Hello! My name is Han Song Ryol. I am the driver of the car to the Chinese Premier that has visited our country. And over the previous three months, a lot had changed in my life.
Before, I was merely an office worker who enjoyed observing the city's underground rail system. I was one of the supervisors. I was thrilled when I first received the job. My old parents had pulled a lot of strings to get me the job. I was hired as a junior coordinator and was responsible for overseeing all the underground trains around the city of Pyongyang.
I'll be honest: I detested my work. My father and my generation benefited from my grandfather's bravery because he was a member of the military and served throughout the Korean War. But you see this is where the problem began. That round chubby face... That damned face...
When I was hired for the position, I was delighted. In a year or two, I married a stunning woman from my neighborhood, making my parents proud. Up until the senior supervisor's death from a severe case of TB, everything was well.
I was soon promoted as a result, and it was there that I witnessed the atrocities. Being the primary supervisor, I learned about every train that ran across the nation. I got to witness all of the dictator's nefarious actions there. The person who we adored, the person who we thought was a God was a disgusting human being.
The trains carried grains from our farmlands and exported out of the country while I saw with my own eyes how the people in the country suffered due to malnutrition, the trains transported beautiful women of our own country to China so that the people from outside of our country could buy them as sex slaves, the trains even carried drugs that were harmful to human being while also making them addicted.
I was able to see all of these on the manifests of various trains traveling within the nation, outside of it, and even within it. I was furious. I wanted to protest against it and even talked to my grandfather about it. The response I got from my grandfather was a slap across the face.
That day, he was indignant. He chastised me of doubting my country and reprimanded me as loudly as his deteriorating voice box would allow. All of this was apparently done by the nation due to the West's excessive power, oppression of us, and various other conspiracies. However, I couldn't help but not believe him. For the next ten years, I made an effort to learn as much as I could about the outside world, and the information I gained as a result of my job's responsibilities helped me to realize that everything I had learned was a hoax created by our country's dictator.
And thus while being in my position, I tried my best to help the people of the country in whatever way I could. Making the train stop numerous times to allow the trafficked women to escape. I used to try all in my power even though I wasn't sure if the women could flee.
I wanted to kill the men responsible but crimes could be inherited by my wife and my cute little daughter. All I could do as a result was grit my teeth and pray each day that those involved would be executed. I had already lost hope on this until changes started pouring in.
Out of nowhere the whole department was flipped over, no, the whole country almost changed in a matter of few days. Robots, humans who didn't look like us came to our city, our villages and occupied our land and started changing the things around.
At first, I believed that we were under foreign invasion, but that was not the case. The folks who came to assist us provided us with food, shelter, and medical care for the poor, and they completely altered the environment.
I was transferred to a new position and given a different type of training. Additionally, I noticed that everyone in my department who had been complicit in the crimes had completely disappeared. I felt nothing but pure satisfaction as a result. I wasn't naive. Like many others, I came to the conclusion that something must have happened to cause these changes, and I held the opinion that our current dictator was killed and that whoever took his place was a wonderful guy. That was the conclusion I came to, however other people may have had different ideas. Anyway, I was thrilled with my new position.
A training to drive a floating car around the city. The cars that these foreigners had brought could fly, but not very high. They were quick, incredibly comfy, and nearly fuel-free. I was given the job of a government official's chauffeur. I only recently learned about the world in the last several months.
The real world. The actual history. The things that other countries did over the years. The World Wars. Their own history of how they came into being. The atrocities. This knowledge was slowly being fed to the general public and made everyone realize what was being done all around. His grandfather was jailed soon and he didn't even feel a bit of pity for him.
He was accused of raping children and had all the proof. I was glad that this piece of shit was taken away and apparently his crimes were enough to hang him. This new job of his paid me double, put more food in the table, provided an awesome living space, a great school for my daughter and even got my wife a job. My wife accepted a job opportunity as a cashier at a nearby coffee shop even though I was making enough money at the time.
She was paid hourly, so she was free to come and go from work as she pleased. She had very little formal education, which limited the number of jobs she could apply for, but I was still really happy for her. I couldn't have asked for more throughout the past two months, which had been the happiest times of our lives.
Up until the point when I realized who was driving today. The Premier of China. All those haunted memories of the drugs, the trafficked girls came back to me. As I was driving, I wanted nothing but to strangle this man to death and was cursing the current ruler too for being in bed with this person who was responsible for his countless sleepless nights.
Internet was available now in the country and even access to social media accounts, the only difference was that the people of North Korea weren't allow to post or write anything online. They were only able to observe, form their own ideas, and keep them to themselves.
However, there was a rumor that this final restriction would soon be lifted, allowing them to communicate with people both inside and outside the nation. The Internet was still a new thing for many here, including myself and I am still learning but I got to know many things with the little knowledge that I had and I knew how China is always seen as a place where the Internet was heavily censored.
So I knew that this guy wasn't looked in a very good image by the outsiders. I almost wanted to choke him with all these feelings, but I controlled myself out of concern for my family. The guide woman who was leading the Premier and the other journalists around left for sometime and I was almost tempted to choke this guy out of breath.
I had to move far away from them and get a tea for myself in order to stop myself. At that moment, I didn't care whether I violated the chauffeuring code of conduct. I was essentially stopping myself from murdering someone in the open.
I sat at the little corner store and sipped the lemon tea I had ordered while admiring the lovely roadside scenery. At that precise time, I overheard someone saying to the side.
"May I sit down here?"
I only noticed the Premier asking me the question after I turned my head. I gritted my teeth in rage but eventually nodded. I moved my head away from him and glanced at the nearby people to calm myself because I didn't want to look at him.
"This is a very beautiful place." said the Premier. 'What is this guy looking for? He is not even surrounded by security. If I stick the metal spoon I was holding into his eyes, no one will be able to save him. Ah! My fantasies!'
I only gave him a glare.
"Do you hate me?" The Premier questioned after observing the hatred in my eyes. I kept on glaring.
"I apologize if I ever caused you any harm." said the Premier.
"You didn't hurt me. You just gave me some sleepless nights. But you ruined the people of our country. The women, the men, the children. Everyone. You are lucky that there is proper law system here or else I would have killed you right here." I said.
"You can kill me if you want. All of my security personnel and the other officials I brought to your country were murdered by your ruler." said the Premier.
---
Read 25 more chapters on my p@treon.com/thelightedghost