Opportunity to get away 13
Buying Weaknesses 25
Train 38: Running Through a Boring World
Wanting to Believe 44
Big Hole 54
Astringent 70
Generally happy things 84
100% between customers and part-time workers
The word promise 117
The charm of no countermeasure 129
Last Show 154
Applause 174
Snowstorm 189
No one got off the train 195
Author's Note 207

That day, the old man came back.
What only those who have gone out into the world can know
Holding it tightly in your hand.


If You Fall in Love with Dokgo Som, the second full-length novel by author Heo Jin-hee

This is a youth novel published after three years by author Heo Jin-hee, who won the grand prize at the 10th Munhakdongne Youth Literature Award in 2019 for “If You Fall in Love with Dokgo Som.”
The story of Noh Wah-ram, who entered a suspicious restaurant to work part-time providing accommodations, and returned home.
During the winter break of her seventeenth year, the old woman, who has left the fence of her family for the first time in her life, has to face many people alone, none of whom are easy.
A person who exudes a strong charm but is actually setting a trap to take advantage of the old woman, a person who has a crush on the old woman and approaches her without thinking to close the distance, a person who ignores the old woman and treats her like a background, a person whose true intentions are completely incomprehensible… … .
After spending time in this place where various desires are seething, Noh Param returns safely with an important realization in her hands.
What is the 'appropriate distance' between people?
And what is absolutely necessary to keep that distance, which is neither too far nor too close, is ‘a heart of trust.’

There was strength in that heart.
There was something overwhelming.

The wind thought.

There is no way that believing can be a weakness.
_In the text

"Would you sell your weaknesses? The reward will be generous."
“I want to buy the boss’s apples.
“I sincerely apologize.”

The novel is set in a world where slaughter for meat consumption is completely banned and only lab-grown meat is allowed to be eaten, a world of so-called "harmless carnivores," and a restaurant secretly sells "forbidden meat."
The secretly gathered celebrities from all walks of life pretend to be noble, but their ethical sense and sense of privilege are clearly revealed in every unexpected situation, even if they do not hesitate to go against the law to satisfy their desires.
The mask of hypocrisy and pretense is completely removed at the end of the novel when the restaurant's secret is revealed in a surprising twist.
This novel, which is like a black comedy, is another page-turner following "If You Fall in Love with Dokgo Som" in that it immediately draws readers in through its unexpected plot and unique character development.


The fact that the protagonist is a young woman who, driven by strong curiosity and faith in humanity, changes the worldly landscape created by adults, is also in line with the author's previous works.
“Boss, it’s all over now.
“Because I’m going to ruin this place.” The old woman’s eyes are hard and calm as she demands a sincere apology while making her final appeal.
Because I now know what types of people I should stay away from, what types of relationships are toxic, how close I can get to someone I'm attracted to at first sight, and how to find a safe distance between us without crushing each other.
The old woman's strong eyes tell us that learning to sense distance in relationships is the same as developing the strength to protect oneself.


… … The dark pupils of the wind seemed to have no wind in them.
It looked solid and quiet.
It was the eyes of someone who knew exactly what to say.
_In the text

To become safely independent and bravely free
Because you too will set out on your journey someday

Author Heo Jin-hee wrote the novel with the question, “How can we keep an appropriate distance, be safely independent, and be bravely free?”
The novel reveals the mixed emotions of family, which is considered the closest relationship in the world, but cannot always be together, through the three young characters in the novel.
Noparam is anxious about her resemblance to her mother, and Tangerine, a member of the Star Family, is unhappy about being grouped with her parents.
Gong Bi-su, who has lived dependent on his older sister, is torn between wanting to leave and wanting to stay.
Just as the three characters each seek answers to this rite-of-passage dilemma in their own ways, young readers will also find answers in their own ways, but the novel subtly offers one answer as advice.
How about taking a break from the hustle and bustle of life to appreciate each other's similarities?
Keeping a distance of exactly the right amount of distance, with the belief that you will come running whenever you call.


You can only like one person completely,
The fact that you can't just completely hate it
The first thing you realize may be through your family.
_In the text