Safeway Pyongyang // Reader x Countryhumans

Let Me

     She could tell that she had taken him by surprise. The disdainful, but cool expression that he had worn since first appearing dropped a bit, his one pure white eye widening slightly, before he slipped the mask back on.

     "Oh? And why is that?"

      "I just-" Y/N faltered. She didn't know what to say. Between learning basic Korean and planning her flight, she hadn't had time to plan how exactly she was going to beg to stay, beyond the basics. Looking into his stern eye, she felt that any lies would be immediately identified by him.

    "I can't take America anymore," she blurted out. "The things he's doing, and getting his people to do... I can't take it. I can't be there anymore." 

     "Why come to me, though?" North Korea still looked suspicious, and Y/N couldn't blame him. "Why not Canada or Japan?"

      Unable to disclose her real reasons, Y/N reached deep into her memory for her following phrases. She didn't know enough Communist vernacular to express herself clearly, but she was certainly thanking the powers that be for her old friend from Detroit having a political science teacher as a sugar-daddy.

      "It's too... fake there. I felt so distant and cut off from everyone." Not a lie. "All anyone cares for is money, and it's not like being in Canada or Japan would change that."

     "You are certainly right on that point, but..." He glared at her. "I still don't trust you. This isn't the first time that America has sent a spy over here. Though I have to admit, this is the most creative attempt. Give me one good reason to trust you and not send you to a labour camp to wait for expatriation right now." 

      Y/N felt her tears welling up again. "Please, I'm not a spy. I'm... not-" She swallowed the lump in her throat with difficulty. "I'll go to a labour camp if you want, I'll do hard work for the rest of my life, just please, please-" Her tears were flowing now, and she choked out the rest of her plea in a sob. "D-Don't send me back to America!"

    North Korea was looking distinctly uncomfortable now, taking a few steps back as Y/N slid to the floor once more, knees buckling. Unable to cover her face due to her still-bound hands, she buried her face in her chest to try and hide her tears. She hated crying in front of people, hated showing weakness, and hadn't since the sixth or so time that he had come after her, but the past few weeks- no, the past few years had caught up to her all at once, causing her to unleash the full force of her ugly sobbing here, in front of the DPRK, no less.

     "Stop that," he barked, grimacing. "What kind of spy are you?"

    Y/N tried to deny being a spy, again, but when she opened her mouth she just cried harder and reburied her face.

    She bawled like this for a few more seconds, until North Korea snapped, "Okay, fine! You can stay here."

     The girl felt a jolt of disbelief run through her. "W-What did you say?" she asked, raising her head.

    "If you're going to cry that much, then listen," he said, eye skirting away from her tear-stained face. "I still don't quite believe that you're not a spy, but if you're going to react like that, then... you can stay."

     After coming so far, hearing him say those words to her felt... Well, she just couldn't believe it. She could stay. She felt warmth blooming through her as a smile made its way onto her face.

    "Don't look so happy," North Korea reprimanded. "There are going to be rules. First of all- you are going to be staying here, so I can keep on eye on you. Second of all- no going outside unless I, or one of my..." He seemed to be searching for the word. "Provinces are with you."

    "But I- I can go outside?" Y/N asked hopefully.

    He gave her a look. "Of course you can go outside. Even if you are a spy, there is nothing that can be gleaned from Pyongyang if you are accompanied."

    The young woman had been trying to look serious, but the smile snuck back.

    North Korea looked away from her again. "I am not done." He paused, and when he spoke again, his tone was more serious. "If you are going to be living here, then you will need to pull your weight. Seeing as you can't yet be trusted to hold a store or farm position..." He looked her dead in the eye.

    "You are going to be a propaganda girl."

He can speak English so well because it is required in schools there, by the way. Also some things to google to find compilations of sources for information:

anti-imperialism.org- Western Propaganda Against the DPRK.

daily mail- tourist who took camera inside North Korea shocked at ordinary lives of citizens