What about melon
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Description
Book Introduction
“It’s going to be a whole new world, I promise.”
★Recommended by Park Seo-ryeon and Lee Joo-hye
★SF Award Short Story Category Grand Prize Winner
Amil, winner of the Excellence Award in the Short Story and Medium category at the 2018 SF Awards and the Grand Prize in the Short Story and Medium category at the 2020 SF Awards, has announced new possibilities for Korean literature with his unique mythic imagination and keen insight.
His second collection of short stories, What Happened to Melon, was published.
By focusing on depicting an unpredictable world that is both close to reality and a step to the side, "What's Wrong with Melon" creates a unique world that no one could have ever imagined existed.
It contains eight lively stories, including “My Lesbian Vampire Friend,” which depicts the complex and nuanced friendship between a heterosexual human and a lesbian vampire; “A Butch’s Sex Robot Story,” which documents the daily life of a butch who brings a sex robot into his home to overcome the pain of first love; and “Gluing on a Doll’s Eyes,” which deals with the events that unfold when a witch with no particular ambitions but to live a long and thin life gets caught up in a dangerous request.
The narrative, which has become more lively and clever, shines as the quirky and unique characters' activities capture attention.
As author Park Seo-ryeon puts it, as you wander through the story, “where imagination as fresh as freshly washed seasonal fruit coexists with a sharp gaze as sharp as a knife ready to slice through its peel,” you will find yourself toasting the birth of the long-awaited “witch’s novel.”
★Recommended by Park Seo-ryeon and Lee Joo-hye
★SF Award Short Story Category Grand Prize Winner
Amil, winner of the Excellence Award in the Short Story and Medium category at the 2018 SF Awards and the Grand Prize in the Short Story and Medium category at the 2020 SF Awards, has announced new possibilities for Korean literature with his unique mythic imagination and keen insight.
His second collection of short stories, What Happened to Melon, was published.
By focusing on depicting an unpredictable world that is both close to reality and a step to the side, "What's Wrong with Melon" creates a unique world that no one could have ever imagined existed.
It contains eight lively stories, including “My Lesbian Vampire Friend,” which depicts the complex and nuanced friendship between a heterosexual human and a lesbian vampire; “A Butch’s Sex Robot Story,” which documents the daily life of a butch who brings a sex robot into his home to overcome the pain of first love; and “Gluing on a Doll’s Eyes,” which deals with the events that unfold when a witch with no particular ambitions but to live a long and thin life gets caught up in a dangerous request.
The narrative, which has become more lively and clever, shines as the quirky and unique characters' activities capture attention.
As author Park Seo-ryeon puts it, as you wander through the story, “where imagination as fresh as freshly washed seasonal fruit coexists with a sharp gaze as sharp as a knife ready to slice through its peel,” you will find yourself toasting the birth of the long-awaited “witch’s novel.”
- You can preview some of the book's contents.
Preview
index
My Lesbian Vampire Friend… 7
A Butch's Sex Robot Experience… 43
Born to be an idol… 79
No Adult Heaven… 109
Love Beyond Gender… 149
An impassable fourth-dimensional wall… 177
Gluing on doll eyes… 211
Night walk… 249
Author's Note … 327
A Butch's Sex Robot Experience… 43
Born to be an idol… 79
No Adult Heaven… 109
Love Beyond Gender… 149
An impassable fourth-dimensional wall… 177
Gluing on doll eyes… 211
Night walk… 249
Author's Note … 327
Detailed image
Into the book
“You are strangely insensitive.
And so terribly selfish.”
Kiyoung flinched at the sharp criticism coming from Mina's mouth.
Mina tilted Kiyoung's chin back and put her mouth on the nape of his neck.
With his other arm, he wrapped his arms around Kiyoung's waist.
Even though the touch didn't require much strength, Kiyoung couldn't move.
“Think about it carefully.
“Aren’t you the one who’s using me?”
--- p.21 From "My Lesbian Vampire Friend"
But a sex robot that says it doesn't want to have sex? That's not going to sell anywhere.
