Last Stop: Pyongyang

A blown secret

Daniel, soaked to the skin, and his distraught brother arrived home. The Nguyens were completely beside themselves. After their initial shock had waned, they rushed into the bathroom to get towels and dry clothes. Viola stared at her brothers in shock and hurried into the kitchen to make tea.

Philip's mother had already taken off her son's anorak and pushed him into the well-heated living room. "We got attacked by really bad men!" Philip shouted. "But a superhero with a black mask came to our rescue! A Zorro!"

His father Minh frowned and tried to talk his youngest child out of this nonsense, but Daniel confirmed his brother's statement. "It's true. I saw it, too. At first, I thought I was imagining it, but the guy was really wearing a mask. I have no idea why."

The police were more than astonished that the rescuer was wearing a mask - not the perpetrators. In disbelief, the officers asked the question several times and insisted that Daniel show them the exact spot in the forest. After a warm shower and in dry clothes, he joined the officers, despite his desolate state. At this point, Philip had already bathed and was lying in his parents' bed with a hot water bottle.

The stream’s muddy bank showed obvious signs of a fight, which matched the brothers' descriptions, but the perpetrators had long disappeared. "There must have been at least three of them", stated Daniel. "One held my brother and two pushed me underwater! It all happened so quickly that I couldn‘t even see who attacked us."

The police officer next to Daniel raised his eyebrows. There had been witnessing a worrying increase in crimes in this area lately – first Carola Braun's death, now the attack on the Nguyen brothers. Also, a high school graduate had disappeared – Amelie's parents had finally reported their daughter missing.

***

That evening, Daniel was wide awake and stared at the ceiling, agitated. His attackers had clearly intended to kill him. Why? What harm had he done to them? And why had they attacked Philip, too? Daniel's stomach turned at the thought that his little brother had been in danger, too. Everything had happened so quickly... If only he had recognized them!

He felt tired and worn out. Then he remembered that he should have arrived at the emergency room already. However, that was out of the question in his condition, so he took his phone from the bedside table and called in sick.

Right after, he sent a message to Yu-ja. Are you still awake? I can't sleep.

Yu-ja's picture immediately appeared on his screen, and Daniel answered the call. "I can't sleep either," she said in a cheerful voice. "Too excited. Never mind that I have to go to school tomorrow." She giggled.

"Did Tak mention anything?" Daniel asked his girlfriend. Yu-ja was able to calm him down. "Tonight, I didn't see him at all. He's probably come to terms with our relationship. Mom and Dad don't know about us, I’m sure of that."

After returning home, Tak had immediately disappeared into the bathroom and taken a long shower. Normally, he preferred short, cool showers, but today he needed warmth! He turned the tap on as far as he could for half an hour. Only then did he feel at least a little warm again.

Tak rubbed himself dry with a large towel that he had preheated on the radiator. Tired, he stared at the light green tiles. A pneumonia was the last thing he needed now. He decided not to tell Yu-ja about today‘s incident. Daniel would certainly do so.

Daniel and Philip got away unharmed. That was the most important thing.

Yu-ja was just about to make plans for the coming week when Daniel started coughing. "I... Philip and I were ambushed today. On our way home." Yu-ja's voice failed in shock. "What?" she finally uttered. “Did you get hurt?”

“Phili is fine, although he‘s still a bit scared. I have to take it easy for the next few days. They pushed me into the stream. I can already feel the sickness approaching.”

“What? In this cold???” Yu-ja jumped out of her bed in shock. She really wanted to come over, but Daniel fended her off. “I have to go to sleep now. I’m no good company for you tonight.” Yu-ja was adamant. “Never mind! I can just be with you!”

Horror had crept into her every limb. “And you didn’t recognize the attackers?” Daniel repeated what he had told the police. At least three people, thought Yu-ja. And one of them grabbed Phili from behind. A bad feeling overcame her. Daniel, who was now very exhausted, wished Yu-ja a good night and ended the call.

Yu-ja couldn't sleep. She needed to talk to Tak. Urgently.

She tiptoed across the carpeted hallway to her brother's room. Without knocking, she quietly opened the door. The room was almost completely dark, except for the light from the monitor. Tak was sitting in front of his PC, completely engrossed, with his headphones on. He was playing an online game with a friend. Yu-ja gently tapped him on the shoulder.

"Are you crazy?" hissed Tak, who had turned around in shock and almost dropped his controller. He calmed down immediately when he noticed the worried expression on Yu-ja's face. "What's going on?" His concern was evident.

With a wave of his hand, he motioned to his distraught sister to sit down on the bed. Yu-ja carefully sat down on the soft woollen blanket.

She pushed her hair away from her eyes. "Daniel and Philip got ambushed today. On their way back from Grünau. By three guys. Or more. Sounds a lot like what happened to me back then,” she burst out.

Tak exhaled slowly. “Did you tell Daniel that you got attacked last April?” He was relieved when his sister said no. So far, so good.

He wondered how much he could tell Yu-ja. She would certainly break the news to Daniel, if Tak confided in her about saving the two of them. So, he asked a few questions about what had happened, which Yu-ja answered willingly. She was much calmer now.

“And Philip keeps claiming that they were rescued by a masked Zorro. I‘d really like to meet this guy, just to say thank you.” Tak managed to suppress a smile. His sister had no idea…

Later, Tak sent a message to Daniel, asking how he and Philip were doing. There was no reply that evening. Daniel was probably asleep by now. No wonder, after such a bad day!

***

Daniel felt sick for the whole week. He had caught a severe cold and stayed in bed, coughing and suffering from a high fever, which only subsided slowly. Tak excused his friend from his lectures and diligently took notes for him, while Yu-ja visited every afternoon, to look after Daniel. His parents gradually seemed to become suspicious, but she didn't care. She couldn't leave him alone in a situation like that!

Grateful for her care, Daniel snuggled up to her. "You didn’t say even once how you are feeling today," he demanded to know. Yu-ja waved him off. "It’s the chemistry homework. I just don’t get it. Never mind. Let’s forget about it."

Daniel didn't want to take responsibility for that. Chemistry had been one of his favorite subjects at high school. Without hesitation, he offered to help Yu-ja. She took her book out of her backpack and opened it. With Daniel's explanations, the homework was actually done quite quickly.

It was already late, but Yu-ja didn't want to leave. She crawled into Daniel’s bed and kissed him passionately. The world around them blurred, so they didn't notice Phili until he was standing in the middle of the room. "Dani and Yu-ja are making out!" he shouted in a voice so loud that everyone in the house could hear him. Daniel groaned in annoyance, while Yu-ja found the whole thing rather amusing.

Daniel's mother, who had already suspected something like this, smiled quietly to herself. After all, Yu-ja had been sticking around all the time. Every day since Monday, and today was already Thursday! You don't behave like that when you're just good friends. Hoa was genuinely happy for her son. She took off her apron and made hot chocolate. Dinner was almost ready. Maybe Yu-ja wanted to stay?

Twenty minutes later, the Nguyens and Yu-ja were sitting at the dining table, chatting animatedly. Daniel was still feeling a little bit under the weather, but Philip had made a full recovery. He chatted away happily and invited Yu-ja to come over for dinner more often.

Yu-ja felt incredibly comfortable with Daniel's family. She had known the Nguyens for a long time, but now their relationship had grown much closer. In any case, they didn't seem to have any reservations about her. If only my family were as relaxed.

***

That evening, Tak finally found an opportunity to talk to his father about the ambush. Of course, Sang-wan had heard about the attack on Daniel and his brother. He was extremely worried as he, too, recognized the parallels to the attack Yu-ja had suffered earlier this year.