Yoon Seri posts an inquiry about the mysterious piano song she heard in Iseltwald on an Internet forum and an anon commenter picks it up.
A Crash Landing on You AU fiction. #serihawky
Illustration by @chummychurri (Twitter)
Cover design by @edelweir...
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February 28, 2021 10:30 PM Hakone, Grand Inter Continental Seoul, Gangnam
Plummeting stocks, labor union threats, and an impending arrest, the future of Queens Group did not bode too well. Investors worried about the company's prospects, even as the legal and PR team had been hard at work at Seoul's courts to reject the allegations against Chairman Yoon Jeung-pyeong. A management restructuring was inevitable to salvage a conglomerate firmly embedded in the country's economy.
In an urgent meeting held by the chairman in one of the Japanese restaurant's exclusive private rooms, Jeung-pyeong listened to solutions. The board of directors were unanimous in nominating a new chairman: his younger son Yoon Se-hyeong. He was the most capable for the position and the one they all supported.
The chairman did not give a ready answer, he rarely did in those kinds of gatherings. The directors were the first to leave, leaving him to simmer with his tea and his salmon plate that was hardly touched. His escorts were sent outside so they could not see him taking medicines and grimacing from a headache. But he did permit someone to refill his tea.
And that was how Gu Seung-jun managed to slip past his security, wearing a sly grin. The boy was the spitting image of his father.
The conman requested 30 minutes of his time, no more, no less.
***
The Queens Group chairman head office is located on the 40th floor of a twin tower complex, twice as tall as the Seri's Choice headquarters building. Chairman Yoon Jeung-pyeong rarely darkened its halls after his hospitalization in February, often keeping to his estate. Queens Group hasn't seen the shadow of its leader for a while.
The room resembled the insides of an acorn with dark oak walls, flooring and shelves lined with business books, giving the impression of a man who honors tradition and intellect. There was a lone snake plant pot, one that has been there since the building was opened to usher in good luck. One might say it had been working until the last couple of years.
Yoon Seri entered the space and felt the stern eyes of judgment and discernment that stared down upon the Yoon scions since their youth. Yet Seri knew to stare back in the face of this scrutiny, because unlike her elder brothers, she was born having to measure and exceed expectations. She read all the books, knew how the system works, and sharpened not just her resolve but also her wit.
The CEO's guests were received at the round table, circled by brown leather shell chairs, spaced apart from the company executive's desk to signify a status gap clearly and emphasize their leader's untouchable quality. Seri's hands smoothly moved over the chairs' round back rests, thinking how she would have them replaced.
She would have the whole office renovated, strip the walls of their dull color, infuse more life so it would resemble more of the terrarium akin to her personal office and apartment, and put couches in place of those waiting chairs. The office was to be a place of collaboration too, not just of reports and orders. It should harness creative solutions, not mere formalities and suits and ties.
