Dear Comrade

Chapter 10. party convention (2)

Chapter 10. party convention (2)

After walking for a while, Jeong-hwan arrived in front of the closed room without a window and asked Hong Gye-sung.

“Here, warriors, are your mouths heavy?”

“Don’t worry. Immediately after arrest, our officers hooded and gagged him and handed him over here. Most of the guards don’t know who’s stuck here right now. Rather, what does President Kim Il-sung say? Still, he’s his son, didn’t he just ask for his life to be spared?”

“Can you even worry about your son’s life while his own life comes and goes? There are probably many things you want to say to me on the inside, and there are things that you regret now, but what do you do now? If you want to spend the rest of your life comfortably, you will have to depend on me, the last son.”

At Jeonghwan’s subtle words, which were both cold and meaningful, Hong Kye-sung paused for a moment, his eyes lit up, and then he nodded with a slightly more polite attitude.

“Whoa, I see. Still, Comrade Jeonghwan, I knew from the first time I saw you that it was unusual, but now that I see you, you are a really scary person. Still, he’s his father…”

‘Isn’t that gentleman my father?’

Junghwan grumbled inwardly that he could not get used to it even after several years, but of course he did not express it.

“If you are going to say harsh, stop. Hong’s Comrade. And did you say father? Both the President and Kim Jong-il have always advertised themselves as the father of the people. So, how did the parents treat the people? Did you feed this rice with meat soup as promised? Isn’t it?”

“……”

“Since the parents betrayed their children first, you should not curse that the child betrayed their parents. I kept my father Kim Il-sung alive for a purpose, but I have no intention of succeeding him. You will know that at the party conference tomorrow.”

“…I see, and maybe the position of the head of the Party Organizational Guidance Department I was talking about a while ago…”

Hong Gye-seong, who seemed a little depressed by Jung-hwan’s resolute tone, quickly brought up the story he wanted to tell in the first place.

However, Junghwan shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, blocking the conversation one step earlier.

“If that’s the case, I know that the story has already come to an end… but now there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“………………”

“Comrade listed, please take a look at my circumstances, don’t you know that I can’t help but get caught between the two elders? He was the one who failed to properly stop the Security Director Won Heung-hee and made the business go awry, so I have no reason to say anything.”

When Jeonghwan secretly mentioned what happened during the coup, Hong Gye-seong twisted his lips as if stabbed in his heart.

But what to do, to be true.

“Anyway, I’m glad everything worked out, aren’t we, then let’s go in.”

Soon the door opened and the two went inside and sent out a low-ranking officer who stood guard.

After all, the opponent was tied to the chair and became so emaciated in just one month that he did not feel threatened at all.

That opponent was Kim Jong-il, who, until recently, was the de facto absolute supreme in this republic.

“I am sorry to see you in this situation. My brother, general, comrade.”

“…………………………………………”

Kim Jong-il, who was bowing his head at the familiar voice, raised his head in amazement and stared blankly at Jeong-hwan for about 10 seconds.

As soon as the situation was grasped and he realized who had imprisoned him here, anger swelled in his hazy eyes.

“Okay, how are you? I think it will be a lot more uncomfortable than the special feature you have been using…. How do you feel when you see the face of the person who sent you here?”

“………………”

At first, Jung-hwan expected Kim Jong-il’s reaction to be maddening.

This is because he was well aware of the character of Kim Jong-il, who is usually skeptical, but goes mad when someone touches his heart.

So this time too, it was Jeonghwan, who was cautiously anticipating that if he saw the face of Junghwan who deceived him and caused a rebellion, he might even get a bubble in his mouth.

Surprisingly, however, Kim Jong-il’s reaction was slightly different from his expectations.

“Hey, Ivoryau, ah… oh. My brother won, he won, Girai. So, take a look at the situation of this comrade, I will ask you this, huh?”

“…………”

“Don’t you remember that this older brother took good care of his brother when he was a party secretary? This Kim Jong-il gave him and his brother foreign currency to study abroad, and made him sit in the position of the Ryugyong Hotel construction manager, didn’t he? Aren’t we ashamed to see the people only by earning a cup of meat between the same Jeonju Kim family? please…..”

Seeing Kim Jong-il humbly begging for his life in front of his eyes, Jeong-hwan kept his silence with a mixture of half surprise and half absurdity.

