The invitation arrived disguised as inevitability.
Ji-ho found it waiting in his inbox early Saturday morning, sandwiched between logistical updates and polite inquiries that all said the same thing in different ways: we are aware of you now.
This one, however, carried weight.
A closed-door roundtable. Limited attendance. No press. No official agenda.
The kind of meeting where silence was currency.
Park Min-jae forwarded it with a single line attached.
> You should go.
Ji-ho read the email twice, then once more, slower. There was no obligation stated, no explicit pressure—but the absence of both was intentional. Declining would not be punished immediately. It would simply be remembered.
He replied with a neutral confirmation.
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The venue was understated to the point of deliberate anonymity.
