"Daughter," Da-som says to Ha-neul as they sit on the living room floor, Ha-neul's head resting on her mother's lap. "It's going to be okay, I'm here." Hye-jin suddenly appears from the bedroom and joins them, resting her head on the other side of her mother's lap.

After some time when the house is completely silent, Da-som whispers to Ha-neul, "It's not the end of the world." Da-som strokes Ha-neul's long black hair. "You are very young. There will always be sad times, but there will be happy times as well. Don't give up. No matter how bad life gets, push forward, you are sure to find happier times and new friends. There are a lot of bad people in the world, but there are also a lot of good people, you just haven't met them yet. You just have to hold on, those happy times are sure to come like the morning sun. Don't think that you have to bear everything by yourself. I will be here. Father will be here. Hye-jina will be here. You don't even have to say a word, just come to me and I will hug you and will never let go. That's what we're here for. We'll bear it together."

Ha-neul remains silent, Hye-jin as well. Da-som starts to hum to them gently as her daughters slowly fall asleep in her lap.

Seul-ki arrives outside the cafeteria and adjusts his glasses. To his right he can see through the big windows inside to an empty, dark hall; to his left he can see the side of the hill going down into the rocky valley; in front, he sees a small path leading around the building to the back. He walks up casually to the corner of the building and there to his right is a small courtyard with walls on three sides. There are empty cardboard boxes everywhere and wooden forklift pallets stacked and leaning against the sides of the walls. He sees a place he can hide behind the pallets and quickly ducks under some of them to wait for Administrator Ji.

It takes some time before the last rays of sun finally disappear, leaving a solitary light hanging on the middle wall illuminating the center of the courtyard. Seul-ki waits motionless when he hears Administrator Ji call out.

"Ha-neula! Ha-neula, are you there?" Administrator Ji asks. Seul-ki still cannot see him. Another fifteen minutes pass before Administrator Ji calls out again. "Ha-neula!" Administrator Ji then walks from the opposite side of the courtyard out into the light and checks his watch. He looks around impatiently - it's obvious he is nervous and scared. Just then he pulls out a cigarette from his jacket pocket and lights it.

Seul-ki suddenly feels an intense anger boiling within his heart as he watches Administrator Ji smoking alone in the dim light. He debates whether or not he should kill Administrator Ji right then and there, strangling him with his bare hands. It takes all his energy to restrain himself and not make a sound. He thinks of how satisfying it would be to kill this worthless piece of shit who takes advantage of those unable to fight back. But then he realizes he's not that kind of a man - how could he stand upright before his daughters after doing something like that? He couldn't bear the thought of holding his wife and daughters with the same hands that strangled someone to death.

Another forty five minutes pass until the top of the hour. "Shit!" Administrator Ji finally exclaims in annoyance. "Fucking bitch, she must have told them. Dammit - just had to fall for the pretty face," he says to himself out loud. It's nearly silent in the courtyard with a slight echo. Seul-ki hears every word.

"Aish! Now I can't blackmail Seul-ki," Administrator goes on as he kicks rocks and dirt in frustration. "Well, if I turn him in, at least I'll get something out of that," he says, nodding to himself before finally turning around and disappearing in the direction he came from.

Seul-ki waits a good ten minutes before making his way out from behind the wall and back up around the cafeteria. He sprints home, knowing now that Administrator Ji is the kind of person to turn them in that very night. He hops up the steps to the porch and bursts into their home. It is dark, with the only light coming from the moon. "Han Da-som!" he exclaims, as Da-som appears from the room. "Get ready, we're leaving now."

Da-som doesn't hesitate. "Everything's already packed, I'll wake the kids."

Seul-ki adds, "I already talked to Park Jung-ho - the border guard - he said just bring him the money and we're good to go. There are parties leaving practically every other night."

Their months of planning called for them being ready at a moment's notice to pick up and leave. Each member of the family carried a small backpack with basic supplies - bread, water, blankets - along with their most cherished possessions - rosaries, crosses, and family photos.

"Ha-neula, let's go," Da-som says to Ha-neul, who seems too dejected to move. "Let's go now, your father found another way."

"He stole our money," Ha-neul says.

Seul-ki and Da-som look at each other dead seriously. They both make for the fake floor boards under the table by the wall and remove it to find the empty tin can.

"It doesn't matter," Seul-ki says defiantly. He and Da-som then go throughout the house and start grabbing anything of worth - western style watches, necklaces, ear rings, gold eyeglass frames, bottles of wine - and stuff it into another bag.

"Is it enough?" Da-som asks, concerned.

"Let's go!" Seul-ki says, as he leads his wife and kids out the door. He makes his way to their tiny old car behind their house. They pack into it and head directly to the edge of town where they meet Park Jung-ho with a half-dozen other people gathered together. A border guard by day, Park Jung-ho also runs a side business of smuggling well-to-do defectors across the border into China using his many connections - and a share of the profits - to cover his activities.

"Got the money?" Park Jung-ho asks.

"This is all we have," Seul-ki says, handing him the bag full of cheap jewelry and wine.

Park Jung-ho opens it and immediately drops the bag. "Go back and get the money, you can try next time."

"Wait, this is worth almost two million won," Seul-ki pleads.

Park Jung-ho looks unimpressed but sympathetic. "You have fifteen minutes to come up with the rest. Then we leave," Park Jung-ho says as he looks over at the half-dozen other people standing around watching, as if hinting that Seul-ki should probably start begging the others for money.

