#hws south korea headcanons

[forsoobado137]

Can you talk abt South Korea in your nationverse 🥺🥺🥺 please

South Korea enjoys his fame. He has a lot of opportunities to meet people and travel. The downside is that his boss is very strict on how he appears. His government wants him to be a "good role model" in both physical appearance and actions. South Korea has his own PR team, and they make sure he has a good image.

He shows up in more TV shows than movies. He makes a lot of appearances/cameos in period dramas, though they often use lookalikes instead of the real South Korea. So much so that when he actually appeared in one, nobody realized it until the credits. The only movies he really shows up in are documentaries about his life.

South Korea is a very online person. He's most active on YouTube. He makes all kinds of videos like vlogs, lets plays, video game "reviews", and challenges. He makes "collab" videos with other nations, which either involve him randomly facetiming them, or he flies them over to his house. A lot of the things he says in these videos get turned into memes. On Instagram, he posts a lot of selfies with other nations. He also is passionate about his art. He often posts drawings and doodles online. Some other Asian countries have posted viral pictures of him drawing at important meetings.

South Korea gets a lot of visits from tourists. Half of the time they're polite and genuinely curious about him, but the other half are obsessed Koreaboos. He keeps his composure, but he is annoyed by all of the people who fetishize and objectify him. He's also run into some pretty deranged stalkers. Now he has a habit of avoiding tourist areas or speed-walking through them. With the paparazzi, he employs the same strategy.

[stirringwinds]

ngl, i'm a subscriber to the "yong-soo is older than kiku" club too...i know canon says he's 15 or 16 but...eh. i do like some aspects of canon, like its depiction of him being tall and capable of projecting a photogenic image (more so than yao and kiku). but...is there justification for him being that young? old man yong-soo feels like it fits in way better with Korean history imo, and please i cannot resist the whole "the old master and his rival apprentices" dynamic between yao, yong-soo and kiku, with yong-soo being the "older" apprentice—given Korea's tremendously important role as the route through which several Chinese cultural elements were transmitted to Japan in real life (kanji, for one). that is on top of other elements of Korean culture that Japan imported, or Korea being the source of iron weapons and armour during japan's kofun period (300 to 538 AD)—and later, also advanced ship-building techniques.

i feel like it adds further dimension to how we might otherwise have a simplified view of the sinosphere as a universe where yao is the one who turns the wheel of "civilisation": it's also yong-soo taking those influences in. not passively, but actively incorporating his own cultural elements, before they're all passed on by his monks, traders, philosophers, mariners and soldiers to kiku. and in the modern era, Japanese imperial ascendency and ambition isn't just a yao-kiku dynamic of a weary old master and his talented, regicidal protégé, but with yong-soo, about a total inversion and desecration of the confucian hierarchy of seniority too. more than one older nation has had to endure imperial subjugation to a younger one—but in the shadow of meiji japan's naval power, there's the additional sting that it was him once teaching kiku ship-building a long time ago.

[pvffinsdaisies]

IreKor.. I hope I got Soojin’s info right..

((An actual age for Ireland I have yet to find, so I just go with when the celts reached the island and whap a < on there to show she’s probably younger. South Korea’s is based off of the kingdom of Silla and I googled her name in Korean so pls tell me if it’s wrong.))

I don’t particularly think either Saoirse or Soojin are worriers, but I think Saoirse is more prone to worrying. I have yet to find songs for them…

[qiumenglin]

Some EAsian Headcanons (because I don’t know what to post)

China be complaining about air pollution and be carrying a box of cigars everywhere.

Korea gets the most girls amongst all the EAsians. Macau comes close.

Japan has a pond with koi fish in his garden.

Japan is very very competitive. Would fight tooth and nail to be better than his opponents.

Hong Kong has insomnia because of all the lights. Other EAsians have a really lively night life, but they’ve gotten over it.

Korea, on the other hand, stays up late because he can, and can wake up early too.

