Interviewer (I): So, tell us how you met each other.

Yunhyeong (Y): Hmm… That’s hard to say…

Donghyuk (D): We’re neighbour. And we’ve been a part of each other’s life as far as I can remember.

Y: We played in the same playground, attended the same school, joined the same sport club, worked part-time at the same café…

D: Yeah, we know each other better than we know ourselves. (hold Yunhyeong’s hand)

I: I see… How did you two end up together?

Y: I’m not really sure when we started to develop feeling for each other. I mean, we’re so close since we’re young.

D: By high school, pretty much everyone, even the teachers, thought that we’re together.

Y: Although we’re not officially together until after high school graduation.

I: What happened after graduation?

D: You see, the weird thing about us is that we never actually get that, “Oh, my heart is beating so fast. Is this love?” feeling. Our relationship just grew naturally out of closeness.

Y: So we had a graduation party, right? And, just like any other hormonal teenager, we’re eager to try new thing.

D: By ‘new thing’, he meant alcohol.

Y: Yeah, that. Anyway, we got a bit tipsy and stuff, and before we knew it…

D: We kissed.

Y: And that’s pretty much the whole story.

I: But how did you end up kissing?

D: I don’t know. It just seemed natural. Like, the moon was shining, the stars were blinking, the wind was blowing softly. Kissing just felt like the perfect thing to do. (kiss Yunhyeong’s cheek)

Y: And nobody was surprised by it. Everyone was like, “Oh yeah, Yundong kiss. Big deal.”.

D: (smirk) Even us.

Y: Exactly. When we woke up sober in the morning, we were like, “Did we kiss last night?”, “Right… That was good.”.

D: From there, it went to, “So… are we… official now?”, “Yeah, pretty much.”.

I: It’s understandable… I guess… How was the relationship?

Y: Not surprisingly, not much changed.

D: (lay head on Yunhyeong’s shoulder) I guess we got touchier. Like, sitting closer, or linking hands when walking.

I: You didn’t do that before?

D: (shrug) Not really. Not before we’re official.

I: But there must be other changes, right?

Y: Hmm… Well, we moved out and live together. Does that count?

D: Oh right! We started sleeping on the same bed again.

I: Again?

D: We sometimes slept together when we’re young. Like, 6 years old young. But, you know, we didn’t see it as a big deal at that time.

Y: And, even when we moved together, everything just laid out perfectly. We didn’t even need to divide chores; we already knew that I would be the one cooking, and Donghyuk would be the one cleaning, for example.

I: You guys are born for each other…

D: I know, right?

I: Tell us your most memorable moment as a couple.

Y: Hmm… Honeymoon? (look at Donghyuk)

D: (nod) Honeymoon.

I: Honeymoon? You guys got married?

Y: Yes, of course. Three years into the relationship.

I: What happened during honeymoon?

Y: You see, for some reason, we’re not really a couple. Despite our young age. I mean, we had premarital here and then, of course, but it’s not really a big part of our relationship.

D: But… during the honeymoon…

Y: We just went… berserk? Is that how you describe it?

D: Yeah. I didn’t even know he could do that before. (nudge Yunhyeong)

I: Care to clarify?

D: We went somewhere; you know the typical honeymoon place. But, instead of actually going out, we sort of locked ourselves in the room and just… (blushing)

Y: (shy) Had …

D: Again and again…

Y: And again.

I: Is… Is that even possible?

D: Exactly! That’s why I said I didn’t know that Yunhyeong had that much… stamina, before the honeymoon.

Y: And we still sometimes took a break from work just to relive the honeymoon moment. (hold Donghyuk’s hand)

D: And that reliving account for, like, 80% of our . Outside of that periods, we rarely had .

I: I see… That periods must be memorable. Any other memorable moment?

Y: Oh! We also had a journey.

I: Journey?

Y: Yeah. You see, a few years after our marriage, we moved out of our hometown. And after about 7 years or so, we went back for about two weeks to revisit our childhood memories and met some old friends.

D: That’s a lot of memories and friends!

Y: Indeed. However, a huge part of the city had changed by the time we came back. Our old homes were not there anymore; our old school was way bigger than it was. What else?

D: The playground was no longer there. And the café where we used to work part-time was transformed into a shop.

