Chasing Liberty // Countryhumans North Korea fanfiction

Division

September 9th, 1945

    Winning a war should have been cause for celebration. Ousting a foreign power that had controlled your country for thirty-six years, keeping your people trapped in poverty and exploitation should have been even moreso.

    And for the Korean people, it mostly was. On his way down through Korea, CCCP had seen many such scenes of revelry. Women crying tears of joy in the streets, men drinking and laughing, children playing, free from the fear of the Japanese military police for the first time in their young lives. Many had carried grateful words for him and his soldiers for their help, and professed even deeper gratitude to the members of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army who had truly liberated their country by fighting so ardently for years.

    But that joy had been tempered by confusion and tension. Rumours had been flying for weeks, questions going unanswered after the fleeing Japanese forces had destroyed much of telecommunications infrastructure. Was Japan truly defeated? What did that mean for the government? Who was in charge?

    And the question that CCCP received the most, asked with voices soaked with dread and hands clasped with nerves- was the country truly going to be divided?

   He disliked having to answer 'yes.' He disliked it even more when he had met the two young Countryhumans that represented Korea and had to ruin their joy by explaining what was happening. One had reacted with shock and nervousness while the other- the one currently walking at CCCP's side- had bared his teeth and demanded to know what right he had.

   There was no right, a fact he had made sure they knew he was aware of. And no reason beyond one man, one country's, desire for control.

    "Hey, Sovi." Across the invisible line that bisected the open clearing and would soon mark the boundary between two halves of Korea, stood a Countryhuman, beaming a smile that was incongruous with the expressions of those countries and military aides otherwise present. "Good to see you. How've you been?"

   "You are late," CCCP replied tersely. "I have been waiting here for over a week."

    A week in which he should have been home with his children, helping both them and their people recover from the wounds inflicted on them by the Third Reich. Instead he had been here, observing preparations for putting Korea back in order that would soon be made irrelevant as the political- and topographical- landscape was completely upheaved.

    "The trip took a little longer than I thought it would," America said, sounding unbothered. "You in some kind of rush?"

    "I have affairs to put back in order," CCCP replied stonily. "Unlike yourself, some countries actually fought the Reich and his Nazis personally."

   "I can see that." The American nodded his white-and-red striped head towards the Soviet. "Though you probably have some trouble with that now."

    CCCP's scarred eye muscle twitched under the black patch that covered it. "I have no time for these games. Let us do what we must."

    "Way ahead of you." America pulled a paper from his pocket, unfurling it dramatically. With a snap of his fingers, an aide approached, handing him an ornate ink pen. "Let's get this baby signed. But first, who wants to hear some good news?"

   "This isn't a game," the boy at CCCP's side snapped. He had white skin patterned with a red-and-blue ying-yang symbol with three crimson stripes passing through it, the flag of the People's Committees of Korea. "You're carving our country up like meat! At least show some respect."

    "That's where you're wrong, kid." America tapped his black pork-pie hat. "Life is a game. And I just won another round."

    The sharp eyes of CCCP's Korea flared in anger. "You had nothing to do with our victory here."