Safeway Pyongyang // Reader x Countryhumans

Flower Crowns

       North Korea sat at the head of the table, watching his provinces nod off, one-by-one. He sipped his second can of soju lightly, not wanting to get drunk.

        Y/N, seated next to him, was gradually falling asleep, seeming to catch herself a little later than the last time, until she slumped over onto North's shoulder.

        He tensed, but it seemed like everyone else had fallen asleep, so he let the girl be.

        Despite the fact that he had barely slept in the past few days, he stayed awake, staring at the whorl patterns on the glossy wooden table.

        He couldn't stop picturing the moment that the nuclear missile had misfired, exploding on the pad, flames bursting forth from its shell as part of it flew into the mountains. Luckily, the nuclear-tipped half didn't hit anyone- that was why they tested in Chagang. He was the most isolated.

       It didn't matter either way for the Provincehuman. As soon as the radioactive fire had spread across the ground, he had screamed, skin bursting open in bleeding cracks, looking like charred meat. He had smelled like it, too.

       North grimaced. Every time it happened, it took forever for him to forget the cloying smell of cooking flesh.

       And like every time before, North had rushed the province to the car to get back to Pyongyang for confidential nurses and to gather his provinces to clean up the mess.

      He looked at the military province, who was laying straight on the floor, still displaying signs of his burns. Every time, North felt like they took a bit longer to heal.

       Y/N shifted on his shoulder, making a whimpering noise in her sleep. She sounded scared. North caught himself stroking her hair to calm her, and withdrew his hand like he had been burned.

      The country hissed angrily. He hated this feeling- it was annoying.

     His stomach growled, something that annoyed him almost as much as the weird feeling in his chest, and he resisted the urge to draw his legs up and wrap his arms around them.

      He sat, straight-backed, until the sky started to lighten the lobby floor past the open door in front of him. Soon his people would be waking up, working hard for him, and their future that he was in charge of.

     The oil lamp had burned low, and the sunlight started to creep into the dining hall, lighting up his province's faces. They all depended on him to keep them safe, trusted him.

      Everything was moving too fast. The assassin, the nuke, the sanctions. Things were coming to a head, and he wasn't ready. He felt the familiar panic building up in his chest, making him angry.

      North looked at Y/N's face, looking more serene in sleep, lacking the anxiousness of her waking countenance. She was depending on him, too- out of all the countries, she had come to him. And despite her past, she was still oddly strong.

     He remembered her words from the other night, spoken in a timid, but almost challenging tone.

      'North? Are you going to give up?'

       "No," he muttered out loud, crushing his empty can in his hand as he repeated his oath with renewed fervor. "I'm not."

________ 

        The next morning, Y/N awoke feeling incredibly groggy. She couldn't quite figure out where she was. Her head was on something soft and she was staring at wood right in front of her nose.