Corporate Strangers

The Oska Thing

Seri felt her heart race the moment he waved his hands to her, as she stirred the wing on one side, the view of the Alps immediately surrounding her line of sight. He kept his head up, his eyes following the small figure dressed in bright red suit as she turns her paraglider from left to right, suspended on the air.

Choosing the spiral dive method as her mode of descent, she held all forward progress of the glider and proceeded to make the craft air down. Seri pulls the brakes as she shifts her weight on one side, before taking a sharp turn. He watched her descend slowly to the ground. Although this part of the action wasn't really something she was good at, Seri lost a grip of the brake, and scrambled to control the toggles in an attempt to limit her impact to the ground.

It wasn't the agonizing pain one would feel. It was more of an instant muscle sore numbing at the sudden hit.

Jeong Hyeok shifted to his side, bearing the weight of Seri on top as he put all his strength on one shoulder. After hearing a guttural groan from him, Seri finally got hold of the situation as she immediately removed herself from him.

"Ri Jeong Hyeok! Are you okay?" she asked, repeatedly tapping the sides of his face, his eyes still struggling to open completely.

Seri could only touch his face, her hands hesitant to shake him by the shoulders. He looked like he was hurt and she wouldn't risk accidentally pressing down on a certain spot. He finally released a low chuckle, followed by a choking laughter as he struggled to place his arms to his chest.

"I'm okay. Really"

His sudden toll to the situation finally made Seri press her palms to his collarbone. He groaned in pain, stifling a smile.

"I'm serious! Tell me right now!"

He placed his hand firmly to the ground to lift himself up. Jeong Hyeok sat down with Seri at the field, her paraglider wing on one far spot, tangled in its ropes.

"I'm okay, see?"

Jeong Hyeok stuck his arms in the air and rubbed his back shortly after. Seri stood up and went to the paraglider to quickly collect it. She didn't really fold it neatly, more like crumpling it into a ball of tangled ropes.

Going back to him, now sitting with his legs crossed, Seri still wasn't convinced and offered her hand to him. Jeong Hyeok chuckled and held her hand, careful not to put all his weight on her and slowly lifted himself up. To his surprise, Seri pulled his arm and swung it over her shoulder, as if to support his body while standing.

"I feel like a patient at this rate, Yoon Seri". He said, choking on his laughter while watching her trying to lift his body with every step. Sensing her stubbornness, he decided to play along. He gently took the aircraft that she clutched on her other arm and went to wrap his hands on her waist.

They walked down the mountain pass towards the building where the aircraft was supposed to be turned over along with her red suit. Seri led Jeong Hyeok to sit comfortably on a couch while she went to the counter to deal with her belongings.

It was a small room, surrounded by countless shelves decorated by hiking equipments. The wall was pinned with a few portraits and hanging steel paraphernalia. Surprisingly, it still radiated a minimal yet elegant look mixed with a tinge of medieval vibe. The tiles were white and there were no traces of dirt and footsteps from outside.

Jeong Hyeok waited for her when she went to change at the dressing room. He took out his phone and swiped through the gallery, watching the pictures he took of her flying earlier. 

"Thank you" Seri said, as she placed the neatly folded suit at the counter. The man smiled at him and wished her a great day. She then walked towards Jeong Hyeok, still sitting at the couch with his phone on one hand, eyes squinting curiously on the man at the counter.