Another Life With You

The Song for Seri

One week later

The lobby, with its monotone decor and clean corners, was a familiar sight to Jeong-hyeok. As he entered the lift, his hand automatically rose to the button of Seri's floor without conscious thought. Her apartment door, with its odd, technological door lock, was as welcoming a door as his own. So what was this sense of hesitation sitting heavy in his chest as he stood in front of that very door?

Perhaps it was the brief message he'd gotten from his colleague as the fellow bodyguard handed off his duties for Jeong-hyeok's first day back to work:

Daepyonim hasn't set foot outside of her apartment the entire week. No sign of visitors, expected or otherwise. I usually ring the doorbell in the morning to let her know I'm on watch and stay in the corridor the rest of the day.

The last he remembered seeing Seri was her worried face through the car window as he jumped out to dash in his apartment building, and then her look of shock standing by her car as the emergency responders wheeled Seo Dan to the ambulance.

Gu Seung-jun had still been a frequent visitor at the hospital, and yesterday as Seo Dan was discharged, the man had visited their apartment with takeaway food for dinner. Over the course of Seo Dan's hospital stay, they had somehow become a cosy trio. They never spoke about it, but Jeong-hyeok knew that Seo Dan felt as relieved as he did from Gu Seung-jun's company. It wasn't just that his presence meant they could avoid further discussion about their engagement; Seung-jun brought much-needed levity to the solemn atmosphere that always hung between Jeong-hyeok and Seo Dan.

From Seung-jun, Jeong-hyeok had learned that Seri's Choice stockholders had been hurriedly selling since news of Seri's dismissal as Queen's Group Chairlady. And it seemed that yesterday morning, a mystery buyer had managed to acquire the majority of Seri's Choice's shares, enough to have a controlling interest.

Thinking back on what she had shared with Cha Sang-u, and that it might be more fragile beneath her hard shell than people thought, Jeong-hyeok wasn't sure what state he would find Yoon Seri in. He rang the doorbell. For a long time, there was no sign of acknowledgement. He was about to ring again when her voice came through the intercom: "Ne, Ri Jeong-hyeok ssi. I'll be in my apartment for the whole day. Thanks for your hard work." And then that seemed to be it.

Unsatisfied, knowing he was crossing a professional boundary, Jeong-hyeok pressed the doorbell again. And again, when there was no response.

Finally, the handle shifted, and the door opened a crack. He could see half of Seri's face peeking through. The one eye he could see looked shadowed. "What is it, Ri Jeong-hyeok ssi?" she said.

"I wanted to see for myself that you're doing okay after everything that happened," he said.

She was silent for a moment. Then she stepped back and opened the door wider.

He had seen the inside of her apartment a handful of times, while conducting extra security checks or helping to carry things in. It looked much the same now – the colourful living room was tidily kept, the metallic kitchen counters looking as shiny and unused as they usually did. Jeong-hyeok had admittedly expected visible signs of unhappiness. Dishes piled up in the sink, or the curtains pulled tight and casting the living room in darkness. Instead, Seri's apartment was as bright and immaculate as always.

Seri herself was neatly dressed, if more casually than he was used to, in a long skirt and soft sweater, hair gathered up in a bun. She watched his quiet appraisal. "Better than the rumours would have you think?" she asked, walking over to the kitchen and placing her hands on the counter. Even though she held her chin up defiantly, and her gaze on his was bright and challenging, Jeong-hyeok still caught traces of weariness in the line of her shoulders and the set of her mouth.