CHAPTER 35-5
588 Words
Roger was right. Juliette had to stop comparing Mee-Kyong to the Secret Seminary students. She had spent hours each day worrying Mee-Kyong would slip over the border and never contact the Sterns again. But Mee-Kyong wasn’t Hannah, or Simon, or any of the others. She was a battered woman who obviously had come to them from horrific circumstances, a rescued girl who deserved a new chance at life — a chance Juliette had been loath to mention.
She thought back over the past several weeks with Mee-Kyong. They had studied Scripture together, broken down the history of the Bible, outlined the life of Christ and a dozen other characters. But Juliette had never reached out to Mee-Kyong and asked her the most important question of all: Do you know what it means to be saved? And the more she thought about it, the more she realized her husband was right. She didn’t want to lose Mee-Kyong. She wasn’t ready to carry the girl through another year of training only to send her across the border to her death. She couldn’t pour her tears and sweat and prayers into Mee-Kyong for twelve months just to turn her out and never hear from her again.
Of course, Juliette was getting ahead of herself. Mee-Kyong hadn’t even accepted Christ yet. If any of their Bible studies on salvation and forgiveness had meant anything, she still hadn’t made any official declaration of faith. Juliette just needed to take it one step at a time. She wasn’t rushing into another round of Secret Seminary training. She was just sharing the gospel with someone who needed it. Juliette didn’t know anything about Mee-Kyong’s history, except that she was in the hotel district and dressed for the part when Roger found her. She hadn’t said more than a few words those first days at the Sterns’. She just hovered around like a frail ghost. Over the next weeks, her body got stronger, her face filled out, her color improved, but the haunted expression never left her eyes.
Juliette’s own past wasn’t a feel-good, family-friendly sitcom, either. She hated the stress of growing up as an ambassador’s daughter, and when she went back to the States for college, all that pent-up tension and resentment snapped out of her like a slingshot. Juliette shut her eyes. She couldn’t think about her own college experience without growing even more anxious for her daughter. She hoped sending Kennedy off to Harvard was the right decision, but how could she be sure? Roger always teased her for worrying too much, but sometimes Juliette wondered if she really just cared too much. If she didn’t love her daughter, it wouldn’t matter if Kennedy rebelled against everything her parents had tried to teach her. If Juliette’s heart didn’t break for Mee-Kyong and her silent, secret trauma, it wouldn’t matter if she ever returned to North Korea or not.
Juliette swept her hair off her shoulder. Sending Mee-Kyong back across the border wasn’t the issue. Her salvation was. She took a last sip of tea and headed toward the den.
***
* * * *
“It’s time. Your travel plans are all arranged.”
Agent Ko took a deep breath. “I’m ready.”
“I’m sure you are. Agent Ryuk will give you the information you need when you meet him.”
“How soon?” Ko wanted to sound prepared but not too eager. The director was a genius at picking up verbal nuances.
“When can you get out? Did you tie up all your loose ends?”
“All but one. It won’t take long.”
“Well, hurry. I’ll make sure Ryuk’s expecting you.”
***
- Writer
