An hour later they set aside their bowls and utensils.
“Can I work on my writing now?” asked Min, and Chung-Cha nodded.
The girl rushed to get the tablet and the pen.
But before she returned there was a knock at the door.
They never summoned Chung-Cha by phone. They came and got her. She knew why this was. Just to show that they could do so at any time they wanted. And she would have to drop whatever it was she was doing and obey.
Min’s face scrunched up as Chung-Cha rose to answer the knock.
The men there were not in military uniforms. They were in sleek slacks and jackets with white shirts buttoned up to the neck. They were young, nearly as young as she was, and their angular features were smug.
“Yes?” she said.
One of the men said, “You will come with us, Comrade Yie. Your presence is required.”
She nodded and motioned to Min. “I will leave her with my landlord.”
“You do what you must, but you will hurry,” said the same one.
Chung-Cha put a jacket on Min and walked her down to her landlord’s apartment. She spoke a few words, apologizing for the lack of notice, but the landlord observed the two men behind her and issued no protest. He simply took Min by the hand.
Min still held her tablet and pen. She looked up at Chung-Cha with wide, sad eyes.
Chung-Cha said to the landlord, “Can you work with her on her writing, please?”
The landlord looked down at Min and nodded. “My wife. She is good with that.”
Chung-Cha nodded, took Min by the hand, and squeezed it. “I will be back for you, Min.”
When the door closed behind Min the other man said sneeringly, “Your little bitch from Yodok, right? How can you stand the smell?”
Chung-Cha turned to the man and stared up at him. The look in her eyes caused the sneer to drain from his features. She could kill this man. She could kill them both with a teaspoon.
“Do you know what I am?” she said quietly.
“You are Yie Chung-Cha.”
“I did not ask if you knew my name. I asked if you know what I am.”
The man took a step back. “You…you are assigned—”
“I kill people who are enemies of this country, Comrade. That little bitch will one day do what I do now, for our country. For our Supreme Leader. Anyone who speaks ill of her I will treat as an enemy of this country.” She took a quick step forward, closing the distance between them by half. “Does that include you, Comrade? I need to know. So you will tell me. Now.”
These men were important, Chung-Cha knew. And what she was doing right now was very dangerous. But still, she had to do it. It was either that or her fury would cause her to kill them both.
“I am…not your enemy, Yie Chung-Cha,” the man said, his voice quavering.
She turned away from him, her disgust ill-concealed. “Then let us go to our meeting.”
She walked down the hall and the men hurried after her.