What's Next?

Chapter 37 Home

They arrived in Seoul on the coldest day in February.

"I miss the California weather," she said

"Me too" he responded.

They arrived at her house and he opened the door. The first thing she did was to call her mother.

"Se-ri, are you back?"

"Yes, Eomma, we are back. How have you been?"

"Good, the Ris missed you and Jeong hyeok, his mother really missed him.  She can't wait to see her son. Did he have a good time?"

"I think so, we went skiing and he loved it. It is something he wants to do here. He would like to visit again, he made some good friends. Eomma, I will see you this weekend."

He called his parents and spoke to his mother.

"Eomma,"

"Jeong hyeok, you are back, how are you? And Se-ri? I am so happy you are back. Are you well?

"We are well and how are you and Abeoji?"

"We are well, when will we see you?"

"You will see me tomorrow."

The next day Jeong hyeok went to visit his parents, he had so much to tell them.

"Jeong hyeok, you are here," his mother greeted.

"Yes, Eomma, how are you and Abeoji?"

"We are fine, we want to know all about you."

Just then his father entered the room.

"Abeoji, how are you and how are things going?"

"I am good and things are going well. We have good protection and the NIS is looking after us. So, you are back from THERE"

"Yes, and it is nothing like what we learned. I met some wonderful people and best of all Se-ri found her biological mother. And I got a job offer."

"Son, that is wonderful. How did Se-ri meet her biological mother and what job offer did you get?" His mother asked.

"She met her through a friend who introduced her to David, who was born in California but whose parents are Korean. His aunt looked like Se-ri when she was Se-ri's age and there were other similarities, they did a DND test and it was positive. She went there not knowing her biological mother and left knowing her, her brother, sister, aunt and cousins."

"And the job offer?" his mother asked

"James, who is married to Kate, Se-ri's aunt is a composer and he writes the score for movies, television and for special occasions. He introduced me to some directors, producers and I got the job to write the score for a movie."

"Son, that is wonderful. We will have to see the movie. Are you looking forward to composing?"

"Yes, it will be a challenge, but I think I can handle it. I did some movie scoring when I was in the North. It will be different because their technology is so much better than in the North."

"How is Se-ri?" His father asked.

"She is fine, she is happy to meet her biological mother and family. She wants them to visit, they still have family here. And she wants us to continue to ski in the winter. We had a great time on the slopes and it was hard for her to stop skiing. We even skied at night and she would not leave the slopes. She found some places here where we could stay and she would love you to come with us. You don't have to ski, but just to watch the skiers and sit in front of a fireplace.

"Any plans for the future?" his father asked.

"We will get married, she said she does not want to get engaged, just married because I had two

fiancées and she does not want to be the third." His mother laughed.

"Smart girl. I hope you get married soon. It would be nice to have some grand babies." She said.

"Miss Yoon, welcome back," Mr. Hong greeted her on her first day back.

"Mr. Hong, did you miss me?"

He smiled, "Yes and no."

She laughed, "I would too, if I were you. I have some ideas that I would like to go over with you, Mr. Kwon and the team. Let's meet later today."

"Jeong hyeok, how is your day going?" She asked, when she checked in to see how his day was going.

"I am working on the music score, I like what I have done so far, I think you would too. I talked to James today and he liked what I have composed so far."

"I knew you could do it. You are very talented, Jeong hyeok, I am confident in your skills."

He smiled, she was his biggest supporter.

Later that day, she met with Mr. Hong, Mr. Kwon and the team.

"I want to thank you for the great job you did while I was away. There is a bonus for everyone in the company and it has been deposited to your account. An email will be sent out. I want to go over what I learned there. I was surprised, K-food, K-dramas, K-pop, K-beauty, K-cars, are popular. I made some contacts while I was there and they are interested in Se-ris Choice beauty products. We need to do in depth marketing research to see which products would do well."

Her team looked at her.

"Were you able to get kimchi?" Mr. Hong asked.

"Yes, very good kimchi, quid snack, Korean Fried Chicken. I learned to make Kimchi fried rice."

They looked at her, with eyebrows raised.

"I see that look" she said. "I met a very nice American lady who told me that where I lived there were not a lot of restaurant deliveries and that it was important that I learned to cook, so she taught me."

They looked at her and Mr. Hong asked, "What else did you learn to cook?"

She looked at them and laughed. "You would be surprised, roast chicken, and I know how to carve the chicken. Chow mein, scrambled eggs, hardboiled eggs, fried eggs, avocado toast, roasted vegetables, spaghetti sauce, pasta carbonara. I had to learn so I wouldn't starve. The grocery store I went to had great frozen foods, including Korean food. I did not starve."

They were still looking at her in disbelief. "Would you teach my wife how to roast a chicken?" Mr. Kwon asked.

"Sure, would anyone else like to learn?"

All the hands went up. "Good, let's set a date." She smiled at her team and ended the meeting.