I'm so tired. The next chapter is completed, but very sloppily done. I stayed up until 3 in the morning to finish it... wow I'm so tired.
Disclaimer: I only own these two dorky ocs.
Malaysia found herself in South Korea's home the next day.
She placed herself on his couch while the other was preparing tea. Despite how childish and immature South Korea seemed, he was really professional in this situation. He poured the amber liquid into her cup when it was done, and did the same for himself. He sat on a chair across from her, and blew the steam off the hot tea. After South Korea sipped the contents, he let out a sigh and looked back at Malaysia with a carefree smile.
"So why do you want to talk to me today on my day off? Seems kinda iffy to me," He asked, beaming at her. "You called pretty late last night, so I'm wondering why you wanted to meet me."
The woman took in a deep breath, "I thought we could talk about something other than trade or international relationships. Something more personal..."
"And that is?"
She went silent, and instead drank her tea. Malaysia stared down at her reflection on the liquid.
Talking in a calm and orderly fashion was her specialty, but today she was slightly off her game. She was intimidated by his innocent, curious eyes. Maybe it was because he looked like another copy of her friend- the one she wanted to learn more about.
Malaysia looked anxiously to her side to avoid his gaze. "Umm... can you see this weather we're having? It's very nice and... stuff." She wanted to punch herself in the face for saying something as idiotic as that.
South Korea stared at her dumbfounded. "Oh uh, okay... Is that all-"
"NO!" She slammed her fist on the table. Malaysia took a deep breath and slowly dragged the hand from the table to her side. "No... I'm sorry I really don't know how to ask you this." She gave him a heartfelt glance. "You seem understanding, and I don't want to make you uncomfortable. Promise you won't be mad if I ask you this?"
"... I mean I guess," South Korea shrugged. "There's nothing that can really make me angry. Just go ahead!" And he gleamed at her with a bright smile.
She gulped. 'He's going to kill me for asking this.'
"Um so," Malaysia played with her finger tips, staring at South Korea's side. "Why are you so... distant towards North Korea?"
As South Korea gave her a stunned look, and she winced back in fear of his response. He slightly gripped the edge of his tea cup before answering back. "Oh. I have no trouble answering that. Well you see how rude and arrogant he is. He doesn't listen to anyone in world meetings when we try to help him, and he's too stubborn to try and help our people." He mumbled the last part, putting emphasize in 'our'. South Korea sighed and took another sip of the liquid. Then he spoke up again, "Besides, he probably doesn't want anything to do with me. He hates me. So why should I even bother him?"
As simple as it sounded, the words couldn't get through her brain. Malaysia's face flushed as she tried to prove her point again. "I get that... but when did all of that start?"
"What start?" He asked, trying to dig deeper into her question. South Korea began to get suspicious of her apprehensive nature.
"You... hating North. When did that start?"
"When did it start?" He looked deep into thought before snapping out of it quickly. He sharply turned his head to her with dead straight eyes. "Wait... why do you want to know this?"
She held her hands up in defense. "It's just out of pure curiosity, I swear!"
"... Erm, okay." South Korea bit his nail from his finger tips. It was a bad habit of his when he began getting anxious. He took the finger out of his mouth and sighed, setting the porcelain cup on the table. "But... why should I tell you? I'm sorry but it's pretty personal..."
Malaysia nodded. "I know it's personal, and I'm sorry if I'm invading you space." She leaned in closer to him. "But I need and want to know what happened between you two. It's for a personal reason also."
"But why can't I know it if you're asking me about how North Korea hurt me?!" Malaysia was taken back by South Korea's unusual aggressiveness. He also seemed to notice himself raising his voice, and coughed for a moment before returning to his point. "Sorry, but I don't know if I could tell you what he did to me. He's just... a terrible person..."
She widened her eyes, not believing what she had heard.
"How could you say that about your own brother?" Malaysia found herself questioning, a hint of astonishment raised in her voice.
South Korea stared at his reflection in his teacup solemnly, as if he regretted the words he said. "I... I don't know."
"...I need answers Korea. Please tell me, I want to help-" She stopped herself from telling him America's plan. South Korea looked at her strangely as she began to panic. "I-i want to help... myself! Yeah that's it! Me, myself, and I!"
He deadpanned at her. "Um Malay. That's a lie. I'm cute, not stupid."
'Not as cute as your brother.' She thought before internally slapping herself. Malaysia shook her head, 'They look basically the same! How can I say that?'
But in the back of her mind, Malaysia genuinely thought North Korea had a elegant presence.
Going back to what she said, she set her teacup on the table. "Why are you being so stubborn?" She sighed.
"I'm not stubborn," He huffed childishly, crossing his arms and looked the other way. "I was born like this. I am the most understanding and calming person I know!" But this made Malaysia even more aware of his silliness.
