RSL Ch 98

“I ran away here because my first love betrayed me and said they were getting married. But in the end, I took them back.”

“Oh… Don’t tell me it was an affair?”

Just a moment ago, he said he wasn’t interested in other people’s private lives. Indeed, all humans on Earth love stories of others’ romantic affairs.

“No. I broke up their wedding right before and brought them back. That friend, well, they listen to me well.”

“Wow, Maximilian has a wilder side than I thought.”

Looking at Jamie who innocently believed those words, it was hard to hold back laughter. I became curious about how office rumors would spread.

“That’s right. I didn’t know I had that side to me too. Here? Shall we go to the lobby, or down to the basement?”

“Ah, you can drop me off at the lobby.”

We had already arrived at the hotel. I opened the trunk while sitting in the driver’s seat. Jamie, who had gathered their luggage, knocked on the window to say goodbye. I briefly raised my hand and immediately started driving.

With no proper way to have a late lunch, I decided to go grocery shopping on the way home. These days, I’m cooking a bit at home and making Korean food. All of this became a hobby because time wasn’t passing well, but the protagonist who made me like this still hasn’t contacted me.

Looking at the clock, it’s 4 PM. It would be 8 AM where he is. He said he had to go to Tübingen today, so it should be time for him to wake up now. I should wake him up.

I selected his name at the top of the recent call list and made the call. After a couple of rings, he answered immediately. The protagonist of my love story, who seemed to have just woken up, gave his first greeting of the day.

-Hallo, mein liebster (my dearest)

I also greeted Han Jae-yi’s sweet call. Yes, hello my love. Good morning. In my imagination, my body had already moved to the bed where he had just woken up. I touched his face that hadn’t fully opened its eyes yet and kissed his warm lips. Despite the deep longing, we’re quite composed.

-Where are you?

“On my way to the supermarket. I’m going to try making a late lunch. It might end up being dinner though.”

-Hmm, you’ve got good stamina. Aren’t you on your way back after finishing the Sydney flight?

He knows my schedule perfectly. Sometimes even more accurately than I do. Han Jae-yi, who is brilliant at memorizing things, was now acting like a personal planner.

“Yeah, I am a bit tired. But when I cook, time passes quite quickly.”

-Can I think of that as you taking bride lessons?

“Haha, think of it however you like. Oh, have you prepared all the documents?”

He and I were literally preparing for marriage. Having made the decision to do it, we didn’t want to wait. We didn’t need a ceremony or a party. We just wanted to sign the marriage papers and be done with it.

In fact, Han Jae-yi went a step further and suggested flying straight to Denmark. He said if we’re going to finish it just between us, wouldn’t it be faster to do it quickly in Europe’s Las Vegas? It was indeed like him, but I had just one desire for this marriage.

“Chris agreed. He said he was planning to get really angry if we didn’t ask him.”

I chose my brother, who had always been on my side, as the witness for our wedding.

-Of course he would. He called me yesterday and gave me an earful too.

“What did he say?”

-He asked about our newlywed home.”

I laughed out loud. Chris was really meddling in everything.

Actually, I didn’t plan to prepare a separate house. I’m not sure when I’ll return to Germany, but for the first few years, I was planning to stay at Han Jae-yi’s Munich apartment. It wasn’t too far from the airport and the size was just right for the two of us. A pilot spends as much time in hotels as at home. So I’ve never been interested in living spaces.

“You should have told him we don’t need to think about that yet.”

-Yeah, I did. But Chris made an interesting suggestion.

While talking to Han Jae-yi, I had already arrived at the supermarket parking lot. I told him to wait a moment, put in my earphones, and got out of the car. He must have gotten out of bed too, as I could hear surrounding noises. He seemed to have switched to a speakerphone.

-A real estate agent he knows has some land that was recently allocated for development. The couple who were originally going to buy it canceled. It would sell quickly if put on the market, but if we buy it, he’ll sell it to us without a premium. Let’s buy it and build a two-story house. We can make a basement and a garden too.

“You mean build a house?”

-Yeah, it’ll take time for you to come anyway, and before you know it, a year will have passed. It should be built by then.

He seemed to be brewing coffee in the kitchen. I could hear the sound of water boiling and coffee beans being ground. I could vividly imagine Han Jae-yi walking around shirtless in his underwear with his hair sticking up.

“Okay. Send me the related information by email. We need to check if the location is good, right?”

-The neighborhood is nice. There’s a walking trail right next to it. We could make a wide yard and even build a swimming pool. You like swimming, right?

