First Snow

Fate

Author note: I struggled so much with this chapter, but here he is, with over 7k words. I wanted to cut it in half but couldn't make up my mind, so here it is. Things are falling into place. I can't wait to get to the heart of the matter. Thank you for your love and support. Take care of yourself. ❤️

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Ri Jeong Hyeok didn't like surprises. He didn't like the unexpected, he didn't like losing control. When he had taken those few days of rest away from Bern, it was in the hope of taking a step back, to clear his mind. He wasn't much of a loner, despite what some might think, but sometimes he needed to come to his senses. Especially when he had to make a difficult decision. His life seemed to be made up of difficult decisions.

Give up music. Join the army. Take over your brother's job. Show yourself worthy of your family name. Give up the very idea of ​​freedom.

He was not to be pitied, he knew, many of his fellow citizens would kill to be in his position. He loved his country, he was unfailingly loyal to it, but he was also lucid. So this trip to the Bernese hinterland was a sort of spiritual retreat.

At least, until he literally got swept up by a woman who fell out of nowhere. A woman who seemed to be the very caricature of the wealthy babbly South Korean in search of pictures to show her wealthy friends back in Seoul. He did not harbor any particular hatred towards South Korea, he knew that nothing was all black or all white, but he was afraid to frighten her with his accent.  He had been wrong. He wasn't sure anything could scare her, really. She was... Intriguing? He wasn't sure of how to describe it, but she fought fiercely for showing up a tough front, by trying to refuse his help and arguing with him, as much as she seemed vulnerable. And witty. And too curious for her own good. And far too chatty. The headache she had given him while riding his back had subsided with difficulty. He had almost been tempted at one point to ditch her in the snow and carry on with his day. But his caring nature had gotten the better of him and he just couldn't imagine leaving an injured, tiny woman, alone to freeze to death in the mountains. Given how tenacious she seemed to be, she would have found a way to haunt him, her ghost asking him personal questions forever.

He shuddered at the thought.

But she's also funny and pretty. Totally your type.

He shut this little voice up and tried to ignore the truth behind those thoughts. He wasn't blind, of course she was pretty. Beautiful even. Tiny, beautiful long hair, even with snow in it, a fair skin, big innocent eyes, and a smile that had made him feel funny things. With the snow falling around her, despite their situation, she had looked hypnotizing and he hated that.

Anyway, it didn't matter, she was a stranger from an enemy country and they would never meet each other again.

Or maybe they would?

He was in Thun, a beautiful city with amazing historical buildings, charming streets, built by an emerald lake. And this woman, on the other side of the river, strangely looked like her.

Yoon Seri.

He still couldn't believe she had given him her name, so confidently and carelessly. What if he was a maniac?

The woman was looking at the surfers swimming in the ragging waters of the river, and even from the other side, he could see her awestruck expression. A man was swimming against the current, struggling before grabbing a rope and standing on his surfboard. When the man let go of the rope to surf, he saw her raising her hands to her mouth. She limped to lean against the railing, her eyes still fixed on the surfer. He wondered briefly if she had taken care of her ankle before pushing away that thought. It wasn't his business.