Soo

Soo is the main character of the short story "The Church of Abundant Life." Soo grows up in Korea. When she is in high school, she falls in love with literature, and grows attached to her one-on-one English tutoring sessions with a boy named Ki-tae. Though she likes Ki-tae, when she meets his enigmatic friend, Jae, her attachments shift. Eventually, she and Jae start seeing each other and get married. Ki-tae marries a woman named Chun-ja shortly thereafter.

Three years into their marriage, Jae moves to America to create a life for himself and Soo. Two years later, Soo emigrates from Korea to meet him. She is filled with a sense of possibility and adventure. When she sees where she and Jae will be living and the little shop Jae has secured for them, however, Soo is overcome by despair. This is not the life she imagined.

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