Ever After

Benefit

They had only spent two days, or more like one-and-a-half, together. The degree to which Seri found herself missing Jeong-hyeok didn't seem to correspond to that short time. And yet, the following day felt hollow without him.

Since he had practice sessions with the orchestra throughout the day, Seri spent her time on video conferences, following up on ongoing projects, and replying work emails. She took some breaks to exercise and eat, but part of her was just biding the time until evening when she could see him at the fundraiser, even if it had to be from afar. Anything was better than nothing – and she had had three whole years of nothing.

"Hair up or down?" she murmured to herself as she put makeup on, vacillating between the two before finally deciding on an updo.

"Definitely heels," she said, slipping on the black stilettos she always brought on trips, whether or not she'd need them.

"And just a bit of liquid courage," she grabbed a horrendously overpriced little bottle of alcohol from the hotel's minibar. She took a swig, then instantly regretted it and put the tiny bottle aside.

The fundraiser was being held in another hotel nearby. The banquet hall was already buzzing with people mingling and looking for their seats when Seri entered. She took a moment to find her table. There were a few people that she had come across before – one or two from shared charity work, some from social events, and a South Korean diplomat from the Swiss-based embassy who had helped her often with her charity's Swiss projects.

"Park Byung-hoon ssi, it's always nice to see you again," she greeted as she took her seat next to him, giving him a bow.

"Ah, the always youthful Yoon Seri," he said, standing up to return the bow. "I didn't know you were in Zurich until I saw your name on the seating plan! What brings you to Switzerland this time?"

"Oh, just a personal trip. I've found myself falling in love with the country."

They made light chitchat as everyone else settled into their seats. Seri hoped that she wasn't being too obvious as she glanced casually around the room. She finally spotted what seemed to be North Korean orchestra's table. Jeong-hyeok and Seo Dan stood out like sore thumbs, both standing tall and sleek in their eveningwear as they chatted to various people in their group.

Jeong-hyeok had his social façade on, speaking with a fixed smile on his face, gesturing more than he usually did. He was even holding a glass of wine. But now that Seri could observe more closely, she could see that it was a deliberate sort of merriment, something he had to willfully keep up.

We're strangers, she reminded herself, looking away and fixing her hair.

"That's the State Symphony Orchestra of DPRK," Park Byung-hoon said conspiratorially, having caught her staring. "I hear that they don't use sheet music when they play. Everything from memory, would you believe it?"

"Really?" Seri said, genuinely impressed with this factoid. "I wonder why."

"Sheet music might be hard to come across. But they've been touring internationally more often as of late. Part of some international relations scheme, perhaps?" He shrugged.

"That's interesting," Seri mused, mind spinning with the possibilities. "I wonder if we could help in any way? Musical talent should be shared with the world."

As the dinner course progressed, she couldn't help glancing over every once in a while. Jeong-hyeok looked so dapper in his tuxedo jacket, Seri was sure she wasn't the only woman in the room whose eyes were drawn to him.

He would catch her looking every once in a while, and he would send her the briefest, most impassive look before returning to whatever conversation he was in the middle of. Even that would tickle Seri's fancy.