"... Can I just tell you something real quick?"
He turned his head around and gazed straight at her oddly. "Um, okay."
She sighed briefly. "Here's the truth. I want to help your brother as much as possible. That's the thing. I want to do something for him, but I need to know his past before doing it. I care about him. And I want to know what happened to him." She gazed down at the floor. "Hwan Soo means a lot to me... I don't know why. But I want to know everything about him so I know how to help him."
South Korea became startled, being taken back by her words. He never heard anyone stand up for North Korea in so long, the idea was almost non existent to him. 'No wait, nations have stood up for North Korea... but I can't remember the last time someone stood up for Hwan Soo.'
He sighed in defeat. "Alright, I'm convinced. I'll tell you,"
Malaysia felt tears well up in her eyes and quickly wiped them off. "Thank you! I need to know. You'll know the reason soon enough!" She smiled back at him.
The other nation stared at her with a flustered look before continuing. "Okay. So... how should I start?"
"When was the first time you started to hate him?"
South Korea put a finger on his chin and started thinking. The idea popped in his head and he gripped his clothing. "Ah. I remember now."
"... What happened?" She asked nervously.
He looked up again, but gazed toward his side. "It was during the Japanese occupation. North started becoming distant towards me as Japan begun to get stricter with us. At one point in time, I couldn't even talk to him without North shutting me down. He acted strangely. He was always cooped up in Japan's house, not letting me inside. He never even told me why he started to ignore me. He left me all alone with the pain Japan brought on us. North was so incredibly selfish towards my feelings, that it just... broke me inside."
South Korea shook his head. "Those times were corrupt. Once we gained independence from the jerk, we got split up. America showed me how to have fun again. He influenced me with all these new ideas for the country. But for some reason... I didn't want to listen to what he had to say at all. I said, 'I'm doing this for my people!' to him. I was so angry at him... I provoked him. Then the invasions, the war, and other stuff happened between us." He hung his head low in shame, with his bangs darkly covering his eyes. "I blamed him for all of it. Still, I can't help but feel confused around him. I hate what he did to us and our people. But I almost... kind of miss what we used to have."
Malaysia sat there, listening closely to his words as they came out of his mouth. South Korea sighed, "That's all I have to say. Are we kinda... done here?"
This set her off. She sharply glanced at him. "No. Unfortunately, we need to talk more about this. Sorry but I need to clear up some things with you."
He tilted his head in confusion. "And what is that?"
She inhaled before continuing her sentence. "First of all, what exactly did you think he was doing all those years with Japan. Hmm? Have you questioned it?"
"Of course! But whenever I asked about it, he ignored the topic. That's what ticked me off the most, he never told me what he did!" He huffed, folding his arms together.
"... But what did you think?"
"I'm not... sure..." He trailed off. "I haven't remembered it in so long, I almost forgot my own thoughts."
Malaysia folded her hands on her lap promptly. "I may not know much about this topic, but I certainly tried doing my research. I also asked North himself a couple things." South Korea's head perked up curiously.
"And-? What did he say?"
"It's not really my place to say it..." He responded with an irritated tone and lashed out.
"I deserve to know! I need to know the reason why he changed drastically towards me. Why he hurt me? I'm left in the dark for almost a hundred years, and some random acquaintance gets that info before me-" He stopped himself quickly and his cheeks heated up. "S-sorry Malaysia..."
She clicked her tongue at him. "You are a jealous type. But that doesn't mean you can cross a line like that," She responded slightly colder than she intended to. "Fine. I'll tell you. I think you're both at fault for the split."
"... Why?"
"He may have invaded your country, and he might've not told you what happened between him and Japan- but he isn't completely at fault here." She tucked back a strand of hair that was covering her eyes. "You got mad at him. You didn't wait for him to be ready enough to tell you. He wasn't the only selfish one; you were too."
South Korea clenched his fist. "But we're family. He knew I could never judge him for anything!" He voiced out to defend his past actions. Malaysia gave him a cold stare as he continued. "But he didn't believe in me-"
"No. You didn't believe in him."
He stopped himself immediately. Malaysia twirled her hair on her finger tip, waiting for her queue to respond. She continued while closing her eyes, "I may not know as much as you, but I certainly know more about it in a non bias way. You don't know how he felt back then. I might know about it either, but I can guess easily. I think you should've waited for him to be ready."
"You may be right about that, but it doesn't explain the reason why we split up. He had ideas that I didn't agree with. He invaded me when I said no, so that's his own fault." South Korea huffed.
"Well yeah. That part was his fault. But don't you think maybe communism wasn't the reason why you two are separated?"
"And what is the real reason then?"
"I think he started doing those things for personal reasons. He might've wanted you to accept him for who he was, but you didn't. So he gave up on you just like you gave up on him."
