Episode 3
1731 Words
Hyewon completed the tour of the company. She then took James to a small cafe located on the basement level.
"Shall we get a coffee?" She asked smiling politely. James shook his head at the suggestion as they both joined the line. James started to look around the coffee shop, look at the unique interior. The walls were made of oak wood, that connects to a concrete-looking floor. He then noticed from the corner of his eye, Mr. Lee sitting in the corner reading a newspaper. Hyewon turned around to face him.
"Hey, what would you like to-?"
She looked in the same direction as James and squinted her eyes to see Mr. Lee sitting on his own.
"I feel bad should we go and sit wi-"
Hyewon interrupted him and shook her head.
"No... We should never do that. He's our boss" she said while handing the barista her card. The barista handed Hyewon a buzzer which flickered the red LED light.
"When this buzzes please come and collect your order," the barista said.
They both bowed and walked to a booth, to sit down and continue to chat. James's Kakao alarm made his phone vibrate. James took out his phone to see that he had three missed calls from his friend Doyoung.
He continued to read the Kakao messages from her, before shutting the phone down and placing it screen down on the table.
Hyewon completed the tour of the company. She then took James to a small cafe located on the basement level.
"Shall we get a coffee?" She asked smiling politely. James shook his head at the suggestion as they both joined the line. James started to look around the coffee shop, look at the unique interior. The walls were made of oak wood, that connects to a concrete-looking floor. He then noticed from the corner of his eye, Mr. Lee sitting in the corner reading a newspaper. Hyewon turned around to face him.
"Hey, what would you like to-?"
She looked in the same direction as James and squinted her eyes to see Mr. Lee sitting on his own.
"I feel bad should we go and sit wi-"
Hyewon interrupted him and shook her head.
"No... We should never do that. He's our boss" she said while handing the barista her card. The barista handed Hyewon a buzzer which flickered the red LED light.
"When this buzzes please come and collect your order," the barista said.
They both bowed and walked to a booth, to sit down and continue to chat. James's Kakao alarm made his phone vibrate. James took out his phone to see that he had three missed calls from his friend Doyoung.
He continued to read the Kakao messages from her, before shutting the phone down and placing it screen down on the table.
The buzzer vibrated, and Hyewon went to get the beverages. Left on his own, he could not stop but wonder about Mr. Lee who was sitting right behind him.
He turned around to see Mr. Lee sipping a coffee while reading the newspaper. Knowing that someone was watching him, Mr. Lee turned and locked his gaze on to James.
James did not know what to do. Suddenly his heart started to pound, and his hands became all sweaty. Mr. Lee folded the newspaper and placed it on the table.
All sudden James saw Mr. Lee approaching closer and closer, not knowing what to do he quickly turned around and started playing on his phone.
From the corner of his eyes, he could see Mr. Lee’s suit towering over him. He looked up at smiled nervously.
“Can I help you?” Mr. Lee asked.
“No…Just I saw you on your own and I thou-“
“I like to sit on my own.”
Not knowing what to do, or even how to respond to that question, James felt as if he was shrinking smaller and smaller.
“Mr. Lee, will you be joining us?” A voice spoke from behind.
Mr. Lee turned around to see Hyewon smiling. She placed the try on the table and sat down opposite James.
“I.. Won’t be joining you today…” Mr. Lee replied in a stern tone.
He said while staring at James, before returning to his seat.
James let out a deep sigh of relief before taking a sip of his iced mocha.
“What happened while I was gone?” She asked James.
“I… have no idea. He just suddenly appeared in front of me”.
“Hmm… I’ve never seen Dongmin act this way before”.
“Dongmin?”
Hyewon looked back at James while sipping her peach iced tea.
“You guys are married?”
Hyewon chocked as a feeling of disgust made her tremble at the thought of that question. Quickly reaching for a napkin and coughing into it, she then replied to James’s question.
“Oh god no! he’s my brother-in-law”.
