“Your brother died,” came the announcement without preamble from the other end of the line; then, as an afterthought, “last night, in a car accident, immediately.”  As if those pieces of information could affect the plain and simple fact in any way.

Weng Kwon didn’t flinch in the least; instead he raised an eyebrow at his phone, even though the man he was speaking to could not see him.  “I don’t ing care.”  Momentarily, he wondered whether his brother’s friend had volunteered to inform him, or if his good ol’ father had shoved that responsibility on him, only he had no intention of appearing interested in his family affairs beyond what was absolutely necessary, so he left it at that, idly shifting his attention to his nails.

At the younger man’s response, Park Choongjae suppressed a sigh.  He had been anticipating Kwon’s characteristic apathetic attitude, but to hear it personally was something else; then again, Choongjae supposed, when one was rich one could afford to carry around such indifference.  Stepping out of the lift on the 37^th floor where his chambers were located, the corporate lawyer politely smiled and bowed in acknowledgement of a junior’s greeting.  “And of course, your presence is expected at the funeral,” pausing, he switched from English to accented Mandarin, “which is in a week’s time.  I’ve been charged with applying for a four-day leave from the college for you and ensuring your attendance.”

“Personal ?” Kwon smirked, making a smooth transition into his native tongue; he had always admired Choongjae’s command of various languages, although he never let on, instead complaining often about his accent contorting the meanings of Chinese words – perhaps because of him, Choongjae’s Mandarin was less affected, he noted.  Korean was to Kwon what Chinese was to Choongjae, despite the significant difference that was his half-Korean heritage, so it irked him a little to have his standard outdone, and he made a mental reminder to practice his Korean speaking skills more – if he ever could be ed to bother.

As he approached the door, the lawyer prepared to hold his phone between his shoulder and his ear to free his right hand.  Seeing this, another fresh-faced youth materialized on the other side, eagerly doing the honours for him.  Choongjae had to delay his answer to thank him, to which the youth beamed even brighter.  The excessive number of new intakes in large firms like the one he worked in was a headache, what with having the place overrun by college boys he didn’t recognise disorienting him.  On his way to his private office, Choongjae gestured to the secretary he shared with three others, communicating his request for all the information on his latest case to be brought to him and simultaneously turning his attention back to Kwon, saying, “Well, yes, you could call it that.  It’s more convenient for me anyway, because I will be over in the States for a business appointment around then.  I can just extend it and take the flight to China with you.  Besides, how could I possibly turn down a free upgrade offer?”  He closed the glass door, relieved to have reached his safe haven, and, placing the briefcase on his desk, removed his coat. 

Silence reigned in his soundproof room, a stark contrast to the hectic rush going on outside.  Crossing the polished wood floor, Choongjae stood in front of the full-length sealed glass windows through which sunlight could penetrate where the rest of the world could not.  Kwon’s older brother had known that he was in love with the view as all his closest friends did, the lawyer reminisced without grief; the peace in his heart reaffirmed his decision to become independent rather than rely on the stocks he had been given for his 18^th birthday.  Weng Jaesun would have been glad that his feckless younger brother was in a good friend’s hands, especially one who did not lust after titles and fortunes.

Silence reigned on the other end of the line, too, realised Choongjae, snapping out of his thoughts.  As a matter of fact, Kwon had gotten impatient with their conversation and had wandered off to find the flyer for a sushi place he had been planning to try out.  Not that Choongjae specifically knew the details behind his absence.  He wondered how long he had been speaking to nobody, decided he didn’t really want to know the answer, and hung up, leaving the air on the New York end with the flat dial tone.