WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 109: Bible Camp

──────

Baek Yohan. As far as they knew, the exorcist known as Gari Bodhisattva was affiliated with Gangnam Holy Temple Church.

In other words, he was a religious person who had to go to church.

'He'll come to church every Sunday, the Lord's Day. I'll find Gari Bodhisattva there!'

Cha Hyeran went to Holy Temple Church first thing that morning.

It wasn't her first time visiting a church.

Even in North Korea, religious activities existed, though only on a small scale.

They had what were called underground churches. They dug tunnels or gathered in secluded warehouses, sharing their faith in small groups.

They obtained Bibles through smugglers near the Chinese border or contacted Chinese missionaries, allowing their faith to survive on its own.

Since these religious activities had to stay out of the State Security Department's sight, they were usually small gatherings of family members who could trust one another.

Cha Hyeran and her family had belonged to one of those underground churches.

"My goodness... I can't believe a church this big exists..."

Unlike Cha Hyeran and her family, who had dug tunnels and prayed by candlelight, churches in South Korea were enormous.

The buildings gleamed, people poured in, and instead of eyes filled with fear of oppression by the State Security Department, there were people freely practicing their faith.

It was a sight unimaginable in North Korea, where praising the Supreme Leader and serving the Baekdu Bloodline counted as religious life.

Even if they gathered every Christian in the Republic, there would probably still be fewer than there were in this one church.

No one had to watch the door for guards. No one clutched a Bible to their chest as if hiding it.

Bibles.

Cross necklaces.

Hymns.

Seeing people carry things that would get them into severe trouble in the Republic as though they were ordinary made her realize just how different this country was.

They were this different.

How had such a gap formed between people of the same ethnicity?

Cha Hyeran had been born and raised in the church too, in a sense.

Her parents had been Christians even before she was born.

Naturally, Cha Hyeran had come to believe in God and read the Bible as well.

To them, the Bible had been a new world.

It said people weren't divided by their origins, that everyone was equal, and that the noble being in Heaven loved them all.

North Korea claimed people were equal, but cared more than anyone about family background. The Supreme Leaders claimed to love the people, but drove them into hunger and onto battlefields.

Cha Hyeran remembered her childhood.

The day State Security agents came swarming in, beat her parents with clubs, and dragged them off to Aoji.

She spent her childhood in Yodok Camp.

Even so, she had been lucky.

At the time, there had been too many people caught trying to defect, being Jesus freaks, or consuming South Korea's corrupt reactionary culture for them to kill everyone.

Those who did not meet the standard for public execution were dragged to camps and made to pay for their crimes through labor.

Cha Hyeran hesitated with a bitter expression when a middle-aged woman approached her.

"I haven't seen you before. Are you new here?"

"Uh, um? Yes?"

Cha Hyeran panicked when the woman suddenly spoke to her.

She had pulled her hat low to avoid drawing attention. Had that only made her stand out more?

The woman kept chattering regardless. Another middle-aged woman following behind her tried to stop her.

"Deaconess Park, young people these days don't like it when you talk to them like that."

"I'm good at reading faces. She looks like she's got a lot on her mind, that's all."

Deaconess Park soon swept Cha Hyeran along with her questions.

It was her first time having someone speak to her so openly.

Churches naturally took an interest in young believers like this, but Cha Hyeran had no resistance to it.

"You came down from North Korea?"

'Damn it! I got sucked in!'

She had tried so hard to hide her identity, yet Deaconess Park had drawn out the fact that she was from North Korea.

Would she report her? No, there were defectors here too, so she probably wouldn't jump straight to that.

The problem was that Cha Hyeran could make them wary by being from another region, especially North Korea.

In North Korea, people from different villages treated one another like enemies. Moving residences was a reactionary act of leaving the place assigned by the Party, and people from other regions naturally became objects of suspicion.

Yet contrary to Cha Hyeran's expectations, Deaconess Park patted her shoulder and welcomed her.

"Oh my, you must've been through so much. You made it down safely from such a terrible place. It must've been so hard being a Christian there."

"Hic...!"

At those last words, Cha Hyeran couldn't hold back the emotions rising inside her.

Deaconess Park had no way of knowing her circumstances, but her words still struck home.

"Instead of standing around like this, why don't you eat with us? The church food here is really good."

Food... for free?

Gulp!

