Eun-young had to start trading when she was 14 in order to support herself and her family. While transporting goods to trade on crowded buses, men would grope her breasts and buttocks. This would happen on a daily basis. Even though her body was not yet mature, it seemed like it didn't matter to the men as long as she was female. Eun-young would twist her body or try to push their hands away, but that only gave her a moment's reprieve. As the men groped, they would stare into the women's eyes, daring them to cry out. It was the women who then had to avoid the men's eyes and turn their heads away in shame. 

It was not only on buses that sexual abuse occurred. There were numerous inspection points between Eun-young's starting and final destinations. Any time a security officer, guard, or police officer initiated an inspection, they would frisk each person's body to check for prohibited items. The authorities could grope as blatantly as they wished and no one could complain. It was a matter of survival. Getting through the inspection without incident was more important than thinking about the sexual harassment. Not a single woman complained about being touched. 

Sometimes, Eun-young would transport her goods via train instead of bus, but there were often multiple lengthy stops due to power shortages. When the trains lost power, the darkness allowed men to grope blatantly. It was as if they were just waiting for the trains to lose power and the lights to go off to begin their assaults. 

It was no use crying out when being groped. All Eun-young and the other girls and women could do was try to avoid them by hiding in a corner. 

If it appeared that the train would not move for a while, people would head to a nearby inn and all share a room regardless of gender or age. All sorts of things would happen in those rooms filled with strangers sleeping side by side. As it was a power outage that led everyone there in the first place, the inns were also dark, and it was difficult to even see the person next to you. 

A man climbed on top of the woman lying next to Eun-young. The man muffled the woman's mouth and told her he would kill her if she made a sound. His voice could be heard by Eun-young who was lying right next to them. Being so close, she could hear the rustling sounds of clothes being removed and the man moving. The woman didn't make a sound throughout the ordeal, and when it was over the man went back to his place as if nothing had happened. The only reason that man didn't climb on top of Eun-young was because she was with her aunt. It was something that happened frequently to women traveling alone without company. Her aunt whispered quietly, “if it didn't happen to you, then don't pay any attention to it. It happens all the time if you trade. You'll only invite trouble for yourself if you intervene.” That's probably what the majority of the people in the room were thinking, and why no one stopped him or intervened.

According to Eun-young, what she experienced was extremely common. Stories she heard of neighbors and family members were not extraordinary occurrences that only happened to certain people. Whenever she recalled those groping men on the buses and trains, it seemed to Eun-young that there wasn't a single man to be trusted in the entire world. How could she trust men who only saw women as bodies, and who groped her when she was still just a child? The more she ruminated over it as an adult, the more anger she felt: towards herself who hadn't cried out, and towards those men who had groped her when she was not even fully mature. These feelings tormented Eun-young in the form of nightmares for a long time.