It's Way Too Late To Stay Locked Up Inside Ourselves

Five Months Later

Jeong-hyeok took stock of himself in the mirror.

The man staring back at him was half dressed in a tuxedo shirt and pants with his hair slicked back. Jeong-hyeok almost didn't recognize himself as he shifted uncomfortably in the formal attire. He straightened his shoulders and tried to imagine standing in front of Yoon Se-ri like this. Then a bolt of anticipation tore through him.

Tonight. I will finally see her tonight.

He rocked back on his heels. Five months ago Jeong-hyeok had forced himself to walk away from her. He winced at the memory even now. The image of Se-ri wrapped in a sheet and on the verge of tears had haunted him ever since. How he had hated himself. Gritting his teeth, Jeong-hyeok turned up the starched collar of his shirt sharply as if it were a punishment. He slid the black silk fabric of the bowtie around his neck but then his fingers stilled. The ends dangled, momentarily falling to an irrational rebellion against tying a single other thing around his neck. That day of bitter regret had proven fateful indeed. It was why Jeong-hyeok was standing in this ornate room dressing in a tuxedo for the first time in his life.

Today he had become the son of one of the most powerful men in the country. But only Jeong-hyeok knew that the woman he loved was the reason why. Before the debate, he had pulled his father aside and, out of necessity, delivered Se-ri's advice as if it were his own. It had changed everything. First, it catapulted his father into a five point lead from which he never looked back. But it also fundamentally altered the dynamic between father and son. The idea to pull back on attacks had been the opposite of what his staff advised. And yet his father listened anyway. Now Ri Chung-ryeol depended on Jeong-hyeok as never before. He had spent the last two months serving on the transition team preparing for his father's inauguration and new administration. Jeong-hyeok was grateful for this new measure of respect between them. But it also filled him with trepidation given his intentions for the future.

His father's success had also catapulted Jeong-hyeok into unprecedented scrutiny. The press was fascinated by the outsider family now occupying the official residence— a tragic story of loss and the novelty of maverick policy positions assured more public interest than usual in politics. Social media speculation about the personal life of the handsome but mysteriously single nation's first son had become a new pastime. Yoon Se-ri was still occasionally linked to his name among other women that Jeong-hyeok had never even met. And while he was back in the city full time, the Ri family now required mandatory security wherever they went. This perfect storm meant that the anticipated three months of putting off his life as he wanted to live it had now stretched into five. Jeong-hyeok leaned in closer and frowned at the dark circles under his eyes. He had been at a breaking point when he last saw Se-ri; now Jeong-hyeok could only describe himself as numb. If did not love her so desperately, he would allow himself to question whether he was worth this kind of sacrifice.

Jeong-hyeok shook his head at the surrealness of this all. Tonight's gala was the last official event of the inauguration. When the inaugural committee members had proposed honoring the country's charities to raise money for child hunger, his father had agreed immediately. Ri Chung-ryeol was eager to focus the celebrations beyond the usual chaebols and lobbyists.

But it had also created an opportunity that Jeong-hyeok could not have fathomed a year ago as he sat in the planning meeting. Se-ri's scholarship fund was now a national phenomenon. There was no question that one of the nation's leading philanthropists under forty would be on that list. When his father approved the list wholesale, Jeong-hyeok had nearly fallen out of his chair. After a year of separation because of who they were to the world, Ri Jeong-hyeok and Yoon Se-ri would now be in the same room because of it.

Jeong-hyeok took a deep breath and began trying to tie the loose ends of silk. His fingers felt thick and clumsy. After four tries, he grew exasperated and petulantly threw it on the ground. He was tired of wearing suits. He was tired of events. He was tired of all of this. And so Jeong-hyeok momentarily gave up and sat down on the bed in frustration. He looked around the ornate room and felt a chill rather than awe. This was where his parents would spend the next five years. The trappings of his father's new life looked suspiciously similar to those whom he spent a lifetime attacking. Everything about it made him want to run away.