"..." South Korea had nothing more to say, as he was left speechless at her response.
Malaysia drank the rest of her tea and set it down on the wood once more. She grabbed her bag and flung the strap over her shoulder. "I think... I should go now. I have nothing else to say."
"Oh..." He responded. As she made her way to the door, he stopped her. "Wait."
She turned around as South Korea got up from his chair and started walking towards her. Malaysia tilted her head, "What is it?"
"Why did you want to know all that?" He inquired curiously.
"I want to help your brother." She replied simply. South Korea shook his head. Then an idea popped into his head.
"Are you two... dating?"
Malaysia felt the heat rise up to her cheeks as she sheepishly made embarrassed hand gestures at him. "N-no why would you say that?!" She nervously chuckled. 'Am I feeling deja vu?' "That's crazy talk. Why would you say that?"
He shrugged. "I dunno... it seemed kind of strange that you would care about him so much."
"Well we're just friends." She put as her final answer. Malaysia opened the door and gave him a small wave. "Well thank you for your time. You answered most of my questions. I'll see you soon. Goodbye." And the door slammed with a thud.
South Korea held an inexpressive face. He shook his head.
"Are you stupid or something?"
After eating lunch at a small cafe and walking around a beautiful park for a couple hours, Malaysia was glad to come home to her bed. She loved to roll around the sheets as the cold fabric gave her a sense of relief from all the stuff she's been doing. The trip she made to South Korea's place was nerve wrecking for her. Sadly, the sheets became warm again. But she didn't want to leave it. It was too soft... to comfy... so nice to lay in...
This gave her time to put a finger on her chin as she began to come up with her next plans.
'Well I did get the story from South Korea. But I need a North Korean perspective!' She hit the palm of her hand with her clenched fist. 'Then I need an American one... and a Russian one. Maybe even China can-' Malaysia slapped her face in realization. 'I can't do all of that in a mere two weeks! I'm done for! How did I get involved in this Korean drama anyway...' She wept to herself dramatically, holding her pillow close as she tried to come up with new possibilities.
'I don't even think I have time for the last three anyway. The only stories that matter are North and South's anyway. But how will I get him to talk...' Malaysia shook her fist in the air.
"Oh Allah! Please help me solve my problem!" She begged, looking up at the ceiling.
Then her phone rang. Malaysia stopped whining as she grabbed the device. She opened her phone to see North Korea was calling her.
'Oh thank you Allah!' She quickly pressed the 'accept call' button and held it to her ear. "Hello? Hwan Soo? You okay there?"
"Yeah I am." He responded. Malaysia sighed in relief. "I just need your help."
"What is it?"
A small period of silence was held as North quietly responded in a small, sheepish voice. "...I ran out of most of my food yesterday... and I don't know what to buy..." Malaysia tensed up at his answer and she clutched the phone in her hand tighter.
"WHAT?!" She yelled at him, putting her mouth as close to the voice box as possible. She could already hear his shocked yelp from the phone line. Malaysia never really yelled... unless she was pissed. "You ran out of food yesterday? Then how come you didn't even buy any at the market yesterday?"
"Japanese stores... I hate them."
She crinkled her nose. "Why?"
"I hate everything that's Japanese," He grumbled. Malaysia rolled her eyes and put a hand on her hip.
"I'm mad at you right now. Food is a very important thing in life! You need it to be healthy and grow to be strong!"
North Korea only scoffed at her. "I am strong though. I have nuclear weapo-"
"No one cares." She put a hand on her forehead and sighed. "So... why have you called to tell me that?"
"I was wondering if we could go to the cheap Asian market tomorrow." North Korea said. "You said that it had good food for small prices. But I don't know where it is or what to buy, so I need you to help me."
A blush spread across her cheeks as she inhaled to calm herself down. "Alright... I'll help you with that. But you must tell me what you are eating. I'll have to barge into your home right now if you don't respond!"
"... I'm living off of egg sandwiches..." He muttered. This set her off.
Egg sandwiches? Those poor excuses of a meal?
"I'm coming over right now." She darkly muttered through the call. "I'm buying groceries for tonight's lunch and dinner. Bye."
"Wait-" She didn't let him finish as she hopped out of her bed. Malaysia began to angrily pack her things in her bag and forcefully shut the door to her room, and afterwards she slammed the font door closed. The entire time she was mad at North for not thinking about his essential needs! Egg sandwiches... She shuddered in the vegetable aisle as she grabbed some ginger. He deserved real food.
While angrily searching for ingredients, she couldn't help but realize today and tomorrow could be her chance to know his past as well. Malaysia thought she could understand his feelings about what happened and come to some sort of conclusion.
When she finished shopping, she took a train to North Korea's place. She knocked on the door harshly, and North Korea opened it as he stared at her and groceries with wide eyes.
