Struggling to pay for Areum’s medical bills, the family goes on a TV show which documents people with rare medical conditions, raising money through donations. Areum tells stories of his parents’ old friends coming to visit, seeing the newfound age in Daesu and Mira’s faces. He and Mira are thrust into parenthood and, as the water rises, their childhood is left drowning in the now-flooded village. We learn of their first encounter at sixteen years old, their infatuation and their unexpected pregnancy.ĭaesu finds work for a construction company expanding the nearby river to promote tourism. He begins by telling us how his mom, Mira, and his dad, Daesu, met. Areum narrates in verse, “Is sixteen the right age to become a parent? / Is thirty-two the right age to lose a child?” But the gravity of these lines is soon exchanged for a light curiosity as Areum is introduced. The reader knows from the first page how this story will end.
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