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Surprisingly, there was less arguing than usual in this meeting, or it's just that North Korea didn't pay attention.
It never really mattered; the communist just wanted all of this to be over with.
These types of meetings usually felt uncomfortable, not like it wasn't uncomfortable right now, but it just felt wrong in a way that irritatingly didn't make any sense. The air in the room felt somewhat too stale despite the air conditioning, but you know how North Korea is—he was probably over-analyzing it again.
North Korea hasn't dared to look in the USA's direction ever since what happened a few days ago. Despite every desperate effort North Korea made to forget about it or distract himself, it still came back to him like an annoying itch you couldn't quite scratch.
Of course, every argument burns out sooner or later. The snarky remarks and the dangerous tones of voice eventually returned to normal, even the piercing glares every other country exchanged now and then eventually died out, like they decided they were too tired to even care anymore.
Minutes passed, or maybe hours? It was too hard to tell when you were all zoned out or when you lost track of time. But soon enough, chairs scraped as some countryhumans got up to organize their important documents or whatever before leaving the room. It didn't take North Korea long to start doing the same. He just wanted to get out of here once and for all.
The communist stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder before he pushed his chair back in place. The sooner he got out of this god-forsaken building, the more sanity he would save.
The meeting room eventually became emptier as other countries left their seats and exited the door. Good. Fewer people meant fewer chances for someone to just randomly grab North Korea and force him into a therapy session. He just waited until the USA left the room before he let out a sigh of relief.
Now that the USA was gone, all that was left was to just stick to either Russia or China, the two he considered the most tolerable in the room. But that didn't necessarily mean the two were quiet or peaceful.
..
Where were Russia and China.
Unfortunately, the universe decided it disliked North Korea, as fate seemed determined to make him lose his remaining sanity. And of course, the best way was to make two of the most trusted people go missing. Great, just what he needed right now! Life is so sunshine and rainbows right now! What did North Korea ever do to deserve this?.. No, seriously, where were they.
After a while, the communist decided to just suck it up and deal with it. So what if China and Russia weren't here? He was independent! He could basically do anything! He didn't need to constantly follow China and Russia!
Right?..
Okay, enough with the gaslighting, North Korea. Your delusional mind is already enough; we don't need any more of that.
He made his way to the door before walking out. The hallways were empty—of course, they were! North Korea probably waited for a long time in the meeting room before his paranoia died out and decided it was safe to run out of here. He peeked towards a corner and spotted the USA and Canada near one of the windows in the hallway, apparently having a conversation. Damn, they were still here? What could be so important? North Korea—being the eavesdropper he was—decided to listen in. Even if not even ten minutes ago, he was overthinking ways to deliberately avoid the American.
“I'm telling you, Canada, he's been acting weird.” USA groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose before fixing his sunglasses.
Canada stared at the USA for a moment with an expression that basically read 'Really?' The Canadian sighed as he spoke, “Maybe you're just being a creep. I mean—if I found someone had been staring at me for hours in a meeting, I'd genuinely freak out or call the cops.”
“That's not what I meant at all!” The American yelled defensively. If this guy were an emoji, he'd be the one with steam blowing out of his nose. “What I'm saying is he hasn't talked to me properly in.. In days! Days you hear me!” USA exclaimed as he reached out to grab the Canadian by the shoulders as a way to exaggerate it. Overreacting if you ask me
“You sound like a paranoid, obsessed high schooler.” Canada retorted, barely showing any signs of backing up the USA's emotions
“IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!” USA shrieked as he shook Canada VIOLENTLY, poor Canadian. Surprisingly, despite how dizzy the other had become and had almost fallen down to the floor, he managed to keep it in and didn't vomit everywhere. “It's just that.. It's just that… I didn't mean for it to end like that.” The capitalist suddenly spouted out.
