I'm back every Wednesday, as usual. But I'm extremely late. Dx

Warning: mentions of Japanese occupation

Disclaimer: I own nada.

"-So then I pushed him into a river, but he pulled me down with him! Then I had to spend all day listening to his yapping. 'Hyung, I'm so cold!' or 'Hyung I'm telling Yao-Yao you big meanie!'. It's a fun memory of mine. How could I forget something so hilarious?" North Korea explained with a small chuckle, waltzing into a meeting room. Malaysia strolled in with her hands in her pockets, and sat in her assigned seat. North Korea was coincidentally placed next to her for some odd reason.

Meanwhile, America watched from behind a potted plant and grinned sinisterly. Originally we was going to place North and South next to each other, but it would end in a fiasco immediately. So he chose to place to two friends together. He hoped things were going well.

Then America heard the two talk about North's childhood and sighed in relief. 'She was the right person for the task after all, thank goodness.'

"But you are really mean. Remember when you forced him to carry you so you could grab a pear out of a tree?"

North Korea put his hands up defensively, "Hey, Korean pears are a masterpiece. You wouldn't understand the beauty of them."

"Wow okay. I have the food paradise of Asia. I couldn't possibly understand how good food is." Malaysia shook her head. "Ah. Oh wise Hwan Soo, please teach me your knowledge of food." She asked mockingly.

"It's just a fruit, no need to get a stick up your ass." He rolled his eyes, turning away from her to hide his small, subtle smile. Malaysia caught it from his side and couldn't help but grin herself.

She snickered, "What kind of person are you?"

"A piece of garaba-"

Malaysia immediately placed her hand over his mouth. "You know what. I take it back. Don't say anything at all."

While they continued to talk about North Korea's childhood memories with his twin, China noticed from the corner of her eye that they were still talking. He smiled to himself when he saw how happy his brother was. He hasn't seen him so relaxed since they were still living in his house. He got up from his seat, and strolled over to North Korea and Malaysia.

North Korea saw him coming and gave him a small wave. China waved back and held a huge smile on his face.

"What are you guys talking about?" He questioned.

"The time when Hwan Soo forced South to carry him to grab a pear from a tree." Malaysia stated bluntly. This made North Korea elbow her in the waist while she tried to stifle her laughter.

China awed. "I remember that! You both came home crying." He thought about fondly, putting a hand under her chin and sighing. "You snapped out of your depressing aura when I tried to play your hyang-bipa. You got so mad at me, you kicked me in the shin." China then 'ooed' and let one finger rest on her chin. "Which reminds me..."

The elder nation reacted by kicking North Korea in his own shin. He yelped and rubbed his sore leg, then shot daggers at China. He let out a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his neck. "I never got my revenge, ehe."

Malaysia tipped her head puzzledly. "What's a hyang-bipa?"

"It's a Korean instrument. Similar looking to a small guitar."

Malaysia chuckled. "Like a ukulele?"

"What the hell is a ukulele?" He questioned, scratching his head. Malaysia laughed at his response while China rolled his eyes.

"It's an instrument , similar looking to a hyang-bipa." She described playfully.

China opened his mouth in shock as the two continued having a conversation without him in it, not even noticing. 'They reached that level of intimacy where they can third wheel an extrovert like me? Wow...' He awed at them. 'But wait how did she get him to talk about it?'

"Hey um can I talk to you real quick?" China asked, standing up from his seat and grabbing the edge of Malaysia's sleeve. He shifted his glance to North Korea, "I'm sorry but I got to have a girl talk with her real quick."

North Korea looked confused, but shrugged at his suggestion. What harm could he do? "Oh. Okay. I'll just write in here." He pulled out a small notebook and China nodded.

China pulled Malaysia from her seat and walked to the nearest corner of the room, far away from anyone's hearing range. Malaysia raised an eyebrow at the man's sudden action towards her.

"Uh is there something wrong?" She questioned eerily.

"How did you get him to talk about his childhood like that?" China stared at her. Malaysia could see in his eyes that he was just confused and astonished.

"... I can't really tell you, it's personal."

The other nation huffed, "I need to get into his personal life. I am his brother, I care about him. What you know about him, I'm gonna try to help in any way I can. But I want to know how the hell you got him to talk about the old days like that? Last time I brought it up, he ignored me and said I was getting fat. Honestly if you're gonna distract me with something about my body, it should be my hair." He shook his head, before continuing his point. "How?"

Feeling bad for him, Malaysia sighed and answered her question. "Yesterday he had a break down over South. And this morning, he was a bit fazed by it. So to make him feel better, I asked him about the times they were still together."

"And he told you?"

