Stranger 7 : Perspectives

BGM : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYpZOHv4wv8

Hideout

By: Seo Joo Hyun

Looking from inside and from outside is two different things. Some say money is everything, some say they could live without it.. Falling in love in such society would be hard… The man who is trying to fit in and the girl who experienced nothing but comfort.

In this very day, take that risk and throw that façade away.. Bear that empty soul for the world to see.

Seohyun’s wrote in a matter of seconds right at the moment she sat at the table… but too bad her eyelids is giving up. Her drowsiness started to kick in. The bright light of her study lamp shone through the room while Yonghwa sat on his desk.. with a whole pile of paper sheets… of endless signatures and proposals. His eyes are wide open, the prescriptions’ pills in the orange bottle are placed on the corner of the table with the card of the psychiatrist. He pushed all of it to the side.. and gently he puts on his reading glass. He sat there and looked at his newly bought book. It’s only the cover but the words in it are already jumbled up for him.

Dreaming The Dream

By Seo Joohyun.

“The world's a stage and very few of us are well-rehearsed for it”

***

Yonghwa tried to read the seemingly jumble up words on the first page.. He could read, but only a few common words that is important for him in his work. It was always his weakness.. reading. He heaved a deep sigh and closed the book.

You’ve got so much to prove, hoping they approve of what you are.. in order to do that, you lost yourself.

The words in just one sentence meant so much to him. Just one sentence.. he wondered what effect will it be to him if it was the whole book.. no to be exact all of her thoughts. Is it the same with him? Does some of it will make him realize something.. the reason why he felt empty.

Seo Joohyun is an entity that actually is his worst nightmare.. She read his thoughts like an open book.. it will be understandable if they actually raised in the same way or known each other like forever but this girl.. it’s only been a week since they first met but the effect she has on him is unbelievable.

He proceed to open up his ‘mountain’ of files and examined every single detail of it.. Drinking his coffee once in a while.

When an alarm sounds started to echo through the room, he turned it off and prepared himself for work.

He got back from work around 11pm. This routine continued for the whole week though sometimes he will eat his pills in order to sleep properly but still sometimes he woke up in the middle of the night to check his Samsung for any latest update..

It was an unhealthy living style but this need to be done.. in order for him to feel a sense of calmness.

For sure, this is a symptom that perfectly described a workaholic..

***

“You really going to be like this Jung Yong Hwa?” Ill Woo stood up feeling incredibly ashamed of Yonghwa’s rejection to joint venture in the book-coffee franchise that The Jung’s conglomerate has been working on.

“I am.” He said snobbishly.

“Aren’t you aware that you are a Jung too!” Ill Woo half shouted

“There’s no such thing as family in business… your father taught me that. Especially when we are playing rivals.”

“Cross intercepting someone else deal, that’s playing dirty Yonghwa.”

“He came to me and proposed to me that idea. It’s not my fault.. I don’t even entice him for the deal I just tried to state how wonderfully we will do if we don’t succumb with those rich peeps money and power when we can do so much better.” He smirked

“You are the same species as us.”

“Once upon a time, you told me that I will never be like you. I will never suit to be a Jung and that I should be alienated from the circle. I don’t enjoy your luxury nor your upbringing so I don’t understand why you want to say me as the same species as you out of a sudden.”

“Why are you being so bitter. This makes you look pathetic.”

“Pathetic makes me stand here all by my own. I even shed blood for this.”

“You don’t think I did?!? You think it’s nice living under grandfather’s so ‘called’ warm embrace. Be bitter like that.. forever and you will never be happy. I’m talking this as your big cousin.” He stormed off from the room.

“Who will stand by your side huh Yonghwa if you keep on being like this?”

“In this world we are all alone.” Yonghwa answered him confidently not showing the actual fear that was deeply visible in his heart. The longing for love.. acceptance, understanding, and dream. As soon as he heard the door was shut close by Ill Woo, he leaned on his seat and closed his eyes hoping that his headache will go away somehow.

***

Seohyun was in various places over the years.. all she has done is observing people. Especially in new places she tends to avoid having contacts that will lead on with a close ties. She’s playing the observer every single time far different from her persona in Korea because she wanted to figure things out. Why human behave the way they are? Why they tend to get greedier when they are richer? She’s like that too, she’s a human but there’s something intriguing with figuring why people live the way they are maybe because somehow when figuring things like this.. she tends to forget her own dilemma in her own life. Writing is her escape.. maybe that’s why like Yonghwa once said she tends to write things that doesn’t involve her own self, it’s like a self protection mechanism. Not wanting to know her own life bitter truth.

So she observed people around her too.. Starting with her dad. Deep in thoughts, sometimes childish but overbearing protective but still tends to let she handles stuff in her own hands. Very trusting of his own family. Her grandma and her granddad wears a very respectable persona while her mother has a sense of elegance she carried around. Dignity is what she can simplified from them.

Jobs? This is not the investigation that she did.. trying to be homeless and understand them. This is her life that she’s about to intrude and scrutinized herself. A challenge she dares to take as a writer to write something different and to actually be involve in it.

“Flawless writing skills with clearly objective thinking. Emotions that fully potrayed but there’s certain element in it that felt off. Like how the characters fall in love. They are being too logical. There’s no such love as logical love.”

-Ok Taecyeon-

“Always lack of romantic elements but as always very inspirational.”

-Lee Jin Soo-

“This felt like a self escape and whoever read this feel like they are escaping along with the writer.”

-Lee Soo Man-

Yesterday, she saw how going into bankruptcy can cause someone to commit suicide. That man was her acquaintance and he has always been a happy person, living his life to the fullest but with some tremendous live experience he’s been growing famous as a celebrity. The money was pouring in and when it stopped he decided to cut his life.

