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LOCATION: CHO JOON'S COUNTRYSIDE CABIN
CITY: NORTHERN HAMGYONG, NORTH KOREA
DATE: ??? | TIME: ???
A gun cocked.
"Stand up," a voice said. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"
Vanessa could have done something. She would have been faster than this old man. Her pistol was already in her hand.
Just raise it up and pull the trigger. 18 months of work would be done, and then she could signal for her exfiltration and wait for it to come.
But something in the old man's eyes gave her pause.
What is it?
Memories of stiff old photobooks her grandmother would show her came back to her. So many black and white pictures stuck to those faded yellow pages and sealed in cellophane.
There was that one photo in particular.
Her mind searched for it, even as she slowly stood.
It was a man and a woman in front of a house. The man was holding a pitchfork. Just like the famous American Gothic painting from 1930s America.
Vanessa remembered her grandmother telling her it was a joke, and they were particularly proud of imitating at the time contemporary American art.
But what was it about that photo that was…
The house!
The house in the image was this house.
And the man, while not this one in front of her, shared the same eyes and features.
"Well?" the man asked, "who are you?"
"I… I think we might be related," Vanessa stammered.
"What?" the man asked. "Some peasant from the hills… You think you're related to me, do you?"
Vanessa just kept staring. And the more she looked at him, the more confident she became.
General Cho sighed and lowered his gun.
"Look," he said, "I've got some meat leftover from dinner. I was going to give it to the dog in the morning, but if you're hungry—"
"No," Vanessa said, raising her arms.
She realized she was still holding her pistol, and quickly reinserted it in her holster.
"No, I'm not hungry. I uh…"
She paused a minute and then decided to tell the truth.
"I came here to kill you. But I think maybe that's wrong."
General Cho laughed.
"You think that's wrong, do you?"
Then Vanessa started laughing.
And for several minutes, the two of them laughed, but the tension was gone from the room.
The General set his gun down and reached for a bottle of soju and two cups.
"Join me for a drink," he said, setting the cups down on the small wooden dining table and pouring some of the clear liquid into them.
Vanessa took the chair opposite him and tentatively lifted the cup.
"My name is Vanessa Cho," she said, "and I really do think we may be related."
General Cho, known for his stoic demeanor, continued looking at his uninvited guest.
"First, a toast. To your health."
"And to yours," Vanessa said.
He clinked his cup against hers, and she drank it down.
He quickly filled them again.
"What makes you think that?" he asked. "Cho is a pretty common name."
They drank again. Slowly this time.
Vanessa was still grappling with this all. Was this man really the one in the picture?
"I can tell you're from the South," General Cho said. "Your accent is nearly flawless, but there are signs. A man of my position learns to detect spies."
He looked at her for a long moment. Vanessa didn't deny anything.
"But then again, you already told me you're here to kill me, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised."
He started laughing again, and Vanessa was surprised to feel genuine warmth from this man.
She broke into his house to assassinate him, and here he was laughing and drinking with her as if it was nothing.
She exhaled.
"I am from the South," she said. "And I was here on assignment, but the moment I saw you, I…"
A tear formed in her eye. She quickly brushed it away, wincing at the scratching of the rough cloth on her delicate cheek.
She raised her eyes and met his gaze.
"My grandmother had this photo album, and there was a picture inside…"
She told him about the American Gothic recreation, and about how his eyes and facial features looked similar to the man in the picture.
Cho Joon's legendary composure broke down in that moment.
"That was my father," he said, tears now streaming down his own face. "I took that picture. I remember taking it twice so we could send one copy to my aunt in the south."
He drank from his cup again and refilled it.
"That was before the war, of course. I've never been there to visit my aunt, and the war made it impossible…"
He trailed off, staring into his cup. Then he looked at Vanessa for a long time.
"You're so beautiful. Your parents must be proud."
Then he chuckled again.
"Even if you went through so much effort just to kill and old, feeble man!"
Vanessa laughed.
"There's nothing feeble about you. So tell me what it's like, living here in the North."
They talked through the night, and when the sun peeked over the hills to the east, the general stood and stretched.
"This has been one of the best experiences of my life."
He watched her stand from the chair and stretch just as he did.
"I think you have two choices here. Do what you came to do. I won't stop you."
Vanessa shook her head subtly.
"Or, I can give you this…"
He removed a ring from his middle finger and handed it to her.
"As proof of achieving your mission. I plan to retire to the countryside anyway. May as well make it now. And I have a way to smuggle you back over the border, but it's going to take a week. What do you say? Want to help in the fields and learn about agricultural labor?"
Vanessa agreed to his proposal, and just as she was about to head out to work with him, the System pulled her out of the vision.