Good luck is coming your way...
007
Author's Note...
198

I wish the world would end like this.

When Eunjae closed her eyes and opened them,
Instead of ending the world, it sends a small knock.

Knock knock knock.
A familiar voice of someone knocking on the window.

“Hey, Kim Eun-jae.
“I came to pick you up.”

If I were to describe Eunjae, she would be a child who never smiles, has no friends, and hates being talked to.
Also known as 'The Dark Knight'.
Actually, there is a monster in Eunjae's house.
Although he is called 'Dad', he turns into a monster when he drinks and beats his daughter.
Eunjae entered and exited the house through the window so as not to wake the sleeping monster, and even in the summer, she wore a cardigan to cover the scars left by the monster.
The neighbor who hurriedly closes the window at the loud noise, the police who easily turn away when told that their child did something wrong and got scolded, the homeroom teachers who pretended not to know even though they knew every year.
Just a single layer of cardigan, the wounds hidden beneath have long been ignored.

But as if by chance, luck rolls a soccer ball in front of Eun-jae's feet, and Eun-jae, who always thought of herself as alone, begins to have friends who want to pass the ball to her.
Jiyoung, who knows that for some people, May can be a cold enough month to wear a cardigan; Jiyu, who tells them that not giving up when life throws a hard tackle at them is the way to protect themselves; Wooyoung, who is more cautious because they have the same wounds, but looks at Eunjae more clearly than anyone else; and Hyungsu, who knows that happiness may be found in a bite of ice cream on a hot day.
The children each send signals to Eunjae in their own way.
We are here, watching over you and worrying about you.
Knock knock knock.
A knock on the door to a world that had been closed begins to be heard more and more.
It is the sound of good luck approaching a child who has barely managed to survive in fear and despair.


“Look carefully, this ball is your life.

You must never miss it while running.

You keep getting tackled?
Are you trying to steal it so viciously and persistently?
Then you should ask your friend to take care of your life for a while.
“There must be another player in that spot over there.”

What this novel ultimately wants to say is the existence of 'humans', not an omnipotent, transcendent being.
Because only when a person has the will to save his or her own life or the lives of others will luck follow that will.
The sight of fifteen-year-olds summoning up courage to save a friend in danger, and the sight of a child so exhausted he wants to throw everything away finally opening a closed door to 'protect' his friends, is a revelation to readers.
That we can be each other's good fortune.
This novel says that while it is humans who make life miserable, it is also humans who always reach out to life.
No one might believe that a single glance or a single thought can change someone's life, but that simple thing is the secret of life.
It's time to be once again moved by the miraculous colors drawn by artist Lee Kkotnim.


Someone told me this story was fantasy.

It's not because of the lucky existence that watches over the characters, but because of the ending that it's a fantasy.

The moment I heard that story, something inexplicable struck my heart.

It was sadness, it was regret, it was fear, and it was anger at the same time.
(…) I believe that there are still many blessings yet to come in the lives of Eunjae and Wooyoung.

The same goes for the lives of many who hold on to their own lives and do not let go.
- From the author's note