authors note

salut and happy sun and moon day. im working tomorrow, so im going to be wiped by 4pm, and probably wouldn't post this otherwise lol. so here we go.

anywaaay please fav, follow, and review!

chapter title is from run by exo m

enjoy


"Excuse me?" My mother asked, her voice wavering slightly in tone. I shut my eyes, and said a silent prayer to any deity looking down at me, to pity me and let this all past, for Christ's sake.

"I landed in North Korea." I said, and heard my mother breathlessly curse in Cantonese on the other line. The Lees had turned around to face me, staring in confusion, but I couldn't say anything to them. "I stripped the identification off of the boat so I wasn't caught."

"Marie, please tell me you weren't arrested." My mother said, sounding close to tears, and I felt my heart do a nauseating slam into my intestines. "Please tell me you aren't about to be executed."

"I'm not. I made it to China." My mother sighed audibly. "I'm safe."

"How?"

"I walked."

"You walked?" My mom said incredulously.

"I walked from Pyongyang to China." My mother cursed again.

"Alone or with someone else?" My mother asked, and I could hear my dad in the background, asking my mom what was wrong. She's probably up, pacing around the bedroom, because of the time difference. I feel guilt pooling in my belly from waking her up with the frightening news of her daughters misadventure to a heavily policed military state with mediocre relations with Canada.

"I'm traveling with 3 defectors." I said, looking at the three of them, who were still staring at me, now with expressions of fear. "One boy, two girls. My age."

"What part of China are you all in right now?" I ran over towards the street, and looked for a sign listing the city I was in, and the rest of the group followed me. Unlike North Korea, this border city in China had tons of people, modern buildings jutting up from the ground and leering down, with signs and brands both in English and Chinese, and a significant population of trainers and their pokemon, and I found myself getting swallowed in a crowd, and grasping blindly for my companions, who had stayed close behind me, bewildered by the sights in front and around them.

"...Dandong."

"Are you staying, or going to Beijing?"

"Beijing."

"Your father and I will meet you there. Are you going to walk?" My mother asked, and I could hear my dad again, calling my mother's name.

"I guess? The three people I'm traveling with don't know any form of Chinese, and I don't want to risk getting them caught and sent to their doom."

"You could still get caught walking." My mother said. "It's like sending sheep straight into the tiger's mouth, you know?"

"Yes… I do. I just think it's better if we walk to Shenyang." I said, fidgeting with my fingers. "I'll buy a map, and some food, and then we'll get on a bus." My mother sighed.

"Fine." She said, and I pictured her crossing her arms. "Stay safe, and stick with your group, okay?"

"Love you." I said, overcome with homesickness as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water over my head.

"Love you too." My mom replied, and hung up. I turned my phone off, and looked at the three of them, and gestured for them to walk.

"That was my mom. My parents are going to meet us in Beijing." I said, as I looked around. "We're going to walk to Shenyang, and then I'll cough up some money for bus tickets." Joon-ho, noticing the people walking around with their pokemon beside them, or carrying them if they were small enough, released his Magby, who was very curious about its surroundings, and held it in his arms as we walked.

"How are you going to get money?" Yeong-mi asked, and I shrugged, before a street vendor in front of a large retail building, with stores for clothes and cosmetics, caught my eye, and I whipped my head around, and approached it. An older man sat in a metal foldable chair, with North Korean money, and books, and that's when I knew how I was going to get us money.

"Want a souvenir from North Korea, miss?" The older man asked me, which strengthened my discovery, and I politely said no thanks, before I walked over to the three defectors.

"Do any of you have money from North Korea on you?" I asked, fiddling with my bag.

"I have a lot left over." Joon-ho said, cocking his head. "Why?" I looked over, and found a nearby souvenir shop, and pointed to it.

"We're going to sell it." I said, leading the three across the street, and in front of the white, slightly run down building, with a giant, blue sign that read, in full "DANDONG TOURIST COMPANY", in both English and Chinese. The four of us walked in the mechanical doors, being met with a loud mechanical chime, which caused the North Koreans to jump. The shop was nothing I hadn't seen in Vancouver's Chinatown before, a store with tables and shelves stuffed to the brim dedicated to small goodies, DVDs, tea sets, statues, toys, and other things that were vaguely Asian, not entirely Chinese. However, almost everything in the store was dedicated to North Korea, books, clothes, cigarettes, alcohol, toys, even DVDs! We found ourselves looking around, amazed at the things around us, before we gathered our bearings, and I walked over to the young woman, about our age, with long hair in a ponytail and a thin face in a perpetual smile, manning the cash register, who bowed at me and said hello.

