Chapter 1.
untruth
Chapter 2.
Inside
Chapter 3.
Seongbeom
Chapter 4.
A pretty, cute, and funny kid
Chapter 5.
idol
Chapter 6.
heterosexual
Chapter 7.
The Secret of the Diary
Chapter 8.
Psychiatry
Chapter 9.
rumor
Chapter 10.
Dongyoung
Chapter 11.
proof
Chapter 12.
Jongseok

Author's Note

Commentary: The Apocalypse of the Blind Priests: A Dire and Dazzling Existential Monologue? Park Sung-hyun

“Author Im Tae-ri, let’s publish it right away in Dal-sasil.”

And so, finally, author Im Tae-ri's first novel was published.

When asked why it was out of print and then republished in a revised edition, he said this.

Earlier this year, there was a request for the out-of-print publication of author Im Tae-ri.
He said he wanted to change the names of the main characters and major characters, change the title accordingly, and revise some of the content.
After that, at the author's request, we posted on social media such as blogs and Facebook that 『Dongyeong』 was out of print, and that we would be republishing it in a revised edition with the title, some characters including the main character, and some content changed. However, the publisher was flooded with requests via email from readers to republish it with the same title as the first edition.
We informed author Im Tae-ri of this situation, and in response to readers' requests, we decided to publish a revised edition, keeping the title and content of the first edition intact, to the extent of correcting typos found in the first edition.
At Dalsil Publishing, readers are always our top priority.

Meanwhile, poet Park Seong-hyeon analyzes 『Dongyeong - I Only Know Love』 in his commentary as follows:

“The sentences in Im Tae-ri’s novels are thoroughly a record of the inner world that the author herself had to face and fight against.
It is an apocalypse poured out by blind priests in the darkness, and it is a bloodstain that is full of the scars of the pain and patience the author endured in absolute time.
Perhaps, before it becomes a novel, it may be a secret inner monologue, a hesitation of the mind that was written and erased until the novel was completed.
Therefore, before accepting his sentences as belonging to a novel, they must be understood in terms of the ancient Greek clear philosophical insight of 'parrhesia', 'truth-telling'.
It's like a desperate and dazzling existential monologue that rises above all the passive and 'inevitable' actions that life drives us to.
And from here, our reading of 『Dongyeong』 will begin.”

“The novel ‘Dongyeong’ is a love story, and at some point the truth and falsity of that story will be revealed, but such a calm and quiet thrill is rare.
Deficiency, absence, lack, and alienation are transformed into a full affirmation of a steadfast life.
To live as a human is the same as to love as a human.
(Omitted) The vague yet distinct, vague yet clear world depicted in this work is derived from the name ‘Dongyeong.’
We don't need to know whether Dongyoung exists or who he is.
Because 'Dongyeong' is a clear ideology set by the writer and a place to be reached.
All existences that the writer encounters leave the motion picture and return to the motion picture again.
Therefore, the novel Dongyeong is a ‘parrhesia,’ or truth-telling about oneself, which can be summarized in the sentence, ‘I saved myself.’

The novel 『Dongyeong - I Only Know Love』 is clearly a story about love.
It's a story about love that's a little uncomfortable, but more painful, a little unfamiliar, but more heartwarming.

The novel "Dongyeong - I Only Know Love" walks a strange tightrope between a traditional novel (paper book) and a web novel.
It creates a strange tension between the heaviness of reading a paper book and the lightness of reading a web novel.
With a new writing style and a new reading method that did not exist before, a unique genre that is a fusion of paper novels and web novels may be created.

The world is full of diversity, and that is nature's true nature.
As the author intended, I hope this novel will serve as a small step toward creating a society where minorities of any kind are not rejected by the majority but are embraced through diversity.
If we are all in the 'love' depicted in the novel 'Dongyeong - I Only Know Love', then it would not be impossible.

Author's Note

I was so sad that I couldn't even cry.
When there is no one to tell you what you want to hear, you can do it yourself.
Me to me.
To the special me who endures each day well.
To me, who is still clumsy and full of mistakes.
To me, so that I am not lonely.

2025
Im Tae-ri