Choi Soo-jin, author of Occupied House, mentioned BTS, Hobi, and On The Street in their book! It appears to have won a Literary Award and was published this year. I'm summarizing the pieces of information I've gathered below from several tweets:
- Hope on the Road is one of three short stories that comprises the book. All of them are set in the future.
- The character, Chanran, is a second-gen Korean born in Chicago and is a street dancer.
- Chanran is curious about j-hope's hometown so he makes a trip to Gwangju, but a major protest leaves him trapped there.
- Chanran chooses to stay because his name means "hope/radiant" and Gwangju's name means light, so he believes hope will shine brighter in the dark.
- The lines from On the Street are quoted and highlighted by the characters: "For the path I’m on to become one of hope, I give my all" to parallel the situation. The character shares that the phrase "나 구태여" implies a deliberate effort, that whether or not hope will come, it has to come.
Sources from X/Twitter!
by uhgoodbadbye
Omg wouldn’t it be cool if RM or V actually read the book?
This is so cool! I love how Hobi’s art is inspiring literature; another form of creative artistry. Thank you for putting together the different bits of news. I’ll be checking out the book if it has an English translation.
Wooah soo cool
That is soo cool, like everythind around J-hope, honestly
I love how the boys and their songs inspire literature. 🥹 Thank you for putting this info together!
That’s really cool and an interesting premise for a story. I wonder if he’s read it? Thank you for sharing~ I hope he sees.