire occurred.
He jumped into the fire to save people, but he couldn't get out himself.
People say her father is a righteous man, but Soi cannot understand him.
Soyi struggles to escape everything that caused her to lose her father.
I don't even talk about my dad with my family because I'm afraid they'll get hurt.
As time went on, it felt like my father had never existed.


Still, memories of my father constantly come to mind.
Her father supported Soi more than anyone when she dreamed of becoming an idol, and even when she decided to quit being a trainee, he simply encouraged her and said that she had worked hard.
Resentment towards his father, the feeling of loss at losing his own side, self-reproach that if he had debuted, all the tragedy would have been avoided, and disappointment in himself.
None of the emotions that weigh down Soyi are light.

As we live, we all lose someone we love.
Breakups are a difficult rite of passage for everyone.
Moreover, how will Soyi cope with this sudden and premature separation? What will this separation mean to the readers who watch over her?

People involved in a huge incident
"The Unfinished Words" piques the reader's curiosity by revealing Soyi's hidden anxieties and wounds, piece by piece.
The channel through which Soyi's emotions are revealed is 'music'.
When she walks down the street, looks out the bus window, or even sits in bed to end the day, beats and melodies ring in Soi's head.
Soyi, who blames herself for giving up on her dream, continues to create her own music and, at least in her mind, climbs onto her own stage.
Soyi writes lyrics to join rapper McQueen's crew, and also takes poetry classes to help her write lyrics.
However, McQueen and Mr. Shi give Soi similar advice.
To take out something deep in your heart and write it down.
And the poetry teacher, who read the lyrics that Soyi wrote about herself for the first time, sends a message.


─ Then, around Soi… … was there anyone who couldn’t come out of Jeongui Shopping Mall on August 14th? (Omitted) There was also someone I knew there… … .
I couldn't get out.
(pages 103-104)

Starting with this message, Soyi's true secret is revealed.
The whole story of the 'Jeongui Shopping Mall fire' that killed Soi's father, the last child saved by Soi's father, the firefighter who went to rescue Soi's father based on the child's tip but ended up dying, and Mr. Poe's acquaintance...
Clues and emotions throughout the narrative, and seemingly unrelated characters, are intricately connected to a single tragic event.
Author Chae Ki-seong, who has built his reputation with long novels including the 17th World Literature Award winner, "Unmand," captivates readers with this work's solid structure and dramatic development.
The way such a writer illuminates the ‘Jeongui Shopping Mall Fire’ is quite meaningful.
Soyi recounts her father's last moments through news and videos posted online.
For Soyi, it's a desperate pursuit, but it also reminds readers of the grim reality of how our society deals with disasters and catastrophes today.
Moreover, old commercial buildings in alleys that fire trucks cannot enter, crowded stores, and frequent alarm malfunctions are all too common scenes in reality.
Therefore, Soyi's experience goes beyond the personal level and becomes ours all.


Comfort and solidarity shared by survivors
Soyi goes to find the child her father saved.
Because I want to make sure that my father is a child worth saving.
But the child lives listlessly, having given up even the things he likes.
Soyi is angry at the sight, and although she criticizes it, she cannot turn away.
A child who is oppressed by the feeling that he is “living someone else’s life” (p. 123), and who lives as if punishing himself for not being able to save others even though he owes them his life.
Soyi sees herself in the child.
Soyi also stopped singing because she felt responsible for her father's death.
Perhaps he hoped the child wouldn't escape the fire. But there are people around Soyi who live today with their wounds.
Yuju, who has a twin wound, confesses that she too has gone through a dark time of resentment, and Mr. Poetry suggests to Soi that he does not wallow in sorrow even after losing a precious person, but finds balance in life.
“Let’s put down the heavy burden and live in this moment.” (Page 186) Only then does Soi take the hand extended to her and reach out to others.
In the process, Soyi answers a question she has long harbored.


Everyone had a reason and value to live.
My father valued the lives of strangers in danger more than his own safety.
It wasn't the people my dad saved, it was my dad who made his own life meaningful.
I think I can finally understand my father a little bit now. (pp. 180-181)

“I knew it.
“Now it’s time to start rapping.”
The reason Soyi struggles to understand her father's choice is because she can only accept his death after finding the answer.
Soyi's process of looking into her inner self, meeting wounded people, and gradually finding hope is intertwined with the process of Soyi completing her own song.
Soyi completes the rap and stands on the stage she had been longing for.
And the neighbors who accompanied Soyi on her journey watch her.
Soi, who once complained that “the world is a graveyard for good people” and hid because she “hated the world my father saved,” now sings to the world and herself that she will become “a person who does not let go of others” like her father (pp. 195-196). Soi’s unique story, which she shouts on the stage that her father had so eagerly anticipated, is completed with the cheers of the audience.

Who is this stage for?
It was clear that I wasn't rapping just for myself. (p. 198)

Soyi expresses her sorrow through poetry and lyrics, and shouts it out to the world through rap, achieving mourning and healing.
"Unfinished Words" is the story of So-i overcoming her own grief, but readers will also realize how important and desperate it is for the survivors and bereaved families of countless disasters to vent their pain.
How will parting and mourning take place?
There may be no right answer, but 『Unfinished Words』 tells us that rather than erasing the departed, it is about remembering the empty space, sharing the sorrow, and moving forward into the future.
The dictionary definition of 'unfinished measure' is 'a measure that does not have all the beats specified in the time signature.'
And in this work, the 'incomplete words' signify the belief that it is okay to start imperfectly, that even if it is a little lacking, there will be people in the world who will help you complete that voice.
"Unfinished Words" is a warm message of encouragement to all young people who are trying to stand on their own stage, even if they are a little lacking and awkward.

“Finally, I have something to say to you who have read this novel.
It's okay if life's rhythm is a little lacking.
So let’s move forward.” (From the author’s note)