AN: Hello, hello! I'm sorry this took so long, but here it is. If anybody spots any errors, please tell me! As usual, translations and other footnotes are at the end!
DISCLAIMER: Kankoku-ssi owns nothing. Seriously, guise.
Yong Soo was engulfed in the work of trying to get them out. He had easily allowed himself to become engulfed in the problems it presented; he fed into it so easily, trying just about everything. Emails didn't work; there was no email access—no internet—to send any emails. They couldn't just sneak out under the cover of night, either. It was winter—snowing—and Yong Soo was stuck in his chair, unable to move through the snow drifts.
Their current plan led to them hoping that there was some spy that would take pity on them. They had a letter perfectly addressed to Raivis, so their only hope was that the spy would deliver it. It was an unlikely hope, but they had to try; there was no hope if they did not even try.
Dae Jung sighed as he dove down the streets of the abandoned end of the theatre set. He told Yong Soo that he'd try for an escape route. There just had to be a way; they weren't exactly completely surrounded, were they? Dae Jung swallowed as he walked to the fence.
It was high, chain-linked and rusted; the fence had rusted barbed wire all over the top of it. Dae Jung looked at the gate. It was just was worn, and a rusted chain held it shut. He swallowed and grabbed the chain, jerking it free after a long struggle with the stiff cord of metal.
He hands felt horribly gross as they were covered in an oily and slightly rotten shade of off-brown, but Dae Jung pushed his body against the opening of the gate. It didn't move, which made Dae Jung groan. He shook his head, looking at the rust that covered his side in the fence pattern, before he grabbed the gate and tried to pull it back to open it. It moved for a moment, but after less than a centimeter of movement, the gate stopped, clearly rusted into place.
Dae Jung growled in frustration. He swore and kicked the gate, before the man made a rude gesture at it. There just had to be a way, there just had to be!
Dae Jung wiped the rust off of his hands and onto his pants. He looked around for some way to break the gate down, shaking as he mumbled aloud; "Come on….Give me some Deus ex Machina*." Communists didn't believe in God* as a general rule, but Dae Jung was willing to try anything at this point, and besides—maybe believing in Yong Soo's God* would work.
Dae Jung grabbed the gate to the fence one last time and threw himself backwards while he held onto it. The gate pried itself open loosely, a space just big enough for the needlessly small human to get through.
Something stabbed him in the leg, tearing his pants and drawing blood. Dae Jung looked down and swore as he felt he blood leak down his leg. It dripped onto the floor, leaving bright crimson stains where De Jung stood, and it stung Jung didn't feel it much at all, actually; although it was a long wound, it was relatively shallow, just barely breaking the skin in some parts.
The only thing that seriously worried Dae Jung was he rust that surrounded the shallow wound. He probably should clean it up, but Dae Jung didn't care by this point; he was hell-bent on getting out.
Dae Jung began to look around once more. He made his way into the back of the set, and began to look for something to break down the gate with. After moments of long searching, Dar Jung groaned, unable to find something. Where on earth could it be? He needed a hammer or something….
Dae Jung scanned through boxes and boxes of props of all sorts. He checked the watch he had found, before he swore. He had been here for a few hours now, and that wasn't good; the longer he was in here, he more likely he'd be caught.
He swore as he stood up, looking for a moment as he tried to find a way out Dae Jung bit his lip as he began to wander around the area, hoping to find the way out. He bit his lip as he found himself in what appeared to be a room where all the recordings in the studio were taken.
De Jung swallowed as he watched the outside world of the studio for a moment in horror. They would have known, he realized in pure sock. They would have known the plan right from the beginning.
Dae Jung felt himself becoming vaguely sick, but he didn't dare to look behind himself; he just knew that someone would be standing there. He swallowed and moved to turn around, before someone touched him on the shoulder.
"Ah! Annyong hashim nikka, dongmu!*" A young female voice said in a light tone. She pulled Dae Jung around to look at her.
He blinked in shock. She….This girl looked like mother and father….She could have been….
"Ji-Jin Ae?" Dae Jung asked with a sense of growing horror. He knees trembled, and the blood drained from his face and left it the same clammy pale as a drowned corpse. Dae Jung's palms began to sweat as his dark eyes widened and he began to tremble. No…She couldn't be alive…! She had died! Dae Jung would know; he had killed her and mother!
