Epilogue 9

Epilogue 9

“Then I’ll… I’ll have to go back to Korea as a, a divorcee, right? And what if we have a child? What happens to the baby? Can I take them with me? Oh, that’s right. If I raise them in Korea, they’ll grow up hearing people call them a ‘half-breed’ just like I did. What am I going to do? Hic….”

Andre cupped her cheeks and leaned down to meet her eyes.

“Kang Miran! Calm down.”

But she couldn’t stop.

“Will the day ever come when I’m actually good enough for you? Won’t everyone whisper about why someone like Andre married a nobody? A foreign woman who can’t even speak English? What if… what if they mistake me for someone like a GI bride?”

“Who would dare—”

Her face contorted in sorrow as she looked up at him, sobbing.

“Andre, I’m scared. Sniff…. I have to live here now for the rest of my life, in New York, right? If you ever abandon me… how will I survive? I’m so scared!”

“Haaa….”

He let out a long, heavy breath that sounded like a lament and pulled her firmly into his arms. He had momentarily forgotten that the only uncontrollable variable in his life was Kang Miran.

She was a stouthearted woman, healthy in both body and mind, and easygoing. She rarely complained about anything and had a fairly bold personality, which had made him overlook just how fragile she truly was.

In his haste to end their long-distance relationship and get her by his side as quickly as possible, he hadn’t been considerate enough of the many things she had to give up for this marriage.

A belated regret washed over him. He wondered if he had rushed her too much without giving her time to mentally prepare. What if she decided, after thinking it over, that this marriage was impossible and tried to run away?

The hair on the back of his neck stood up. Like a beast whose survival was under threat, his every sense sharpened to a jagged edge.

A complex swirl of emotions was etched into her tear-blurred brown eyes.

Her love for him, and an agonizing anxiety about the future.

Despite everything, her eyes desperately searched his face, yearning for a sense of certainty.

Andre was not a man accustomed to revealing his feelings.

The world he belonged to dismissed the open display of emotion as naive and unrefined. For those who possessed much, it was a self-defense mechanism honed over a lifetime to avoid being exploited by others.

But now was not the time for such things.

To give Miran the assurance she needed, there was no other way but to tear his own heart open and show it to her.

Andre held the sobbing Miran close and leaned down toward her ear. He whispered in a soothing, urgent tone.

“Miran, listen carefully to what I am about to say.”

He kissed her temple and continued in a low, desperate voice laced with a gravelly edge.

“In my entire life, I have never loved anyone. Not even my own family. You are my first love… so it would be a lie to say I’m not afraid, too.”

Miran continued to sob fitfully, but she strained to listen.

“I’ve brought you here to be by my side, but what if you aren’t happy? What if you were happier in Korea than living with me? And what if you leave me again? I can’t love anyone else but you, but what if you leave me and fall in love with someone else? Miran, I still have nightmares every night. In my dreams, the day you left repeats over and over. I wake up gasping for air, as if I’m being strangled.”

Andre released the embrace and cupped her face with both hands. Miran forgot to breathe as she stared at him. Her tears had already stopped.

Because he rarely showed much expression, his pale complexion and bloodless lips stood out even more. Fine beads of cold sweat had formed on his straight forehead.

“You said you’re afraid I might abandon you? You asked how you would survive.”

Andre gazed at Miran with deep, sunken green eyes. Caught in that soulful look, she found she couldn’t turn away.

“Kang Miran. Even if I were to abandon you, you would think of how to survive somehow. But as for me… if you were to abandon me, I have no intention of living.”

She flinched, drawing in a sharp, startled breath. At that, he let out a self-deprecating laugh.

“Why the surprise? You didn’t know?”

Andre brushed away the tear tracks from Miran’s cheeks with his thumbs.

“If you want to postpone the wedding, we’ll do that. I’ll wait until you’re ready. Whether it takes a year or ten, it doesn’t matter. If you hate living in America, then I’ll live in Korea. Just give me a little time to wrap things up here. Living in Korea is fine with me. I could even re-enlist in the military.”

