Summary

The narrative switches to Sunam. Namin informs him that the Circle members will be going to a Western-style nightclub for an evening where they will be exempt from the city curfew. Namin invites Sunam to be her date, though he feels self-conscious about being a tagalong rather than an invitee.The only other non-Circle member invited is Jisun. Sunam wonders why Namin is so excited about the evening since it’s atmosphere resembles Itaewon, where her sister wound up. Recently, Namin told Sunam about her sister, Kyungmin, who lives in Itaewon with an American GI and is pregnant with his child. This embodies “Namin’s worst fears about the future and provid[es] a living reminder of the horrible consequences of sex” (216). This fear keeps Namin and Sunam’s physical relationship stalled. He compares it to “buying a car and losing the key...