"Hi!" I greeted in Cantonese, smiling warmly. Joon-ho stood behind me, but the two girls were looking around the shop in curiosity. "Could we sell you some North Korean goods?" The woman nodded, and I turned to Joon-ho.

"I'll hold him." I said, and Joon-ho passed me his Magby, who didn't mind being in my arms, and was surprisingly heavy, I guess Joon-ho had his military training to help him carry the little guy, then bent down to get the money out of his bag. The cashier smiled at the little guy in my arms, and cooed at it like a baby.

"I've never seen a Magby this close before!" The cashier smiled, and the Magby made a happy quack. "What's his name?" I turned to Joon-ho.

"What's his name?" I whispered, and he glanced up at me.

"Ggwek-ggwek." He said breathlessly, and I rolled my eyes at the name. That was like naming a Litten 'Meow'.

I repeated that to the cashier, who looked confused, but smiled anyway. I shrugged in response.

"Are you all from Guangdong?" The cashier asked, as Joon-ho put a stack of North Korean money, five books about Kim Il-sung's life, and three packs of cigarettes on the counter, which the woman took eagerly.

"Macau." I said, giving Ggwek-ggwek back to Joon-ho, who smiled at the little red duck in his arms, and rocked it like baby.

"Where'd you get all this?" She asked, and thankfully, instead of stalling for five minutes, my mind came up with a instant excuse.

"A friend of ours in Macau collects North Korean goods, and gave us some extra goods to sell to get money for bus tickets." I laughed. "We're… kind of short on cash."

"I see, are you all in town to catch some pokemon?" She asked, going behind the cashier, and grabbing cash. "You know, our city was recently rated one of the best cities to catch pokemon in all of China!"

"Yeah, that's what we're doing! Then we'll be making our way down to Beijing to watch them open the gyms." I said, as she handed me a huge stack of yuan, which I struggled to hold. I took a minute to count it, the total coming up to about 650 Canadian dollars. I grinned widely, and bowed to the young woman.

"Have a good time!" She said, as I put of the yuan into my bag, and walked over to the two girls, who were looking at a book on one of the tables, and I tapped on their shoulders, and gestured for them to leave. When we left the shop, I quickly checked the prices for the bus on my phone. When I discovered I had more than enough for the three of us, I let out a loud cheer, shaking my fists up to the cloudy sky.

"We have enough money for bus tickets!" I shouted into the heavens, garnering odd stares from the people surrounding us. The rest of my group just stared at me, and I quietly straightened myself up, embarrassed.

"Let's get dinner, and then set out." I muttered under my breath, and the four of us began to walk again, drifting through the city of Dandong like plastic bags in the wind, which is an awful euphemism, but true. We had no path to follow, no map to guide us through the city, so it was our only real choice. I noticed the large amount of South Korean tourists meandering around, looking over the bridges into North Korea and chattering in the southern dialect, probably the only time they had ever seen the country above them. It rubbed me the wrong way, like they were looking at a caged animal instead of actual humans with lives and emotions, but I swallowed my anger and outrage, and kept moving.

It became apparent during our journey around the city, that Yeong-mi and Seon-hyang were pretty sheltered, even for North Korean standards. Whenever they saw something odd, such as a woman wearing skinny jeans, who glared at us in anger and confusion, the two would start to chatter amongst themselves, and turn to me and demand what she was doing. The two would suddenly stop in their tracks stare at window displays of stores, whether they were clothes, or just like… furniture. Joon-ho seemed amazed at some things, but not to the extent that they were, so I knew it wasn't because every member of North Korean society hadn't seen a microwave before. I rationalized it as the two of them being on a shorter leash then most North Koreans, and only shown what the government wanted them to see.