The girl who could have passed as Jin Ae smiled enigmatically. He dark, chocolate-brown eyes were more narrowed than Dae Jung's were, and there were framed in a slender, but heart-shaped face. Black hair that was so black it was appearing to be blue was pinned up in a bun, though it was slightly falling out.
This was a girl, not a woman, Dae Jung took note, and this was a girl of about nine or ten—Jin Ae's age.
She smiled and adjusted what appeared to be a military academy uniform "Yes, Dae Jung-dongmu?"
"No….you…you're dead," Dae Jung whispered in shocked and fear. "You're dead!"
"No I'm not," Jin Ae smiled as she shook her head. She smiled up at De Jung, bore she murmured, "I'm alive, big brother. I'm a prop like yourself, but alive."
He swallowed, but Dae Jung hugged his little sister to his chest and shook. "Oh...Jin Ae…" He whispered, trying to not cry.
Jin Ae smiled as she patted Dae Jung's back. "There there, big brother. Don't be sad, okay?"
Dae Jung sighed as he felt tears slip down his face. "Im not sad, Jin Ae... I'm so happy. You have no idea."
She laughed softly, contently as she murmured, "So big brother, why are you crying? Are you lost? Did you lose someone important to you?"
Dae Jung froze then. "…Yong Soo." He whispered in shock, "Oh no…."
"Run, big brother," Jin Ae whispered and sighed as she shook her head, "Before he is lost forever."
Dae Jung swallowed, before he held out his hand. "Come with me."
Jin Ae grabbed it, before the two f them took off running. The building seemed like a maze as Dae Jung sided to a stop. He felt something thud against his back, like a familiar weight.
He looked back at Jin Ae, who suddenly appeared older—about thirteen or so—but Dae Jung didn't seem to notice. It made sense in his head.
"We're lost, big brother," Jin Ae murmured and tugged on Dae Jung's braid. "We're not getting out. You won't be able to save Yong Soo, or get back to Seoul."
Dae Jung shook his head as he frowned. "No…. Jin Ae, we can't stop! We'll get out eventually!"
Wait…eventually? That made no sense…
"Jin Ae…" Dae Jun whispered as he watched his sister look around. "Where are we? How long have we been here?"
Jin Ae looked at Dae Jung sadly. "Brother...we're in the filming centre, remember? We've been here for nearly a year now."
Dae Jung instantly frowned as he grabbed her by the shoulders. "No! We haven't! I don't know what you're talking about, but we have not!"
Jin Ae laughed and pulled on Dae Jung's hair. "Yeah, right!" She snorted and yanked on it, a large lock of it being torn out, "Just give up, Dae Jung! If you can't tell a fantasy from reality, then you'll never escape your mind, let alone this country! Your 'republic' has brainwashed you!"
Dae Jung recoiled back as if he had been slapped. Something... something about the words seemed like a parallel to what… who said it? ("Go, Dae Jung!" Someone screamed in his mind, "Your republic is calling you!")
Dae Jung glared at his sister. I wasn't even a minor glare; Dae Jung easily gave a death stare, before he ran off, out of the building.
Yong Soo inhaled sharply, yet softly, as he entered one of the many buildings in the fake Seoul. IT was a 7-11, same as where Dae Jung used to work. He was going ahead and sending the letter out; Yong Soo felt a sense of paranoia, as if someone was watching him the entire time.
Yong Soo watched out the window for a moment, before he frowned. He knew Seoul—had grown up there—and this entire place simply struck him as faked; the place had a feeling of a theater, of a play, not the feel of a city.
He eyed the entire area and frowned a bit more as he wheeled out of the area with a contemplative look on his face. Where was Dae Jung? He hadn't heard from his lover yet, and that made Yong Soo paranoid; it had been a few hours since he had head from Dae Jung, and he hadn't heard so much as a squawk of sound.
Yong Soo looked around; spying what seemed to be a camera in the background. He glared at it and made a rude gesture, before continuing on his way.
_*Deus ex Machina: Literally, 'Machine of God'. It's meant as divine intervention. It's used in literary analysis, which would be the only reason Dae Jung would know it.
*Communists didn't believe in God: Especially in North Korea; communism is based on the principle of everyone being equal, and thus no higher powers. And having a religion's also illegal in North Korea, and punishable by death.
*Yong Soo's God: not sure if it's a national religion, but the top two most common religions in South Korea are Buddhism and Christianity.
*Annyong hashim nikka, dongmu: "Hello (formal) comrade!"
AN: So, read, review, and I promise the next chapter will be better. ;w;