Work Text:
"What do you see when you look into a mirror?"
The businessman sat straight and tall. Confident. Imposing. "I see a man of 184 centimeters with dark hair. Grey eyes. Striped suits. Occasionally I wear the silky white fur of my cat on my suits, though this is unintentional most days."
"I see. That is a very astute observation of your physical appearance."
"Is that not what a mirror reflects?" Jumin asked.
The other person smiled. They held a clipboard and a pen but had yet to write anything down. "Indeed, most mirrors do. But if I were to ask you what you'd see if the mirror were to reflect your soul, how would you answer?"
This time Jumin paused before answering. He thought about how to reply. "I would say I see a successful CEO. A person worthy of fame, though I did not ask for it. I am my father's son but I am equally my mother's son. My birth mother…" He idly touched his hand to his sleeve cuff. "I am a member of a charity group and…" He paused again. The word in his mind was "friend" but he feared that would be inaccurate for the other RFA members. "And that charity group is very important to me." He took in a breath, wishing to fill the emptiness he felt when wondering if anyone else in the RFA considered him a friend. "That mirror might reflect my love for Elizabeth the Third. It would show that I value my work and am satisfied with that part of my life."
"What about the other parts of your life?"
Jumin heard the voice but no longer saw anyone else in the room with him. He would not normally reveal such things to a stranger, after all. "The mirror would reflect emptiness," he said softly. "I am missing so much. Those I consider my friends or family do not see me as such. No one seeks to understand my thoughts, not even me. I see someone who is pragmatic and logical and who always believed those were virtues but they are used to describe my faults. If the mirror showed my soul… Would it reflect anything at all?" he wondered. "A human has a soul. There are some who say I cannot be human so perhaps… That is why I feel empty inside."
The silence settled over the room. Neither person moved at first. But then Jumin heard the faint scraping of pen on paper. He seemed to snap out of a trance but didn't remember all that he had revealed.
The person smiled and gave an acknowledging nod. "I see. Thank you for answering my questions. That is all I needed of you at this time."
Jumin rose and left the room. His thoughts seemed hard to hold onto. Slippery. He returned to his office to address the stack of employee applications.
The form on top was a woman. Younger than Jumin. Her application suggested someone competent but perhaps lacking the confidence to support her claims. But stapled to the back was another sheet of paper with different handwriting.
"One who sees a long path before she will arrive where she wants to be, unaware of the progress she's already made. One who carefully sculpts her appearance for others but can see the truth in herself and those important to her. One whose heart is all-encompassing and one of her greatest assets. She cares deeply but it causes hurt when it is not reciprocated.
To one closed off who sees nothing within himself, I suggest this candidate to fill his heart with her warmth. She knows every virtue he possesses and is not blinded by his own masked thoughts and emotions. She will understand him and love him. He will give her the confidence she feels she needs but will also give her the appropriate outlet for her deep love and will fully return that love to her. She will fill him, not with herself but she will show him exactly what he is within and he will love her all the more for it.
This is the candidate I suggest for one Jumin Han."
Jumin picked up the phone, fingers already dialing the girl's number.