1990

When he finished recreating his last match with the opponent he’d face the next day (he lost to the same man six months ago, and yes, he still remembered every moves made on that match), he looked up to realize it was already dinner time.

At that realization, he glanced at Deok Sun, who was pouring her books on his floor, wearing his blanket, mouth mumbling sentences she was determined to remember.

Deok Sun was going to take the college enrolment exam again next Monday, and she had barged in that afternoon with an armful of books and notes, telling him she wouldn’t bother him and just needed to study there.

Taek didn’t protest nor comment. He loved it when Deok Sun was near. And though he couldn’t tell her his feelings for her because he couldn’t hurt another best friend, it was enough, for the moment, that she was within several steps away from him, in his room.

And then, wary of not moving for hours, also probably a bit playful, he suddenly asked, “Why do you like to study in my room, Deok Sun-ah?”

“Huh?”

Her eyes were on him but her mind was still on her English textbook.

“What was that?”

“Why do you like to study in my room? Shall I just give my room to you?”

She blinked confusedly at him, half of her was still trying to memorize conjunctions and progressive English grammars.

“It’s not the room, Taekkie, it’s you.”

It’s Taek’s turn to blink at her.

“It’s me?”

“Ne. You’re like a living a sleeping pill for me. Not that you make me sleepy. But when I’m near you, I calm down. I’m very
nervous for this exam, you know that. I feel queasy when I sit at the study room these days. When I’m with you, it’s not
that scary and I can actually put more things into my brain.”

Taek stared at her, but she was already back to mumbling English words.

He calmed her, she said. He wondered, how was it, that she could say such things that could fly him to the moon without
even batting an eyelash.

Maybe it’s because she was thinking of him like a younger brother again.

Still, at that precise moment, everything was perfect. He could do as someone who could calm her down when she’s
nervous. Anytime. All his life, actually.

“Deok Sun-ah”

“Ne?” she replied, not even bothering to lift her head.

“I want ramyeon.”

“Ahrasseo” she replied lightly, getting up and disappearing to the kitchen.

“Make some for yourself too.”

She replied loudly in the affirmative.

He waited and she returned with a simmering pot. He hurried to put a newspaper on his desk and they sat facing each
other, as Deok Sun handed him a small bowl, chopsticks, and poured him a glass of water.

He admired the ramyeon she made, the eggs and chopped eomuk and the scallions. True, she just dumped what she
found in his father’s fridge, but it always looked so great when she made it.

“You’re always so good to me.”

She looked up and halted her slurping.

“Are you feeling alright?” she asked, frowning and feeling his temple.

“Hem. Your temperature is alright. Did you take your sleeping medicine?”

He shook his head.

“Headache medicine?” she prodded.

He shook his head again.

“You’re saying weird things” she said, peering at him to determine whether he was really healthy or not.

“I’m fine” Taek tried to assure her.

“Just tired, I bet. Eat a lot, then I’ll go back to studying”

They finished the pot of ramyeon together and she went to bring the dishes to the kitchen and wash it.

When she returned, he was laying his blanket.

“I didn’t sleep last night.”

“Ahrasseo.”

“You’ll be here?” Taek asked.

“Ne.”

She reached for her math books that time, as Taek lied his head on his pillow.

His best sleep was always when Deok Sun was around. And happily, he drifted to dreamland, a smile on his face.

**********************************************

1991

Everyone was getting busier, and he was not different.

Between flying to Japan and China, winning matches and providing more articles for his father to collect, he was seeing
less and less of Deok Sun.

He had spent years having no mother, and thanks to having four best friends, he had never felt lonely. At least, not that
often.

That first year of Deok Sun in college, he felt so lonely he won all his matches. Probably winning made him felt there’s
some security in his life after all, despite his sun not being around anymore and everything turning cloudy.

That day though, he knew Deok Sun would be back to Ssangmundong.

During dinner time, Deok Sun knocked his bedroom door, handing him a tin of biscuit and a carton of milk.