Hong Kong is a germaphobe and carries sanitizer and wet tissue packets everywhere. Has trust issues when it comes to sanitation. Never uses his finger to press the lift button.

China once snuck into the British museum and took back a painting he made about 500 years ago, which he spent a week on. Caused international disputes as he sips on his tea with no milk and never planning on giving it up. (Inspired India to do the same)

Mongolia is part of almost every Asian Region group chat(after a ton of persuasion, bargaining, and begging. He just wants to leak the gossip and drama).

China, South Korea, Japan, and Mongolia(mainly with China) get into arguments 24/7. They’re internet fights are crazy, and they’re accounts have been suspended and banned multiple times.

China spoils the heck out of North Korea. He would be (maybe illegally) sending him all kinds of fancy stuff, which is currently piling up in N.K’s storage room.

[estoned-png]

high school au korest where estonia is either in choir, orchestra, or concert band/marching band (HEAR ME OUT I LOVE ALL OF THESE), top of his class, and a huge comp sci nerd and korea is sporty (can't decide what sport though) and has a big fat crush on him

[irithnova]

Do you have any headcanons or meta about mongolia attending world meetings or interacting with non-neighbors?

So, first of all, I think Mongolia is on the reserved side. This does not mean he is shy though, there's a difference between being reserved and shy. I think he is reserved/comes across as reserved because he's quite observant of conversations that are going on, not just during World meetings but in general, and if he feels like he has nothing of value to contribute to a conversation, he'd rather not derail it.

Being observant and taking note of the happenings around him is already a given for Mongolia, giving the fact that he is landlocked between Russia and China, so it's a constant for him. Not that it's something that's particularly hard for him to do though because he's gotten quite used to it. Because of this he might seem a bit standoff-ish to other nations during a world meeting.

However he actually isn't all that standoff-ish once you start talking to him! It's just that his reservedness and resting bitch face can make him seem a little unapproachable.

Attending world meetings is almost like a marketing campaign to an extent for him. He tries to show the best of himself to other nations in order to win their support and cooperation. Because of this he's not one to mess around during world meetings. This is to do with Mongolia's "third neighbour" policy which I'll get onto in a bit.

Another reason why he may seem reserved during World meetings: He really needs to think about what he's saying.

When other nations get into arguments with each other during World meetings, he believes it's usually best to try and maintain a neutral stance and not to take any sides in conflicts between other nations. This is because he acknowledges that his position in the world is somewhat precarious. Because of that he doesn't want to get involved in any political and geostrategic struggles, even if the argument that's taking place is over something petty. Besides, it's good entertainment for him sometimes so it's a win-win.

It can be a bit of a struggle at times to balance being opinionated and hard headed with being careful though. At heart, Mongolia does abide strongly by his own values and opinions, and he can be quite outspoken when there's something important on his mind. But he remembers that he has to keep his opinions to himself to some degree. He can't go around freely arguing with people like some nations have the privilege of doing.

So when he does express a strong opinion or his feelings about a situation, it's often times about more broader subjects or subjects that at least aren't so divisive. He definitely expresses his stronger opinions to nations he is close to though.

Because Mongolia tends to weave his answers around divisive questions in order to play it neutral (which he does quite well), because his answers are so neutral/diplomatic, other nations... For lack of a better term, think he's a little impossible to talk to about these sorts of things. He's really not, but when it comes to divisive geopolitical issues, he does tend to stay out of public discussions surrounding it. If he trusts a nation enough he will tell them his true feelings privately, but if its a nation he barely knows personally and politically, he'd rather not risk it.

However this does not mean that Mongolia never gives his own opinions. On issues which are not so divisive/does not risk him getting sanctioned by either of his two neighbours, but are still concerns to him, Mongolia will speak up and assert himself - he's not a shrinking violet.

