Would You Still Love Me If I Were a Worm?

What does a genuine relationship mean?

The Metamorphosis, a novella by Franz Kafka, captures human relationships deeply, showing how fragile they can be and how much they rest on what we expect from each other.

Recap: The Metamorphosis

Gregor Samsa, a traveling salesman, wakes up one morning as a giant insect.

Nothing caused it. No cure is offered. It simply happens.

From that moment:

• He can no longer work.
• His family, who relied on his income, becomes increasingly resentful.
• They tolerate him at first, then hide him, then emotionally abandon him.
• He slowly accepts the guilt of being a burden.

He eventually dies quietly, and the family feels relief and moves on.

Love is conditional

This story slaps us with reality:

Much of what we call love is conditional.

So, would you be friends with me if I were a worm?

Based on Kafka's story, most people wouldn't bother to talk to me if I were not "worthy".

Even if that's true, I wouldn't blame you. I would probably do the same :(

But the story leaves me with a question: are all relationships transactional?

Does unconditional love truly exist?

It does. But not the way romance stories portray it.

Mutual relationships are conditional.

People stay for reasons:

• Financial dependence
• Future opportunity or access
• Emotional relevance and support
• Expectation of reciprocity

When those reasons change, people leave.

When it comes to unconditional love, it is often unrequited or one-sided.

So what is unconditional love?

It appears in moments without leverage:

• A parent protecting a child without calculation
• Offering care when there is no benefit
• Staying with someone in grief when you can't fix anything

Unlike conditional love, it is not a status to hold or a label to claim. It is not defined by relationships, but by being human.

My thoughts

At first, this idea unsettled me. I felt empty, as if my bonds weren't real, as if everyone carried an agenda.

So I looked deeper.

Expectations are unavoidable, especially in long-term relationships. But structure alone doesn't create meaning.

What gives meaning to human life are the small, unmeasured acts of kindness, the moments that don't keep score, and quietly remind us why life is worth living.

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As living beings, we still have a choice: to care for others through spontaneous, genuine actions from within, beyond the conditional.

First shared as an Instagram post on @kuronekoarchive, December 21, 2025.