“Taekkie! It’s been a while!”

He beamed at her and let her hugged him, closing his eyes to absorb the moment.

When she let go, she sat in front of his baduk board and asked, “How have you been? I heard people couldn’t make you
lose anymore”

“I’ve just been lucky.”

“Aigoo, Master Choi, a humble celebrity!” they both giggled at that and she looked genuinely happy to see him, he felt he
could curl his toes and die.

“I’m happy you’re here again, Deok Sun-ah.” he said sincerely, then she nodded, receiving the biscuit he was giving.

The boys would come soon, but at that very moment, he had her all to himself, and his life turned sunny again that night.

**********************************************

1992

Deok Sun was on college vacation that night, and was out on a date with her first boyfriend. Somebody in college
introduced them and Deok Sun had accepted.

As promised though, she visited him afterwards, and they sat together, a cup of warm coffee with milk in front of them.
Tasting it made him remembered a day on the beach, the coldness of the sea water on his feet, and her endless laughter.

“Is he nice?” he finally asked, despite how it made his stomach twisted uncomfortably, like when he’s on a plane and it
shook due to turbulence.

Deok Sun nodded.

“Does he make you happy?”

She nodded again, smiling this time.

He had to be someone great, he thought, for her to let her hair down, wear a dress and lipstick like that.

A jealousy so sharp stabbed him in his gut. Yet he still mumbled, “You look pretty tonight. He’s so lucky.”

She giggled and took a sip of her coffee.

“You should try dating too. I want you to find a nice wife. You wouldn’t if you keep locking yourself up here with your baduk
board.”

Then, looking straight at her, he asked, “Should I?”

He thought he saw her expression tensed for a second, but her face turned smooth again in another second, making him sure
he was imagining it.

“Ne! You really should! Just say yes to all those invitations of blind dates or answer those love letters from your fans.”

He said nothing, just gulping his coffee. It was strange. She made the best coffee.

He got expensive coffee beans from people he met, or drank luxurious coffee in top star hotels before his matches.

But none tasted as good as when Deok Sun made it.

**************************************************

When Deok Sun came home three months later and gave Sun Woo Omma a plate of seasoned clams her mother made,
she was surprised to hear that Taek was out on a date.

She was restless all evening , wondering what kind of girl Taek finally accepted as his first date.

At 11 PM, she received a phone call.

“It’s me, Taekkie” he informed, “Would you like to come for snacks?”

She came soon after, finding him fresh from the shower, towelling his hair and reading his notes of previous matches.

“Yah, why do you look so normal?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know, like you didn’t just have your first date!” she exclaimed breathlessly.

“How am I supposed to look?”

“I don’t know. More excited?”

“Why would I be?” he asked, with big, depthless eyes and Deok Sun felt exasperated, before she sat in front of him.

“How is she? Is she pretty? Is she nice? Where did you meet her? When will you meet her again? Tell me everything!”

“Yah, Sung Deok Sun, ask one question at a time”

She made a face, and asked in a slow tone, as if she was speaking to a child, “Do you like her?”

“She’s not bad.”

“How does she make you feel?”

“Alright.”

“Would you meet her again soon?”

“Yes”

“Tsk. Were you this stoic during your dinner with her?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. I’m always like this anyway.”

“Yah, Choi Taek! Show some excitement!”

“You’re more excited than I am” he commented, calmly starting a baduk game with himself.

“I mean, if you’re this indifferent, why did you go with her in the first place?”

“Because you told me so.”

Since she said nothing, he looked up, seeing her stunned and speechless.

“I told you so?”

He nodded.

“When?”

“Last time you were here. You told me to start dating.”

“Oh” she blinked, “Right.”

He made several moves on the board, accompanied with silence.

“Are you just going to do everything I tell you?” she asked, her tone higher, as if she was about to get angry.

“Yes.”

He made another moves on the board.

“Are you angry?” he asked.

“I’m going to make you a drink” she announced, huffing and getting up, stopping by the door, “Coffee, tea, milk?”

