The vehicle came to a sudden halt, our bodies jolting forward at the great force as the tyres screeched against the gravel beneath us. There was distant scream and it was somehow obvious to all of us that sat within that van, bruised and dirty, that we had arrived at our destination. I didn't know what to have expected in the midst of the situation, unable to assure myself that things would be alright.  There was no way that anything could have ever been alright in that place, a place which held such a sinister and terrifying aura within it's air.

A cool breeze washed over us as the doors were slowly drawn open, the heat from our almost lifeless bodies escaping from us. A shiver travelled along the length of my spine as the bitter coldness rushed to my exposed skin. Beyond the crowds, I was unable to see into the distance, our place of imprisonment was not yet visible within my line of sight. I wished I hadn't been so eager to see it that day - I didn't know then that I would have been seeing it often for a long, long time.


There were many that were reluctant to get out of that van, refusing as others pulled  at their arms and tried to convince them to come along, groups of soldiers pushing and shoving people out onto the cold gravel beneath our feet as the cool air continued to sweep around us. I wondered what was to happen as we left the safety of the truck, what we would have to see, what we would have to do, where we would have to go. Perhaps that was the reason behind their peculiar behaviour. Perhaps they knew what troubles lay upon us, written in the books by fate. I could only assume that we had nothing to look forward to, relying on our past memories to keep us sane.


“Move along! We can’t wait all day. Get your lazy asses out of the truck!” The soldier endlessly bellowed, pushing us off without our consent. He was dressed in a uniform, the creases smoothed down,  his back straightened completely as a hat that fell into his eyes- there was an indefinite authority to his image. There was a harsh quality to his actions that was unforgiving, the way he treated people as if they were worthless scum, pushing and shoving them as if they didn't deserve to be treated in a more humanely fashion.

 
I knew, I just knew, that we were in stranger territory, unwelcome and unwanted, despite the fact that I didn’t know our exact location.


It was a remote place, surrounded by lush greenery; trees with reddenning leaves hanging on the edges of branches; bushes that were unlike the ones back home, that had never been trimmed by a gardener; flowers whose petals had been torn so harshly that the edges had become jagged and frayed so the flower could never bloom again. The place seemed so harsh. So unwelcoming. So isolated. Surrounding us on all sides were large cabins, concrete and painted a shade of white that had faded and become dirtied over time, large buildings that loomed over the scenery mass trucks and vans just like the one I had been shoved out of. I was unsure whether there were any other people nearby. There was something strange and suspicious about that place. It felt like no good could have come from our arrival, a strange eeriness hanging thick within the air. A familiar symbol hung around the place, the same one everywhere - the men’s uniforms, the flags and the side of the trucks. What they were and what they were for was something I needed to know.


Thick sheets of rain pummelled against the soil from the dark, overcast skies above, drifting towards us with the cool breezes that floated around us. I directed my eyes upward, unable to find the sun in the midst of the dark clouds that cascaded across the sky. If I were to fall into the disgusting below us mud I'd be covered in filth; my feet crunching along the gravel as they manoeuvred us into perfectly straight lines in order of gender and height.

 
I couldn't mask the surprise that came over my face as I scanned my eyes over the vast number of us that had arrived. It hadn't been brought to my attention earlier but there was no arguing that there were over 500 people there, all following the strict conditions of those who contained us. Those in uniform strolled around with power, inspecting us closely, whispering and jeering as they passed by. For a group of grown men, they acted very unlike their age, very immature. I couldn't bring myself to understand why. I couldn't understand why they were so cruel.

 

*****

 
“Welcome everyone. I hope you had a nice journey because your time here isn’t going to be as great,” One  man finally spoke, his voice clear as we were finally addressed.  My eyebrows raised in curiosity, knitting together in my confusion of his words. I couldn’t help but wonder what he was talking about. Where were we? And why were we here in the first place? What did these people want to do to us?


“We, the army of South Korea, have taken you prisoner. One step out of line and -” he paused, gesturing a slit across the throat, “You’re dead.” A sinister smile lingered upon his lips; his virdian orbs cold and harsh, showing no sense of mercy.

