“There was no trace left.
“It was so breezy, pong.”

Love and hate are intertwined
When beautiful memories and painful reality are mixed together
Lee Yuri's cheerful way to break up
Love finally starts again

Novelist Lee Yu-ri, who has showcased her clever and lovely imagination that breaks through reality through her short story collections 『Broccoli Punch』, 『The World of All Things』, and the serial novel 『Meet Me in a Good Place』, has published her new short story collection 『Soap Bubble Pong』.
Lee Yu-ri, who began her career as a writer when her short story "Red Fruit" was selected for the 2020 Kyunghyang Shinmun New Year's Literary Contest, has consistently received love from readers for her unique imagination and witty writing style.
The appeal of the fantastical story unfolded by Yuri lies in the fact that it is firmly rooted in reality, rejects any romanticism, and searches for new possibilities.
The reality that Lee Yuri repeatedly portrays in “Bubble Pong” is separation.
No one can avoid breakups.
Loved ones can leave at any time, and everyone faces death.
The characters in Lee Yuri's novels, faced with inevitable separation, each endure the pain of separation in their own way.
We sell the memories we had together, brew alcohol by pouring out our joys and sorrows, and slowly accept that 'we' have become 'you' and 'me', and pray for the peace of the one who has left.


The process of two people who were once one separating and standing alone is cruel and painful.
Lee Yuri does not minimize the pain of separation for the sake of a happy ending, nor does she ignore the complex emotions that arise during the process of separation.
It simply unfolds a cheerful imagination and bright humor that chews them over and breaks through them.
Characters who try to forget, recover, and love again after love has ended are attractive.
These suffering characters are more beautiful than anyone else who is happy in the midst of love.
For us, who “live with parting every day,” as the famous song goes, Lee Yuri’s novels leave a deep impression in addition to being lighthearted and entertaining.
As novelist Park Seo-ryeon said, readers can follow Lee Yu-ri's lead and sing along, "We live together, saying goodbye every day."
“I was a little surprised by the beauty of the ordinary words, ‘I’m alive.’”

“……It’s good that you look healthy.”
I didn't know what to say, so I just said whatever came to my mind, but after I said it out loud, I thought it was funny.
Of course it had to look healthy, because it was made with memories of when I was healthy.
When I smiled bitterly, my mother smiled back.
When I saw that smiling face that seemed so innocent, a corner of my heart felt like it was crumbling again.
I don't even know why I'm laughing.

Yes, I don't know why I'm laughing.
Thinking about it that way, this time my mood finally sank.
I repeated the sentence in my head again, the one I had repeated hundreds of times before coming here.

This is not mom.
This is not Mom.
--- pp.11~12

The last few months before the breakup were full of bloody fights.
Of course, there were minor triggers, but the root cause was always the same.
Because we are different human beings.
Because in the end we couldn't understand each other's thoughts.

But that's actually why we loved each other.

Strangely enough, it was only after I thought about it that I realized we had broken up, and at the same time, tears welled up in my eyes as if I had been waiting for them.
--- pp.54~55

Seongjae left.

I was left with an empty house, a sick cat, and a love that was useless.
That's why I decided to sell the remaining love.
I accepted the offer I received cautiously right away, and after accepting it, I wondered if it was okay, but there was no reason why it shouldn't be.
--- p.81

Those fleeting sparkles that cannot be captured, but do not need to be captured.
Each one of them disappeared, but they did not disappear.
Rather, it was closer to being called out from a place where one existed for a moment and then returning.
Parts of me that remain forever, somewhere behind me, where I can never see.
Pieces that I want to forget and throw away, but can't, rough grains that carve deep traces into my soft inner self and eventually create their own patterns.
Without realizing it, I reached out and waved my hand in the air.
I could feel the scent of alcohol dissipating before my eyes with the back of my hand.
--- pp.173~174

Right now, we are selling our fatigue to buy a life of fatigue, but there will come a time when we will not be able to do even that.
The value of my labor will gradually decline, and eventually no one will be willing to exchange it for money.
No one will find a body that is already old, sick, and in need of repair.

What should I do when that time comes?
I couldn't figure it out.
--- p.199

That was when.
I heard a popping sound from my knee.
It was such a small sound that I wouldn't have heard it if my whole body wasn't open to the senses.
I looked down at my knees in surprise, and there was no more light.
Only then did I look back.

Did he go out?
“Excuse me, are you gone?”
I stood still, panting, and asked on my knees.
There was no answer.

“You left without even saying goodbye?”
--- pp.232~233

Then, when I suddenly raised my head, I saw Yuhyeon tied to an acacia tree, swaying gently in the summer breeze.
The sunlight passing through Yuhyeon's translucent body rippled downwards like light reflected on waves.
Yuhyeon's face was gently relaxed, and her arms and legs were comfortably placed in the air, pointing towards the sky.
It seemed as if the air inside the body was being warmed.
After looking at the sight for a moment, I grabbed the potato stem again.
Deep down, I felt happy.
Thank you for allowing me to spend my last days in such peace.
Because the last thing I see is Yuhyeon's face, it could be like that.

--- p.273

Seongjun, that's not it.
what.
She's a female.
How do you know?
If you see the belly button, don't put a blindfold on.
It's a female.

… … Then it’s not a king crab, it’s a queen crab.
Seongjun muttered while lying down, and we both chuckled at the same time.
Queen crab, queen crab.
I went back to the guy and looked at him quietly.
Looking closely, I saw that beneath the pointed shell was what could be called a face, and the two long eyes attached to it seemed quite innocent.
Is that attached underneath a mouth, and is this a beard or an antenna?
Do females have whiskers too?
I stared at the drooping queen crab for a moment, then clicked my tongue.

--- p.292