“Warm milk”

She left without a word and returned with two cups of warm milk.

She was very quiet that night, and he strangely didn’t try to make any conversations. But she left after he slept anyway,
like she always did.

***********************************************

1993

To everyone’s surprise, Deok Sun graduated on time from university. Probably her unwillingness to let her father paid
more semesters than necessary propelled the miracle to happen. She did work very hard after all, and unlike many other
occasions in her life, her hard work paid off.

Her family attended the graduation, took a lot of pictures, and cried a lot, never expecting her to graduate college that
smoothly.

Taek had a match in Seoul that afternoon, but he finished it on time to be there for the celebratory feast in Jung Hwan’s
mother place, where all the boys gathered, since it was an important day after all.

Once they were all stuffed, the two left the feast before the others, because Taek said, “I bought you a present.”

Jung Hwan’s Omma produced homemade ice cream from her fridge, so Deok Sun asked, “Is your gift better than ice
cream?”

He nodded, “Definitely better.”

With that promise, she sprinted to his house.

Inside his room, he handed her a bouquet of roses.

“Wowwww!!! It’s pink!” she yelled in awe, smelling the bouquet before hugging it to her heart.

Taek was sure she was already happy with just that, but he added that with four big boxes of chocolate.

“Four years of study, four boxes of chocolate.”

She jumped and danced around, bursting with, “Oh, Taekkie, thank you, thank you, thank you! This is the first time in my
life I have this much chocolate! You’re the best!”

She was in the middle of sampling one piece of chocolate and gushing at how good it was, when he gave her another box, wrapped with ribbon.

“You have more?” she asked, wide-eyed.

He nodded.

She reached out a hand and opened the box.

It was a very pretty pair pink high heels and she was absolutely amazed by it, gaping at the sight in front of her.“C-can I touch it?”

He chuckled, “Yah, this is yours. You can wear it, not only touch it.”

She reached for it and caressed the surface of one pretty shoe, before lifting it and admiring it.

“It looks expensive.”

“The shopkeeper said it’s normal price.”

She read the brand and gulped. It’s Dior. Where on earth did Taek know brands like Dior?

“Try it on. I’ll exchange it to another pair if these don’t fit.”

Deok Sun scrambled and carefully slipped her feet into the shoes. Once she did that, she tried to walk. She never wore
high heels before, so she stumbled on the first try.

Taek was quick to catch her.

“I need to practice walking in this.”

“You’ll learn it quickly” he said in an assuring manner, holding her arms for far too long, but she was walking around in the
high heels, and he didn’t want her to fall, so it was a perfect excuse. Beside, she never stopped him.

Taek wondered whether high heels were invented so men could hold girls this close when they first tried it. If yes, it was a
genius idea.

And then it dawned upon her.

“How did you know my size?”

“Asked your mother.”

She nodded with a smile.

But then her smile vanished with her next question, “Did you pick this with your girlfriend?”

He nodded, making her gaped again.

“Yah, Choi Taek! You shouldn’t ask your girlfriend to pick a gift for another girl!!! Did you apologize?”

“I did.”

“Is she mad mad?”

“She was. She broke up with me.” Taek said so nonchalantly, it shocked Deok Sun even more. 

“What??? Just because of this?”

Taek awkwardly held his nape.

“She thought the shoes were for her. When she found out it’s for you, she went crazy and asked who you were.”

“You said I was just a friend, right?”

“I said you’re my bestest friend in the whole world.”

Deok Sun shook her head in desperation at that.

“You shouldn’t have said that!”

“But it’s the truth.”

She sighed, “Never mind. Better luck next time, Taekkie. Search slowly, it’s alright. You’ll find someone nice for you one
day.”

I already did, he answered silently, looking longingly at her.

“Thank you for this. I’ll keep it well” she promised, putting the shoes into its box.

“Yah, don’t just keep it. Wear it.”

“I will. Can we eat the chocolate with everyone else?”

“Ne.”

