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Author notes: I said no more multi chapters, but never say never. This story was born out of Hyun Bin's video for Crocodile Men. We'll see where it takes me but in any case, thank you again to chumchururum  (@chummychurri on Twitter)   for this superb cover which perfectly conveys the atmosphere I had in mind. Thank you for your patience, your time and your generosity ❤️
I apologize in advance for the typos that might have escaped my many re-readings.

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Seri watched the messages appear one after the other, in an endless succession that had started as soon as she had stepped off the plane and taken off the airplane mode. She had been in the taxi for an hour, and the messages still kept flowing at a disconcerting speed.

"Did they hire people just to write to me?" she grumbled, pressing on delete for the umpteenth time.

The taxi driver gave her a curious look in the rearview mirror, before returning his attention to the road.

Seri ignored him and sighed wearily.

It was always the same speech, the same reproaches, the same arguments.

Where are you? You can't run away from your responsibilities like that, that's so easy for you, you're so selfish, grow up, will you?

"That's rich coming from you, oppa ..."

The driver looked at her again. She should probably stop talking alone...

Maybe she should turn off her phone? Or change her number? Or throw it at the bottom of one of these magnificent turquoise lakes below the road?

No, she couldn't realistically do that, Seri's Choice needed her and her assistant had to be able to reach her any time, for the time it would take for her to sort out what she had to do, before returning to Seoul. Blocking their numbers was obviously useless, they probably could borrow the phones of everyone they met.

In thirty two years of life, they had never spoken to her as much as since the death of their grandfather three months earlier.

We need to talk about what you're planning to do. Don't you dare ignore this message!

She snorted, annoyed.

"Try me ..."

She turned off her phone, and leaned back in her seat with a sigh, her head against the cold window, her eyes closed.

Mr. Hong would know how to handle anything without her, she was paying him for that after all. She trusted him, and nothing bad could happen in a matter of a few hours .... right?

She opened her eyes again, her gaze lost in the waters that sparkled many shades of blue under a warm, golden, autumn sun. The combination of snow-capped peaks, mountains whose trees had turned in shades of yellow, ocher, and brown, and crystal-clear waters, made it look like they were driving into a full-scale postcard ... and that feeling was probably the same no matter the season, as the landscape was absolutely majestic.

But Seri especially loved fall. She loved the softness that emanated from this season, she loved the colors, and the feeling that nature was slowly falling asleep for a well-deserved rest. She was envious sometimes, longing for a moment when she would be able to just shut everything out and regenerate herself until spring found her again.

But she had a moto, "You sleep when you die", and she had to live by it, it had been her way to survive and to thrive for so many years.

She didn't know what to expect, she had only come once to Switzerland, in Geneva, to receive an award for the most promising young entrepreneurs, a few years ago. She hadn't taken the time to visit the country then, as her young, growing business needed her full time. She had vaguely marveled at the beauty of Lake Geneva, before hopping in a taxi to the airport. This part of the country, the Bernese Oberland, was completely unknown to her, and until recently, she didn't even know it existed.

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