At Long Last

A southern family

Se-ri was getting better. Not quite close to being alright by her own definition, but at the very least, she was increasingly functional.

Upon her return to South Korea four weeks ago, she had immediately extended her leave at work.

Thinking she could have gone back to work immediately upon return seemed like a joke in retrospect; she had grossly overestimated her own strength.

Jeong Hyeok's first advanced message had reached her shortly after she had landed in Incheon International Airport.

It was comforting, and yet brutally devastating.

"You must have reached Incheon safely. I miss you already, Yoon Se-ri."

Just ten hours ago, Jeong Hyeok's hands had been in hers.

One flight later, his physical existence in her life had been reduced to inanimate words on a screen.

That one message set off a flood of tears which had drowned her night and the subsequent morning.

Se-ri had initially contemplated going back to work nonetheless to bury herself in the rapid pace of the cut-throat retail world.

But how was she going to manage any work or face anyone, when practically anything around her could trigger a crying fit?

So she decided to be merciful to herself, texting Mr Hong to inform him that she wasn't feeling too well, and would require another week of rest.

Jeong Hyeok would have approved of her decision, Se-ri had thought.

Day by day, she got through life.

Sometimes it got too hard, to the extent of her being unable to look at his Instagram account.

There had been a stretch of two days when she had deliberately kept her account logged in to the official Seri's Choice one, with the simple objective of crying less.

She had made the mistake of looking at a photo which Jeong Hyeok had snapped of her as she browsed the supermarket aisles back in Interlaken.

"I wish this could be a daily view in my life. We would shop for groceries, and cook together at home. My Se-ri isn't much of a chef, but she has a keen eye for the best ingredients."

It was so simple, yet so difficult.

So basic, yet so complex.

She had cried for what seemed like an entire night, so much so that she had actually scared herself with how her pillow had been soaked through with tears.

But time always has a way of making things better. Bit by bit, the shattered mess that was Yoon Se-ri slowly fell back into place.

She found her crying nights shorter, and functional moments longer.

Today was just another ordinary Sunday afternoon in Gangnam, four weeks since she had returned to South Korea.

The doorbell rang, and she went to answer, well-knowing who was on the other side of the door. Her stepmother had asked to visit in the afternoon.

"Surprise!" At the door with her stepmother, were her eldest brother Yoon Se-joon and sister-in-law Do Hye-ji, who were presently holding on to boxes of what seemed like pastries and snacks.

"Ahhh. That's...ummm...really a surprise." Se-ri smiled apprehensively, before greeting all three of her guests. Honestly, she wasn't quite sure if she was up to entertaining Hye-ji with the latter behaving like a Duracell bunny on a sugar high all the time.

"Come on, Se-ri, don't look so unhappy at seeing us! We are here with some nice snacks for you! We had to queue for at least twenty minutes to get this cheese tart. You'll surely like it!" Hye-ji laughed in her usual ditzy manner, walking past Se-ri into the house after her mother-in-law.