Even in his neutral answers to questions surrounding geopolitical controversy, if he slyly wants to get his opinion across through a neutral/diplomatic answer, he'll find a nice and subtle way to do so, so that the underlying rhetoric is definitely there but it's subtle/innocent enough on the surface that you'd look a bit ridiculous if you tried to call him out on it. His wordcrafting skills are good for a reason after all. So, he does find a way to put across how he feels about something in the end, but in a way that won't come and bite him in the ass later on.

Mongolia definitely finds it refreshing to talk to non-neighboring countries. As a landlocked country between Russia and China, he doesn't have a huge range of nations that are around to talk to. It gets a bit limited and sometimes repetitive after a while.

Onto Mongolia's "third neighbour" policy and how he utilises world meetings to further this agenda:

The "Third Neighbor" Policy was introduced in the 1990s after Mongolia became a democracy and shifted to a market-oriented economy. Its purpose was to decrease reliance on neighboring countries (Russia and China, his only two neighbouring countries) and build new relationships with other nations, creating a more balanced and diverse foreign policy. The "third neighbor" refers to countries outside Mongolia's immediate border.

(I know this map makes it look like Kazakhstan is Mongolia's "third neighbour" but they're actually separated by the tiniest smidge of land 😭)

As part of Mongolia's policy of "third neighborism", Mongolia looks to reach out and develop his diplomatic relations beyond his neighboring countries. Mongolia seeks to build relationships with more distant countries other than Russia or China to open up new possibilities, and to not always be too dependent on their business. This could include diplomatic relations, trade and investment, and cultural ties.

Considering his geographical position, he knows he can't afford to be too isolationist, it's not healthy for a country. He's quite eager to broaden his horizons when it comes to diplomatic ties with other nations to say the least.

By some miracle, Mongolia officially considers countries like the United States, Japan, South Korea, European Union member states, and Australia as his "third neighbours." Mongolia has actively worked to form partnerships with these countries through a number of ways.

This is a significant feat considering Mongolia's juggling act of maintaining good relationships with his "third neighbours" and also not displeasing Russia or China too much. I believe it's a testament to his strategic efforts to broaden his international relations beyond his immediate neighbours.

In fact, Mongolia and America had some joint military exercises last year! It was called Khaan Quest.

Some more examples of Mongolia trying to broaden his horizons: Recently, Mongolia has been doing business with France too - and it's to do with Mongolia's minerals. The French president, Macron, visited Mongolia. Mongolia holds many untapped mineral resources, including significant uranium deposits, and they are pushing to seal a €1 billion deal!

This one is a lot more funny: The UKs post-Brexit trade deal which supplied British Chicken to 11 KFCs in Mongolia 😭 This honestly got kind of meme'd on in the UK when it was happening to the point where people thought that this trade deal was satire but no - it's true.

This entire debacle just makes me think of this stupid scenario in my head where England is just. Desperate for trade deals after Brexit, and he spots Mongolia out of the corner of his eye during a world meeting and he goes up to him like. Do you. Do you like chicken.

I also think Mongolia, like all nations, use world meetings as a way to catch up with friends. I think South Korea or India would be his usual go-tos and it's a mixture of actually catching up and chatting and them telling each other how they really feel about some of the conversations that are taking place or how some of the other nations are acting. It's like a chance to take the diplomatic mask off for a bit, especially on Mongolia's end.

He might slide off if he finds himself a bit tired/bored and go and smoke a cigarette which other nations do anyways but he doesn't take that as an opportunity to go and talk to them if they're both outside smoking. If he slid off to smoke a cigarette amid an hours long meeting he'd rather do so in peace, a bit of small talk is tolerable though.

Mongolia actively tries not dedicating too much of his time with talking to Russia and China during World meetings because in his view he sees too much of them and he'd rather seize the opportunity to build relationships with other nations rather than... Be bugged by them haha.

He doesn't attend all world meetings as sometimes his schedule is just too busy, though this isn't unique to him. However he does his best to attend in order to build relationships with other nations.