Youngmin thought of his first love, who would scold him for saying such things out loud when he asked to have sex, get annoyed when he started being physical, and get angry when he kept quiet, asking if he didn't see her as a woman.
From now on, you will be free from your ghost.
Yeongmin made up his mind and placed his lips on Leah's.
Leah's lips were warm.
--- p.56 From “A Butch’s Sex Robot Usage Story”
People who believe that hating a girl is ethically justified and even for a noble cause.
People who believe that only by killing Moa can bioethics be established and human rights and free will be preserved.
What does it feel like to be hated like that?
Even if Haeyeon died and woke up, she wouldn't know.
--- p.89 From "Born to be an Idol"
Melon was good to herself.
In heaven, no one would give a melon a name other than "melon," no one would divide it into men and women, no one would judge whether your parents had a lot of money or whether your house was big or small, no one would teach you false knowledge that you would later realize was false, no one would demand that you follow incomprehensible rules, and no one would beat you or scold you for not following them.
--- p.113 From "No Adult Heaven"
I didn't want to act childish.
I didn't want to act like a "weak, emotional, imperfect, and stupid" girl.
Eun-ah knew very well that her feelings were contradictory.
--- p.170 From “Love Beyond Gender”
I don't want to dip my hand in curses and shorten my life even a little.
I don't want to get caught by the police and pay a huge fine.
I'm the type of person who doesn't invest in funds or stocks because I'm afraid of them. I just put money into savings.
I want to live a long and thin life.
And so terribly selfish.”
Kiyoung flinched at the sharp criticism coming from Mina's mouth.
Mina tilted Kiyoung's chin back and put her mouth on the nape of his neck.
With his other arm, he wrapped his arms around Kiyoung's waist.
Even though the touch didn't require much strength, Kiyoung couldn't move.
“Think about it carefully.
“Aren’t you the one who’s using me?”
--- p.21 From "My Lesbian Vampire Friend"
But a sex robot that says it doesn't want to have sex? That's not going to sell anywhere.
Youngmin thought of his first love, who would scold him for saying such things out loud when he asked to have sex, get annoyed when he started being physical, and get angry when he kept quiet, asking if he didn't see her as a woman.
From now on, you will be free from your ghost.
Yeongmin made up his mind and placed his lips on Leah's.
Leah's lips were warm.
--- p.56 From “A Butch’s Sex Robot Usage Story”
People who believe that hating a girl is ethically justified and even for a noble cause.
People who believe that only by killing Moa can bioethics be established and human rights and free will be preserved.
What does it feel like to be hated like that?
Even if Haeyeon died and woke up, she wouldn't know.
--- p.89 From "Born to be an Idol"
Melon was good to herself.
In heaven, no one would give a melon a name other than "melon," no one would divide it into men and women, no one would judge whether your parents had a lot of money or whether your house was big or small, no one would teach you false knowledge that you would later realize was false, no one would demand that you follow incomprehensible rules, and no one would beat you or scold you for not following them.
--- p.113 From "No Adult Heaven"
I didn't want to act childish.
I didn't want to act like a "weak, emotional, imperfect, and stupid" girl.
Eun-ah knew very well that her feelings were contradictory.
--- p.170 From “Love Beyond Gender”
I don't want to dip my hand in curses and shorten my life even a little.
I don't want to get caught by the police and pay a huge fine.
I'm the type of person who doesn't invest in funds or stocks because I'm afraid of them. I just put money into savings.
I want to live a long and thin life.
--- p.214 From "Attaching Doll Eyes"
Publisher's Review
Cheerful beings who run with all their might, even if they are sloppy
The infinitely clever and lovable world of Amil
Amil, who took the Korean SF world by storm by winning the 2018 and 2020 SF Awards in succession.
In 2025, his first collection of short stories, Roadkill, was translated and published in the UK, and he immediately garnered attention overseas as a debut work.
The new short story collection, "What Happened to Melon," contains eight stories filled with bold imagination that break down boundaries.