 

His words ignited a string of questions to muster together in my mind. The last thing I knew, I was being captured in our cottage in North Korea, only the night before. How had I managed to get from North Korea to South  Korea? How were those people able to get me here?  My parents, would they know of what had happened to me? Did they know where I was?

 

“You can’t do this to us! What have we done to you?” One man in front of me yelled.

He attracted looks of disgust from the soldiers, snarls and sneers. They looked at him as if he was nothing, as if he was beneath him. But I couldn’t help but agree with him. He was right. What had I done to deserve to be captured as a prisoner by a place where I had never been? What had all of us, the large crowd that stood beneath that rain, done? I hadn’t done anything wrong. I was only 19. I had never been in South  Korea before that day. What on earth could I have done?

 
Nothing. I had done nothing. None of us had done anything. And what right did these soldiers, these men, think that they had to let them take us prisoner?
 

“What gave you the right to take us from our homes? We‘re all human! What makes us different from you?” I screamed, my voice straining as it reached the loudest level possible.

 
Everything around me went deadly silent and the tension growing thicker in the air around us. For a brief moment, I believed that I should have just stayed quiet. Nothing that I could say would change anything. I glanced at the people around me, watching as their faces held the same emotions as mine had as I contemplated over that man’s words, while some merely stared at me, their eyes burning holes through my body. I had managed to gain their attention.
 

More people began to speak out, crying the words out with the same strength and anger that I and the man that stood in front of me had. Our words had provoked the others to fight for their rights also, to attract the attention of the many soldiers that surrounded us. They had to know that we wouldn’t give up and obey to their commands without fighting for what we deserved first, without trying our best to get what we wanted. If we wanted to be treated right we would have to try and fight for that. We deserved to be treated better than that. We deserved to be treated like humans, not the animals that their words had made us feel like we were.

 

That’s what I thought before it happened.


In a single moment, the man in front was suddenly shot dead, the bullet piercing so quickly through his body that I didn’t know what was going on until he dropped to the ground. One gunshot was all it took. One gunshot brought an end to an innocent man’s life. One gunshot brought silence to us all. He was a brave man who stood up for us all yet his time had come to an end because he fought for our rights as humans. We were in such a cruel world. My eyes widened in shock as I watched his life go in front of my eyes, the light escaping from his eyes in such a brief moment. My jaw had dropped as the blood from his wound emerged into a pool around him, staining his clothes and the gravel beneath our feet. I clenched my eyes shut as it became unbearable to watch any longer, a sickening feeling sitting in the pit of my stomach. 


“One more word from any of you and I’ll ensure that the same will happen to you,” An unfamiliar voice explained in reference to that brave man, hatred evident beneath his voice. What if he had a family? Or a wife? How would they survive knowing of his death if even I, someone he didn’t know, felt so saddened by it? The others acted as if this didn't matter, watching without any grief in their eyes as they dragged his body away. I couldn't help but feel that he wasn't the only one of us who would suffer in that way, who would fall victim to the cruel acts that the army would be planning against us.

 

“You! You’re coming with me!” the bellowing shouts called, blowing the curling tendrils from my face as the soldier grabbed my arm tightly within his grip. I didn’t dare open my eyes, squeezing them shut. I knew I would be sick if I saw the man again.  “Oh so now you’re staying silent. If you don’t move along, I won’t hesitate to kill you right now.”

I slowly forced my eyes open, keeping them locked on the ground as the dead man no longer lay there. The whole place had dropped into an uncomfortable silence once more, the tension so thick that you could slice though it. I could sense that rest of the crowd had their heads held down in fear, trying to avoid anything that would attract the soldier's attention, trying to avoid having the same fate, trying not to get ourselves killed.

 
 I sensed a new presence by my side, recognising the voice of the soldier who had dragged us out of the truck. “General Nichkhun, we can take care of her if you want. You don’t need to be dealing with these scum.”

He stood there for a moment, reaching forward to grab my arm but then  he slowly dropped his hand to his side. He sent a questioning look in my direction, his eyebrow raised before he suddenly disappeared from my side, rushing over to the others. If I was in the presence of the General, I was in a harmful position.


