Japan- for someone who would have had to stop attending his village school the next year, he knew he wasn’t the kind of person who came across an opportunity like that with ease. In anticipation, Haeok had packed a bundle of clothes and socks- And! Today was the first day he’d seen the ocean, and it was just so vast. Maybe he was dumb, but- Haeok just hadn’t realized just how far it spread until he’d seen it from Busan port, how endless… How big the world must be.


    Nagasaki, the man next to him had told them, tall enough to read the kanji of a passing sign). From there, another boat.


    In. Out. Mouth open, gasping like a fish out of water, he struggled to breathe.


    Drip. Drip. Salt like nails against his back, cold sting sharp as acid, an itch he couldn’t scratch.


    It collapsed, it’s collapsing, I’m trapped, going to die, I’m-


    feel. The raw stone that encased him convulsed, threw him against the narrow walls like dried rice in a box. The roughness of it scraped him raw, Haeok was sure he bled-


    Iron, Salt. A drop against his back.


    I’m dying, I’m-


    ba jige, to hold the cage of chickens. They squawk loudly at the betrayal as Jungok lifts their carrier onto his back.


    sokuri basket atop her head as she walks, filled with the persimmons from their yard.