AAE -- For Better For Worse

Chapter 19

by LoveCR2

edited by All-About-AAE

 

 

After finishing his clean up chores, Hyung-Chul went outside for a smoke on the porch while waiting for Sun-Mi. Soon, she came out to join him. For their date, she had selected a tailored Dior dress and crystal-embellished, open-toe Manolo Blahnik d'orsay pumps. Pinned over her heart, the four-leaf clover brooch gifted to her by Hyung-Chul added a bit of sparkle.

 

"Is this a special occasion?" Hyung-Chul wonders if he has inadvertently forgotten. "An anniversary of something?"

 

"Isn't it special just to be together?" she quips back, playing on his words from the previous night.

 

"Yes," he agrees. "So what are we doing today?"

 

 

Leaving the house together, Sun-Mi slips her hand around Hyung-Chul's arm for support as she cautiously picks her way across the uneven flagstones to the gate. She waits until they are both seated and belted in, before answering.

 

"First, we'll take in some art exhibits, then go to the amusement park in the afternoon. Tonight I want to see the sunset at Yuldong Park lake," she ticks off her agenda.

 

"That sounds like a lot of walking," he voices concern, keeping in mind her previous protestations, "Are you sure you can make it through the day?"

 

"If not, then you'll piggyback me, won't you?" she jokes, teasing him.

 

"Jin Sun-Mi. Something's different about you today," he questions her cheerful demeanor after last night's awkwardness between them. "Fess up.

 

"Like I said, being together is enough for now," she refuses to divulge more.

 

 

After stopping at Hyung-Chul's villa so he could change clothes, they drove to the Museum of Contemporary Art. As it was a sunny day, Sun-Mi elected to skip the inside galleries and enjoy the extensive outdoor sculpture gardens. Since neither had had a full breakfast, they took an early lunch, reprising their hamburger and Coke picnic on the grass under the red 'Dragon Stair', a monumental work by American sculptor Tal Streeter.

 

Next they visited the Ho-Am museum in Yongjin. After touring the museum's classical Korean Heewon garden, they strolled the tranquil tree-lined "Stone Image Path" bordering a small pond.

 

"Do you remember the day you met up with me at this place?" Sun-Mi prompts.

 

"Of course. How could I forget?" Hyung-Chul replies. "I still can see the pictures of you I took with my eyes. How pretty you looked."

 

"Oh?" she smiles, flattered. "Was I?"

 

"Yes. And how happy, despite the circumstances," he recalls the detail of their conversation. "Your resilience really surprised me."

 

"Holding tightly onto my dreams with unrealistic hopes," she reflects. "I was quite naive, then. I didn't understand how reality bites."

 

Hyung-Chul did not respond, suspecting that the memories had brought back with them the grief she still carried for Woo-Jin. They finished the walk in silence, his arm comfortingly over her shoulders.

 

 

From there, they took the short shuttle ride back to the Everland Amusement Park. The energetic crowds, live entertainment shows, and adrenaline rushes from the rides soon brought Sun-Mi's smile and enthusiasm back.

 

After the bustling excitement of Everland, the quieter ambiance of Yuldong Park was refreshing. Since their "first real date" there -- as Hyung-Chul had called it -- shortly after the park first opened, neither had returned.

 

Circumnavigating the lake on the paved promenade, Sun-Mi filled the time with chatter about her plans for England, asking his advice on the best places to go and interesting things to do. On the pathway, they stopped to watch the bungee jumpers hurl themselves off the 45-meter tower and enjoyed the fountain display.

 

Halfway around the 2.5 kilometer footpath, Sun-Mi stopped at a bench, complaining that her feet needed a rest. To her surprise, and initial embarrassment, Hyung-Chul scooped her up, carrying Sun-Mi in his arms. But soon she ignored the stares and rested her head against his shoulder, relishing the warm comfort of his strong arms holding her secure and close to his heart, thankful that he would go as far as embarrassing himself to take care of her.

 

At the end of the walk, they had a leisurely dinner of 'expensive' ramen on the in-park restaurant's terrace where they had had eaten before.

 

It was near dusk as they ambled back to the car park, crossing the wooden bridge where Sun-Mi had shouted out her sorrows over Woo-Jin after asking Hyung-Chul to remember the moment for her, so she could forget. When she stopped and stood by the railing, anxiety nagged in Hyung-Chul's mind, wondering if perhaps she would surprise him again, but this time Sun-Mi whiled away the time tossing bread crumbs to the ducks and casting pebbles into overlapping ripples in the water. Soon a glorious sunset turned the sky a fiery orange, gradually fading to black.

 

As the first stars appeared, Sun-Mi counted off the blessings in her life, beginning with her father, and ending with "and you ... Senior."

 

 

On the drive back to Sun-Mi's home, the motion of the car soon lulled her to sleep. Watching Sun-Mi, Hyung-Chul reflected on the dozens of pictures he had filed into his photographic memory over the day, as she flitted from place to place, moment to moment, like a butterfly intent on savoring the sweetness of as many flowers as possible while the sun is shining.

 

Arriving at Sun-Mi's gate, Hyung-Chul parked next to Gui-Sung's Range Rover, shut off the engine, and gently shook Sun-Mi's shoulder, awakening her.

 

"We're back," he informs Sun-Mi as she opens her eyes.

 

She answers drowsily, "So soon?"

 

"You slept all the way," he points out.

 

"Why didn't you wake me? You know I don't like to be seen that way," she complains, now fully awake.

 

"You were tired," he defends his decision. "Anyway, it's hardly the first time."

 

"Yes," she has to agree. "Actually, I really don't mind, but only because it's you."

 

 

Sun-Mi unlatches her seatbelt, opens the car door, and alights. Hyung-Chul does the same.

 

"Go inside now. It's late."

 

"There's one more to do today, and we still have twenty minutes left," she notes, stepping around to his side of the car.

 

"What do you want to do for twenty minutes?" he wonders.

 

"Come with me. I have something to say to you," she replies, leaving the rest for later.

 

 

Taking his arm, Sun-Mi starts off walking to the small, nearby park, where they had often gone for privacy away from the eyes and ears of any busybody neighbors.

 

Strolling along the quiet lane, her arm around his, they look like any other loving couple out for a late night walk ...