AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart

Chapter 11

by LoveCR2 -- 2005

edited by All-About-AAE -- 2017

 

"Having you beside me is an anchor in a terrible storm" -- Jin Sun-Mi

 

 

OLYMPIC EXPRESSWAY, SEOUL ...

 

For a Sunday afternoon, traffic moves sluggishly as Hyung-Chul drives back into Seoul. In the passenger seat beside him, Sun-Mi is fast asleep.

 

They had called Kui-Sung and Jin-Suk, and told them not to wait at the trailhead. Their hike back down the mountain was subdued; Sun-Mi had kept her thoughts and her words to herself. Hyung-Chul was loath to pry, and not much in the mood for talking, either.

 

He glances over at Sun-Mi and reflects. ... What a difference just 24 hours had made in his hopes...

 

Sun-Mi stirs and opens her eyes. Hyung-Chul notices and looks over at her. Feeling self-conscious, she pushes back the wisps of hair that had fallen across her face and sits up straight in the seat.

 

"How long was I asleep?"

 

"You dozed off a few minutes after we left the car park," he informs her. "Feeling better now?"

 

Sun-Mi doesn't answer, instead she looks out the window to get her bearings and organize her thoughts.

 

"Senior?"

 

"Yes?"

 

"There is something I need to say..." She pauses for a breath. "What happened today, don't take it too seriously. Sometimes I'm too much. It must be hard to put up with all my uncertainties and doubts, and listen to all my conflicting feelings and confusion."

 

She turns to look at him. "But these past weeks, having you beside me is an anchor in a terrible storm. Besides my Daddy and Ms. Song, you're the one person I can always count on..."

 

Hearing this, Hyung-Chul's heart is warmed and his confidence raised with renewed hope.

 

She continues: "I wanted you to know that, because..."

 

Sun-Mi's cell rings, interrupting her. She takes out her phone and glances at the caller ID.

 

"Daddy? ... No, go ahead, don't wait, traffic is pretty bad. ... No, nothing like that. ... Okay, see you later. Bye."

 

She closes her cell phone and returns it to her bag. "They'll have dinner without us," she explains, then says, "Daddy asked if we had anything important from the hike to tell him. Do you know what he might be talking about?"

 

Hyung-Chul makes a pretense of thinking, then shakes his head. "No idea.."

 

A growling sound comes from Sun-Mi's stomach, distracting her thoughts. She looks over to see if Hyung-Chul heard.

 

He smiles. "Let's take care of that right away."

 

"What are you thinking?" she asks, then adds with a calculated pout: "Not ramen?"

 

Hyung-Chul chuckles at what had become a private joke between them. "The new Thai carryout place near the office?" he proposes.

 

Sun-Mi smiles happily. "I was actually thinking about that. How did you know?"

 

"Umm... telepathy?" he offers, then at her skeptical eye, reveals the truth: "I saw the flyer on your desk last night."

 

They both share a hearty laugh together.

 

"Since we'll be passing by the station after… Mind if I stop to pick up some things?" He glances to see her reaction.

 

Sun-Mi grumbles, "It's our day off, remember? The last place I want to go is to the office..." Then she smiles; realizing that stopping there will mean they have that much longer to spend together before he sends her home. "Sure, why not?"