Owook

Hello, this is owook, a writer from South Korea. Thank you so much for always reading and showing such great interest in my work. Thanks to the love from readers not only in Korea but also from afar, I'm delighted to present a revised edition of my book, 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝑾𝒂𝒔 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝑰𝒔 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝑩𝒆, with smoother content and enhanced translations. This book is organized into sections: emotions, relationships, love, depression, encouragement, and resilence. I wanted to capture as much of life's journey as possible within a single book. The cover features my favorite refreshing ocean with Yunsul, a pure Korean word that refers to sunlight shimmering on the waves. I hope my writing will be remembered as beautiful yunsul to all who read it. I kindly ask for your continued interest in this book, and the English version is also available on Amazon. I've included the link in my profile.

Letter to the One I Love ⠀ Together, We Find Our Worth Our days will not always be filled with happiness. Many obstacles will block our way, and countless things will try to come between us. Yet I believe that when all this has passed, they will become precious memories we can unfold gently and share. We are no longer alone; together, we can face everything and turn each trial into something meaningful. So when life feels unbearable and we want to let go of everything, let us always overcome it side by side. Because being together is where love finds its worth. I hope we become the kind of people who can say that every path we walked hand in hand, every hardship we endured, was worth it—nothing to discard, everything to cherish. ⠀⠀ I Believe in You No matter what has happened in the past, no matter what rumors may circle, I believe in you. Even when you collapse and cry, unsure of what you are doing now, I believe in you still. I believe in you as a person, in your choices, and in your future. In a world where it is often hard to believe in ourselves, is this not the most precious reason I am by your side? I believe there is no experience as valuable as truly believing in someone. Your ally is right here. And I believe you trust me as much as I trust you. What a great miracle it is to have someone we can rely on most in this harsh world. We believe firmly in each other. ⠀ Resented, Yet Missed You are someone I miss the very moment I turn away from you, even when resentment lingers. Even when quarrels grow frequent, it is not because we hate each other. Love cannot always be expressed through unconditional warmth and affection alone. May we learn to see every clash, every difference, as another shape of tenderness. May our love grow by embracing both sweetness and bitterness without fear, without refusal. ⠀ 📚From 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝑾𝒂𝒔 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝑰𝒔 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝑩𝒆. English version available on Amazon. 📷Still from featuring Woo Do-hwan and Lee Yoo-mi

Sometimes only later I realize, “it was love.” But at some point, I began to think, “it might not have been love.” And maybe, truly, it should not have been love at all.

“Please don’t go,” “Don’t be happy without me,” “It hurts like hell,” “Let’s try again,” “Let’s not do this,” “Let’s go together”… those are the things I should’ve said. But instead, I told him, “Let’s be happy,” “Let’s both live well,” and ended it. I thought that was what mature love looked like. I thought that was how adults let go. I swallowed countless sentences that threatened to burst from my mouth. Maybe she’s doing well. Maybe I’m supposed to be, too. But I still carry those soft, aching what-ifs. If I had broken down just once… What if I had begged, what if I had reached out with my whole heart, what if I had found the courage to ask her to stay… Would we still be traveling the world together, promising each other forever? Would I still be able to tell you “beautiful” while watching the sunset?

I once believed it was nothing but a lie to say you part ways because you love too much, yet as love has layered itself through my own life, I've begun to understand. ⠀ Perhaps it is because we came to love them more as a human being than as a lover. We still wish to cherish them, to remain close, yet there inevitably arise things we cannot truly give: promises toward the future, the frequency of meetings we long for, the gifts we ache to offer, a day unclouded by sensitivity. In the wide rift between what the heart holds and what the hands can give, cracks begin to form. ⠀ Keeping them beside me begins to feel as though I am gnawing away at their life. Even that feels like an excuse, and within myself, tangled and conflicting feelings pass back and forth. In the end, there comes, once in a lifetime, a person we flee from, already promising ourselves the regret that will follow. A person we release at last because we loved them so deeply as a fellow human, because we knew the weight of the process and could already see the end. ⠀ 📚From 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝑾𝒂𝒔 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝑰𝒔 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝑩𝒆 You can find the English edition on Amazon 📷Still from

