{One}

Pyongyang, North Korea, February 2014

"Sowoneul malhaebwa~" A small crowd was slowly starting to form behind a few houses in a spacious alleyway. Each of them were eagerly holding money in their hands. The students watched in awe and tapped their feet to the tune, which was foreign to their ears. The boy in front of them held the tape recorder in his hand as he danced to the music with everyone in the crowd coping to catch up with his dance moves.

"What do ya guys think? Catchy as hell isn't it? If you have no clue what it is in the South, then you're most likely a spy," The boy in front explained, a smile trailing upon his light red lips, "It's called 'Genie'."

There were some 'Ooo's and 'Aaah's from the crowd.

"How much is it?" One wide eyed boy asked. 

The boy held up two fingers, "Two dollars."

"Hey, that isn't a bad price..." Everyone in the crowd nodded in satisfaction, assuming that it was a good deal. They slowly reached in their blazer pockets while the boy in front eyed them while dancing.

"Here!" Various hands waved their money in the air. The boy bent down to retrieve the tapes from his bag, handing them out to everyone in exchange for the money. He was hitting the jackpot today, like all the other days where he could get his hands on these tapes. Selling these were illegal, but the boy had no choice if he wanted to stay alive in this cruel country. The only available part time jobs were boring, they didn't catch his attention at all. Soldiers, or even worse, the country could've automatically given him a job he would have to spend his lifetime on.

Thirty three... Thirty four... Thirty five... Jackpot.

"The authorities are coming! Make a run for it!" Another student rushed to the crowd, and immediately upon the announcement the crowd started to disperse frantically. The boy still stayed crouched down in the position he was in earlier, only looking up when he could hear whistles from an upper floor of a building.

He sighed and looked down at the number of tapes he hadn't managed to sell yet, ", those bastards." He jumped off the stone wall, slinging on his bag as he made a dash for it with the authorities tailing right behind him.

The wind brushed against his smooth black hair, sweat dripped down his forehead although he had just started running, maybe it was because of the excitement. This wasn't anything special for the boy anyway, it was like this every week. Though, he could say he was the most fortunate person on earth to get away with all this. He could say he was an expert at running away from the authorities, knowing all the escape routes and whatnot.

"Oh hey!" He managed to wave to the people he passed by as he ran down the wide pathway of his school campus. The cherry blossoms were in bloom this month, it was truly a great time for running wasn't it?

Finally, when the boy couldn't hear the whistles anymore, he hid in between two buildings. He was certain they wouldn't find him here, since the place was pratically empty. When he saw the authorities running about in the distance, he chuckled to himself. And this was the thirtieth time he got away with it.

Panting tiredly, he brushed his hair back as he his heart shaped lips nervously. He pondered on whether he wanted to go to school or not, but he wasn't sure about his father. He must've been working today for all he knew, and the boy didn't care at all.

"Kyungsoo? Are you here?" The boy who had just settled in his hiding place from the chase, Kyungsoo, shot up at the call of his name. He peeked out, and was relieved to see his friend Hakyeon.

"Hyung," Kyungsoo waved sheepishly, kicking the bag full of illegal tapes to the side so he wouldn't see it.

Hakyeon already noticed what the younger was trying to hide, he gave Kyungsoo a glare before he hit the boy's head, "You ! I knew you were off selling illegal tapes again-"

"So what? It's the only way I can survive."

"Hey, don't say that. You know your dad works hard-"

Kyungsoo shot Hakyeon an ice cold stare, "Don't talk about him. He's not my father, I don't have one. I only have a mother, as far as I know."

Ever since Kyungsoo was eight, he despised his father more than ever. His father never did anything to stop his mother from leaving, and Kyungsoo could remember the grown man crying on the floor like a coward. It took his father almost a year to get over his depression before he resorted to alcohol. It made Kyungsoo cringe at the memory of a drunk father coming home everyday to take out his anger on his son.

"You useless piece of crap! No wonder your mother left us, it was because of you! YOU! YOU!" The man he called his father kicked the helpless boy multiple times on the ground. In the end, his cries could not be heard by anyone in the quiet apartment complex.

"Alright, I won't talk about him anymore," Hakyeon frowned, "But Kyungsoo, sooner or later you just have to realise that-"

"I won't realise anything! He's not my father, and he never will be," The younger raised his voice, any topic about his father would make him go furious, "Hyung please... Can we just talk about something else?" Kyungsoo leaned against the walk with shaky legs.

"Fine..." Hakyeon finally gave up, he knew he could never convince his friend to make up with his father. They'd been distant for almost a decade already, that was a really long time.

It was silent.

Kyungsoo couldn't quite put a finger on it, but something was weird about Hakyeon's actions. He wasn't meeting any eye contact with him, or talking much like his usual self. Instead, he kept his gaze on the floor as his hands were buried in his pockets. Something was wrong, and Kyungsoo didn't like what he was feeling one bit.

"Hey, Kyungsoo..." Hakyeon finally met eyes with him, and why was all the sorrow in his eyes visble? He continued, "We've been friends for almost fourteen years already right?"

"...Yeah?"

"And nothing can break our friendship or anything?"

Kyungsoo nodded, not quite getting what Hakyeon was trying to say.

"So, if I, perhaps, move somewhere else-"

"What... wait- Y-you're moving? Like as in out to the countryside or... No way..." Kyungsoo eyes widened in shock.

"Yeah, I'm moving to the South. My parents said the boats going to go tonight, and we've already packed everything. I don't know if I'm gonna make it there alive, but if I do, I'm never coming back here ever again. This is my ticket to get out of this hellhole. I wonder where I've been spending these twenty years of my life... because I'm sure there's a whole new world I can discover out there." 

"Hyung..." Kyungsoo clenched his fists hard. He couldn't believe his closest friend was leaving him. He was leaving him even after Hongbin had escaped last year, Kyungsoo couldn't contact him ever since. Now, Hakyeon was leaving. He felt like he had to survive this place by himself- if only there was some way he could escape this place. He'd do anything to follow Hakyeon.

"I'm sorr- OW!"

Kyungsoo lowered his fist after he unknowingly punched Hakyeon, who had gained a bleeding lip from the punch. And that was the moment Hakyeon received the look of disgust he never thought he would get, "Have fun in the South. I guess I'll just rot away here to die. Why was I even born? Everyone's fleeing, while I'm living with a man I can't even call my father. Maybe I was just a mistake, everything in my life never worked out ever since... my mom left." Kyungsoo hid his look of disgust when he saw the hurt in Hakyeon's eyes.

"So, I guess this is the last time we can see each other. I'm skipping school today, the stuff they teach there is bull anyway," Kyungsoo held up his fist and smiled when Hakyeon bumped his against it.

It was the first of Febuary 2014, when Kyungsoo had said his farewell to his best friend who departed for Seoul, South Korea.

"I'm home..." Kyungsoo murmured half heartedly to himself, eventhough no one was home at the moment. His dad was out working, not that he cared about what that man was up to. Dumping his bag on the dining table chair, Kyungsoo took a seat on the couch, crossing his legs and staring in to space.

He wondered how his mother was doing; maybe she had starte