With that, they returned back to Jung Hwan Omma's house with the roses, chocolates and shoes. They were all full of
admiration with everything, saying Deok Sun was lucky to be friends with the rich Master Choi Taek and was the only girl
in the gang.

Taek avoided Jung Hwan’s eyes all night, but for once, he thought it was alright.

***********************************************

1994

Sung Bora and Sung Sun Won’s wedding left everybody feeling emotional. Taek heard how hard Bora sobbed as he drove the newlyweds to the airport for their honeymoon.

He never saw the almighty Bora Noona cried before, and like Sung Won, he didn’t think that she had that much tears in her.

When Taek reached home, he waited for an hour before Deok Sun knocked on his door, and collapsed in his arms, pouring out a river of tears.

Who would have thought the sisters that looked like they nearly killed each other with every childish fight in the past, could
cry this much on a wedding?

Taek sighed and held Deok Sun tighter, patting her back gently from time to time.

“It’s not like you’re never going to see each other again” he reminded.

For the first time in forever, Deok Sun had no words to reply, but her tears didn’t stop.

Taek sighed, stretching his legs in a more comfortable manner and continued hugging her.

Her sobs turned to whimpers, then several hiccups. When she finished entirely, she was silent and his arms were already
numb.

“Are you finished crying?”

She nodded, and he could feel it without even looking at her.

She then pulled away, then shrieking in shame when she saw the front part of his chest was soaked with her tears and stained with her make-up.

“Is this an expensive shirt?” she asked, the first time that came to her mind was how much that shirt cost.

“Take it off, I’ll wash it at home.”

“There’s no need. What would you say to your mother, when she asked whose shirt you’re washing?”

“Right” she replied, “then give it to me still, I’ll bring it to the laundry.”

“Then the gossip will start spreading tomorrow morning, that Sung Deok Sun was bringing a man’s shirt to the laundry,
wet with tears and make-up. What would the parents think of you, then?”

Her face turned disgusted, but she was nodding, “Everyone gossips too much here.”

Sighing in defeat, her eyelashes still wet and her eyes swollen, she announced, “I’ll wash my face and cook you some
ramyeon.”

When she returned with a pot of two cooked ramyeon, he was only wearing his sweatpants and was topless, a clean
white t-shirt on his hand.

He froze and so did she. He stared at her and her face got paler, before her eyes instinctively fell to his chest.

He then saw her face becoming redder, she looked like she was about to cry, and her hands shook.

He was merely afraid she’d throw all the hot ramyeon soup all over herself and got wounded, so he approached her, not fully clothed yet, and said to her, “Let go”, taking charge of the pot and putting it safely on the table, before finally wearing his t-shirt.

Her face was crimson by the time she sat down in front of him, avoiding his eyes at all cost.

He reached for the fork and helped himself to some noodles.

He couldn’t help it when she kept sitting silently in front of him, as if she would not get out of her shock anytime soon.

“What are you shocked for, really? You’re bound to see me wearing less than that sometime soon.”

It was partly a joke and partly serious, and she was staring at him open mouthed when he saw her face next.

“I’m going home” she blurted, scrambling for the door, needing escape, but he was faster, catching her by the wrist and ended up pinning her to his door, kissing her with a hunger he didn’t know he had in him, tongue swishing inside and body pressing her.

His fork fell to the floor as he reached for her face and waist, giving the kiss everything he got, swallowing her weak
protests and ignoring her effort in pushing him away.

In the end, she stood limply, opening to give him access and grabbing fistfuls of his t-shirt with her hands.

When he pulled away, he was breathless and she was looking at him with a shocked expression, as if saying she didn’t
know he had it in him.

“I want to see you wearing less than this too, Deok Sun-ah” he rasped, his hands clutching her hips tightly.

“T—Taek-ah, let me go home now.”

Her voice sounded strange, so he stepped back, to give her space.

“Ahrasseo. But accompany me for breakfast tomorrow.”

His unsaid question was, “We’re alright, aren’t we?”

“Alright” she answered quickly, before she turned around and opened the door.

