The Summer

Suyi sat very still and looked into Yi-gyong's eyes. No one had looked at her like that before. Who knew that a person could look at another person for so long? To look at someone with all expression set aside? Yi-gyeong thought, as realized she was looking at Suyi in the same way. p.20-21

They kissed long. The taste of tongues and lips, teeth sometimes clicking together, and sweet breath from the nose plunged them into a place where the flow of time was imperceptible. The body of their selves, the "self" itself, even the distinction between "you" and "me" lost their meaning in these moments when their bodies were like petals and water. Yi -gyeong thought: We are no more than the breath we drink in and breathe out. One breath that rises infinitely but falls to the depths at the same time.  p.23

That the boys were just acting like boys, and that it was childish to get emotional over a harmless joke. Suyi said she'd been thinking about the meaning of that word "harmless." "I think it's a nasty word," Suyi said. "It's turning a blind eye. It's giving them the right to bully people whoe're weaker. They're just being boys!"  p.35

Eunji stood still and looked at Yi-gyeong. There was no chill to the wind anymore. Eunji's short hair was tousled. You know it and I know it, thought Yi-gyeong. All we're doing is walking without a destination, but we're walking because we like being with each other. We're not heading anywhere-we just don't want to go our separate ways.  Yi-gyeong knew Eunji would see right through her. She also knew it was possible to communicate the sentiment of a moment without saying a word, even if two people didn't know anything about each other. They stood facing one another, looking into each other's eyes. "My mind kept wandering",  p. 94-95

"One person was all I needed. Just one. Just one to stick up for me. To tell them to stop hitting me. But they all sat around and watched. As if they couldn't intervene in the business of the family men." ... Then Eunji stared blankly at Yi-gyeong.  p.99

Her relationship with Suti wasn't just a part of her life. Suyi was her girlfriend but also her vest friend, her family, the one person she could breathe easily around. If she broke up with Suyi, Suyi would be the only person who could help her through it. This paradoxical reality was closest to the truth. Compared to Suyi, Eunji was so easy to forget. Her beautiful face and soft voice were a delusion that could be swiftly erased.   p.109

그렇게 말하면서 이경은 그 말이 진실하지 않다는 것을 알았다. 은지를 설득시키기 위해 했던 말이었지만, 그 말은 오히려 숨겨운 자신의 마음을 수면 위로 떠오르게 했다. p.119-120

익숙하지 않아서겠지? 영어로 읽으면서는 그 마음을 다 느낄 수가 없었다. 드라마를 보면서 자막보다 그들의 대화가 더 선명하게 마음에 들어와서... 책도 그럴까? 싶었는데... 마냥 아쉽다. 

그 누가 읽는다고 하여도 같은 마음으로 읽을 수 있으리라. 사람의 마음이 움직이는 것은 다 비슷하리라. 아마 이 책을 읽은 모든 이들은 누군가를 떠올리며 이경과 이수, 은지가 되었을것이다. 

시작과 끝. 그 모든 과정을 지난함을 알고 있음에도 늘 발을 들여놓는다. 사랑은 그렇다. 그래서 별거다. 그럼에도 발을 담그게 한다. 

읽는 내내 풋풋하고 좋았다. 

책을 함께 읽으면 꼭 물어본다. 다른 이는 어떻게 읽었는지가 책 내용만큼 궁금하다. 

그러나

이 책은 묻지 않는다.

안물어봐도 알것같다.