At Long Last

Interrogation

Author's Note: OK so I'm going to put this out here first - information on defecting and all is not readily available, and obviously I haven't personally defected before.

So it's mainly putting together what I gathered from interviews of North Korean defectors. I also based it off the vaguely-narrated experience of Thae Yong Ho, a North Korean diplomat, who defected and is now a parliamentary member in the South.

Take it with a generous pinch of salt, enjoy it for what it is (fiction) and have fun!

————————————————————————

For the first time since they got together, Yoon Se-ri and Ri Jeong Hyeok boarded and took the same airplane bound for Incheon.

It would have been a very romantic and touching experience, except for the fact that they were being escorted by South Korean NIS agents.

After days of putting up at a safe house under the surveillance and protection of the embassy and intelligence services, Se-ri and Jeong Hyeok were finally cleared after preliminary investigations.

On account of Se-ri's pregnancy as well, the couple was allowed to head back to Seoul, where Jeong Hyeok would subsequently be detained for further interrogation by the NIS.

Se-ri was also scheduled to undergo another round of interrogation, after which she would be released should everything goes well.

"How are you feeling?" Jeong Hyeok asked concernedly, gently reaching down between them to massage Se-ri's calves.

"I'm okay, just that the full-length compression stockings are really tight." She said softly, wearing a faint grimace on her features.

Flying during pregnancy increases the risk of thrombosis, so Se-ri had been instructed by the doctor in Switzerland to put on compression stockings to ensure constant circulation.

"Hang in there, alright?" Jeong Hyeok tenderly stroked her hair. "You'll be able to remove them in a few hours after we land in Incheon."

"I don't wish for this flight to end." Se-ri reached for Jeong Hyeok's hand, squeezing it snugly. "We're going to have to say goodbye again after being sent to the NIS headquarters."

Her family had already been informed on the unexpected turn of events.

Her parents, along with two Queen's Group legal representatives, will be waiting at the NIS to bring her back to their home where she would be staying until Jeong Hyeok 'graduates' from Hanawon.

"I'll miss the both of you very much. But we have something so much better to look forward to this time. Focus on that, think of the positive aspects."

Sighing softly, Se-ri managed a small smile and nodded.

"We will do our best." Putting a hand on her belly, she said, "Baby...be a good boy and we will wait for Appa to come back to us."

"I won't be long. Please wait for me."

———————————————

It was the fifth day since he had been taken in by the NIS.

Understandably, as it was his second time entering South Korea, the interrogations were more stringent than he remembered them to be in the uncomfortably cold room.

Subjecting Jeong Hyeok to repeated questioning, likely with the intention of identifying potential behavioral change or errors in speech, the officers had been almost coercive, relentlessly digging into his family background.

"I am not politically-affiliated in any way to the Workers' Party of Korea. My father might hold office, but I am merely a musician with no political or military ties."