Two

 

The guards returned a while later, and dropped off food and water. I was surprised to see that the food was actually good, with large baskets of rolls, bowls of jajjangmyun, and rather tasty pickled radish.   “It must be noon,” Kyungsoo observed.   I had learned that Kyungsoo was the one with the good memory, who kept track of the days and the time. In fact, Kyungsoo was a fountain of knowledge, which I found to be fascinating. Nowadays, history in school is only taught up to the Final War. Anything before that is banned from the curriculum, and banned overall as a topic of discussion. It was only through people like Kyungsoo, who used to publish illegal history books, that facts about the past still remained.    “I knew they were going to get me sooner or later,” Kyungsoo explained, shrugging. “I had just always thought that it would be the Department of Records, not a bunch of mad scientists.”   “I once wanted to be a scientist,” the other blond boy from District 1, Lu Han, sighed randomly. “District 1 already had enough, so wouldn’t let me  major in that.”   “I visited District 1 once,” Baekhyun added. “I remember climbing some really majestic mountains, but that was when I was younger. I think...I think they were called Tai shan.”   “Lucky,” Jongdae sighed, wistfully. “I’ve never been out of District 4.”   “Did you know that District 4 used to be two different districts?” Kyungsoo asked, excited to share his knowledge. “Well, they were called ‘countries’ back then. They had different governments, but almost the same name. One was North, and one was South.”   “Different governments? Right next to each other?” Jongdae looked doubtful as he processed the information.   “Of course, that was the Old Times,” Kyungsoo added. “That was before the High Chancellor and the National Party took control after the Final War.”   “What else do you know about the Old Times, Kyungsoo?” Sehun asked, interested.   “Well, the districts used to speak different languages when they were still called countries, and they were all separate. If you were from one area, you wouldn’t be able to understand someone from another area,” Kyungsoo explained. “Language only got consolidated into one after the Final War. Also, you couldn’t just hop on a bullet train and go wherever. Back then, you had to get ‘visas’ to travel between the countries, like asking the government for permission to visit a certain ‘country’ before you can cross their borders.”   “Bet Jongin would have loved that,” Sehun said.   Everyone let out a laugh, and even Jongin cracked a smile from his corner. I frowned in confusion, but let it slide. It was not my place to ask about things the others did not want to share.   “Also, in the Old Times, some countries had real elections, not like the fake stuff we have. I mean, we have ‘elections’ every four years, but the National Party always wins by a landslide. There’s a rumor going around underground that the Libertarian Party doesn’t even exist. Some say that it’s fake party with a figurehead, made to guarantee power for the National Party.”   “Why would they bother?” Tao asked.   Kyungsoo shrugged. “To make you believe you have a choice, and picked them as the better of the two,” he replied. “The High Chancellor can say that he has a mandate from the people to carry out his policies because he was ‘fairly elected by the people’. It’s all about the front that makes people content. I was working on a book about that, you know, when they grabbed me.”   “Well I was just going home from soccer practice when they got me,” Sehun said. “I had my headphones in and was listening to music. Next thing I knew…here I am. If I had known they were sneaking up on me, I would have blown them all the way to Distr