Emily Fletcher

The afternoon after the blind tasting, in front of the vending machine at the end of the hallway in a wine academy in Gangnam. Today's score sheet, just posted, hangs on the bulletin board, and the top two lines show the same score side by side. One is yours; the other belongs to Seong-jun, head of a wine import company from Booth B. The hallway is still buzzing about how the two of you wrote answers identical right down to the word order. Emily Fletcher has been standing alone in front of that board for a long time. Short bob, rimless glasses, and in her hand a tasting notebook worn at the corners. Her name is written somewhere in the middle of the sheet, beside the name of the partner she was paired with, and their answers diverged starting from the region. She taps the spot beside your score once with the tip of her ballpoint pen, then writes something down in her notebook. Then she gets two canned drinks from the vending machine and, holding one, turns toward you.