One of the men said, “You will come with us, Comrade Yie. Your presence is required.”
She nodded and motioned to Min. “I will leave her with my landlord.”
“You do what you must, but you will hurry,” said the same one.
Chung-Cha put a jacket on Min and walked her down to her landlord’s apartment. She spoke a few words, apologizing for the lack of notice, but the landlord observed the two men behind her and issued no protest. He simply took Min by the hand.
Min still held her tablet and pen. She looked up at Chung-Cha with wide, sad eyes.
Chung-Cha said to the landlord, “Can you work with her on her writing, please?”
The landlord looked down at Min and nodded. “My wife. She is good with that.”
Chung-Cha nodded, took Min by the hand, and squeezed it. “I will be back for you, Min.”
When the door closed behind Min the other man said sneeringly, “Your little bitch from Yodok, right? How can you stand the smell?”
Chung-Cha turned to the man and stared up at him. The look in her eyes caused the sneer to drain from his features. She could kill this man. She could kill them both with a teaspoon.
“Do you know what I am?” she said quietly.
“You are Yie Chung-Cha.”
“I did not ask if you knew my name. I asked if you know what I am.”
The man took a step back. “You…you are assigned—”
“I kill people who are enemies of this country, Comrade. That little bitch will one day do what I do now, for our country. For our Supreme Leader. Anyone who speaks ill of her I will treat as an enemy of this country.” She took a quick step forward, closing the distance between them by half. “Does that include you, Comrade? I need to know. So you will tell me. Now.”
These men were important, Chung-Cha knew. And what she was doing right now was very dangerous. But still, she had to do it. It was either that or her fury would cause her to kill them both.
“I am…not your enemy, Yie Chung-Cha,” the man said, his voice quavering.
She turned away from him, her disgust ill-concealed. “Then let us go to our meeting.”
She walked down the hall and the men hurried after her.
Chapter
60
IT WAS A DILAPIDATED GOVERNMENT building. The paint was cheap, the furnishings cheaper still. The bulbs overhead dimmed and brightened as the shaky electricity made its way through the corroded lines like blood through clogged arteries. The smell was sweat mixed with cigarettes. The packs of cigarettes available here carried the typical skulls and crossbones on them, but apparently no one in North Korea cared. They smoked. They died. What did it matter?
Chung-Cha stopped at the door indicated to her by one of the men who had come for her. The door was opened and she was ushered in. Then the two young men left her. She could hear their polished shoes tapping down the faded linoleum.
She turned to face the people in the room. There were three of them. Two men and one woman. The black tunic was one of the men. The general who had been Pak’s good friend was the other man. The woman looked familiar to Chung-Cha. She blinked rapidly when she remembered her.
“It has been a long time, Yie Chung-Cha,” she said, rising from her seat. Her hair was white now instead of black. And her face was creased with age and worry. But it had been many years. Time did that to all. There was no escaping it.
Chung-Cha did not answer her. All she could think of was the woman’s screaming at her all those years ago at Yodok.
You will stick this knife inside the red circle. You will then pull it out and stick it back in…Do it now, or you will die here as an old woman.
The woman resumed her seat and smiled at Chung-Cha. “My predictions of your rising far certainly came true. I can always tell. It was in your eyes, Chung-Cha. The eyes never lie. I saw that clearly enough at Yodok that day.” She paused. “And you follow orders. You always follow orders. The sign of a good comrade.”
Chung-Cha finally pulled her gaze from the woman and looked at the black tunic.
“You have summoned me?” she began.
“The Americans,” said the black tunic. “They have struck.”
“Struck how?” asked Chung-Cha as she took a seat directly opposite him. She did not look at the general. She did not look at the woman. She would not give either the satisfaction. She knew the black tunic was the de facto leader of this group. Her attention and perceived respect would flow only to him and to hell with the others.
“General Pak’s adopted son and daughter, Pak Du-Ho and Pak Eun Sun, have escaped from Bukchang. They have done so with the help of the Americans.”
“A man and a woman,” added the general.
The black tunic added, “It may be the same pair that was sent to kill General Pak in France. But we cannot be sure. We are attempting to obtain a positive identification.”
“Does it matter?” said the woman. “The Americans have legions of agents who do their evil bidding. The fact is, they came onto North Korean soil. They invaded this country and took from it two of our prisoners.”
The general nodded. “Yes, Rim Yun is right. They are barbarians. They killed many North Koreans. It is an act of war.”
“So we are going to war with the Americans?” asked Chung-Cha. Now she looked at all three, one at a time.
The black tunic said hesitantly, “Not precisely. They may want us to be so foolish. But we will counterattack in our way. In the way we had planned all along, Comrade.”
“The American president’s family?” said Chung-Cha.
Rim Yun said, “That is correct. We will kill them. You will kill them, Chung-Cha. Can you imagine the glory that the Supreme Leader will bestow upon you?”
“If I am alive,” pointed out Chung-Cha.
“There is far more glory in death than in living,” barked Rim Yun.
“I appreciate that fact one thousand times,” replied Chung-Cha. “So would you like to accompany me to America where we both can share such glory after our deaths? What a wonderful thing, as you said.”
The black tunic and the general said nothing. They glanced at each other and then at Rim Yun.
“You still have the defiant heart of Yodok in you, Chung-Cha,” said Rim Yun coldly.
“I have many things from Yodok inside me. And I remember them all. Quite clearly.”
The women locked gazes for a long moment before Rim Yun finally broke off and looked away.
She said in an oddly casual tone, “The administrator of Bukchang was shot this morning along with a half dozen guards for allowing this disgraceful escape to happen. I am sure that more will be shot as time goes on.”
“I am sure that he deserved it,” said Chung-Cha.
Rim Yun shot her a glance. “You killed the former administrator of Bukchang, did you not?”
“On orders, I did. He was corrupt. An enemy of this country.”
“Did you know that he was recently replaced with the administrator from Yodok? Comrade Doh? You knew Doh, did you not? He was at Yodok when you were there, is that not so?”
Chung-Cha had to work hard to keep the smile off her lips. “Comrade Doh was executed?”
“That is what I said.”
“I am sure that he deserved it,” she said again.
Rim Yun gave her a piercing look before turning away and saying, “We waste time. Tell her what is needed.”