"Y-you actually did it." He stuttered.
"Yeah. I'm not letting you eating sandwiches that don't have a lot of nutritious values." She approached him in a calm demeanor, with an emotionless face. "You are going to eat a Malaysian dinner, whether you like it or not."
"... Oh." He shrugged. North Korea usually would never pass up an offer on someone bringing him food but... he was thinking she was taking the situation a little too far. "Are you oka-"
"No. Food is number one priority and you just don't care," She shook her head in disbelief. The woman clenched her fist and closed her eyes. "Food means everything to me. It is the best thing in the world." She explained dramatically. Malaysia went over to his small kitchen and took out an oven pan. She started unpacking her groceries.
North Korea raised an eyebrow at her. "Um... want me to help?"
Malaysia shook her head. "Nope! You probably don't even know how to cook!" This comment offended North Korea, but responded by brushes the feeling off. As he avoided eye contact, she sighed as she realized her mistake. Malaysia went to far. "... I guess you can help chop the vegetables for me. It'll be nice."
He nodded and put a cutting board on the table. As he began chopping up the food, Malaysia peered over her shoulder to see what was going on.
"You know you should hold onto the vegetable when you cut it." He nodded and continued his work. She still wasn't satisfied. "... Look at the vegetable. Cut it precisely. But try not to leave any scratch marks on the board."
North Korea groaned, "I got it, I got it."
"... Also-"
"Don't try to baby me, I know what I'm doing Damia." He huffed, cutting the vegetables until they were small. Malaysia bent down to examine his work and put a hand on her chin.
"Hmm. You did an excellent job. Though I could've done better, it's decent looking." North Korea rolled his eyes, but his cheeks reddened at the comment. "We now need to blend the lemon grass with the other ingredients now."
"What are we making anyway?" He asked. Malaysia shrugged.
"It's basically just seasoned chicken on..." She pulled out sharp, wooden strands from behind her and grinned excitedly. "These handy sticks!" North Korea held his hands up in defense and winced.
"Can you put those away? It's like you're going to murder me." Malaysia chuckled and set them aside on the table.
"Okay I get it. Let's just wash the chicken."
It became a bit of a mess but they overall worked well together. Malaysia hadn't had this much fun in so long. She felt like a real cook while North Korea was her sous chef. He followed her commands and orders and she was the real brains behind the operation. They worked well together.
After she washed up, and North Korea followed afterwards, the chicken was ready.
Malaysia set the pan full of food on a nearby counter and sighed in relief. "Making this was really fun Hwan Soo. Maybe we can cook together again?" She grinned. North Korea turned his head around and nodded.
"Yeah. I didn't know making lunch could be so fun." He smiled back. Though it wasn't full of energy and it was small, Malaysia felt happy that he had a good time with her and showed it. The guy never really smiled. Maybe a couple smirks and monotone laughing. But this was his real, true smile. "So is it ready now?" He asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.
"It is ready. I was just thinking." She put the sticks onto two plates and made her way towards the table. She placed it on a mat and sat down in her chair across from him. "This is Malaysian Satay." She explained. "I hope you like it."
North Korea took a bite out of it and awed. "It's great."
"I know. Everything I make is great." She promptly huffed proudly, before biting into her lunch as well.
They both ate, talked about many topics, and Malaysia started finishing up.
"Well I have to go now. I kind of need some rest for my introvert self." She laughed half-heartedly. North Korea nodded, understanding her dilemma. "The rest of it is in the fridge so you can it it for dinner. I also packed some sauce in case you want any." North Korea responded with a light laugh.
"All right. Thanks mom."
She rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but smile at the comment. "I'll see you tomorrow. Let's meet up at your house at 1 pm."
"Okay. Got it."
She waved him goodbye. "Well see you later!" As she went off, North Korea clutched the doorway to steady himself. A visible blush spread across his cheeks.
'See you tomorrow Damia...'
I think I need a break when I upload next week's chapter on next Wednesday. I've been kind of stressed lately because my friends in real life are becoming really nasty and I have to get them to back off. This fanfic has been tiring me out way too much. Don't worry, I'll still update. When I return , I'll have a big chapter just for you guys :D
Malaysia REALLY likes their satay. Just like nasi lemak. Though I heard nasi lemak is kinda their unofficial national dish, ehe. Malaysia takes food seriously. North just likes to eat anything that's edible. So eh.
I finally figured out how to write North and South Korea's backstory... that wouldn't mean any offense. At least I hope so. Don't take offense, I tried really hard to research it. Basically Japan surrendered Korea but the North surrender to the Soviets while South did to America. The Soviet Union and America tried to spread communism and capitalism to the halves so they could agree on one of them. It just ended with North and South splitting permanently. I hope I got that part right.
R & R for more stuff! KaylaBow is out, peace.