First Snow

Wrong Train, Right Direction

Seri hesitated. Of course she would have given anything to see him even once, but suddenly doubt assailed her. What if he doesn't want to see her? What if she made it harder for them? What if he was surrounded and couldn't acknowledge her?

" He only left when he was sure you were going to be okay... This man loves you, more than common people can understand..."

Tears came to her eyes, the thought of not seeing him again becoming unbearable. They deserved another ending, they didn't deserve an ending at all.

"I want to see him ..." she huffed, her voice broken. "I ... I need to see him ..."

The drive to the airport was silent, her mother concentrating on the GPS directions. She was driving as fast as she could, slaloming between the cars, until the airport materialized before their eyes more than one hour later.

When her mother stopped the car in front of the main entrance, Seri ran inside without waiting. She looked around, then rushed over to the notice board.

She quickly identified the flight to Beijing, since Beijing was the one of the only two cities served regularly by Pyongyang Airport.

"Passengers bound for Beijing, flight 4569, are called to report to boarding gate 5A ..."

The rest of the call was drowned in the ringing in her ears.

"No..." she whispered, horrified.

It couldn't be over. Not like that.

Her eyes never left the boarding gate panels, she began to run through the crowd, her heart pounding in a mixture of panic and apprehension.

4B...

4C...

4D...

5A.

He was taller than everyone else, so spotting him wasn't difficult.

She suddenly froze, her eyes drinking in his presence as if she hadn't seen him in months. He, who usually stood with his shoulders straight, his head held high, seemed dejected. Even from a distance, she could see that he was staring into space, his shoulders drooping. The boys were with him, but also men who seemed to almost frame them. When one of them presented his passport to a hostess to board, Seri suddenly began to move.

"Ri Jeong Hyeokssi!"

Her cry pierced through the hubbub of the airport and he straightened up, turning in her direction without hesitation. His eyes widened as she ran through the crowd, shoving, being shoved, but never taking her eyes off him. She saw his lips move, but she wasn't close enough yet to hear him. The boys watched her approach in amazement, one of the other men approached Ri Jeong Hyeok, who suddenly screamed.

"Don't run !"

As the man was about to speak to him, Ri Jeong Hyeok ignored him and rushed in her direction, his tall figure running through the crowd until Seri crashed violently into his arms.

Leather. Soap. Pine.

His scent assaulted her and she didn't want to let go, her arms hugging him as the tears flowed without her being able to control them. She could feel him shaking, and eventually he pulled away, his eyes searching hers.

"Seri, you are not yet fully recovered, you could have hurt yourself or become unwell. You have to learn to take care of yourself."

She shook her head, her voice interrupted by sobs.

"I had to see you, I had too... Ri Jeong Hyeokssi, what am I supposed to do, how am I supposed to survive..."

The idea of never seeing him again was even more vivid and painful as his departure was imminent.