The Time When We Were Young

Choi Ah-ran, a successful novelist and publisher, meticulously crafted a new life to bury the embarrassing legacy of her past. Two decades ago, under the pseudonym Jo A-han, she penned a wildly popular internet novel—a cheesy high school romance featuring a charismatic student leader and an ordinary girl. Now, on the cusp of ending her engagement, Ah-ran collapses, only to awaken in a world ripped straight from the pages of her own forgotten fiction: ‘Cheonyangsi.’ Here, her divorced parents are inexplicably affectionate, speech bubbles burst with emoticons, and every interaction is riddled with the cringeworthy clichés and grammatical horrors of her youthful prose. This isn’t just a dream; it’s a living, breathing internet novel, governed by its own absurd rules. Realizing she’s trapped in the very story she tried to forget, Ah-ran is desperate to find a way back home. But her escape plan hits a snag when she literally falls into the arms of Kang Hwiyoung, the notorious “Sanggo-chan” and leader of the legendary Four Heavenly Kings—a character she herself created. Will she be forced to relive her most embarrassing tropes, or can she rewrite her own ending? Read Chapter 1 to dive into this meta-fictional adventure!