[theredpryamid]

Why South Korea isn't Silla

So I keep seeing people saying that South Korea is Silla and I really want to know where this came from??

Cause I'm Korean we refer to ourselves as descendants of Goguryeo and nobody really cares about Silla.

Anyway, the reason why South Korea isn't Silla is really simple, their Goryeo, what the hell is Goryeo you ask?

A bunch of Goguryeo descendants led by a Buddhist monk. The same thing happened to Baekje.

Basically Goryeo is just Goguryeo people with a fresh coat of paint and a letter removed. There's a famous folk story about this.

Then Goryeo undergoes a cultural revolution and turns into Joseon then Japan then the Korean War yada yada. Boom South Korea.

Anyway, if you want Silla make North Korea Silla, it makes more sense then South Korea. Also someone please tell me where this came from???

[betty-bourgeoisie]

I just genuinely think it's kind of weird that there aren't more OC's for Liberia in this fandom

[hwsasiaweek]

HWS Asia Week will be hosted from July 8th-17th of 2024!!

Three prompts per day:

1) nations from Asia

2) a general theme

3) a quote

You can choose which prompt or prompts you want to create content for; you can stick with one country (canon or OC) throughout the whole week or switch between multiple; it's all up to you!

Any form of content is accepted, including but not limited to: fanfiction, fanart, AUs,headcanons, aesthetics, etc.

Prompts:

Day 1 (Jul 8): Mongolia || Culture/Traditions || "Look how we bleed from all this wanting"

Day 2 (Jul 9): Taiwan, Indonesia, Uzbekistan|| Food || "A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor"

Day 3 (Jul 10): India + China || History || "Come, dance with me"

Day 4 (Jul 11): South Korea, Laos, Bahrain || Fantasy || "I ache in a language so old that even the earth no longer remembers"

Day 5 (Jul 12): Persia/Iran || Folklore/Legends/Myths || "Having the same enemy does not make us friends"

Day 6 (Jul 13): Hong Kong || Daily Life || "No one wearing a crown comes in the name of peace"

Day 7 (Jul 14): Malaysia + Indonesia || Flowers/Garden || “War is sweet to those who have never fought”

Day 8 (Jul 15): Macau, Philippines, Japan || Story/Storytelling || "The relief of giving into destruction"

Day 9 (Jul 16): Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Singapore|| Tea/Coffee || "I promise spring is coming / and with it, brand new leaves"

Day 10 (Jul 17): Free Day

Rules:

Rule Post

Follow this account

No NS//FW

Tag your content with #hwsasiaweek2024 and @ this account please!

Ships and content with other non-Asian nations are allowed, but please try to give equal weight to the Asian character in the ship,since this is an event celebrating the Hetalia Asians.

Gore/blood/dark topics allowed; they will be tagged with #tw _

Don't be a clown and make racist content

Use common sense and nuance when touching upon sensitive political subjects.

FAQ

Have Fun!

@hetaliahappenings @heta-on-the-books @hetaliacalendar

[arthurhonda]

Also requested Nordics and East Asians (Sans China and Japan)

Nordics

Denmark: Cis man. Asexual (He thinks the joke about Asexuals taking over Denmark is funny) Biromantic Iceland: Trans Man. Asexual, homoromantic Norway: Agender/Nonbinary. Pansexual. Sweden: Nonbinary. Gay Finland: Genderfluid. Abrosexual.

East Asians

Taiwan: Cis woman. Demisexual, questioning romantic Mongolia (Technically they're canon): Doesn't have a gender. Aroace Hong Kong: Demiboy. Gay Macau: Cis Man. Heterosexual South Korea: Cis Man. Gay.

Want to request more headcanons? Send me an ask!

Hetalia Gender and Sexuality headcanons

Germany: Cis man, Gay Italy: Genderfluid. Mostly presents Masculine. Bisexual. Japan: Demiboy/Enboy. Asexual, Homoromantic.

