When the sun finally rises, Ha-neul awakes and sees that Yeong-su is no longer sitting across from her. She immediately hears the faucets running from the men's restroom though, and sure enough Yeong-su appears from the inside after a brief moment. He washed his hair and face, using his shirt as a towel.

"We'll head to the port when you guys are ready," Yeong-su says, his gaze staring at something off into the distance towards the outside of the building.

Ha-neul and Hye-jin walk over to the sinks in the ladies' bathroom to wash up before meeting Yeong-su outside. As they are washing their faces, Hye-jin suddenly splashes cold water in Ha-neul's face, surprising her. Ha-neul slowly turns her head back to Hye-jin, who is looking right at her in anticipation, smiling. Just then Ha-neul forms a bowl with both of her hands and repeatedly splashes water right back at Hye-jin who shrieks in laughter. After drying themselves with paper towels, the two girls head outside.

"The fishing village is in that direction," Yeong-su says, pointing way off into the distance further up the coast. They can see the ocean from where they are standing, as the park is on a slightly higher elevation atop a hill. They will need to walk along the coastal road to reach the village.

"We're on the outskirts of Dalian," Yeong-su adds, "Not the city proper. Out here, there are local fishermen we can contract to take us over to South Korea. We'll need money, but I know someone who can help us. We'll make a stop along the way to pick up some cash."

Yeong-su then hands Hye-jin and Ha-neul each a piece of bread and a water bottle. They look at him, surprised.

"I woke up early and went into town," Yeong-su says as he hands it to them. He still manages to look down at the ground and slightly off to the side to avoid eye contact.

Yeong-su leads the way alone down the hill and onto the coastal road. Ha-neul and Hye-jin follow close behind, munching on their bread, then washing it down with water. As Ha-neul finishes her snack, she notices Yeong-su didn't seem to have anything for himself. He walks with his hands in his pockets. Out in the bright morning sun, Ha-neul can see clearly how scrawny he really is. She thinks he looks malnourished.

"Oppa," Ha-neul calls out to him as he walks in front. "Did you eat this morning?"

Yeong-su just raises his hand above his head, as if to say he's okay.

"Do you want to have some water at least?" Ha-neul asks.

Yeong-su just keeps walking on, his head ever hanging towards the ground.

They continue on silently for about half an hour before finally reaching the edge of the fishing village. The buildings are no more than two stories tall. The windows look out towards the sea on their left, to the right the village stretches out from the coast and branches out into small neighborhoods. There is not that much traffic in town, in fact most people seem to not have cars as there are more people walking out and about. The average age of the town's residents seems to be quite high, as Ha-neul cannot see any young people anywhere, not even kids.

They follow Yeong-su who knocks on the door of one of the houses not far from the docks which are now in view. An old man opens the door.

"Yeong-su!" the old man exclaims in Korean, almost in disbelief.

"Yes, it's me," Yeong-su replies, hanging his head.

The old man reaches out his arms. He is shorter than Yeong-su, but Yeong-su now leans over further, almost as if falling into the old man, so the old man tucks Yeong-su's head into his chest and hugs him like a parent hugging a child, patting Yeong-su's back to comfort him.

"It's alright," the old man says quietly. Yeong-su doesn't make a sound. The old man adds, "It'll be alright, come on in. Who are they?"

The old man motions to Ha-neul to follow them as he leads Yeong-su into the house. By now Yeong-su is standing up straight again, his head still hanging, but his face dry - Ha-neul notices he didn't even cry. They all walk into the old man's kitchen where there is a table with some fried fish and fresh rice.

The old man motions for Ha-neul and Hye-jin to eat. "Go ahead, take some," he says to them as he hands them some chopsticks. "I'm Jae-sung, Yeong-su's friend."

On the right side of the room there is a table next to the wall. On the left side are a stove and a door leading out to the side of the house. Ha-neul takes a seat closest to the wall, with Hye-jin sitting to her left. Yeong-su is sitting across the table from Hye-jin, his head turned off to the side avoiding eye contact. Jae-sung sits across from Ha-neul and has his head turned towards Yeong-su with a look of concern on his face.

"So you made it through one more time?" Jae-sung asks. "I heard about the crackdown. I wasn't sure if anyone made it out."

