Jeju was clad in only a blue and white choson-ot, and the skin exposed by it was tinged almost purple by the cold. When her eyes caught sight of SH, they widened in shock, completing the tableau of a lost wraith that had just drifted out of the trees. She immediately pointed her gun at her, and though she was shaking, the movement looked practiced.
A markswoman. SH couldn't outrun her on her wounded leg. She’d need to get closer to take her down. Bargaining was out of the question. ‘She just does whatever she’s told,’ North Chungcheong had said, even before the Commands. Regardless of the reason for that, it wouldn’t serve SH.
Slowly, she raised her hands.
Conversely, this didn’t seem to calm Jeju. She started to tremble more, the pistol just barely remaining steady. She didn’t exactly look afraid, but more like a debate was raging in her head. She bit her lip.
“Are you… alright?” SH ventured. A ridiculous question considering she was the one injured and being held at gunpoint, but her new cousin just looked so… lost.
Jeju opened her mouth, then froze as the handheld radio at her side crackled.
South’s voice came across. “Hey, has anyone seen Jeju? Someone just told me she's not at Gyeongmudae.”
Now Jeju was afraid.
“Ask America,” South Chungcheong sniped. “He is her keeper, is he not? Or is his radio still ‘mysteriously’ silent?”
“Now now.” America drawled over the radiowaves, no sign that he had been fighting to the death with SH only an hour ago. “Thanks for the concern, but I’m with Southie here. And you know I’m not in charge anymore, babe. Little Red’s as free as a bird, always has been.”
If Jeju had felt fear at South’s voice, now she was terrified. Her pistol jittered side-to-side as her breath came in shallow pants, filling the air around her with mist. SH hoped she wouldn't accidentally pull the trigger.
“Didn’t you say ‘all provinces- go find South Hamgyong?’” Chungbuk asked, barely restrained fury in his voice. “It was a Command, right?”
South’s end was silent.
Someone activated their radio just to send a pleased snort over it. Gyeong, it sounded like.
“Jeju.” South’s voice came again, equal parts sheepish and put-out. “Can you head back home? I don’t need you to look for her.”
SH wondered why he didn’t call out for the province directly. Or why Jeju didn’t raise the alarm.
Jeju looked at the radio at her hip like it was a snake, then stared long and hard at SH. The northern province gazed back. The moment her cousin went for her radio, she would lunge at her. Better to be shot than dragged back.
The device crackled again as America’s strident voice blared over it. “Yeah, hop on back, little songbird. You don’t want your wings clipped, do you?”
Jeju’s face went slack. Slowly, she lowered her pistol.
When she holstered it, SH pulled herself to her feet, hesitating.
‘She just does whatever she’s told.’
‘Usually when women are obedient like that, it means we're scared.’ She had been right when she had said that to Chungbuk.
The two women stared at each other in the snow, voices of hunters dim and distant.
“Come with me.”
YOU ARE READING
Chasing Liberty // Countryhumans North Korea fanfiction
FanfictionThe Koreas were victims of Japanese Imperialism for thirty-six years, deprived of freedom in their own country. With the defeat of the Japanese Empire after the second World War, you would think that their problems would be solved. But things rarel...
