So, this is only my fourth chapter, but I do want to continue writing for this series.
I arrived at the very sparsely filled airstrip in North Korea. Seraphine and John were the only two people who came with me, and the atmosphere felt suffocating the moment I left the plane.
"Hello!" A person immediately came to greet me, then locked his eyes on my bags.
"So, we'll need to check your bags, for security reasons-"
"I'm here as a diplomatic party for Tony Stark. Are you sure you want to check our items and break our freedom of privacy? We wouldn't have come here if we were not part of a peaceful talk between America and North Korea."
The man sputtered as if he remembered something and shook his head. "Of course not! I'm so sorry. Pardon my manners."
He cursed in Munhwaŏ under his breath and turned around, facing me.
"Alright. I'll lead the way for where you'll be traveling."
His cheekbones looked like he was struggling to smile, with his cheekbones struggling to keep it on his face.
John and Seraphine followed me out of the plane, Tony's one, of course, and they looked around, their eyes bleak.
"Hey, come on, you two. Let's go."
They focused on me as I walked towards the limo, not 100 ft from the plane. The guy who we'd met held the door for us three, with him struggling to keep a smile on his face.
I entered, with very little caution put into my movements, and eventually, Seraphine and John entered, trying to relax in this unfamiliar environment, and the other guy entered as well.
"Hey, it's alright. Relax." I told the two, who looked unnerved just being in the limo we were in.
"Easy for you to say. I couldn't even sleep I was so stressed." Seraphine spoke, and John nodded.
"Neither did I." I heartily laughed, which Seraphine and John looked confused by.
"You seem the most relaxed. Why are you so calm?"
"I'm not. I just do a good job hiding it. I'm as nervous as you two. Probably as tired…" I murmured.
"If you'd like to, we can stop at the hotel for you to rest." The guy in front spoke up, from the front of the limo.
"No, it'll be alright. We'll go through the tour." I said somewhat dismissively.
"As you wish." He said as he closed the window to the front and back of the limo, presumably so he could gain back his permanent frown.
"Why did he not check our bags? We didn't even get checked in at the airport."
"Generally, diplomats don't get checked because they are meant to represent a country in one way or another, so being searched is grounds for violation of privacy. India has this happening, with diplomats bringing in beef into the country, despite it not being accepted for beef to be consumed in India."
John looked confused. "Couldn't diplomats bring in something more deadly?"
I shrugged. "If they did, they'd lose the trust they'd have in a country, and also, would cause a war, so most don't bring in those kinds of things."
They looked slightly concerned but shook it off.
"Anyways, welcome to North Korea. The country we might see for a few days, a few weeks, a few months, who knows? Let's make sure to enjoy this beautiful country."
The entire time, my serious voice contrasted against my sarcastic demeanor, with me rolling my eyes at what I was saying. But Seraphine and John both understood it.
"I hope we will." Both Seraphine and John shared a smug expression on their faces, which was the first time I'd seen them both smile together.
"You guys got more connected over the past few days? I remember, on the first day, you two seemed far apart. Why?"
Seraphine was about to speak, but John held his hand up.
"Because I messed up. That's all there was to it…"
John quickly spoke, his expression darkened.
"I was so obsessed with power, with revenge, that I hurt people. "
He looked up, with his messy hair.
"At my last school, I was bullied, and when I became strong enough, I bullied them back, and hurt them. My friends… I hurt them too. They didn't deserve it…"
I touched his shoulder to comfort him, and I saw his memories...
It felt like I was living through his life, of being bullied, fighting back, getting revenge, then being beaten for it… the latter point is done by me, of all people.
Ignoring the memories I'd just gotten, I tightened my grip on his shoulder.
"We've got to pay for our sins until we die. Even after we die." I looked into his eyes, and I felt him resonate with it, till he chuckled slightly.
"You said something like that when we first met, too." He sat back.
I raised my eyebrow.
"Met? The first time we met, you attacked me back then for no reason."
He sighed, covering his face, while Seraphine smirked.
"I had my ass beaten by you when I left my world. You nearly set me on fire…"
"Wait, what?" I chuckled, almost thinking he was joking but he was deadly serious.
"You heard me right." He tried looking angry but ended up just being embarrassed more than anything else. "You beat my ass, and completely defeated me, despite being "so weak". Took down a ton of other students too…"
I sheepishly smiled.
"I don't remember this happening, sorry…"
He clutched his head, frustrated.
"Probably some time travel shit, with how things are going."
"Maybe." I chuckled as I sat back in the limo.
"Sir, we're close to the first stop."
I saw two bronze statues, towering over everyone bowing towards the statues. They were bowing to them like they were gods.
"It's nearly the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Worker's Party in North Korea." He tried hard to smile, with his cheekbones already looking visibly swollen with him smiling.
He stopped, in front of the giant statues, and went over to open our doors.
"That's Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, right?"
"Oh! So you know about North Korea's history?" He was still straining to smile, but he looked genuinely happy, as he looked over at me. I simply shrugged.
