❝and i'll cut my hair for you; once and never again❞
Title: Hanil Hapbang Neugyak
Series: Axis Powers Hetalia
Words: 500+
Characters: Korea ; Japan
Rating: G
Warnings: n/a
Summary: Written for hetalia_contest's week 021 prompt, "hair cut." Japan annexes Korean in the first decade of the 20th Century. With that comes a very important haircut.
Hanil Hapbang Neugyak
Im Young Soo looks his elder brother in the eye with a steady gaze as he affixes his name to the treaty. He supposes that, under normal circumstances, this might have been a hard decision to make: whether or not to sign. But, given that Kiku has a sword drawn over Young Soo’s right hand, there doesn’t seem to be any other options, right now.
“An auspicious day to begin a new era,” Kiku comments in his dry, staid way, folding the treaty and tucking it into his jacket.
My people won’t call it ‘auspicious’, Young Soo thinks darkly. Already, they are calling this day ‘Gukchi-il’-the day of national humiliation; the day of my humiliation.
“Now, about your royal family...” As Kiku speaks, Young Soo’s thoughts become bitter, his feelings churning in his stomach like acid.
You already killed her, he thinks, and he can’t help but feel the tears pricking in his eyes, my umma-nim, my queen. She was fighting for me, and you killed her, burned her body, so I couldn’t even say goodbye.
“...your prince can wed Princess Masako. I think the arrangement will be best for everyone.” Kiku’s face is emotionless as always, his dark eyes completely opaque, a calm mask where his expressions should be.
So, my emperor and my queen are gone, and now the prince is lost, as well-I should have seen this coming. His brother’s superior words fall deaf on Young Soo’s ears as the younger brother is lost in his thoughts. You’ve told me I write history wrong, as well. So what next, hyung-nim? What more do I have to give up?
“Hyung-nim...” Young Soo tries to cut in, but Kiku shoots him a dark look, that silences the words before they leave his throat.
“If we are to speak one country, we should speak one language. You should call me ‘nii-san.’ It’s only proper.”
Ah, thinks Young Soo, my language. Royalty, culture, education...all of it’s Japanese, now? How fitting.
“Anything else?” Young Soo asks, wearily. The room is dark, and no one else is present; no one is privy to Young Soo’s humiliation, except himself. Though he knows that when the people hear of all this, they will weep with bitterness as he wants to weep.
“Yes, actually,” Kiku murmurs. He raises the sword high above his head, and Im Young lets out a gasp, thinking his brother means to behead him, or maim him. But when the sword comes down, it doesn’t slice though flesh-it cuts hair, and the dark strands of Im Young’s topknot fall over his face and fall to the ground like autumn leaves.
He can’t help it; a cry escapes his throat. Involuntarily, he reaches up and runs a hand through his newly-shorn hair. He feels naked, somehow, and almost defeated. He looks up at his brother with dead eyes.
“So if that’s all, aniki, I’ll be going,” he says, and leaves the room without waiting for a response. Defeated he may be, but the streets of Seoul-not Gyeongseong-are already alive with rebellion.
Footnotes:
* "Hanil Hapbang Neugyak" = a coerced and invalid treaty. Koreans' name for the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty, the signing of which is the setting for this fic.
* A Korean glossary:
-- "Gukchi-il" : day of national humiliation
-- "umma-nim" : mother
-- "Hyung-nim" : elder brother
* Two Japanese terms for "elder brother" are "nii-san" and "aniki." Kiku wants Young Soo to call him the former, since it's more respectful, but Young Soo uses the later for the converse reason.
* "Gyeongseong" was the Japanese name for the Korean capital of Seoul.
* During the conflict between Japan and Korea in the early 20th century, the Korean Queen, Queen Min, was killed. She is celebrated in Korean today as the royal who stood for Korean independence.
* Korean politics and culture under Japanese occupation.
* Topknots were symbols of traditional Korean culture, but they became outlawed under Japanese occupation. Many Korean men resisted and kept their topknots as a symbol of rebellion. I chose to have Kiku cut off Young Soo's because Korea did appear to assimilate on the surface, though rebellion simmered until the Koreans finally reclaimed their country.