If the author's previous work, "Roadkill," captured the voices of girls fighting against oppression, crossing between fantasy and dystopia, myth and legend, and "The Forest Named You" revealed contemporary issues of women, queerness, and the environment through the existence of "idols," "What Happened to Melon" is armed with wit and mirrors the discrimination and alienation of reality.
A vampire who wants to leave Korea to find his own family, a butch who was deeply hurt by his first love and is now practicing dating a sex robot, a woman who has begun a secret relationship with the opposite sex in a world where homosexuality is the norm - these unusual but lovable characters each overcome the walls in front of them in their own way, providing a thrilling pleasure.
“Fresh imagination like freshly washed seasonal fruit,
Stories with a sharp gaze, like a knife that will soon cut through the shell,
“It can’t be anything other than a witch’s novel.” _Park Seo-ryeon (novelist)
"What's Wrong with Melon" tackles controversial topics without reservation, powerfully driving the narrative with a brisk rhythm.
Extraordinary settings, such as high-functioning sex robots equipped with artificial intelligence and 'born idols' born through genetic manipulation, are vividly brought to life by bold imagination and natural humor.
But this work does not stop at just being whimsical and playful.
This is because the seemingly cheerful story contains a weighty power that denounces the oppression of reality.
"My Lesbian Vampire Friend" captures contemporary hatred through a character with dual minority status as both a queer person and a vampire, while "The Insurmountable Fourth Dimensional Wall" depicts an Asian female pianist frustrated by prejudice based on her physical condition, gender, and race.
In this way, the work twists and overlaps reality, unfolding a colorful world while accurately targeting the problems of real society.
As author Lee Ju-hye says, in What Happens to Melon, “it’s not strange to love a friend who is both a lesbian and a vampire, robots that understand humans better than humans are familiar, and it’s common for heterosexuals to be discriminated against as sexual minorities.”
In a place where the hierarchy of reality has been turned upside down, the novel, in a lighthearted guise, vividly reminds us of the voice of hatred we must face.
The 'World of Melon' that Amil unfolds will show us a world of new possibilities that we desperately need now.
Short story introduction
My Lesbian Vampire Friend
In Kiyoung's life, Mina was his only lesbian friend and vampire friend.
Both are extraordinary elements for a friend, but
For Kiyoung, the process of accepting the former was more difficult.
A Butch's Sex Robot Experience
Yeongmin, who is a woman himself, finds women's hearts very difficult.
After failing in her first love, she rents a sex robot to practice dating.
As if his efforts were rewarded, he soon starts dating a new woman… …
Born to be an Idol
In the near future, a world where gene editing is used to create the most ideal idol.
Idols born that way are objects of envy for the public,
For 'anti-gene editing' opponents, it is an object of contempt and destruction.
No Adult Heaven
The Bible's words were not an exaggeration.
Only children could enter heaven.
For example, only children who are young, pure, and delicate like melons.
Love Beyond Gender
A world where same-sex love is normal and taken for granted.
Eun-ah ended a short relationship with her girlfriend,
In a fit of rage, he sets foot in a mixed-gender club, wanting to go on a wild ride.
The Impermeable Fourth Dimensional Wall
Nayun wants to become a pianist.
While I was frustrated by the physical limitations of having short fingers,
You enter the office of a fortune teller called 'The Witch of Dimensions' and make a strange deal.
Gluing Doll Eyes
A witch who wants to live a long and thin life and is reluctant to use black magic.
I barely make a living by attaching doll eyes.
Then one day, an irresistible request comes in.
Night Walk
The faint smell of blood mixed with the strong scent of flowers…
Beyond distant memories that I can't tell if they're dreams or reality,
I remember a mysterious encounter in a park at night.
The infinitely clever and lovable world of Amil
Amil, who took the Korean SF world by storm by winning the 2018 and 2020 SF Awards in succession.
In 2025, his first collection of short stories, Roadkill, was translated and published in the UK, and he immediately garnered attention overseas as a debut work.