Seul-ki looks at the rest of the group. They stand there seemingly annoyed. Instead of begging, Seul-ki grabs Park Jung-ho by the collar half-heartedly. Park Jung-ho brushes him off easily, throwing Seul-ki to the ground. Seul-ki pleads further, his head hanging in anguish. "Please sir, take my family across. You can turn me in when you come back, and get promoted to prove your loyalty. You can have our home, our car, everything!" he exclaims pitifully, the rest of the group looking on in disgust.

"If you were a good father, you should have saved up the money," someone in the group says in annoyance.

"Aigoo, now your family will suffer because you aren't capable," another one adds.

Seul-ki gathers his knees under himself and bows to the ground to Park Jung-ho, continuing to plead. "Please sir, turn me in, and spare my family." Da-som, Ha-neul, and Hye-jin hug each other and stand by Seul-ki, each of them with tears in their eyes.

Park Jung-ho turns away, occasionally checking his watch and turning his head back to see Song Seul-ki still kneeling on the ground, bowing. Finally, fifteen minutes pass. "It's time to go," Park Jung-ho says. The group gathers their things and gets ready to leave.

"Please sir," Seul-ki says once more, "Turn me in, and spare my family."

Park Jung-ho replies, "Get your stuff. Let's go."

Seul-ki shoots up to his feet, his face surprised but utterly grateful. "Thank you!" he says sincerely, bowing again and again. "Thank you!" Seul-ki hands over the bag worth 2 million won to Park Jung-ho who grabs it with a sigh.

"Aigoo, if only I knew I could pay 2 million instead of 9 million. I want my money back then!" someone in the group mumbles.

"If you want your money back, then take it with you over the border yourself!" Park Jung-ho snaps back. "This is why this country is screwed,"  he mutters to himself while shaking his head before exclaiming again, "I charge more for assholes like you!"

The group adds several more aigoos for good measure like a chorus of chickens as they follow Park Jung-ho off the main road.

"What about our cars?" someone in the group asks.

"That's why we didn't take a car," someone answers smugly.

"My colleagues will be here shortly to pick them up and scrap them," Park Jung-ho replies, without even bothering to look back as he leads them through a small grove of trees. Seul-ki leads his own family close behind.

The group finally makes it to a shallow ford in the Yalu river. They proceed to cross it by foot, following Park Jung-ho. They each make it across fine, and continue hiking up the hill away from the river.

Seul-ki walks up to Park Jung-ho and says, "Thank you sir, I am indebted to you forever."

"Pay me the rest in the next life," Park Jung-ho replies.

"Thank you!" Seul-ki says again, bowing. "Give me your address. I'll send you the money, and more besides! You can bet on that!"

Park Jung-ho waves Seul-ki off, telling him it's okay. Seul-ki falls back in the group to rejoin his family.

"Why did you help that pitiful man?" someone in the group asks Park Jung-ho.

"He reminds me of my pitiful father," he replies, as the group carries on.

They walk on for another five minutes when suddenly a man on a speaker calls out to them. "Stop! Everyone, immediately!"

They turn and see that several cars had pulled up to the river with twenty or so military officers fording it.

"Everyone, scatter!" Park Jung-ho exclaims, as he darts off into the darkness into a patch of long grass.

Each of the group runs outward in a separate direction, each trying to find a place to hide. Seul-ki runs with Da-som and the kids as far forward away from the river as possible, looking for trees or brush or anything to escape into, but finding nothing but long grass and open plains for miles. Just then they make it to what looks like a small bog. Seul-ki decides to find a place to hide there.

"Don't stay in the water, look for dry areas," he says to Da-som. Suddenly they hear someone yelling at them to stop off in the distance. They find a small patch of long grass on a little islet between several pools of water. "Hide here," Seul-ki says to Ha-neul and Hye-jin, "Stay low. Mother and I will not be far away."

"Father!" Hye-jin cries, "Don't go!"

"Hye-jina, we'll be hiding close by," Seul-ki replies reassuringly as he kisses her on the cheek. The kids watch as their parents find another patch of grass off to their right. They find a good spot to hide in and the family remains deathly silent.

After a few minutes, a soldier with a pistol appears by the edge of the bog with a flashlight. He walks on the dry spots between the pools of water, shining his flashflight methodically on each patch of grass around the bog. He slowly approaches where Ha-neul and Hye-jin are hiding, realizing the islet is a perfect hiding spot. Ha-neul and Hye-jin freeze, unable to even let out a cry of help or fear, anticipating being caught by the soldier.

Just then, Ha-neul and Hye-jin see their father, Seul-ki, burst out from a patch of grass and run away directly across from them. Startled, the soldier turns and fires his pistol at him, missing. "Stop! Immediately, dammit!" the soldier exclaims, running after him but falling into a pool of water. Instead of letting Seul-ki get away, the soldier shoots at Seul-ki again a couple more times, hitting him once. They then see their mother also burst out from the patch of grass and run in the opposite direction, pausing momentarily to see if she grabbed his attention. By now the soldier got out onto dry land and started chasing after their mother.

The kids stay hidden on their islet, listening to the frightening sounds of the night. They seem to hear every word.

"Stop! Stop immediately!" they can hear close by. "Stop!" they hear repeated again, followed by, "Over there, there's two of them!"

They can hear multiple voices now. "Why won't they stop?" one of the soldiers exclaims.

"I'll go after the woman, you take the man!"

They hear the group organizing themselves.

"Don't let them get away, shoot them if you have to," they hear more faintly.

This goes on for what seems like an eternity, before finally they start to hear several gunshots quite far off in the distance. Unable to move, the kids hug each other tightly in fear before finally falling asleep in each others' arms.