We found a decent looking restaurant, a pretty normal looking building honestly, in the center of town, with a large, flashing neon sign advertising noodles. I sighed, deciding to risk food poisoning to eat something other than fish jerky or soup. I corralled the three North Koreans, and led them into the resturaunt. The interior was bright, with lights hanging from the ceiling illuminating every part of the room, dark, wooden tables scattered around the room, and a large CRT television hanging on the wall, showing a cheesy Chinese drama argument between a young, attractive man and woman, probably love interests, and loud Mandarin pop music playing throughout the building. The four of us were greeted by a hostess, a woman who looked to be about my mother's age, with bleached blond hair and a forced grin. I did most of the talking, and the woman sat us down at a booth towards the back, the Lees next to each other and Seon-hyang close by me, and soon, a much younger waitress, about Joon-ho's age, with a cheery demeanor and dark hair to her shoulders, and bangs in her eyes, greeted us, and gave us our menus, which led into a whole 6 minutes of me describing various items of Chinese cuisine to them before the waitress returned. I decided to have a Chongqing hot pot, an old favorite me and (surprisingly) my dad enjoyed together in Vancouver's Chinatown, Yeong-mi ordered Char Siu pork belly strips, and both Seon-hyang and Joon-ho decided to share with me, after I told them how big the pot would be. I ordered Chrysanthemum tea, and the rest of my companions settled for water. With that, the waitress left us alone, with no one else in the restaurant. All of us were silent, Joon-ho watching the TV, before I suddenly heard the opening bars to a song I heard frequently growing up, a smile growing on my face, and I began to dance along, as I let out Jessica and Varaha (Poison types were banned in restaurants worldwide because of their deadly poison, so I had to wait to feed Nina).

"Honey, you put love into my heart." I sang, as Jessica crawled in Seon-hyang's arms, and Varaha trotted over to Yeong-mi, who picked him up, and put him in her lap. "Concentrating, trying to listen."

I sang most of the song, trying to imitate the singer's hand gestures without slapping Seon-hyang across the face. Joon-ho looked very unimpressed, Gwek-Gwek was more interested in the napkins put on the table, Yeong-mi was clapping along, as was Jessica, Varaha could care less, and Seon-hyang looked very embarrassed.

"Ohhh…" I sighed as the song ended, leaning back, before I burst out laughing. "I haven't heard that song since I was ten… That brought me back."

"Don't do that again." Seon-hyang said quickly, flush dancing across her cheeks, and I laughed harder.

"Did I embarrass you?" I drawled, pulling on Seon-hyang's shirt sleeve, who yanked her arm back with a bright red face. I cooed at her, before I turned to my rapidly cooling tea and the television in view. I watched nervously as a large 'breaking news' graphic floated on the TV, cutting off the cheesy drama playing before. I hoped it was something not North Korea related, maybe some corrupt politician resigned from Congress again after Weibo users harassed him. I watched as the graphic faded to a prim reporter in a bright red dress shirt on against a purple backdrop.

"Breaking news out of North Korea." The woman announced, and I felt my stomach free fall into my intestines, and I tried my best not to cough up my tea. "A report released by Pyongyang has allegedly accused US spies of kidnapping two female state musicians, and transporting them across the DMZ, into South Korea, for 'immoral purposes'."

I leaned back, back hitting the cushion, and I swallowed my laugh. US spy? Immoral purposes? Across the DMZ? Jesus, how wrong could they be? I continued to watch the TV, just in case pictures or names were shown.

"Pyongyang has not identified the two girls, the only thing known about them is that they were members of the popular all female band, Moranbong." The woman continued, and a video of the band performing together in bright white military dresses upon a large stage, the audience swarmed with elites in dark green uniforms, clapping in unison, and I managed to spot Seon-hyang amongst the other singers, a fake smile strewn across her face as she gestured stiffly, as if her entire bottom half was glued to the floor, unmoving, and I felt thankful that she hadn't needed to brandish a Stepford smile anymore. I turned to the real girl, who had heard the song on the TV, and was sitting frozen with a fearful expression on her face, and I saw that Yeong-mi and Joon-ho were frozen in place as well.

"Don't worry." I said, and all 3 of them turned to me. "They haven't named you, and they think the US military abducted you and took you across the DMZ. We're good for now." All of them seemed to relax, and I turned to the TV again.

"A response from US President Donald Trump is expected at midnight Beijing time, and South Korean officials have not commented." The anchor continued, before bowing, and with that, the TV returned to its drama programming. My heart was still planted firmly in my stomach due to the fact that it hit me that I just caused a major diplomatic crisis, and that it would take months for the truth to come out, because I wasn't leaving immediately to Canada to grant the three refugee status. What if I restart the Korean War? What would textbooks read? 'Marie Jones was just 20 when she accidentally landed in North Korea, beginning a chain of events that would lead to thousands of deaths.' Oh god, what if I caused people to die? Thankfully, Joon-ho broke me out of my thoughts.

