AAE -- For Better For Worse

Chapter 20

by LoveCR2

edited by All-About-AAE

 

 

The neighborhood park lies quiet beneath a clear night sky. A few lamps cast soft pools of light along the brick walkway, stretching long shadows across the playground where Sun-Mi once spent her free hours. Back then, this was her sanctuary -- a place to escape the confines of home, where her imagination could roam freely and her dreams knew no boundaries.

 

She remembers the last time she had come here with Hyung-Chul -- also late at night. After months of separation and heartbreak, he had appeared at her gate without warning and dragged her here. She had stepped away to tend to Woo-Jin's shattered heart, convinced it was the right thing to do. But with patience wearing thin, frustrated by her indecision, Hyung-Chul had nearly walked away for good.

 

That night, he had grasped her hand tightly, forcing her to listen. His voice was firm, resolute, "We'll do things my way from now on... You have to listen to me... I will never again say that we should break up. You have my promise."

 

But even the strongest promises can crumble under the forces of reality.

 

His fate was sealed long before their lives ever intertwined. What they shared was borrowed time, fleeting and now expired. He belonged with someone else, a woman chosen for him in a world where obligation superseded mere love.

 

Last night, Sun-Mi had made her decision. She had come tonight not to reminisce, or to dwell on the present, but to look forward.

 

 

The park is deserted. Only the rustle of leaves in the breeze accompanied their footsteps.

 

"What did you want to talk about?" Hyung-Chul finally asks.

 

"I confirmed with the London Bureau manager early this morning," she says, her voice level. "I leave next week."

 

He nods, forcing a smile. "That's... good. Let me know if there is anything you need, and I'll do it for you."

 

 

Sun-Mi takes a deep breath to settle her nerves before she broaches the real topic she wants to discuss.

 

"Joo-Hee told me that she broke her engagement with Sun-Dal. Called off the wedding."

 

"I heard. Sun-Dal is taking it all pretty hard."

 

"Do you know why she did it?"

 

His voice shifts its tone as he avoids a direct answer. "I suppose she had her reasons."

 

"She didn't want the correspondent position back. Said she had something more important to do here. Do you have any idea what it could that be?"

 

"No," he lies. "You'll have to ask her."

 

 

Sun-Mi stops, lets go of his arm, and turns to face him.

 

"What do you think of a person who deliberately hides the truth from a person he cares about?" she asks. "Like Joo-Hee did with Sun-Dal."

 

Hyung-Chul furrows his brow. "I'd say that person doesn't fully trust the other. Why?"

 

"Because I feel like you're hiding something from me."

 

"I'm not exactly happy about you going to London, if that's what you mean."

 

 

She studies him, waiting, her mouth tightening. But he says nothing more.

 

"That's it?" she snaps. "Nothing else?"

 

"Were you expecting something else?"

 

"Because I'd heard..." She stops herself. "Never mind."

 

She looks away. "I might be gone for three years. Maybe longer. I don't want you to keep waiting. If you move on with your life -- I'll understand."

 

"I made a promise," he states staunchly. "I'll wait, as long as it takes."

 

She sighs -- so much for trying to make it easier.

 

"The last time I went to England, I left behind a situation I couldn't deal with. I was divided between my feelings. I clung to Woo-Jin when I should have let go. I won't repeat that mistake again."

 

Hyung-Chul stiffens. "What are you saying?"

 

"I want to start fresh. Make a new life for myself. Meet new people, and become a different person myself. I won't hang onto the past like before. The painful memories are too hard."

 

"I know losing Kim Woo-Jin was hard for you."

 

Sun-Mi looks him directly in the eye. "This isn't about Woo-Jin. It's about you and me. And what has to happen if we're both going to move forward."

 

Hyung-Chul pales, his shoulders drooping as he anticipates her where she is going.

 

"I don't want anything, or anyone, holding me back," she declares. "But that's not possible unless things change. I need to start doing things my own way. Otherwise I'll never grow."

 

She pauses, breathes deeply, and resolves to finish strong.

 

"Senior, I want you to be happy," she says slowly, firmly, her face a rigid mask. "You have to be happy... without me."

 

The rehearsed words cut through her own heart as she speaks them.

 

"So... let's... break... up."