AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart

Chapter 4

by LoveCR2

edited by All-About-AAE

 

"Do dreams foretell the future? Or do they only reflect the wishes of your heart?" -- Jin Sun-Mi

 

 

"Come in, Sun-Mi."

 

Carrying a tray with a brimming cup, Sun-Mi slowly pushes the door open and steps into her bedroom.

 

"Hangover medicine. Dried polluck soup is the best," she answers Hyung-Chul's raised eyebrow.

 

"Thanks, but coffee would have been good enough."

 

She places the tray on her desk, next to him, and retreats to sit on her bed before she says, "We need to talk. Seriously."

 

"About what?"

 

"Last night..." she begins, then notices that Hyung-Chul is studying her face.

 

Without thinking, she had come directly from the kitchen, forgetting she had neglected to put on makeup after washing. For the first time, Hyung-Chul, accustomed only to her public appearance, is seeing Sun-Mi's natural face.

 

In the warm dawn light filtering through the windows, she glows radiantly. Like an angel, he muses, enraptured.

 

But Sun-Mi is self-conscious from his rapt attention. "Are you taking a picture of me with your eyes... again?" she asks, trying to sound indignant, even as she feels flattered, as her cheeks instantly flush an even lovelier shade of pink. "It's embarrassing."

 

"Why? Because you just woke up?"

 

"No... because it makes me feel uncomfortable. It's just the two of us, alone in my bedroom."

 

"Ah... then you really want me to leave? Is that what you came back to say?"

 

"Actually... I need to make something clear," she explains. "I want you to know my mind is not made up, I'm not set on going to London."

 

Though he is surprised to hear this, Hyung-Chul's elation is tempered by his concern that Sun-Mi is so willing to turn down such a good opportunity for her future. His reply is deliberately noncommittal: "I see."

 

Sun-Mi, expecting more enthusiasm from him at what she'd thought was good news, proceeds cautiously. "Would it be okay with you, if my dreeam was to be... If I never became... a famous celebrity?" she adds, hoping that he'll take THIS hint.

 

But his response is defensive: "You'll never let me forget I said that, will you?" he complains. "I've told you how many times, I'm sorry."

 

Sun-Mi tries again: "I'm not asking for an apology."

 

"More?" He looks at her, puzzling over what she is expects from him. "Do I need to kowtow, too?"

 

She sighs, frustrated at his cluelessness, and changes the subject to another matter that is burning in her mind...

 

"Senior, what do you honestly think? Do dreams foretell the future? Or do they only reflect the wishes of your heart?"

 

Hyung-Chul's thoughts go directly to his own dream, and decides he needs a third choice. "Er... it's hard to say. Why do you ask?"

 

"Last night, I had the most vivid dream ever, like it really was happening. Do you want to hear?"

 

Curious, he accedes, "Sure. Go ahead."

 

"It was the day Manager Kim returned from his honeymoon, the day before I was to leave for London..."

 

She pauses there, to watch for his reaction to the mention of her leaving, but his eyes reveal nothing.

 

"In the meeting, Shin Ki-Jong was telling me about the English sports teams, and all the cafes on the Thames. And then, later, I was on Eve's Morning, and Young-Mi appeared in a video segment, working as a volunteer at an orphanage in Kangwon-do..."

 

"Young-Mi working at an orphanage, really?" he interjects, "That must be a total fantasy, then!"

 

Sun-Mi ignores his flippant remark.

 

"We drove there and discovered that Young-Mi had attempted suicide, and had amnesia; so she couldn't recall anything after six years old. And she showed me a picture of Kim Woo-Jin she had kept, so I knew that she still loved him, and that made me cry because..."

 

For weeks Hyung-Chul had listened and comforted Sun-Mi, as she alternately obsessed over Young-Mi's disappearance and broke down in grief over Woo-Jin's death. And now, he has to hear it all over again, this time expressed in a dream.

 

Frustrated, he interrupts, cutting her off: "Can't we have even one conversation without Announcer Huh and Photographer Kim? Now they're even taking over your dreams!'

 

Upset at being scolded, unfairly in her thinking, Sun-Mi bristles: "Fine! I'll just shut up then!"

 

"That's not what I meant," Hyung-Chul takes a tactical step back. "I know you feel guilty about what happened to Young-Mi, but really, it's not your fault, just like it's not your fault that Kim Woo-Jin died. Stop blaming yourself for bad things that happen to other people."

 

"Are you finished, Director Yoon?" she expresses her irritation at being talked down to.

 

"Yes."

 

"So am I!" She gets up and goes to the door, slamming it behind her in aggravation.

 

 

In the hallway outside, she mutters to herself: "Why can't he just listen sometimes! I don't need fixing."

 

She plops down on the settee at the top of the stairway to settle her emotions before going down.

 

 

Inside Sun-Mi's bedroom, Hyung-Chul bewildered at what just happened, stares at the closed door.

 

He mutters to himself, "Women are so hard to understand... Why is it always my fault?"

 

He takes a sip of the medicine, but the taste is too bitter, and sets it aside.

 

 

A voice calls from downstairs: "Sun-Mi, are you up there?"

 

"Yes, Daddy," she calls back from the top of the steps. "I'll be right down to make breakfast."

 

"Don't forget to invite Director Yoon to eat with us. It's not polite to send him off hungry."

 

"Yes, Daddy," she sighs reluctantly, not wanting to face Hyung-Chul so soon after their quarrel. But she has no choice.

 

 

"Come in," Hyung-Chul responds to her knock, eager to resolve their recent spat.

 

Sun-Mi opens the door, to find him sitting on the bed. He pats the bedcover next to him, and she sits down obediently.

 

"I was about to go out after you," he says. "To tell you that I'm sorry."

 

"I am, too," she offers a smile. "Daddy asks that you stay for breakfast. Okay?"

 

"How can I turn down an invitation like that?" he agrees with a wide grin, thinking that if everything goes his way, perhaps soon she'll be cooking breakfast for him every day.

 

 

Kui-Sung calls upstairs again: "Sun-Mi? Hurry down. We need to eat soon if we're going to leave on time."

 

Hyung-Chul perks up when he hears that. "You have plans?"

 

Sun-Mi is uncertain. "I'm not sure, maybe Daddy has something in mind."

 

"Oh..." He'd been thinking of asking Sun-Mi to join him for their day off.

 

"Now scat," she shoos him away. "Tell Daddy I'll be down in a few minutes, after I change."