America: Cis man. Bisexual. England: Cis Man. Bisexual. France: Genderqueer. Pansexual. Russia: Enboy. Gay. China: Cis man. Doesn't label his sexuality with modern labels.

Canada: Cis man. Bisexual (It's what he says if you ask but he doesn't label it strongly) Romano: Trans Man. Omnisexual Prussia: Cis man. Bisexual.

Want to request another character? My askbox is open ^_^

Happy Pride!

[stirringwinds]

sorry if it's a dumb question but i've wondered about the nations' skills or what suits their personalities, and who do u think would win in a swordfight between yao and kiku? japan does have such a kenjutsu culture but what about china, since china has a very old history too?

i have thought about this before, actually 🤔 when thinking about pre-modern sino-japanese power dynamics between yao and kiku. personally, i say it actually depends on which point in history. this is my headcanon:

before the kamakura period/shogunate (which overlaps with the sengoku/feudal era of japan) tbh I'd say yao wins. one reason is well, the symbolic power balance between china and japan. the first time china and japan properly met face-to-face in conflict was in the 7th century CE, during the baekje-tang war at the battle of baekgang in korea. long story short: it was a power struggle between korean kingdoms, and the korean kingdom of baekje (yong-soo's brother) was allied to japan, so japan came to help them. their enemy was the other korean kingdom of silla (aka: yong-soo long before he becomes south korea), who...was allied to china. despite being outnumbered 3 to 1, china pretty much crushed japan in that battle. then, kiku is very much an inexperienced upstart challenging the regional hegemon who has far far more notches on his sword. getting wrecked like that by yao is imo, quite a formative experience for kiku (to put it mildly).

but as the centuries go by, yeah no, kiku is the swordsman alright. because of samurai culture, and its elevation to power during the muromachi and edo period. further, there's of course the imjin war, where the samurai lord toyotomi hideyoshi invaded korea with the goal of overthrowing ming china too. even during the successive edo period/tokugawa shogunate, where japan was unified, far more peaceful under isolationism and many samurai became more like bureaucrats, i think kiku continued practising kenjutsu or at least in the form of kendo—swordsmanship and his swords became very much an extension of his personality and identity by then, as well as a way he'd blow off steam even during peacetime. his katana and wakizashi would always be properly maintained and you'd see him carefully oiling it with the mix of mineral and clove oil to prevent rusting, even during the most chill years of edo japan. they'd be nicely displayed like this somewhere in his quarters.

this is compared to how, for all that pre-modern china was an empire and all empires need military violence to expand themselves, warriors as a class in chinese culture never quite ascended to the same type of political prestige as the samurai. it was a very different cultural/political context. it's like, you can't underestimate yao still, as an experienced old empire (tm), but by the 1400s/ming dynasty, i think he might've shifted more to being that kind of general presiding over maps in his military tent, and directing strategy, compared to the younger warlord he was in his earlier years, who was down in the dirt all the time fighting in every single skirmish. so, while yao can and will get his hands dirty if need be with a blade, i think kiku edges him out by then in sheer focus, skill and devotion re: kenjutsu becoming a pretty core aspect of his personality/experiences. to me, it’s also an “old and experienced soldier surpassed by his younger, hungry protégé” dynamic too.

[mysticalmusicwhispers]

a small set of SK headcanons

These are mostly humanverse/non-historical headcanons because I don’t know enough about SK/Korea’s history to write much about it...

Also apparently this needs to be said but these are headcanons for South Korea/Im Yong Soo, not anyone else.

— 10 step beauty routine, spas on Saturdays.

— Looks fabulous without trying though (he’s really good at pulling off the “messily dressed” look, where everything looks thrown together and slightly hurried but also really pleasing to the eye)

     -> Related: wore eyeshadow for a whole day as a dare (in around the 1960s-1970s) and after looking in the mirror, decided to wear it regularly. Nowadays male presenting people + eyeliner/eyeshadow is more common, so the novelty of being stared at a lot has worn off, but he still wears it from time to time to look good.

