Path to Paradise|NAYEON+2yeon|ENG

03: With Fury From Japan

Nayeon's pov

I had been in China for six months and my hair had finally grown out. I no longer had that very short cut that was mandatory in North Korea. I hated that cut. I've always wanted to have long, beautiful hair. At the moment, my hair comes to my shoulders.

During those months Tzuyu was giving me Chinese lessons. Leaving China would have been more difficult than I thought. I didn't have a passport, I didn't have an identity card and I still didn't know the language well. Tzuyu was studying a plan with some of her and Kyungwan's friends to get me to South Korea safe.

"Ning, get ready. A friend of mine will be arriving from Japan today" Tzuyu told me- in Chinese, since we were only talking that now- when we finished eating.

"Have you heard from Kyungwan?"

"Ning... You ask me this every day for six months. What do I always tell you?"

"First you tell me that I always repeat it and then that it is difficult to have news if he is an infiltrator" I told her, diligently repeating what she always told me.

"That's right. We can only pray" she told me as she stood up.

I helped her clean the dishes and then went to my room to get ready. I was quite excited to get to know another member of that rescue team.

At around five o'clock, Tzuyu called me. I went into the living room and saw a girl next to her.

"Hi, you must be Nay... Ning. Nice to meet you, I'm Sana" the girl told me- in Korean, since she didn't know Chinese- holding out her hand.

I returned the shake.

"So... Do you have something in mind TzuTzu?" Sana asked.

"Passing her directly into South Korea is risky. We should pass her through Japan" Tzuyu said, explaining her plan for the first time.

"How are we supposed to do it? She doesn't have a passport or something" Sana said thoughtfully.

"This is why we will ask Momo for help. Her uncle owns a boat. Ning will get on the boat and once she gets to Japan she will be practically free" Tzuyu, who surprised me by her intelligence, said.

"Will it work?" Sana asked worriedly.

"We don't know. But Ning has risked so far. She'll make one last effort."

I nodded at Tzuyu's statement.

"Doesn't she seem to you to have suffered too much?" Sana asked seriously worried.

"Thanks for worrying but I'm ready to take another risk" I told her, smiling at her.

"Kangokujin wa hontoni utsukushidesu" Sana said in Japanese, biting her lower lip.
("Koreans are really beautiful")

"Sana, now you'd better go to your room to rest. We still have time to prepare for our escape" Tzuyu said, getting up.

"TzuTzu saranghae" Sana said as she hugged Tzuyu.

Who knows why she told it in Korean. I know they have lived in South Korea for a long time, that's why.

"Sana, seiko ofu" Tzuyu said in Japanese.
("F*ck you")

How cute. Tzuyu must have told her that she loves her too. Sana broke away and pouted. Strange. The two then went to Tzuyu's room. I decided to get up too to go to my room. I sat on my bed and looked at the river that brought me here to Tzuyu's house. The same river that had separated me from Kyungwan.

"Kyungwan, wo xiangnian ni"
("Kyungwan, I miss you")

I took a piece of paper and a pen and began to write, alternating my eyes between the paper and the river.

"Who knows what you're doing. Are you still alive? Did you help someone else? Did you forget about me? Have you ever thought about what happened to me? If I'm still alive or dead? I think about you all the time. I'm afraid I won't be able to see you never again. I'll wait for you."

I heard someone knock on the door. I put the letter in a drawer and went to open it, finding Sana.

"Can I come in?" she asked me.

I greeted her immediately and we sat on my bed.

"Forgive Tzuyu. She is not always cold, underneath she has a kind heart" she told me smiling at me.

Tzuyu always presented herself as a fairly detached person, that she doesn't want to show too much affection. Sana, as it seemed to me, was totally the opposite. She loved to show affection and to receive it.

"How are you here?"

"Better than where I was before" I said laughing.

"True, true. Even though being with Tzu can be hell sometimes. She's so stern" she said rolling her eyes.

"I bet she didn't even tell you about us" she continued, confusing me.

"She told me that you are a friend of hers who lives in Japan even though you met in South Korea" I told her trying to understand why Sana thought that Tzuyu had not told me about their relationship.

"Here. Tzuyu and I are actually together"

"I know. And now you stay with me"

"No. I mean we're a thing"

"Eh? A girl with a girl? In my country this wouldn't be possible" I said in amazement at what Sana had just told me.

"Does it bother you?" she asked me changing her expression from her usual happy to a sad one.

"Oh. No. It's just that it's so weird. But love is love" I said smiling at her putting my hands on my heart.

"Have you ever been in love?" she asked me curiously.

"Once. An impossible love. I don't even know if I'll see him again"