Counterattacks at Thirty by Won-pyung Sohn

Ji-hye is an ordinary woman who has never been extraordinary in her thirty years of life. Even her name Ji-hye is one of the most ordinary in Korea. And just like every ordinary person, she’s not one to make waves by pointing out the absurdities of Korean bureaucracy or the small acts of injustice around her. But when Gyuok Lee, a new intern, joins the Academy, Ji-hye recognizes him as the man who once publicly accused a professor there of plagiarism. But this Gyuok seems different from that angry young man Ji-hye once encountered. In the office, he seems to be just another hard-working employee… until he shows his true colors.

A pacifist version of V in V for Vendetta, Kyu-ok recruits likeminded people to carry out plans for minor revenge. All four “rebels” he’s recruited in their office have their own reasons to resent society at large.

Together, these four rebels begin to protest the older generation in the form of harmless antics: graffiti, throwing eggs, anonymous exposé, and more. But as their attacks increase, they (and the reader) will discover that even these tiny protests can make change in a world where everyone’s been too busy just getting by.