Landing in Your Inbox

21 - records are meant to be broken

November 9, 2020, 4:29 P.M.
Seri's Choice Headquarters, Seoul

The last time Seri saw Jeong-hyeok, it was at the bus terminal in Jeongeup where he asked to be dropped off, declining the offer to ride the minivan back to Seoul and citing he wanted to stop over somewhere.

"Lies, he couldn't just tolerate one last ride." Seo Dan seethed as they left him there.

Seri thought they would at least part ways in Seoul and she planned to thank him properly there. As it was, she would have to ask the van to stop if she so much wanted to go after him and she couldn't do it without the host of the trip stewing.

And just like that, he was gone. Even as Seri would try to find him later, he had no social media presence, no electronic footprint anywhere that might indicate an existence. Only Seo Dan seemed to know where he was. Fat chance in asking her. She was not answering her phone or her messages that late.

Back to work, Seri was inspired to revive the sportswear line for next year, one that would combine style and durability. For inspiration, she had wanted to draw up Jeong-hyeok's all-black lightweight outerwear but she had to rely completely on memory. Her camera roll only had scenery in it.

Weird, it was as though he came from another dimension and simply vanished.

Meanwhile, she sifted through hundreds of emails from last weekend. It was a tiresome task and one she usually did not process but she was looking for an email that might have a certain audio file attached.

"What, he talks like some big shot but he doesn't have the guts to follow through," Seri muttered while scrolling down her email. 

November 10, 2020, 11:30 P.M.
Anglo-Irish Pub, Frankfurt

"So what's your plan, Captain?"

The pub had a football game on, one of those UEFA league matches. Jeong-hyeok didn't bother checking which teams they were. Park Kwang-beom was the first outside his family to know about his new relationship status and the fact that he was single after more than 4 years.

"Nothing concrete yet..." Jeong-hyeok replied, pouring beer into his glass. "I have to make it right with Dan's family."

"But that means you'll be free to go with us to the karaoke this Friday, right?"

Jeong-hyeok winced, "Why the karaoke again? Whose idea was it? Eun-dong? Chi-su?"

"It doesn't matter, just go." Kwang-beom persuaded.

The great exasperated sigh from Jeong-hyeok might just be tantamount to a yes as he took his phone to check a notification.

"Then we can try out the new samgyetang place after..." Kwang-beom proposed but Jeong-hyeok was no longer paying attention. "Cap?"

"Wait." Jeong-hyeok stood and strode towards the exit of the pub. What manner of emergency could that be?

Kwang-beom turned around, baffled. "Is there a problem?"

"No, I'll be back." He was already gone.