Steps towards myself, finding my own pace
Life changes experienced through running
Strongly recommended by author Jang Gang-myeong
Author Im Ji-hyung's new novel

"Yeonhui-dong Runner" is a full-length novel by author Lim Ji-hyung, who has often addressed current events and issues in fairy tales and youth novels.
This is a work by author Lim Ji-hyung, who says that the difficulties and concerns experienced and suffered by children and adults are not separate but are connected and intertwined, and in which she captures the story of the mind of an 'adult' in a simple and solid manner.
The author portrays the small inner landscapes of each individual.
Even on an ordinary day, it shows through the main character Yeonhee that it is okay if you can express yourself.
So, I affectionately cheer on someone's aboha (a very ordinary day).

Do Yeon-hee, who lives in Yeonhui-dong, a neighborhood that has a strange charm that doesn't feel like a city, is a young man in his 30s who is conflicted between employment and dreams, challenges and stability.
She grapples with the challenges this era presents to young people, and sometimes falters and collapses, but by chance, she begins running and gradually finds her own pace.


Running is a cost-effective sport that offers high exercise benefits without being restricted by time, place, special equipment, or investment costs compared to other sports.
Besides these advantages, the true appeal of running lies in its ‘space.’
Running allows me to see the space around me and beyond in a new light, and I experience the 'ventilation of space' as I sense the changes that come with each season.

Why should I take on this role, why should I live up to expectations?
I just lived as I was given.
But now I know.
The question is the beginning of a subjective life.
I didn't know what I really wanted because I didn't ask.
But now I will ask.
What kind of life do I want? How far will I go? What will I give up and what will I protect?
--- p.167 From "An Interview After a Million Years"

What I like and dislike.
And what makes you happy and what makes you feel tired.
As I ran, those little things caught my eye.
It has become more frequent for me to meet myself.
--- p.169 From "An Interview After a Million Years"

Everyone's faces had bright expressions on them, and I felt good for no reason.
For that moment, I felt like I was a part of this city.
A night when everything shines and everything seems possible.
--- p.171 From "An Interview After a Million Years"

The confidence that I could do anything was not mine.
I often felt like I was floating on an ambiguous boundary, not belonging anywhere.
--- p.186 From “Tying My Shoelaces Again”

Compared to my pounding heart, the clutter in my head became increasingly blurred.
Then I started to focus solely on the rhythm of running.
The feeling of my feet hitting the ground and the cool breeze blowing into my chest became completely mine.
Suddenly, that thought occurred to me.
Running is something that is completely mine and cannot be taken away from me by anyone.
--- p.193 From “Tying My Shoelaces Again”

“There is a feeling that only those who have run to the end know.
Just like in life, you have to go through extreme situations to truly get out there.
We will continue to learn more.
“There is nothing that meets me more than when I am running.”
--- p.200 From "Tying My Shoelaces Again"

“It may sound too simple, but I am happy when I fill my daily life with things I enjoy.
For example, I like to run and have a draft beer.
Sometimes, meeting up with friends to watch a movie and catch up on small talk, and buying a keychain you like and sharing it with a friend are also happinesses.
So, for me, happiness is having a peaceful and peaceful day without any special events.”
--- p.214 From "At the End of the Long Tunnel, Finally Light!"

Even in the midst of all that noise, my heart was at peace.
I stood in front of the window at the end of the hallway.
The sunlight was dimly spreading outside the window.
Maybe tomorrow I will be shaken again.
Someone's words, an indifferent look, an ambiguous air.
But today was a day that protected me from a small crack.
--- p.244 From "Wrong and Wrong"

“A little.
These days, I stand in front of the office door for a while, blankly staring, and then go in.
“Why is it so hard to open a door… … .”
--- p.246 From "Wrong and Wrong"

Okay, let's go.
I turned up the volume on my AirPods.
The sound of footsteps and indie music penetrated my ears.
My heart was pounding.
I looked up at the sky.
Stars were rising in the sunset that was slowly sinking into darkness.
It felt like I was the only one in the world.
In this difficult world, it would be nice if there was a path I could walk on my own two feet to bridge the gap between people that seems unbridgeable.
Running gave me the strength to move forward again.
--- p.256 From "Running Again"

Running brought out the hidden me inside me.
At first, it was just an act of sweating, an escape to clear my mind.
But as I pushed the road with my feet a few kilometers every day, the balance of my entire life changed little by little.
Every time I was out of breath, I could feel my emotions clearly, and the harder it got, the more I could say to myself, "Don't give up."
While I was running, I didn't hear anyone's words or comments.
There was only the sound of my footsteps, my breathing, and the passing of time.
That time was a time for me to reconnect with myself, a person I had forgotten and lived with.
It made me realize that I was living at the pace of the world, but I was losing the rhythm that I really needed.
--- p.259 From "Running Again"

Hongje Falls was even more beautiful at night.
Artificial lights enveloped the vertically falling water streams, and mist rose in the sky, creating a dreamy atmosphere around them.
Below the stream of water, something hazy flowed like smoke, and underneath it, sparkling droplets of water swayed in the light.
The sound of the quietly flowing water slowly seeped into my heart, as if recalling a forgotten memory.
--- p.263 From “Hongje Falls”

We walked quietly together.
On the left, a waterfall continued to fall, and beneath my feet, a stepping stone bridge quietly appeared in the darkness.
Although it was a wide stone, the sound of water spreading between the stepping stones made my heart pound with each step I took.
--- p.271 From “Hongje Falls”

"Would you like to run a marathon together this fall? I'll be your pacemaker, Yeonhee."
--- p.276 From “Hongje Falls”

“In the end, I have to finish the deadline, work overtime, and run at my own pace.”
--- p.291 From “Deadlines are best when they are met”

I muttered to myself and picked up the pace once more.
The park before my eyes seemed to grow longer, and even the dust particles sparkled in the sunlight.
Even if no one knew, even if I didn't show it to anyone, I was fine with it at this moment.
It was now, not on a pile of paperwork, but running through the wind, that I felt like my true self.
So I'm running today too.
Without anyone's evaluation or minutes.
Just at my own pace, at my own rhythm.
--- p.291 From “Deadlines are best when they are met”

What are their lives like? Looking at the team leader, Seoyeon, Yeonji, and myself, their lives don't seem all that different.
But the marathon runner in the photo looked different.
It seemed like he was a person who had built a solid world of his own, step by step, following his passions, and accumulating time and overlapping.

--- p.310 From “Dreaming a New Dream”

“At some point, my desire to lead others changed into a desire to run alongside them.”
His eyes were clearer and more firm than ever.
“I want to be remembered as someone who breathes in sync with others, rather than someone who leads from the front.
“When Yeonhee is having a hard time, she matches her pace and goes slowly, and when things are okay, she speeds up alongside her… that kind of person.”

--- p.328 From "Pacemaker"