Wind of Change (Crash Landing On You fanfic)

Part 2

Mr Hong seemed nervous when he entered Se-ri's office the next day, but so was Se-ri.

Just a little nervous. Exhilaration bore her up.

This isn't certain yet, she reminded herself. The end of the first trimester was a month off and she'd looked up all the statistics about how common miscarriages were, especially among women her age.

But:

This is fate, said the voice inside her. The voice of the spring of joy that had bubbled up last night, that lived in her now, in defiance of all reason and common sense.

The conviction that all would go as she desired was illogical, of course. But Se-ri had so often benefited from the workings of an absurdly benevolent fate. It made as much sense to trust in fate now as it had when she'd travelled to Switzerland year on year, hoping somehow to bump into Jeong-hyeok; when she'd thrown herself off a cliff and eventually landed at his feet.

"Mr Hong," she said, with a smile. "I wanted you to be the first to know. I'm pleased to tell you that I am expecting a child. I estimate that I am nine weeks along, but I have a medical appointment shortly so we should have confirmation soon enough."

Mr Hong's face froze. It was a familiar expression. When had Se-ri last seen it? Of course, when he'd had to tell her that her clandestine relationship with Shin Yeong-woong had been leaked in a series of spectacularly unflattering photographs.

Poor Mr Hong. Se-ri had been so good the past few years; he must have been starting to think he was safe from scandals.

"I've been feeling for some time that I am ready to start a new stage of my life," said Se-ri. "So I investigated the options and I was fortunate that the IUI procedure was successful." She crossed her arms, assuming a contemplative expression. "Of course I recognise this will come as a surprise to many people. They may fear it will mean a period of upheaval for the business. However, you know I view every challenge as an opportunity for improvement. I believe Seri's Choice will come out of this even stronger than before."

She uncrossed her arms and put her hands on the desk. "How was that?"

Mr Hong took a moment to return from whatever uncanny universe the revelation had transported him to.

"It's, uh, it's a good start," he said. He patted his jacket vaguely, still looking shellshocked. "Sorry, I should have taken a note."

"I've got a draft I can share with you," said Se-ri. "Obviously we will not be providing details of the fertility clinic or the sperm donor. You may trust that the legalities have been handled appropriately. By law, I will be the only parent. And it goes without saying, Mr Hong, that until go-live of the official announcement, this is strictly confidential. This news is not to go beyond these four walls till then, not even to others within the company."

This offended Mr Hong enough that he began to come back to life.

"You don't need to tell me that, Ms Yoon," he said, injured. "But ... "

"Yes?"

"Should I prepare a press release in English?" he said.

Se-ri blinked. "Do you think there will be international interest?" Seri's Choice had stores abroad, of course, but Se-ri herself could only be considered a celebrity in South Korea. As her experience north of the 38th parallel had proved, she enjoyed perfect anonymity everywhere else.

"Well, your holidays in Switzerland," said Mr Hong. "I assume that was when you ... If the fath – if the donor is a foreigner, that may draw attention overseas."

"Oh," said Se-ri. She hadn't actually thought of claiming the fertility clinic was in Switzerland, but that would make sense. She reminded herself to give Mr Hong a raise. "I don't know much about the donor myself – the clinic was careful to withhold identifying details. But from what I know, he's nobody who would cause that kind of interest."

"Ah," said Mr Hong, nodding. He'd produced a pen and a small notebook, in which he made a note. "Good."

"We will need to hire cover," said Se-ri. "I am planning to be out of the office for three months from the birth. Of course, I place the utmost confidence in you and the Board, but I'm aware your capacity is already stretched. But we can discuss all of that in due course."

Se-ri leaned forward. "I was thinking, it's a good time to refresh our maternity wear. It hasn't received enough attention and it's starting to look a little tired. We'll need to move quickly if we're to launch a new collection in time for me to wear it. It's a golden marketing opportunity, we shouldn't waste it."

"Of course," said Mr Hong, scribbling.

"And you know I've been wanting to overhaul our HR policies for a while," said Se-ri. "Don't you think we should improve our parental leave offering? We should at least be providing full pay for the whole period of statutory leave. And I think it would be innovative to extend paternity leave beyond the legal minimum. If we play it right, we should get some good international coverage for that."

"Yes," said Mr Hong, but he had stopped writing. He was giving her a funny look.

"What?" Se-ri touched her hair, but that seemed fine. Was she wearing her top inside out or something?

"Congratulations, Ms Yoon," said Mr Hong. "I'm sorry, I was so surprised I forgot to say it. But I am very happy for you."

His sincerity could not be doubted. Se-ri looked down. Her vision was suddenly unaccountably blurry.

"Thank you," she said.