— Well built, has substantial muscle and a good looking body

— Oscillates somewhere between pretty boy and jock depending on the day. Only in appearances though; he’s by no means unintellectual or standoffish.

— To me he feels like the type who’d write poetry on a whim, just small little drabbles of whatever comes to him in a sudden moment of contemplation. He scribbles them down and stashes them in a folder; sometimes he rereads it, sometimes he never reads one of his scribbles again. That doesn’t bother him; the small fragments of lines and bits of stanzas help him organize his thoughts, and save the ones he thinks worth remembering. To him, the act of writing is what makes it worth it.

— A hard worker when he puts his mind to it, focused and methodical. He’s devised his own way to get things done efficiently and it works pretty well when he’s not caught off guard by his hobbies/passions/new K-drama leaks.

— Has actually gotten into a few spats with China over various things and whether it originated in Korea or China. Japan wishes they’d just stop arguing over petty things, but neither Yong Soo nor Yao’s pride allows them to. (this mostly refers to the recent hanfu vs hanbok and kimchi vs paocai arguments.)

— What animal they’d be: either a Korean magpie (a national symbol representing good luck and happiness, both of which seem like his vibes, and they look pretty nice and can sing) or a tiger (another national symbol, representing courage, but also prosperity and good luck.) Bonus: His brother North Korea would be a cat (generally seems like a cat person, aloof + antisocial but still wickedly smart, witty, with a caustic tongue) or tortoise (likes to think of himself as steady, unshakeable, and the only one still left with tradition in a misguided, too-novel future. Also turtles/tortoises symbolize longevity, and I’m not sure how to articulate it, but it just feels like that would fit him. Also in folklore, the tortoise is one of the 4 cardinal animals and represents the north)

[homeboi-corn]

Neighborhood AU!

It's very much my first time posting about my AUs and this one is pretty common and probs really typical but I love it <33

Welcome to my Asia-centric Neighborhood AU :DD! It could include EU and NA countries but they're not the main focus of this AU <33

Feel free to ask questions about it as I also do my part and share some headcannon tidbits with all of you! And yes, we're using human names >:))

[rebelsandtherest]

Hi do u have any Christmas or New Years headcanones for NA bros?

This is a little late, sorry!! Honestly I do not have any existing headcanons re: new years, but here's some that I just made up!

The British commonwealth has a New Year's "sound off" text thread where everyone wishes the others happy new year as it happens in their timezone. This started as a way for Zee (NZ) and Jack (Australia) to gloat to the others that they entered the new year before anyone else, but it's turned into a kind of tradition. Recently, they've also started including what they were doing when the clock hit midnight. Arthur never indulges in this last tradition, and so the commonwealth is forced to imagine progressively more crude and/or ridiculous scenarios that dear old England is wrapped up in when the new year hits GMT. The annual conversation consistently theorizes old man hate-sex with Francis.

Alfred once time zone-hopped his way from New York to Chicago to Denver to Los Angeles so he could ring in the new year (very quickly, before getting back in his USAF jet for which he is absolutely abusing his license to fly above Mach 1 for this stupid NYE expedition) four times rather than just once. The initial plan was to go to Fairbanks and later Honolulu to push the NYE flight even further, but he physically could not make the trip on time without requisitioning a higher powered Jet. Although Alfred may or may not know the location of a "decommissioned" SR-71 Blackbird that was "destroyed" in a test flight 50 years ago, he's not willing to blow his cover on that particular secret until he really, really needs it.

Yong Soo (S. Korea) always texts his friends a happy new year on January 1. Alfred in particular tries to reciprocate when lunar new year rolls around, but he always ends up getting the day off by one or two days. Yong Soo typically accepts this blunder with something along the lines of "rofl one day late I've won a bet thanks" Bad timing by the wayside, Alfred uses the occasion as an excuse to stuff his face with dim sum.