Y: We felt proud for all the developments, but also a bit sad… (pout)

D: Well, it’s just a natural thing to happen.

I: That’s understandable. Now, is there any notable hardship during your relationship?

D: Hmm… Not really… I don’t think so. (look at Yunhyeong) What do you think?

Y: What about our first fight?

D: As a couple?

Y: Yes. That was, surprisingly, only happened about a year after our marriage. It’s amazing how we went on that long without a single actual fight. (smile)

I: What happened?

Y: That was a bad year. The company that I worked for was downsizing, so I got fired as a result. My mom also passed away that year. Moreover, I also got into a car accident. Although, I wasn’t severely injured, my car was damaged quite a lot, and it costed a lot of money.

D: All that happened within 10 days. (pat Yunhyeong’s shoulder) You went through a lot.

Y: Not surprisingly, I got a bit depressed… Not just a bit, actually. I drank a lot that time, trying to wash away the feeling.

D: And of course, I was concerned.

Y: So he tried to stopped me… But instead, I vented on him. We got into a heated mouth fight, and I actually punched him! (hug Donghyuk) Sorry…

D: (look down) That was the first time I got punched…

Y: Anyway, reasonably, Donghyuk got angry and left me for a few days. At that time, I actually felt like the whole world is collapsing… But he manned up and be the first one to said sorry! Even though it was all my fault!

D: That’s only natural…

Y: And I will always be sorry for that… Donghyuk is just too kind. (kiss Donghyuk’s cheek)

D: You know I already forgave you for that a long time ago.

Y: And you know I will never stop saying sorry for that. (kiss Donghyuk’s again) I can’t express how grateful I am from having you by my side.

I: Wonderful… If I may, let’s move on to your death.

D: We died from an earthquake. Although, to be fair, I’m already dying.

I: What do you mean?

D: I was diagnosed with cancer. Brain cancer. Long story short, I was hospitalized, unconscious. But that’s when the earthquake hit.

Y: It was a huge earthquake, but I refuse to leave Donghyuk’s side no matter what. In the end, the whole hospital collapsed…

D: And here we are.

I: That’s… tragic. You didn’t get evacuated?

Y: Somehow, no. We weren’t sure what happened. But what done is done.

D: Let’s not get too sad here. You have to hear how Yunhyeong took care of me.

I: Alright. Let’s hear it.

D: I was already hospitalized even before I went unconscious. And, you know, since it’s a brain cancer, I ended up a little bit… crazy. (look down)

Y: Don’t be like that. You weren’t that bad.

D: Of course it’s bad. Granted, I was sane for most of the time. But there were times when I would just spit out nonsense. And Yunhyeong put up with all that and just smiled! He would just hug me and agreed with everything I said even though I’m not making any sense at all.

Y: Well, that’s the best I can do with nonsensical sentences. (smirk)

D: But, more importantly, I never saw him sad the whole time I was hospitalized.

Y: (sigh) Actually, I cried a lot.

D: You did!?

Y: Well, not when you’re awake. But when you’re sleeping, I would just hold your hand tight and… started crying. (look down)

D: I never realized that…

Y: Of course not. (smile) I couldn’t let your sick body got even worse looking at me being sad. (pause) And at that time, I always told myself, “C’mon, don’t cry. Donghyuk wouldn’t want to see you cry.”, but I couldn’t help myself. We both knew there was no hope; that it’s just a matter of time. And realizing that, I just… (getting teary)

D: (comfort Yunhyeong) C’mon, it’s all over now.

Y: (smile) Yeah, you’re right. (hug Donghyuk) At least this way we’ll be together forever.

I: You guys are amazing! Like, it seems that, no matter what hardships, you guys always remained strong.

D: Well, no use crying over what-ifs that would never happen. (smile)

I: I guess that’s right. Now, last question. After living your whole life, what do you now think of each other?

Y: (look at Donghyuk) You’ve been a part of me since the very beginning, and you’ll always be a part of me until the very end. (kiss Donghyuk)

D: (blush) I… Oh wow… It’s amazing how I still blush at your flatters even after all this year…

Y: That’s because I’m good at flattering. (proud)

D: You’re good at everything, Yunhyeong. (smile)

Y: No… Not without you. (giggle)

I: What a sweet couple… Ok, let’s stop here.