bad feeling
Secrets and Lies
Transfer student Michael
Michael's old friend
Judith, the girl full of questions
Lunchtime to taste happiness
Mother's tears
A small but precious gift
I'll always be by your side
Mom's new lover
Michael and his father's new encounter
Invisible exit
Having someone special by your side
koala doll
Aunt Leah's warm kiss
Mom also has pain
Judith's Wish
I am Judith, Judith
Growing suspicions
Dreamlike trip
The truth revealed
We're friends
A ticket to The Hague

The Story of Judith - “The hardest part is waiting to be beaten.”
No matter how hard Judith tries to help with the housework and take care of her younger brother, it is no use.
With just one expression or word, he provokes his mother's anger and ends up getting severely beaten and sworn at.
It's always been that way.
Judith lives in fear, observing her mother, anticipating her moods, waiting for the moment when she will turn into a monster.
“The waiting time is the hardest,” he said.
When a child is beaten by his parents and has to accept it as 'love', he cannot handle the confusion of uncontrollable emotions.
Because the child does not want to be hated, he chooses the path of submission, where he deceives his feelings and accepts them as love.
As a result, the child's soul stops growing.
Judith, who is frequently absent from school, dresses conspicuously, is quiet and stays alone, and is bullied by her classmates.
But he cannot reveal his wounds to anyone and lives with them in his heart.
Trapped in a maze that cannot be solved by one's own strength.


Michael's Story - "When you share something, you both have it."
In the years following his mother's death, Michael's heart grew cold and withered under the harshness of his father, who was cold and critical of everything.
But Michael had his old friend Stephie, who always shared something with him, saying, “If you share something, two people will have it together,” and his aunt’s family, who accepted and loved Michael as he was.
Thanks to that, by the time he met Judith, he had overcome some of his self-destructive feelings and was blossoming again under the care of his loving aunt.
Michael befriends Judith, giving her confidence and leading her out of her prison.
Michael extends his warm hand to Judith, just as his friends and aunt had extended their hands to him when he was unable to escape the darkness of his heart.


Sharing the Hearts of a Girl and a Boy - "Being there for someone is the most human thing."
One day, Michael, a classmate, comes to visit Judith, who could not see a way out to a bright life.
Michael approaches Judith very cautiously, feeling a liking for her because she resembles his old friend, but for some reason he cannot easily open up to her.
He invites her to his lively and happy aunt's house and reveals his emotional wounds to her.

Judith feels her heart warmed for the first time by Michael's kindness and envies Michael's home, which contrasts with her own life, but she cannot easily reveal her own wounds.
However, through Michael, she realizes that she too is worthy of love, and gains the courage to break free from her old life and find her own path.
The meeting of these two children, who live with unusual and difficult to talk about worries and difficulties for teenagers, is quite different from the way we usually treat friends in trouble.
It shows that even if you don't actively intervene in the other person's life with words or actions, just being there silently, watching over them with affection without nagging or admonishing them, can be enough to provide comfort and strength.
Just as Michael, feeling the warm affection of his friends Stephie and Aunt Ellie, accepted Judith as she was and tried to protect her, we come to realize that the power that can sustain a person and turn a life around without being loudly displayed lies in the true care and heart of a child.
This is a heartwarming novel that makes everyone living in a modern world where alienation and indifference have become the norm feel the value of staying by someone's side and being together, and how it can make each other's lives more beautiful.