that had been almost nine months ago now , and during that time carvers relationship with kim dong-moon had progressed more along the lines of a typical heterosexual affair rather than a homosexual coupling , and stood out as a single source of pleasure in an otherwise lonely sojourn in a country distant , both in miles and in culture , to the one he considered home ; true , his work had been a constant source of satisfaction for him , particularly when it became apparent that the iconoclastic structure that they were building , which had at one time seemed little more than an old man 's impossible dream , was steadily transforming into a bricks and mortar reality , but as a balm to his emotional needs the only relief was kim .