#riricouple

2020

2025

He liked the way her hand fit in his, small and soft against his larger and rougher palm. It was in quiet moments like this, with the gentle hum of Claire de Lune in the background where he would brush the back of her hand with his thumb with the beat of the melody.

Seri, on the other hand, lived for moments like these. Jeong Hyeok was quiet, even now, but once the piano was playing she could feel every emotion he had, her skin the canvas to paint his impressions of the music in front of them.

She would sit with him, some days, in their Swiss home, perched upon the piano bench while he played his favorite Chopin Waltz. She would be hypnotized by the languorous movements of his fingers glide against the keys, his strong thigh pressed against hers.

Some days after a long day at work she would yearn to hear the song that intertwined them years ago. It was almost as if he knew, for when she shucked off her stilettos, the melancholic melody of his music would travel through the home, making her heart swell.

“Do you regret it,” Seri asked one day while their fingers twisted upon each other against the darkness of the night, her tear glazed eyes highlighted against the moonlight. It took Jeong Hyeok a moment to realize what she meant, furrowing his brows in confusion.

But he was quick to dispel her guilt, tightening his grip on her until she expelled a shaky breath of relief. It was the first year he became a professor in Swiss, spending more than 2 weeks a year with her, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that perhaps she had taken him away from his home.

“Do you regret it?” She asked once more when he gain political asylum after their daughter was born. It was the middle of the night and she cradled their baby in her arms, rocking her back and forth to the gentle hum of a lullaby. Jeong Hyeok stared down at them, the two most precious things he owned, and pressed a gentle kiss upon her forehead, smiling softly at her while he brushed her cheek. He wouldn’t trade this for the world.

Forty year later they sit upon the porch of their Swiss home when news of reunification comes, tears glistening through Jeong Hyeok’s eyes as his dream comes true.

“Do you regret it?” She asks once more, her skin weathered beautifully, her hair with hints of gray. He takes her wrinkled hand in his, interlacing their fingers together until they are one.

“Not even for a moment,” he responds resolutely, smiling that same soft smile he’s kept hidden only for her all these years. She smiles back, the crinkle cut smile that never fails to make his heart flutter for forty years.