"What did Pyongyang give as the reason you 'abducted' Seon-hyang and Yeong-mi, Miss US Bastard?" Joon-ho joked, and I laughed heartily, getting rid of my nerves, as our food was delivered to us. I quickly plopped the beef, vegetables and Sichuan peppers into the boiling soup broth, getting our dinner started. I kept some vegetables on the plate, and divided them up between Varaha, Jessica, and Ggwek-Ggwek, and watched them chow down eagerly, before I answered, making sure the waitress wasn't in listening distance.

"They basically vaguely alluded to prostitution." I said, stirring the soup with a provided spoon. "Or human trafficking. Probably both."

"Pro-sti-tut-ion?" Seon-hyang sounded out, cocking her head in confusion. "What's that?" I looked over to see Joon-ho look very grim, and Yeong-mi shook her head violently.

"It's… uh… when s-someone pays for someone else to spend time with them." I stuttered, feeling my cheeks burn, and I nervously stirred. "In the bedroom. Alone."

"Oh. Oh." Seon-hyang said, her eyes widening, and her complexion turned bright red, and my hormonal brain snagged on how pretty her face was at that hue, before I diverted it elsewhere.

"Yeah." I said quietly, and the two of us fell into an awkward silence.

"Did the US reply yet?" Yeong-mi asked between bites of her pork ribs, trying to change the subject.

"It's daybreak for them, so not yet." I said, shrugging slightly. "They will, though. Any country doesn't like when their military is accused of human trafficking, or spying for that matter." I doled out the finished soup into three bowls, then gave them to Seon-hyang and Joon-ho.

"Be careful, this stuff is pretty spicy, even for me, and I grew up drinking this stuff." I warned, before I took a sip of my soup. I wasn't immediately hit with the spice, which was good, I hadn't made it inedible by accident, but after a minute, I felt my mouth go numb, and all was well. I looked over at Seon-hyang and Joon-ho, who were obviously sweating, but not deterred.

"You grew up on this?" Seon-hyang asked, with a flushed face, and I nodded. Seon-hyang looked at me with wide eyes, before shrugging, and returning to her soup. After 10 minutes, all of us had finished our soup, Yeong-mi had eaten her ribs, and I grabbed some leftover vegetable garnish to feed Nina. We paid for our meal, I retrieved my pokemon, and left the restaurant, and I got ready to walk some more.

However when I stepped outside, I was rushed by the winter cold, and the weather outdoors had fallen into a heavy blizzard, snow and cold winds slapping my face, and I shivered in my long sleeved shirt, bunching myself together. I checked the temperature on my phone, and balked when it read -22 Celsius. We weren't walking in that weather, no way.

"Okay, change of plans." I said loudly, trying to yell over the roaring winds, and the three of them stopped. "We're going to go to the nearest train station, and take a train to Shenyang."

"What about your money?" Yeong-mi shouted, face covered in distraught. "How are we going to get to Beijing?"

"I'll battle someone for cash!" I shouted back, as the wind attempted to push me to my knees. "It's going on the train or dying, man! This is the only option! Let's go!" With that, I brought up the directions of the train station, which wasn't too far away, and we set out, managing to travel 3 blocks to the train station, which was a plain, dark grey stone building surrounded by tan colored hotels. When we walked into the warmth of the train station, I walked over to the ticket office, and ordered four tickets for the next train to Shenyang, which happened to be at 4 am, due to delays, which gave us a good 2 hours of twiddling our thumbs in the lobby, which was a large grey room with benches and a flat screen TV blasting the news, a hallway leading to a bathroom and vending machines, their light visible from a distance.

After I got our tickets, we stretched out in the empty lobby, putting down our bags and resting either on the benches, where Joon-ho sat, holding a sleeping Ggwek-Ggwek, and also where Yeong-mi rested, taking up a decent part of the bench, or the floor, which is where Seon-hyang prefered to lay, flat on her back, not caring about the concrete floor, with closed, relaxed eyes, and dark hair (still in that perfect bob, even though I swore my hair was becoming rattier and greasier by the day) splayed across her face.

"Aren't you uncomfortable?" I asked, looking down at her from the bench. "I can give you my sleeping bag if you want to lay down."

"No." She said, a small smile gracing her face. "I'm fine. Besides, it reminds me of home."

"Home?" I questioned, with wide eyes. Seon-hyang opened her eyes, and looked at me unflinchingly.

"Yes."