Yeong-su frowns and shakes his hand, waving off the comment as if to say he doesn't want to talk about it.

"Are you ... the only one?" Jae-sung asks. Jae-sung looks at Yeong-su with a disappointed face, before turning his head back and looking down towards the table. He reaches for a cup of hot tea and takes a sip.

"I came here to collect my things," Yeong-su says, gazing off back towards the living room, his face dazed and numb. "You still have them?"

"Of course," Jae-sung says. "Let these kids finish first. Go ahead and take something to eat for yourself."

Yeong-su ignores the last comment.

"Are these clients?" Jae-sung asks about the girls. "I don't think I've met them before."

"Yeah, in a way," Yeong-su replies.

"You're going to take the boat across to the South?" Jae-sung asks.

"Yup," Yeong-su replies, before they all fall silent. Yeong-su and Jae-sung wait for Ha-neul and Hye-jin to finish eating. The silence is uncomfortable.

"Hurry up," Ha-neul says to Hye-jin under her breath. Hye-jin whines in annoyance as she scoops up some rice to munch on. She stuffs the rice into her cheek and pouts before finally chewing.

After the girls finish their food, the four of them get up from the table and walk down a flight of steps into a basement. In the corner is a large wooden crate. Yeong-su walks over and removes the lid. He reaches in looking for something - from their angle, Ha-neul is unable to see what. The crate is about half the height of Yeong-su and looks like a perfect cube. Yeong-su lifts out a small metal box which looks like a toolbox and opens it, removing a large stack of Chinese paper bills.

"Sell the rest and keep the cash," Yeong-su says to Jae-sung.

"You're not coming back?" Jae-sung asks.

"I don't think so," Yeong-su replies.

"By the way, do you happen to have some old clothes for them?" Yeong-su asks humbly.

"I don't," Jae-sung replies, "But they can take some old jackets of mine. I'll be right back." Jae-sung then disappears up a flight of steps back to the first floor.

Yeong-su is standing with his hands in his pockets staring at something on the ground. Ha-neul wonders what happened to their smuggling network. It seems Yeong-su must have made the journey across the border multiple times, enough times to save up so much money. She suddenly remembers how much money her parents had to save up and wonders if Yeong-su made that money off of inflated prices, or if he just happened to ferry so many people across. She quickly favors the latter interpretation, and firmly believes Yeong-su is a trustworthy person.

Just then Jae-sung returns with a couple jackets. "These were mine from years ago, back when I was skinny," Jae-sung says, chuckling. "Here, try them on," he says to Ha-neul and Hye-jin. The clothes are impossibly large and baggy on the girls.

"They're perfect," Ha-neul replies. "Thank you, really," she says sincerely as she and Hye-jin bow.

Jae-sung leads them back up the basement stairs to the front door on the first floor. "Good luck Yeong-su," the old man says.

"Good luck you two," Jae-sung says to Ha-neul and Hye-jin.

"Thank you," Ha-neul and Hye-jin say tenderly as they bow again, much lower this time to confirm their sincerity, before following Yeong-su back out onto the street.

The three of them walk towards the docks, Yeong-su in the lead once more with Hye-jin following close behind and Ha-neul bringing up the rear. Ha-neul can see fishermen off in the distance now. She immediately remembers her parents and tells them in her heart that they finally made it. She thinks of all the hopes and dreams and expectations they had of the South, and of freedom, and how she will live in gratitude for this trustworthy friend guiding them to a second life, promising herself to repay him tenfold the happiness he has granted to her family.

She calls after Yeong-su, "Oppa, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Yeong-su says, his hands in his pockets, his head ever-tilted downward.

"How long will it take to get to the South?" Ha-neul asks.

"It'll take more than 24 hours by boat," Yeong-su replies.

"Ah, I see," Ha-neul says, before adding. "By the way, how long have you been a guide?"

"Why, you don't trust me?" Yeong-su replies in a joking tone.

"I trust you with my life," Ha-neul replies sincerely.

Yeong-su scoffs at the comment. "Perhaps you shouldn't," Yeong-su replies. "Well, anyway, I've been a guide for two years."

"Hmm," Ha-neul replies. "So you started really young? You must be good, you've made it this far without getting caught."

Yeong-su scoffs again and doesn't reply.

