Last Stop: Pyongyang

A precarious situation

Tak drove into the driveway in silence. A deep frown had formed on his forehead. Anxiously, he waited for the garage‘s electric door to open.

"Go in, so no one gets to see you," he instructed Yu-ja, who was sadly examining her favorite shirt, which was now in rags. His sister obeyed without saying a word.

Yu-ja wanted to sneak upstairs unnoticed. However, her parents were watching TV with a glass of wine and having a lively conversation, so they heard the front door open. Curiously, they emerged from the sofa and opened the wooden sliding door. They remained standing in the doorway. Both stared at their daughter in shock, who was only wearing a b*a and pair of jeans.

Sang-wan ran into the hallway and gaped at his daughter. Immediately, he started yelling, which was very much out of character. "What were you thinking, going to the disco like this? You look like a w***e!" The startled Yu-ja looked over her shoulder in search of support from Tak, while her father vented his indignation.

Finally, Tak came into the house and helped his sister clarify things. "Yu-ja was attacked on her way home. She'll better tell you herself."

Now very worried, Min-ju ran over to her daughter and hugged her. Her concern for her child was obvious. "Yu-ja! What happened? Who attacked you?"

Yu-ja explained the events of the last hour, while her horrified parents kept interrupting her with questions. Sang-wan was now ashamed of having shouted at his daughter. "You didn’t tell us who did this," he insisted. He would finish those guys off.

Yu-ja continued speaking, but soon paused to reflect. "I think I messed up."

"Why, did they hurt you?" Min-ju was almost going through an out-of-body experience. "No," Yu-ja reassured her mother. "But I gave them a really good beating. They won't be able to hide it from their parents. And - I told them that I'm a North Korean. I’m so sorry. I was in shock."

Sang-wan and Min-ju went silent for several minutes and digested their daughter's words. Tak gaped at her. Yu-ja hadn't told him about that!

Calm down, thought Sang-wan. You're among the best. That's why they deployed you to South Korea. There's no problem you couldn‘t resolve.

The idea in his head took shape. "You're saying they were drunk?" he asked his daughter. "One of them was totally busted and stank terribly, and the other two must have had a lot, too," Yu-ja confirmed.

"Good. If anyone asks us, we'll claim they made it up. You didn’t cross paths with those guys. They probably fantasized about your encounter while drunk."

"But dad," Tak interrupted. "They attacked Yu-ja. Who knows when they'll strike again. Next time things may not turn out so well! Maybe it wasn't the first time! We have to report them." "A policeman‘s son?" Sang-wan asked bitterly. "Do you really think that will do us any good?" Tak wasn't sure about that. He lowered his head, deep in thought.

"It's worth a try," Min-ju chimed in. "They can't abduct or punish us. We're no longer in North Korea." Sang-wan looked at her intently. "Do you remember how all the complaints against those three evaporated into thin air? The thefts in the supermarket? And no one followed up on the kiosk vandalism last month either!"

Min-ju sighed, but wasn't yet defeated. "Such violence is a completely different matter!" Yes, the Chos wanted to remain as inconspicuous as possible so as not to endanger their cover, but this was a situation that required decisive action!

Sang-wan stuck to his guns. "No. Yu-ja knows nothing. We have to protect ourselves. If anyone asks, we will insist that the three of them lied about this encounter - which means that the North Korean thing must also be a fantasy. Yu-ja didn't see any of them."

Yu-ja shrugged. She didn't quite agree with her father's decision, but he was usually a good judge of events. So things should be that way.

***

In the middle of the night, the Chos' doorbell rang. Sang-wan looked at the alarm clock and quickly got up. It was just after three in the morning! He sneaked downstairs and peered through the window. Sebastian Nöckler was standing outside, along with his son Armin and two uniforms. The boy was really pretty beaten up. He had a scratch on his face and a huge bandage on his nose. He was so pale that his freckles were barely visible. Sang-wan was proud that his daughter defended herself so well. But now, he had to deal with the problem at hand.

He quickly ran upstairs and woke Yu-ja. She blinked sleepily. "The police are here. I'll go downstairs and talk to them. If they want to see you, remember: you don't know about anything."

