"Where's Sumin?"

Broken Korean shattered the peace of my afternoon.

I could hear her cousins in the yard.

"She was...

she has to stay..."

Murmers. They were unsure.

I slid open the door.

"Where is she?"

Benjamin turned to me.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand..."

He was on the verge of panic.

"She's not... at shop...

Soldiers... guns...

Communist die."

He struggled to find the right words.

"No one is at your shop."

He managed to piece together a sentence-

Korean here, some English there. 

"Not even her aunt and uncle?"

I heard the kids stop fidgeting.

"No one... But... there was a notice...

People going to... communist meetings...

They're going to die."

My heart jumped into my throat.

I understood.