Swiss Stakes

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Three luggage in all were loaded in a silver compact elite Mercedes, the keys of which were handed to Se-ri. The concierge offered the chauffeur service again, after all she had come from a long-haul flight. Se-ri insisted she was fine making the two-hour drive after handing a tip.

The concern was not without merit, the drive gets more challenging when crossing Lucerne, having to cross passes punctuated with sharp hairpin turns, then going up and down a steep incline, and traversing through many tunnels. But Se-ri wanted that time for herself to acclimatize. Because she couldn't let her guard down and because she had to remind herself of the good things that laid in store. With GPS, piano sonatas and a certain someone's driving reminders in mind, she had everything she needed.

Her destination was a loft apartment with a garden and a view of the Jungfrau mountain, right in the heart of Interlaken. It was a good 15-minute drive from the Victoria hotel, which was still too close for comfort. The apartment had been leased to her for 5 years until such time a more permanent arrangement was decided upon.

The apartment was cleaned a day before. In Se-ri's opinion it was too small for comfort but she liked it for the isolation, the view and the essentials. There was a cozy seating area with a sofa and a round dining table set, a fully-equipped kitchen with microwave, fridge, oven, kettle and coffee machine. At daytime, sunlight flooded through the large windows surrounding the living room that can be muted by the floor-to-ceiling drapes. From the sitting room, there was access to a private terrace.

Back inside, compact stairs lead to a loft bedroom with a small closet room and private bathroom with shower.

After rolling the luggage in the closet room, she collapsed on the bed.

"One hour," Se-ri permitted herself as she rolled up to face the ceiling, closing her eyes, "Then I'll unpack."

At 5 in the afternoon (early morning in Seoul) Se-ri began unpacking the biggest luggage which contained 5 brand new suits that needed to be hung after being packed like sardines. She lined them neatly in the closet and filled the drawers with shirts, socks and boxers.

"Now where did I put his pants..." Se-ri recited to herself as the luggage emptied itself gradually. The last she removed were the shoes, one formal, one walking.

The box from her mother she placed on his bedside lamp.

She had to stand proudly in front of the closet right after she filled in her own clothes, "This is how it should be, perfect," She mused with her hands clapped together, "Everything in its place."

Her unpacking now took her to the kitchen with cans and bottles of cooking ingredients from Seoul, there were still some from the previous year that she had to dispose of. A replenishment trip was on the agenda that evening to purchase other necessities.

Before stepping out, she had to get a few things out of the way, mainly calling the scholarship director and informing him about some surprise (read: unwanted) guests.

"I was duly informed about this, Ms Yoon. You have nothing to worry about."

"I'm sorry about these last-minute changes, Mr. Hess." Se-ri apologized, standing at the terrace overlooking the garden and the river Aare with a light sweater on, "Are the delegates arriving as scheduled?...Do you know when the North Korean group is arriving?"

"They should arrive tomorrow afternoon, barring delays."

"Good." Se-ri paced about, "Then, I'll see you at the hotel tomorrow."

"Certainly, It is a pleasure to have you with us again, Ms Yoon. Enjoy your stay."

Tomorrow afternoon, he must be flying from Beijing now, Se-ri surmised as she stared at the empty side of the bed, her ringed hand reaching to smooth out the sheets. He could be right next to her the next evening.

He used to be shy and all noble about lying next to her. Years of separation changed that.

Anticipation and probably jet lag kept her up. Se-ri sat up to read the email Mr. Hong sent her. As it turned out, Se-joon paid for Ja-rang's trip out of his pocket, all expenses paid. If it were charged to the company, there was a chance she would have been alerted. Someone taught him to do this. Mr. Hong was able to get the reporter's hotel details, they were not at the 5-star hotel where her brother and his wife were booked but not very far either. Se-joon was receiving him in his office a month ago.

Ji Ja-rang was employed by High Access fairly recently too, the decision to hire him was the magazine's attempt to inject new life in the publication with sales being less than stellar. They wanted to generate more 'viral' content in a bid to stay relevant. Se-ri could guess at whose expense. She must still have the editor-in-chief"s number back home, perhaps a coffee meeting was in order when she goes back to Seoul."

Then muttered, "I don't even want to think about going home just yet."

She turned to her empty bedside. "Jeong-hyeok ah, I'm taking your pillow." She announced as she picked up the other pillow to put on top of hers. "You can have it back tomorrow when you're here or you'll never get it back."

She read in a psychology book a long time ago how people had subpersonalities which become prominent depending on the people they meet. It made sense to her then. Often her subpersonalities were pushy, ambitious and unrelenting. Yet there was the one personality that she kept to herself, the one that knew where she had been to when she paraglided one day. The very one that kept her alive when she was running across land mines and away from armed pursuers. The one that held her innermost longings and desires, that loved deeply and ardently when her other personalities would have been quick to mistrust, judge and criticize. Eventually that quiet personality taught her more dominant ones to be more compassionate, be more considerate. Only a handful of people knew that side of her intimately, none more than him.

Se-ri sighed wistfully, hands folded on her tummy, "So you better hurry."