"Didn't your parents have a hard time moving around you?" I asked, holding my chin up with one hand. "Like, when they were walking around the house and stuff, getting chores done or dinner done."

"I don't have parents." Seon-hyang said in a slightly somber tone, and she closed her eyes again. I said nothing, just stared at the resting girl in utter shock. Suddenly, everything made sense, why she was willing to follow Yeong-mi into China, even though she was loyal to Kim Jong-Un. Yeong-mi and Joon-ho were her only family left, and if they left, she wouldn't have anyone left. She'd be alone. It was so obvious! So, so obvious… I slid down from my seat until she was right next to me, and I ran my fingers through her hair, causing her to sigh. I wanted to hold her to my chest, make her feel safe, make her feel warm, feel how cold she is from the outdoors. I wouldn't mind. I wouldn't mind. It's her, after all, her presence is enough for me. I choked all of my feelings down, not wanting to creep her out further. I had only gotten her to like me a few days ago, all my progress could be thrown out just as fast if I suggested romantic interest.

"I'm sorry for prying." I said softly, as the woman leaned into my touch, and she opened one eye. I managed to catch a glimpse of confusion on her face, but it disappeared. Seon-hyang crawled closer to me, laying her head in my lap and resting between my legs, which made me feel things, things which I also quickly swallowed down. I looked over at the TV, which was now broadcasting the US president's response to our defection, or 'abduction' if you would. As he accused North Korea of lying about the kidnapping to cover up the girl's probable execution to make the country look god (which garnered a chuckle from me), Seon-hyang opened her eyes at my laugh, and then squinted at the man on the TV.

"What's the US jacka-president saying?" Seon-hyang asked, her brows turned upwards in confusion. Even after all this, I thought to myself, and she's still quick to call an American a jackal. Old habits really do die hard.

"Basically accusing them of executing you and Yeong-mi." I said, and Seon-hyang grimaced. "And lying about it to get people angry at America. As usual."

"They're both lying." Seon-hyang groaned, and frowned, laying her head on my inner thigh, which burned - even through clothing- at the contact.

"Yup." I said, continuing to rub Seon-hyang's head as I reached for my bag and let Nina out, who just looked at the two of us with an unimpressed expression ("It took you two that long?"). I got her dinner out, and watched her chow down from the corner of my eye.

"In America." Seon-hyang suddenly asked, after watching the TV for a while and getting my attention. "Does the president go into schools and pick his aides?" I was taken completely by surprise by that question, and it took me a few minutes for me to respond.

"...No?" I said, looking down at her in shock. "At least… I think so?"

"Oh." Seon-hyang said, looking up at me with a flush across her face.

"Did… did that happen to you?" I asked softly. Seon-hyang nodded the best she could, while still on my lap.

"I went to a music academy… One day, people from the Party came into our class, and asked for me." Seon-hyang said, putting her hand on my knee. "I thought they were going to kill me, but they said that the Dear Leader had liked my singing enough to let me join a state band! So, I moved into the barracks where the members lived, and then I started singing."

"So, you joined because of that?"

"Yes." Seon-hyang said, sighing lowly. "It was my duty."

"I thought so." I said lowly as I scratched my chin, looking over at Nina, who had finished her dinner, curled up into a spiky purple ball, and was snoring loudly. "When they showed your concert, you looked like someone glued your feet to the ground and told you to smile and dance." That garnered a peal of adorable giggles from Seon-hyang.

Both of us jolted out of my skin when I heard my phone vibrate against the floor, and I reached over to pick it up. My dad was calling me from his cell phone, probably to ask me more questions. I guessed that my mother had told him everything she already knew from me, and he wanted to know more, or check in with me. Both were possible answers.

"Who is that?" Seon-hyang asked, peering at my phone, trying to read the English on it.

"My dad."

Seon-hyang made a quiet noise, and looked up at me with curious eyes. I decided not to let the call go to voicemail to avoid further panicking, and picked up the phone.

"Hey."

"Hey kiddo." My dad said, a nervous tone to his voice. "Your mother told me everything."

"Sorry for making you worry for 5 days..." I said quietly, scratching at my head. I was half expecting to be reprimanded, half expecting him to sympathize with me.

"I'm not mad." My dad replied, relieving my stress a little. "Why would I be mad at you? You could've gotten killed if you called! I'm just relieved you're safe, now. Where are you?"

"Still in Dandong." I said, rubbing Seon-hyang's head softly, garnering a smile. "It dropped to -22 Celcius, so we ended up going by train."

