Hyun-woo, the man who introduced himself to us, offered to show us how to throw a proper birthday party. I didn’t really mind if we skipped it, but we decided to do it for Levinas.

“Mmm, yum!”  
Levinas happily accepted some food someone had given her. Although she hated receiving anything for free, she reached into her pocket and pulled out some small change.

Twenty thousand won—the money I kept for personal use. I handed the crumpled bill to Hyun-woo, who looked horrified and waved it away.

“No need for money.”

“But for the food…”

“It’s fine. Just …