The protector

At the age of almost 40, a pianist learned how to make love to a woman. (M)

2026, Fall

During the following months, Jeong Hyeok learned a lot, experienced a lot, had fun a lot. 

Late Summer became Autumn, Autumn slowly was slipping to Winter. They took the habit of go reading in a park near the river. Then started to bring a blanket. Then it became too cold and too dark to stay outside, and her living room replaced the park, and now the pianist was always with her when he wasn't working or – seldom - dining with his parents.

He never proposed her to come to his house, nor she asked. He never asked to let some of his stuff in her house, nor she proposed. 

He never kissed her, never hugged nor caressed her out of the bed, and so did her. 

Most of the time they were cooking, reading, or chatting. He was hanging on her words, totally addicted to her cleverness. Everything from her sounded interesting, and he was tremendously flattered that a person like her had chosen him as a friend.

As much as he could, given the unwritten rule to not share too much with strangers, the pianist tried to introduce her the fundaments of his culture, his society, the rules in and out of the family, silently jubilant to have something to catch her interest with, proud when she made him questions to know more, "if you can, of course" she always added.

And he was often surprised, because she already knew a lot of it. "I had to prepare an exam about it," told her Jeong Hyeok once.

"I know."

"Ani. I mean: I know this because I had to study it, but what about you?"

"Oh, since it was tremendously interesting, during the period when I was teaching at the university, when my students were close to the exam, I've made them translate the text, as an exercise to memorize it better."

That was what the elf was like. He had hated, during all his youth, the boundlessly boring hours of the doctrine classes – which, for the sons of the GPB Director, always were followed by verbose discussions during the dinners, their father predictably expecting from him and Mu Hyeok to distinguish themselves -, and she had looked for a way to study it by herself.

Willing to involve her in his life, Jeong Hyeok also used his friends as examples to explain her their everyday life. Ten years in the army even if, like Eun-dong, you are the only man of your family. Paranoia about the South like Chi-su. The pirate DVDs for music and dramas. Man-bok's miserable job, because of his low social ranking, and the way his life had changed after that ranking had been upgraded.

Even if Man-bok was now living in Pyongyang too, In-ah never asked to meet him, nor Jeong Hyeok proposed it. The two could have become good friends, but Man-bok was about Her. Another life, another himself he didn't want to think about.

Now there was him, out of time and space, in a life which wasn't his real life. And he felt comfortable like never before.

The intimacy just was a sort of plus, something they were used to doing from time to time, the physical interactions between them always coming unexpectedly. They really enjoyed spending time together as friends, training, reading and even cooking together, and could not touch each other for entire weeks without feeling it odd or missing anything. Her presence, he pondered, he would have missed it a lot. But their physical interactions no, Jeong Hyeok really wasn't in need of it, nor her presence elicited in him dirty thoughts, it often was the opposite.

However, sometimes, it could be a Saturday night after a party, or a Sunday in the afternoon while walking her home after having read together in the park, or after the training, or in her house while preparing a cocktail, maybe one touched casually the hand of the other, or one – most of the time: her, wanting to be honest, it was always her the one who triggered that thing – kissed the other on the door or in the lift, and they indulged in some pleasurable hour only to part, later, as if nothing had happened.