Away from the North

Chapter 11

We walk through a metal detector which doesn't go off because we left our stuff in the car. The guards search us for anything dangerous and then when they are satisfied, stamp our hands for identification. Then they lead us to the waiting room.
We check in at the desk with a receptionist who tells us that someone will be out in a couple of minutes. We sit down on a black leather couch that our legs stick to. We talk quietly while we wait, not wanting to disturb the receptionist.
A door opens and a person with two body guards walks out. He looks around and then motions for us to get up and follow him. We get up off the couch and follow them through the halls.
I see Dali and Lilac staring at the person in shock and I realize that he must be of really high power. They lead us into a room and the guards close the door behind us.
The man sits down in a chair behind a desk and motions for us to sit down on a couch. I sit down next to Lilac and take her hand. She runs her thumb on the back of my hand and I relax a tiny bit.
"Okay. So if you didn't know, I'm the president of South Korea. No need to bow. Now introduce yourselves, " he says. We introduce ourselves and tell him which two of us are from the North.
"Tell me about the condition of the country please," the man says leaning his chin on his folded hands. Jul starts first, telling him about the nicer part of town, which is where he lived with his soldier father. The president nods and then looks to me.
I tell him about the bad parts of the country, where I lived. Everything there was infested and as far away from hygienic as possible. I describe the living conditions and what it's like there.
The president sits there and nods. When I stop talking he seems to regard something and then looks back over at us. He motions a guard over and whispers to them. The guard nods and then resumed their place in front of the door.
"We need you to stay here for a while, maybe a couple of weeks. It will all be paid for and so will your regular bills," he says. We all nod and he gets up from his chair. We stand and shake his hand.
"She will take you to your house," he says pointing at one of the guards. We follow her through the hallways and to an elevator. She presses the tenth floor and the elevator starts moving up.
It stops and we get out and follow her to a door. She opens it and we walk into the living room of the apartment. There's a kitchen and a balcony. There are two big rooms with bathrooms and two smaller rooms that are empty.
"Those are for your purposes," the guard says when I ask about them. She hands is each a key and walks out of the apartment. I run to one room and flip on the bed.
"I claim this one as mine and Lilac's! " I yell. I hear Jul yell from the other bedroom that it's his and Dali's. I sit up on the bed as Lilac walks in and closes the door. She walks over and sets down on the edge of the bed. I crawl towards her and swing my feet over the edge.
"Hey. You okay Lilac?" I ask her softly. She looks over at me and grabs my hand. She plays with my fingers while she thinks for a moment. She looks up at me nervously.
"What are we?" She asks quietly. She sets my hand down and hugs herself around the waist. I brush a stand of hair that fell in front of her face behind her ear.
"If you want to be girlfriends than we can be," I tell her. She looks up at me and I nod at her. I love closer and take her chin in my hand. I told her head up and glance down at her plump pink lips. I look back up at her eyes and make sure that she wants this.
She moves forward and closes the gap. Our lips move like silk against each other. I grasp the back of her neck with my other hand and she wraps her arms around my waist.
I bite down on her bottom lip and she gasps opening her mouth. I slide my tongue in and kiss her deeply. She pulls away for air, her face flushed. She leans against my chest and I smooth down her hair.
"Yeah, I would love to be your girlfriend Yuku Wu," she says. I smile at her and quickly peck her on the lips. We get off the bed and walk aback into the living room where Jul and Dali are sitting on a couch staring at the television.
We go over and sit down with them, watching some shows. Then suddenly the channel is cut of and goes to a blank screen. It stays like that for a while and doesn't seem to stop, even when we turn the television on and off.
"It's happening everywhere," Dali says. She shows us the posts on social media about it. We walk out and close the door before going to the elevator. We go downstairs and outside, grabbing our stuff from the car.
We walk back in and a guard hands us bracelets that we have to wear at all times. We go up the elevator and go back in the living room. Me and Jul play on our tablets while Dali and Lilac search over social media about what's happening.
"We have declared war on North Korea," the screen says suddenly. I jump and stare at the screen as the same words flash over it and repeat. It does that for a good five minutes and we can't even turn the television off.
Then it stops and the room is filled with the sounds of a show once again. I look over at Jul and see him with the same face of shock that I know is on mine.