The thrill of the dance together was squashed under the boiling sun and heaving tools carving up the earth.
Despite a brief night of dancing in imaginary flower fields and seeing Blondie discover romance with a poor old farmer, it was all over the moment the sun came up and we had to drag ourselves up from the dirt to head to the walls again.
We couldn't mention anything about the forbidden movie. Hae-Won could only play it in her mind to try and distract herself from her burning skin and aching bones.
She deserved to dance. I wanted to give her that.
We toiled and threw potatoes onto our piles until the sound of a revving car caught the attention of everyone around us.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm8nuOFGcTM
149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCKC9wPNhZX
Quick glances were all the green car and it's occupants got before the call of the field and jab of the guns scared them into working again.
It was odd to even see a car out here. No-one but the officials could afford them. No-one around here had that kind of money to put away if the option was available. It was a years wages just to get something resembling a bicycle around here.
That would be a nice relief for Hae-Won. I could ride the bicycle while she rested herself on the back. I'd build a little seat just for her.
If I had the money....
Everyone stopped work the moment officials stepped through the walls and onto the dirt. I could see the neat crease down the middle of thier green pants that were spotless. Thier red stars on thier shoulders and chests blazed as a symbol of power that couldn't be ignored.
There were two men here. One was younger than the other and marched behind the leader obediently. They both had the same shaved hair that looked grey from how close to the skin it had been cut.
The youngest rolled out a slab of carpet for the leader to step onto to try and save his shoes from the filth surrounding him.
I hid my laughter behind a smile I faced the ground with until I could wipe it off and peer at both men.
"I need one man and one woman!" the leader held up two fingers "young! Uncut! Beautiful!"
I was confused by the request, as was everyone else. We didn't express it and just stared at the officials.
The youngest one weaved the groups to inspect the faces of the people here. He was like a buzzing fly, hovering only long enough before moving to the next best prize.
Don't move, Beom-Seok. Stand tall and look ahead.
The fly hovered around my face, buzzing to my left and right before circling me entirely and letting out a call.
"This man!" he informed his superior who he ordered me towards.
Hae-Won looked miserable at our seperation. She didn't even get a glance from the fly who missed her entirely with a snort.
I glanced back to my friend standing there uselessly. She forced a smile and remained on show with the others while I was ushered out of the gates and toward the car.
Where was I going? To another field?149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY0kfmj0uNt
149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8id7g5J2IB
A more brutal one that harvested more labourous and exotic foods like apples?
I heard people broke thier backs on the ladders they climbed; dropping from exhaustion. The toxins they used on the trees were supposed to make your skin peel from itself and fill with watery pus on contact.
These were only whispers of the markets. I had never seen if they were true of not. People hid thier ailments to avoid dirtying the image of what was supposed to be our perfectly bountiful lands.
But if they wanted someone younger, at least Hae-Won would be spared from that torture.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡggmAQhYqtW
149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgWnPI9VaLG
She was already struggling in the potato fields. Tearing her from them would only eliminate her only chance to skim the few from the piles to eat later.
She'd starve if she left.
I knew better than to question the decision of someone higher than me. I would sit in the car and see where i ended up.
A woman was picked and quickly shepherded in beside me. We didn't speak to each other and just awaited out uncertain fates.
Her long, black hair was knotted on itself to try and keep it out of her face. Her brown eyes, full of fear and pain, darted from my face so they could study her torn fingers twisting together. 149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm6yduyqeFL
149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeI6TBDisBd
Her dress made from a potato sack itself was torn at the edges to try and make it look like something decent and trendy. The massive green and white stamp across her middle that marked the goods for delivery gave her no chance for that.
It the was the first time I had even been near a car or anything that took my feet from the ground they dragged through day after day. Hers too by the awkward way she tried not to touch the seats with her dirty hands.
