Twisted Rope

At Lori's

In her basement studio, the fashion designer Lori Taylor had kept them occupied all morning.

Seri knew the designer had made a name for herself as an emerging talent at the last New York Fashion Week, but she was only just extending her profile beyond the US. Seri was keen to develop contact with her at an early stage. The studio wasn't set up for public visits: there was no shop front or glitzy reception; it was small and functional. But Seri didn't mind that. She was interested in the designer and her designs, not how pretty the showroom was.

Lori was keen to talk about her inspiration for her latest collection and was willing to give Seri and the girls a preview of the fabrics, cut and mood of her designs. She had clearly done her research, realised that Seri could be a major partner for her in the East Asian market, and was keen to impress. The girls were an enthusiastic audience too, asking pertinent questions. Seri could see that they connected with the young designer's style and that boded well for a future launch in Korea. Lori hadn't been approached by anyone else in the region. Seri's Choice could be the first to host the designs. She was pleased with that and she felt confident that she and Lori could do business together.

"Thank you so much Lori, I really appreciate the time you have given us this morning. I am definitely interested in taking things forward and I will ask my purchasing manager to get in contact to see what we can agree. We can offer the biggest platform in East Asia for your designs, so I hope we can arrange a suitable partnership."

"I am very pleased to hear that, Ms Yoon. It would be fantastic to work with you. And I really appreciate you taking the time out of your holiday to see me. I hope your daughters will accept a gift from me, items from my recent collection." She handed two gift wrapped packages to Ka-youn and Yeji, who both looked delighted.

"That's very kind, thank you. I think we had better leave now, though. We need to re-join my husband."

As they walked towards the door of the basement studio, their mobiles started to ping, signalling notifications being picked up.

"Yes, I'm sorry about that," said Lori. "The mobile and Wi-Fi reception down here is terrible."

"It doesn't matter," said Seri. "I wouldn't have wanted us to be interrupted, anyway." At that moment, her mobile started ringing. Looking at it, she saw it was Park Hyun-ki. She answered.

"Seri! Thank goodness! Are you ok? Where are you? Are the girls with you?"

"Yes," said Seri, puzzled by his tone. "We're just leaving Lori's. Is everything ok?"

"Stay at Lori Taylor's. Don't go out onto the street. It isn't safe."

"What? What's going on?"

"Oh, Seri, I'm so sorry. There's been an assassination attempt on Jeong-hyeok. He's alive but injured."

Seri's face was ashen, her mind reeling. This couldn't be true.

"Eomma, what is it?" asked Ka-youn.

"What happened, where is he?" Seri could only focus on Hyun-ki's voice, but she groped the air, feeling unsteady, trying to grasp onto one of the girls. Ka-you gripped her hand as the girls looked in alarm at each other and Seri, wondering what was going on.

"He's on his way to hospital, I'm heading there too," said Hyun-ki. "Someone tried to stab him. But Seri, there was poison on the knife."

"Poison! But he is ok isn't he? Tell me he's ok." The panic was rising and rising, shock and fear slamming into her, her voice demanding to know but her whole being resistant to any other answer. He had to be alright, he just had to be.