Series: Axis Powers Hetalia
Words: 500+
Characters: Korea ; Japan
Rating: G
Warnings: n/a
Summary: Written for hetalia_contest's week 021 prompt, "hair cut." Japan annexes Korean in the first decade of the 20th Century. With that comes a very important haircut.
Hanil Hapbang Neugyak
Im Young Soo looks his elder brother in the eye with a steady gaze as he affixes his name to the treaty. He supposes that, under normal circumstances, this might have been a hard decision to make: whether or not to sign. But, given that Kiku has a sword drawn over Young Soo’s right hand, there doesn’t seem to be any other options, right now.
“An auspicious day to begin a new era,” Kiku comments in his dry, staid way, folding the treaty and tucking it into his jacket.
My people won’t call it ‘auspicious’, Young Soo thinks darkly. Already, they are calling this day ‘Gukchi-il’-the day of national humiliation; the day of my humiliation.
“Now, about your royal family...” As Kiku speaks, Young Soo’s thoughts become bitter, his feelings churning in his stomach like acid.
You already killed her, he thinks, and he can’t help but feel the tears pricking in his eyes, my umma-nim, my queen. She was fighting for me, and you killed her, burned her body, so I couldn’t even say goodbye.
“...your prince can wed Princess Masako. I think the arrangement will be best for everyone.” Kiku’s face is emotionless as always, his dark eyes completely opaque, a calm mask where his expressions should be.
So, my emperor and my queen are gone, and now the prince is lost, as well-I should have seen this coming. His brother’s superior words fall deaf on Young Soo’s ears as the younger brother is lost in his thoughts. You’ve told me I write history wrong, as well. So what next, hyung-nim? What more do I have to give up?
“Hyung-nim...” Young Soo tries to cut in, but Kiku shoots him a dark look, that silences the words before they leave his throat.
“If we are to speak one country, we should speak one language. You should call me ‘nii-san.’ It’s only proper.”
Ah, thinks Young Soo, my language. Royalty, culture, education...all of it’s Japanese, now? How fitting.
“Anything else?” Young Soo asks, wearily. The room is dark, and no one else is present; no one is privy to Young Soo’s humiliation, except himself. Though he knows that when the people hear of all this, they will weep with bitterness as he wants to weep.
“Yes, actually,” Kiku murmurs. He raises the sword high above his head, and Im Young lets out a gasp, thinking his brother means to behead him, or maim him. But when the sword comes down, it doesn’t slice though flesh-it cuts hair, and the dark strands of Im Young’s topknot fall over his face and fall to the ground like autumn leaves.
He can’t help it; a cry escapes his throat. Involuntarily, he reaches up and runs a hand through his newly-shorn hair. He feels naked, somehow, and almost defeated. He looks up at his brother with dead eyes.
“So if that’s all, aniki, I’ll be going,” he says, and leaves the room without waiting for a response. Defeated he may be, but the streets of Seoul-not Gyeongseong-are already alive with rebellion.
Footnotes:
* "Hanil Hapbang Neugyak" = a coerced and invalid treaty. Koreans' name for the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty, the signing of which is the setting for this fic.
* A Korean glossary:
-- "Gukchi-il" : day of national humiliation
-- "umma-nim" : mother
-- "Hyung-nim" : elder brother
* Two Japanese terms for "elder brother" are "nii-san" and "aniki." Kiku wants Young Soo to call him the former, since it's more respectful, but Young Soo uses the later for the converse reason.
* "Gyeongseong" was the Japanese name for the Korean capital of Seoul.
* During the conflict between Japan and Korea in the early 20th century, the Korean Queen, Queen Min, was killed. She is celebrated in Korean today as the royal who stood for Korean independence.
* Korean politics and culture under Japanese occupation.
* Topknots were symbols of traditional Korean culture, but they became outlawed under Japanese occupation. Many Korean men resisted and kept their topknots as a symbol of rebellion. I chose to have Kiku cut off Young Soo's because Korea did appear to assimilate on the surface, though rebellion simmered until the Koreans finally reclaimed their country.