All of My Days

16

Friends.

Seri uttered the word, looking at her reflection in the steamed-up mirror after her shower the next morning, feeling the taste of it on her tongue.

Friendly colleagues. Work friends.

OK, she nodded to herself. She could do that.

After all, she had many work friends.

Shelley, for one. But she's a woman, that's different. They wouldn't be able to joke the same way.

Ashley then? He was friendly. They've shared quite a few pints of beer over the past year.

Seri wrinkled her forehead, trying to picture sharing a beer with Jeong Hyeok in a similar fashion, but her thoughts went astray.

No, not Ashley then.

Jack? She pondered as she reached her office later that morning.

No, not Jack either. That guy was too flirty.

She went about her day, her thoughts drifting back to the concept of work friends every now and then. She navigated the building, going from one meeting to the other, spotting her work friend's tall frame around the corner, leaving the office or coming back, sometimes catching a glance or a lopsided grin. Painfully aware of his presence, even out of sight, she waited for him to approach her, send a message, or... anything, really.

She considered inviting him for lunch then, because work friends do that, right? But Shelley and Janet got her first, and she could not refuse.

Seri grabbed a coffee with her assistant after, dropped the girl off at the office with some tasks to do, and headed back to the lunchroom. She did not even need to scan the space to know he was there, the jitters in her stomach being the best sign of all.

Seri lowered herself on the couch across the table from him and mumbled a shy "Hi."

"Hi," he said, wiping his hands on a paper towel. He just finished his lunch and Seri noticed that it must have been last night's dinner leftovers.

"Dan is a good cook," she took a sip of her coffee, "Thank her for dinner again for me."

Jeong Hyeok looked at her, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Dan is very good at microwaving and setting the table," he chuckled. "I cooked the dinner."

Seri's eyebrows flew up in surprise.

"Oh... Thank you then."

He nodded. "Not a problem."

The way he uttered the words, the phrase making total sense in Korean, yet sounding somewhat foreign, reminded her again of his home country. Now that they spoke Korean to each other, it stood out to her, his accent, and she didn't know if it was the timbre of his voice, the words he was choosing, or the taste of North Korea in him that brought shivers down her spine.

She looked at him, trying to picture him there... with her limited knowledge of the Northern neighbor, the only image she could come up with was the military uniform. He must have looked good it in, she pondered, the khaki tone complimenting his slightly tanned skin, the captain's hat highlighting his sharp jawline...

He shifted slightly in his seat under her scrutinizing gaze and reached to get something out of his blazer inner pocket.

"I have something for you," he said and extended his hand to her with a small folded piece of paper.

Was that a note? A letter?

Seri moved her eyes between his face and his hand, holding her breath, the fluttering in her stomach intensifying.