Safeway Pyongyang // Reader x Countryhumans

Sleeping Alone Now

      "A-A propaganda girl?" Y/N stuttered. "W-What's that?"

      "You will be on television, talking about life here. Other countries can dismiss my citizens as 'brainwashed' when they talk about me, but you're a foreigner. It will harder to ignore you." He crossed his arms. "Unless you don't want to?"

      There was a veiled threat in his voice. "O-Of course I'll do it," Y/N said quickly. Being on TV wasn't half as bad as working in a labour camp. She hadn't truly really worked since she was sixteen, before she had met him, and that had only been a McDonald's job. She definitely wasn't cut out for hard work.

      "I'll do anything you want, just..." She switched to Korean. "Thank you so much for this. You won't regret it."

     "I had better not." He took out a key. "But if you keep trying to speak Korean, I will. Turn around."

      Y/N complied, and he crouched next to her, inserting the key into the cuffs, unchaining her. Her hands immediately went to her wrists, rubbing the chafed spots on them. Definitely not as painful as her other injuries, but still irritating. She was relieved when North Korea's presence straightened up, moving away from her again.

      He was observing her carefully, probably to see if she was going to attempt to attack him. When she didn't make any moves, he started to turn. "Come on- I will make arrangements, and then you can get started."

     
      "Okay." Y/N stood up, getting a headrush. When she tried to take a step forward, her head spun, and a combination of low iron, immense fatigue, and pins-and-needles almost sent her crashing to the floor. She hadn't even had a chance to brace for impact before North Korea had spun around and caught her, one hand on her arm and the other on her side. Her arm twisted a little, but it wasn't anything compared to how she had been grabbed in the past, or how it would have felt to crash face first onto the floor.

       The country quickly righted her and released his grip. "Are you drunk?" he demanded in Korean, before switching to English.

      "N-No, I'm sorry," Y/N stammered. "I'm just- I haven't slept in over seventy-two hours. I'm sorry."

       North Korea's eye widened slightly. "Ssi-bal. Are you stupid? Say something sooner. You can't start today. We will get you a room, and you can start when you wake up."

        "It's okay, I'll be fine," Y/N said, trying to sound more alert. "I can do it today." She straightened her back and started to walk. However, her vision went blurry, and she swayed again.

       North Korea looked about ready to steady her once more, but she caught herself before he had a chance. "I-I'm sorry," she stammered.

       "Don't apologise for being tired," the country snapped. "Just don't try to work when you haven't slept. Workers aren't at their best when they are struggling to keep their eyes open." He opened the door to reveal two guards standing beside it.

    "Support her." He jerked his head in her direction. "She will be staying with us."

     If the guards were surprised they didn't show it, merely moved to either side of her.

      "No, I'm okay, really," Y/N protested. "I can walk."

       "You cannot," North Korea said bluntly, not looking at her, and starting down the hallway.

       The guards wrapped their arms around her, and off they went. After a lot of walking, and a brief elevator ride up, they came to what was marked as the fifth floor. It had a couple doors along both sides of the hall. As they walked along it, a door near the end opened, and a Countryhuman peeked out.

       Y/N blinked in surprise. The girl didn't have a flag that she recognised, but a plain white face with a red lotus-looking flower in the middle. She locked eyes with Y/N, and her pure white ones widened.

       "Korea? Who's that?" she asked, her voice soft and clear.

      "Not now, South Hamgyong," the Countryhuman said. "I'll tell you later."

       Y/N didn't recognise the word 'Hamgyong,' but she thought that it might be the girl's name. 'She must be a Provincehuman, then.' She knew that North Korea had provinces instead of states, she just didn't know how they were called.

       The white province looked unsatisfied, but closed her door nonetheless.

       "We have a couple empty rooms up here," North Korea said, stopping in front of one. He opened the door and gestured for her to walk in. She stepped over the threshold to see a classically Korean room, one that looked more like it belonged in a traditional house than in a fancy building like the one that she was in.

       The floor was covered in tatami mats, and the left wall was made of paper panels with images of birds in flight coming out of flowers, designed in gold, red, and white- the only spot of colour in the otherwise neutral-toned room, aside from the portraits of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il set on the right wall, amidst a set of wooden box shelves. The far wall had windows that were covered in drawn paper slats, sunlight leaking through them.

      "This is your room," North Korea said. "The windows are bullet-proof, and there will be guards outside your door, so don't try anything." He turned around, already leaving. "When you wake up, tell them, and I will send someone to get you." He and the two women left, leaving the girl alone.

       She turned to her new room, and broke out in a grin. It had been awhile since she had had her own place to sleep, alone. She had never slept on a sleeping mat before, but right now nothing had ever looked so comfortable. Briefly, she wondered what had happened to her bag, before she put it out of her head. Worrying could come later, but for now, she needed sleep.

      Staggering to the bedroll that was against the paper panelled wall, she collapsed, barely able to pull the blanket over herself before sleep claimed her.

By the way, if you disapprove of labour camps (literally just prisons) in North Korea, then you should read into the prison industrial complex in America, as well as the slavery in it, the conditions, and the rate at which black people are disproportionately imprisoned.

Good segue.

Systematic racism is a real problem, not just in America (but mostly (okay not mostly I'm just being biased). If you think it's not, mesage me and we can talk about it. If you already know, then make sure you vote for policies that reduce harm, though under capitalism none of us will ever truly be liberated. Speak out and seek knowledge. People's voices are always needed, and no matter the colour of your skin, or your crime, you deserve a chance at justice and life.
https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/ Here's a link to a list of petitions, educational documents, and places to donate. While systemic racism cannot be destroyed until the militant proletariat takeover and the eradication of the class system and inequality, until then do what you can. All lives can't matter until black lives matter. Also Ssi-bal roughly means fuck, kept it as is for the flavour.