The new short story collection, "What Happened to Melon," contains eight stories filled with bold imagination that break down boundaries.
If the author's previous work, "Roadkill," captured the voices of girls fighting against oppression, crossing between fantasy and dystopia, myth and legend, and "The Forest Named You" revealed contemporary issues of women, queerness, and the environment through the existence of "idols," "What Happened to Melon" is armed with wit and mirrors the discrimination and alienation of reality.
A vampire who wants to leave Korea to find his own family, a butch who was deeply hurt by his first love and is now practicing dating a sex robot, a woman who has begun a secret relationship with the opposite sex in a world where homosexuality is the norm - these unusual but lovable characters each overcome the walls in front of them in their own way, providing a thrilling pleasure.
“Fresh imagination like freshly washed seasonal fruit,
Stories with a sharp gaze, like a knife that will soon cut through the shell,
“It can’t be anything other than a witch’s novel.” _Park Seo-ryeon (novelist)
"What's Wrong with Melon" tackles controversial topics without reservation, powerfully driving the narrative with a brisk rhythm.
Extraordinary settings, such as high-functioning sex robots equipped with artificial intelligence and 'born idols' born through genetic manipulation, are vividly brought to life by bold imagination and natural humor.
But this work does not stop at just being whimsical and playful.
This is because the seemingly cheerful story contains a weighty power that denounces the oppression of reality.
"My Lesbian Vampire Friend" captures contemporary hatred through a character with dual minority status as both a queer person and a vampire, while "The Insurmountable Fourth Dimensional Wall" depicts an Asian female pianist frustrated by prejudice based on her physical condition, gender, and race.
In this way, the work twists and overlaps reality, unfolding a colorful world while accurately targeting the problems of real society.
As author Lee Ju-hye says, in What Happens to Melon, “it’s not strange to love a friend who is both a lesbian and a vampire, robots that understand humans better than humans are familiar, and it’s common for heterosexuals to be discriminated against as sexual minorities.”
In a place where the hierarchy of reality has been turned upside down, the novel, in a lighthearted guise, vividly reminds us of the voice of hatred we must face.
The 'World of Melon' that Amil unfolds will show us a world of new possibilities that we desperately need now.
Short story introduction
My Lesbian Vampire Friend
In Kiyoung's life, Mina was his only lesbian friend and vampire friend.
Both are extraordinary elements for a friend, but
For Kiyoung, the process of accepting the former was more difficult.
A Butch's Sex Robot Experience
Yeongmin, who is a woman himself, finds women's hearts very difficult.
After failing in her first love, she rents a sex robot to practice dating.
As if his efforts were rewarded, he soon starts dating a new woman… …
Born to be an Idol
In the near future, a world where gene editing is used to create the most ideal idol.
Idols born that way are objects of envy for the public,
For 'anti-gene editing' opponents, it is an object of contempt and destruction.
No Adult Heaven
The Bible's words were not an exaggeration.
Only children could enter heaven.
For example, only children who are young, pure, and delicate like melons.
Love Beyond Gender
A world where same-sex love is normal and taken for granted.
Eun-ah ended a short relationship with her girlfriend,
In a fit of rage, he sets foot in a mixed-gender club, wanting to go on a wild ride.
The Impermeable Fourth Dimensional Wall
Nayun wants to become a pianist.
While I was frustrated by the physical limitations of having short fingers,
You enter the office of a fortune teller called 'The Witch of Dimensions' and make a strange deal.
Gluing Doll Eyes
A witch who wants to live a long and thin life and is reluctant to use black magic.
I barely make a living by attaching doll eyes.
Then one day, an irresistible request comes in.
Night Walk
The faint smell of blood mixed with the strong scent of flowers…
Beyond distant memories that I can't tell if they're dreams or reality,
I remember a mysterious encounter in a park at night.
GOODS SPECIFICS
- Date of issue: September 11, 2025
- Page count, weight, size: 332 pages | 356g | 131*204*21mm
- ISBN13: 9791173323188
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카테고리
korean
korean
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