AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart

Chapter 37

written by LoveCR2 -- 2005

edited by All-About-AAE -- 2017

 

"It's only my third day in London... Who says lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place?" -- Jin Sun-Mi

 

 

Min-Cho whips the Sprite into the restaurant car park, tires squealing in a controlled skid. With another deft turn of the wheel, he cranks the car around, feathers the brakes, and rolls to an accurate stop between a pair of SUVs that tower over the little roadster.

 

"Right on time," he remarks to Sun-Mi, "What do you think?"

 

During the drive, the open cockpit, filled with engine and road noise, prevented any but the briefest word exchanges. Min-Cho had also kept his focus on the traffic instead of her. Without those distractions, Sun-Mi was free to be caught up in the exhilaration of speeding through the streets and motorways in a race against time...

 

"Oh... my... God.. That was crazy!" she laughs breathlessly. "When I said, 'go for a spin' I didn't think you'd take it literally!"

 

"Any time you want to do the 'scenic drive' let me know," he teases with a beguiling, naughty-boy smile.

 

Still feeling the adrenaline rush, she flicks her eyes at him, flirting back. "If you treat me nicely, I might just take you up on it..."

 

 

As Sun-Mi fumbles with the latch of her seatbelt, Min-Cho gets out and circles the car, arriving just in time to helps her alight to firm ground. But this help reminds Sun-Mi of his 'nice legs' comment, and with the implication it suggests, her face flushes redder...

 

"I must look a mess!" she exclaims, smoothing her wind-tousled hair and patting her flushed cheeks.

 

"You're fine," Min-Cho dismisses her concern. "This isn't an audience with the Queen. You don't have to look perfect all the time, for gosh sake."

 

"That wasn't my point," she answers testily.

 

"Do you think everyone has nothing better to do than pay attention to you?" he responds sharply, keeping in kind with her attitude.

 

Irritated at his unfounded criticism, Sun-Mi protests stiffly, "I don't usually speak so directly, but I seem to be getting an inordinate amount of YOUR attention, Mister Atwater! Do you treat all women like this when you first meet them?"

 

"When I meet a woman I like, I want her to know it," he states his case matter-of-factly. "Don't women like getting compliments?"

 

"Frankly, I find your attempts just embarrassing."

 

"Then what would you rather have me say?" he challenges her.

 

"Nothing at all!" she declares hotly.

 

Min-Cho backs off. "All right, I'll stop," he offers a contrite truce. "I see I made a bad first impression, so let's start over. I take back everything I said."

 

"Actually, I'll keep one back," she declares, giving him an impish grin. "No one's ever told me I have nice legs before."

 

"Then you don't have a very perceptive boyfriend, Sun-Mi," he remarks lightly, now that he knows she's kept a sense of humor about her despite appearances.

 

But Sun-Mi's eyes spark with hurt at the inadvertent touch to her sore spot. "Did I say I have a boyfriend?" she snaps.

 

 

Min-Cho's mobile buzzes, interrupting before their latest exchange escalates further. He takes out the phone and listens, then replies, "Okay, sure. No, it's fine... Good bye."

 

He puts his phone back into his pocket, and conveys the message to Sun-Mi: "That was Chief Kim. He apologizes that because something came up, he has to miss dinner."

 

"Well, then... what shall we do now?" she wonders aloud, unclear on what is appropriate for their situation.

 

"Chief Kim said we should go ahead without him," Min-Cho answers her question. "The steak is great here, and it's on the company, too. What do you think?"

 

"Why not?" she agrees. "I have to eat sometime, and I'm famished... Let's go!"

 

But Min-Cho speaks up before she takes a step: "First, where were we? Oh, yes... your boyfriend problem..."

 

"I don't have a problem," Sun-Mi insists, irritated he'd brought the subject up again.

 

He ignores her glare, and keeps talking. "... I think it's something we can remedy right now..."

 

"Remedy what?" she bristles.

 

"... If we just call this our first official date, okay?"

 

 

Sun-Mi is astounded at his audacious presumption. "You don't waste any time, do you?" she retorts irately. "We've just met, I don't know anything about you, and I'm wondering if even like you. What makes you think I'd want to be your girlfriend?"

 

"You can't blame a guy for asking out a girl he finds interesting, can you?" he counters, flashing a disarming grin. "Besides, life is too short to waste time beating around the bush."

 

"It's not as if there's any rush," she shoots back. "What about getting to know a person first, before dating them?"

 

"You want to know why?" he asks, then tells her without waiting: "My parents divorced when I was 13. My mum went back to her family in Busan, while my dad transferred to South Africa for business. It was too late for me to fit into the Korean education system, and I didn't want to live in Africa, so I stayed on with my uncle here."

 

He pauses for a breath, then continues: "I never saw my father alive again; he died two years later, at age 35, in a car accident."

 

As she listens to his unhappy story, Sun-Mi's sharp attitude softens. "I'm sorry," she expresses genuine feelings. "I know what it's like to not have a parent."

 

"The upshot is, I'm 28, and my mum says I take after my dad, so I might have only 7 years left," Min-Cho concludes. "I know it's foolish to believe my fate may be the same as his, but now do you get why I try to live each day to the fullest, and not hold back?"

 

After a moment to think about what he'd shared, Sun-Mi confesses her feelings: "I do understand... I've spent much of my life waiting for things to happen, and been disappointed. I came here for a change, wanting to go after life instead of waiting for it to come to me."

 

"Then we do have something in common," he states emphatically. "I'm willing to take a chance on you, Sun-Mi. Why not give me the same chance?"

 

The entire situation is so ridiculous, that Sun-Mi has to laugh. "But, honestly, I'm not a very good girlfriend," she warns, thinking to dissuade him.

 

But Min-Cho is undeterred. "Let me be the judge of that," he declares and offers his arm. "Shall we?"

 

... What am I getting myself into ... she wonders warily, even as a spark of excitement she hasn't felt for a long time eggs her on to give him that chance he asked for... this is like diving head first, eyes closed, into unknown waters ...

 

"Is all your behavior as reckless as your driving and dating?" she asks, deciding to forge ahead anyway, despite her misgivings.

 

"I'll let you be the judge of that," Min-Cho answers with another charming grin.

 

Sun-Mi slips her hand over his bent elbow, and he nudges her forward, taking off across the car park, heading toward the restaurant entrance at a good clip. Sun-Mi trots along to keep up with Min-Cho's long strides, heels clicking briskly on the brick pavers.

 

...Just like last time, it's only my third day in London... she mulls over the unprecedented situation, comparing it to the day she'd been bowled over by Hyung-Chul, but in a different way...

 

... Who says lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place?