New work by Choi Sang-hee, winner of the Saekyeol Literature Prize and the Biryongso Blue Fiction Prize！

“It’s been over five hundred years, and it’s been so dreadfully boring.
But things are finally starting to get interesting.”
Six worlds blooming as they recognise one another,bound by tender hearts in delightfully uncanny ways.
Choi Sang-hee — a diligent wanderer who traverses dimensions seeking signals from beings waiting to be witnessed, and an author with a loyal readership — has published her new collection The Introverted Vampire.
The writer has long gazed upon creatures trapped in the cracks between realities. Now she lays before us all she has discovered through that prolonged observation: new worlds that have begun to take shape within those fissures.
These six small, resilient realms each radiate a unique, strange warmth, sharing it between one another as they expand at an achingly slow pace. This connection — forged as they learn to know each other and carve out paths that never existed before — is the most proactive alternative fragile beings can offer to a harsh world.
Dive into Choi Sang-hee’s fresh, intimate new literary map, rendered with crisp, vivid sensibility.
“I coughed up a cat. Wait a minute. Was it really a cat?”
— The Cat with Many Commands and the Shadow Dog
After she could no longer attend school, Moon Nokju rarely left her room. One early dawn, she coughed up a cat. She cleaned the room and prepared meals as the cat ordered. Eventually, the cat asked to be left alone and told her to go out for a walk. While strolling, Nokju ran into Jeong Yeondu, her schoolmate. Yet at the end of Jeong Yeondu’s taut yellow leash… there was absolutely nothing.
“What’s refreshing about the mountain summit? An Siwon won’t let it rest.”
— Namsan Tower and the Giant Silica Gel
Dadda can see beings invisible to everyone else. On a school trip to an amusement park, Yeji was thoroughly ensnared by a giant silica gel that drains people’s vitality. Yeji’s powers were already fading, and now she was heading to Namsan Tower with An Siwon — a place teeming with entities that feed on lovers’ affection! Dadda followed them up the mountain to protect Yeji, only to confront an evil presence there all alone.
“Good heavens. Discrimination against vampires is unequivocally illegal. We learned that in school.”
— The Introverted Vampire
Vampires who once lived in quarantine zones have coexisted alongside humans for a long time, yet I have never met one. Rami, a vampire who moved into the neighbourhood, seemed alien to me at first. Before I knew it, we had grown close enough to visit each other’s homes. But when I stepped into Rami’s room for the first time, it felt strangely familiar. Could it be… the YouTuber “Introverted Hobby Life”?
“Blood surged instantly along the crack, droplets plummeting down.”
— Summer’s Cat
One day, a cat clung to Moon Yeoreum’s neck and went everywhere with her. She constantly sweated and kept her head bowed. The cat never moved, seemingly trapped in endless slumber. Then during a physical education class, the teacher jabbed a finger hard into Moon Yeoreum’s chest. A moment later, she felt the cat resting on her nape stretch lazily.
“Isn’t it wonderful? To have been loved so deeply that someone would cross the whole universe for you.”
— The Planet of Rumours
A guest from Earth arrives at the boarding house where Rina’s mother works. On Earth, there is a rumour: when a pet cat passes away, it is reborn on the planet where Rina lives. Sure enough, this visitor has come to see his departed cat. Rina shares the food the guest buys every day and listens to his stories about his mother and grandmother. When the guest says he wishes to visit Rina’s grandmother, who is hospitalised with a minor injury, Rina takes him to the ward.
“Don’t misunderstand. It’s nothing like what you’re imagining.”
— Spare of the Spare
Gi Myoju suddenly seeks out Park Munni, handing her star-shaped candies and speaking bizarrely. She claims she is a clone of Gi Myungri, who is herself a clone of Gi Moran — meaning she is the spare of the spare. Yet Gi Myungri keeps vanishing and leaving Gi Myoju behind. Park Munni’s twin brother Park Siru also often disappears ever since their mother passed away. Park Munni suspects Gi Myoju is trying to get close to Park Siru.

Choi Sang-hee won the Biryongso Blue Fiction Prize for Just, Curling, the Saekyeol Literature Prize for Del Mundo, and the Excellence Award in the Novella & Short Story category at the 3rd SF Award for the short story Is It All Right?.
Her novels include Ren of the Marsh, Eyelashes, or How to Retrieve Lost Sleep, The World of Mareong, and Hani and Coco. Her short story collections are The Feeling of Hugging the Universe, Dadda’s Witnessing, B’s World, and The Sea, the Girl, or a Kiss. She is also the author of essay collections such as Apricot Heart and Forest and Sleep.

The Cat of Many Orders and the Shadow Dog 7
Namsan Tower and the Giant Silica Gel 33
The Introverted Vampire 65
Summer’s Cat 97
The Planet of Rumours 113
Spare of the Spare 141