He could hear her running to the front door as he put his forehead on the wooden surface, knowing full well the taste of
her lips would burn him all night.

******************************************************************
1995

Choi Taek 9-dan could hide his emotions so well. It’s hard to tell he was having an easy or difficult match, because no emotion would ever grace his face at all. Of course, it’s the etiquette of baduk to never show your emotion even if you won over an opponent.

But he could never hide his emotions when he’s in front of Deok Sun, that’s for sure. Be it happiness or exhaustion, loneliness or annoyance, giddiness or fear, everything was blatantly clear for Deok Sun to read. All the time.

So one evening when she had two days off work and she dropped by his room for some snack, and he was acting
strangely more polite than usual, while avoiding her eyes at all cost, Deok Sun knew Taek did something bad. Again.

“Did you lend money to your friend again?”

“Aniya. Don’t worry about it”

Deok Sun’s eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared.

“You did, didn’t you?”

“There are some bananas in the fridge. I’ll take some for you”

“Yah, Choi Taek!!!” she warned.

He escaped swiftly. But no matter how carefully you’re taking bananas from a fridge, peeled and cut it, it wouldn’t take
more than five minutes. Eventually, he returned with shoulders drooping, ready to face her wrath.

When he opened his door, she was standing rigidly in the middle of the room, eyes to the ceiling, like she was holding in
an explosion.

“What’s the reason this time?”

“His mother is sick” he answered slowly, putting the plate of bananas on his desk, “Needs a surgery.”

“This is the third time this year a friend’s mother needs surgery. How come you got friends with sick mothers all the time?”

“Aniya, not all the time” he tried.

“How much?”

“You really shouldn’t trouble yourself about—“

“Answer me before I hit you, Choi Taek, now!!!”

“Fif –fifty million won........”

“YAH CHOI TAEK! ARE YOU CRAZY? DO YOU WANT TO DIE?”

And Deok Sun hit him anyway, slapping at his shoulders and arms, deaf to his yells of “It hurts! It hurts! Stop!”

“I told you, you’re not a living bank!” she said, slapping his arm as hard as she could with ever word, “Don’t let people take
advantage of you! Yah! I’m going to kill you now! Fifty million won! You think that’s five won or what???”

Because his arms and shoulders literally stung by that point, and she wouldn’t listen to his pleadings, he scrambled to get
his wallet, took a small key from one of the pockets, opened his locked drawer, and threw her with something.

Bewildered, Deok Sun stopped, staring at her feet.

Choi Taek never threw her with anything, ever. And it’s not like he didn’t know that he’s making a huge mistake, so—

“YAH! YOU DARE THROW SOMETHING TO A GIRL? COME HERE YOU—“

“You take care of it, then.”

She was going to hit him again, but stopped when she saw the thin book lying at her feet.

His savings account book.

“I don’t want to fight over this anymore. I might not be able to say no again, the next time someone wants to borrow a lot of
money, so you keep it.”

In reflex, she bent down and opened the last page, reading the balance.

She paled considerably as she read the number, counting up the zeros and the concept that someone could have that
much in an account.

“I don’t want your money” she threw the book back to him.

“Wae? You’ll handle it better than me.”

“I’m not a gold digger!”

“I never thought you were. It’s just going to be your money too, soon. Besides, my arms will fall off next time you’re angry
like this. I need my hands to play baduk and make money”

He held out the book to her again, and she took it, also in reflex. She had never refused Taek anything in her life before.

Taek looked down and realized her hand was shaking.

“There” he sighed in relief, sitting down and taking a deep breath. “But ow, my arms hurt. You hit me so hard, Sung Deok
Sun, I’m about to cry.”

Deok Sun snorted and knelt beside him, rubbing shoulders and arms up and down to soothe the pain she caused.

Choi Taek bit his lip and tried not to kiss her.

That night, Deok Sun buried his savings account book deeply, at the bottom of her drawer where she kept her diaries.

