ships passing in the night

Chapter 9: Lovers and Exes

"This is a good sign - having a broken heart. It means we have tried for something."

– Elizabeth Gilbert

//

It was a hot, sweltering summer afternoon, the sun reflecting on brightly colored padlocks hanging across the tall steel fences. Despite the heat, throngs of people climbed the familiar Namsan steps to lock their romance in overpriced, overhyped padlocks. Jinny fanned herself, trying to evaporate the humidity away before it could dull her mind.

The excited patter of footsteps prompted her to turn head. "Got them!" Julien declared elatedly, clambering towards her and dangling a pair of blue-and-pink padlocks. "Aren't they pretty?"

Jinny heaved a low sigh as Julien placed the pink one and a black sharpie in her reluctant hands. "Julien, I have to ask," she started, "isn't this a little cliché?"

He chuckled. It was so Jinny to say something like that aloud. "Do you think so?"

"Well, I mean," Jinny said, scanning series of couples around them scribbling romantic nothings on their love locks, "it just doesn't seem meaningful. They're all writing the same thing, and on top of them, most of them won't even end up together. Boom, goodbye 5,000 won."

"You must be the most unromantic person ever," he deadpanned.

Jinny shrugged. "I'm sorry."

"Fine," he said, "how about we write something meaningful to the us of the future? Something that we can come back to read ten years from now."

Jinny raised a questioning brow. "Me to you and you to me, ten years from now?"

"Yup."

She was about to critique his logic, tell him that it was close to no different from what all the other couples were attempting to do. But Julien was already looking rather disheartened, and she didn't want to be a buzzkill when she only had a couple of weeks left with him. For that reason, they had decided to do some kind of graduation trip to Seoul, and apparently to him, Namsan was a pit stop. Writing a few words on a padlock, but would probably do wonders for his mood.

As she finished hers, he was still busily scribbling on the small, restrictive padlock. She peeked over his shoulders, trying to catch a glimpse of his romantic ramblings.

"I hope we'll be together forever, my beloved wife."

Jinny cringed at the words. Julien really knew how to be disgusting. "Ew."

"Hey! No peeping!" he exclaimed, realizing she was staring at his padlock. "Let me see yours, then!"

"No!"

"Hey, that's not fair!"

He reached out to snatch hers away, with her deftly dodging away and running towards the fence in peals of laughter. He sighed in defeat, breaking into a smile as he watched her wave at him playfully. It was the first time she had smiled all day.

He approached her slowly, and then stretched his hand out. She shook her head. "I won't read it," he promised. "I'm going to lock them on the fence."

She finally relented, passing him her lock. Willfully keeping his promise, he tried not to look as he entwined the two locks together and clipped them on the fence, letting them bask in the summer sun with the numerous other declarations of love. As he drew her close and placed a kiss on her forehead, his eyes involuntarily caught the sight of her message.