Yawns Are Delicious
Summary
1. Tagline
"One person’s nightmare is another’s dream! A cruel and bizarre life-swapping tale."
2. Logline
Lee Kyung, a janitor trapped in harsh reality, and Daun, a glamorous college student, begin to cross into each other's lives like a dream. As the boundaries between them blur, they spiral into a world of disorienting confusion.
3. Synopsis
The story begins with Lee Kyung, a senior college student making ends meet through a job in crime scene cleanup. Every night, after falling asleep with her exhausted body, she vividly experiences the life of another woman Daun, a beautiful —and wealthy college student living a life of luxury.
Lee Kyung's waking life is filled with fatigue and death, as she scrubs away the remnants of those who died alone. But in her dreams, she lives in a high-rise apartment in affluent Cheongdam-dong, surrounded by luxury goods, choosing lovers, and visiting spas with her mother.
These dreams are not mere illusions; they are complete, sensory immersions into someone else’s life Daun’s life. At first, Lee Kyung is enchanted, but soon, the —worlds begin to collide. Locations, people, and events from the dreams start manifesting in real life. She realizes this is not fantasy but the lived reality of another person. Meanwhile, Daun begins to recall Lee Kyung’s world like a recurring nightmare, filled with dread and disgust.
Their lives begin to overlap subtly, memories and sensations intermixing. Dreams and reality twist together more tightly.
In reality, Lee Kyung suffers from poverty, social alienation, and discrimination based on her looks. Even a male senior, who outwardly shows interest, internally devalues her. She passes written job applications, only to fail at interviews due to lack of confidence and her appearance.
Daun’s life, though glamorous on the surface, is suffocating under her mother’s strict control, leading her to lose her sense of self. Both women yearn to escape their respective lives, but find themselves trapped by society, by family expectations, —by appearance, and class.
In the latter half, while cleaning up the belongings of a deceased individual, Lee Kyung finds clues suggesting that the deceased may be Daun. The places she saw in her dreams now reappear as real locations she’s assigned to clean, confirming that these events are no coincidence. She begins to suspect that Daun's death wasn’t just a suicide and gradually becomes entangled, directly and indirectly, with Daun’s life and death. At its heart, this novel questions: “Is a dream a refuge or someone else’s reality?” It explores the tension between real-world oppression of appearance, class, family, and survival and the desire to escape it. In the paradox where something as trivial as a "yawn" can be someone else's deepest yearning, the reader is ultimately left to ask: “Whose dream are you living now?”
4. Concept
A twisted persona-swap tale of two intersecting lives. Feminist realism + dark fantasy + psychological mystery
[Global Publishing Appeal]
– Universally resonant themes: class, appearance, identity, and the emotional codes tied to them.
– Feminism and class issues are among the most pressing global topics today.
[Screen Adaptation Appeal]
– The worldbuilding can expand through the concept of "dream-walkers" multiple people who experience others’ lives in their sleep.
– Strong visual contrast: gritty realism in the janitorial scenes, fantasticalmise-en-scène in the dream world.
5. Author Bio
Kang Ji-young is a novelist born and currently based in Paju, South Korea. She is known for her genre-crossing body of work that spans mystery, thriller, fantasy, and romance. Her novel Mrs. Shim Is a Killer recently secured international publishing deals worth over 1 billion KRW across 19 countries. Her other acclaimed novels include Quarantine of New Civilizations, Mrs. Shim Is a Killer, Elza’s Servant, Yawns Are Delicious, The Frankenstein Family, The Murderer’s Shopping Mall 1 & 2, When the Dogs Dine, and The Murderer’s Shopping List. Her work first gained major attention in 2013 when her serialized mystery topped Naver’s web novel rankings and was later released as a published book
"One person’s nightmare is another’s dream! A cruel and bizarre life-swapping tale."
2. Logline
Lee Kyung, a janitor trapped in harsh reality, and Daun, a glamorous college student, begin to cross into each other's lives like a dream. As the boundaries between them blur, they spiral into a world of disorienting confusion.
3. Synopsis
The story begins with Lee Kyung, a senior college student making ends meet through a job in crime scene cleanup. Every night, after falling asleep with her exhausted body, she vividly experiences the life of another woman Daun, a beautiful —and wealthy college student living a life of luxury.
Lee Kyung's waking life is filled with fatigue and death, as she scrubs away the remnants of those who died alone. But in her dreams, she lives in a high-rise apartment in affluent Cheongdam-dong, surrounded by luxury goods, choosing lovers, and visiting spas with her mother.
These dreams are not mere illusions; they are complete, sensory immersions into someone else’s life Daun’s life. At first, Lee Kyung is enchanted, but soon, the —worlds begin to collide. Locations, people, and events from the dreams start manifesting in real life. She realizes this is not fantasy but the lived reality of another person. Meanwhile, Daun begins to recall Lee Kyung’s world like a recurring nightmare, filled with dread and disgust.
Their lives begin to overlap subtly, memories and sensations intermixing. Dreams and reality twist together more tightly.