************************************************

1996

Two years after they officially became a couple, Deok Sun decided that it was time to finally tell their parents.

It was an ordinary dinner one Saturday night with everybody in Jung Hwan Omma’s house. Sun Woo and Bora came for
the weekend, Dong Ryeong left his restaurant to his staff, and all the parents were there.

They were all sitting in front of the TV and eating fruits as dessert when Taek just said it naturally, “Deok Sun and I have been seeing each other for two years. And we wish to get married.”

Deok Sun’s father choked on his watermelon and they all panicked to help him breathe again. Taek’s father was the one
who managed to make him threw out the fruit in the bathroom, and he drank three cups of water before his face returned
to his normal complexion.

Afterwards, Deok Sun and Taek sat on one side of the table in front of Jung Hwan family’s TV, as the parents, their friends
and Deok Sun’s siblings sat around them.

“I knew there’s something going on with this two!” No Eul exclaimed triumphantly, making Bora elbowed him, making him
doubled in pain as she muttered scarily, “Do you want to die? Shut up!”

Deok Sun had thought everybody knew, but was silent for the sake of the status quo. But apparently, no one had any
idea. She and Taek had been too close a duo since their childhood to make the idea of them as a couple even barely
unthinkable.

“How did it happen? Why did I never see it coming?” Deok Sun’s mother said out loud in utter confusion.

The trembling in her voice made Deok Sun wanted to weep. Taek reached for her hand under the table, and she calmed
down considerably.

“Are we going to marry two of our children with each other?” Sun Woo’s mother wondered, looking like she was about to
go crazy.

Deok Sun squeezed Taek’s hand at that, and he squeezed back.

Taek’s father was the first to speak.

“Look here, Deok Sun-ah. Are you marrying Taek because you’re just worried about him? Is it because you’re afraid that
he wouldn’t be able to take care of himself? Because if it’s that, I assure you, you don’t have to. I’m going to
take care of him until I die.”

“Aniyo, ahjussi. It’s not that. I – Taekkie is very important to me.”

Of that, everybody seemed like they already knew, but they never thought Taek was that important for Deok Sun, making
her wanting to marry him.

“Choi Taek,” Deok Sun’s father started with suppressed fury, “Do you pity my daughter? Do you think she’ll never be able
to find a husband, so you’re feeling sorry for her and wanting to marry her?”

“I love her, Ahjussi,” Taek answered simply, with an honesty that only a Choi Taek could gather in four words, making the
ahjummas gasped. “It has to be her for me.”

“I assure you, Master Choi, my daughter Deok Sun is so pretty, she’ll have men lining up to marry her in no time! Don’t
you pity my daughter!!! We Sung family don’t need it!!!”

“Aniyo, Ahjussi. I’ve always wanted to marry her. Probably since I was nine years old.”

That shocked her father until he couldn’t speak.

“Deok Sun-ah, are you sure about Taek? You know him. He sleeps in the morning and doesn’t know how to change the
gas. He doesn’t know how to cook rice or ramyeon. And he knows nothing but baduk. Are you sure you want to marry
him?”

“Ne, ahjussi, I am.” Deok Sun answered, before Taek said to his father, “Appa, teach me how to change the gas.”

“And uri Deok Sunnie, Taek-ah,” Deok Sun’s father continued, “She’s not the brightest girl around. She’s careless and
forgetful. Are you sure you want to marry someone like her?”

“She understands me” Taek interjected, “She accepts me as I am, and there are not many girls who can do that.”

By that time, all the mothers and Bora were already wiping their tears.

“Are you going to be nice to her even after we’re gone?” Deok Sun’s father asked Taek.

“Yes, I promise I will.”

“And will you always be patient with him?” Taek's father asked.

“I’ve been doing it my whole life, Ahjussi” Deok Sun chuckled as she answered, making everyone smiled with her.

“Omma, what about you? Are you going to give us your blessing?” Taek asked Sun Woo’s mother.

Wiping her tears, she grumbled and replied, “It’s not like I ever have the heart to say no to you.”

