낮말은 새가 듣고 밤말은 쥐가 듣는다

Rats hear nighttime talk, and birds hear daytime talk.

Nampo, June 6th, 1947

Lee Chang-ok watched the fishermen hauling their catch in. The seaport, still under heavy recovery after the Japanese evacuation, had nonetheless begun to regain some of its charm and industrious character. Just the way, Chang-ok was sure, that Kim Become-the-Sun would will it. Yet it was not simple love of country, love of economy, love of people that had brought him here. No, he had only graduated the university of brimstone that was the liberation war through cruelty, violence, and - at all times - vicious, brutal survival. He carried a Mauser automatic pistol on his belt, a tradition that began when he was broken out of Japanese custody by Kim himself in Manchuoko. He personally slit the throat of the Japanese officer who had executed twenty other Koreans earlier that day, taking the Mauser from him as a trophy - or at least, that was the way he told it.

The Japanese were gone. For now. It was this reputation for violence and cruelty that had brought him to Nampo that day to meet with Pak Il-u, head of the Internal Affairs Department of the People's Committee of North Korea. Chang-ok's sun-strained eyes gazed down at the bureaucrat who'd pulled up in his government car, his glasses almost too thick to perceive his eyes through. Chang-ok only read people through their eyes, after all - so an immediate feeling of unease and distrust settled around the interaction before either man spoke.

"Good Morning, Lee Chang-ok. The breeze is so kind this morning, isn't it?" Il-u began. "This bar was my -"

"And why have you called me here?" Chang-ok broke through Il-u's pleasantries.

Il-u seemed taken aback for a moment, before a wide smile pressed across his imperceptible face. "Why, indeed... The People's Committee, as you know, is at the verge of completing our unification with the South. Yet, as you of all people should be aware -" a glance down to the gun at Chang-ok's waist, the authority emanating from it "- imperialists will not leave our people without a fight."

It was Pak Il-u's great pleasure to present Lee Chang-ok with the command of the newly created Security Bureau of the People's Committee of North Korea. His task was one for which his reputation was most suited, after all... Routing out subversive elements within north Korea, pursuing them without quarter or mercy. Those who would oppose the revolution were as good as the imperialist lackeys that preceded them, and the only allowance for them would be the sword. He would command hundreds, maybe even thousands of men and militias. Revolutionary Guards. It was on that day that Chang-ok loaded his pistol for the first time in years - he knew it would be needed soon.