AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart

Chapter 20

written by LoveCR2 -- 2005

edited by All-About-AAE -- 2016

 

"It's so beautiful, Senior, so perfect. All the sparkling stars in heaven are smiling down on us." -- Jin Sun-Mi

 

 

JIN HOME, SUBURBAN SEOUL ...

 

"Soon we'll all be one happy family..." Hyung-Chul mulls Kui-Sung's prediction as he sits outside on the porch steps of Sun-Mi's house after dinner. Inhaling a much-delayed nicotine fix, he looks over at the white wrought-iron gate leading to the street, where his BMW is parked next to Mr. Jin's Range Rover, and thinks of all the single, long-stemmed red roses he'd left on that gate with similar expectations.  If that past is any indication of the future, he knows it will be later, rather than sooner, before Mr. Jin's prophesy comes true...

 

Hearing the door handle turn, he quickly stubs out his cigarette on the steps and stands, turning to see who is coming. His hopes are realized when Sun-Mi steps out the door and softly closes it. For dinner she had changed from her work suit into a bleached yellow blouse and pale seafoam-green skirt. Now she has a white cotton sweater draped over her shoulders against the evening chill. The high heels of her wood-soled slides lightly clip-clop on the deck planks as she walks over to him.

 

"Auntie is packing up some food and things for Young-Mi to take home," she fills him in on the activities indoors, "so we have a few minutes..." She leaves open what those few minutes might be used for.

 

"There's something I've wanted to ask you, privately," Hyung-Chul says as he looks around for an appropriate spot.

 

"Ehm...." she responds hopefully with a nod, believing she knows what he wants to talk about. "There's a perfect place, over there..." She points toward a corner of the yard, where a garden table is partially screened from view by evergreen shrubbery.

 

Sun-Mi slips her hand into the crook of Hyung-Chul's elbow. Walking unhurriedly, they cross the grass to the garden table. Gentlemanly, he helps seat her before he takes the adjacent chair. A nearby yard light provides faint illumination on their faces. The only sound in the still night are occasional chirps from a pair of amorous crickets hiding among the plantings.

 

Sun-Mi gazes up at the night sky. "It's so beautiful, Senior," she remarks, "so perfect. All the sparkling stars in heaven are smiling down on us."

 

But instead of gazing up at sparkling stars, Hyung-Chul is star-gazing at her sparkling eyes. "Which is more beautiful, smiling stars, or a smiling face?" he quips.

 

Only then does Sun-Mi realize that he is looking at her, not the stars. Conscious of the sudden blush blossoming on her cheeks, she puts a hand up to partially cover her face. But inwardly she is pleased at his sweet words... and hoping to hear more...

 

But Hyung-Chul has a more practical agenda in mind at the moment. "Did you make a decision yet on Art Club?" he asks.

 

"Yes, I already gave Director Kim notice. Yesterday was my last day on the program," she informs him plainly.

 

"Just like that? He let you go so easily?" Hyung-Chul asks, seeking more information.

 

"We... er... had our differences, at the end," Sun-Mi implies obliquely that something more had transpired, without offering the details. "So I thought for sure he'd refuse. But he practically walked me out the door, saying he'd anticipated my request and already selected someone else to fill the slot."

 

Pretending to be offended, he frowns. "You knew this all day, and didn't tell me?"

 

Sun-Mi takes him seriously, and lowers her eyes meekly. "I'm sorry... Things were so busy with going to get Young-Mi, it just slipped my mind," she apologizes for the oversight.

 

"Never mind, it doesn't matter now," he returns a ready smile. "I'm glad you're done with him."

 

"Me, too," she agrees, relieved that her collusion with his business rival was no longer an issue between them.

 

Hyung-Chul moves to the next item on his list:  "What about 'Eve's Morning'? The ratings are decent; do you want to stay on?"

 

Sun-Mi's answer is ambiguous. "Now that Lee Sang-Joo has recovered, she could come back any time." Then she adds, unprompted, "And Seo Ma-Ri is working out so well for my nights off on 'Musical Postcards', that she could fill in for me permanently there, too."

 

The last surprises Hyung-Chul, that Sun-Mi would consider giving up the signature program which had jump-started her rise to fame. But he quickly grasps the significance, thinking she must be seriously thinking about leaving Seoul, and probes further into the possibility: "Now that your father has someone else to take care of him, what will you do with your off time?"

 

She laughs. "That's a good question. Actually, I hadn't thought about it that way." Then she tilts her head and looks up, musing aloud: "I suppose I'm free to go anywhere, and do anything I choose now, right?"

 

Hyung-Chul gulps, then proffers the obvious: "Like... England?"

 

"It's a possibility," she readily acknowledges with a tilt of her head, without revealing a decision, then brings up another option: "There's also that talk show concept I've wanted to develop..."

 

"Yes, that's an idea," he replies eagerly -- anything to get her to stay.

 

But Sun-Mi sighs undecidedly, looking dreamily off into empty space, "Or maybe, should I start a new direction in life... something totally different?"

 

In the moment of silence that ensues, she regards Hyung-Chul from the corner of her eyes, trying to gauge his thinking, letting her not-so-subtle hint sink in a moment before continuing. Then with a sudden turn of her head that send her hair twirling, she faces Hyung-Chul straight-on, her face vibrant with expectation.

 

"Senior, what do you think?" she eagerly asks, "Do you have anything to say to me?"

 

Awaiting his response, she concentrates her thoughts to deliver a strong telepathic message to his heart... "I'll marry you, Senior. Just ask me!"

 

But while Sun-Mi is focusing on sending her mental text, Hyung-Chul is focusing on something else: capturing a picture of her beaming face with his eyes. Only after he adds the latest image to the burgeoning collection in his photographic memory, is he aware that he has unconsciously slipped a hand into the pocket where he keeps the ring. With sudden clarity, Hyung-Chul realizes why Sun-Mi had felt that "all the sparkling stars in heaven are smiling down" as his heart tells him that this is, indeed, the perfect moment he's waited for.

 

He stands, flexes his legs in preparation to go down on one knee, and gravely answers: "Yes, I do have something to say, Sun-Mi..."

 

Taking a breath, he pauses to mentally rehearse the words of the proposal he'd carefully written out and inscribed on his heart...