Im Ha-jin, a retired editor who left the publishing house in loneliness, loses her love for books and wanders aimlessly until she stumbles upon a small bookstore called The Breath of Books. There, the owner Go Seok-min gives her two worn volumes with the message, “Books exist to be passed on,” asking her to read one and give the other as a gift. Ha-jin sends a book to her student Jung Seo-yoon, who fears writing. Through the book, Seo-yoon expresses her emotions for the first time and passes a book on to her teacher. Ha-jin then sends another book to her former colleague Noh Jae-hyun, who has been consumed by bestsellers, awakening his forgotten passion. The book eventually reaches publishing marketer Yoo Bo-young, who, trapped in her hollow daily life, recovers the joy of genuine reading and writing. As the “two-book relay campaign” spreads, criticism arises, but a letter and a book from her college friend Choi Eun-young remind Ha-jin that “books are bridges that connect hearts.” In the end, Ha-jin and Seok-min reopen The Breath of Books, rebuilding a small bridge of connection through books. Despite the indifference of the world, books continue to move quietly yet steadfastly from one person to another.

Author Im Ji-hyung, known for combining playful humor with sharp insight in her children’s stories, now presents a fable for adult readers. With nearly twenty years of experience in the publishing industry, she has long dreamed of a world covered in books. Out of this reflection grew the question, “How can we encourage more reading?” which she developed into a campaign that will unfold both within the novel and in real life.