AAE -- Twists of Fate

Part 1 -- Chapter 02

by LoveCR2

edited by All-About-AAE

 

 

Sun-Mi stands in the shower, letting the warm water flow over her body, washing the tension away with the suds from her hair. She turns off the water, towels herself off, and pulls on a T-shirt and shorts. Drying her short bob, she shuffles in her slippers to her bedroom.

 

The blue box on her desk draws her eye.  "Maybe I can understand Woo-Jin, if I read what he wrote about Young-Mi in his diary."

 

She sits down at the desk and removes the lid. Inside, she notices an airmail letter -- one she had sent to Woo-Jin while studying English in London, six years before.

 

"Auntie must have put this in the box by accident," she says as she picks it up.

 

As Sun-Mi pulls out the thin vellum sheets of her old letter, a separate paper flutters to the desk. She unfolds it and smooths the creases. Recognizing Woo-Jin's handwriting, her eyes lock on the first line...

 

Sun-Mi --

 

Even as I write it, I know I will never mail this letter to you. Sometimes, it takes a person leaving to realize how much you miss them -- and I do miss you, terribly. That day you left from the airport, as we hugged goodbye, I wanted to kiss you. But I didn't dare, knowing how embarrassed you would be in front of all those people.

 

That pretty much sums up my life, being afraid to act on what my heart told me when I was with you. From when you were just a girl, I liked you. And as you grew into a woman, I loved you. You were always dazzling to me -- too dazzling -- but I couldn't say it. I felt unworthy. And now, it's too late.

 

This morning I called your aunt's home, hoping to speak with you, but she said you were still out, on a date. That you had met someone at Cambridge who could help you achieve your dreams. She told me that I was holding you back because you held a crush on me. She asked me to push you away and make you forget me, to clear the way for this new man.

 

I decided to do what she asked. Because of what happened that night in your room, I know you already think I like Young-Mi. So when you return, I'll make you believe that I love Young-Mi. That way, maybe then you will give up on me.

 

I want you to be happy, to achieve your dreams. If you can do that better with someone else, I will do everything I can to make that happen. Because it's you. Because I love you.

 

-- Woo-Jin

 

 

Sun-Mi catches her breath, staring at the letter as the color drains from her face.

 

Woo-Jin's voice echoes in her mind from that night he'd stumbled into her home, drunk -- "Sun-Mi, will you marry me? Even if it's only for a month or a year, I want you to be beside me."

 

She had dismissed it as another indignity from a man who had spurned her love and was treating her as a spare tire. Now she realizes it was his final, desperate plea to escape the lie which had engulfed him -- and she had pushed him away.

 

Her hand trembles. Her grip loosens. The letter drops to the floor.

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

 

Gui-Sung climbs the stairs carrying a tray with sliced pears and fruit juice. He enters Sun-Mi's bedroom and sees her curled up on the bed, her eyes red and swollen.

 

"Sun-Mi, what's wrong?" He sets the tray on the desk and sits beside her on the bed. He pats her shoulder. "What is it? You can tell me."

 

Sun-Mi sits up, tears flooding her cheeks. "Daddy, it was my fault," she wails. "Woo-Jin died because of me!"

 

Gui-Sung grasps her upper arms, holding her steady. "Calm down. It was an accident. How could it be your fault?"

 

Sun-Mi wipes her face with her palms. "It was no accident that he was there, just at that time."

 

"What are you talking about?"

 

She takes a deep breath to calm herself. "Woo-Jin asked me to marry him," she whispers. "But I turned him down. So he went back to Young-Mi, even though she'd discarded him. That day, he was trying to convince her to leave Seoul with him."

 

"How do you know that?"

 

"A crew member at the scene heard them arguing, and saw Young-Mi tearing up air tickets. He told me that Woo-Jin had deliberately asked to switch assignments with the original cameraman."

 

"If you knew all this before, why the tears?"

 

Sun-Mi looks at the letter on the floor. "Because I learned the truth today, Daddy."

 

Gui-Sung picks up the letter and scans the contents. His eyes widen. "Woo-Jin really wrote this?"

 

She nods. "All this time I never knew he loved me. That Auntie persuaded him to sacrifice his love for my future. So when he finally shared his heart, I didn't accept it. Now do you understand? I blamed Young-Mi, but I'm the one to blame."

 

"You're not to blame," he says sternly. "It's because of that criminal Bae In-Su, who tried to attack Young-Mi. You have to believe that none of what happened was your fault."

 

"But, Daddy--"

 

"Say it," he orders. "It wasn't my fault."

 

"It wasn't my fault," Sun-Mi mumbles.

 

"Louder."

 

"It wasn't my fault," she repeats, her voice firmer.

 

"That's the daughter I know. It's the truth. Accept it," Gui-Sung commands. "Now eat something and go to bed. Tomorrow you'll feel better."

 

Sun-Mi nods. "Yes, Daddy."

 

"Good night." Gui-Sung stands and steps toward the door.

 

"Daddy?"

 

He turns back. "Yes."

 

"I still miss him -- terribly."

 

"I know. It's been twenty years since your mother passed, and I still miss her, every day."