Chapter 1
Sim Min-ji (심민지).
(The name "Sim Min-ji" could be interpreted as something like "wise and intelligent" or "a clever and thoughtful person," depending on the specific hanja used. The precise meaning would depend on the exact characters chosen by the parents.)
Sim Min-ji:
Date of birth: 26/3/2003
Place of birth: Dobong-gu, Seoul
Mother: Sim Mi-rae (Deceased)
Father: Sim Sung-mo (Alive)
Sister: Sim Seo-yeon (Alive)
Sim Min-ji hasn’t had the easiest life so far. Her mother, the kindest, strongest person she knew, Sim Mi-rae, had died when she was 14. After her death her dad, Sim Sung-mo, became a raging alcoholic and addict, taking his anger out on gambling and multiple bottles of shity convenience store alcohol. So, she was left alone to fend for herself and her young sister, Sim Seo-yeon.
Seo-yeon was 7 years younger than Min-ji, making her 7 years old by the time of her mother’s death. After a year of enduring her father and desperately protecting her young sister from his outbursts, Min-ji decides it would be better for her and Seo-yeon to leave the house. She packs two bags and leaves.
She manages to survive for 3 months in the streets, before deciding Seo-yeon will have a better and happier childhood if she went to an orphanage. After a lot of talking and bargaining, Seo-yeon agrees, and goes to the orphanage. At first, she’s sad. She wants to be with her sister. But then, she meets a boy named Kang Cheol, a North Korean refugee, who Min-ji learns came to the South with his older sister, who she eventually meets.