Happy Late New Years! :D

~~~~~

UN POV

~Week later~

After last week's incident with Poland and Lithuania, a few countries have actually moved into my house. It's only temporary, but I'd let them stay forever any day. Living in such a big house by yourself is incredibly lonely sometimes.

Anyways, I was sat at my desk looking over the evidence we have so far. Currently, I was in a call with some of the other major organisations working on the cases. African Union was voicing her own concerns. "Sure, we figured out who one of them was, but we still need to catch her. Afghanistan is already in hiding and she has so for a while now... She might be hiding at...I don't know, their secret base?"

"Who ever said they had a secret base?" World Health Organization asked.

"It's just a theory, you never know."

I heard NATO sigh. "I understand where you're coming from, AU.. If they have a secret base it might explain why they're so...you know, them..."

"UN, have you got anything new?" ASEAN asked.

"No." I couldn't help but let the bitterness seep into my voice. "This evidence is providing nothing new, just what we already know and fricking figured out." I pinched the bridge of my nonexistent nose and let out a frustrated groan.

EU looked at me sympathetically. "We've been in this call for an 3 hours and still haven't found nothin' new?" NATO complained.

"What do you think I've been trying to do?!" I snapped. "You take all these stacks of information and look over it yourself if you think you can do better!"

NATO opened his mouth but EU spoke up first. "Hey, I think we should end the call now. Maybe we'll have better luck next time."

The others agreed left the call. "Hey, UN?"

I looked at EU and raised a brow. "Why don't you take a step back and relax for a bit?"

"But--"

"No buts. You've been overwhelming yourself with this. I understand you want to get the countries back as soon as possible but we can't do that if you're in bad shape. Take a nap. Enjoy yourself."

I sighed. As much as I wanted to protest I couldn't bring myself to. "Fine... Bye, EU."

"Bye, UN. Take care!" He smiled softly at me and left the call.

I closed my laptop and leaned back in my chair. Soon as I did I felt the weight of how sleepy I was. Holy crap, how many nights did I stay up late or just straight up not sleep at all? Now I see what EU meant.

I grabbed the papers and stood up. I split them into their assigned categories and put them in their respective drawers. I stretched and left my office.

Soon as I did I bumped into Bosnia. "Oh, sorry, UN!"

"S'alright..." I rubbed my eye.

Bosnia looked at me in pity before hurrying off, I assume to her sister. I began walking to my room, which wasn't that far from my office.

I heard the countries that lived with me downstairs. They were talking and laughing together. That's nice, at least they're having a good time.

I entered my room and closed the door behind me. It took everything in me to not just flop onto my bed and pass out. I trudged to my closet and changed into my pajamas. I got into bed and snuggled beneath the covers, almost immediately falling asleep.

SK POV

North was still asleep in his room. Since he doesn't have any guest bedrooms, I just sleep on the couch.

We may have argued over this.

Anyway, I was cooking some food in the kitchen. Bibimbap, to be specific. Our dad really loved this one, as did our mom. It was even North's comfort food when we were younger.

The food was almost finished so I decided to quickly check on North. I ran to and up the stairs before entering his room. He was still fast asleep so I went and gently shook him awake. "Mmm..." He curled up and shrugged my hand away.

I chuckled. "Wakey, wakey, North. I made breakfast, get up."

"Five more minutes..." North grumbled and brought his blanket over his head.

I chuckled and shook my head. "C'mon, your food will get cold. It's bibimbap~"

"No cuisine could you make that'll make me leave this bed.." He huffed and snuggled underneath the covers.

I rolled my eyes with a smile. "Do you want me to do it the hard way, then?"

North lowered the blanket from his face and glared at me. His eye-patch wasn't on so his pupil that was a red star was glaring at me. I really liked it, but he hid it as to not get made fun of for it. I don't even think his closest friends know about it, not even China.

"C'mon, North. Just get out of bed." I stepped away from him to see if he actually would.

North sighed and slowly got out of bed. Seeing that was enough for me to be sure he'd come downstairs, so I quickly rushed back to the food. I made it just in time to begin making our plates.

North tiredly walked into the room as I set his plate down. "How was your sleep?" I asked him, sitting in my seat.

"Fine until you came in." He sat down and began eating.

I chuckled. "Can't have you missing breakfast."

We ate in comfortable silence. When we finished, we put our dishes in the dishwasher and went to different parts of the house. I crouched down in the backyard and tended to North's garden. He told me he's had it for a while so I decided to care of it because why not? Flowers are great, anyway.

He has several sections of flowers: tulips, rose of Sharons, chrysanthemums, peonies, forsythias, erythroniums, abeliophyllums, azaleas, and last but not least, magnolias, which sat in their own little beautiful area.

Like I said, the flowers were seperated into sections by type of flower, and then they're seperated even more by color. I like that North does this, it makes everything look really nice.

I currently was watering the magnolias. I always tend to these first, since they're North's favorite flower. I can see why, they're pretty.

Not as pretty as rose of Sharons, though.

I soon finished watering the magnolias and then took care of the other flowers. Some butterflies were flying around and I saw a few bees. Figures, I'm surrounded by things they pollinate.

I finished with the garden and took a look at it. It. Is. So. Beautiful. Oh my goodness. I love flowers so much. Anyone who hates flowers are dead to me.

I sighed in satisfaction and headed inside. "Hey, North. I took care of the flowers, no need to later." I called, not expecting an answer. I was out there for 2 hours I'm pretty sure, and North usually doesn't respond to this anyway.

I put the gardening gloves in their respectful spot and went to my phone. I grabbed it and sat down on the couch and began scrolling through Countryhumans Twitter.

