Jeong-hyeok and Seri have maintained their love and commitment to each other, despite only being together once a year. But will they ever have the opportunity for more than that? Will Jeong-hyeok ever realise his full potential as a musician? Perhap...
As Seri had described to Jeong-hyeok, society life in Seoul often involved the same groups of people. A mix of the rich, famous and successful from the worlds of business, politics, entertainment, sport and the arts. Being successful in one field seemed to crossover into others through sponsorship, patronage and advertising, and social events could become opportunities for new deals or self-promotion. Sometimes a social event was less an opportunity for fun and relaxation, but more an obligation. In the past, Seri had attended many such engagements, building her business contacts, promoting her brand. And, if she was honest with herself, they had been a distraction from her lonely evenings when she was finally done with work. In the last few years she had had less need of empty distractions, but they were still a necessary part of the corporate world. At least the forthcoming event at the art gallery had purpose; supporting an artist she was enthusiastic about.
So, a few weeks after their encounter at the restaurant, Cha Sang-u and Kim Mi-Sun had their next opportunity to observe Seri and Jeong-hyeok. As Seri had predicted, they were at the art exhibition; Cha Sang-u was an old friend of the artist. They had met as students and whilst their career paths were very different they had stayed friends. In fact, it was through Sang-u that the artist Sin Ye-jun had been introduced to Seri, and enabled him to receive the company's sponsorship.
Kim Mi-Sun and Cha Sang-u were sipping their champagne and touring the exhibition when she nudged his arm.
"Look" she said. "I think you've got competition to be the most fashionable man here!"
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
He looked across, and saw that Seri and Jeong-hyeok had arrived. Both of them were very stylishly dressed, Seri's new designers having proved their talent. The pair were receiving a lot of attention, partly from how they looked, partly because Seri was the principal sponsor, and also because there was a certain amount of curiosity about her new husband. As it was a society event, photographers were on hand to record everything and they took many shots of the two together.
Seri and Jeong-hyeok were welcomed by Sin Ye-jun and he introduced them to other organisers of the exhibition and then guided them round. Jeong-hyeok found himself relaxing. He wasn't an art expert by any means, but he had an interest, and it was an opportunity that had been limited whilst he lived in the North. He enjoyed this far more than having his photograph taken, though he knew that Seri was pleased that the event was receiving a lot of media attention. It would be good publicity for Seri's Choice.
Eventually, they had a chance to meet up with Mi-Sun and Sang-u and both couples greeted each other warmly. They chatted about the exhibition and Sang-u was pleased to hear Jeong-hyeok's comments about the work of his friend. Clearly this was a cultured man, despite the constraints of the North.
They moved on to talking about Sang-u's latest acting and music projects. Jeong-hyeok apologised that he wasn't familiar with his work, but now he was here in Seoul he was keen to learn more about the contemporary arts scene.
