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‘Do you think there’s any meaning to life?’ ‘Huh?’ ‘I don’t think there is.’ Her proclamation was met with silence. ‘That’s why people try to make sense of their own. In the end, everyone’s life is different, according to the meaning they find.’
Books are not meant to remain in your mind, but in your heart. Maybe they exist in your mind too, but as something more than memories. At a crossroads in life, a forgotten sentence or a story from years ago can come back to offer an invisible hand and guide you to a decision.
It seemed so extravagant, to spend the entire day thinking about a film. He’d never spent that much time on something that didn’t serve a concrete purpose. Never did he have the luxury of taking all the time he wanted. In the process of figuring out his preferences, he had a vague realisation that, perhaps, spending time on a single thing was like looking deep into himself.
‘It felt like growing up because I was doing things I had consciously chosen to do for the first time.’10 It felt like growing up. That’s what work is about, isn’t it? Minjun thought.
‘Yes, I wanted to say happiness is never beyond reach. It’s not in the distant past, nor on the horizon of the future. It’s right in front of me. Like that day’s beer, and today’s quince tea.’
That day, when it struck him that liking the work and being forced to work in an unsupportive environment were completely different matters, he requested to switch departments. Overnight, he gave up what he enjoyed. He stopped coding. He refused to work overtime. And he’d never once regretted his decision.
‘Sir, what should I do to “write properly”? My mum told me that I have to write this properly.’ Picking up his pen, Seungwoo replied: ‘Didn’t I already tell you? Write honestly. Write with effort. With honesty, and sincerity. Then whatever comes out of it will be properly written.’
‘I don’t think much of dreams that are stripped bare of pleasure. Dreams, or pleasure? If I have to choose one, I’ll take the latter. That said, my heart still flutters at the word dream. A life without dreams is as dry as a life without tears.
‘A life surrounded by good people is a successful life. It might not be success as defined by society, but thanks to the people around you, each day is a successful day.’
had thought of work as stairs. Stairs to climb to reach the top. Now, I see work as food. Food that you need every day. Food that makes a difference to my body, my heart, my mental health, and my soul. There is food you just shove down your throat, and food that you eat with care and sincerity. I want to be one who takes great care in eating simple food. Not for anyone, but for myself.
If she and her employees loved books, wouldn’t the love also be passed on? If books were the medium through which the four of them communicated, joked, built friendships and love, wouldn’t the customers feel the same way? If people started to believe that there’s something in life that only people who read can discover, stories in this world that only people who read can tell, wouldn’t more of them be seduced to peel back the pages of a book?
Closing the book, she lay down on the bed. A day well spent is a life well lived. Thinking about the line she’d read somewhere, she would drift off to sleep.
