Structural Damage

Chapter 19 - Compromise

Se Ri had been back in Seoul for almost two weeks, while she missed Vermont, she was glad to be home. She had been able to find a happy medium in her relationship with Jeong Hyeok, specifically with their communication since he had gone back to Africa to work on his movie. He was working long hours to make up for the week that he missed while they were in Vermont. And while he had expressed how much he hated the long hours, he did not regret the week they spent together, not even for a brief second. She was working long hours as well, although, instead of doing all the work in the office, she was taking some of it home.

The time difference was still an issue for them, but they worked it out with voicemails, emails, and text messages. The scattered messages throughout the day and the ability to hear each other's voice once in a while closed the gap and made things better. Se Ri had even set her alarm to force herself to be awake at certain times so that she could have real-time phone calls with Jeong Hyeok on the weekends. They were each taking the relationship seriously, they were both happy, and that meant so much.

Work was getting better for Se Ri as well. She had finally filled the General Counsel position, promoting an internal associate named Do Hye Ji. She had also started to pass some things off to other associates, clearing her plate and allowing some of her team members to step up. She had tried to find ways to relieve her stress, and this seemed to be working for her. Myeong Sun had noticed a difference as well. She was relieved to see that her boss was going home every night and no longer sleeping in the office. It meant that things were back to normal.

Well, except Seo Dan's absence, they were back to normal.

Se Ri had been ruminating over the photographs that Cheol Gang had and how she might be able to get out of her situation with him. Early on, she realized that Cheol Gang had not been able to identify the man in the pictures with her. This was to her advantage, obviously. If he had known, the price for his 'hush' money would have been higher. She knew it was risky, but figured she would reach out to Cheol Gang, asking if they could come to some agreement. He would, more than likely, anticipate her doing something like this. After all, she would want to pull out all the stops to save her reputation and keep the pictures from being released.

Calling him was out of the question, she had no desire to hear his voice. She wasn't sure she could maintain her composure. No, it would be best if she had a paper trail, she could cover her ass if she had to. Besides, he was the idiot who emailed her in the first place about the pictures, he was getting sloppy, so might as well exploit his stupidity. She had her personal laptop with her, opening her email program, she decided to go for it and fire off the email.

Recently, you reached out to me, asking to increase your monthly stipend due to some photographs in your possession. You wanted monetary assistance to keep them private and out of the hands of newspapers and tabloids. I am sending this email with a proposal for you, which I hope will be mutually beneficial.

I am aware you are, shall we say, in financial straights. I'm willing to make an offer, one in which I'll make a one-time payment in exchange for all copies of the photographs in question. Of course, I'd need some proof that I am, in fact, in receipt of all of the pictures. And receive assurances that they'll not turn up again somewhere.

The one-time payment would be of $1.5 Million Dollars. This can be done by our standard wire transfer and once paid; your monthly stipend would decrease back to your normal amount.

Please advise if you are accepting of these terms. I look forward to your response.

Yoon Se Ri.

She read the email several times before hitting send. She prayed he would read it and respond quickly. If she could get this off her mind, it could go a long way in reducing the lingering stress she had. It wouldn't eliminate her need for telling Jeong Hyeok about Cheol Gang, but it would mean she wouldn't need to say anything to him about the pictures.