I slowly looked up to face the man, unsure of what would happen if I did. I could only hope that he felt pity for me, that he would let me off this time with a warning. One time at least. Everyone makes mistakes. I didn’t truly understand our situation yet. But if they had already killed that man, there was no telling what they would do to me. There was no telling what was going to happen to me.


As my head lifted, he was not what I had expected. He couldn't have been much older than I was, a youthful aura radiating from him. He had handsome features from his dark locks of hair that fell onto his forehead to the thick-lined jaw that gave him a strong, masculine appearance. His dark orbs were so radiant like diamonds but they could only show pure hatred towards me.

 
And yet, he was beautiful.

 

*****

 

The man pulled me away from the rest, into one of the large cabins close by. I felt an instant wave of warmth wash over me as I entered behind him - the freezing temperatures outside had caused my fingers to numb from the cold. I could only try to enjoy the warmth while I could. My fingers brushed the strands of hair from my eyes as I watched him only metres away. His loud footsteps were intimidating, thudding against the ground as he paced himself around me.

 

His head lifted and his lips parted, “What’s your name?” he asked as our eyes met. He sounded so gentle, so unlike all the other soldiers outside. But somehow I knew it was all just a façade. There was no way could he have been that nice to me.

 

“Victoria. Victoria Song.” 

 

“You know why you‘re here, right?” He asked as he stopped, turning his body towards me. The immediate quality to his response had thrown me back a few moments. His tone had become a little more severe, his body was fidgeting in irritation. I could tell he was becoming more and more angry with me as I remained silent. But why would I have to answer him? I had the right to do what I wanted.

“Answer me!” He shouted, the sounds echoing off the walls. I shuddered at the impact of his voice as he’d caught me off guard. My reticence had put him in a bad temper. I didn’t want to see what would happen if he got angrier.

 
“No,” I lowered my head, avoiding his eyes.

I could feel that he was growing even more infuriated, the air around us growing warmer as the anger bubbled inside of him. “What did you say?”

“No. I don’t know why I am here.”

 
“Oh you don’t, do you? You caused a scene out there. It didn‘t help that the first man had riled everyone up in the first place but you just had to say something, didn‘t you?” He reached his hand forward to tilt my head up and remain in eye contact with me. I realised there was no beauty to his orbs as our eyes met once more. They were cold and lifeless, changed due to what he had seen in war.

 

“So what? I did what I had to. Did you see the way your ‘soldiers’ were treating us out there?” I replied. Why did I have to be treated as though I was the one who had done wrong? Those soldiers had kidnapped me, they had taken me against my will and I was the one that had caused trouble? What had this world come to?

 

“How dare you talk to me like that, you ? Wake up, you’re not in you’re mansion in China anymore. You’re in South  Korea now!” he roared. He lifted his hand, his eyes glued onto mine and in a sudden moment he whipped his hand across my face at great speed. I forced myself to hold back the tears that had formed in my eyes, knowing that I didn’t want to appear weaker than I already was. “Did you or didn’t you cause a scene out there?”


A lump had formed in my throat , restraining me from speaking. “I did,” I finally answered, not ready for what he was going to do to me next, not willing for him to grow more infuriated than he already seemed.

“You’re lucky you’re not dead yet. Saying anything like you did comes with the price of death. You not only caused a scene and drove others to follow, but you disrespected my soldiers and I’m not impressed with this attitude,” He explained slowly and tranquilly as to make sure I heard everything he wanted to say. I didn’t know if I were to reply but kept my mouth shut as to not infuriate him any more.


“In order for this not to happen again, you will have to be shown how to respect me and follow my orders. Do you understand me?”

 

“What do you want me to do?” I blurted without realisation. I covered my mouth quickly, squeezing my eyes in fear. I didn’t want him to hit me again.

 
“Oh, you shall find out later,” A smirk played at the corner of his lips, as if he was secretly planning something against me. “I don’t want you to acknowledge you know me outside of here, understood?“ I nodded my head quickly. “Or even worse things will happen to you.”