“Gamsahamnida” Taek beamed at her, then to all their parents, before he turned to Deok Sun and hugged her tight.

It’s finally happening. They were going to get married.

**************************************************

1997

The first time they made love was on their wedding night, in a luxurious hotel with windows facing the glittering Tokyo
Tower.

More than the beautiful scenery outside and the luxury inside, Taek was more aware of Deok Sun’s soft skin beneath him, the slippery contact of their sweating bodies and her moans that filled his ears.

She was pulling him closer, kissing back and calling out his name.

He knew, before doing it, that it would feel incredible. But when it finally happened, knowing it was both their first time and
they had their whole life to look forward to, married to each other, Taek thought he would die.

But if heaven tasted like her, he thought, as he reached for her hands and kissed her, he wouldn’t mind dying.


**************************************************

1998

Taek had the habit of keeping a little black journal in his room at all times. It’s useful to remember the things he tended to
forget and note down baduk strategies, or keeping name cards of hotels and people.

However, though the journals changed every year, there’s a picture that had to be there, moved to a new home every year. It was a nine year old picture of them in Beijing, with him smiling happily to the camera and Deok Sun wearing his pink sweater, his arm around her shoulder.

That year, there were two added pictures that would be permanent too.

One was their wedding picture. He was hugging her waist and she was wearing the wedding dress he chose for her, holding her
bouquet of pink roses.

The latest one was the ultrasound picture of their two months old baby in her womb.

Taek thought the baby looked comfortable and happy.

Why wouldn’t he or she be? The baby was residing in the tummy of the most beautiful woman in the world. Of course it would feel
comfortable.

Taek smiled, holding the three pictures in his hands.

“Yeobo, come have lunch!” Deok Sun called out from the kitchen.

“Neeee! I’m coming!” he answered, putting the little black journal in his drawer carefully, before locking it and putting the key inside his wallet.

He was welcomed with the sight of Deok Sun filling a bowl with rice, wearing an apron and with a protruding belly.

“Can you help me bring the jjigae pot here?”

“Sure” he said, kissing her cheek on the way.

Ten years ago, seeing Deok Sun randomly throughout the days was his best entertainment.

She had been on top of his mind and heart ever since she climbed the door of that moving truck full with his father’s stuffs when they
moved to Ssangmundong, giving him the fish candy.

That year, they were married and expecting their first child, living in an apartment as close to the airport as possible.

She was having the desk job in the check in counter as she was pregnant, and he was still the nation’s most prominent baduk player.

They only visited Ssangmundong once a month by that time, but it’s alright, because the parents visited them whenever they stayed at
their apartment every weekend, and Bora randomly dropped by for a meal with Deok Sun so often Taek began to feel it’s as if the couple lived in the same building with them.

Dong Ryeong visited them from time to time too, and they’re going to celebrate his birthday in the apartment for the first time that year, where they would all be meeting Jung Hwan again.

As he tasted the jjigae, Deok Sun asked, “How is it?”

“It’s perfect” he answered.

**************************************************************

Author’s Note:

I didn’t know this fic could be this long, LOL.

As you can see, I’m so awed by Reply 1988.

I need five years to move on from Reply 1997, but the 1988 version is so much more.

I love the parents-children reaction and a lot of the scenes brought me to tears.

I rarely cried when watching a drama, really. But when it’s about parents and children, it always makes me cry.

It’s amazing how they shared what little they have with each other, and how they all grew up so well together. I guess no internet made them communicate a lot better.

I prefer Choi Taek since the beginning. I love how clumsy he could be, yet how smart he also is. And I love how it’s so natural for Deok
Sun to take care of him and be all mother hen.

His brightest smiles were always only for her and he could calm her down whenever she’s nervous.

They’re so sweet, so this happened.

I’m also crushing over Park Bo Gum after finally finishing Moonlight Drawn by Clouds, and now just finished with Reply 1988. Seems like I’ll be watching Hello Monster/I Remember You next.

Thank you for reading