He seemed to have already started designing the house in his head. While agreeing to his endless plans, I pulled a cart provided by the supermarket. I didn’t know how far he had talked with Chris, but I felt like I might just need to go and sign something. At times like this, it seems like they get along well.

I put packs of prepared vegetables and half-cooked side dishes in the cart. I also picked up some dumplings I often eat from among the promotional items where you get one free when you buy one. Shopping for groceries is a bit boring, but today it was quite enjoyable.

-Anyway, we can go take a look together when you have your next flight to Germany. Actually, even if you say no, I’m going to buy the land.

“Then it’s practically half mine anyway. Don’t you know half of your property is mine now?”

I joked, teasing him. I was reminded of an artist’s exhibition that was quite controversial recently. It mocked the harsh German law that requires giving half of one’s property to a divorcing spouse. He had cut perfectly good TVs and furniture in half and put them on display. Along with the phrase, ‘I give you my every half.’

-I’ll give you everything, Seo-jin. Take it all. Should I change the name on the deed too?

However, the joke didn’t seem to work well with Han Jae-yi.

“You’re getting ahead of yourself again. We’re not married yet.”

I laughed as I picked apples. An older lady standing next to me seemed to have overheard my words and glanced at me. Then she looked at the set of apples I was holding.

“The new groom doesn’t know how to pick fruit yet. Those aren’t good.”

Then she put the ones she had chosen into my cart. At a glance, the ones she picked looked more appetizing. I thanked her with a nod and pushed the cart again.

“Have breakfast. Don’t just make do with coffee. Are you going to shower now?”

-Yeah, I’ll call you again when I get home. I’ll shower and come out by then.

“I won’t take long. I’m going to eat and go straight to bed, so contact me when you’re alone. Send my regards to your mother.”

-Okay. But if you’re bored, just call anyway.

“Alright, hurry up and get ready.”

As we bickered, the shopping was almost done. I ended the call, pushing the stubborn Han Jae-yi into the bathroom. As I was heading to the checkout, the phone rang again. Thinking it might be the same person, I answered quickly, but an unfamiliar man called my name.

-Is this Woo Seo-jin? Ah, it’s so hard to get through to you.

“Yes, but who is this?”

-Ah, this is the delivery company. Are you at home now? There are a lot of items, so we need you to open the door.

For a moment, I tried to remember if I was expecting any packages. But nothing came to mind.

“I can be there in about 20 minutes.”

-Alright, then we’ll match your timing. Please open the door when you get there.

I hesitated for a moment at the abruptly ended call, but I had to hurry since I’d given my word. After finishing checkout, I quickly headed to the parking lot. After arriving home, I put all the groceries in the refrigerator. As if on cue, the doorbell rang.

I saw a large truck and a delivery man. When I opened the door, he came up the stairs and greeted me. Then he wedged a piece of wood in the gap under the front door to prop it open. Hmm, it felt like when I ordered furniture.

As expected, boxes of various sizes kept coming into the house. At first, I thought it would end with just one or two, but it didn’t stop until the living room was full. Now other boxes were piling up on top of boxes. In an instant, there was no room to step in the house due to the gift boxes. I was surprised, but the delivery man also clicked his tongue.

“In all my time doing this job, it’s the first time I’ve delivered so many items at once to a private home. Heh. It’s usually only like this during holidays. Did a fan club send these all together? Are you a celebrity?”

“No, I’m not. But what is all this?”

“I don’t know either. This company does errands and such, and we just do the delivery for them. Looking at how nicely they’re wrapped, they must be gifts, right? Sign here please.”

“Ah, yes.”

He quickly held out a paper in front of me, seeming eager to move on to his next delivery. After signing my name as the recipient where he pointed, I noticed Han Jae-yi’s name printed in the sender column. The culprit was easily caught.

“Thank you. Take care.”

“Yes, you too.”

After seeing him off, I stood with my arms crossed at the entrance for a while. Dozens of gift boxes had taken over the living room. I took out my phone and photographed this disastrous scene. Then I sent it to Han Jae-yi. Now I understood why he had asked me to call again when I got home. I sent a message along with the photo.

[Explain yourself]

The phone rang immediately.

-Was it too much?

This is how we end up talking again less than an hour later.

“What is all this?”

-Christmas presents. You piled up gifts and disappeared on me too. You have no right to complain.

He seemed to be referring to the gifts I had left in his study during my last flight to Munich. That was at most five or six gifts, but he had returned it tenfold. I never imagined this.

“Why don’t you know how to do things in moderation? It’ll take all day just to open everything.”

-That’s great. You said time wasn’t passing well anyway. Have fun opening those.

I was already opening one of the boxes while talking on the phone with one hand. As I tore off the wrapping paper, a familiar brand logo immediately popped out.

