hard to love | jjk

prologue

The sounds of the waves crashing against the shore, the smell of the crisp sea air, the pastel orange, pink, and purple hues of the setting sun. These three things combined brought nothing but joy to Lia's entire being. She was at peace.

As she walked along the shore, the cool ocean waters brushing against her feet contrasted with the warm hand that held hers as she walked.

"What are you thinking about?" Juho asked, stopping in front of her to get her attention.

"Just thinking about how beautiful it is. I think this was the perfect location for our much needed vacation," Lia smiled.

She continued walking along the shoreline, leading her boyfriend along. She couldn't help but admire the sunset in all its glory. Not even five minutes had passed when she felt him drop her hand. Thinking he had just stopped to take pictures of the sunset, she continued stepping ahead. However, when she didn't feel him retake his place next to her after a few moments, she stopped. Finding the lack of his presence and silence unsettling, she turned around to see if anything was wrong.

A loud gasp left her lips as she was met with the image of Juho down on one knee, his hands holding a velvet box ready to be opened. Since she was twelve years old, this was the exact scene she imagined in her head. Her dream proposal.

"I've done a lot of thinking in the process of planning this trip. As much as I love living my life doing things together as your boyfriend, I think it would be even better if we continued to explore this life together as husband and wife," he began, with a smile that held nothing but complete love.

Lia could feel tears begin to fill her eyes. This was it. This was the scene she had been imagining in her head for the last 15 years. It was all she had been hoping for at some point in every relationship she had ever been in. Juho had managed to get the entire scene right.

"What I'm trying to say is, I want to keep enjoying my life with you, until we both leave this earth. Lia Kang, will you do me the honor of being my wife?" He asked, voice shaking towards the end of the statement.

In that moment, she could see the last three years of their relationship flash before her eyes.

It had all started on one July evening when she had been called to pick up her best friend, Soeun, from a company dinner. The girl had downed more alcohol than her body could handle, and her boyfriend had been out of town that weekend, leaving Lia to do the dirty work. When Lia arrived at the scene, the poor girl had her head on table, her arms tightly wrapped around a bottle of rosé. Without the help of Juho, the two of them would have never made it into the taxi in one piece that evening. He had carried Soeun on his back all the way to the taxi, saving her a lot of trouble.

The next day, Soeun had passed Lia's number along to him because he had taken interest in her during their short encounter. Lia thought he was insane for thinking she was worth getting to know when all she had done the whole way was talk shit about Soeun and her shit alcohol tolerance. She thought of herself as even more insane for even agreeing to meet up with the guy.

Their first date ended up being that evening, at a new taco shop that Lia was dying to try. After Juho had told her that he really stuck to a diet of mostly Korean and Japanese food, she decided to make it her mission to show him all the wonderful foods that existed from around the world. That determination itself was enough for Lia to realize that she didn't mind hanging out with him. He was kind and funny, which were the biggest qualifications in her book at that point.

Before they knew it, one date had turned into countless dates, three international trips, and introductions to numerous types of cuisine. From anyone's point of view, the two of them had a perfect relationship. The two seemingly fit together like two pieces of a puzzle and it seemed that they were destined to get married.