They had a way to clean it. Hell, they'd probably just dump the car altogether and replace it with a new one because of our filth just being near the officials. 149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡafVW95Cs7B
149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡALO4EJS8me
The open air at least gave us some way of trying to mask the stink wafting from both of us sat in the back. Blood, sweat, and dirt was no different to the area we basically lived in. To someone with higher standings in society, the stench was painfully obvious.
Even though I didn't look it, I felt like an official myself being carpooled to some pristigeous meeting when we peeled from the fields everyone was forced to continue working.
I couldn't say or do anything for Hae-Won who was promptly shoved towards her hoe when she tried to keep eye contact with me as long as possible.
Then, she was gone in a plume of smoke.
We kept quiet for the drive through towards the towering walls further towards the town we never got to see. Only the most pristine and wealthy of facades got to wander those streets, eat the food, and appeal to the foreigners who were eager to see thier pamphleted towns forever basking in sunshine and smiles.
No-one saw the reality behind the walls. It wasn't the image the Fearless Leader wanted his country to be known for. As far as they knew, those walls was where the towns ended. Nothing laid beyond them.
We were happy and loved by all. Our Leader guided us to a bright future of song and prosperity.
So, why were we being dragged from the very bottom to the top of it all?
Surely, two lowly labourers had no special gifts to offer the porclean painted face of Korea?
They had wanted someone beautiful. Both of us had been spared any visible cuts to our faces. Instead, they riddled our hands and arms. 149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCAKR18gPIm
149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ0peWh0Nu2
And the sunburn blazed across our encrusted skin could be bathed and covered if they wanted us to look the part.
Maybe it was for a meet and greet with the tourists? Act like a bubbling prop in the background as they took thier directed photos and marvelled at how easy we had it.
What a joke.
The car was given its deserved welcomes back into the set we passed through. 149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkSookgCuo0
149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ9mh6q8Cx9
The walls were closed and the dirt it swept in promptly dusted out of sight.
Everything here was pristine.
Painted walls to our right resembled grocery stores brimming with food. They were placed so far back that the illusion would fool the tourists from their path on the road snaking to our left.
With no foreign eyes watching, the set had to be cleaned and ready for another guided tour.
We were sped through the pebbled road of the empty town surrounding us. The shame dripping from us couldn't be seen by anyone for fear of it staining it's path through the perfect paint.
People did wander here though. They were all dressed in elaborate clothing and had thier shiny props with them. 149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOcUChGrRyI
149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU3wMEVtJup
Paper umbrellas, a cart of flowers; even model children in bright colours roamed the sidewalks gracefully.
None of these people had thought behind thier steps. They didn't rush like thier life was timed every waking moment. They just wandered with smiles and empty thoughts.
They bowed as we passed them before continuing onwards. I felt my stomach flip when it looked like it was being aimed toward me.
It was a delusional thought. Of course I was still nothing to them. The only thing that had changed was the company I was surrounded with.
Neither of these men smiled. They were stone-faced even when they were being shown respect by the others beneath us.
I would prefer Hae-Won's gummy smile any day. Her kind heart and selflessness radiated like a thousand sun's compared to these emotionless masks. 149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiHA8o9pCDh
149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Aa0qyJT0J
Despite living in literal dirt with no worldly possessions to her name, she was the happiest person I knew.
Everything happened so fast. 149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMIPROe8Fnr
149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxxXAdfBFZT
We were whisked into what seemed like just another house with waiting people outside the door.
A single wooden partition seperated the main living area we marched into.
There were two massive wooden barrels on either side of the partition that a woman each side was finishing topping off with water from her pitcher.
There was no words spoken when I was divided from the other nameless labourer and stripped of my tattered clothing by what seemed like hundreds of soft hands.
Naked, I was steered to the barrel and promptly forced down under the cold water that made me yell out when it bit at my toes and then my genitals and chest.