"Hmm." My dad hummed. "That's good."

"By the way…" My dad continued, and I knew what was coming next. "While you were in North Korea, did you overhear anything about the girls from Moranbong?"

"Dad…" I sighed, getting ready for his reaction. "They're traveling with me."

"...Excuse me?"

"They weren't 'abducted' by the US military." I said, stopping my hand so I didn't accidentally scratch Seon-hyang in a nervous tic. "They defected with me."

"Did they have a choice in the matter?"

"Yeah… I mean, it's not like I slung them over my shoulder and walked for 5 days." I said, scratching my face. "They weren't too crazy about the outside at first, sure, but they could've bailed and got me arrested."

"What got them to stay, if they weren't crazy about the outside world?" My dad asked.

"One of the girl's cousins is also traveling with me." I said, looking over at a napping Joon-ho, head drooping, and then at a sleeping Yeong-mi. "He defected with me because he wanted to be a trainer. The other girl followed because they were the only friends she had."

"Well, at least we'll never have to worry about someone making a sappy Lifetime movie about you and your friends." My dad laughed, and I giggled a little. "How are they holding up?"

"One of the girls originally hated my guts and called me a 'Yankee' to my face." I stopped because my dad was laughing so loud that I couldn't get anything in. "We managed to become friends, she's laying on my lap right now. The other one has also gained huge strides from when we first met. Otherwise, the both of them are pretty curious. They'll stop right in front of something and ask what it is, like storefronts with electronics, and a woman wearing jeans."

"Do they know any English?"

"Not that I know of." I said, and my dad sighed.

"It'll be just like when I met your mother's family." My dad lamented. "I was the only one there who wasn't speaking Cantonese."

"Sorry." I said, shrugging a little. "More musical than diplomatic, so I guess they didn't need English."

"It's fine, it's fine. How are you holding up?"

"I'm pretty sure mom's gonna complain about my hair, but I'm fine." I said. "I'm not sick or anything. I had hot pot for dinner, today."

"Better than Vancouver's?"

"Not that good." I snorted. "I'm not in the Canton area yet."

"Your pokemon okay? Please tell me you didn't catch any over there."

"They're good, and no, I'm not that crazy." I laughed. "There wasn't anything really to catch there. Mostly saw Rattata and Starly until Mount Paektu."

There was a pause between us, and Seon-hyang looked up at me with concern in her eyes, and I mouthed 'nothing bad' to her, which caused her to relax slightly.

"Well, it must be late for you, sweetheart." My dad said softly. "I'll let you go, we'll be in Beijing in two days, stay safe out there, okay?"

"Kay. Love you."

"Love you too."

Click.

"What did your father ask you?" Seon-hyang asked as I put my phone down, a slightly worried expression on her face, and I smiled down at her.

"He asked if you were the girls he heard about on the TV, then he asked how you two were faring." I grinned, running my hand through her hair again. "I told him that you two are very curious about the new world around you, so you two were doing well."

"Oh." Seon-hyang hummed, before her attention was brought to the TV. Another news story started playing in the time that our attention was diverted elsewhere, detailing the history of Moranbong. Because of that topic, they started playing clips of the band playing together. This time, all of the band was dressed in black party dresses, and I couldn't spot Seon-hyang, so I guess it was just the instruments on the stage. I watched the background TV screen, which displayed Kim Jong Un signing something, the shots of a rocket lifting off into the sky, a map of the United States, then a 3D model of the world. I watched as the 3D Earth exploded at the climax of the song, with a shout of "Tansume!" from the violinists, and the people in the audience (probably military officials and their wives) danced in a North Korean version of a mosh pit. It was so surreal and so hilarious that I fished out my idea notebook from my bag and wrote the basic idea of the concert, so I could tell it in a stand up routine. Seon-hyang craned her neck to look at my notebook, and pouted at me when she saw that I was writing in English.

"That's an old concert…" Seon-hyang whined, frowning at the TV. "They should show a newer one!"

"I think they're showing a chronology of your performances." I said, and a look of realization came over Seon-hyang's face as the performance changed to a more recent one.

We busied ourselves by watching the TV go through several Moranbong concerts, for most of them, the Seon-hyang on stage sang with a fake smile on her face, barely moving her lower body. Her clothes on stage changed from long party dresses with crystals, now, she either wore the green military uniform I loved so dearly, or a white military-style dress, with either a white hat with a gold emblem on the top, or no hat. Even though she looked like Kim Jong Un's poseable doll while on stage, I couldn't deny that she was a beautiful singer, and I found myself humming along to the song in earnest, even though it was an empty praise song.