While the commonwealth speculates on his new years sexual escapades, Arthur usually turns off notifications on his phone, and celebrates the New Year quietly with a nice whiskey and a good book. And sometimes Francis shows up to distract him from his book.

[peonycats]

Hi! I have a question relating to your Mongolia ask thing. I noticed you mentioned that he and the Koreas are kind of chill, and I was wondering what kind of relationship you saw that as? I’ve heard of it as fatherly (no idea if that’s a Thing but I’ve kind of vibed with it for a while) but I’m just curious about what you’re thinking!

sorry for taking so long on this ask! I wanted to do some research about this and I just didnt really have time to do it until like now lmao

It prbly started off horribly (like most of Mongolia’s relationships), as the Mongol invasions of Korea took a tremendous toll over the decades, but at the end of it, both of the Koreas felt a combination of humiliation yet... reluctant respect for Mongolia who made them heel, and eventually, even the “peerless” China. 

Similar to other subordinate countries, Korean rulers had to stay at the mongol court for a really long time before and after their coronation to guarantee their loyalty, and I’d imagine during that time, one or both of the Koreas would join the ruler as a further sign of loyalty and it was during then that maybe they got to know Mongolia, who for all of his.... self-centeredness, fit the role of mentor well and was like genuinely willing to teach them shit (perhaps patronizingly and condescendingly, but genuinely) So their relationship was this combination of resentment (more on North’s part) but also this equally real respect and desire to learn, as Mongolia was far more openly warm and loud (sometimes, surprisingly down to earth) compared to China. This prbly had its own benefits and drawbacks?

It also became really prestigious for many Mongol rulers to have Korean wives- famously, the Korean Empress Gi became a mother of the Yuan Emperor and wielded great political and military power, even spreading Korean culture, clothing, and food at the capital. This would only further their relationship and close ties, even as Mongolia waned during the period and eventually saw the fall of the Yuan dynasty?

What’s really interesting (funny) is that even after Mongolia got kicked out of China, the Korean court would sometimes favor the booted Mongolian Yuan dynasty over the new Han Chinese Ming dynasty. This does exemplify how their relationship was a combo of both pragmatism and sentimentality (for lack of a better word), as both of the Koreas sought to learn from this man who had managed to conquer half the known world, but also realized the political value of playing him and China off on each other.

In recent times, I think North Korea is prbly closer to Mongolia than South is because ~Soviet Bloc Suffering Solidarity~ and the two nations continue to maintain close ties!

[circlique]

Hey! Could you do a short story about America and Young-soo in the Korean War? Ethier that or Korea finally admitting the pain he suffered under 2p Japan?

Yong Soo stared absently into the flickering flames in the shallow pit in front of him. The fire, started hurriedly from a hastily cobbled together pile of rubble from what used to be a nearby village, wasn’t doing much to make him feel better.

Then again, what could? He felt as if all warmth had been drained out of him the day his brother crossed the 38th parallel. All he could feel was a dull ache throughout his body. His heart, his mind...everything else just felt numb.

He felt eyes on him, and managed to glance up.

Alfred smiled at him.

“This will all be over by Christmas!” the bright-eyed American assured him.

Yong Soo could only stare back at him blankly. How could the American be so positive at a time like this? Yong Soo’s entire country...not even his country at this point. Ninety percent of it was in the hands of the communists now. Yong Soo’s men were backed up into the last remaining corner of this peninsula, huddled around this tiny fire in the ruins of the last village to have fallen—staked out trying to hold the “Pusan Perimeter,” as they called it.

It was so bleak, but Alfred still found some way to smile.

“K...keuriseumaseu?” Yong Soo asked in his still heavily accented English. He had been working on it, and his time spent with Alfred had helped, but studying simply was not on his list of priorities right now.

“Yeah! You know what Christmas is right?”

Yong Soo’s eyes drifted toward the ground. A Christian holiday, celebrating the birth of their savior...but he couldn’t remember the details.

