#“I play alone”

There is a child named Dongdong playing marbles alone in the vacant lot today as well.
Dongdong drags his dog, Guseul, to the stationery store to buy a new Guseul.
What Dongdong picked up there was a candy that looked a little special.
But there's something strange about this candy.
The moment I put a lollipop in my mouth, my ears perk up and I start to hear someone's voice.
The voice can only be heard while the candy in the mouth melts and disappears.
Whose inner thoughts did the six candies Dongdong ate reveal? If I had these candies, whose feelings would I be most curious about?

#Finding the Voice of Your Heart: The Magical Candy Called by Desperation

Whether I'm a child or an adult, there are times when I don't know my own mind.
Because I don't know my own heart, I can't properly understand what the other person is saying, and I say things I don't mean.
Their hearts keep drifting apart, and the gap between them is widening further.
Here's another kid like that.
Dongdong, who has difficulty communicating, plays in his own world.
His only friends are a few marbles and his dog, Marble.
Dongdong, with his round face and ear-covered bowl-shaped head, is absorbed in playing marbles every day.
Like a single, detached bead... he played alone without any friends, and his grandmother, who was by his side instead of his mother, passed away.


The dog, Guseul, increasingly avoids Dongdong, and her father only nags her all the time.
Despite this harsh reality, Dongdong tries hard to make up his mind.
Being alone isn't bad.
Playing marbles alone is fun... “I need new marbles.” One day, Dongdong heads to the stationery store to buy new marbles instead of a new friend.
My dog, Guseul, is also going with me.
(It seems like he's being dragged along rather than 'together'.) Perhaps it was from this moment that a new determination arose in Dongdong's heart? Dongdong's footsteps as he heads out to buy new beads may be an expression of his earnest cry and determination to move towards a better world.
At the stationery store, Dongdong finds strange candy instead of new beads.
But when I rolled a piece of candy in my mouth, magic happened.
My ears were opened, my closed ears were opened, and my long-closed heart began to open.
The magic candy lets Dongdong hear the voice of his heart that he had never heard before.
Humans weren't the only ones who could communicate.


You can communicate with animals, plants, and even objects.
The appeal of an old sofa, the sincerity of a pet dog, the confession hidden behind a father's nagging, the well-being of a longed-for grandmother, the greetings of fallen leaves falling like blessings in the sunlight, and even the courage that wells up from within.
Dongdongi listens to their voices as they are.
‘Listening’ goes beyond simple hearing.
It is a deep effort and will to understand the other person's words, feelings, thoughts, and even the hidden meaning behind them.
Through Alsatang, Dongdong learns to listen to not only others but also his inner self, realize true communication, and grow by forming relationships with the world.
Are there feelings you haven't grasped? Are there feelings you haven't reached out to, or truths you've hidden without even realizing it? If, like Dongdong, you desperately need the magic of candy, if you seek to hear all these feelings, you will! May your will, your earnest desire, become the "candy" that opens the door to true communication!

#2024 A New Taste of "Alsatang": A New Visual Transformation and a Deeper Narrative
Republished after seven years, "Alsatang" stands out with its new visual changes attempted in the cover, inserts, pages, and frames.


First of all, on the cover, Dongdong is holding a clear candy instead of a pink candy.
This reflects the original creative intention of the author.
Because the last transparent candy that Dongdong ate had the most important meaning in the story.
This transparent candy, which is “still quiet no matter how much you suck on it,” is a simple candy with no magical effects.
But even without magic, Dongdong can speak his mind.
So Dongdong decides to “say it first.”
It is a reflection of one's true voice and will.
This candy must be transparent, because when I look at myself with a clear and transparent mind, I can fully understand the world around me.
So, transparent candy is the 'core' and 'foundation' of the candy.


When you open the front cover hidden under the cover, a close-up of Dongdong's face moves out of focus, and the scene switches to Dongdong and Guseul standing in a sun-lit living room.
It feels like looking at a warm photo.
This composition creates a sense of movement and liveliness like a movie scene within the limited space of paper, increasing the reader's immersion.


The scenes and paratexts that were on the cover and inside pages of the existing book—the scene where the empty lot where people used to play alone transforms into an empty lot where people play with friends, the fallen leaves and marbles on the ground, and the opening line, “I play alone”—were naturally incorporated into the main text.
These changes delicately and actively show Dongdongi's inner growth and transformation, and further enrich the narrative of Alsatang.
The inside cover, which utilizes the green paper and margins that signify growth and new beginnings, delicately and beautifully concludes the story, conveying a deep lingering feeling and the breath of the story to the reader.

The various beings that convey Dongdong's psychological state and feelings are delicately expressed through frame changes.
In the first half, the square frame that symbolizes Dongdongi's separation from the world gradually transforms and expands freely as he learns about the minds of beings.
The appeal of an old sofa, the conversation with the dog Guseul, and the image of Dongdong running outside following the sound of falling leaves are transformed into a circular frame reminiscent of candy, visually expressing a state of inner recovery and a much lighter mind.
These visual changes allow readers to more deeply understand and empathize with the protagonist's growth and transformation.

