Escape From The Sun

Chapter 6 : Fateful Meeting

It was late 2012 that Comrade Ri Sol-ju gave birth to their daughter, my paternal half-sister, Kim Ju-Ae. Throughout the year living with the newly married couple, not much has changed save for me having more duties. Where previously I could spend much of my time in my pantry with Madam Lee savoring her delicacies and learning little tricks of her trade, I was now inundated with duties to serve the First Lady. From knowing her nuances in food and drink so appropriate meals could be prepared for her, I was also to go with her whenever she followed my father on military inspections, to lend what Leader Kim called a 'feminine touch'.

I didn't know why they needed one however, considering that she was getting plenty of flak from the masses on being too 'feminine' anyway.It has come to a point that North Korea looked down on anyone considered too 'weak' to survive the arduous lifestyle now a norm in our country.

My duties as Attendant made it as such that I ended up skipping many classes for my university, a fact that I was forever sore over. But as always, I had little choice, and neither could the university reprimand me after a personally stamped letter arrived at the office stating my reasons for being gone was under Kim Jong-un's command.

Yet in a way, me accompanying my father and his wife on their military inspections was a hidden blessing. It was, after all, how I met him.

Jang Jong Hyun was a supervising officer of the No. 22 Reeducation camp located on the border between North Korea and China. He was the first one to greet us when we alighted off the train, and I remember being very surprised at how young he looked. I would later learn that Jong Hyun was a trusted advisor and young protege of the powerful Jang Sung-thaek, who was recently promoted to the rank of a four-star general, right around the death of my grandfather and the marriage of my father. He also functioned as my father's key advisor. And as his young and most promising protege, even if he was only twenty-four when I first met him, he was already a striking figure of command and authority.

Disregarding all of it however, was the way he addressed me right after paying the appropriate respects to the Leader Kim and his wife.

As was custom, I was trussed up in the traditional hanbok in colors of dark green and striking blue, with black sashes to secure the outfit to my body. I kept my head down, my usual stance whenever I was with my father, after repeated reminders that I was a servant to them. Due to my stepmother's pregnant state, Jang Jong Hyun quickly instructed his men to escort the First Lady and Leader Kim to their quarters. I had heard the suggestion for them to freshen up before touring the military camp in the evening, and was making a move to go with them, when an arm stopped me. "I have made arrangements for a few girls and an old aunt of mine who specializes in prenatal massage, so Comrade Ri would be comfortable. I have also prepared a separate quarter for the First Attendant, so Comrade Ri can rest easy."

His voice caught me by surprise, and when I looked up, his eyes caught me even more off guard. I had expected him to be addressing my father as he spoke, but when my gaze was met with a pair of striking hazel eyes, all the vocabulary I had worked so hard to learn flew out of my head. Unlike the eyes of the rest of cadre members I've seen, something about the eyes of Jang Jong Hyun struck me as different. They were warmer, with a sparkle of laughter hidden deep in them, as if waiting for me to pry them out.

"Would you like that, Comrade Ri?" I heard my father asked his wife, a voice which was effective in bringing me quickly back to reality. I switched my gaze towards him just in time to see her nod. "Then be it then." Leader Kim agreed, letting his gaze settle on me. "Be on hand to escort Comrade Ri once she exits her quarters, Comrade Song."

I flinched inside, as I always did whenever he addressed me as that. Even after seven years staying with him, at nineteen, I did not see the point in addressing me as a Comrade. Comrades were equals, and Leader Kim saw everyone as anything but his equal.