Author's Note

Hancheol
Something strange
Someone other than Kim Cheong-ja
Strange story
What drama
Story Group 1
Story Group 2
A story I don't know
Summer outing
Some special day
Winter's work

When faced with an unknown typist
Incidents that occur

The characters in 『Starry Day』 encounter an unfamiliar stranger.
While tracking the scent of cigarettes, he meets a neighbor smoking alone in a secret space ("A Strange Thing"), talks to an old woman who wanders around the back mountain tapping trees with a long straw ("A Person Who Is Not Kim Cheong-ja"), and a bizarre chase between two complete strangers unfolds through a dumpling left at a bank ATM ("Strange Story").


Encounters with strangers sometimes lead to catastrophe, and sometimes to strange comfort.
In "Unknown Story," the protagonist, who was scammed by an interior designer who had entrusted him with bathroom construction, gradually falls into ruin, while in "Summer Outing," the protagonist, who went to a valley with his family to play and met a woman with white hair by a nearby river, thanks to this encounter, avoids the crisis of isolation caused by a sudden downpour.


Eunmi Choi unfolds a spectrum of colorful stories by examining the coincidences that intrude into ordinary daily life.
As you read along that spectrum, you suddenly find yourself welcoming the 'strange things' that knock on the door of boring reality.

As I stood by the shredder and looked at the dumplings, I wondered who had left them there.
I imagined that someone who packs a single serving of dumplings at such a dark hour might be able to have dinner with me.
I thought that if someone were to run through the cold to find a lost dumpling, they might be able to talk about the seven zeros.
Those were the things I really wanted to say to the dumpling owner.
―From “Strange Stories”

A heart connected to a story
A moment to become someone else

『Starry Day』 contains two works titled ‘Story Gathering.’
A story group is a temporary community where people create a group when they “want to talk about something but can’t find the time to do so” and talk to people they’ve never met before.
At this time, meeting participants should not just listen, but also prepare their own stories.
Eunmi Choi's latest collection of short stories is an answer to the question of why we must share stories and why both the speaker and the listener are necessary.


In "A Special Day," the story of how Eun-ri, the main character, almost died from swallowing a marble as a baby but survived with the help of the grandmother next door continues to be told decades later, connecting families.
In "A Certain Drama," the speaker connects with a grandmother he never knew through a drama that aired long ago.
In "Winter's Work," a chair filled with long-standing memories remains like a trace even after it is discarded as waste, never to be replaced by a new chair.

In “Story Group 1” and “Story Group 2,” people gathered around the ingredient called cabbage and shared the stories they held dear to their hearts.
She also reveals her complex about not being able to eat spicy food and shares the hurt she felt when her husband said there was a fishy smell in the kitchen.
Through this process, those who participated in the meeting returned home with lighter hearts.

There are times like that.
It's a day when I have to see my body react to things it hasn't experienced before.
Today is like that.
―From “Story Group 1”

The works in 『Starry Day』 remind us that even if we just look at a single layer of everyday life, there are countless story possibilities within it.
Readers who participate in the "Story Group" organized by Eunmi Choi will receive a gift of a sensitive and affectionate perspective on reality.


A word from Eunmi Choi (author)

I've always wanted to write short stories.
Even while writing novels and short stories, I often thought about short stories.
While walking down the street, I would sometimes chuckle to myself when a thought came to me that I wanted to write as a short story, and somehow my steps would become lighter.
When an idea comes to me, I often put it aside while trying to decide whether it should be a novel or a short story, but when it comes to short stories, I feel like I can write anything.
I would say that I felt a lot more freedom when I was given constraints.
That's probably why I enjoyed writing all the novels listed here.
I've always felt a certain affection for characters who are sometimes a bit strange and lacking in substance.