First Failure

'''My mother called me a boil. My aunt called me a blessing. At nine years old, unable to live like that any longer, I took the hand of the one who called me a blessing. Following my aunt to Jeju, I experienced many "firsts" there. My first transfer, my first friend, my first fight, and even my first love. “What’s a bracken monsoon?” “The season when the spring rains fall. We call it the bracken monsoon here.” “Why?” “Because the bracken needs this rain to grow plump.” There was a playful glint in the man's eyes. And because he was smiling, he looked just like a boy, someone my own age. “You made that up, didn't you?” “I did not!” “I've never heard that the bracken here is famou...