What's Countryhumans Twitter, you may ask? It's basically regular Twitter except only us countries and organisations can use it. Every app that humans use has a countryhumans version of it.

I was reading Egypt's most recent post when I got a text from Lebanon. I opened it.

~

Lebanon
Hey, South. Is UN with you?

Me
No, why?

Lebanon
When he woke up from his nap he told us he was heading to North's house for an hour and he isn't back yet. I figured you might know where he is since you've been with North.

Me
Sorry, but I wouldn't even know if he showed; I was in the backyard for the time he was supposed to be here. I'll ask North since he's in the house, okay?

Lebanon
Alright.

Me
Brb.

~

I hopped off the couch and went upstairs. "North! Lebanon's wondering if UN came by."

North didn't answer me. "North?" I opened his door and entered his room. I didn't see him in there so I checked the bathroom. Also empty.

I decided to check the rest of the house, calling his name along the way. He never responded to me, and once I was finished I knew he wasn't here.

I felt myself begin to tremble and my heart start racing. If North left the house with UN, he would have told me. Not only would he have told me but he'd bring me along.

My knees began to feel weak. I sat against the couch and hugged my knees. My breathing quickened as tears burned my eyes and trickled down my face. My breaths were quick and short. What I already knew flooded my mind.

Someone took North.

And if UN did arrive then they took him, too.

They took them while I was in the backyard, oblivious.

North must've been calling for me. Yelling for me. Screaming for me.

And I never showed up to help him.

With blurry vision and shaking hands, I took out my phone and managed to text Lebanon back:

Me
North's gone

NK POV

~South Korea just closed the backdoor~

I grabbed my sketchbook and pencils from my room and ran downstairs. I plopped myself in front of the window and waited for the birds to come back. I'm going to draw that bird today. No matter what, I will draw it. Nothing will distract me, not even China if he comes over.

I lied, if China comes over I don't care about the bird.

Anyway, I was staring out the window waiting for the birds. This is around the time they start showing up, I wonder why they aren't here yet. Maybe they have bird business to attend to.

I saw something flying in the direction of my house in the distance. I saw some blue and got excited.

Only to realize it was UN.

Oh, well, he's cool.

UN landed on my lawn and began walking to the front door. I didn't give him a chance to knock or use the doorbell because I opened the door. "안녕하세요, 북한. (Hello, North Korea.)" He greeted, surprise showing in his eyes for a split-second when I opened the door.

"안녕하세요 UN! (Hi UN!) What are you doing here?" I smiled at him.

"Just thought I should pay you and South a visit."

"Oh, alright. Wanna come inside?"

"Sure."

I walked back to the windoe and heard UN close and lock the door. "What are you doing?" He asked me.

I saw him stretch his wings as I sat down in front of the window again. "Waiting for a bird I've really wanted to sketch. In fact, I really like it because it's the same color as you, UN!"

UN chuckled. "I'm flattered."

We talked for a bit as I continued to watch for the bird. UN would flap his wings a few times. I think Poland told me that that's one of the ways winged countries and organisations stretch their wings. Or if not stretching them it's to prepare for flying, specifically flying fast.

Oh, and did you know that there used to be flying races? They originated a long time ago around the 16th century but quickly shut down because of winged countries getting hunted and exploited for their wings; I heard they cost a fortune back in the day, and if the activity was still going on then they'd cost even more now.

For 3 years UN has been thinking of bringing them back. But he's been busy and hasn't been able to find dates and materials and basically everything in order to bring them back, so the idea is on the shelf now.

"Poland would most definitely sign up if you did bring them back. He's a really good and fast flyer." I said.

UN laughed. "Yeah, he would. I reckon I could invite ex-countries as well."

"That's a great idea. I also feel like the races might help-- There's the bird!" I smiled widely and grabbed my sketchbook, already beginning to sketch it.

UN looked at the bird. "Oh, it does have my color. That's cool."

I managed to sketch the head before I saw it getting ready to fly away. I gasped softly and picked up my sketchbook and pencil before rushing out the door. "Wha-- North, wait!" UN called after me and shut the door behind him.

I followed the bird away from my house for a bit with UN right behind me. "North, this is dangerous, we have to go back." He said, getting in front of me and blocking my path.

"But the bird..." I leaned so I could see behind him and saw it perch on a tree branch.

"You can draw it another time, North. We can't be out here alone, and your brother is all by himself!" UN put his hands on his hips and frowned.

I sighed. "Okay... At least let me take a picture before we go back."

"Fine, fine. Hurry."

UN walked behind me as I took my phone out. I took a picture of the bird and smiled at it. "Thanks for standing still, birdie."

The bird quickly flew away. I turned around. "Lets go now, UN."

He smiled and turned around.

Only to be hit in the head with a baseball bat and collapse onto the ground. I screamed and back up, looking at our attacker. It was a male with wings, and every part of his body was covered so I couldn't tell who it was.

"UN, are you okay?!" I backed away from him and glanced at UN, who didn't respond.

I saw some blood trickle down his face. He didn't move at all. My breathing hitched when I realized he was knocked out.

I whipped away from the scene and sprinted away as fast as I could. I soon heard footsteps behind me. They were no doubt faster than I was, and the fact that I soon heard wings quickly flapping didn't help me either.

I suddenly felt something hard and blunt smack the side of my head. My vision went black for a few seconds as I felt myself fall to the side and roll.

Desperately trying to grip onto consciousness, I felt myself being picked up, and a few seconds later, someone else getting picked up; obviously, UN.

My head pounded as I felt the person carrying us begin walking. It wasn't long after that when I felt too weak to stay awake anymore, letting myself fall unconscious.