He had forgotten for a moment the fact that Kim Jong-il was as good at judging the situation as he was with his maddening violence.

“You don’t want Abadi to fight with each other, don’t you? Please… Think of your brother’s nephew, Jeongnam, who is barely twenty. Are you not planning to raise your nephew as a fatherless child? so………”

“Do it in moderation, Kim Jong-il! I’m the one who plotted an absurd plot to poison the abaddy leader Kim Il-sung, but what face do you put the leader’s name on? Even at one point in my life, I had a servant like that as a general, so I was blown away…”

When Hong Gye-sung, who was listening next to him, mocked Kim Jong-il as if he was full of energy, Kim Jong-il’s expression, which seemed to beg at once, changed drastically.

He immediately slapped Hong Gye-seong while grinding his teeth with his face reddened.

“……Hey, hey… I can’t keep my mouth shut, you bastard of this reactionary bastard! In the meantime, I guess I didn’t know that your group of Russian sectarians were writing in the front and plotting in the back? I bet you, if you get out of here, I’ll rip your jaws apart…”

“……Let me go.”

“………………”

Junghwan’s quiet words changed the atmosphere in the room.

Hong Kye-seong turned his head quickly to look at Jeong-hwan, as if he were saying something, and Kim Jong-il, on the other hand, brightened his face like a man holding a rope in hell.

“Comrade Jeonghwan, what the hell kind of ghost are you forgetting……”

“But there is one thing I need to write instead.”

“……………………”

Kim Jong-il’s face, who had been bewildered for a while by the unexpected appearance of conditions, soon turned ugly when he heard the words coming out of Jeong-hwan’s mouth.

“If Comrade Kim Jong-il is in a state of death by any chance, if he writes a single will, swearing allegiance by handing over all the positions and powers of the party and military to me, Kim Jeong-hwan, and actively supporting him as the next leader of the republic. It’s possible.”

“……………………”

As soon as he heard Jeong-hwan’s words, Kim Jong-il’s face turned pale, then purple, and after a while he turned pale again.

For a moment, Kim Jong-il didn’t say anything, as if judging Jeong-hwan’s proposal.

Hong Kye-sung also didn’t say anything, as he assumed that Jeong-hwan had something inside him.

The narrow secret room where they were sitting soon fell into a deep silence.

After how much time had passed, Kim Jong-il cautiously opened his mouth.

The sight of him looking at Jeonghwan’s eyes and judging the hand he held made it impossible to recall General Kim Jong-il, who once commanded the republic while enjoying undisputed power.

“I don’t know what’s going on outside… Lee, didn’t you already eat the party, the military, and Jeonghwan?”

“Good to see you, yes.”

“Girum, why does this hyung need such a scrap of paper?”

Junghwan answered the question with half curiosity and half urgency with a gentle smile.

“Haha, you know your brother and general comrade well, so why are you doing this? Even in this republic, catering is important. Well, even if the general public doesn’t know, there is no one at the party level who doesn’t know what actually happened a month ago, but I must first announce that this Kim Jeong-hwan inherited the position from Abajji, the former leader of the former, and his older brother, who was the former leader. ”

“……”

“Besides, as you know, thanks to your brother’s care for the other half-brothers, there are many cadres who do not even know me in the central political world. That problem will be resolved over time, but I need a token that will make it easier and solidify my legitimacy.”

“…..Gi, Girum, what this hyung gets…”

“If you grant my request, I will do everything I can to make sure that not only my brother but also my nephew Jeongnam can spend the rest of their lives abroad in peace and happiness. We will pick up the car as it is and send it to you in Japan or Switzerland. With only ten million US dollars.”

After saying these words, Junghwan told me one more thing, as if he was using goodwill.

“However, I managed to get this condition by persuading other comrades too, brother. Originally, the other comrades wanted to get up like a swarm of bees and kill my brother. Besides, wasn’t the chief of Abajji angry because of what your brother did to Abajji? I’m not sure how long I’ve been able to stop him, but I’m not sure how long he will hold back his anger. You don’t know that person’s personality best.”

“………………”

Kim Jong-il’s hands began to tremble at Jeonghwan’s euphemistic remark, ‘It will be good for your personal life to make a decision as soon as possible’.

