I met her for the first time at a restaurant in Prague.
I don't know what possessed me that day. Perhaps I wanted to escape the slavery of Google Maps ratings, or maybe I just wanted to avoid the tourist traps bursting with people.
For whatever reason, Jeong-hun decided to visit a restaurant famous among the locals.
Let's see. Is this the place?
However, the moment Jeong-hun stepped inside with confident strides, he regretted it.
He was confident in his English, in his own way. But for a native Korean who had never studied abroad or gone on language exchange, conversational English was an entirely different beast.
To make matters worse, the opponent was a local Czech lady who didn't speak English very well.
Just as the people standing in line behind him were about to explode with frustration at his stammering, a finger suddenly popped out from behind him.
"The beef sirloin and knedlíky are delicious."
"Excuse me?"
Jeong-hun turned around with a dumbfounded look, then repeated her words to the lady like a parrot.
"Beef sirloin and knedlíky."
The lady looked at the two of them with an amused expression, shrugged her shoulders, and handed over a number ticket and a tray.
"I hope I didn't overstep."
Only then did Jeong-hun look behind him.
A woman with dark blonde hair, bordering on brown. Green eyes that shone with a mysterious light.
In that single moment of meeting her gaze, Jeong-hun felt his very soul being 'bound' to her.
This local Czech restaurant had a unique structure. Like a school cafeteria, the ladies would scoop food onto your plate as soon as you ordered, and you just had to take it and find a seat.
There were no assigned seats. It was daily life here for everyone to mix and eat together.
Jeong-hun took his tray of food and a glass of Zero Coke and looked for a spot.
Perhaps because it was lunchtime, there were quite a few people.
There were only a few seats left. Jeong-hun naturally headed towards a spot where two seats were joined together.
Fortunately, she was also heading in the same direction.
He stood up naturally and pulled out the chair opposite him.
The woman who had spoken to him earlier looked at the other seats for a moment, then burst into a small laugh and sat down across from Jeong-hun.
"I guess it wasn't a mistake."
Jeong-hun spoke to break the awkward silence.
"The beef sirloin, and this potato bread... they are really delicious."
There was a reason why this shabby restaurant was bustling with so many people.
But Jeong-hun could guarantee one thing.
"I'm glad!"
With her munching on goulash and řízek in front of him, what food wouldn't taste delicious?
❋ ❋ ❋
Jeong-hun quickly regained his composure.
He had lived his life diligently in his own way, so his English improved quickly.
Ela also spoke English well.
Elżbieta Anna Wiśniewska.
She, who allowed him to call her by the nickname Ela, spoke English as well as Jeong-hun—no, even better.
Furthermore, thanks to the influence of the great K-Pop, she was a twenty-something girl with a fair amount of interest in Korea. It was to the level where she sometimes made Korean food herself.
She had even learned some very basic Korean words.
You guys are gods!
Jeong-hun sent silent praise to the countless male idols he had turned the channel on whenever they appeared on TV during his military service.
Since they were the same age, the two became close quickly.
After eating, they walked along the Vltava River together.
It was an excellent choice. This city was too romantic to walk alone.
"My business trip ended a while ago. I reported to my manager and am enjoying my vacation through Friday and the weekend. You said you were traveling?"
"Yeah. I started in Budapest, went through Vienna, and now I was planning to pass through Prague and go to Germany."
His plan was to travel through Hungary, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Germany.
Since he had bought a multi-city ticket, he intended to fly back from Frankfurt Airport.
"You're not coming to Poland?"
"···I hadn't originally planned to."
In fact, Poland wasn't exactly a popular tourist destination. Naturally, he hadn't even thought about it.
At Jeong-hun's words, Ela made a visibly disappointed face.
What should I do?
Jeong-hun scratched the back of his head as he looked at her.
He originally liked making plans.
But he also knew very well that plans could always go awry.
He didn't feel burdened or stressed about modifying them.
In this case, it was even more so.
Stress?
Rather, he felt like he would be stressed if he didn't modify the plan.
