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About 15 minutes by car from Cannes, the small village of Mougins was renowned among food enthusiasts for its exceptional restaurants. As soon as Hee-soo stepped into the town where Picasso had spent his final years, she exclaimed that coming here was a great idea.
The couple first visited an art museum at the entrance of the village, admiring paintings before walking hand in hand along sun-drenched streets.
Known as a hub for art and gastronomy, the town overflowed with sights to see around every corner.
Narrow alleyways lined with pale beige stone walls housed unique ateliers. Jae-hyuk and Hee-soo wandered into each one, marveling at the impressive works of unknown artists.
“Hee-soo, can you stand here for a moment?”
Walking along a shaded wall covered in ivy, Jae-hyuk stopped and gestured for Hee-soo to join him. The spot was framed by lush green vines.
“Let’s take a picture. We don’t have many outdoor photos together.”
In Korea, they always had to avoid public attention, so most of their photos were taken indoors.
Under the cascading sunlight, with vibrant green leaves as their backdrop, they took several selfies in quick succession.
As they were taking pictures, a middle-aged man emerged from a nearby shop. After watching them for a moment, he approached with a warm smile.
“Would you like me to take a photo for you?”
The man wore a white apron, resembling a stereotypical baker from a cartoon poster. He had just opened his shop and was placing a signboard outside when he noticed them.
“Thank you,” Jae-hyuk replied, recognizing the man’s French and handing over his phone. Surprised but pleased, the baker gave a thumbs-up.
“You two look wonderful together. Are you married? You resemble each other.”
“Not yet, but we will be soon,” Jae-hyuk answered confidently. By then, the sound of multiple shutter clicks could already be heard from the phone.
“Take a look—do you like them? Come to think of it, I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere…” the man said, tilting his head thoughtfully before leaning closer to whisper discreetly.
“If you walk down this road for about ten minutes, there’s a small, beautiful restaurant surrounded by flowers. It’s perfect for a proposal. Give it a try. If they say they’re not taking reservations, mention my name and say I sent you. Remember the bakery’s name. Haha.”
After winking and giving another enthusiastic thumbs-up, the man chuckled contentedly and returned to his shop.
“What did he say?” Hee-soo asked, having missed the exchange while standing beside Jae-hyuk.
“He recommended a great restaurant nearby and said we look alike.”
“Really? That’s funny. He looked so cute, like a character from an old video game.”
“What kind of game?”
“You know—the ones where chubby men with beards hop around… Hmm, I can’t remember the name.”
“Oh, I think I know what you mean, but I can’t recall either.”
Laughing about their forgotten game reference, they continued walking.
True to the baker’s words, after about ten minutes, a striking restaurant appeared around the corner.
Its yellow stone walls were adorned with an abundance of flowerpots. Jae-hyuk immediately recognized it as one of the most famous spots in the area.
“Shall we have lunch here?”
“Do we need a reservation? It looks popular.”
“Let’s trust the man’s advice.”
Jae-hyuk entered and spoke to the manager, mentioning the baker they’d met earlier. Miraculously, after flipping through a packed reservation list, the manager promptly added Jae-hyuk’s name.
“They actually took our reservation!”
“How strange.”
Thrilled by this unexpected stroke of luck, the couple waited briefly outside the restaurant.
The Mediterranean in May carried the freshness of early summer. They sat on chairs near the entrance, watching passersby.
“Hee-soo, let’s go inside.”
When the manager finally came out to inform them their table was ready, Jae-hyuk stood up and called Hee-soo. However, she seemed distracted, her gaze fixed elsewhere.
Following her line of sight, Jae-hyuk looked up.
A group of young girls, perhaps five or six years old, walked by holding small bouquets of wildflowers.
Hee-soo stared at them intently, unable to tear her eyes away.
“Hee-soo?”
“Oh, did you call me?”
“Yes. Let’s go inside.”
Though Jae-hyuk gently guided her forward, he glanced back once more at the scene that had captivated Hee-soo.
