Landing in Your Inbox

25 - shanghai pt i

November 15, 2020, 8:14 AM
Mandarin Oriental, Zest Restaurant, Shanghai, China

Breakfast came with a serving of a text message from Seoul. Seri deliberated whether she should answer it before finishing her sandwich but decided there was at least one person who would want to know if she had eaten well and for that she would finish her plate before she entertained the message that she was sure would ruin her appetite. 

A text message was not enough for Seo Dan's mother who called her from home, "Mom?" Seo Dan answered, "We're having breakfast."

"Probably not your first time here, is it Ms. Yoon?" Alberto quizzed.

"The hotel or the city? Either way, no." Seri shook her head. "And you?"

"First time at the hotel, but not in the city." 

Seo Dan's dropped her fork on the plate with a loud clunk that startled both Seri and Alberto. "What? Mom! Why did you do that??" Conscious that she exclaimed that aloud, Seo Dan pushed herself out of the table and stomped away to conduct her conversation in privacy.

Alberto sighed, "I have a guess but it's best to have it come from Ms Seo Dan."

Upon her return, Seo Dan let slip the source of her current misery with a pinched forehead, "My mother visited Jeong-hyeok's parents. I clearly told her not to do that. She did this while I was busy packing and heading to the airport. I'm so embarrassed." She concealed her face behind a hand.

"There's little we could do about that, Ms Seo Dan." Alberto comforted from her left, Seri caught him trying to reach out a hand only to draw it back, "What's done is done."

"It's really complicated if family is involved," Seri sighed, shaking her head with a shudder. "Too many spoons in the pot."

"Do you think I don't know that?" Seo Dan moved her hand away. "This is a disaster."

"Or maybe...it's better that way," Seri twitched her lip, taking an optimistic tone, "Simultaneous dialogues can save time and effort..."

Seo Dan glared, "Seri, clearly you've never been in a serious relationship." 

"Well not yet, but if I do get into one I know not to involve my family." Seri maintained. In the business section, Yoon Seri was a powerful name that was often associated with record-breaking sales, excellent brands and sold-out notices. In the celebrity section, she was the flip-flopping butterfly with comment sections vilifying her as a whore. Seri was confident she would change this. 

"Oh yes? Is there a prospect?" Alberto asked with intrigue, in a bid to make light of their conversation.

"Mmm, I don't know yet..." Seri spoke with a mysterious smile, one that she wiped away out of sympathy for her one and only friend, "Dani...Alberto is right, the deed is already finished. There's no point worrying about it."

Seo Dan sighed and looked helplessly at her phone, "Maybe I should call Jeong-hyeok..."

"NO!" Exclaimed Alberto and Seri in unison, leading a few diners to turn their heads towards them.

"Dani, you're just going to draw this out. Let it be." Seri urged in a hushed tone.

"Ms. Yoon is right," Alberto added, "Let the spoken dialogues of your parents be theirs alone. Yours and Mr. Lee's was already said and done."

Or was it really? With the way Seo Dan turned to the window gazing out of the restaurant, it still looked like she was holding onto something, keeping a tiny flame of hope. Seri and Alberto exchanged a worried glance.

It looked like their 4-day trip was also going to have to be an intensive 4-day boot camp condolence period.