They had followed Ri Gicheol into South Korean society without even having operating funds.

They were staying at a restaurant run by a North Korean spy, but they couldn't eat their fill without feeling like they were imposing.

Lured by the promise of free food, Cha Hyeran followed Deaconess Park when...

"Oh, right. You should talk to Yohan too. Wait here for a moment."

That was how she came face-to-face with me.

* * *

"..."

"..."

The church cafeteria was packed with people, yet the atmosphere was strangely quiet.

That was probably because Cha Hyeran kept watching me and only picked up and put down her spoon.

"All right, dig in. I'll cover today's meal tickets."

"You young people must have lots to talk about, so have a nice chat. Hohoho!"

The deaconess aunties had turned it into something like a blind date with their usual meddling, but since we knew each other's identities, neither of us got swept up in that mood.

"When I heard you'd suddenly disappeared, people made a big fuss."

"Hic!"

Cha Hyeran half-spat out the food in her mouth.

Rice grains splattered over the heaping serving of spicy stir-fried pork on her tray.

"Eat. Let's talk after you've finished."

"Y-yes..."

Thinking she might get indigestion, I handed her some water. Cha Hyeran immediately chugged it down.

A silent meal followed.

She alternated between the pork and kimchi, shoveling mouthful after mouthful of white rice into her mouth.

For a second, I wondered if she had a starving ghost attached to her, but considering she was from North Korea, it wasn't hard to understand.

"Someone like you must've been treated pretty well, right? Do they starve you over there?"

"N-no, never! Thanks to the Republic's ocean-deep grace, I enjoy a four-dish spread at every meal!"

"Oh, rice and meat soup? I guess even civil servants get meat with every meal."

"Uh, well..."

Was that not it?

"Get another serving of rice."

"Is that allowed?"

"The food served at church comes with unlimited refills. Jesus' grace has no end, you see."

"I-I'll keep that in mind."

But she'd been speaking standard Korean this whole time.

"So why'd you disappear? To do spy work?"

"..."

Cha Hyeran couldn't meet my gaze.

I'd pictured North Korean spies as professionals, but maybe because she was young, she was ridiculously bad at hiding it.

"The reward for reporting a spy is 100 million won. There are five of you, so would that be 500 million?"

"W-will you report us?"

Her dialect came out when she got desperate.

"Well, I'm South Korean too. Not reporting North Korean spies who entered illegally would be a little strange."

"...!"

Cha Hyeran's eyes twisted fiercely. Then she saw something over my shoulder and immediately lowered her gaze.

"Watch that glare, brat."

"My lord, just give the word."

【Po...】

The huge Gari was waiting outside the cafeteria.

With Mountain Lord and Eight-Foot Sister here, there wasn't much to be afraid of.

"Please... I'm asking you."

"For what?"

"P-please don't report us..."

"Didn't you come looking for me? To do something about me."

"Th-that..."

So she really had come looking for me.

Then again, why else would North Korean spies come to a church? Once they heard I was affiliated with Holy Temple Church, they must have come to find me.

What should I do?

How should I handle this?

The best thing would be to catch her right now, hand her over to the Mystic Association, and round up the other North Korean spies too.

But still.

"Comrade Cha Hyeran, you're a Christian, aren't you?"

"Hic!"

Maybe something had caught in her throat, because Cha Hyeran hurriedly gulped down water. That was my water...

"H-how could that be? How could I possibly be one of those Jesus freaks?"

This person really couldn't lie.

"Fine, let's say you're not. You want me not to report you?"

"..."

Cha Hyeran didn't answer, as though she knew that was impossible.

"I won't report you if you meet one condition."

"Y-you mean that?"

"I mean it. No bullshit."

"W-why?"

"Are you going to hear the condition or not?"

Cha Hyeran blinked in disbelief, then nodded.

"What is the condition?"

"You heard about next week's Bible Camp, right? It's three days and two nights because of the substitute holiday. Keep quiet until then and help out at camp. After that, I won't care what you do."

"...Why?"

"Let's just say Christians should help each other out."

Cha Hyeran had no choice.

Once she realized there was no other way, she lowered her head.

"Let me make this clear. If you tell anyone you saw me here, then promises or anything else are off, okay? Keeping quiet until Bible Camp includes that condition too."

"Y-yes, I understand."

After that, Cha Hyeran got two more servings.