“How much money did you spend on this?”

-Don’t worry about that. I wanted to express my apology for not being able to be there with you, and it turned out like this. I’m sorry, Seo-jin. For leaving you alone on Christmas.

With those words, a dam I had been barely holding back burst. I sat down in a dining chair and held my forehead. I had been holding up well, but at times like this, even I break down once in a while.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I’ll be thinking about you all day today and tomorrow.”

I heard a low laugh from the other end of the phone. He’s enjoying this.

-Let’s talk again later. Get some sleep until then.

“Okay. Drive carefully. I’ll send you a message when I wake up.”

I hung up. Then I finished opening the box I had half-opened. Inside were undergarments. At the same time, an email arrived from Han Jae-yi. The subject was ‘Gift List’. It contained descriptions of gifts numbered from 1 to 47. The one I had just opened was number 33, titled ‘The color of underwear you wore during our first time’.

Was it? Looking at the dark blue drawers, I was reminded of the monastery courtyard where we first made love. I laughed to myself thinking how he remembered such details, but I too recalled Han Jae-yi’s black underwear.

I opened another one. Inside was a bottle of Dom Pérignon champagne. Number 17, ‘The ultimate luxury you gifted me to celebrate passing the bar exam’. Only then did I realize. All these clones of memories share the same sequence as the 15 years we spent together.

I was curious about number 1. Like playing Tetris, I stacked and moved boxes to find number 1 placed next to the sofa. Eager to see, I quickly opened it to find a console game system and game pack inside. It was the game I had played at Bastian’s birthday party when we first met. The list said number 1 ‘You, recording an unbeatable winning streak’.

By this point, I started to wonder what the final number 47 would be. Like a boy opening a box of chocolates, I couldn’t resist skipping the order. I skipped boxes 41 and 45 to find 47. It was smaller and lighter than any of the others.

There was no object inside. Just two printed photos. The first photo showed a four-seater single-engine light airplane, and the second showed airplane registration documents in my name. The content written on the list was number 47 ‘Wedding gift’.

Han Jae-yi had gifted me an airplane.

There are several points that move people when receiving gifts. Usually, it’s the monetary value, the time spent choosing it, or the meaning implied in the gift. From that perspective, Han Jae-yi’s Christmas gift more than fulfilled all those points.

The money spent was beyond words. Add to that the overwhelming quantity. But what moved me most profoundly was the meaning of these gifts that he wanted to convey.

The times of ours that he must have revisited while preparing the list of 47 items were not just excuses to increase the number. The movie tickets from the purely happy times at number 36. The whiskey at number 39 that he drank while wandering in Korea, and the white hydrangeas I offered to his father at number 42.

The painful and difficult times were as much a part of us as the times when we were so in love we couldn’t see anything else. Only now, when we’ve decided to accept and move forward, could we open them.

That’s probably what Han Jae-yi wanted to say too. Proof that he never forgot that pain. His determination to be with me despite it all. I loved his resolve.

My longing and desire to see him grew indescribably deep. Even until Christmas morning dawned, I couldn’t fall asleep.

-Looks like you’ve opened them all now.

Han Jae-yi’s slightly sleepy voice tickled my ear. It was late at night where he was. He seemed to have finished preparing for bed.

“Yeah. It was really touching.”

I regretted that my lack of expressiveness only allowed me to give such a response.

-Which one did you like best?

To his expectant question, I decided to give him the answer he wanted to hear.

“Of course, number 47.”

Satisfied, Han Jae-yi chuckled softly. He said he hadn’t received the actual airplane yet.

-The procedure is quite complicated. Since we’ll have to keep it in the airport hangar anyway, we’ll probably only be able to use it during our vacation.

“Isn’t this too much? I hadn’t even thought about a wedding gift yet.”

-I don’t need anything. I was happy just imagining how pleased you’d be when I bought it. That’s enough for me. Should we use it for our honeymoon?

I smiled at his romantic idea.

“Where do you want to go?”

-Since we can only go short distances, hmm… the Mediterranean?

Talking about a sea where we couldn’t even land, he seemed to be getting sleepy again. When I asked if he wanted to sleep more, he said no, but his breathing kept getting quieter.

-Ah… I guess I’m tired from being pestered by my mother.

Then he fell silent for a while again.

“Sleep well.”

I waited quietly before saying goodbye.

-Mm… Merry Christmas, Seo-jin-ah.

I held onto the phone for a moment, listening to his voice drifting off to sleep. And I told him I loved him. Even in his sleep, his breathing seemed to falter slightly. He must have understood. I hoped he would have a dream as happy as reality.