“Would you like to go first?” North’s tone was frosty and so was his eye as he glared down at North Pyongan, kneeling at his feet.
His province dipped his head shamefully, unable to meet his gaze.
‘Good.’ At least he had some self-awareness.
“I should not have stayed in Anju. I should have moved onto Sinuiju right away,” he said, ashamed. “I was irresponsible and neglected my duties as a general in our army. I should have obeyed your orders."
“Admittance means nothing if I know you would do it again,” North growled.
He didn’t like this angle of looking down at North Pyongan. Criticism should be given on equal footing. But his province was the one who had chosen to make his report from the floor as if confessing his sins. Fitting, maybe. But uncomfortable.
“I would,” the other man admitted.
North scrubbed his face angrily, then leaned forward. “You understand that you are telling me you disobeyed a direct order and would do it again? If any other soldier tried that, I would have them discharged and re-educated before allowing them back into combat. Give me one reason I shouldn’t do that to you.”
“Because we need as many soldiers as possible right now,” North Pyongan said, rightly. “Especially ones with thirty plus years of combat experience.”
“Give me one non-logistical reason.”
He hung his head, shifting on the cold stone. “There isn’t one.”
“No,” North said coldly. “There is not.”
The two sat in icy silence, neither moving. North Pyongan was used to remaining motionless to pray to his god, and North was used to showing no weakness.
“I’m sorry,” the Provincehuman eventually said, solemnly.
“’Sorry’ isn’t good enough!” North stood suddenly, now looming over him. A worse angle, but sitting back down now would be the same as backing down. “You abandoned your duty to your people to prioritize your sibling, just as both of you have done multiple times now. It has caused damage, irreversible damage. Even the things I could praise you for- not allowing yourself to be taken with her, talking down those religious zealots-“
“They weren’t actually pious,” North Pyongan interjected.
“Do not interrupt me,” North growled, and he quickly downcast his eyes again. “Even those things I could offer praise for were completely avoidable. You should have left her as soon as you arrived in Anju. If you had, those zealots wouldn't have been able to get so vocal. They might not have existed at all if you had just done your job in the first place. The entire incident back then might not have happened the way it did if you had just followed orders.”
“We can’t know that.”
“No, but sometimes even one person can make a difference. You can’t know you wouldn’t have, because you didn’t try.”
North paced a little in the small space behind his desk, turning over in his head the threat he had been deliberating since the Anju guerilla had travelled all this way to report on what was happening in the city, and he had received direct confirmation that North Pyongan had stayed.
Perhaps he should wait for the General to return, so the man could tell him it was too harsh. Perhaps he should think it was too harsh. He couldn’t-
YOU ARE READING
Chasing Liberty // Countryhumans North Korea fanfiction
FanfictionThe Koreas were victims of Japanese Imperialism for thirty-six years, deprived of freedom in their own country. With the defeat of the Japanese Empire after the second World War, you would think that their problems would be solved. But things rarel...
