At Long Last

Miraculous

April
North Korea

Jeong Hyeok knocked on the door twice, before it was opened by one of their housekeepers.

"Young master is back!" The disbelief was evident in her voice.

Almost immediately, he heard hasty footsteps, and it wasn't long before his mother appeared in the doorway, her wizened features softening with what was certainly impending tears.

"Mother."

Stepping forward almost clumsily, Kim Yoon Hee closed the distance between herself and her son.

"You came back...you came back..." She whispered emotionally, reaching up to cup his face with her hands. "I thought I'll..."

She did not finish her sentence, but instead, settled for a crushing embrace.

As Jeong Hyeok allowed his mother to hold him tightly, from behind her, there his father stood, wearing an unreadable expression on his wizened face.

"Father. I'm back."

"You rascal..." Ri Jeong Ryeol started, though his eyes were shining with a thin film of unshed tears. "Why are you back?"

The words he was receiving from his father were far from welcoming, but the familiarity of that tone and the setting alone, was good enough for him.

From the way his parents had reacted to his presence, it was clear that they had not been expecting him to ever return from his recent Switzerland trip.

Jeong Hyeok's mind was a mixture of conflicting emotions.

Gratitude, for their graciousness in letting him go in pursuit of his selfish, personal happiness.

Sadness, over the fact that they had chosen to let him go, as childish as that may seem in a grown man.

Ultimately, worry, for their well-being should he defect.

"Father, Mother. I might have overstayed my welcome in this house at thirty-six..." Jeong Hyeok said, pulling back from the embrace.

"But until that day comes, please allow me to continue being in your lives."

At hearing that, Kim Yoon-hee covered her mouth with a hand, the first tears of many to come, silently falling.

They all knew very clearly what 'that day' referred to.

"Welcome back, my child. Welcome back. Quick, come in to the living room."

Watching Jeong Hyeok place his bag down on the floor by the living room couch, just as how he had always been doing since he was schooling, Kim Yoon-hee was feeling more conflicted than ever.

Now that her son was back, how was she ever going to find the determination and strength to let him go again?

Arriving at the decision to let him go had taken days, weeks and months to make.

Penning those letters to her son and Yoon Se-ri had come about from countless of sleepless nights, a moment of blind courage and graciousness.

The subsequent agony, and the occasional regret, had been devastating at times.

On most days, logic would push her to feel happy that the young lovers were able to be together at last.

They deserved it so much - that was something she knew and acknowledged.

Yet on some days, her heart would feel as if someone had forcibly torn it into two.

As the family of three sat down in the living room, after taking out gifts and souvenirs, Jeong Hyeok started.