AAE -- For Better For Worse

Chapter 09

by LoveCR2

edited by All-About-AAE

 

 

Beep ... beep ... beep ... beep ...

 

Sun-Mi slowly rouses to the insistent call of her alarm clock. Groggy from her late night up, she sits up in the bed, gradually collecting her bearings. Looking over at her desk, she sees the pile of English periodicals she'd browsed for hours, until unable to keep her eyes open.

 

However, the more she had thought about going to London, the more her initial certainty had faded. It was as if another person was there with her, arguing in her thoughts that she should follow her heart, and not her mind, in this decision.

 

 

Rising from bed, her first move is to look hopefully out the window at her gate, a habit ever since Hyung-Chu left a rose there. What she sees this morning instead puzzles her. A group of neighbors is milling about in the lane in front of her house. From the window, all she can see are some silver and red balloons tied to the white wrought iron gate.

 

Quickly, Sun-Mi changes from her pajamas into a casual DKNY light blue sweater and ivory pencil skirt. After washing her face, she puts on a touch of makeup and brushes her hair, holding it back with a thin, beaded head band.

 

In the vestibule, she slips on a pair of low-heeled Ferragamo mules, and hurries out the front door.

 

 

When the crowd spots Sun-Mi, they break out in applause and whistles. Although embarrassed to be the center of attention, Sun-Mi continues on to discover what it is all about.

 

What she finds embarrasses her even further. Arranged outside her gate are rows of containers, each filled with cut red roses. Above them, attached to the gate between the balloons, is a large sign boldly stating, 'For My Sweetheart, Ms. Jin Sun-Mi'.

 

"Miss Jin, it looks like you have a serious suitor," a neighbor living two houses down the lane remarks cheerily.

 

"It's so romantic," the teenaged girl from around the corner sighs. "I wish my boyfriend would do something like this for me!"

 

"Is he that MBS Director Yoon? Didn't I read that you two are an item?" the local busybody pries. Then she turns to another woman and boasts, "Wait until I tell my coffee klatch! They say nothing ever happens in our quiet neighborhood!"

 

 

Sun-Mi is fretting about how to contain this latest potential scandal, when a black SUV trundles up the lane with her father at the wheel. He stops the car and gets out, quickly surveying the scene.

 

A smile spreads across his face, ear to ear. "What's all this, Sun-Mi? Someone bought out a florist or two?" he jokes.

 

"Daddy! Help me," Sun-Mi pleads.

 

"I'm tired from driving back all night," he demurs offhandedly, denying her request. "Can't you take care of this yourself?"

 

"But, Daddy..."

 

Ignoring Sun-Mi's plea, he steps past the busybody with a curt, "Excuse me, Mrs. Lee," and walks through the open gate. He crosses the lawn and enters the house, leaving Sun-Mi alone.

 

 

As Sun-Mi despairs of how to keep her neighbors from spreading more rumors, another dilemma is foremost in her mind. Already struggling with her decision to go to London, her heart is tipping the scales even further. How can she leave the man she loves, now that he has openly declared his love for her?