Summer Child

The Fourth Year. Part B.

~

A buzz from her cellphone woke Seri from her daydream, and she wasn't surprised to feel her face so hot. She'd like to blame her hormone as a woman in her early 20's, but she should know better. Thinking about her boyfriend, a fine specimen of man called Ri Jeong Hyeok, always had that effect on her. Quickly, she grabbed her cellphone and almost squealed when she saw the text.

'Just land 30 minutes ago. Have some documents to sort out, be in apartment in around an hour. Love you. RJH'

It was a wonder how 1 hour suddenly felt like an eternity away when she had been waiting for him for the past 1 month. She looked around and saw what she could do to prepare for his arrival. She walked to his wardrobe and looked at her appearance.

It was her standard summer attire. Summer dress, in his favorite yellow and white flower (yellow seemed to be his favorite color on her, which she agreed, aesthetically). She just trimmed her hair and had a loose perm, so now it waved gently around her face up to her lower back, and she sniffed her wrist, smiling against the trace of perfume he gave to her last February as birthday gift. The perfume was totally her taste; a perfect mix of jasmine, vanilla, and something citrusy. How he got to chose that perfect perfume for her was beyond her.

So yeah, she was quite alright with her appearance. Then she blushed thinking about the lingerie that she wore today; it was the lacy white pair that she wore when they first made love. Seri wondered it would bring the romantic atmosphere of their reunion even more elevated.

She then went out of the room and opened the refrigerator. Earlier, she had put containers of salad and pre-made lasagna into it. She figured she could start by working on the garlic bread for the appetizers and prepared to heat up the lasagna. Not 20 minutes later, the apartment was engulfed in delicious aroma of homemade garlic bread and it enticed Karl to saunter off from his room. He sniffed the air appreciatively.

"I assume Jeong Hyeok is already on his way?" he asked Seri and she grinned. She nodded towards a plate of perfectly golden garlic bread. Karl grinned excitedly.

Whenever Seri cooked something for his boyfriend in the apartment, he was never shy to use his status as his roommate to demand scraps of food being left out for him. It was a win-win situation, really, because usually Jeong Hyeok would use the food to blackmail the guy afterwards and chased him out of the apartment so he and Seri could have an alone time.

Since today would be the first time she met with Jeong Hyeok for an entire month, she had prepared a good box of takeaway for Karl. The garlic bread was just appetizer.

"He'll arrive in about half hour? He said he had to sort out some documents first" Seri said and Karl nodded while shoving a second stick of garlicky bread into his mouth. "Jeez, slow down Karl. I have prepared the entire plate for you. Sit down and eat, or you'll choke" Seri admonished him.

Karl only grinned. He had always fond of Seri and already close to her since his first year sharing an apartment with Jeong Hyeok. But after they got together last summer, and Seri had become a fixed guest/residents in their apartment, he managed to have a very comfortable relationship with her too. One, that usually, started and ended with food as a bribe.

He, of course, knew about Jeong Hyeok's situation as a North Korean citizen. Jeong Hyeok had talked to him very frankly about it when they decided to find a bigger apartment around Zurich that they could share. He wouldn't lie and said he didn't have any hesitation about his roommate's citizenship and how it would affect him; but Jeong Hyeok was one of the kindest men he had ever met. He was gentle, generous, and sometimes, funny.