"Yes."

China stared at her speechlessly. With wide eyes, he asked another question. "Are you two dating?"

Malaysia looked at him puzzledly. "No. Why do you ask?"

"Because he would've only listened to someone he really trusted. You must be on his top ten list of people he tolerates." When Malaysia was going to ask about it, China waved her off. "Eh don't even bother with it. I saw it a while ago when he was writing down notes. It's just full his dead leaders and dead siblings. Maybe Russia and Iran are in there. Whatever," He looked at her in the eyes. "Do you care about him?"

"Well of course." She was appalled at his question. "I thought I was too clingy on him. I think you're just making assumptions, China."

"No I'm not. Don't worry about that, Hwan Soo loves clingy people. Even if he doesn't show it. He just wants the attention, so humor him for me."

Malaysia rolled her eyes. "I will. I just feel guilty for reminding him of South Korea..." She murmured to herself. China happened to overhear the other Asian country whisper his other sibling's name.

"What about South Korea?"

"Oh nothing!" China frowned.

"If you want me to help, you have to tell me what's going on." Malaysia sighed.

"Okay fine. I need to get this off my chest anyway," She took a deep breath. "So the other day America came over to my house to tell me his really crazy plan. He wants Hwan Soo and South Korea to make up and be brothers again. He needs me for the job because I'm one of the only people who gets along with both of them, and everyone else was busy."

China looked peeved, and crossed his arms. "I wasn't asked... America should know that I'm their dear, loving sibling. Even if I did ignore Hwan Soo for... years."

Malaysia sighed and continued explaining. "He said he basically wanted me to make him feel guilty for not talking to his brother. Which is just manipulating him. And I don't know if I can do that! I don't know much about his history, only the basics of it. Also I'm lazy and unmotivated, so I am not the right woman for the job. Please China, take my place instead. You seem qualified." She shook China's shoulders, begging him.

He shoved Malaysia off and put his hands up in defense. "Um I can't replace you, but I can help."

"Then help, please. I'm extremely lost."

China went into her bag and ripped out a strip of paper, before getting out a pen and writing something down. She handed the slip to Malaysia. "Here. This is Yong Soo's phone number." Malaysia guessed this was South Korea. "Call him up."

Malaysia twirled the paper and stared at it confused. "But what for?"

"Duh," China waved her off, like it was the most easiest idea in the world. "I want you to talk to him about what broke them up. He'll be able to explain."

"But will he be willing to tell me?" She asked.

"Ah about that. No. It's really dark and personal." China bluntly put. Malaysia stared at her dumbfounded before China retold his meaning. "But you should at least try. Don't give up! Because nothing has happened yet."

"Then why can't I just ask Hwan Soo about this?" She groaned. "I shouldn't bother South yet."

"Well you can talk to him. Actually it might be better to have two perspectives to get a better understanding of both of them. You get it now?"

Understanding what he now meant, Malaysia nodded at his words. "I got it now."

"Good! Now let's head back. Hwan Soo gets lonely easily." China said, walking with her to North Korea.

Malaysia sat down beside him as he asked what happened. China just told him he needed 'feminine advice'. North Korea only shrugged in response. China left the scene, claiming he had to 'mess around with America'. Then North Korea continued writing in his small, flimsy notebook.

Malaysia stared at the table in front of her, deep into thought. 'Why do I have to talk to him about it? Sure, it might help me understand the whole situation, but I don't know.' She looked down at the her hands clasped on top of her lap. 'I'm not confident in my people talking skills. Plus he said it might not work. What can I do?'

"Are you okay?" North Korea asked, making her snap out of her thoughts. She blushed lightly and he continued doing something in the notebook but still talked. "You can tell me you know. I can't be the one to vent my feelings all the time."

Feeling no use in lying to him, she sighed. "I'm trying to figure out how to talk to someone on a touchy subject. I'm trying to figure out what I could say to them. I don't want them to feel uncomfortable or anything! I never tried this hard for anything, but my efforts aren't good enough. I don't even want to try..." She sulked.

"Then don't do anything."

Malaysia stared back at him puzzledly, taken back by what he suggested "Erm... what did you say?" He sighed and set down his pencil on the table, and faced his body towards hers.

"I know what I said. You shouldn't try. I think conversations should have no effort in it at all to be enjoyable. I think this person might be willing to tell you what they know about this... 'touchy subject' if you just play it nice with them. Just take it easy and don't force it on them or yourself." She widened her eyes in shock and gaped at him.

"Wow... that's really wise of you-"

"Or you can beat them to death to tell you what they mean. Get it out of them. Brainwash them into they turn into a lifeless piece of shit that has no will to live." Malaysia gasped in horror when North Korea's eyes gleamed almost... corruptly.