"Look, look!" Seon-hyang giggled loudly, and pointed to the TV, where she was singing towards the end in a shot of the group. "I'm stuck, Marie!" I laughed quietly as well, and grabbed the Coca-Cola I got on the boat from my bag, hoping that it hadn't gone flat, and opened it with a short blast of carbonation, which made Seon-hyang jump, and get up from my lap.

"What's that?" Seon-hyang asked, looking over the dark bottle in earnest, before she spotted the red and white logo, and smiled. "Oh! Coca! They have that in North Korea!"

"Coca?" I questioned, looking at her, and she nodded vigorously. "Huh. You wanna sip?" This got me another nod, and I smiled lopsidedly. I guess a bit of Coca-Cola snuck past the border from China somehow, and Seon-hyang drank it, even though it was 'capitalist'. Odd, but I waved it away, thinking that one of her bandmates gave it to her.

I handed the drink over to her, and she opened the cap with a crack, and took a swig of it. She smiled warmly at the sweet taste, before she handed it back to me. I took a drink of the soda, which was still fizzy, thank god, before screwing the cap back on. Seon-hyang draped herself over my legs, and settled back into my lap. The news had changed topics, instead, discussing the recent meeting of Politburo, and I watched Seon-hyang begin to doze out of boredom. I had a few more swigs of the caffeinated soda to keep me awake, because I was the only person who could speak Chinese, and could therefore bluff my way out of deportation. However, I felt myself beginning to doze off as well, and I was trying to stay awake, until I heard a loud mechanical bell, and then, a robotic voice.

"The train to Shenyang is now approaching Dandong Station." The feminine voice said, before repeating itself, and then ending the message with the mechanical bell again, and I saw the yellow lights of the train shine through the storm, and Seon-hyang and I jolted up at the sight of the white high-speed train cutting through the white of the storm. I quickly retrieved Nina with a light click from the pokeball, jogged over to the Lees, shook them awake, and told them what was happening, and they reached for their bags. We quickly dashed out the doors to the concrete outdoor station, pushing against the blizzard, just as the train pulled up, and opened its doors. I led them in, and we found the train to be completely devoid of any human presence, with sterile walls and orange seats lining a very narrow path through the train, which was pretty obvious, because we were on the train at 4 am. We settled in a group of orange cushioned seats in the very back of the train, I took the window seat, with Seon-hyang sitting right next to me. As the train jolted forward at a high speed, Seon-hyang laid her head on my shoulder, smiling to herself as she shut her eyes, and fell asleep.

This was worth everything I experienced, I thought to myself, as I stroked her hair again


notes-

dandong is a major city on the chinesMe-north korean border, known for that border, specifically the 'broken bridge', a bridge between north korea and china that was bombed by us forces during the korean war, and was never fixed. people really do sell north korean money and books and shit as a gift, which is interesting i guess... anyway its probably the best way to look into north korea without being in north korea, because the border is barely patrolled unlike the dmz.

ggwek-ggwek means quack. thats what it means. he named a duck quack

the song marie sang in the resturaunt is "honey" by cyndi wang

what seon-hyang describe as happening to her, really does happen to girls who are in the inner party. however one thing i didnt mention is that the (mostly male) officials check if the girl is a virgin. i really really didn't feel like writing a mention of sexual assault because 1. it wasnt going to go anywhere 2. its cheap shock


anyway, this chapter was kind of filler-y, and the next one will be too, but eeeh, i need to develop the cahracters more.

sorry this is so late, i lost the mood to write for a few days last week, and i did a portfolio review last week (sva and cal arts, both positive). i also finished a really interesting book on north korea called "The Purest Race: How North Koreans View Themselves." its pretty eye opening in a way.

i got sun today, at target, where they had a odd promotion where you could get a free soda and popcorn, the soda was soda and the popcorn was really stale. i chose litten, and named it after a tiger at work.

anyway im wiped, im going to bed right now so i can go to work.

please review, fav and follow.

au revior

marie's pokemon

jessica - clefairy f, varaha, tepig m, nina, nidorina f

joon-ho's pokemon

ggwek-ggwek, magby m

yeong-mi's pokemon

n/a

seon-hyang's pokemon

n/a