North Korea, which was just behind the wall, suddenly started overthinking. Maybe he was too harsh on America? What if the USA didn't have any bad intentions at all? Those assumptions just filled his thoughts with an uncomfortable sense of guilt. Before North Korea could hear the full explanation, Someone suddenly placed a hand on his shoulder. North Korea almost shrieked loudly, which would've exposed his location; luckily, he didn't. Somehow. Maybe luck was on his side after all!
“There you are!” China smiled warmly as North Korea turned around to look at the dragon hybrid who nearly gave him a heart attack; unfortunately, Russia was right next to China, which just made the situation even worse for North Korea. The Russian gave a small nod in greeting.
The Korean had never wanted the floor to swallow him whole this much.
“How long have you two been here for?..” North Korea questioned, his voice quivering in confusion and anxiety. Why wouldn't he be anxious? China just randomly appeared out of nowhere.
“Oh, Russia and I are going to the lake to go fishing. You're coming along too!” China smiled innocently, even if he didn't even consider asking if North Korea wanted to come along, like the Korean had no choice in this situation at all. Plus, the Chinese country didn't even say anything correlated to North Korea's question at all! How considerate.
The North Korean looked at the other side, spotting that Canada and USA already left the scene, letting out a sigh of relief. “That's not even related to my question! -” North Korea protested, being able to yell without getting found out.
“You were eavesdropping,” Russia spoke out of the blue, looking directly at North Korea, arms crossed over his chest, expression irritatingly unreadable. It didn't even sound like a question at all! Plus, he just cut off the Korean man.
North Korea was at a loss for words, mouth opening and closing repeatedly, but to no avail. He was unable to deny what Russia just said. Even if he did deny it, it would be easily debunked—after all, China and Russia were watching him the whole time without North Korea ever finding out. Traitors. “You're making me sound like a stalker!”
“You are.” The Russian man spoke out, leaving no room for argument. Really? Not even a 'Maybe you are' or anything that sounded like a question. Rude..
“Oh! We should leave soon! I packed the fishing supplies!” The dragon hybrid chimed in, whatever he's saying having little to no correlation. He looked completely unbothered by the conflict Russia and North Korea were having. Before North Korea could mutter out a single word, China placed a finger in front of the Korean's mouth, hushing him. “Amazing! Let's get going!”
“I didn't agree to anything!” North Korea attempted to rebel against the decision, only for his statement to fall on deaf ears.
China clasped his hands and smiled, his eyes scanning the two, looking at both of them expectantly. “Both of you are going.” The Chinese man suddenly spat out as he glared at Russia and North Korea at the lack of answer, his gaze darkening. Shutting up both the Russian and Korean.
North Korea opened his mouth again. Nothing came out. China's smile didn't falter at all, yet the silence felt heavily suffocating. “This.. This is kidnapping.” North Korea finally said, his eyes avoiding China's, not even daring to make the slightest bit of eye contact.
“Correction, it's fishing!” China corrected immediately, still smiling like he wasn't just forcing his ally to come along just because he said so.
“That's not! -” Before North Korea could finish, Russia immediately cut him off “So noisy for someone who's not coming.”
Well, that shut up North Korea pretty quickly. North Korea looked at both of them. China was smiling, and Russia was already turning around. There was absolutely no way of winning this for the Korean. North Korea let out an exhausted sigh before muttering out: “Both of you annoy me.”
“We know.” The Russian man replied to the irritated Korean, expression remaining neutral—but you could definitely tell he felt smug.
“That's nice! Now come on! Let's go!” China said cheerfully before he turned on his heel and walked towards the exit. Russia followed not long after, leaving North Korea just standing there. The Korean stood there for a few seconds, hesitating whether to run or go with them. But unfortunately, standing wouldn't magically make the two disappear. If they noticed North Korea hadn't followed, they'd definitely find him and hunt him down. So, with the enthusiasm of someone getting forced to hang out, North Korea followed after them.
