AAE -- For Better For Worse

Chapter 13

by LoveCR2

edited by All-About-AAE

 

 

A few hours later, Hyung-Chul arrived at his club -- as agreed on -- to meet Joo-Hee after the News At Nine. Parking himself at the bar, he nurses a glass of Kentucky's Finest while he waits, mulling over his options.

 

 

He sees Joo-Hee the moment she enters, looking around impatiently until she recognizes him at the bar. Instead of her usual prim office attire, she has changed into a short black cocktail dress that showed off her feminine curves and slender legs to the best advantage.

 

Catching Hyung-Chul's eyes fixed on her, Joo-Hee returns a pleased smile and quick wave. She struts a beeline for him, the aggressive taps of her tall Christian Louboutin pointed-toe stilettos turning male heads and collecting appreciative stares as she passes.

 

"I'll have the same," she informs the bartender as she slides onto the barstool at Hyung-Chul's left.

 

Placing her shoulder bag on the empty seat next to her, Joo-Hee hooks one pencil-thin heel over the stool's chromed foot bar, consciously crosses her other leg over her knee to present a generous length of well-toned thigh for his appreciation, and comes right to the point, "Did your father call you?"

 

The sparkle of a teardrop diamond pendant resting just above the cleft of Joo-Hee's decolletage evokes a picture from Hyung-Chul's memory, of a certain night many years ago. Obviously she had worn the bauble as an intentional reminder of that shared past, and their fatefully entwined lives.

 

 

"I'm here, aren't I?" Hyung-Chul grumbles. "What do you have to say?"

 

The barkeep deposits Joo-Hee's glass on the bar. She takes a swallow before she answers unapologetically, "I'm sorry about Sun-Dal."

 

"Shouldn't you say that to him? Why tell me?"

 

"Because that's useless," she states. "I knew the chances from the start. In the end nothing changed. It's still you and me."

 

"I haven't resigned myself to that yet," Hyung-Chul differs. "But I thought you were strong enough to stand up for your own happiness."

 

 

Joo-Hee focuses on the glass in her hands, as if studying it to find an answer. "Strength has nothing to do with it. There are compromising pictures, from one of those girly clubs Sun-Dal used to frequent. He'd be blacklisted. I couldn't allow that to happen, not because of me."

 

Hyung-Chul nods understandingly, knowing if it were Sun-Mi, he'd do exactly the same. "But there's nothing like that to threaten Sun-Mi with," he replies confidently.

 

"Right, was there ever a more good-hearted, naive, and devoted girl than Jin Sun-Mi?" Joo-Hee's remark carries a touch of sarcasm. "What might such a filial daughter do when her father's livelihood and personal honor are on the line?"

 

Hyung-Chul's eyes narrow. "What are you trying to say?"

 

"Don't play innocent," Joo-Hee retorts condescendingly. "All it takes is an accusation of kickbacks, or of substandard work, or unpaid taxes. And when Sun-Mi finds out the reason behind her father's ruination, where does that leave you?"

 

The possibility, which he hadn't considered in his plans, shakes Hyung-Chul. "I'll protect the woman I love, and those she loves," he declares.

 

"Bold words," Joo-Hee mocks, "but you're just as pitiful as I am, given the reality of our situation. We had no business dragging other people into the middle of this mess, something they're not prepared for. Like it or not, our lives are beyond our control. We can talk about love all we like, but for people like us, our destinies are predetermined."

 

Hyung-Chul scoffs, "People like us? You still think you know me well enough to put words in my mouth?"

 

"You can't deny our common destiny," she presses her case, leaning closer and fingering the diamond pendent as a poignant reminder to bolster her words. The familiar scent of her perfume wafts towards him, the enticing fragrance an enhancement to the lure of her feminine charms.

 

To distract himself from Joo-Hee's allure, he takes out the cigarette case from his jacket, selects one, and puts it to his lips. Automatically she picks up a lighter from the bar, strikes the flame on, and holds it out for him. The end of his cigarette glows red in the dim light as he inhales.

 

"I won't be held to a decision I had nothing to do with, nor to a mistake we both agreed to never mention again," he counters.

 

Joo-Hee gazes at him, sadness in her eyes. "Did I ever say it was a mistake? Is it so hard to see it any other way?"

 

 

He exhales a thin cloud of blue smoke over Joo-Hee's head. "You're trying too hard. The truth is, with our past, growing up together, we can never be more than friends. Did you really think that by some window dressing before meeting me tonight, you could change that between us so easily?"

 

"No, but I thought it might help me force some sense into your head," she answers, her tone devoid of emotion. "Our fates ..."

 

He cuts her off, insisting, "I intend to determine my own fate, not 'ours'. I won't be like my father. Or you."

 

"I told myself I could do that, too, and see where it got me?" Joo-Hee cautions. "But before you try, shouldn't you consider the intentions of the other party, too?"

 

"What intentions?"

 

"I spoke with Jin Sun-Mi earlier today," Joo-Hee begins, then makes him wait for more while she sips her drink.

 

"About what?"

 

"She is seriously considering the London appointment to advance her career," Joo-Hee shades her answer. "But she's held off on speaking to you about it. She doesn't want to upset you by making you wait -- again."

 

The information surprises him. "Sun-Mi told you that?"

 

"In so many words," Joo-Hee hedges. "Even so, I'm sure if you propose she'll accept, because Sun-Mi is the kind of person who always puts others before herself. But if you truly love her, you'll allow Sun-Mi to do what is best for herself, not you."

 

Hyung-Chul downs the rest of his drink, stubs his cigarette out in a nearby ashtray, and gets off the barstool. "Speaking of Jin Sun-Mi, I have somewhere else to be," he tells Joo-Hee off-handedly, as if he was off to a business meeting, not leaving her to drink alone while he goes to another woman.

 

Joo-Hee appears unconcerned, but her words reveal otherwise, "I'll indulge this behavior for now. But if you betray me again, be assured that I will use every weapon I have to destroy her."

 

The edge in her voice causes Hyung-Chul to turn back. Seeing the icy coldness in her eyes tells him she is dead serious.

 

"Don't do something that you may regret later," he warns. "Don't make us into enemies."

 

"Then don't force my hand," she shoots back.

 

 

Hyung-Chul doesn't reply, giving Joo-Hee a noncommittal grunt before walking away.

 

Watching his back, Joo-Hee dashes down the rest of her drink and sets the empty down on the bar.

 

"Another, and make it a double!" she instructs the bartender sharply, then returns to her darkening thoughts.

 

"If I can't be happy because of you, then you have no right to happiness, either!" she vows under her breath, "It's our Fate, to be miserable together, 'till death us do part' ..."