May 10, 1954

The radio's finally showing signs of recovery.

It's an older model, and Korea knows it. He had managed to keep it safe throughout the three years of the bloodied war, although not without scratches, rips along the edges of the wires, and rotting paint. He's fine with it as long as it functions, even if not entirely efficiently—there's been a lack of working technology ever since North Korea retreated back to his communist lands with his butt ugly leader, so he has to act sparingly. Other countries pitch in to help, though, so it's not as if he's wallowing in his own devastated, smoke-filled streets alone. America, one of the more frequent helpers, has been stopping by every once in a while; an optimistic grin plastered over his face as he supports him with the necessary money and supplies. Every time the wide smile illuminates America's features, any hope that was torn out of Korea hesitantly beings to seep back. It'll be a slow process, but maybe all this rebuilding will be successful and his cities won't resemble a war-ridden dumpster forever. With a little more enthusiasm now, he fumbles with the dial, trying to catch any amount of frequency for the first time since the night before.

-nam has—defeated Fr—Dien Bien—

He punches the radio, then immediately shoots out a curse. Shit, he didn't break it, did he? His bruised hand reaches for the electronic to snatch it off of the shelf, but the thick, scratched sounds suddenly grow more coherent and stutter his movements.

-And the French forces have retreated from Dien Bien Phu—with- new nation of Vietnam and France both held—ceasefire. The two nations along w—the leading powers—United St—China, Great Britain, Russia—will open negotiations at the conference in Geneva-

The static slowly manifests the rest of the broadcasting into an indistinguishable blur, but he manages to understand 'conference in Geneva'. Geneva, wasn't that in Switzerland or something? A peace conference in Geneva-that made sense. Japan never liked to discuss the nature of both World Wars to him, but even Korea knew of Switzerland's renowned neutrality during wars. He sits back on his chair, ignoring the dangerous creak of the grating wood from the added weight.

—So Vietnam's pushed France out of her land, huh? An unexpected smile briefly curves his lips up, to which he reprimands himself immediately after. No-he can't smile at that. He's supposed to be on France's side. During the Korean War, France's men shed blood and tears over soil that was not theirs, over men they had never once met. –And it wasn't just France. All of the nations that sent soldiers and medics to his land—he'll need to repay them all with anything they ask for; money, loyalty, or the crimson liquid that runs through his flesh. It'll take years, perhaps decades, to reimburse all of them.

Only weeks after the war, Korea (who never likes feeling tied down with a debt) finally finds an opportunity to prove himself to the Western nations—to support France's struggle to reclaim a colony. However, Korea couldn't help but feel a sad but deep connection-a connection as colonies under an empire's repression. Eventually, his heart warms up to Vietnam's cause—even if he has no idea what to think of her. He certainly doesn't hate her, but he isn't her greatest ally either. Even as Korea and Vietnam grew up in the same continent, Korea always fell just short of fully understanding her. Their interactions were fleeting and perhaps sweet, perhaps not. Every time they met, however, she would always wear a mysterious smile with a hint of curiosity.

No matter how much scrutiny he put, Korea left the smile unreadable each time.

Then, an obtrusive ringing pierces through his reverie. He looks hastily about for the phone—it's always hard to find things in his room nowadays, especially when his floors always resembles a dumpster. Eventually, he grabs a discarded phone on the bookshelf across the room, his movements clumsy along the way.

"Hello?" Korea answers, wishing his voice wasn't so hoarse.

"Hey, Korea!" The cheerful voice nearly rattles the receiver. "How've you been?"

Oh. America. He clears his throat nervously, trying to sound presentable. He's been doing that a lot around America lately; he also can't help a small flush creeping to his cheeks. Whether it was out of embarrassment or something else, he couldn't tell. "Good," he manages. "Things have been tough—"—well, America already knows that. "—But I've been pulling through."

America laughs. "Yeah, I know. But we're working on that all right, huh? You'll be up and out in no time."

Korea only nods in response. There is a confused silence on the other end, since America didn't actually hear a response. Then, "So! We've got the armistice signed and all, which is great, but there's still a lot of things we need to deal with. You know, like whether UN's troops are still going to be stationed at Korea, how your elections are gonna work out-"

"Whether I'm going to stay separated or not?"

"That too." America doesn't wait for Korea to finish letting out a heavy breath as he continues on relentlessly. "All these other countries and I have already been meeting at the Geneva conference for like a month now, but now you're going to be meeting up with us in a couple of days. Just letting you know beforehand so you can get prepared and stuff."

Korea blinks, turning his gaze elsewhere as he recalls something. "Geneva? Isn't that supposed to be where you guys all decide what's going to happen with Vietnam?"

"That too, yeah. " He can feel America grinning against the receiver. "We can kill two birds with one stone, huh?"

"The birds. Right." He'd always been trying fruitlessly to fly to freedom-against the constraints of countries that were always stronger than him. His wings would be pierced, his mouth would be sown, his body would be tied down into the swallowing mud. With a sinking feeling, he realizes that Vietnam must have felt the same way. "I heard Russia's going to be there? And China?" He can't help the tremor in his voice at the mention of the two.

America can't seem to keep his voice straight either, because Korea hears a considerable dark edge in his tone. "Yeah. This is supposed to be all neutral-but Russia would be willing to blow our heads off at any given opportunity, you know. So watch out." Korea notices that America had forgotten to mention China. Whether that was intentional or not, he is relieved-he doesn't want to know what China would do if he saw him. After a pause, he clears his throat. "So. I'll be keeping your more updated on that, but jeez—" his words are suddenly cut off with background noises, filled with rustling papers and obscure conversations. Seconds pass before America speaks hurriedly (his voice is still bright, though). "—Hey Korea, I gotta run. Looks like my boss needs me to look over some paperwork, so I'll catch you later. Remember, Geneva!"

"Yeah," Korea says. "Geneva. Birds. Killing." A part of him wishes America had heard that, but the line had gone dead mid-sentence. The phone clicks shut as he sets it down, bringing back the familiar silence.

He wonders how Vietnam is doing.

A/N: I uh put a lot of history shit in here so I'll just briefly talk about it.

The three years of bloodied war = The Korean War, between the newly formed nations of North and South Korea, started in 1950 and ended in 1953—so the fic starts roughly a year after. At that point, Korea still struggled to rebuild itself; luckily, the US helped with that and had (and still has) their troops stationed in South Korea.

Now onto what actually matters: The Indochina War. France, who had been defeated by the 3rd Reich during WWII, lost many of their colonies to Japan, including Indochina (what later becomes Vietnam). During this time, Vietnam had been steadily building its independence and boots Japan out. Yay. But after the war, France's plan is to take Vietnam back as its colony once again. Consequently, the Indochina War breaks out, from 1946-1954. Dien Bien Phu is the last major battle, which was a decisive Vietnamese victory. Peace talks in Geneva started before the battle actually ended, but it wasn't until the victory that the two countries began negotiations after that. The Geneva Conference, starting in April and lasting until July, 1954, had two goals: the first was to try to find a way to unify Korea. The second task was to discuss the possibility of restoring peace in Indochina.