James was not surprised at the statement. He just nodded and continued to sip his drink while chewing on an ice cube.
Of course, she was his brother-in-law, all most all…no, all the successful companies here in Korea are Chaebol (a company that is run by one family).
“Of course, he is…” James muttered.
“Are you okay?” Hyewon asked.
He nodded and continued to drink without saying anything.
“Anyway James, I think my brother-in-law likes you”.
“What makes you think that?”
Twirling the drink with her straw she continued to go on.
“I mean throughout the whole day he has been trying to approach us. When he comes to approach you, he acts as a shy schoolgirl”.
James did not pay much attention to that statement, he thought she was only joking. Why would Mr. Lee pay any attention to him? He was not anything special. If there was anything special about him, it was the fact that he was the only foreigner in the company.
“I think you’re maybe overthinking it”.
James chuckled.
Hyewon shook her head. “No, I’m being super honest”.
James continued to stare at his drink and twirled the contents inside his drink.
There was an awkward silence between them as they both continued to look at their phones.
“Should we get going?” Hyewon asked.
He nodded and replied with a simple yes. They both stood up and exited the café.
***
“As you can see here the forecast predicts a 20% profit increase in the next…”
Mr. Lee was in the conference room doodling in his notepad while listening to the financial forecasts of the company. Bored out of his mind he began to think about James.
For some reason, there was something he liked about him. Not that he was exotic, or well-spoken, but the way he would panic and get nervous every time he approached him.
He started to smile and laugh. The whole room turned silent suddenly, all eyes were pointing in his direction. Without realizing he looked up and stared back idly.
“Are you okay sir? Did something good happen?” one of the employees asked.
“Of course, I’m okay. What a stupid question to ask”.
He replied with a slight stutter. To break the tension, he then signaled them to carry on with the presentation.
The employees continued to exchange looks with one another.
“Start!” Mr. Lee said while slamming his notepad on the table.
The employee cleared his throat and continued the presentation.
Mr. Lee continued to concentrate on the presentation when he got a glimpse of James and Hyewon walking down the hallway. He stopped to stare through the glass wall locking eyes with James once again. He nodded slightly, before quickly diverting his gaze back onto the PowerPoint.
‘He’s quite intriguing but I don’t know why’ Mr. Lee thought.
He quickly rose from his chair and once again the room fell silent.
“Please continue, I’ll be back in a second.” Mr. Lee said before exiting the conference room.
He sped down the hallway to try and catch up to James and Hyewon. James turned behind him to find Mr. Lee grabbing his arm staring at him.
“Can I help you Mr. Lee?”
Mr. Lee realized what he had done and quickly moved back, he straightened his suit before bowing and apologizing.
“James, what are you doing after work?” He asked.
“Nothing…why?”
“Come to my office, I would like to have a meeting with you. There are somethings we need to go over to ensure your transition into the company goes as smoothly as possible”.
James nodded and replied.
“Sure, I’ll be there”.
Mr. Lee greeted James and Hyewon before returning to the conference room. Walking down the hallway, with a big cheeky grin on his face.
His phone pinged from the inside of his suit pocket. He took out the phone to check the message. He stood in the middle of the hallway reading the text message from an unknown number. A sense of uneasy tension blew through the hallway as if a cloud of darkness started to consume him.
‘Dear Mr. Lee,
The case regarding your father’s death has been reopened. Please contact Investigator Jung with the number below:
010-563-051
Thank you.
Gangnam Police Station’
His eyes opened as he finished the message. What he thought had ended five years ago, was suddenly be brought up for investigation again. The same case that tormented his family weeks on end was suddenly going to bring back unwanted memories.
Just as he thought he had moved on from his father’s death, he was now placed back in the centre of it. Worst of all, his family would have to re-live the tragic incident all over again.
Mr. Lee then slowly started to reply to the text message.
‘I’ll contact you as soon as possible. Thank you’
- Writer
