Summary

Beyond Our Imagination Hyewon has only ever known a life in the Kanen ghettos of hardships, starvation and pain until one day, her father is laid off from work, leaving only Hyewon suitable to provide income for her family. Her new job as a blue-collar worker for a large corporation forces her to move out of her familiar world of the Kanen ghettos to encounter one totally opposite of it - the Triary suburbans. The craziest part? These seemingly new worlds are separated by only a mere fence. *************** It was quiet at the dinner table today as if an eerie presence swept over us. We all know it, as it has become too familiar to us. I stare down at my food: a simple slice of unleavened bread and leftover soup from yesterday night. It wasn't much, but it was better than what we usually had. Lifting my finger, I poke into the bread, taking note of the fact that it was rock solid. I dipped it into the soup and took a bite, letting the taste linger in my mouth before lowering my hand and placing it back on the table. For some reason, it's like I've lost my appetite. I listen to the silent munching of everyone: my sister, my dad, and my mom. Maybe the reason we were so quiet was that no one was feeling hopeful. After all, we were well aware that Dad got laid off at work. I hate living like this: going day by day using what little we have left to get by. What'll happen when it's all gone? No one is going to hire my dad anymore since he's at the age he should be retiring. I suppose that's the way it works in the upside-down world called the Kanen ghetto. No matter how hard you try, life's going to swing back at you even harder to make sure you stay down. It's not only me who knows this simple fact, every single resident of the Kanen ghetto feels it. It settles in slowly, yet once you realize it, it's already consumed you. Sometimes, actually, all the time, living like this makes me jealous of everyone on the other side of the fence in Triary. They live with their skyscrapers, lavish mansions and large-scale monopolies. To them, we're nothing more than pawns to play in their businesses. We work for them and they can turn our life into hell. Why? Because that's just how it works. In the end, life is never fair, but people in the Kanen ghetto understand that from a young age. Triary civilians? They unde...