Love Requires Practice: Learning to Receive as Much as to Give ⠀ What hurts more than not receiving a letter is seeing the letter I wrote leave the one I love unmoved. It is less painful that my sadness goes unsoothed than that, despite all my efforts, the other remains dispirited. More painful than rarely hearing “I love you” is the flat response that suggests my words of affection have become familiar to them. I do not resent that they do not ask to meet first so much as I resent the lack of spark when I say I miss them. ⠀ Most of us focus on giving to make the person we love happy, but the spirit in which we receive matters even more. Satisfaction in love can come from what we are given, yet a fuller joy, pride, and steadiness arrive when we give freely and that giving is truly acknowledged. Being with someone who notices, says “thank you,” and shows genuine delight never loses its bloom. When I hand over a piece of my heart, its richness is revealed if the other treats it as something rare rather than something ordinary, greeting it with a grateful, happy face. In those moments we confirm one another’s worth. ⠀ So, love asks us to practice receiving. It asks us not to take a given heart for granted, not to grow numb. It asks for the delicate attention to notice even small kindnesses and the courage to meet the giver’s hopes with unhindered joy. Perhaps these are the things we forget at the start of love and the things we lose as love goes on. More than learning how to give pieces of our heart, we need to learn how to accept another’s heart with gratitude. ⠀ From 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝑾𝒂𝒔 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝑰𝒔 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝑩𝒆. English version available on Amazon.

May you have the room to rest for a while, instead of being told to stay strong. May you live a life worth the struggle, instead of a life that never asks it of you.

My heart stretched as vast as the ocean, yet the ones I could truly reach were only as small as a patch of land. That, to me, was the deepest sorrow.

🐈‍⬛🐾

There are misfortunes that could befall anyone, yet when they arrive at our door, we cannot help but wonder: Why me, why now? When someone precious turns away after wounding us deeply, or when the efforts we trusted most betray us in return. And somehow, it is precisely in these moments that adversities cascade upon us without mercy, circumstances that force us to let go of what we hold dear, leaving us listless with regret. In such times, many of us search desperately for reasons, nursing our wounds as though some terrible tragedy has befallen us alone. So why? How much more? Why must it be now, of all times? When life corners me this way, I try to hold fast to a flexible thought: to see it all as merely a fleeting turn of events. I let myself ache, but only as much as the pain demands. I let myself struggle, but only to the extent that serves my healing. Any anguish beyond that becomes a burden my life need not bear. Perhaps it was simply fate's hand, unavoidable and impersonal. Not some grand misfortune, but merely a moment of being unlucky. Just bad luck. And so I steady my heart with this thought: that this is merely a fleeting turn, not an event that will overturn my entire existence. I reach for that stability, that calm. This could happen to anyone. There is nothing particularly dramatic about my story. Everyone carries their untold chapters, and I am simply standing in the midst of mine. With this thought, I shift my inner world toward a more generous space, a kinder terrain. To let go of what cannot be explained, this too is one way I protect my emotions. For life will always brim with misfortunes that defy explanation, that resist all understanding.

“Are you okay?” is a kind question, but the words that truly move me are, “Should I come over now?” Even if it’s just words, there’s a quiet comfort in someone who shows they’d make time for me, no matter what, no matter when. Because when things are hard, what we need isn’t someone who asks for every detail, but someone whose arms are already open, ready to hold us without asking why.

The moment you recognize that your heart aches, that's not pain, but that's love.

To say "I miss you" is, at its heart, to say "I love you," or "I care for you deeply", a quiet plea for your time, as well as a wish to rest beside you. It is the offering of one’s heart, longing to share meals and walk through life side by side. It is an invitation to brush away weariness while discovering beauty together. ⠀ It is a hope to grow closer, to hold hands through time. It is an invitation to find magic in the mundane, a gentle pull to leave routine behind. ⠀ It is the yearning to relive shared moments, to understand and to forgive. It is the silent request to meet your gaze, to confess, without pretense, that solitude has become unbearable. ⠀ In truth, to say "I miss you" is— ⠀ 📚From 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝑾𝒂𝒔 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝑰𝒔 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝑩𝒆. You can find the English edition on Amazon.

Life is a train on long rails. Some step off, some board, some ride until the end. However we yearn, certain ties won't be. So we don't need to strain. Take things lightly, let them pass. When sadness finds you, run with all your strength. Toward the next station.

