Beasts of a Little Land

by Juhea Kim

that it was useless to dig up old bones and try to make a broth out of them, so to speak. The best thing about the past was that it was behind you.

It is always excruciating to discover that one’s distinct connections, who ought to belong firmly and chastely in separate spheres of one’s life, are somehow acquainted, and perhaps more intimately than one would like.

“The concept of a nation is a pure construct. It serves to hold up our reality, we need it for government et cetera, but it is neither self-evident nor natural, and becomes more meaningless when you think of it in historical context. For all of human history, nations have been destroyed, absorbed into others, reborn, or forgotten, and that makes no difference to the well-being of the posterity.

Love was defined by how much one could suffer for another, by what you were willing to do to protect this person. It was a question of choosing the person with whom you’d like to hold hands on your last train ride. Now he knew the one he truly loved.

Now that I’m older I know that life is not about what keeps you safe, but what you keep safe, and that’s what matters the most.

Let’s first learn the most important word. Everything you write henceforth under your name has to be done in honesty and good faith. That’s what it means to have a good name—not who your family is or how rich or famous you are.” JungHo

EVERYONE DREAMS, BUT ONLY SOME PEOPLE ARE DREAMERS. THE NON-DREAMERS, by far more numerous, are those who see the world as it is. Then there are the few dreamers, who see the world as they are. The moon, the river, the train station, the sound of rain, and even something as mundane as porridge become something else with many layers. The world feels like an oil painting rather than a photograph, and the dreamers are forever seeing hidden colors where others just see the top shade. The nondreamers look through glasses, and the dreamers through a prism.

If love was just the deepest shade of friendship, so deep as to look like a distinct color but actually on the same spectrum of loyalty, then she loved JungHo. So much. But if it was something else altogether, then she did not.

“And I would have done even more—given up everything—to keep you safe.” His darkly burning eyes made her struggle not to flinch. “That’s not what I meant to say. Of course I want you to stay,” she said, so weakly that even she had trouble believing herself.

He said nothing; he seemed to have finally realized that he had spent his life loving someone so unworthy.

The slow-burning rage he’d felt in Seoul had been washed away and all that was left was a sense of being free.

“Don’t trust anyone, don’t suffer unnecessarily, see the truth behind what people say, and always find a way to survive. That’s my advice.”

It was utterly senseless, this world—and to act as though it did make sense was the greatest crime.

if you really love someone you say goodbye without ever leaving.

“There are just two things in the world that give you true confidence. One is overcoming difficulties on your own, and the other is being deeply loved. If you experience both, then you will be confident for the rest of your life.”

Life is only bearable because time makes you forget everything. But life is worthwhile because love makes you remember everything. I