The Wind of the Day

Part 3

AN: I'm so sorry this took so long — I had over half chapter done but then Binjin confirmed and it threw me off the writing mood as I could only freak out, lol. But I'm back on track and here we are with part 3! This chapter is set during episodes 10 and 11 of CLOY, with a few differences here and there. Next chapter should feature many things that are different from the show so stay tuned! :)

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It's Sunday night, and Se-ri can't sleep.

This is nothing new to her. She's dealt with insomnia for years, but work usually made it better. Seri's Choice made everything better — she built that empire from scratch, with many late nights of work, and insomnia suddenly didn't become as frequent as before. Probably because she succumbed to exhaustion.

That's why, on certain dates, she made a point of working late. Such as her birthday, Christmas, Chuseok. Working late meant more money to her, extra aours for her team, and a better night of sleep without any nightmares or anything, simply because she would be way too exhausted to think of anything else.

Ironically, she slept very well in North Korea. Sure, she had rough nights filled with worries and concerns, but generally, she slept well, especially when Jeong-hyeok let her have the bed, which was becoming more and more common in the village. And her last nights there, well — two of them were spent with his arms around her, and the other alone in his bed, in his bedroom, filled with his presence. Even in the uncertainty of her being kept captive there, she felt safe in that bedroom, and she slept well.

Coming back, well... it brought insomnia back with fervor.

She refused therapy, something she's been doing for years, not because she didn't think she didn't need it, but because she simply isn't ready to talk about what she experienced in the last few weeks. She isn't ready to talk about him.

So she resorted to going to her regular physician and asking for sleeping pills, which were granted along with a request to go back to therapy. She, after all, disappeared for weeks and had no memory of what happened during that time. It's been a week, and it hasn't gotten any better.

Her bed is warm and comfortable and the air conditioning provides her just the right temperature and her sleeping clothes are of the nicest quality and yet...

Sleep doesn't come. Something is missing.

Se-ri decides to forego the sleeping pills tonight and sits up in bed. She has an early Pilates session in the morning to start Monday well and spent Sunday watching old movies on her own, along with reviewing some material for upcoming products. She also refrained from calling Mr. Hong over five times today — she did tell him yesterday when they were hiking (and unable to see North Korea properly) to get some rest, so she only called him twice about very important matters and received many texts from him asking she was alright.

Se-ri huffs. Of course, she's alright. She's perfectly safe, healthy, wealthy, on her way to get her rightful place in her father's company. The discounts Seri's Choice gave when she got back were a huge success. Se-ri truly can't complain.

But she can't sleep. She checks her phone, ignoring Mr. Hong's latest text, plays three levels of Candy Crush, gets frustrated when she's out of hearts to play more, and sighs.

Time to get up. It's late, but she could use something to eat.

That's something that hasn't returned, unlike insomnia — her appetite. She's even gone to one of the few restaurants she likes, but Se-ri has been surviving on snacks and fast food that she usually can't even finish eating, so if she's hungry now, she might as well do something about it.