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“The Age of Mijo” by Lee Seo-su

2023-10-10

ⓒ Getty Images Bank
The second place was the most expensive one on the list. Sunlight poured into the place, but unlike the front part of the place which appeared to be on the ground floor, the back of the house was sunken into the ground, requiring lights to be turned on all the time to brighten the dark space. 

The 50 million won was all her dead father could save but housing prices in Seoul made his lifelong savings look trivial. Mijo was sad to see her father reduced to a useless man who had left barely enough money to rent a semi-basement unit measuring not even 20 square meters. 


오늘도 성인 웹툰을 그리다가 온 언니는
지난 번 보았을 때보다 낯빛이 더욱 어두웠다.
새로 시작한 작업이 이전에 맡았던 것보다 더 심각한 내용이라고 했다.
변태적이고 가학적인 성행위를 즐기는 남성이 주인공으로 등장하는 웹툰이었고,
그걸 그리는 언니는 매일 힘들어했다.
Having worked again on an adult webtoon that day, Su-yeong looked worse than the last time I saw her. She said the new project was even more obscene than the previous one. The webtoon featured a man who enjoyed perverse, sadistic sex acts as the male lead, which disgusted Su-yeong. 

사장은 대박이 확실한 작품이라고 어시들을 독려했지만
거의 모든 어시가 여성이었기에 분위기는 언제나 좋지 않았다.
작업을 하다가 엎드려 우는 동료도 있었고,
우울증 약을 먹는 동료도 있었다.  
Claiming that the webtoon is certain to be a smash hit, the company owner urged the assistants to pour their hearts into it and the atmosphere at work was not good at all since most of the assistants were women. Some cried while working and some even took pills for depression.


# Interview with literary critic Jeon So-yeong
This story shows how dark and hopeless this age is through ordinary people like Mijo, her mother, and Su-yeong. They despair at the hopelessness of the present and future, yet they do not give up on their lives. They try to survive in their own way, just like the wildflowers that sway in the wind but don’t break. In this story, art represents that soft yet unbreakable power.
 

미조야, 내가 가발 공장을 다녔더라면 내 정수리가 이러지 않았을 거라는 생각이 든다.
만약 정수리가 이랬어도 가발을 직원 할인가에 살 수 있었겠지.
그런데 미조야, 내가 지금 레종이랑 도림천에 버려져 있는데
여기 온통 중국말만 들린다.
미조야, 나는 내가 예쁘지 않고 날씬하지도 않은 건
한 번도 걱정 한 적이 없는데 그림을 잘 그리는 게 너무 걱정이다.
아직도 나는 너무 잘 그리거든.
네가 이 얘기 싫어하는 거 알지만 마지막으로 딱 한 번만 할게.
내가 그린 웹툰, 진짜 잘 팔려.
오늘은 팀장한테 불려가서 칭찬도 들었다.
잘 자라, 이게 돛대다. 
‘Mijo, I don’t think my hair would fall out like this if I had worked at a wig factory. I could have gotten an employee discount on the wigs even if I had gone bald. But Mijo, I’m abandoned at the Dorimcheon도림천 River and all I can hear is Chinese. 
Mijo, I’ve never worried about not being pretty or thin, but I do worry about my drawing talent. I still draw too darn well. I know you don’t like me saying this, but I’ll say it just one more time. The webtoon I worked on sells really well. Even my team leader praised me today. Sleep well, this is the mast.’ 

나는 답장을 보내지 않았다.
대신 일기장을 펴 들었다.
벽 너머에서 키보드 두드리는 소리가 들려왔다.
우리는 동시에 문장을 쓰고, 언니는 아마도 걷고 있을 것이다.
내일은 멀고, 우리의 집은 더 멀고,
민들레 꽃씨가 날아와 우리 머리 위에 내려앉는 꿈은 가까운 그런 밤이었다.
I didn’t send a reply. Instead, I opened up my diary. I heard the sound of the keyboard coming from the other side of the wall. We were writing at the same time, and Su-yeong must have been out taking a walk. Tomorrow is far away, and our house is even farther away. But the dream of dandelion seeds landing on our heads is close. It was that kind of night. 


Lee Seo-su (Born in Seoul, 1983~ )
Debuted with short story “Used, Vintage, or Salvation”
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