Byeoung-Kuen is a 15-year-old boy living in North Korea who must soon join the military. He documents his experiences in a diary as he struggles with the impending change and fails an important exam. After learning that his mother has died, he is sent to the military early but manages to escape by hitching a ride on a fruit truck and later a ship. He ends up in an orphanage in the United States where he is finally adopted by a woman named Madison Lee, giving him hope for a better future.