The inside cover includes a storyboard written and drawn by the author himself, allowing readers to glimpse the process of creating the work.
Additionally, the author's signature and Dongdongi's image engraved in gold on the cover flap add to the charm of wanting to collect it.


In addition, the handwritten letters containing the emotional messages conveyed by the sofa, marbles, father, grandmother, and fallen leaves are a meaningful result of collaboration with the author's family and acquaintances.


# The "Alsatang" universe unfolds in the Storybowl

“What we need to make life sweeter is storytelling.” _ Baek Hee-na

Baek Hee-na's character and scene settings are meticulous and delicate.
Dongdong, who has difficulty communicating, is awkward in expressing his feelings and cannot accept the feelings of others.
To visualize this, the artist made the eyes, nose, and mouth small, and covered the ears with a bowl-shaped head.
(After eating the candy and opening his ears, Dongdong begins to converse with the world, and in the process, his covered ears are revealed) Dongdong's father also symbolizes that he is an adult who has difficulty communicating through the light reflected on his glasses lenses.
(Dongdong's confession reveals his father's true feelings in his hazy eyes beyond the lens) Also, the friend who appears next to Dongdong is wearing the sweater of Hongbi, the main character of "Cloud Bread."
He is another side of the affectionate Hongbi and an old friend who remains only in the author's heart.
Familiar scenes from the author's real life also stand out.
The text of Dad's Nagging was inspired by things the author's son often heard from his father.
Because these were words I was tired of hearing, I was able to fill them all in an instant.
Also, the scene where the son hugs his father was actually sketched after the son hugged his father.


The scene where Dongdong approaches the trees bathed in autumn sunlight was the most important scene for the author and the scene he put his heart and soul into.
He captured the sight of the falling leaves against the sunlight, capturing a fantastical yet warm glow.
Dongdongi goes out of the house, listening to the sounds coming from outside.
This is the moment when he takes a step towards the world on his own.
As if welcoming him, the maple leaves falling in the autumn sunlight greet him.
“The falling of leaves signifies separation, but the fallen leaves become fertilizer for new shoots to emerge next spring, so it also signifies a new beginning.
So, the goodbye of fallen leaves is both a ‘goodbye to parting’ and a ‘goodbye to meeting.’” As the author says, Dongdongi’s autumn is not sad.
Like leaves of various colors, children still have many dreams and possibilities…

# Round things: Candy and the universe

Candy, beads, Dongdong with a round face… 《Candy》 is full of round things.
As Dongdong said, playing marbles is fun.
The way round marbles collide and repel each other reveals various aspects of our human relationships.
The sweet candy that slowly melts in your mouth reminds you how precious life's short but sweet moments are.
The circular shape has no beginning or end, and is perfectly harmonious without any imbalance.
So the shape of the sphere is cosmic and essential.
Like planets and stars in space, 'alsa-tang' and 'beads' are like small universes that children can touch and feel.
Just as planets move along their own orbits under the influence of gravity, we too influence one another and live our own unique narratives.
We are, clearly, beings that move within the truth of the universe.


There is a small piece of candy in Dongdong's hand.
If you put a candy in your mouth and roll it, you can hear the sound.
‘Sound’ has the power to awaken our hearts and souls beyond the realm of hearing.
The magic candy transforms into invisible, intangible sounds (hearing) through the sense of taste.
The magic happened when the material called candy changed into the immaterial called sound.


Dongdongi listens to their voices.
It is a moment when his sincerity awakens his inner voice, helps him understand others, and awakens him to the reality that he is one being connected to the universe.
《Alsatang》 makes us dream of a harmonious life.
It rediscovers the meaning of the small things in everyday life and reminds us that we are all connected in one great universe.
Listen with an earnest heart.
My endlessly expanding universe will open up.


# “Want to play with me?”

We know each other quite well.
《Alsatang》, which I met after 7 years, is still the same.
It remains in my heart, empathizing and comforting me.
Baek Hee-na's comfort is not always direct.
Just put something in that spot at an appropriate distance.
It doesn't matter who placed the magic candy.
It was Dongdong who went to buy new beads to find his own and others' hearts, and it was Dongdong who found magic candy in a pile of dusty things.


“Would you like to play with me?” Dongdong asks again.
He gives us courage by saying that the world is still beautiful and that truth shines.
Listen and respond to his quiet invitation.
This is how Baek Hee-na comforts.
The author does not want his story to be obscured by numerous awards and fancy adjectives.
The author's simple sincerity in wishing for the story to be told as a story is the true meaning of this republication.

I hope that "Alsatang," which has returned in the new spring, will remain in the hearts of readers.


And, I hope that the story of “Alsatang” will become “your Alsatang” that speaks to my heart and someone else’s heart!