In reality, Lee Kyung suffers from poverty, social alienation, and discrimination based on her looks. Even a male senior, who outwardly shows interest, internally devalues her. She passes written job applications, only to fail at interviews due to lack of confidence and her appearance.
Daun’s life, though glamorous on the surface, is suffocating under her mother’s strict control, leading her to lose her sense of self. Both women yearn to escape their respective lives, but find themselves trapped by society, by family expectations, —by appearance, and class.
In the latter half, while cleaning up the belongings of a deceased individual, Lee Kyung finds clues suggesting that the deceased may be Daun. The places she saw in her dreams now reappear as real locations she’s assigned to clean, confirming that these events are no coincidence. She begins to suspect that Daun's death wasn’t just a suicide and gradually becomes entangled, directly and indirectly, with Daun’s life and death. At its heart, this novel questions: “Is a dream a refuge or someone else’s reality?” It explores the tension between real-world oppression of appearance, class, family, and survival and the desire to escape it. In the paradox where something as trivial as a "yawn" can be someone else's deepest yearning, the reader is ultimately left to ask: “Whose dream are you living now?”
4. Concept
A twisted persona-swap tale of two intersecting lives. Feminist realism + dark fantasy + psychological mystery
[Global Publishing Appeal]
– Universally resonant themes: class, appearance, identity, and the emotional codes tied to them.
– Feminism and class issues are among the most pressing global topics today.
[Screen Adaptation Appeal]
– The worldbuilding can expand through the concept of "dream-walkers" multiple people who experience others’ lives in their sleep.
– Strong visual contrast: gritty realism in the janitorial scenes, fantasticalmise-en-scène in the dream world.
5. Author Bio
Kang Ji-young is a novelist born and currently based in Paju, South Korea. She is known for her genre-crossing body of work that spans mystery, thriller, fantasy, and romance. Her novel Mrs. Shim Is a Killer recently secured international publishing deals worth over 1 billion KRW across 19 countries. Her other acclaimed novels include Quarantine of New Civilizations, Mrs. Shim Is a Killer, Elza’s Servant, Yawns Are Delicious, The Frankenstein Family, The Murderer’s Shopping Mall 1 & 2, When the Dogs Dine, and The Murderer’s Shopping List. Her work first gained major attention in 2013 when her serialized mystery topped Naver’s web novel rankings and was later released as a published book
Company Profile
Other
Jaeum&Moeum Publishing Co., Ltd.
In 1997, Jaeum and Moeum Co., Ltd. was established under the slogan of collecting all the “letters” (Jaeum) and “sounds”(Moeum) of the world. It operates a number of imprint brands, including EZ Book, a children’s/adolescent book brand, and Neo Fiction, a genre literature book brand, and has become a mainstay of the Korean publishing industry by launching over 10,000 volumes.
Jaeum and Moeum have published literary magazines that support Korean literature, novels that have been recognized for their excellence at home and abroad, humanities books that will raise the status of culture to the next level, youth literature and humanities/study books that propel teenagers’ mental development, and practical books that provide useful tips for everyday life.
The books of Jaeum and Moeum are attracting the attention of not only overseas publishing agencies but also external production companies that produce secondary creative works such as movies, dramas, plays, and musicals. Several books, including A Killer’s Shopping List, A Killer’s Shopping Mall, A Christmas Carol, and The Time-Selling Store, have been adapted into new forms, and many other works are ready to be transformed in similar ways.
In addition, we are running a New Literature Award/Youth Literature Award/Short Novel Award/Fairy Tale Contest on a scale that is one of the largest among Korean publishing companies. As many authors who debuted through the Jaeum and Moeum Literary Contest have grown into spotlight writers in the literary world, the Jaeum and Moeum Literary Contest has become the publishing industry’s most notable gateway to new writers. Through this active collaboration between publisher, author, and reader, several series of books were born that have made their mark in the publishing industry.
Jaeum and Moeum have published literary magazines that support Korean literature, novels that have been recognized for their excellence at home and abroad, humanities books that will raise the status of culture to the next level, youth literature and humanities/study books that propel teenagers’ mental development, and practical books that provide useful tips for everyday life.
The books of Jaeum and Moeum are attracting the attention of not only overseas publishing agencies but also external production companies that produce secondary creative works such as movies, dramas, plays, and musicals. Several books, including A Killer’s Shopping List, A Killer’s Shopping Mall, A Christmas Carol, and The Time-Selling Store, have been adapted into new forms, and many other works are ready to be transformed in similar ways.
In addition, we are running a New Literature Award/Youth Literature Award/Short Novel Award/Fairy Tale Contest on a scale that is one of the largest among Korean publishing companies. As many authors who debuted through the Jaeum and Moeum Literary Contest have grown into spotlight writers in the literary world, the Jaeum and Moeum Literary Contest has become the publishing industry’s most notable gateway to new writers. Through this active collaboration between publisher, author, and reader, several series of books were born that have made their mark in the publishing industry.
