CHAPTER 1
"Ouch!" screamed Jayu as he fell out of his bed. The scent of mildew filled his nostrils as he recovered from his fall. Jayu got up and looked out the window to see a jet-black sky arrayed with a vast number of stars. What time is it? he thought. He glanced over at his alarm clock and saw that it was one o'clock in the morning. Jayu, still fatigued, dragged himself back to his bed. The rest of the night was awful; he constantly tossed and turned in bed and got a headache from lack of sleep. The sun was beginning to rise over the horizon when Jayu finally went into a deep sleep. Only to be awakened ten minutes later by loud screaming.
"Jayu! Are you up? Come on, let's go to the port!" bellowed the voice.
Jayu sprang from his bed, went to the window, and ripped the blinds forcefully, only to be met by a bright and cheerful face.
"Time to get up, sleepyhead!" exclaimed the voice.
"Chungseong, do you know what time it is!?" shouted Jayu.
"Time to go to the port!" Chungseong said elatedly.
"Ugh! Fine, but I don't understand why you like to go the port anyway. All we do is sit there and watch a seemingly endless supply of boats sail past us. What a waste of time."
"How many times do I have to tell you!? They are not boats. They are warships, and it's fun to name the different parts of the boat. I'll be waiting for you out here."
"Huh, okay, here I come."
Jayu hastily put on his clothes and ran out his door. We should be back before my parents wake up, he reasoned. As long as I do not allow Chungseong to get carried away and attempt to name every part of each boat in sight. When they arrived at the port, they sat on the ledge and gazed at the ocean.
Chungseong took a deep breath and smirked as he said, "Look how gorgeous this scenery is right now. The rays from the sun are glimmering in the crystal blue water. I always like to think that the sun and the ocean are best friends. They complement each other perfectly and amaze those watching the scene. Just like a close human friendship, don't ya think?"
"Yeah, yeah," Jayu whispered sarcastically.
"Not only that, but look at how vast the ocean is. It looks like it could stretch for miles on end."
Chungseong's comment caught Jayu's attention. He began to think of the destinations beyond their sight, out in the ocean blue. The supposed land of liberty is out there ... America, thought Jayu. Jayu began to speak.
"Hey, Chungseong, have you ever heard much about America?"
"No, not really. All I know is that its citizens have freedoms which we cannot even dream of."
"Does that thought ever make you want to leave North Korea?"
Chungseong boomed in a loud voice, "Oh God, no! I cannot believe my ears! North Korea is the greatest country in the world! Petty America cannot compare with our grandiosity! Of course, we can get better, and that is what I'm determined to assist with when I'm an adult! I could never turn my back on my native land!"
"Hey! Keep it down! Do you want somebody to hear us!? You'll have us imprisoned if you keep yelling like that!" Jayu whispered in a harsh tone.
"Well, I was just appalled by you actually thinking of leaving North Korea one day!"
"Look, I never said I wanted to leave. It was just a thought."
"Hmph!"
"Look, let's go home. I've seen my fair share of boats and so have you. Plus, I have to get home before my parents wake up. I can't afford to get in trouble."
They walked at a brisk pace back to their houses.
"Do you want to meet for lunch later on?" Jayu asked.
"Sure, how about twelve thirty?"
"Sounds good."
"Okay! I'll come by your house then, and we can walk together."
"Sounds like a plan."
When Jayu arrived back home he could hear water running and knew his parents were getting dressed. He lay in his bed and drifted off into a deep sleep. Jayu was abruptly awakened by a knock on the door. He stumbled toward the door and opened it to see Chungseong, grinning widely.
"Ready to go eat?" asked Chungseong.
"Yeah, let me just get my wallet" Jayu stated.
Jayu got his wallet off his dresser and walked out his door with Chungseong.
"By the way, where are your parents?" Chungseong inquired.
"I believe they told me a few days ago that they would be going shopping today. We both know how they both love shopping."
"Yeah, my parents are quite boring actually. They are always uptight and serious about everything. Sometimes I just want to ask them why."
"Yeah, I've always wondered where you got your outgoing and playful personality from."
"You know, we are not confined to only possess the same attributes, skills, and knowledge that our parents have, right?"
"That is certainly not true, Chungseong. In fact, you would have no knowledge of America or other countries if it weren't for me."
"Nobody our age has the knowledge of other countries that you do! All we're taught is that they are the enemy and we are the greatest of all the countries, which I firmly believe. You, on the other hand, allowed your uncle and cousins to poison your mind about how America is the land of the free!"
"If you only knew," Jayu sneered.