It was a pitiful appearance that almost looked like a seizure, but Junghwan knew what he was going to make in the end without looking at it.

In the end, Kim Jong-il made a decision.

“Okay. Got it. I’ll write you anything, so please don’t kill this hyung. What can I write?”

“I have already drafted it. All you have to do is follow the instructions on this paper and sign it.”

“……You kept your promise, huh? Still, there is such a thing as organizing blood and blood…”

Jung-hwan felt annoyed by Kim Jong-il, who was desperately trying to get confirmation until the end, but he even smiled to finish everything smoothly until the end.

“Oh, of course. Brother, do you think that I am cold-blooded enough to even kill that young Jeong-nam? Isn’t it?”

“………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Then please finish writing. I definitely kept my promise.”

After a short period of time, Kim Jong-il, with trembling hands, even signed a document dated about a year ago.

After signing, Jeonghwan read through the document once and kept it in his arms.

‘This saved me a bit of trouble. If I just announce this on the last day of the party conference tomorrow, all the anxiety factors, including the Hong Gye-sung award, which is next to me right now, will be further alleviated.’

“thank you. Then, I hope that you and your family will spend the rest of your life peacefully, and this little brother will go.”

With those words, Jeonghwan left Honggyeseong and the secret room without looking back.

He heard Kim Jong-il say something behind him, but he didn’t care.

When the door closed and he moved far enough from the back room, he immediately gave orders to Hong Gye-seong.

“Just do it tonight. Heung-hee Won and Young-ryong Kim, along with the other two, burn the body with the hood on.”

“………it’s okay. Kim Jong-nam and the rest of his relatives?”

To that question, Junghwan immediately answered as if he had already thought about it.

“Jeongnam is planning to go to Japan. Study abroad or whatever it is, just make up excuses, and it will be difficult for the rest of your life to come back to the Republic, but you will live happily ever after. Don’t worry, I’ll pay for it.”

‘Well, at least I didn’t lie completely.’

What I directly guarantee with my mouth is the life of Kim Jong-nam and his relatives, not that of Kim Jong-il.

It’s like blindfolding, but compared to what a man named Kim Jong-il has done to other people and to this republic, this is very modest.

“Okay. Do not give the order.”

“Then I will go. Because tomorrow is the last day of the party. And one more thing before we go.”

“…………?”

Seeing Hong Kye-seong looking back at Jeong-hwan with a ‘?’ expression, Jeong-hwan took a deep breath inwardly.

And in a voice neither high nor low, but clearly proclaimed.

“How long are you going to call the leader like that, Cha-soo Hong?”

“…………………………”

Hong’s face hardened.

For a brief moment, he seemed to be at odds with Kim Jong-il.

But this time too, Jeonghwan knew well what decision he was going to make.

I just watched all of that, and it’s hard to think otherwise, at least for the time being.

Then he bowed his head and said politely in a polite voice.

“This Hong Gye-seong has committed a mortal sin, Comrade the leader. No, the gun…”

“You will hear that name from tomorrow. It has not been decided yet at the party conference.”

“……I will accept it.”

“Then stop. Because tomorrow is an important day.”

That’s right, Cha-soo Hong, that’s a wise decision.

Jeonghwan, who got out of the concrete building while being saluted by the guards, looked up at the sky for a moment before getting back into the car.

Soon the first day of the party was coming to an end.

Looking at the sky dyed red with the sunset, Junghwan reflected on what he had done and what he had to do in the future.

‘Are the people I’ve known in my previous life looking at that sky somewhere now…? Or did I really become a completely different person from Lee Jung-hwan before?’

As of now, I didn’t know.

Due to the timing, Jung-hwan’s father would be spending his life as a civil servant in South Korea by now, and his friend Kim Kyung-soo would not have been born yet.

When he thought about it that far, even though he had accomplished one stage of the work he had been planning for so long, unspeakable loneliness flooded Junghwan’s heart.

And that same day, in October 1988, one night after the first day of the party congress, three prisoners were executed by firing squad in the backyard of the secret prison of the security guard outside Pyongyang.

One of them was a man who once put the entire republic at his feet and controlled the fate of many people with one finger, but the fighters who executed the firing didn’t know who they were shooting, nor did they care.

Even in North Korea, many people in North Korea only guessed that he died, but they were not certain.

And none of them mourned his death .