[3] Baek Minseok wrote his first work of fiction in 1995 with "I Loved Candy" (내가 사랑한 캔디).
In these works, characters seek growth and development but the final outcome is far from what is regarded as healthy maturity.
Through these characters who go against the tide, Baek criticizes the power of influence and questions what we consider to be the “norm.”[6] Ghosts also make regular appearances in the collection The Errand Boy at the Manor, but they are not the kind that appear in fairy tales and fantasy; they, in fact, represent our everyday reality and here lies the true terror—to become an adult means to become a member of a depraved society; therefore, the everyday reality that adults dominate is in itself terrifying.
In Cotton Field Bizarre Story, this quotidian terror manifests itself in kidnappings, murders, violence, perverse sexual acts, and sadomasochistic practices.
Through these works, Baek seems to be suggesting that the real world is nothing more than perhaps a somewhat exaggerated fictional space that disregards ethics, morals, and common sense.