"Of course. I'd always make sure to learn about such an important country."
He stuck out his chest in pride, said, "Indeed!" and began to walk towards the statues.
'Probably the first time he felt proud about this country…'
Seraphine, John, and I just walked towards it, but John got slightly closer. "Hey, how did you know about them?"
"Because if I'm going to go to a dangerous nation, I might as well learn their history. If I knew their history, I'd get their air quotes, Trust."
"Why did you say it like that?" Seraphine whispered into my ear, confused.
"Because I did? What's that supposed to mean? It's not like they'd trust an ignorant foreigner, who's just rich and powerful. They would trust someone who knew about their country, and almost seems sympathetic to it.."
In front of us, the man who led us here merely bowed in front of the two statues.
"These are people who freed us from the capitalist pigs. They've led us to peace, and we are much happier under this rule." He sounded, despite his passion, like he had said this over and over again.
I didn't say anything, and both Seraphine and John looked uncomfortable, looking at these people who had killed so many, only to be revered as god-like figures.
'I guess, from the perspective of the North Koreans, if we're going to praise presidents, who've committed war crimes and killed thousands while having a nice meal to eat, praising a guy like Kim Jon Un wouldn't seem like such an unusual thing.'
I looked around, at North Koreans looking up towards the statues, with a sort of reverence reserved, again, for a god, or a family figure you respected.
'Then again, that's assuming that they even know about the war crimes, or could complain about it without being killed...'
"Now, would you three like to continue with the tour of this beautiful nation?"
I nodded. "Of course. I'd love to."
He led us back to the limo, and we ended up seeing a bunch of other things that I couldn't recognize, but I acted as if I did. I enjoyed seeing it from a historical perspective but in terms of actually enjoying the celebrations of awful people. It didn't do well for me.
"Okay, our tour has been finalized. Would you like to go to the hotel, or is there somewhere else you'd like to visit?"
It was night, and only lights were present. Seraphine and John looked no longer as stressed, but I was, and I wanted a place to sleep after all the anxiety that was built up from today.
'I guess some things never really change for me, do they?'
"Let's go to our hotel," I spoke for us all, and the guy drove his limo to the Hotel. The Hyangsan Hotel was that hotel's name; it looked expansive and glorious. However, the guards and security cameras made it look like they were trapping anyone there. It looked unfinished; it still had a sense of grandness, even if unfulfilled.
"Wow…" We all looked at the hotel, with wonder, but then quickly had that gone with us entering. It looked suffocating, as we entered, and the receptionist looked even more tired than the receptionist for most hotels.
"Hello, we've got a single room here, we're diplomats representing America."
"Oh, so you're from America?" She put on a fake smile that didn't fit with her face. "You will be in the room just below the skyline. With the skyline, you can see the full beauty of North Korea from Pyongyang." Her English was understandable, but her voice sounded like she was suffocating speaking it.
I sighed, before deciding to speak. "You don't have to strain yourself," I spoke to her in Munhwaŏ, which she was taken aback by. "Yes, I've known the language of this great country since before I came."
She looked with a sense of pride. "Of course, thank you." She dropped the fake smile for a real one, as she handed me a key card, and spoke to me in Munhwaŏ. "Your room is as clean as can be, I hope you enjoy your stay."
I walked up to the elevator, and both John and Seraphine looked dumbfounded. "What was that?"
"Munhwaŏ. It's a North Korean language. It was hard to learn, but, before coming to the great nation of North Korea, I'd have to learn some of it to speak here." I shrugged as I looked away from the cameras as they both understood my intent. I clicked the button, and after a second of silence, the elevator opened for us. We all went inside, and I surveyed the situation.
'Cameras in here too…'
"Well, let's see how they set up our room," I said out loud, towards John and Seraphine. The door eventually opened, and we came across, after some looking, our room. It was clean, and more importantly, it had no cameras observing us. The three of us took a breath, seeing the lack of cameras.
"Do you guys feel tired?" I looked at them still standing strong.
"Huh… now that you mention it, no."
"Well, yeah, I'm not tired either."
"Well, I am. If you guys want to rest or eat, there's probably something that Tony has set up for us. You can ask for food."
"Thanks."
"No problem. Now, I'm going to bed…"
Without changing, I dove onto the bed after taking off my shoes and socks.
"You should wear your socks to sleep. It'll help you sleep." John snickered as he spoke.
"Okay, fine," I grumbled as I put my socks on.
"So this is our master?" Seraphine chuckled, but I just laid down.
"Even the masters get tired." I closed my eyes, fully under the blankets. "And yeah, I am strong. I still need some amount of rest…"
"Well, goodnight, Rahul." They said as they went outside the room, and I got some rest.
"Long day today, long day tomorrow," I said to myself as I fell asleep.
And that's a wrap! Sorry, it took me a while to get everything done for this, but yeah, I'm going to be writing for this, I've still got the storyline I want to execute.