Based off a conversation between myself and the wonderful person who Beta'd this, StarlightSteel. We were discussing how it seems like even though Korea is part of the Asian family, he doesn't seem like part of it and we then decided he's adopted. And… this is the result.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Even if little!Korea is adorable as all heck.
Warm days had become more common as summer wore on. This left the young Asian nations happy to play out in the garden while their big brother China cleaned inside.
Taiwan and Vietnam, being young girls, were sitting by the koi pond, braiding together flower chains for amusement's sake.* The two were talking pleasantly with one another, though both would release shrieks of surprise when their brothers would go bolting past.
That running could all be attributed to the fact that they were supposed to be nice to South Korea, since he was the youngest. Korea had decided he wanted to play tag and had easily got Thailand to agree, but had had much more trouble persuading Hong Kong.**
But finally the stoic brother had agreed and the three were bolting across the grass while Japan watched, making sure no one got killed.
South Korea was It and the young nation seemed happy enough to be so. He was giggling and chasing across the lawn after Thailand, who was closer than Hong Kong. Of course when Hong Kong deemed it safe to make a break for it from his spot behind the flowers, South Korea spotted him.
"I'm gonna tag you, Hong!" South Korea called with a wide grin.
Hong Kong shot him a glare. "That's not my name." he huffed over his shoulder, watching the younger making a flailing and desperate move to tag.
"Ha! I tagged you, Hong Kong, da ze~!" Korea shouted triumphantly, his young face lighting up with happiness.
"No you didn't!" Hong Kong argued. He didn't want to be It! It was much more fun to be the runner than the tagger.
"Yes I did! I tagged you right on your shoulder!" Korea argued, stamping his foot in a child's rage.
"Don't be stupid! You're not fast enough to tag me!" Hong Kong scoffed, crossing his arms. "And I'm older, so I'm right," he added. If the child ever bothered to show emotion he might have been smirking.
"Hey, don't call me stupid you dummy head! You just don' wanna be It!" Korea fumed, thrashing his arms in a violent mini-tantrum, his extra-long sleeves flailing.
"Oh yeah! Well, well…" Hong Kong struggled to think of a good rebuttal, unaware of Japan's quick approach. "Well, you're 'dopted!" he finally exclaimed in triumph.
A hush fell over the other young nations, but Hong Kong, being only about seven or eight (well, mentally and physically), stormed on. "You're not part of our family! We were happy until you showed up! China tried to get you to go live with your brother, but no!" Hong Kong was fuming, though his body language didn't say so. Giving one last long look at Korea, the little boy stormed off.
Korea's eyes had filled with tears over the course of the rant. The child, for he only looked six at the most, sat down roughly on the ground and started crying.
Awkwardly, Japan knelt next to his youngest brother and tried his best to be comforting. ***
"China!" Taiwan howled at the top of her voice. It made her feel icky to see Korea crying like that, and poor big brother Japan looked lost.
"What is it, aru?" China stood in the doorway. First Hong Kong came storming in (China could tell it was storming; he had known the child a long time), and now Taiwan was yelling. "OH!" he exclaimed upon spotting Korea's huddled form.
Korea looked up at China, tears leaving his face shiny in the sunlight while his nose ran and he hiccupped between waves of tears. "Y-you don't want me here, aniki?" he asked with a trembling lip.
"Of course I do, aru! Who said that?" China asked, carefully lifting Korea up and letting the young nation cry into his shoulder.
"H-Hong Kong." Korea sobbed, breathing uneven and shaky. "He said I'm not part of your family and that big brother North Korea doesn't want me either."
China sighed. Children. "Don't worry Korea, we're a family. And you're in it."
Those words followed Korea: through the Opium Wars, through the war that separated him from his brother and the Vietnam War.**** It carried him through watching the people he called his family split apart. He desperately held onto those words, and yet it was painfully obvious they weren't true.
Sure, they were pleased after the Korean War to find Yong Soo well, for the most part. They had shown joy when he returned to them. But not nearly as much as they had when Hong Kong returned from England's place. And even before that Korea had looked on jealously as they acted like… a family.
It was why he acted so cheerful all the time. He naturally had a pleasant demeanor, but the Korean tried extra hard to hide his lack of fitting in. By groping Japan to ruin a family moment he wasn't part of, by pulling a spastic wave and exclaiming something ridiculous. His 'Da ze's and 'originated in Korea's had begun as a child's demeanor and turned into a security blanket.
So, yes, they were a family. And he was in it. That just didn't mean he was a part of it.
End notes:
*- To my knowledge, Taiwan and Vietnam have good public relations.
**- Thailand and Korea have always had good relations, Thailand was even quick in sending aide during the Korean War. I merely used Hong Kong here because his personality in general suggested he'd be hard to convince.
***- This doesn't entirely make sense as nowadays Japan and Korea have quite abit of animosity toward one another. But I figure their young age here and Korea's fascination with Japan's 'breasts' in the strips cancelled that out.
****- These wars I organized into linear order based on when they ended.
Sorry for all the notes, just wanted to keep a couple things clear.