Someone who finds contentment in small things, yet burns with passion that refuses to settle for small outcomes. Someone who can boldly ache in the giving and receiving of love, yet never abandons the self to grasp another's hand. Someone with the spacious grace to say "goodbye" and turn away cleanly, heart brimming with quiet ease. Someone who chooses freely among life's pursuits like a carefree wanderer, not bound by duty, yet shaped by purpose, but seizes every opportunity with tenacious grip when it appears. Someone who sees the cleared sky after rain and thinks not simply "how bright the day is," but "ah, it had been raining," honoring the gray that came before. Someone who doesn't thrash and struggle to survive in relationships tangled thick as spider's web, but carries instead a heart both boundless and unbreakable. This is who I hope to become.

Beside the name that comes to mind write my name next to it, If the two names ache softly you’ve found love.

‘What’s wrong?’ might touch hearts, but ‘I can be with you now’ opens them.

My mother always said the most graceless thing in the world is to give and then remind people of it. That's not virtue, she'd say, it's vice. Better not to give at all than to give that way. "If you're going to lend, lend as if you're giving it away forever. If you're going to give, give as if you'll never speak of it again. Don't give in ways that breed resentment, and don't receive in ways that create discomfort. If you can't manage this, then neither give nor take. When you yield, yield generously. When you give, give only what leaves you feeling joy. Even when you're inclined to receive, decline if you lack the means to repay. And when you're inclined to give, don't let scarcity make you begrudging." Whether giving or receiving, if you're going to do it, do it right. That's the only way to keep your heart clean.

When I look at truly gentle souls, I now understand they're not gentle because their hearts overflow with boundless positivity or warmth. Rather, they've learned tenderness precisely because they carry so many dislikes, because their sensitivity runs deeper than most. These are people gifted at choosing sacrifice, at bearing difficult situations. People who rarely let sharp words escape their lips or create moments edged with cruelty. Their gentle actions spring from a profound empathy, knowing their own world brims with sensitivities, they understand that others must navigate the same inner storms. Rather than let their dark and damp corners twist their view of the world, they possess the quiet integrity to acknowledge these shadows, to face them directly, and to strive toward something better. They don't radiate emotional warmth from some inexhaustible well of affection or righteousness. Instead, it's precisely because they know what it means to lack these things that they work so carefully to exclude the rudeness and selfishness they've witnessed in their own lives. In the end, though nothing in this world truly pleases them, not people, not situations, not work, not even love, they carry a remarkable immunity that keeps calling out for tenderness anyway, determined to persist in hope. Look closely, and they remind me of those fairytale heroes who weather wave after wave of trials to save someone precious. When you're close to them, knowing how intimately they understand the world's capacity for cruelty, there's something heartbreaking about their quiet determination never to become the villain of someone else's story. When they stand beside you, they become like living rainbows, constantly nurturing the belief that even when clouds gather and rain threatens, clarity will return. They carry something of that violet twilight that appears only after storms, neither too harsh nor too soft, suspended in perfect, breathable balance. 📚From 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝑾𝒂𝒔 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝑰𝒔 𝑾𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝑩𝒆. English version available on Amazon.

The one worthy of my love is the one who knows my worth.

Those Without Sharp Edges Not particularly sensitive to small things and with no sharp edges in their hearts, those who are often told they are “too kind” or that they should stop enduring everything are, in truth, the strongest of all. No one is stronger than those who are often told they are too kind or should stop being so tolerant. Those gentle souls who are not particularly sensitive to small things and carry no sharp edges. They have clear standards of their own, yet within those boundaries, their world remains remarkably soft and forgiving. They know how to calculate and measure like anyone else, but they choose not to, filling life’s balance sheets with a different kind of equation. These are people whose personal standards remain crystal clear, yet whose inner world is remarkably soft and unconfined. Their hearts run so deep that giving comes naturally to them, yet they hold the key to their relationships, able to walk away in an instant from those who take their kindness for granted. Now I understand: no one wields a sharper blade than those who seem gentle and soft-spoken. In our immaturity, we may have mistaken them for easy to overlook or take advantage of. But those who have weathered life with wisdom know better. They understand that these gentle souls have the power to break you most completely, and that their hearts should never be taken lightly. So, to you, the one who remains consistently gentle, your loved ones surely recognize the worth of your seemingly infinite heart, your edge-free words, and your tender gestures. Though you may carry the scars of betrayal and wounds that still ache, know this: your quiet steadfastness has drawn deep and loyal supporters to your side. And in return, your gentle way of living stands as an unwavering pillar of strength for those who cherish you.