As I watched her leave, Mountain Lord spoke to me.

"Is this all right? She is likely an infiltrator after your life, my lord."

"Hehe, Mountain Lord is so simple-minded."

"What was that?"

Kohaku snickered at Mountain Lord, and Mountain Lord's eyes flashed.

"Do you think my lord is that careless? The legion is already tracking that girl."

"Oh..."

Mountain Lord looked up at the sky.

Just as Kohaku said, pigeons and crows were flapping their wings as they flew away.

Gugu! Gugu!

* * *

Cha Hyeran soon returned to their hideout.

For some reason, the unit members were waiting for her with a huge order of spicy stir-fried pork and set meals.

"Oh, Comrade Cha Hyeran, you're back? You must be busy, but come eat something."

"Uh... Where did all this meat come from?"

Cha Hyeran glanced at the owner of the set-meal restaurant.

The owner was busy stir-frying the meat, but after getting a taste of South Korean capitalism, they weren't the type to give food away for free...

"Comrade Senior Lieutenant Park Cheol brought in a decent amount of money. We won't need to worry about operating funds for a while."

"Comrade Senior Lieutenant did?"

A few comrades had gone out saying they would earn operating funds.

"How did he earn it?"

"It was nothing. We requisitioned it from a few South Korean punks."

Requisitioned?

Cha Hyeran's face darkened as she heard how they had obtained it.

"S-so you used sorcery to charm them and steal their property?"

"Steal? That's unpleasant to hear. When North and South reunify, all property unjustly acquired by South Korea will be distributed fairly among the people. How can that be theft?"

"Let's call it a requisition for national reunification."

"Ah, yes..."

Thinking it would be stupid to argue any further, Cha Hyeran silently picked up her chopsticks.

"Comrade Cha Hyeran, pour me a drink."

"Yes, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel."

Cha Hyeran picked up a blue beer bottle and poured it into Ri Gicheol's glass.

After he had a few drinks, Ri Gicheol continued, his face flushed.

"This South Korean beer is bland as hell. Nothing beats Taedonggang Beer, right?"

"That's right, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel. These South Korean bastards must've watered down their liquor too. Their capitalist greed is so damn thick."

"That's why South Korea will never amount to anything."

Seeing their glasses were empty, Cha Hyeran quickly refilled them.

"By the way, Comrade Cha Hyeran. Didn't you say you went to Holy Temple Church today?"

"...Yes."

"Did you find him? That man called Gari Bodhisattva."

"Uh..."

Cha Hyeran hesitated for a moment.

Should she tell the truth?

But she had made a promise...

No, did she need to keep a promise with some South Korean?

「Let's just say Christians should help each other out.」

"I'm... I'm sorry."

"Hm? For what?"

"I searched as hard as I could, but... I couldn't find Gari Bodhisattva. Still, I heard they offer worship three times a week..."

Smack!

Cha Hyeran's head snapped to the side from the sudden impact.

Ri Gicheol's slap nearly knocked her over.

"Offer worship? You're still constantly using the words those Jesus freaks use."

Offer worship.

It was an honorific phrase Christians commonly used.

It was a small thing, but every little phrase like that could get someone classified as an ideological criminal in North Korea.

"You still haven't freed yourself from the remnants of imperialist thought. How do you expect to get your parents out when they're being reeducated in the coal mines? Do I need to report directly to the State Security Department before you come to your senses?"

"I'm sorry! Please forgive me!"

Cha Hyeran dropped to her knees hard enough to make a thud and bowed her head.

If her superior said anything bad about her to those above him, she would be sent to a reeducation camp or dragged off to the coal mines that very day.

"I'll infiltrate the gathering of those Jesus freaks and thoroughly search for Gari Bodhisattva!"

"Can I trust someone born with the blood of filthy Jesus freaks in her?"

"P-please trust me! For the Party and the Supreme Leader, I'll definitely produce results!"

"...Fine. Get up."

The moment Ri Gicheol gave permission, Cha Hyeran sprang to her feet.

She was panting and drenched in cold sweat. Ri Gicheol watched her and poured beer into his glass.

"I'll trust you with this, Comrade Cha Hyeran. Don't disappoint the Fatherland."

"Yes!"

"Drink."

At the command, Cha Hyeran hurriedly filled her glass and drank.

Even as the cold beer went down her throat, her insides felt as hot as fire.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried