Switzerland

The Present

Jeong Hyeok reached inside his pocket and took out a neatly folded square piece of paper tied together with a ribbon.

"You got me a card! Ri Jeong Hyeok-ssi, how do you know how to charm a woman? I hope you are not practising this back in the village" I teased him happily.

I reached out to take the card. But surprisingly it was bulkier. And also, it was not a card but a stack of papers. This piqued my interest. "Oh Jeong Hyeok-ssi, I guessed wrong. What is it?" I questioned while untying the ribbon.

He just smiled without saying anything. When I unrolled the papers and saw what was in them, my heart felt full. Tears brimmed to my eyes. It was such an unexpected surprise.

"This is so beautiful Jeong Hyeok-ssi." I looked at him through a haze of happy tears. He held my hands and beamed.

"I'm glad you like it." He stated simply and hugged me, blissfully completing the moment.

Jeong Hyeok gifted me a small bungalow facing the beautiful Swiss mountains. The papers were the property deeds in our name. There was also a photograph of what was to be our future home. It filled my heart with warm and cozy love.
We had a home together now. It will be our place. A place full of happiness and love and beautiful memories. We will cherish it together, decorate it together and live in it, together. Because this man is my present and my future. He is my life's greatest gift.

I looked at him, thankful for the fateful day we met.

"This is the best Christmas. I want all our Christmases to be like this."

The rest of the day went by in a heart beat. We cooked together. He taught me how to make noodles in warm broth from scratch. We barbecued clams and had them with my new favourite soju, for dinner. It was one of the most beautiful days of my life.

I showed him my new found love- my nursery and all the flowers that I took care of for him. He told me stories of our friends who were in North. Pyo Chi-Soo was captain now and the leader of the boys. Little U-Pil moved to Pyongyang with his family to excel in studies. Everyone was happy and healthy. This made me so grateful. They all truly deserved the best.

We stayed up late till night, sitting on the carpeted floor with a glass of light beer in hand, and discussed how we would decorate our home together. Though honestly I was the one talking, he did all the listening. We talked and laughed and teased each other amid more glasses of alcohol. Somewhere along these wonderful moments, I drifted off to sleep in his arms...