The Masks We Wear

8

Seri sighed, looking at the small notebook she had open on her desk amid the other paperwork. Only the quiet hum of paper rifling and keyboard tapping filled the office this afternoon. Seri had other paperwork to finish, but her mind kept straying back to the small spiral notebook she was staring at now.

As much as she had made fun of Ri Jeong-hyeok for his penchant for report-writing, she herself liked to keep comprehensive notes of her activities – written in her own personal code, of course. On the page in front of her, she had scribbled notes from the night of the recital. It helped her to remember things clearly, and to go back over details if she wanted to.

Seri had arrived early, just a little bit before Jeong-hyeok's parents had taken their seats to the right of hers. Seri had exchanged polite greetings with them before settling down again.

After a while, someone else had lowered himself to the seat to the left of her. "It's Yoon Seri, isn't it?" Mu-hyeok asked, when he had caught a glimpse of her face in the midst of greeting his parents.

"Ne," Seri had answered, dipping her head in greeting.

They had made small talk, nothing consequential enough for Seri to have recorded on her notebook. She only remembered that she had felt quite in character thanks to her new outfit and styling: her hair had been in a tidy updo that day, and she had been wearing a long-sleeved, black tea dress with white lace trims. After some time, his friend Cho Cheol-gang had arrived and sat next to him, and she had overheard a part of their conversation.

"Did you arrive with your parents, Mu-hyeok?"

"No," Mu-hyeok had answered. Seri couldn't help noticing that he had kept perusing the program in his hands.

There was what seemed like a weighted pause before Cho Cheol-gang seemingly changed the topic. "There were murmurs of a meeting in town today. Purported underground freedom fighters."

"Oh?" Mu-hyeok had said, nonchalantly. It was his turn to pause, briefly, before he asked, "Were you part of the operation, Cheol-gang?"

"I shouldn't say anything more than that," Cho Cheol-gang had answered, but it was as clear as if he had said 'yes'.

Over the past day, Seri had mulled over whether this was anything significant. Certainly nothing concrete enough to file a report or to inform Ri Chung-ryeol of. What she debated was whether she should bring this to Jeong-hyeok, or whether it would turn out to be nothing and end up unnecessarily worrying him.

With a decisive huff, Seri snapped her notebook shut and tidied up the papers on her desk. Ri Jeong-hyeok's desk opposite hers was empty at the moment.

"Do any of you know where Captain Ri went?" she asked the others.

Kwang-beom looked up. "I heard him saying he was meeting someone at the park."

People tended to meet up in parks and public places instead of in cafés here. Seri thanked Kwang-beom and made up her mind to tell Ri Jeong-hyeok. At least if anything happened, he wouldn't be caught by surprise. She took her long brown trench coat with her as she left the office, layering it over her outfit to look less conspicuous as she exited the government building.

The park was within a three-block walk. There was a mixture of evergreens and trees with leaves turning red or gold from autumn. Although not a huge park, it made for a pretty sight nonetheless, with public benches placed here and there for strollers to rest and admire the trees.

Seri easily spotted them as she walked into the park. The silhouettes sitting on a bench facing away from the footpath were recognizable even from behind. Ri Jeong-hyeok's broad shoulders rested against one end of the bench, while Seo Dan's slim figure and long, shiny hair rested on the other end. Seri slowed down as she walked closer, wondering if she should return at another time and give them their privacy.