* * *
When Jiyeon arrived at her desk at the NIS, the office was still quiet and empty. This was partly because Mr. Park and the analysts he took to DC were still away, but it was also because people arrived later when Mr. Park was gone. As usual, the only person sitting in his office, looking as if he was crossing the three hour mark of work, was Mr. Kim. As she sat down and started going through her emails. She looked up at Mr. Kim again. He was talking on his cell phone. That is strange, she thought. Everyone had a phone on his or her desk. Cell phones were only used for personal calls. But she thought Mr. Kim had no family or friends, so why would he use his cell phone. She observed him as he talked, and when he had finished, she rose and went to his office. She just wanted to ask him something quickly. As she entered his office, Mr. Kim looked up, although he kept his eyebrows low and did not say anything.
“Mr. Kim I just wanted to check something on these reports I received on my desk –“
“Jiyeon I can’t talk now,” he said sharply.
“But can I just ask quickly –“
“Just come back after lunch. I can’t deal with this now.”
Jiyeon slowly left the office. She walked back to her desk and sat down.
Soon she saw Sung-Ho walking through the office, smiling.
“Sung-Ho, how are you? What did you guys end up doing last night?”
Sung-Ho shrugged, “We went out for a little while, but didn’t do much. How about you, how was your night?”
“It was good. Had dinner with a friend.”
“That’s great. Well I came down for a tea and then just walked around because I was still sleepy,” he gave out a laugh, “I hope you don’t mind but I work better afterwards.”
“No, not at all – I think our afternoon coffee breaks are so much fun that we should definitely start a morning version.” She was smiling. Something about getting back to the normal, familiar routine gave her a pleasant feeling.
“Any weekend plans?” Sung-Ho asked.
“I might go to the countryside. Just to get refreshed. What about you?”
“I’m actually leaving tomorrow on vacation.” He looked excited.
“That’s great. Where are you going?”
“Japan. It should be fun.”
“Are you going with your sidekick?”
Sung-Ho laughed. “No. I’m going alone. I have some friends there I’ll meet up with.”
“That sounds fun. Tell me how it is.”
After a pause, he continued “Well I’d better get back to work. See you later.”
“See you, Sung-Ho.”
Jiyeon kept going through her emails. She gave out a big sigh as she had finally felt some of the nervous energy from the morning leave.
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