A man experiences this kind of moment once in his life.
An experience where, if you don't act, you will regret it for the rest of your life.
Jeong-hun was only in his twenties, but he vaguely understood that fact.
Was it the magic of the beautiful Vltava River and the Charles Bridge visible in the distance?
Jeong-hun immediately changed his plan.
"Let's take a FlixBus to Warsaw together."
"Really?"
Her face lit up brightly.
It was, by far, the best choice of his life.
❋ ❋ ❋
After arriving in Warsaw, Jeong-hun and Ela officially became a couple.
There was no such thing as 'Day 1'. Everything proceeded naturally, like flowing water.
Jeong-hun stayed at a hostel for about a month, then moved in when she left her parents' house to start living on her own.
Ela bought a two-room apartment using the money she had saved and a government-supported low-interest loan. It was then that Jeong-hun realized what it meant to buy an empty flat in Poland.
There was nothing inside the new flat. Only the very basics existed, like electrical wires, internet cables, and water pipes.
They even had to apply the wallpaper and bathroom tiles themselves. They even had to buy and install the bathroom and bedroom doors separately.
But the entire process of preparing was enjoyable.
Jeong-hun had lived somewhat passively through his military service and his job after discharge.
But now, unlike before, he could strive entirely for happiness. For his and her happiness.
The two of them turned on music and laughed loudly while hanging wallpaper and painting.
There was nothing in the house, but it didn't matter.
They were just happy every time they brought in a piece of tableware or furniture, one by one.
Originally, if you have nothing, you are bound to be happy whenever you gain something.
Starting perfectly from the beginning was merely an illusion, or vanity.
Ela was truly his ideal type.
She had already found a job at a decent company and had sufficient economic ability.
She could get along well enough alone without Jeong-hun's help.
Therefore, the reason she let him into her life was solely due to affection. And it was the same for Jeong-hun.
She was also independent and rational.
But at the same time, she was soft and warm. She was full of understanding.
The two were on the same wavelength.
Language was a truly trivial barrier.
From food preferences to tastes in music, movies, and dramas, they matched in many ways.
And even their personalities, seemingly introverted yet extroverted in their own way, were similar.
Generally, they enjoyed social activities (mostly with Ela's friends), walks, and the gym, but spent most of their leisure time stuck in the flat reading books, playing games, or cuddling.
Their views on history, economics, and politics were also similar.
Even their family circumstances.
Her family was one that had been battered by all the storms of time.
Her great-grandfather was shot by the Nazis who massacred Polish intellectuals during World War II, her grandfather was dragged to a concentration camp and killed during the Warsaw Uprising, and her father—or rather, prospective father-in-law—was tortured in the Polish People's Republic under Soviet rule and still had trouble walking.
It was a miracle that Ela had grown up well in such an environment.
An ordinary person might find it hard to understand her position.
But Jeong-hun could understand her position.
Jeong-hun's great-grandfather also died while devoting himself to the independence movement during the Japanese colonial period.
Furthermore, his grandfather was killed in action by the Chinese Communist Army during the Korean War, so there was no better example of shared misery.
"The relationship between Poland, Germany, and the Soviet Union seems so similar to the relationship between Korea, Japan, and China."
Ela said so.
Her bachelor's thesis was also about that. Her long-held fondness for Korea might have eventually led her to the destiny of meeting Jeong-hun.
Whenever the weather was good, the two would walk hand in hand in the park around Wilanów Palace and talk.
"I'm worried."
"About what?"
"How far this war will spread... things like that."
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the vigilance of the Polish people had skyrocketed.
It didn't matter if they were men or women, old or young. It was natural.
Newspapers and all forms of media were constantly covering this crisis.
Putin, who started the war, maintained an extremely threatening attitude even towards Poland, a member of NATO.
The Suwałki Gap was a major strategic target for Russia.
The justification was truly absurd, but originally, a rogue state was an entity that could start a war even with absurd justifications.
