Here I Am Again

Chapter 1

It's destiny.

It isn't the sight of her that catches his attention first, as the glider falls forward on the grass and the heavy pile of red fabric crumples and covers her, but by the sound of her moans and grumbles. Assisting the glider was his only intention, he certainly did not expect to hear her voice.

Jeong-hyuk freezes.

"In life, it's always the end that matters the most," he hears her lament under the sounds of rustling fabric, as she tries to find her way out.

It's her!

His jaw clenches. There's no mistake, with his keen sense of hearing, that it is her.

He smiles, dimples popping. "I don't think your landing was that bad," he comforts. Surprisingly, his voice doesn't waver, despite the annoying lump forming at the back of his throat, as he tries his best to suppress the overwhelming wave of emotions arising deep within his chest.

He stands still, waits for her, doesn't want to frighten her.

After all, it has been three years.

"I mean, I did land successfully, but the ropes are all entangled," Se-ri complains, emerging from under the parachute, still not looking up, her long hair curtaining her face.

Jeong-hyuk is grinning till his cheeks are hurting as he watches Se-ri busies herself with the ropes. She hasn't change one bit. Still saying what's on her mind, without restraint, to a complete stranger.

"I think you fell on the right spot," he says, matter-of-factly.

Finally, Se-ri looks up, and it takes his breath away. She squints, the glare of the sunlight getting in the way of her vision. And then her expressive eyes widen with disbelief, and it turns to wonder, then joy, as she blinks twice to make sure he's really standing right in front of her.

"Ah, no, let me correct myself. You didn't fall. You descended," he meets her gaze. Despite the wild, erratic thumping of his heart, and blood pounding in his ears, he puts on a calm front.

Shakily, she stands up, and he's there, not moving, not disappearing, like how he always does in her dreams. He's looking at her with wistful eyes, and then she hears him say, "I've missed you."

And her tears start to flow.

He can see that she's crying. She's never good at hiding her emotions.

Jeong-hyuk is fighting the urge to run to her, to sweep her into his arms, but it doesn't matter because Se-ri's running to him, and finally, holding his arms wide open, she crashes into him. Momentarily, she's taken back in time to their first meeting, in the woods, when she falls on him, he, in his military wear, and she, in paragliding gear.

They've come a long way.

Se-ri hugs him tight, squeezes him, breathes him in, just to check that he's as solid as the ground beneath them. As warm as the sun that's shining on them. He's real, he's whole and not a figment of her imagination.

It's not a dream.

"I knew it," she gasps, words laced with tears. "I knew you'd be able to find me. But I still can't...I still can't believe you've come all the way here. It must've been difficult. It must've been dangerous."

Something constricts in Jeong-hyuk's chest. To think that she still worries about his safety makes him loves her more.

"How?" she questions. "How did you end up here?"

"I got on the wrong train."

Se-ri pulls away, and catalogues him with her eyes, committing every detail of him into memory, just like she has done a thousand times before.