Two different women, same wish, a wish to die. One is a rich but sheltered girl. Life's necessities are always within her reach, but not the means to escape the household which suffocates and harasses her. She always needs to worry about how she appears to others or else she won't survive. The other one, due to some circumstances, leads a beggar life. Unlike the first woman, however, she doesn't need to worry about how others perceive her but she does need to worry about what food she will eat tomorrow. Due to an incident, their lives become intertwined. How will these two women affect each other's lives?

(this paragraph might contain light spoilers)
Her Tale of Shim Chong is a story about two women discovering fun things in life through their interactions. Fun things that they never knew exist. In a world that favors men, they fight and struggle to live another day. With each of their meetings, they formed an irreplaceable bond, a bond that could even be beyond friendship. Don't let the Shoujo Ai tag fool you though, as this story has some pretty sad topics. The unfair treatment of women under a patriarchal world, the sweet temptation of death in a life full of suffering, the frightening lack of difference between a sheltered life and a beggar life for women in a world that favors men are a few which are tackled here. Just to be clear though, this is not that depressing but it still is a pretty sad story.

Hopefully that sounded interesting. But really, I was just expecting a cute shoujo ai manhwa before reading this so it's a really pleasant surprise to find a manhwa with a story as great as this. I'm just going to say this just in case but if you're expecting a yuri manhwa with many NGGHHHH yuri moments, I suggest you read something else. While this indeed have some NGGHHHH yuri moments, it's
more focused on how these two main characters change each other's lives with each of their meetings.

I'm not going to say this manhwa is for everyone. But if you're a bit open to stories that are a bit sad and a bit yuri like this one, then I highly suggest you read it. Even if you're not a yuri fan, I believe giving this one a try is very worth it since I personally believe this is a hidden gem. There aren't too many yuri scenes (though there are definitely a few MHHMMMM yuri scenes), and if you're looking for a great story, then I believe this manhwa is for you.

TL;DR
Great read. Highly recommended. This isn't filled with yuri scenes so non-yuri fans could still enjoy this, though yuri fans would definitely enjoy this more. The story is also very meaningful and you could pick up one or two lessons from it. Great story and great characters. A somewhat tragic tale, but not too depressing. If you're into all that, give this one a go.