“Yeah...” he muttered, more to get Alfred to shut up than anything.

Of course, Alfred could never take a hint.

“Yeah!” the American continued, leaning in and stooping down so that he could look into Yong Soo’s downcast eyes. “I promise! This will be over by Christmas! We can have a celebration at my place! We can make cookies, decorate a tree—oh! Do you know any Christmas carols, Yong Soo?”

Yong Soo’s blank expression slowly grew more perplexed. He was still trying to register all the strange words and make sense of them in his head. Carols?

“Uhh...” he started, but Alfred, sensing Yong Soo’s hesitance, continued before he could answer.

“Oh! I bet you know this one right?” Alfred said before turning to one of the American soldiers near him. “On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...!”

“A partridge in a pear tree!” the soldiers answered, their voices elevating in unison.

“On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me...!” Alfred continued with the next verse.

“Two turtle doves—and a partridge in a pear tree!”

“On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me...!” Alfred sang again, this time looking to Yong Soo and giving him a little nudge with his elbow.

His heart leapt. He didn’t know this song! But he couldn’t afford to look foolish in front of his American allies now, could he?

“Three French hens, two turtle doves—“ sang the Americans.

“—And...a par-teuridge in a pear tree,” Yong Soo managed to add in a faltering voice, as the rest of them sang with him.

The song continued through the rest of its dozen or so verses, each time Yong Soo managing to pick up a few more words than the last. By the end, he was confident in the first half of the strange, but somehow endearing gifts the song’s protagonist kept bestowing upon his lover, and he sang loudly along with the rest.

At the end of the twelfth verse, he waited with baited breath to see how this hapless, lovesick man could possibly best himself on the thirteenth day, only to see the rest of the soldiers clapping and congratulating each other for finishing. Oh...so it was only twelve verses then...

Yong Soo looked back to Alfred expectantly...and then realized he wasn’t really sure what he was expecting. Alfred simply smiled back at him as always. Always smiling...even as they were backed up against a wall like this.

Then Yong Soo realized—he was smiling too.

He felt a few tears stinging at his eyes and quickly wiped at his face with his sleeve, trying to pretend it was just the dust and smoke making his nose run or something. He couldn’t explain...how much it meant to him that Alfred had tried to make him smile even at a time like this, and in a way that genuinely made him feel included and a part of the group when he felt like he had lost the only other person who mattered. Normally it would have been his brother doing such things, but, well—

“Alfred—“ he said, pausing for a long time, trying to sort out the English words in his head. What was he trying to say? That he admired the American’s unwavering positivity, his warm heart, his kindness? How could he express that he wished he could be those same things in such a bleak situation?

“I...I like you!” he proclaimed after some thought, watching Alfred for his reaction.

Some of the Americans around them chuckled in amusement, and slowly, though it was hard to tell in the flickering light of the fire, Yong Soo was sure he saw Alfred’s cheeks flush red.

Oh—oh god. His heart leapt again and he felt a deep burning of embarrassment in his own cheeks. Yong Soo ran back through the English words in his head. How did it go? Subject verb object... Wait, he was missing some words! He had meant to say ‘I want to be like you!’ But in the rush of thoughts and emotions whirling in his brain, he had simply missed a few words, boiling the sentence down to the most important parts instead.

“I—well, I’m glad! I mean—I think you’re pretty cool too!” Alfred said after what felt like an eternity—which was saying a lot for a semi-immortal nation like Yong Soo!

He let out an unconscious sigh of relief. The soldiers seemed to have gone back about their business, dividing up rations and lighting cigarettes, oblivious now to the two nations. Yong Soo looked back up at Alfred feeling a little calmer now. With Alfred here, he could almost forget the aches, the war, the emptiness in his heart. After all, now he had someone else who could make him smile.

“Alfred...” Yong Soo managed to ask. “Can teach me...that song again?”