China eventually reached the exit doors and pushed them open, his cheerful smile having no sign of faltering at all. The moment the doors opened, a fresh breeze slapped North Korea in the face; it was undeniably better than the stale air inside that loud meeting room. For the first time, North, Korea felt like he could actually breathe, but it wasn't like he was gonna admit that out loud.
North Korea shoved his hands into his pockets while he continued to follow the two. The parking lot seemingly empty and peaceful. Considering how long they spent inside the building, it adds up quite a bit. No arguments, no bickering, no countries on the verge of murdering each other, and no America. That was particularly comforting.
“How many fish do you think we'll catch?” China seemed to be entirely excited about this fishing thing. “I packed snacks, drinks too! I packed enough for the three of us!” It was dead quiet, neither of the two didn't even knew how to respond to China being a chatterbox.
After a bit more of walking, North Korea muttered out “Congrats?..” China's face lit up as he responded with a cheerful “Thank you!”. North Korea wasn't even sure if what he said was even a compliment, but he just stayed silent anyway.
Russia adjusted the fishing rods resting on his back, his eyes adjusting, staring at North Korea liked the other did something out of the ordinary. “You're very silent, I expected some arguing from someone like you.” The Russian spoke, like he basically didn't tell North Korea he was being loud earlier.
“What do you- what do you even mean by that!?” North Korea immediately frowned, suddenly raising his voice, never in his life had he felt so insulted before.
Russia shrugged, refusing to elaborate further. China still humming happily between them. North Korea genuinely felt offended like that man just insulted his entire existence, maybe if you consider it, he probably did. North Korea resisted the urge to walk into traffic from the humiliation.
While China decided to initiate another ridiculous conversation with Russia about something not even correlated to fishing, North Korea's mind couldn't help but go back to what that American said. The words repeated over and over. '𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'. The sentence kept replaying in his head, like a song stuck on loop. A very annoying one. North Korea despised it.
“You're thinking.” Russia suddenly spouted out, clearly aimed at North Korea. Who else could it be? China was still being a chatterbox as usual. North Korea's head snapped forward to face the Russian man, looking very much startled.
“It's nothing.” North Korea dismissed with a harsh look.
“It's about that capitalist, да?” As soon as those words left Russia's mouth, North Korea immediately choked on air, face reddening like he was a 5 year old who just got caught stealing cookies from a jar. He already wanted to throw himself in the lake even though they haven't reached it yet.
North Korea refused to respond, tilting his head back down, unable to make any eye contact looking like a tomato. But he still felt a strange, uncomfortable sense of guilt building up due to the American's words. What if North Korea was really overthinking it? What if America was just being nice? What if America wasn't even staring at North Korea? What if he was just spacing out? The rest of the walk was just China talking and Russia responding occasionally. Most of North Korea's attention kept shifting back to the conversation he overheard earlier.
Thankfully, China's chatter reached its' limit. After painful hours of walking and listening to China's ridiculous chat about fish, bait, fish, fish, fishing, bait, fish, fish, fish, fish, DEAR GOD IT'S ALL FISH. The lake finally came into view. It was surprisingly peaceful, sunlight was reflecting off of the water, while the trees and grass swayed gently along the winds. No countries were arguing here, no debates that felt like they wouldn't end, and nobody threatening each other. North Korea never felt so thankful before.
Russia crouched down, setting down the fishing rods; China immediately crouched down beside him, unpacking the rest of their fishing equipment. “Careful with the rods! I organized everything.” The Chinese man stated. “Of course I'm careful. I'm not a brute.” Russia replied, though—nobody quite believed him. Who would, anyway?
North Korea stared at the two for a bit before looking away, shoving his hands into his pockets, his eyes drifting to the lake, the sun's warmth beaming on him. He had absolutely no intentions of helping. The lake was quiet, in a good way. Not too loud to the point it gets overwhelming, yet not too quiet where North Korea slips back into the rabbit hole of his thoughts.
North Korea approached the lake before he sat down, watching the water move along to nature's rhythm. After a few minutes, someone poked his shoulder. It was Russia who was handing a fishing rod to North Korea. “For me?” The Korean pointed at himself, expression completely clueless.