"I wonder how many times you crossed the border?" Ha-neul asks. "Maybe a couple dozen times?"

"More like 50," Yeong-su replies. "I guess I got lucky."

"No, that's skill!" Ha-neul says. "Oppa, you're really good."

"Enough with the 'oppa' stuff," Yeong-su replies in annoyance, abruptly stopping and surprising Hye-jin. Still looking down, he adds, "You shouldn't rely on me. Anyone who does ends up dead."

Ha-neul is taken aback. She suddenly realizes Yeong-su never once took a positive view of things. She thinks hard before replying, "We're not dead," referring to herself and Hye-jin. Hye-jin looks up like a deer in headlights standing between the two of them, completely unsure of what to do in this tense moment.

"I guess not," Yeong-su replies. "Not yet anyway." Just then Yeong-su continues walking.

Hye-jin lets out a sigh and quickly follows behind, happily resuming in a zigzag pattern and almost skipping as if nothing happened.

They walk on and quickly approach the docks. Ha-neul then asks, "What should we call you then? Guide? Friend?"

"I don't have friends anymore," Yeong-su replies.

"Hey," Ha-neul says, before reaching out for his shoulder. Yeong-su stops walking, his head still hanging. Ha-neul looks into his eyes and adds, "Consider us your friends." She then reaches for his pinky and locks it with hers. "Let's promise: we won't abandon each other."

Yeong-su pauses for a moment, his pinky locked with Ha-neul's. He then shakes his pinky, silently swearing to it.

The three walk on with Yeong-su in the lead again, Hye-jin right behind, and Ha-neul not too far in the rear. Hye-jin follows Yeong-su in her erratic way, constantly stepping on rocks and nearly tripping on multiple occasions just for Ha-neul to catch her. Hye-jin finds this oddly amusing and constantly giggles as she is caught each time before hitting the ground.

They finally walk onto a wide dock with fishing boats on either side. It's the afternoon now. Many of the fishermen are already unloading their catch, quite occupied tending to their own business to notice them walk by. Yeong-su walks towards the end of the dock to a fishing boat a bit larger than the rest.

"I wonder what you'll do in the South," Ha-neul randomly asks Yeong-su. He didn't seem to hear her. As they approach the boat, they see a different old man emerging from within.

Yeong-su calls out to the old man in Chinese. They seem to greet each other cordially. The old man then welcomes them onto the boat. She and Hye-jin follow Yeong-su onto the deck. At that moment, Ha-neul feels not only reassured, but actually excited. My life can finally start now, she thinks to herself.

"Okay, you can head inside," Yeong-su says to Ha-neul as he waits at the edge of the boat and points towards the cabin.

"Oh," Ha-neul asks, "What about you?"

"I'm not going with you," Yeong-su says.

"Wait, what?" Ha-neul replies in shock, her heart suddenly dropping like an anchor. "You can't," Ha-neul adds. "You promised."

"I'm sorry, but I can't keep that promise," Yeong-su says.

"Then why did you swear to it!" Ha-neul says, suddenly pounding her fist into his chest in disappointed anger. "I didn't think you were a liar!"

Ha-neul continues pounding into his chest.

"You don't want me as a friend," Yeong-su says.

"Said who?" Ha-neul replies. "I said we were friends, and I meant it! I need you, dammit! Are we not friends? I will stay with you no matter what!"

By now Ha-neul stops hitting Yeong-su, resting her head on his chest in resignation instead of her fist as she weeps, completely devastated.

Yeongu-su, who a moment before held his arms out in the air in an awkward attempt to stay away, now starts patting Ha-neul's hair gently to reassure her.

"You have no idea what you've meant for us," Ha-neul adds, her teary eyes hidden in Yeong-su's chest. She can hear his gentle heartbeat, belied by his tough and confident outward appearance. She pleads with him, "How can I ever repay you if you just leave us like this? Keep your side of the promise and don't abandon us."

Hye-jin is looking up at Yeong-su again, her eyes now on the verge of crying as well, disappointed as much as a six-year-old could ever hope to understand.

The old man asks something in Chinese. Yeong-su replies to him, then pauses for a moment, continuing to pat Ha-neul's long black hair as she cries in his arms. Just then he whispers to Ha-neul, "Okay, my friend, let's go together."