Part 1: Paradise Beyond the Desert
Part 2: In Search of the Bluebird
Part 3 Ten Thousand Blooms

Commentary on the work
Author's Note

Building relationships with people whose hearts are turned inward

I find the process of people meeting and being attracted to each other so fascinating and amazing.
If there are ten thousand relationships, there must have been ten thousand connections that pulled both sides together.
No matter how much I think about it, I can't figure out how something like that is made.
(Page 15)

One month after entering high school.
The garden is always a bit surprising and lonely, watching the children get to know each other and naturally form groups.
How do you find someone who's a good fit for you and become naturally close? The starting point of any relationship is likely "taste," but Jeongwon doesn't want anyone to know he's an "A7 fanboy."
When you think that someone you care about might hate you, it feels like a hole is forming in your heart.


The safest and most comfortable space for Jeongwon is his room filled with his fan items and the chat room with his SNS friend 'Dali'.
A year ago, Dali posted a post on the A7 fan cafe saying, 'A7's first album is free to give away,' and Jeongwon commented on it, which is how their relationship began.
The box that Dali sent contained not only the album, but also concert goods and the members' favorite snacks.
Jeong-won feels a sense of wonder at Dali's willingness to show kindness to a stranger just because they like the same singer, and he begins to lean more and more towards her.
Then one night, as usual, I logged onto SNS and opened a chat window with Dali, and this message appeared on the screen.
'Account does not exist'.

The garden's routine begins to shake.
Why didn't I know that this relationship could have ended so unilaterally? Were we meant to drift apart at any moment once the fandom ended? If A7 suddenly disbanded, like the moon disappearing, fans would have no choice but to accept it.
…Why is my world so unstable?

If you ask me why I like it…

In many media, 'idol fanboys' are usually emotional or blind characters.
Blindly praising idols and dreaming of getting close to them.
However, Jeongwon's feelings towards A7 are not that simple.
To Jeongwon, A7 is the driving force behind his heart-pounding life, and at the same time, they are people who will reach the status of 'cool adults' in the not-so-distant future.
A confident and competent adult in front of everyone.
I sigh when I think, 'Will I be able to become an adult like that in 10 years?'
It's not just because of the visible success.


The air that surrounded the members was the solidity that surrounded them, as they practiced all night long, sweating, and returned to their dorms, staring at the empty ceiling and sharing their anxieties and dreams for the future.
What would it feel like to reminisce with the people who endured those intense, desperate times together?
What does it mean to have a team, to have colleagues?
(Page 70)

Jeongwon sees in A7 the bond he so desperately desires, and he hopes that bond will be true and lasting.
The wind is also for the garden itself.
Could we say that this sentiment was wrong, that it was an overinterpretation? Jeongwon also knows full well that this expectation could be shattered at any moment.
'The price of faith and support can sometimes come back as hurt and disappointment.
But isn't that true for all relationships, not just between idols and fans?' (p. 97)

"Our Garden" shows the daily lives and inner lives of "people" who love idols, rather than the flat "characters" of idol fans that the media has created so far.
It is not much different from the way people admire the object of their admiration, inflate their imaginations alone, become disappointed, and yet cannot turn away.
Could it be that we have been taking our feelings too lightly just because the object of our admiration is an 'idol'?

Something that doesn't waver even when the temperature of the heart changes

Three school friends appear in the daily life of a garden that has become empty after the moon disappeared.
Ji-eun, the head of the library club, noticed that all the books that Jeong-won borrowed from the school library were recommended by A7 members; Yeo-re, the class president of class 9, recognized at a glance that what Jeong-won was holding was a snack that A7 members liked; and Na-hyeon, who caught Jeong-won's attention by wearing A7 goods on her bag.
A nerd knows a nerd! The three friends suggest a "Thursday Reading Club" where they read books recommended by the members of A7.
Perhaps one of them is the moon? Jeongwon joins the Thursday reading club and begins to observe the three friends closely.
They read books together and talk about their various interests and values, including A7, and become closer.
The more he learns that their tastes in reading and their love for A7 are different, the more uneasy Jeongwon feels.
If the shape, temperature, and even speed of their affection change, and the three no longer share the same feelings, won't this relationship end? If even one of the four no longer likes A7, won't these memories fade away?

However, the garden learns faith in 'relationships' from Yeore, who shares her affection with many people around her, Na-hyeon, who silently walks the path connected to what she likes, and Ji-eun, who protects herself from being consumed by her feelings of love.
We realize that what connects friends is not the 'shape and weight of the heart', but the curiosity about what each other likes, the mutual influence, and the desire to become like each other.


Sometimes I feel like there are so many things I can't control, and no matter how hard I try, my world is falling apart once again.
I will somehow shake myself out of this broken world and build a new one.
This time, a world filled with people who will stay by my side no matter what, people who will be within touching distance when I extend my hand.
(Page 168)

A garden where everyone's tastes and affections come together

Garden and his friends take an interest in the things that others care about, and accept others' affection without judging or judging it.
Jeongwon doesn't blame his friend Hye-su, who has extreme anorexia, for anything wrong.
Because it is no different from his own desire to reach A7 beyond the monitor.
Even if you can't fully understand, you can empathize.
But, knowing all too well that the emptiness cannot be filled, Jeongwon reaches out to Hye-su.


Somin, who decided to like idols, people who started a campaign to return dolphins to the sea, a teacher who takes care of stray cats, a bookstore owner who finds new families for abandoned dogs…
When you have someone you love and cherish, that feeling naturally flows into your life.
What a person likes says a lot about him and his life.
That fact makes Jeongwon happily ponder, 'What kind of adult will I become?'


What kind of adults will we become in the future?
I used to think that becoming an adult meant following in the footsteps of those who came before me.
But the kind of adult I become is determined by the choices and decisions I make. That's the process of becoming an adult.
Could there be anything more fortunate than that?

"Our Garden" looks at youth and all beings without arbitrarily weighing or judging anyone's affection.
Online relationships, which older generations dismiss as "empty relationships," can be respected as the privacy of young people, and the disconnection and anxiety they experience in those relationships can be discovered and comforted.
It is in line with the principle of ‘respect for tastes’, which is an obvious and absolute rule in the world of nerds.


The 'heart of liking' that 'Our Garden' speaks of is not a heart that divides or categorizes people based on likes and dislikes, but a heart that connects people.
If we look around, isn't the world we live in full of such feelings?
It is entirely possible to create a "virtuous cycle of love" by staying up all night listening to music, donating in the musician's name, returning dolphins to the sea, bringing a tumbler, and paying close attention to the lives of animals in captivity and the deaths of animals on the road.
"Our Garden" is a work filled with the author's sincere hope for a world where all tastes and affections can coexist, and where all young people can freely cultivate their own gardens.