Is money worth to cut your own life? Maybe it’s not… but the level of self discrimination, hating of his own credibility to try to succeed again and the most important. Public scrutiny.

She remember going into her sunbae office and saw how he worked so hard to earn his keep.. and as the natural tendency goes he kept working and working even with the money pouring in with the sole drive to earn more money when sometimes she wonders why does they including her tend to work so hard even knowing fully well that they are set for life with the money they have. Sometimes, some of them even resort to dirty tactics.. not just that even the poor will do something so immoral just to continue on living. Sad facts but it’s true.

Today, her Tiffany unnie came to her and cried her eyes out not understanding her father who’s trying to set her up with Choi Siwon comes from a very rich family well suited with the Hwang’s. Siwon is a past lover of Choi Sooyoung, who is one of her best friend which Sooyoung still hung up on.

The guilt was apparent of Tiffany’s face but there’s a thing that Tiffany can’t do which is cutting ties with her family. Her unnie face was an unforgettable one, the messy hair, swollen eyes, redden nose. She kept asking her can she be happy? Can she face Sooyoung?

She can’t. Of course she can’t. But knowing fully well that there’s a time to sprout lies on their ears, she spoke such fond words that can calm hearts in an instance.

“Siwon and Sooyoung were not destined together maybe you and Siwon is destined.. that’s the reason of this happening unnie.” But she can’t dare to lie because she can’t. She just can’t. “I hope that’s the reason.. and I will pray that this is the reason.”

Tiffany slept over her house that night.. crying herself to sleep.

That’s the bitter truth of their lives. You will be arranged. Play around all you want but when the time comes be faithful to your destiny. Be filial to your parents.

She deeply felt a sense of thankfulness to her parents that kept her away from such things even with their straight upbringing.

That following morning, she went to her old mansion or to be exact an old traditional house with a lot of heritages and even got into one of the heritages of Korea. Her family came from a long line of famous scholars that even without money they can live just with their names due to their great great grandfathers and grandmothers.

The pressure was on her.. being the only Seo’s clan heir along with her cousin Seo In Guk. From little she was sent away to an island. And when she went back she got tremendous lesson in all aspects ranging from foreign language, old Korean language, History, cooking, piano lesson, violin lesson, flute lesson, horse riding lesson, flower arrangement lesson, etiquette lesson, ballet lesson aside from her enrolling into the most prestigious school in Korea followed by an Ivy League scholarships. Pressure was her best friend, calmness was her expertise.

But her heart was deeply empty and full of longing because she rarely saw her family members starting from the early age of 3. She’s been isolated from the public eyes which from Seo’s tradition believed that it’s a form of protection. Suffered from a weak heart.. she can barely experience the joy of freedom.

Her heart ache remembering how she struggles before to be where she’s at now. There’s at least a reason to all of it. She gets to has her own say in her life, enough for her to feel contend. That was all to prepare her and to make sure that she makes the right decision and can cope under the level of stress and pressure that was put on her.

***

Yonghwa entered his office after his meeting only to meet a familiar silhouette standing by the window pane observing the vast Seoul scenery with a pout and a book on her hand.

It was her book.

He looked over his table and saw her book that he was trying to read is gone.

“Hey.” He uttered, not knowing how to start the conversation. She turned her head to face him and curved into a gentle smile showing off her tired looking eyes.

“I don’t expect a guest here. Especially you.” He chuckled.

“It’s easy though. Surprisingly, your staff let me in without a question once I mention my name.”

“I told them to let you specificly in at any time.”

“Oh.” She gasped a little.

“So why are you here? It’s a bit out of the norm don’t you think.”

“I don’t even imagine coming to here but I was wondering what so interesting in your office that you like coming here in the middle of the night where normal human sleep.”

“I work.” He grinned.

“I can see that and you read.” She laughed and waved the book on her hand.. “My book?” She smiled.

“Yes your book, but I’m finding it really hard to read especially with your advance grammars.”

“You, what’s with your swollen eyes?” Seohyun took a step forward but still far away from Yonghwa.

“Tired. Can’t sleep.” He tried to curve into a smile. “But it’s normal.”

“No you don’t. You need a proper sleep.”

“I can’t. All these things in my head are giving me a hard time.”

“I can help you with that.” She smiled genuinely. “You said you can’t read… but if you did you might be able to sleep. So.. let me help you? I saw a secret room there where you kept your comfortable bed to yourself, workaholic.”

“I can’t you are busy.”

“I’m your temporary girlfriend so let me be a proper one while I can and I need your help.”

“What is it?”

“I need to stay by your side and observe you. So can you at least let me in your life even if it’s for a little while or even a little bit?”

“Why is it?”

“I don’t mind to explain the reason to you but I will when its the right time. Consider this is the part of my gain in this relationship.”

“It’s a personality that can seem stifling, but I think that’s the line I’ve drawn”

-Seo Joo Hyun-

I cannot approve of myself crossing my own standards. If I'm about to cross the line I set, I tend to limit myself instinctively.

-Jung Yong Hwa- 

Author's Note

Dark.. Dark chapter. LOL. I'm trying some things really different now. I want this story to has this tinge of darkness in it but i want the communication between the characters really interesting. I want them to have a deep understanding in their lives with their own set of perceptions in it. In short, a strong characters with own values but somehow they so alike. I hope it comes across properly to the readers. And i'm trying to build the plot slowly.. like those small blocks but eventually grow. This chapter has a lot of Seohyun's insight. (there's a reason why i made her a writer in this story.)

On another note, I manage to slip in some cameo appearance from Ok Taecyeon (2pm), Lee Soo Man(SM), Lee Jin Soo (A writer character from Coffee House), and of course Choi Siwon, Tiffany and Choi Sooyoung. 

Enjoy ;)