Miran, looking up at him with teary eyes, let out a trembling sigh. She bit her lip firmly and nodded.

“I’ll do it. The wedding! I’m not scared anymore.”

At those words, the tension that had locked Andre’s shoulders finally eased slightly.

“I’m actually a little—no, a lot—moved. Saying you’d even re-enlist for me… that’s real love, isn’t it?”

Miran gave a small, shy smile through her tear-stained face. She then used the soaked pocket square to gently dab beneath her eyes.

“Thank you for listening to my foolish whining, Andre.”

She smiled bashfully.

“I love you. I promise I’ll never leave for Korea and leave you behind.”

He let out a sigh of relief and leaned his forehead against hers.

“I know you’ll miss the things you left behind. But I’ll make up for everything you gave up. I’ll make sure you never regret coming to me. All I need is for you to be by my side. I love you, Miran.”

With the color finally back in his face, Andre pulled her close and pressed his lips to hers. He only pulled away when he heard the continuous clicking of a camera shutter.

A large camera with a cylindrical lens, which had been practically glued to the side of their heads, froze and pulled back.

Jared, having witnessed Andre de Lafayette break into a cold sweat and flounder in distress, stood there with squinted eyes, snickering to himself.

[Miran, it’s still not too late! A groom who makes the bride cry on her wedding day? If you want to make a run for it, just give me a wink as a signal anytime.]

Right then, a staff member called out a queue number from the end of the hallway. As soon as the number flashed on the electronic display, the four of them entered the room where the ceremony would take place. It was a room devoid of any special decorations, looking more like an old conference room.

Handing their documents to an elderly city official wearing a brick-red plaid shirt and thick bifocals, the two stood before the podium. The official began the ceremony in a brief, formal manner.

When Miran saw Andre take a ring box from his inner suit pocket and hand it to Jared, she quickly rummaged through her handbag and held out the ring box she had bought that afternoon.

At the sight of it, Andre’s eyes widened slightly.

The official recited the short vows and looked at Andre.

[Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?]

[I do.]

He answered. Next, the official turned toward Miran.

[Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?]

[Yes!]

She answered energetically.

Andre pulled a ring from the case held by Jared and, without a moment’s hesitation, slid it onto Miran’s left ring finger. It was an eternity ring, densely encircled with sparkling diamonds.

Miran also took out a simple platinum band from the case she had entrusted to Jared. It was a ring she had bought by maxing out the limit on the credit card she had received the moment she got her job.

Licking her lips nervously, she worried that the size she had estimated by eye might not fit. Slowly, with trembling hands, she slid the platinum band onto Andre’s long finger.

Fortunately, it was a perfect fit.

Miran looked up at Andre with a radiant smile.

In that moment, she felt she would never forget the overwhelmed, soulful look in his eyes as he gazed back at her.

[By the power vested in me by the City of New York, I now pronounce you husband and wife.]

As soon as he made the declaration in his dry voice, the two shared their first kiss as a married couple.

The sound of the camera shutter echoed loudly within the small room.

Once the short ceremony concluded, Andre accepted the marriage certificate.

Wednesday, March 25, 1997, at 3:45 PM.

Andre de Lafayette and Kang Miran became a legally married couple under the laws of the State of New York. It was a historic day. The day Kang Miran’s legal name changed to Miran de Lafayette.

—

The next morning.

Miran tossed a dose of pain relief and fever medication into her mouth before leaving the hotel room with her colleague.

In the end, she had come down with a severe body ache. It felt as though all the tension she had been carrying for the past three months had suddenly collapsed in on itself.

Last night, Miran and Andre had shared a quiet dinner for two at a restaurant on Barrow Street in the West Village. It was a place known as the “most romantic restaurant in Manhattan,” a gift from Jared along with a bottle of expensive vintage champagne.

However, the moment they stepped out after dinner, her body began to shake uncontrollably. She broke into a cold sweat as a fever spiked. Even though she was on birth control, her lower abdomen throbbed with a dull ache, as if she were about to start her period.