Another Life With You

Deja Vu

Edelweiss Studios was a small company, only a little over a year old. Tucked away in a largely residential neighbourhood, it occupied a small, two-story house which contained a workspace for its five employees (including the recently employed Ri Jeong-hyeok), a recording booth with all the equipment and musical instruments, and a meeting room.

The name had sealed the deal for Jeong-hyeok; a memento of his Switzerland days, when he had been most immersed in music. The studio made its living mainly through video game companies' commissions, which had Ri Jeong-hyeok hesitating to apply for the job in the beginning. But he had looked up some of their work on the day before the job interview and was pleasantly surprised by their musical portfolio. Some of the scores were grand enough to be concert performance pieces, against the expectations he had had of video game music. What he wouldn't tell anyone was that he had purchased one of the video games right after and had spent the rest of his evening clicking away in front of his computer screen.

So far, two weeks in, Jeong-hyeok had only worked on bits and pieces of the other employees' projects. He got along well with them since they were all mostly in their thirties' and forties. Jeong-hyeok enjoyed this new way of life which stood in such contrast to his days as a soldier or as a bodyguard. He could while away the day making up phrases on the piano, or recording for existing projects in the sound booth, and this counted as work. Jeong-hyeok could hardly believe it.

Even as he began to find a new lightness within himself, from being able to play the piano every day, there was the contrasting dark guilt which still weighed Jeong-hyeok down. What kind of son abandoned his parents and his country while enjoying the frivolous privilege of making music for video games?

Cho Cheol-gang's words echoed in his mind: "He knows nothing of loyalty, of dignity, of honour." The airy, delicate tune he had been playing on the piano grew dark and ugly. Jeong-hyeok lifted his fingers from the keys and sat back.

"That took a turn," Jeong-hyeok turned to find his boss standing behind him. The man had entered the room quietly; Jeong-hyeok wondered how long he had been there.

"Apologies. I got caught up in listening," his boss smiled bashfully. "I hope this isn't too out of the blue, Ri Jeong-hyeok ssi, but you have a potential client waiting in the meeting room for you. I understand if you think it's too sudden. Given that it will be your first client meeting as well, I could take it myself this time if you want. I only received an email about it last night and was still thinking about how to answer today when she suddenly turned up."

With a creeping suspicion of just who this mysterious first client could be, Jeong-hyeok shook his head and stood. "That's alright. I'll go meet her now."

"Good luck," his boss said.

Jeong-hyeok paused in front of the meeting room door to gather his composure, then reached for the handle and gently eased the door open.

As expected, Yoon Seri sat inside, legs crossed and back straight, the same way she sat in her own meeting rooms. He could tell that she had just come from Seri's Choice by her outfit: sharply drawn eye makeup, carefully styled hair, and an expensive-looking pencil dress.

She looked up. Their eyes locked. Jeong-hyeok remained silent as he walked to the chair beside her. He pulled it out so he would face her as he sat down. The last time he had seen her was at the NIS headquarters, when they had only exchanged greetings. Even though she had dismissed him from Seri's Choice so suddenly, even though she hadn't contacted him in between, Jeong-hyeok hadn't felt at all frustrated or lost. The knowledge that she would find him again had been steady and unshakeable inside him. Was this what it felt like to have faith?