I wake up like instant ramen. I sit up and reach under the pillow for my gun. I pause with my hand stretched in a fist full of paper and scan the darkness and get hit with a rush of blood filled with stars, planets, and moons; the darkness that glimmers with colors from imperfect […]

The way she shunned me afterwards. Like shunned me shunned me. It could have been worse. I could’ve been the target of an elaborate prank that started years ago, slowly gaining my confidence, my inevitable falling in love with her. In so many ways, it could’ve been worse. But shunned. Like hard! I needed to […]

The summer right before I came back to school I started working at UPS loading trucks and tossing boxes. It was a pretty good gig at first. After that first paycheck though, I realized that I was standing in the back of a truck loading boxes. It was bullshit. This wasn’t what I imagined post-graduation […]

  Funny I should meet them at the border. One would think I was just waiting for them to arrive. I’ve been loitering outside the bus station for hours. I’ve become an expert, a resident; I know the fruit lady by her maiden name. Any travelers looking lost or confused surely need my aid. I […]

Korean cultural identity is often discovered through ordinary moments, unexpected relationships, and the search for belonging. Meeting Hana Through Yoga is a personal essay exploring spirituality, love, and self-discovery in South Korea. Meeting Hana Through Yoga: Her name was Hana. I was searching for Enlightenment then. Or at least, I believed in such things. I […]

Oxymoron : Addiction, Faith, and the Search for Meaning: “Stories about addiction and recovery often explore the difficult relationship between pain, faith, hope, and the search for meaning. This personal story reflects a journey through addiction, loss, and the struggle to find a way forward.” In memory of Q-Tip  1. Quarter moons and half-moons were […]

In the mirror, a grotesque image of humanity writhing in the chains of a technocratic holocaust is interrupted by the guard checking his rearview. The minds of the future are being force-fed sugar-coated K-Pop and the glitz of smart-tech adorned by androgynous models who have long removed their genitalia in exchange for virtual real estate. […]

Detective Greenwood enters the scene of the crime, a classy penthouse in a high-end section of Super Bangkok. A sunset the color of electric grapefruit sizzles across the terrace’s window. The gumshoe’s footsteps enter the kitchen with the crackle of static. On the floor is the deceased, a blonde Caucasian with a physique no casual […]