They continued talking until they reached the restaurant, their favorite hangout called Joh-Eun Eumsig. While they were eating Jayu stared at the statue of the Supreme Leader, Mujabihan, and remembered seeing the chilling images of the execution he witnessed while coming home from school one day last week. Jayu inferred that the condemned had to be political prisoners who committed a heinous crime such as treason in order for the Supreme Leader to execute them himself, by sawing. Jayu quickly dispelled those images from his mind and finished his food. Chungseong, on the other hand, ate two more plates of food.
"I'll pay for it," Chungseong declared.
"No, no, it's okay. I have money," Jayu insisted.
"Hey, what are friends for?"
Despite Jayu's reluctance, Chungseong paid for the lunch, and they walked home together. They started talking about their schoolwork, which Jayu was always up to date with.
"Did you finally do at least a portion of your homework?" Jayu questioned.
"Of course not. Our teachers don't even check our homework, so why do it?"
"Homework is necessary in order to fully comprehend what we are learning. Don't you care about your grades?"
"Never have, never will. Our grades rely on our tests. I can be very resourceful when it comes to taking tests." Chungseong smirked.
They continued their conversation until they reached their houses; then they said they good-byes. Jayu walked into his house to see his mom and dad sitting at a desk reading a letter. Their full attention was on the letter, which most likely meant that it was from his uncle and cousins.
"What's the letter about this time?" Jayu asked.
His parents looked up at him and smiled.
Jayu's mom replied, "This time it's about the amount of opportunity found in America. My brother talks about how he went to a local businessman's speech who talked about how he grew up in poverty and came from nothing. He worked hard, graduated college, and created a flourishing business. These are things that we cannot even dream of here."
Jayu's father added, "While we are on the subject, we really need to discuss a timetable for our escape to America. It won't be long before you are out of school and have to make a choice between college and working. Once that happens the possibility of leaving becomes very slim."
"I don't want to talk about it!" Jayu whimpered.
"Are you crazy!? You really want to stay here and inherit the suffering in this country! Of course not! We are going to talk about it right now!"
"Errh! I don't know what I want to do!"
Jayu dashed into his room and slammed the door shut. He sat on his bed and wept bitterly. He was alone for an hour before he heard a knock at his door.
"Jayu, it's your mother. Could you please open the door? I have a treat for you."
Jayu kept his face buried in his shirt and felt for the doorknob. He opened the door and immediately turned around and collapsed on his bed.
His mother sat next to him and put her hand on his back.
"Oh, Jayu, you know, you don't have to be shy in front of me. I'm your mother, and I love you more than you will ever know. I baked you some cookies. Here."
Jayu's mother jumped when she heard a booming voice yell. "On-Yu! Leave the boy alone! You always baby him. He needs to become a man!" Jayu's father roared.
"Huimang, I am Jayu's mother. I can do as I see fit for the well-being of our child."
"Just don't be upset if he underachieves in life because of your actions. A boy needs to be raised to be a man, not stay a boy."
On-Yu ignored her husbands' statement and tried to comfort her son.
"Honey, it's okay. No one is making you make a decision now. You have time to think. Dry your tears."
Jayu wiped his tears with his shirt, and On-Yu handed him a cookie.
"But, Mom, I-a d-don't ..."
"Don't speak, Jayu. Just eat your cookies and go to sleep. I'll even make you a warm glass of milk ..."
She instinctively jumped off the bed and got Jayu a glass of milk. His mom left the glass of milk and the plate of cookies on his dresser. Jayu chugged the milk and ate some of his cookies. A wave of fatigue swept over him, and he fell fast asleep.
CHAPTER 2
Jayu arose from his sleep and found that his arms were restrained by two chains. He stood up and realized that he was standing atop the planet and one of his hands was chained to the United States and the other one to North Korea. Jayu wrestled with the chains until the point of exhaustion.
"Somebody, help me! Please! I'm bound and can't get loose! Is there anybody out there?!" Jayu bellowed.
Jayu thrashed in his bed and woke up startled from the dream and felt his shirt and his bed sheets drenched in sweat. That was a pretty bad dream, he thought. He stumbled toward his dresser. He took off his shirt and changed into a fresh one. When he turned around, he accidentally knocked the plate of cookies onto the floor. He growled but was too lazy to clean up the cookies. Jayu hopped back into his sweaty bed and suffered a restless night of sleep. While he was staring at the ceiling, his alarm went off. Jayu performed his normal routine on a school morning and headed out the door into a dark and brisk morning. During his classes, Jayu was overwhelmed by tiredness and fell asleep in each one of his classes. In fact, in one of his classes, he slept through the entire lesson and missed the pop quiz at the end of the class.
"Please, can I make up the quiz? My grade can't afford to suffer," Jayu pleaded.
"I'm sorry, but you should have stayed awake. I'm not going to reward you for irresponsible behavior," the teacher explained.
