닿을락 말락 한 우리 사이

The line, explained

Korean has a delightful pattern for things that hover on the edge: -(으)ㄹ락 말락. It describes something that is about to happen and then does not, again and again, like a hand that almost reaches another hand. In lyrics, it is the sound of 썸, the flirty, undefined stage before a relationship becomes official. Today's line describes two people who are almost touching, almost together, and never quite crossing the gap.

닿을락 comes from 닿다, 'to touch, to reach, to come into contact'. You 닿다 a shelf, a shore, a person's heart. The ㅎ in the stem goes silent before a vowel, so 닿을 sounds like da-eul. Because the stem ends in a consonant, it takes -을락 rather than -ㄹ락. On its own -을락 suggests 'as if about to'. It never stands alone, though; it always pairs with its partner.

말락 is that partner. It comes from 말다, 'to stop, to not do', the same verb in 가지 마 (don't go). -을락 말락 is therefore 'about to, and about not to', a seesaw between yes and no. To finish the pattern Korean adds 하다: 닿을락 말락 하다. Here it appears as the modifier 한, describing the noun that follows. The ㄱ of 말락 and the ㅎ of 한 merge into a ㅋ, so you hear mal-la-kan.

우리 is 'we, us, our', and 사이 means 'the space between'. It is used literally, for the gap between two things, and figuratively, for a relationship: 우리 사이 is 'what we are to each other', 'our relationship'. That double meaning makes the line work. 닿을락 말락 한 우리 사이 is both 'the almost-touching space between us' and 'our almost-relationship'. A single phrase, physical and emotional at once.

Swap the verb and the image changes: 보일락 말락 한 우리 사이 (barely visible), 들릴락 말락 한 (barely audible), 잡힐락 말락 한 (almost within reach). The pattern is common in everyday description too: 비가 올락 말락 해 (it looks like it might rain, or might not), 눈이 감길락 말락 해 (my eyes keep almost closing). It is visual, playful and very Korean in how it turns indecision into rhythm.