Jiwon

Jiwon is the daughter of Kim Jiyoung and Jung Daehyun, whose arrival turns their abstract hopes for a family into the daily demands of childcare. The novel presents her first through the bodily and practical work of infancy: she cries frequently, needs feeding and close attention, and depends on adults whose capacity to care for her is shaped by work, family support, and unequal expectations of parenthood.

Identity and Birth

Jiwon is born a girl at four in the morning. Her birth follows a period in which Kim Jiyoung is uncertain whether she can combine a career with raising a child and feels guilty even considering care by someone else. Jung Daehyun listens to her concerns and offers to share tasks such as changing diapers, feeding the baby, and washing her clothes. He also says he would support the family if childcare made it necessary for her to leave work. The promise offers reassurance, but Jiwon’s arrival makes clear how much care her parents will have to arrange in practice.

Infancy and Daily Care

As a newborn, Jiwon cries through much of the day and night and settles when picked up. Kim Jiyoung feeds her every two hours and often cannot sleep for more than two hours at a stretch. She carries Jiwon while doing household tasks, going to the toilet, and trying to nap; she also washes the baby’s clothes and fabrics and keeps the home clean. Jiyoung’s account of this period is not one of effortless maternal adjustment: she cries often, is in pain, and finds the work physically exhausting.

Later, Jiwon attends daycare. On an autumn walk after Kim Jiyoung picks her up, she falls asleep in her stroller while her mother sits in a nearby park with coffee. After office workers nearby make disparaging remarks about mothers who stay at home, Jiyoung rushes away without noticing that Jiwon has woken and begun to cry. At home, Jiyoung is so unsettled that she feeds her daughter cold soup and forgets to change her diaper until she sees that Jiwon’s clothes are soiled. The episode shows how public contempt can spill into the intimate routines on which an infant depends.

Family and Care Network

Jiwon’s care is shared unevenly among the adults around her. Jung Daehyun takes charge of the baby while Kim Jiyoung goes to a clinic, and he is present in the couple’s discussions about how to manage childcare. But Kim Jiyoung’s mother, Oh Misook, cannot provide regular help during her daughter’s recovery: the porridge shop is struggling amid new competition, and reduced staffing leaves Oh Misook working longer hours. She does bring Jiyoung leftovers when she can. Her limited availability reflects the constraints on the family’s support network rather than a lack of concern.

Kim Jiyoung’s friend Kang Hyesu also offers practical assistance during a visit. While Jiyoung feeds Jiwon, gives her solid food, changes her diaper, comforts her, and puts her down for a nap, Hyesu warms the baby food, fetches clean diapers, and does the dishes. Though initially reluctant to hold the baby for fear of hurting her, she grows comfortable watching Jiwon sleep. The scene makes care visible as a series of ordinary tasks, and shows how even modest help can relieve the person carrying most of them.

Narrative Significance

Jiwon is not given an independent speaking role in these episodes; the reader encounters her through the needs and routines that organize her parents’ lives. Her infancy exposes the difference between Jung Daehyun’s stated willingness to help and the sustained labor required to care for a child, while Kim Jiyoung’s exhaustion challenges idealized accounts of motherhood. Jiwon’s dependence is real, but the novel also makes clear that the strain surrounding her is shaped by scarce support, work schedules, and expectations placed on her mother. In this way, her arrival is both a family change and the point around which the distribution and cost of care become visible.