Jayu sulked for the rest of the day. Chungseong tried to create conversation at lunch, but Jayu was unresponsive and didn't touch his lunch. Jayu returned home at the end of the day, miserable. His parents tried to talk to him and figure out what was going on, but Jayu ignored his parents. He slammed his door and stayed in his room. While debating whether to do homework or not, Jayu heard a knock at the front door. He heard the door open and fragments of the dialogue that proceeded. When he finally made an effort to open his backpack to start his homework, he felt a light tap on his shoulder. Anger built inside Jayu.
"What is it now?!" he screeched.
He turned around to see Chungseong horrified by his outburst and frozen in fear.
"Uh, I was just wondering if you wanted to go for a walk tonight, maybe pick up some ice cream on the way, my treat."
"No, thanks. I'll pass."
Chungseong frowned when he heard this and forcefully grabbed Jayu's arm and attempted to pull him out of his room. At this point, Jayu's anger was at its boiling point.
"Get off me!"
"Not until you come with me! You're stressed out and need to relax!"
"All right, that's it. You've asked for it, Chungseong!"
Jayu immediately kicked Chungseong in the stomach. He grunted and fell to the ground. Jayu turned around to face Chungseong. Chungseong was gasping for air when he was hit by a hard punch to the face. He fell backward and hit his head on the wall. There was a loud booming sound, and Jayu could hear the feet of his parents as they rushed to his room.
They burst into Jayu's room, and Huimang shrieked, "What is going on!"
Chungseong finally caught his breath and managed to say, "I was trying to help Jayu take his mind off school for a little bit and relax, but he attacked me!"
"No one will leave me alone! Everyone is probing into my business!"
At this, Chungseong lifted his head, and Jayu noticed that Chungseong had a black eye, a bloody nose and mouth, and to top it off, a considerable amount of swelling on his face. Chungseong shot Jayu a look of irritation and brushed past Jayu's parents to run out the door. On-Yu tried to catch him, but he slammed the door before she could reach him. While Jayu was watching what was happening, he was startled by a swift smack to the face by his father.
"I don't ever want to hear of this again. Do you understand me!? What you did was selfish and cruel. You need to apologize to Chungseong."
His father closed the door, and Jayu was left to think about his actions. I didn't hit him that hard, did I? I only intended to jab his face, but I guess my anger got the best of me. Jayu carelessly did his homework and contemplated his actions for the rest of the night. Jayu looked for Chungseong all over school for the rest of the week. He was nowhere to be found. Jayu walked down the hallways of his school by himself. Chungseong was his only friend since everyone else he met thought that he was either a weirdo or a hothead.
When he walked the hallways he could hear his fellow classmates whispering, "Did you hear what happened to Chungseong? He was beaten up by his supposed-to-be-friend Jayu."
"I can't believe it. Chungseong is such a nice guy, and he's Jayu's only friend. Why would Jayu do such a thing?"
How did the news spread? If I didn't tell anyone, and if Chungseong hasn't been in school? Jayu thought. At least, I haven't seen him in school. Maybe he's avoiding me and telling people about what happened. Jayu discarded the thought; he knew Chungseong would never do that. Jayu visited Chungseong's house every day, but no one ever answered the door. Jayu knew that his parents worked long hours and probably were not home. He deduced that Chungseong was not coming to the door. Jayu followed the usual routine. He would go to school and look for Chungseong, visit his house after school, and come home to his furious parents, who would scold him for not apologizing.
CHAPTER 3
The week dragged on, and when Friday finally came, Jayu decided that if he did not see Chungseong in school or get an answer at his door, he would wait at the port on Saturday since it was Chungseong's ritual to go to the port every Saturday. Every Friday, his school had a flea market, which was very popular amongst the students, and Jayu knew that Chungseong loved it. The same circumstances occurred—no sight of Chungseong in school. Jayu scoured through the flea market looking for any sign of Chungseong, but alas, he could not find any. Jayu started to cry; he realized that he may have ruined his only friendship because of his temper. He slowly walked home from school, feeling depressed. Jayu kept his head down and stared at the pavement while walking when suddenly he realized that he was lying on the pavement, his face imprinted in the concrete. He began to pick himself up from the ground but felt a kick to his side, and he fell back to the ground. Blood began dripping from his forehead and got in his eyes, blinding him. He felt spit on his face and cried out, "Who are you!? And what do you want?"
One of the voices yelled, "Jayu, stop being stupid. You know who it is. Unless I gave you more credit than you deserve."
There was a burst of laughter, and Jayu struggled to get on all fours. Jayu wiped the blood from his face with his shirt. He looked and saw that it was Gahag and his cronies.
Gahag spoke up, "I heard that you pummeled your friend viciously the other day, and I just came here to give you a friendly reminder."
