Kim Mella’s Ieung Ieung is set in a time when a machine that satisfies sexual desire is invented. It follows the emotional rollercoasters of a protagonist feeling empty despite the convenience of satisfying her desires without interacting with others.

Gong Hyunjin’s The World Will Come to an End Anyway tells the story of Juho and Heeju, the two swimmers who always come in last in their swimming center class, breathing at their own pace and standing in solidarity with each other no matter what others think of them. The short story makes us think about how we can find hope in a world coming to an end.

Kim Kitae’s General Education captures the moment when Kwak, a Korean language teacher teaching a classics reading class, receives a complaint from a parent, cracking his peaceful inner world. The intellectual narrator’s hypocrisy is embedded in the elaborate and exquisite sentences, evoking a sense of irony in the readers.

Kim Namsook’s Paju superimposes the revenge of a military veteran bullied by the narrator’s boyfriend on the self-loathing of the narrator, who teaches children at a private academy. The story questions the structure of violence and expands the dynamics of human relationships.

Kim Jiyeon’s Companion Debt follows Junghyun, who considers the debt incurred from living with her ex-lover a “companion debt” as if it were her family. It reveals the scathing tragedy of a capitalist society where calculations and debts are inevitable even between lovers, and the suffering of the younger generation, prone to being the weakest in such a structure.

Sung Haena’s Honmono tells the story of Munsu, a male shaman with 30 years of career; his grandmother-god of longevity, whom he has been serving as his “body owner,” suddenly leaves him, draining out his “divine powers.” The impressive drama unfolds with a new “baby shaman” moving in right across from his place. The story realistically depicts shamanic culture in Korea and questions human faith, distrust, and authenticity in the face of an invisible god.

Jeon Jiyoung’s Uncanny Valley is a gothic thriller about a nighttime taxi driver who learns that a customer he picked up in the past was attacked with hydrochloric acid. Set in a closed town inhabited mainly by the wealthy, the story visualizes human anxiety and vulnerability that exists between the rich and the poor, the beautiful and the ugly, and the normal and the abnormal.

Support from Munhakdongne Publishing Corp.