Surprise!

Vows - Part 5

Se-ri woke slowly. Warm sunlight on her skin. Cool sheets beneath her. Music dancing lightly in the air. She opened her eyes and frowned at the strange room. A moment of foggy befuddlement. Was someone playing a piano?

Then memory returned, a soft wave crashing in.

Switzerland. Jeong-hyeok. His hands touching her. She smiled. An echo of the night's pleasure shimmered through her. She pulled the bedsheets to her face and giggled with delight beneath them. His scent surrounded her. She breathed him in. She turned her head towards Mu-hyeok's cot, found it empty.

The playful tinkle of piano music matched the happiness humming through her. Curiosity drew her out of bed. A delicious ache throbbed between her legs as she slid her bare feet on to the cool wood floor. She remembered being pressed against the bathroom wall, the solid warmth of Jeong-hyeok's body as he'd driven into her. She slapped a hand against her mouth stifling laughter.

"Se-ri! Get a grip!" She laughed some more. How did he reduce her to this mindless mess after a single night? "Go find your son!" She admonished herself.

She found him in the living room. He sat burrowed in his father's lap, a blanket tucked around him. His eyes were on his father's hands as they danced along the piano keys drawing sweet melodies out of the instrument. Her heart stuttered. Tears welled at the beautiful sight.

As though sensing her, Mu-hyeok turned his head. He spotted her and grinned, his soft baby cheeks rounding. Well shit! The tears spilled over. She swiped them away quickly and smiled back at her son.

Jeong-hyeok turned too, though his hands never missed a note. He smiled at her. Her heart expanded with so much joy and wonder it could barely continue beating. Her legs grew too weak to hold her so she sank down until she sat on the stairs.

*

Jung Sa Ha had forced herself to sleep on the 19-hour flight to Zurich. During the layover before her Bern flight she'd made phone calls.

Ferreting out tiny details, pooling them together to build larger chunks of information that eventually morphed into stories was the bread and butter of journalism. She didn't have the luxury of time, she knew a smattering of English and French and she had barely 50 euros, but she would make it work. She'd start with the basics. Where would Se-ri stay? It would be a high end hotel or private accommodation. The Se-ri's Choice founder wouldn't stomach anything less. Following this hunch she'd called every 5 star hotel within a 90 min drive of the Bern airport pretending to need the VIP penthouse for the week. They were all available which told her all she needed to know.

Next, she'd searched all the house sales within the same radius for the last two years. The information was freely available online as part of a freedom of information provision in the Swiss Charter. Several properties had rung her journalist bell but the most curious was one in a town called Iseltwald bought by an off-shore entity called 'Company of Five'. According to Google maps the town was two hours away. It was outside Jung Sa Ha's golden circle but something about the name pulled at her. The drive would eat up 40 of her precious euros; she wasn't sure what she'd do for money after that but she'd cross that bridge when she reached it. A tingle in her stomach told her she was on the right path. 

The airport intercom announced boarding for her Bern flight.

*

Jeong-hyeok didn't know how it could be possible for Se-ri to look more beautiful, but somehow she did. Her eyes had widened when he'd presented the wedding dress to her. Then she'd kissed his cheek – sending a shock of interest through his body – and shooed him away while she went in search of her sewing machine. An hour later she'd emerged, showered, lightly made up with a touch of pink on her cheeks and mouth, a sunset orange warming her eyes, smelling of wildflowers and in a stunning dress that bore only a passing resemblance to the one he'd bought. It wrapped gracefully around her delicate curves stopping midcalf to reveal her shapely legs. He'd forgotten to buy shoes but Se-ri's Swiss shoe collection was five times larger than all the footwear he owned collectively so that hadn't been a problem. She'd paired the dress with a diamond encrusted pair of baby blue heels that matched the small purse slung over her shoulder. He wondered vaguely whether the diamonds were real, then chuckled to himself. Se-ri was not a woman who preened and draped herself in jewels to impress others. She simply enjoyed beautiful things. She appreciated great craftsmanship and artistry. The diamonds were definitely real.