Dirt instantly tinged the bubbles clinging to the water surface. Women scrubbed my back like they were trying to gouge the shine into laquored floorboards. 149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoPskxpKt8S
149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo3082Lvb7y
It felt like I was bleeding from the amount of force they were throwing behind the scrubbing brushes each one held. 149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFsOTQWX6oM
149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr5L12HGY4g
I heard the woman on the other side of the partition cry when the sawing sound of the brushes and the disgruntled women muttered under thier breaths.
I was slapped into a standing position so that everything below the dirt line ringing my torso could be scrubbed. 149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9fV5RMmzAe
149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz11pw3gFgX
I saw the black bottoms of my feet turn pale again; a colour I hadn't seen in many, many years.
I had forgotten the actual colour of my skin. For years, grime and gunk had made a new layer that had stained me and wouldn't budge in the hot springs. But these women and thier sweet soaps had managed to remove that struggle in mere seconds.
Once the first few layers of my skin were removed, I was placed on the floor to be rubed over with soft towels.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMoYPrb4FmR
149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUcREygFVJZ
Two women worked on a leg each, with two others doing my arms. I had one at the back and one at my front who made my limp penis stand as proud as a propaganda flagpole from her just battering it to dry it off.
I covered it and heard the officials snicker at the reaction I had.
With my body dried and promptly dampened again in strong perfumes that burned my nose and lungs, I was pushed down onto a wooden box and had my hair tackled by someone viciously trying to scalp me.
The woman on the other side was at the same stage, wincing and crying from the tangled mess of hair she had that refused to be tamed.
She was going to have a hard time from years of neglect.
Black dress pants were pulled onto me and quickly pinned from the inside to stop them from falling off my bony frame. 149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqL0Pc2ouKn
149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7MZkZhqH7g
The white top came next, with a black tie that matched the jacket that covered everything. 149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLyq4Fe3ews
149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmAgEZ6InJP
A slip of dark blue silk was folded and stuffed into the front pocket, my feet slipping into the shined black shoes that were padded with paper to keep them in place.
This was foreign clothing. There was nothing delicate or beautiful decorating the suit I wore. It was just plain and so loud against the dark room I stood in. 149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaBITWQU2bP
149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzYqtaBs9jY
Usually flowers would have been placed into the pocket at the front, but it was just this wedge of nothing.
The woman stepped to the ending of her partition in a flowing white dress. 149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9VqJXagepI
149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNcLZIcOEdN
Her hair had been cut short and tied into a slick bun at the back that had a small comb pinned into it with a thin sheet of silk hanging down to her backside.
Her dress didn't have the beauty in flowers and colour that should have adorned it. There were no sashes or bows, no flowers in her hair or lace down her throat.
It was a foreign dress too.
"Perfect" the official marveled at us both "a beautiful married couple."
I looked to the woman in shock, her brown eyes widening at me in return.
There would be no honour in marrying into a dead-end family name like mine, let alone a wedding as impromptu like this.
"Get them back into the car" the official ordered us.
The woman's wedding dress dragged on the ground when we saw that the seat we had been sitting in had been scrubbed clean of the grime.
I felt the fresh air against my skin for the first time in forever when I climbed back in and watched us pull away from the house.
My old clothes were still in there along with the first three layers of my skin.
I felt like a new man that had emerged from the filth and shame. I looked and smelled good, with not a speck of dirt on me.
This was the life I could never have. A pleasure my family name would deserve.
The car stopped further away from the town and let us out on the side of the road.
Rolling fields of grass laid here that were a shade of green that looked painted on. It had been cut right down in a large area surrounding a single net that had been anchored in place just a few steps away.
There wasn't a propaganda poster in sight. Since entering the other side of the walls, all images of the Fearless Leader had dissapeared. His influence was still directed through the unseen force that was the officials.
"You know how to play Badminton?" the oldest asked as both led us to opposite sides of the net and picked up the long racquets laying in the grass.
I stood there, unsure if I should answer or not.
What in his right mind would make him think someone he had scraped from a potato field even had the luxury of playing foreign games in open areas of nothing like this? Every moment was spent splitting soil, not swatting little plastic balls.