“Of course it's for you, дурак. Why else would there be three? You want me to fish with two hands?” The bear-hybrid spat back with a rough tone, hand still reached out, waiting for North Korea to grab the fishing rod. North Korea looked dumbfounded, he is dumb, but that's not the point. The Korean just scoffed before grabbing the fishing rod and attempting to figure out how to use this thing. “Идиот! I can fish better with my foot!” Russia intervened again. North Korea felt his dignity collapsing slowly.
The Korean stared at the rod in his hands, turning it over as he stared at the reel. Russia sighed heavily like North Korea was already supposed to know how this goes. The Russian sat down next to North Korea, his own fishing rods in his cold hands. “Watch.” Russia spoke out, gaining North Korea's attention. Russia pointed towards the reel, “This controls line. You cast, you flip the bail, and you wait.” the bear hybrid pointed out like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“That's.. That's it?..” North Korea responded, voice laced with confusion. Russia stared at the other, staring like he was judging a child. “да. What you expect? Military operation? This is fishing!” North Korea's frown deepened as Russia spoke.
“How long do I wait?” The Korean questioned, staring at the floating bait in the water.
“Until fish!” Russia spoke. North Korea immediately looked irritated. A few seconds passed, yet no fish decided it wanted to fall for the bait. China suddenly appeared next to the two, startling both countries. “Did ya catch a fish?” the Chinese man asked with a cheerful smile. “No.. Not yet..” North Korea responded dryly before China just completely jumped into the lake, a loud splash erupting.
.
Even Russia didn't expect that.
The water settled for a moment, before any of the two could react and start panicking—the dragon hybrid resurfaced, holding two fish in his hands, holding them like they were trophies. “THERE'S FISH!” China exclaimed. North Korea wasn't even sure if this was the same China that looked so cold and dismissive in those UN meetings.
Russia stared, concerned—while China was starting to make his way back to the shore. “That's not fishing.” The Russian called out, getting an eye roll from the dragon hybrid. “If I catch fish, then it counts as fishing!” China exclaimed, finally managing to reach the shore. He put the fishes he caught into a bucket before laying down on the grass, soaking wet.
“Why would you even- bring the rods in the first place!?” North exclaimed.
“Russia doesn't know how to swim” The Chinese man replied, a stupid smile painted over his face like he didn't almost drown himself. Russia looked away, a bit humiliated from that statement. “Plus, they're pretty.. It would be such a waste to forget about them somewhere in my room!” China added
The next few hours were boring, not the bad kind exactly.. It leaned more onto peaceful boring, occasionally disrupted by China making remarks about Russia's swimming abilities. North Korea felt content, the corner of his lips tugging into a small smile.After a few more hours, the three were walking back, probably to China's place to cook the fish they caught. It wasn't that much, but wasn't that little either. “Do you think it'd taste a little fishy?” China broke the silence, gaining a judgemental look from Russia.
“It is fish.” The bear hybrid stated, still staring at China.
“Exactly! So it should taste fishy!” After gaining China's reply, Russia immediately frowned and regretted speaking, the next few minutes were just lighthearted bickering from China and Russia, gaining a small amused scoff from North Korea.
The bickering continued all the way down the road, North Korea was still listening of course. The evening air was a little cooler now, the bucket of fish swaying gently in China's hand. Russia occasionally muttered insults under his breath whenever China said something ridiculous again. But for once, nobody was really in a heated argument. It was strangely comforting.
Of course, the words still stuck to North Korea's head like it was nailed into his mind, but it didn't feel as heavy as before. Maybe it was because of the banter right beside him? The lake stuff? Maybe both.. North Korea wasn't sure. But it didn't really bother North Korea that much anymore. For once, the Korean felt grateful, and somehow—this would be considered a good day. He still felt annoyed by the two, but atleast they were a bit more tolerable than earlier.