The century of peace had been too long, and it was clearly felt that a great war was right around the corner.
The Ukrainian refugees residing in large numbers in Warsaw were also proof of this fact.
"It's going to be a big deal."
Jeong-hun also understood that feeling.
His own homeland, to which he had to return soon, was similar.
Surrounded by neighbors who would be second to none in wickedness, Korea's crisis was no less than Poland's.
"We just live as the flow takes us."
Jeong-hun said calmly.
Seeing Jeong-hun like that, Ela sighed.
"I want to change it."
"Can you change anything?"
Ela suddenly said something completely eccentric.
"They say I was a princess in the past."
"······."
Jeong-hun blinked at the abrupt remark.
He didn't think she was someone who suffered from 'princess syndrome'?
"It's a relic of my distant ancestor."
But she looked serious.
Ela took something out of her pocket and showed it to Jeong-hun.
It was an antique ring that looked like something you would see in a museum.
The family crest was blurry and hard to see, but there was a pattern like a peacock feather.
"Guess what ring this is."
Jeong-hun made an absurd face.
"···How?"
"You know history well, and you play those kinds of games a lot."
"······How is that the same as this?"
Jeong-hun, feeling a prick of conscience, protested. Wait, she sees that angle here?
But Ela's tone wasn't exactly one of blame for his hobbies.
In the first place, as long as they did the things they promised together, they widely respected each other's hobbies.
"Show it to me."
Now Jeong-hun was curious.
Jeong-hun carefully examined the ring on Ela's palm.
"···It looks like the seal of a family with a very high status···?"
Ordinary rings usually have gems or something bulging out. But this ring was different.
As if meant to be stamped like a seal, the top was flat and the pattern was engraved.
So probably... as he thought, it must be a family sealing ring.
Used around the medieval era.
Ela puffed out her chest proudly. Her pride seemed high today.
"They say the owner of this ring was the owner of this castle."
"What?"
Jeong-hun was startled.
The palace where the garden they were walking in was located.
Wilanów Palace.
A royal palace built for his wife by 'Jan III Sobieski', the King of Poland-Lithuania in the late 17th century.
Like most royal palaces of this period, it was built with inspiration from Versailles, earning it the name 'The Polish Versailles'.
Honestly, as someone who had been to both Versailles and Schönbrunn, he didn't think it could compare to them, but Wilanów had its own charming taste.
So Ela was claiming to be a distant descendant of Jan III Sobieski.
"······."
"You don't believe it, do you?"
Ela stuck out her tongue and laughed lightly.
"I did too. But it seems there are secrets passed down through the family for generations."
Her surname, Wiśniewska, was a fairly common surname.
In fact, if the direct line was cut off and it came down through the maternal line, the surname might not matter, but he couldn't believe it right away.
However, not believing and having to believe were strictly different stories. Since Ela was the one who brought it up, Jeong-hun believed it.
He had no choice but to believe.
The ring is unusual too.
So, as a sign of faith, Jeong-hun put the ring on her hand. Ela looked bewildered, then giggled.
The ring was too big. Big enough to suit a man's hand.
She took the ring off her finger. Then she playfully put the ring on Jeong-hun's finger.
"It fits you perfectly?"
"Indeed."
Ela, who was looking at that sight with satisfaction, suddenly spoke.
"If, just if. If we go to the past, and if I am the princess of this country."
Is it another story about the dreams she dreams?
Lately, she frequently talked about her bizarre dreams.
"Will you protect me?"
"Of course."
"No matter what happens?"
Jeong-hun didn't answer.
He just didn't want to say obvious words.
Instead, he suddenly wanted to do something else. So he blocked her mouth with his own.
And at that moment, something flashed.
Ela didn't see it.
Only Jeong-hun could see downtown Warsaw located to the north.
Far away, mushroom clouds were soaring into the sky.
His pupils dilated greatly. But he didn't take his lips off.
Until the flames and vibration passed through their bodies together.
It was too short a time to even feel pain.
(End of Chapter)
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