North - South

Lockdown

Pyongyang, Koryo Hotel

"...complete lockdown in the whole country until further notice..."

"...new extraordinary measure launched by the government during the night..."

"...preventing the entry of the virus in the country..."

"...nobody will be able to visit nor leave the country, moving inside the country is strictly limited to the army and health care workers..."

The words came out of the TV and echoed in the room, bouncing inside her head, again and again till losing their meaning and being reduced to mere insignificant sounds, a dull yet frightening background buzz while Se-ri frantically pounded on the outdated phone's keys. 

It couldn't be. It. Couldn't. Be. No! 

The line was busy. Who the damn was he calling at that hour in the night?

 She slammed the phone down so hard it gave her the fear to have broken it. Instead, it rang.

"Se-ri!"

"Seung-jun! Finally!"

"Listen: I checked. It's all true. They have closed the borders and deleted all the flights. Absolute prohibition to move, even the travels inside the country are banned."

"But it can't be..."

"You know..."

"Yes." They knew the government of that place was crazy, yet saying it aloud wouldn't have been the best choice.

"And Se-ri, I have another bad news."

"What?"

"The hotel. It's on you. You'll have to pay all the nights till the end of the lockdown."

"But..."

"Yes, it could take months."

No, no, no!

"This is a nightmare."

"I'm sorry. I'll try to do something from here, but I think there's nothing we can do for now. We'll pay the hotel when this will end. We'll find a way, don't worry."

"Seung-jun I don't have a way!"

"We'll find it. In the while, the best thing to do is for me to keep an eye on your agency and your house, and for you to try to invent something there."

"Close the call."

"Eh?"

"Close the call. Calling here is expensive."

"Se-ri..."

And hanging the receiver she did.

So, that was how she would have failed. Original and completely unexpected outcome, that had to be said. All her sacrifices, all those years, all lost. For her and for Seung-jun. Se-ri kept repeating it like a mantra - it's all lost, it's all gone - while furiously walking around the room, the room service menu in her hands, its fancy prices confirming her that it was all gone, all lost.

There was a moment, in that rush, when she considered dying of starvation. Not the most politically correct thing to say, in a place where people still actually died of starvation, but her mind was rushing at a mad speed, and in those moments when she felt that it was all lost, the only thing she desired was for the end to come soon.