The little girls, their hair braided into pigtails, were slowly disappearing into the distance.
The meal exceeded their expectations.
It began with scallops adorned with caviar, followed by sorbet for palate cleansing, and a dish of beef topped with truffle foam—a proper gourmet experience.
Usually cautious about her figure, Hee-soo relaxed completely, savoring each bite without restraint.
Meanwhile, Jae-hyuk found himself preoccupied, replaying the image of those children in his mind as he ate slowly.
As dessert arrived toward the end of the course, Jae-hyuk gently called Hee-soo’s name.
“Hee-soo.”
Looking up after tasting her dessert, Hee-soo tilted her head. “Hmm? What is it?”
“Let’s watch Paradise Lost together.”
“Suddenly?”
“It’s not exactly sudden… To be honest, I’ve watched it several times. But every time, it broke my heart. Seeing you cry on screen felt like you were crying right in front of me.”
“It was… tough. It wasn’t long after everything happened.”
Though Hee-soo appeared calm listening to Jae-hyuk’s words, he decided to take another step forward.
“That’s why I want to watch it with you. I feel like I haven’t properly heard your story about that time.”
As expected, no sooner had Jae-hyuk finished speaking than Hee-soo’s eyes began to glisten with unshed tears.
Hee-soo was aware that Jae-hyuk knew all the facts about her past. However, they had never truly sat down to have a proper conversation about what had happened back then.
Hee-soo hadn’t brought it up because she considered it a thing of the past, while Jae-hyuk avoided mentioning it, believing it was a painful chapter in her life.
But today, seeing Hee-soo so captivated by the sight of children, Jae-hyuk made a decision.
It wasn’t just today—Hee-soo often couldn’t tear her eyes away from children whenever she saw them. At first, he thought it was coincidental, but after noticing this pattern repeatedly, Jae-hyuk began to suspect it had something to do with her past miscarriage.
Still, he lacked the courage to bring it up directly.
Her painful history—the parts he didn’t know about—weighed heavily on him. Though he wanted to understand, perhaps he had been too afraid to hear the details. The events of that time were horrifying, and the thought of how he had once blamed her without knowing the truth filled him with shame.
If there was anyone in the world who could listen to her story, share her emotions, or understand the scars she carried from that period, it had to be him.
After all, he was the one who would walk alongside her through her past, present, and future.
Jae-hyuk wanted to hear her perspective—to know how difficult it had been, how much pain she endured, and to share in the emotions that still lingered within her.
If Hee-soo’s gaze was still drawn to children, then he, too, needed to face it alongside her.
Everything about Hee-soo had become as important to him as his own life.
With that in mind, Jae-hyuk carefully explained the thoughts he had been mulling over for so long.
“...So, if you’re okay with it, I thought we could watch it together. But if it’s too hard, we don’t have to.”
“Ah…”
Hearing his words, Hee-soo cried endlessly. Tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
There was a time when even seeing the title Paradise Lost would make her burst into tears. Eventually, though, she stopped crying and instead turned to drinking beer alone at home on gloomy days, watching the movie as a way to comfort herself.
Jae-hyuk’s offer to listen to everything—to truly understand—felt like releasing emotions she had kept buried deep inside for so long.
“…Okay. Yes.”
Hee-soo couldn’t say much more and simply nodded quietly.
That night, the two returned to their hotel room and watched Paradise Lost together.
As she watched the film after such a long time, Hee-soo cried profusely. Tears she thought had dried up flowed ceaselessly as she leaned into Jae-hyuk’s arms.
Seeing her younger self on screen brought back vividly the emotions and memories from that time.
By the end of the movie, Hee-soo began recounting the memories of that day, piece by piece. Jae-hyuk listened intently, sometimes sighing, sometimes tearing up himself, as he held her hand tightly.
They rewound the movie several times, revisiting certain scenes and repeating stories, naturally falling into conversation until they both drifted off to sleep.
And that night, for the first time, Hee-soo fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.
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