The first day of the Carrier Incident had burned itself within Jungmin's mind.
He could vividly remember the fear, terror, and shock of being told about the beached Iwo Jima, and the image of the tilted carrier was forever etched into his mind. Seeing this blatant object of the American Military Might reduced to nothing more than scrap metal and the lone hand that pushed the clock to one minute before midnight scared him more than anything else he had ever seen or could imagine.
The first week was riddled with stress, worries, and ever-present dread holding him in cold, creeping hands.
The sailors needed food, water, medicine, oversight, those guarding them needed to be watched, diplomats had to be dispatched and trusted to keep things from exploding, and more. Only when he received the confirmation that the Americans were playing ball could he breathe freely once more. The threat of nuclear annihilation vanquished, a sword of Damocles removed, with nothing more than words and a non-verbal agreement to dance to a tune for clowns and jesters.
The first month was one of genuine relief, confusion, and, sometimes, laughter.
The hostility and defensive posture of the soldiers had vanished, slowly melting over time, food and the realization that they were inducing genuine fear into some Guangchou soldiers instead of being seen as easy prey and cattle to be slaughtered. Being given shelter, medicine, and room had eased most of the tensions, even as the representatives from the Neutrals, UN, NATO, and the US had done their best to do the same even as the American Congress wavered, hemmed, and hawed before accepting to most of Jungmins demands. To be fair, the nearby brothels taking advantage of the nearby carrier and easy money probably had something to do with the reduced tensions, even if only in the most literal sense. He had seen the actual itemized bill being charged, not the doctored one for anonymity. The sailors didn't waste any time racking up the charges after being told they had to wait another week before being evacuated due to Congress not making any decision.
However, eventually, the Americans did, and the sailors were shipped off... to an assignment to Taiwan because their tour of duty was still going on for at least three more years, in all but seven cases. There was some irony in there, or whatever else you called being stranded on one island before being practically imprisoned on another.
But as all things did, so did time move on, and with it did the clean-up of the damage sustained by the tsunami go without more significant issues, all helped by the transfer of machinery and supplies of food from the Americans.
Jungmin remembered that day for three reasons. The first was that, for the first time since the nation existed, he could fulfill a dream still being dreamed of by many people around the world. Food for all, not as a promise, but a reality. It was only for the first shipment, distributed to every person equally, not measuring to more than a single day's supply even when added to the usual distribution, but that was powerful in and of itself. The second reason was that Mai had had enough of his stress, worry, and dread, saying that it harmed the children, and then attempted, while being pregnant with three children, to have some alone time with him. Attempted, because reason three was that her water broke.
About five hours later, he was next to her, his face feeling as if his face might split due to him smiling so much as he held his three youngest children, two boys and one girl, in his arms while Mai looked at them with a mixture of exhaustion and pride. One that only came from looking at something and being able to say: "I made that." Of course, that was also the day when Mai told him that if she got pregnant again with more than one child (which would be their last), she'd castrate him and then herself.
Since then, the new year had begun, and with it, he had once more started combing over the five-year plan for any possible faults, improvements, and things that were no longer feasible or needed to be done. There was much to be done, and now, he had a massive amount of things he could easily do with the supplies, machines, and food supplied to him by the Americans. To say nothing of the enormous support in the political sphere he had gained due to the crisis and making America bend the knee to their demands.
That he was doing so within a bunker, on the other side of the island, away from his wife after their physician, Lars, had told them she was pregnant with triplets again, was pure coincidence, nothing more.
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