Love stories should be perfect, they aren’t love stories for nothing.

            You have the basics: you, the beginning, and him; the supposedly perfect man for your imperfect life.

            But standards are wrong, and really, although love stories are perfect, he shouldn’t be.

            He should have the perfect smile, the perfect eyes, the perfect everything. When you first meet, in a coffee shop where your orders get mixed up, he should be able to charm you like no other man can. He should be unforgettable and beyond anything you imagined. He should be the perfect gentlemen, the kind of guy who would open the door for you and push your chair when you have dinner together or the kind of guy who would have the guts to meet your parents just to respect you and your femininity. He should be coy, but confident; flirtatious, but reserved; willing, but mysterious. He should be the right mix, lukewarm even, the kind of guy that would be cold enough to touch but hot enough to keep you wanting more.

            When you have your first date, he should buy you your favorite kind of flower, take you to your favorite places, make you smile with his jokes and his humorous conversations. And although your order came out wrong and the flower was stolen by a psycho hobo and the day wasn’t perfect, he should be able to take you home, say ‘This was a great date’ or ‘I had fun’. He should be able to kiss you under the sparkling moonlight in front of your house, and get you blushing and smiling like an idiot while the butterflies rebelled inside your stomach. The morning after, you should wake up with a text from him, telling you good morning, probably with a smiling emoticon, just to let you know that he wants to take things further with you.

            When you finally become a couple, and you become the happiest person in the world, he should not fail to show how happy he is too. He should be able to show you how lucky both of you are; how, although unsure, he would be happy to start another chapter of his life with you. He should take you in his arms, twirl you around while the rain pouring on you and him, and shout how happy he is right now. And when he kisses you in the middle of the wet pavement, you should be able to smile against his shoulder, and think of how sure you are with him and the idea of the two of you.

            When you have your first fight, he should have the courage to shout at  you, showing that he is ready to be as honest. Even though the reason is something stupid like getting jealous of the transfer student who you were assigned to help, he should be able to tell you what he feels. You should be able to do the same to him, and when you finally break down and cry, he should be ready to apologize, take you into his arms, be ready to lower his pride just so he won’t lose you.

            And when you wake up the next morning leaning on his probably sore arms, you should be able to whisper into his ear, ‘I love you’ for the first time. Inreturn, he should whisper back ‘I love you too’.

            By the time you reach your first anniversary, you should be able to know almost everything about him. From his one lettered nickname to the right baritone of his voice, you should be able to identify him. You should know his secrets, his desires, his weird mannerisms and even his most kept habits. In return, he should be able to read your mood; when to tease you and when to give you space. You two should have already memorized each other’s minds’ little nooks and crannies, knowing each others’ personalities on different situtations and moods on certain occasions. By that time, you should be able to say to yourself, ‘I know this person like the back of my hand’.

            When times are hard, you should be able to know how to comfort each other. He should know that you love getting sporadic kisses on your forehead when you feel nervous. He should know that when you’re sad, all you need is a nice long sleep, and his smiling face ready to greet you when you wake up. He should know that when you are uncertain, when you are in doubt, you only need his arms around you while he whispers, ‘It’s going to be okay’.

            And when times are hard for him, or if life threatens to break him apart, you should know that all he needs is one touch of your hand, and the reassurance that you will be there for him; always.

            When finally, you reach a certain age together, and when all the anniversaries and seasons passed, you should be able to look at him, and not think about the future. You should have already stopped worrying about if you break up or if the two of you would get married or how you would end up after five or even ten years. When he looks back at you, you should be able to appreciate the present, your present, and you should be able to realize that the future isn’t all that important, as long as right there, at that moment, you have him.

            He shouldn’t be perfect. He should be perfect for you.

(fin)

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            As he read the last lines, Kim Myungsoo chuckles to himself. He hates to admit that a tear has already escaped his eyes and quickly wipes it away with the sleeve of his hospital robe. He covers the papers that he has been reading with the folder that comes with it, and rests his sore back against the head of his bed.

            He laughs heartily as the words replayed in his mind.

            As long as right there, at that moment, you have him.

            Really, her and her words.

            “Finished it?” Bae Suji asks, as she places the apples that she just brought in for him on his bedside table. She places them in a bowl, picks one, and carefully peels it with slightly shaking hands. Kim Myungsoo grins at her, takes her head into his hands and places a kiss on her forehead.

            “It’s perfect, Suji. Just like how love stories should be” he tells her jokingly.

             She smiles and puts the apple and knife back on the table, takes his hand in hers and says, “Just like how ours is”.

            Two months after that, Kim Myungsoo dies.

            It was a peaceful death, one that happened while he was asleep. When he was buried, thousands of family members, friends, acquaintances and colleagues cried; but none of them as hard as Bae Suji.

            It was the saddest day of her life.

            She makes up the loss by calling her publisher that night and handing him her manuscript. She tells him if he could please not change a thing, not even a word, and when her publisher asks why, she answers, “Because memories shouldn’t be tainted with fiction”, hangs up, and cries herself to sleep.

            Soon enough, her publisher earns a bucket load of money, and the famous author, Suzy’s new book was out, a story about a man and a woman who had the perfect love story in an imperfect universe.

            And at the very end, at the last page, it was written:

To L,

This book is for you, my perfect man.

Because where fiction meets reality, there was you.

Infinitely yours,

Suzy