"That's not necessary at all, but thanks for the advice... I guess." She waved her hands defensively. He seemed to snap out of his dangerous faze and pretend it never happened. He continued his point.

"Well there goes plan two. But for plan one, even if you fail there's always another way. It's okay to fail. Because if you fail today, there's still tomorrow. The day after that if needed to. Life is long, so even if you can't do anything about it now, it will work out in the end, somehow." He shrugged, picking his pencil up and going back into his notebook again.

Malaysia awed at his words. Even if he did get creepy in the middle of his speech, it was good advice for how she will handle South Korea. Then she felt a punch go right towards her heart. She just manipulated North Korea into telling him how to fix his own problems. While Malaysia was in her own little world, North Korea finished what he was doing on the paper and tapped her shoulder. He flipped the book so she could view it for herself.

The entire time China and herself were away, he was drawing a portrait of Malaysia. It was exactly what she looked like. The facial features were perfect. From her defined clothing, and to the soft strands of hair framing her face. Even her eyes seem to pop out in the grey colored sketch.

"That's amazing! How did you learn to draw like that?"

"Having no friends a lot of free time can open up a possibility many things." He shrugged. "But the real answer is I just practiced since I was a child. No matter how shitty it looked, I just drew whatever I wanted." He then ripped the paper out of the notebook and handed the drawing to her. "Here, take it."

"Are you sure?" She asked, taking the portrait away from him.

"Yeah I'm sure. I have enough drawings of you for a lifetime." He then realized what he said and clasped a hand over his mouth.

She widened her eyes at him. "Wait what-"

"Let's start the meeting everyone, get to your seats!" Germany barked, making everyone in the room fall silent.

They both sat awkwardly next to each other for the rest of the time.

"Oh yeah can we not go to the train station this time?" Malaysia asked, stopping in her tracks. North Korea also stopped walking and turned to her. She pointed a finger towards herself, "Follow me."

After that awkward incident, Malaysia tried to think of something they could do. It wasn't apart of her plan to get him back together with South at all; she just wanted to hang around him more. It was also to make up for that incredibly, unsettling situation. And she might've found the perfect place to make up for it all.

They strolled into a grand park, filled with blooming sakura trees and clean cut grass. Malaysia would hush him whenever he asked what she was doing. She wanted it to be a huge surprise for her friend. She walked up a hill with North Korea, and put her small hand over his eyes.

"Don't look. It's gonna be a surprise," She told him, leading him to the direction by holding his hand with her free one. A curtain of tree branches stood in the way of her destination, and she lightly lifted it over his head. Malaysia let go of his hand, while covering his eyes still. "Are you ready for it?" Malaysia questioned.

"Sure I guess," He shrugged. She rolled her eyes, but slowly uncovered the sight before him. He stared in awe at the soft fall colored sky. It had mixtures of red, pink, purple, and orange that just made it all blend together perfectly. North Korea saw over the horizon a small golden peak, which was shown to be the sun. She chuckled a bit while she saw him stare at the view, speechless.

"Do you like it?" North Korea nodded at her question.

"Why did you even bring me here?" He asked.

She shrugged at his question. "I thought you might like it. It makes me calm. But... did you know this pretty sky is caused by the pollution from a nearby factory?" He snapped out of whatever thoughts he was thinking of and stared at her bewilderingly. Malaysia sighed. "What a beautiful sight. But is it worth the asthma?"

"No..." North Korea he emphasized the word harshly. After a moment of thought, he asked another question. "Um... Am I the person you wanted to talk to? You know about that question you asked me about earlier at the meeting?"

"What? Psh, no." Malaysia tried playing it off. "It's someone else... Not you of course!"

"... Oh... okay."

North Korea must be incredibly good at making things awkward, she noted to herself. He doesn't seem like he felt anything. He's not good at showing emotions. This led her to believe this could be her opportunity to know more about his past.

"I never got to ask you something though." She said to him. North Korea faced her with a calm expression.

"Well spit it out then."

Malaysia hesitatingly twirled her fingers around, and pushed herself to answer him. Maybe before knowing South Korea's side of the story, she can know North's first. After all, she was doing all of this for him. "What exactly happened? You said you had a good childhood and... somehow it was gone. Sorry if I'm pushing the question too much." She looked to her side anxiously, waiting for his answer.

Suddenly his face went dark. She gulped when it seemed as if he was almost glaring at her. Malaysia thought she would've been used to his terrifying stares but this time... she was afraid.