He hurried back downstairs and opened the door. Immediately, he was hit by a cold breeze. Despite the warm temperatures during daytime, summer was still far away. His night-time visitors were eying him with grim expressions.

"What's going on?" asked Sang-wan, pretending to be tired and clueless. He stretched and yawned demonstratively. "Is your daughter at home?" the inspector wanted to know. His voice could have cut glass. "Of course," answered Sang-wan, who immediately noticed that the officers hadn't even said hello. "She's asleep. Why?" "Look at my son, and you'll understand why," Armin's father replied angrily. Sang-wan played dumb. "I have no idea."

His counterpart made an annoyed noise. "Your daughter did this. We need to talk to her." "You've got to be kidding!" Sang-wan shouted. "Do you know how delicate my daughter is? She's much shorter than your son and wouldn't be physically capable of attacking him." He was pleased to see Armin blush. "Okay, I'll get her." Slowly, he walked up the stairs.

"It's about time," he whispered to Yu-ja, who was waiting upstairs. She quickly put on a bathrobe to hide the large bruise on her forearm that the attackers had left and followed her father downstairs. "Yes? What's wrong?"

Armin pointed his index finger at Yu-ja and took a step back. "There, Dad! She hit me! And Markus and Frederik, too!"

"I what?" Yu-ja put on a bewildered expression. She opened her eyes wide and looked at her father. "What does that mean, Dad?" Very good, thought Sang-wan. She's doing great. "As you can see, my daughter has no idea," he summed up. He couldn't help but feel a certain amount of glee.

"A few hours ago, you were beating up three boys on a forest path, including my son. That was a completely unprovoked attack!" Yu-ja continued to pretend ignorance. With a winning smile, she said: "I wasn't on any forest path. My brother drove me home after I met my friends at 3Nights. Ask him, if you don’t believe me. I can get him." She looked at the stairs.

The inspector was not at all satisfied and approached Yu-ja threateningly. "You're coming with us now, and then we'll question you at the station." Yu-ja instinctively backed away and sought protection behind her father.

No way! Who knew what they were up to... "What's going on?" Min-ju shouted in a shrill voice. She had been overhearing the whole thing and decided that it was time to stir up some trouble. "What are you thinking, showing up here in the middle of the night to harass us with your flimsy accusations! We have our rights, and you can't drag our underage daughter out of our house! Apparently, you're not that busy. Why do they always say the police are understaffed!" Min-ju had come down the stairs during her tirade and was now standing between the police officers and Yu-ja.

"Hey," Armin shouted angrily. "I'm the victim!" "Absolutely, but not my daughter‘s! You’re a drinker, and so are your friends! Just because you made something up while drunk, you can’t bully my daughter around! Now get out!” Min-ju’s voice got louder and louder.

The first lights came on in the surrounding houses. Min-ju’s rant had woken the neighbors.

Min-ju, who was completely unmoved, opened the front door wide. “Out, I said! Next time, do a breathalyzer test with your son! Then you’ll see how many per mille he has in his system. He probably got into a fight with a guy who gave him a good beating, and now he’s blaming my daughter! That’s so cowardly, effeminate and underhanded!”

That hit home. Under the curious gazes of several of the Chos’ neighbors, Armin and his father hurriedly left the house with bright red faces, while the two police officers looked amused. One apologized to the Chos and then followed the others. It had been worth it that their grumpy boss had rung them out of bed! Their unexpected night shift would be the topic of conversation at the office tomorrow.

Sang-wan was incredibly proud of his wife. "Well done." He put his arm around her as he closed and locked the front door. Min-ju snuggled up to him, smiling. "And you go back to bed!" he instructed his daughter. Yu-ja nodded with relief and ran upstairs, relieved. Tak, who had been eavesdropping, also went back to sleep.

Min-ju was Sang-wans rock. She was caring, smart, foresighted and always ready to defend her children like a lioness. There was not much left of the submissive North Korean woman she used to be - now, she contradicted Sang-wan when she thought it was right and had become a great advisor to him. Had I known, I would not have opposed our wedding.