Cha In-pyo speaks during a press conference for his new novel "Our Neighborhood Library" in Seoul on Wednesday. (Yonhap) It may be the writer who begins a book, but it is the reader who finishes it.That, actor-novelist Cha In-pyo said, was the sentiment he hoped to weave into his latest novel, "Our Neighborhood Library."Speaking at a press event in Seoul on Wednesday, Cha reflected on a literary career that began with his 2009 debut novel "Once We Look at the Same Star." This is his fifth novel.The story follows a writer who sets out to write about Beongak, a painter in the Goguryeo Kingdom commissioned to paint a dragon.Moving between a modern-day library and the ancient kingdom, the novel blurs the boundaries between fiction and reality. Readers become participants in the narrative, in what Cha described as a work of metafiction."At some point, I began asking myself who had made it possible for me to write a fifth novel," Cha said. "And I came to realize that the reason I am able to keep writing is because there are readers who read my work and return it to me with their own interpretations."He added, "I think one of the greatest forms of encouragement one person can offer another is simply recognizing them. My novels gained meaning and value because readers read them and made them their own."Cha said his nationwide book talks, where he met readers face to face, also shaped the novel."With dramas and films, you rarely meet the audience directly, so I never really knew who they were," he said. "But through the book talks, I could see exactly who my readers were. I realized, 'These are the people who allowed me to stand here as a novelist.'"In 2024, Cha drew renewed attention as a novelist when he was invited to speak at the inaugural Korean Literature Festival hosted by Oxford University's Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. His debut novel has since been selected as a course reading for Korean studies classes.Last August, Cha received the newcomer award at the 14th Hwang Sun-won Literary Award for his 2022 novel "Mermaid Hunting."He said he initially declined the honor, feeling it was "undeserved." The award left him unable to write for a month."I was deeply grateful, but I also worried it might become a kind of shackle."As for acting, Cha has been cast in a stage production of "Dead Poets Society," which is his first theater role in 33 years since his acting debut in 1993."Until now, my signature work has been 'Love Is in Your Embrace' (1994)," he said, referring to the hit television drama that made him a household name in the 1990s."I'll do my best so that 'Dead Poets Society' can become the work people remember me for instead."