The youngest picked up a ball with a dipping plastic net poking out the end of it and gently batted it to the other who returned it.
Was that it?
How was something so meaningless supposed to be fun?
"You are a newlywed couple" the oldest spoke as he handed me the racquet "you have been given an opportunity to live in the love the Fearless Leader has provided you and show how radiant it is to the foreigners. Enjoy yourself; play in the breeze with your wife. You can keep the clothing as payment. The more you smile, the more you are compensated."
"Thank-you for this opportunity" the woman bowed deeply.
Play the part, Beom-Seok.
"Thank-you for your gratitude towards me" I bowed deeply with her.
The officials got into thier car and gestured for us to resume the game before they sped off.
I picked up the racquet to throw the tiny ball upwards and hit it towards the woman who struck it.
My new wife. She was my accessory, as was I to her. 149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTE8hK4pmS
149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOmwsHvDQVT
Washed and planted to play a part either of us had no idea to do.
It was nice to have someone for company, and she did look quite beautiful behind her makeup and odd clothes.
I'd rather swing this flimsy metal racquet than the heavy hoe I had abandoned back in the potato field.
She seemed to be enjoying herself. Whether genuinely or forced from the temptation awaiting us, I didn't know.
I was going to match her enthusiasm for that unseen prize. I was already guaranteed these clothes that I could rip into something more easier to work in. We could use the extra cloth to strain our rice again and maybe barter to others for more vegetables I could grow behind my container.
The pillow I wanted more than anything else could wait. Food was more important than comfort.
We didn't speak as we served and batted the ball between us. It glided through the air, wiggling when it flew down to be forced back up again with another beating.
Eyes and ears were everywhere. Even the woman playing the part of my wife could turn against me if the temptation was good enough.
If I said nothing, it couldn't be used against me. She was thinking the same, smiling and laughing when we moved on our sides of the net.
Two could play that game.
I laughed with her and really relaxed into the part I was playing. I complimented my darling wife through surprised noises when she served a move I hadn't expected. 149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEu9XzY2ztI
149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNirYVX7uQ4
And when the ball fluttered to the ground, we laughed it off and continued like we had nothing else to worry about in the world.
I heard heavy tyres on the road but didn't turn towards the noise. 149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWJyt9XCPls
149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUUmqlquZ98
I kept my focus on my wife whose smile faltered for a fraction before returning with the ball.
"Look!" I heard someone call out "these two just got married and are very happy! You can take lots of photos of them!"
The woman caught the ball I served and smiled, bowing.
I turned to see a small bus there with eight foreigners and about as many officials spotted around them.
Phones were steadied at us that were checked by watching officials as they snapped away at the lies before them.
I bowed, smiling and laughing as we returned to our game delightfully.
See that we aren't happy. Don't fall for the lies. He's watching you all, waiting to direct you to more orchestrated perfections.
One foreigner remarked something that the officials liked. They nodded and agreed to it as the bus started up again, slowly creeping onwards down the road. I could hear them chattering and saw one foreigner try to grab another photo to try and catch us unaware.
They were also looking for cracks in the paint. So, one of them was smarter than the rest.
We weren't going to give them that opportunity to strip us of our rewards. We kept up the facade, even when the bus disappeared out of sight and the car returned to collect us and return us to the wall the face of the Fearless Leader smiled through everywhere I turned.
It was nice to not have the regime shoved down my throat for one second. I actually saw a blue sky rather than a red billboard for once. Green grass was untrampled by feet that never touched it. The air was fresh and sweet without a single drop of Rain blowing through it.
But, we were part of the dirty lies. Paid off with our clothes and twenty dollars each before being closed behind the doors of the wall to find our own way back.
Both of us saw through the cracks in the perfect face watching us but said nothing, seperating to remain nameless to each other once more on our trek back to reality still clothed in dreams neither of us would achieve.
ns 15.158.61.6da2