"I get why you're curious. I don't see the point in not telling you, so I'll do it." North Korea sighed as he put two hands in his pants pockets. "It got ruined by Japan. That bastard just took everything away when he invaded me. I fucking hate his guts. He ruined everything, if that's what you're wondering." He spat venomously. Malaysia saw his eyes tinted with an emotion called disgust. But it was mostly anger.

"What did he do?" She asked.

"Some horrible, cruel shit. Ugh. I don't even know why people think of him highly for what he does. I remember how he used to-" He stopped himself quickly. His face scrunched up into a cold, hard stare. Almost reliving a past nightmare.

Malaysia felt herself go on the edge as she watched North Korea fold his arms, and stared crossed eyed. "... What did he do?"

"...I guess I can't go back on my word," He clenched his fist and turned his head away. "... He did everything that his people did to mine... Sorry, I just can't talk about it anymore."

She stared wise eyed at the answer and felt at loss on what to do. Malaysia remembered how cruel and menacing Japan was in the past. She knew about the comfort women from his conquered countries. Or how the Japanese used to try and experiment on the people. But she didn't even think Japan himself would ever do something so horrid and disgusting to someone. But he never told her what exactly happened. So she could only assume...

"I'm sorr-"

"There's nothing to be sorry for." He interrupted callously.

A small silence filled with tension was placed between them. Malaysia saw him be distant with her all over again. It almost pained her.

"... Do you want to go back?" She asked quietly in a hushed voice, seeing there was nothing more they could talk about after this.

"Yeah, I do."

The both turned away from the view, which was now a dark gloomy night sky.

Malaysia laid her back on her bed and sprawled her arms on it. She didn't know what to think.

A nation's past is usually filled with regret and sorrow, but the joy is worth it all. The past was rather...an awkward topic to discuss. She knew other countries like Russia or China were probably corrupt and depressing. But no one would ever dare to ask about it.

Why did she want to learn so much about North Korea? Didn't Malaysia already say to him that they should learn each other, piece by piece? There is a lot for her to learn about anyway.

But she wanted to know everything about him.

She turned to the other side of the bed as the sheets under her starting getting warmer. The girl hugged her nearby pillow as a comfort tool for her to use. Malaysia couldn't remember how lonely she felt until now, she usually stayed over someone's place or chatted with someone.

'I don't understand anything right now.' She sighed. 'I usually like my alone time. And I suddenly want to be active now. Why am I so usually motivated to do a task like this?'

It's to help her friend, another part of herself reminder her. Why does she want to though?

'Friends help other friends in need. Friends want to remind them how amazing they are,' She thought to herself. 'And friends want to think about them 24/7.'

She slapped her face by slamming a pillow on her face. Her cheeks heated up as she thought about it more.

'It's like I have a crush on him or something,' She chuckled to herself. For a moment she stopped herself and thought about it again. '... Do I?' Malaysia liked having him around, and always wanted to be around him. She felt better around him. But Malaysia dismissed the thought almost immediately, 'No, no. It seems like a silly thing to think about. There's no way. I don't have time for this...!'

Right now, Malaysia needed to get her plan in motion already. She didn't have time to think of these outrageous thoughts. It's just two weeks before everyone goes back to their respective countries, and she wouldn't get them together after that. It would be too long of a wait for her and them. How could she do this?

Then she remembered the small piece of advice North Korea gave to her. Don't try prying into the conversation or it won't work.

Malaysia got up from her bed and grabbed her phone and the slip China gave her. She dialed the number down on her phone and held the speaker towards her ear. After a few rings the person on the other line answered.

"Hello?" South Korea asked over the line.

"Hi it's Malaysia," She said. "We need to talk."

This was for friendship.

Right?

I'm kind of tired. My friend is forcing me to role play for like 2 hours so I couldn't get this chapter out sooner. Sorry! Also I can't do replies to the reviews right now. Maybe I should stop it. It kind of takes time between me and my fanfiction writing anyway.

Quick explaining to do: A hyang-bipa is a instrument recently being renewed in the present. In North Korea there's a similar type called an Oungum. But hyang-bipa was created back then it was around Silla's time. It kind of look's like a ukulele kinda. Go google it man. I'm too tired to explain it clearly xD

I made a small Parks and Recreation reference in the 'watching the sunset' scene. I thought it was funny and I had to include it. And I made a little anime reference in North Korea's speech, Tanaka-kun is Always Listless. Okay you all probably don't know what I'm talking about.

Also the Japanese occupation is a very... VERY touchy subject to write or talk about. But I'm gonna do it anyway *sweats nervously*. It's in next chapter. I'm sorry if I offended anyone. I tried to write them... I tried.

R & R is you want more!