[Baking Typewriter] Of Course Reality Isn't Refreshing Like Soda

Wang Humin's "Only the Words That Come Out of My Mouth Are Real"
Six Short Stories Interwoven Through Shared Spaces
A Portrayal of Real Life Without Refreshing Endings or Moral Triumphs

The status of film as a medium is not what it used to be. The number of moviegoers has declined, and the number of releases has also decreased. Many point to short-form content as the cause. In an era accustomed to intense stimulation lasting around a minute, a two-hour film feels too long. However, the issue cannot be explained by length alone. Dramas and variety shows remain popular, and people binge-watch series with more than ten episodes. The same goes for web novels. Readers continue through short episodes all night long. So, where does the divergence between film and drama or web novels come from? I believe it is because the "texture of stimulation" is different.

This is why I am hesitant to enjoy dramas, novels, or webtoons these days. The stories are excessively flat, and every episode is obsessed with delivering strong stimulation. Sometimes, the story is thrown away for the sake of action. In one medical drama, the scene where a doctor fires a gun on a battlefield was bewildering. Similarly, a food drama carelessly used a time-slip setting just to create an ending. The formula of progressing in a flat manner and then forcing in artificial conflict for the final episode has become clich?d. That is why I tend to stop watching around episode 10 of a 12-episode series, or episode 14 of a 16-episode series. After all, the ending is either "good triumphs over evil" or "they lived happily ever after."

Wang Humin's short story collection, "Only the Words That Come Out of My Mouth Are Real," was the first work in a while that kept me running to the end with the question, "What is this?" All six short stories unfold in the same setting-the goshiwon run by the brother of the protagonist in the first story, "What's Wrong With Being a Panty Thief?" The women who appear in each story are neighbors in this goshiwon. The shared space and consistent narrative tone tightly weave the entire collection together, and the mysterious atmosphere makes you revisit the earlier stories.

The stories choose realistic, everyday subjects but push them in directions rarely spoken aloud. Perhaps that is why the final story's title was chosen for the entire collection. The most striking stories are "What's Wrong With Being a Panty Thief?" and "One Hour Is 248 Won." While they seem to depict the familiar narratives of youth exploitation and impoverished romance, these stories distance themselves from the romanticization of youth suffering. Instead, they are closer to the attitude of "If you're in pain, you're a patient, not a youth." Characters protest, "After exploiting and discarding me like this, what does a pair of panties matter?" or, even when a long-anticipated meeting with a man goes completely awry, they cynically remark, "Still, one hour today was 248 won."

The world is not resolved as refreshingly as a soda. There are hardly any beautifully concluded realities, and even if they exist, a closer look reveals they are not so beautiful after all. The author calls this the real story that comes out of one's mouth.

Only the Words That Come Out of My Mouth Are Real | Written by Wang Humin | Loop | 2,238 pages | 16,800 won