The chapter opens with a flashback to a time before the novel was published. In this scene, the protagonist, named Sooahn, tells his friend, Minha, that it is his birthday and that he has forgotten his password. He tells Minha that his mother pierced her heart with a piece of paper when she was a child to make sure that she would be safe if she were ever lost. She left him with a relative at a distant house, and he says that living there was lonely because he did not know what it was like to be alone. He says that he loved the gas stations, restaurants, and convenience stores that he worked at as a child. He adds that if he had known then that he would grow up to be an adult, he would have chosen a different kind of steak for his birthday. The protagonist says that his boss at the restaurant where he works is having a tough time without his wife who has recently passed away. He comforts the boss every day.