Letters to Jeong Hyeok

3.5K 140 18
                                    

April
Pyongyang, North Korea.

Time was both an enemy and an ally.

It would crawl at an agonizingly sedated pace, but with every slow step forward, it did take away a bit of pain with it.

Working together with hope, positivity and music, time eventually brought April to Jeong Hyeok.

Opening the envelope labeled "Open in April", Jeong Hyeok could feel a smile linger on his lips as Se-ri's handwriting, light, elegant and feminine, came into view.

There were a few clear splotches that blurred the ink on the paper, evident of her sadness as she had penned this tear-stained letter back in Zurich.

"Ri Jeong Hyeok-ssi,

How are you? I am quite sure I am missing you badly as you are reading this.

I hope you have managed to meet up with your parents and our friends by the time you open this envelope.

It will be very saddening for me to eventually find out that you've been cooping yourself up at home or in the studio with the piano, so please refrain from doing that.

By now, after all that you've done for me, I know that my best way of loving you in your absence would be to love myself more.

So, don't worry too much. I promise I'll not allow my mind to wander off to dark places again.

In fact, I have already made an appointment to see a psychologist in mid-April for my emotional struggles. I know that'd be what you want for me."

"Good girl." He whispered endearingly.

"In terms of work, there are exciting new projects which I will focus on. I will be brainstorming with Mr Hong and the rest on new product launches for the third and fourth quarter, and who knows, I might just create that body wash that Pyo Chi Su wants.

For April, I have a tiny task for you to complete. Spring has come to visit again, and I am sure the azaleas in North Korea will soon be blooming vibrantly.

Since we both enjoy reading, let's make each other a pressed flower bookmark. I have included some basic instructions in this letter as well.

Just like how you have encouraged me to go out for lunchtime walks three years ago, I'd like to ask you out on a date to walk together among the azaleas on the seventeenth of May

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

Just like how you have encouraged me to go out for lunchtime walks three years ago, I'd like to ask you out on a date to walk together among the azaleas on the seventeenth of May.

I will be attending the Goryeosan Mountain Azalea Festival. Located at Incheon, it will be one of the nearest azalea festivals to the demarcation line.

I'll be thinking of you with every step I take in the sea of magenta and pink azaleas. Please keep me on your mind as well."

Jeong Hyeok nodded with a tender smile. He would go to Moran Hill, or the Central Botanic Gardens then. "It's a date."

At Long LastWhere stories live. Discover now