Birthdays!

Preceding a Birthday

Preceding a birthday

Seoul, almost a year after their marriage

(Contains some sexual content)

Jeong-hyeok arrived at the offices of Seri's Choice. It was late, but he was meeting Seri there before they headed to a business reception. He was already wearing his evening dress, but his bowtie was in his pocket. Somehow he could never get it right, but Seri would sort it for him. It was a formal affair with all the top business leaders of Seoul. He wasn't keen on attending these sorts of events, but Seri insisted she had to be there, so he put aside his dislike of business gossip and chitchat. She needed him with her, so of course he would be at her side. At least now he had established himself as a musician, he felt more secure being seen as Seri's husband. Ri Jeong-hyeok, successful pianist, sounded a lot better than Ri Jeong-hyeok, penniless North Korean defector.

He nodded to the security guards in reception and entered the lift. Almost everyone would have left the office by now. They hadn't planned it this way, but some European contacts had wanted to reschedule a meeting and with the difference in time zones, the end of the day was much the best time to pick. So Seri said she would dress at the office instead and he would meet her there. As usual, she had picked one of her designers to style her for the corporate reception; she'd said she was pleased with the result and hinted that he would like it too. As he stood in the lift, he smiled at the thought. Frankly, she looked good in anything. Even if she wore his clothes! In fact, she did look good in his clothes and he smirked a little at the memory of her dressing in his shirt one Sunday morning, a teasing smile on her face. She hadn't worn it long, though.

As he arrived on the executive floor, Seri was there chatting to Secretary Ko, still wearing her office clothes. He greeted Secretary Ko politely as Seri came over and kissed him on the cheek.

"Hello honey. I've had my make-up done, I just need to change. But since you rang, I'd thought I'd wait until you were here. Secretary Ko has been very kind and waited with me; she didn't want to leave me on my own. Everyone else has gone now."

"I'm very grateful, Secretary Ko," he said. "I wouldn't have liked to think you were here alone."

She smiled at him. "Oh, I would have been fine! But I'm glad you're here."

Secretary Ko gathered her bag and coat and wished them both a pleasant evening as she too left the office, and then the two of them headed into Seri's office.

"So, what is this dress like? Are you going to show me?"

"Only when I'm wearing it. I shouldn't take long. Just make yourself comfortable while I change. You can review this portfolio for our latest advertising campaign whilst you wait; tell me what you think."

"Ok, if you like."

While Seri disappeared into her private rest room, leading from her office, he took off his jacket and settled on the sofa to browse through the photographs. He'd made a real effort to understand her world, and she often shared proofs with him for his opinion. She said his opinion brought a different perspective - the ordinary consumer. He wasn't convinced he added that much value, her judgement was so sharp, but he appreciated she involved him in her world, just as he appreciated her efforts to understand his. He went back and forth through the photographs, picking out the ones that stood out most to him.

He'd gone through the photos several times, and come to the end of what he felt he could do with them, but Seri still hadn't finished dressing. What was she doing? He smiled, knowing that she would take a great deal of care with how she looked, knowing she'd be keen to make an impact when she arrived at the venue. But really, she was so beautiful; she didn't need to try this hard! He sat back on the sofa, letting his mind drift over the last few months. It was almost a year since their marriage, incredible to think how much had changed, how wonderful their life together was. Married to the most beautiful woman he knew he would never cease to love and find desirable. His mind wandered over her silky hair, the smile that lit up her eyes that he would do anything to earn. He really would be very happy just to head home right now and have her all to himself. His eyes wandered around the office. This was her territory. Normally when he came here, there was so much going on. It was strange to think they were the only ones here.