AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart

Chapter 44

written by LoveCR2 -- 2005

edited by All-About-AAE -- 2017

 

"Back in Seoul, some people called me the 'Goddess of Luck. I didn't feel particularly lucky then, but I do now." -- Jin Sun-Mi

 

 

Min-Cho holds the café door open and follows Sun-Mi inside, collapsing the wet umbrella and parking it in the rack by the door. They are the only customers in the small shop, and a woman behind a large glass display case motions for them take any seat at the half-dozen tables.

 

"We'll have tiramisu and coffee, for two," Min-Cho immediately places their order before they sit down.

 

"This place has some of the best pastry in London," he informs Sun-Mi, and then philosophizes, "When you're having a rough day, something delicious can uplift the soul."

 

"Yes," she agrees, recalling the many times Hyung-Chul had taken her to a café for something to eat, listening while she complained about her problems. But the thought that he now was doing that for someone else, puts a damper on her mood.

 

Min-Cho notices the change in her eyes, and asks, "Care to share your thoughts?"

 

Sun-Mi shakes her head. "Maybe after we eat."

 

 

The tiramisu appears with two cups of black joe. Min-Cho immediately adds cream and two sugars to one cup, and passes it to Sun-Mi.

 

"Go on, dig in," he encourages her. "You must be famished."

 

She eyes him warily and asks, "How did you know that tiramisu is my favorite dessert, and that I like my coffee this way?"

 

He taps the side of his head and suggests, "Telepathy..."

 

"No way," she retorts, "we're not in a relationship like that."

 

"Then what kind of relationship do we have?"

 

"You should know the answer to that already, Kyosoonim (Professor)," she replies with a reproving look.

 

"Okay, you caught me," he acknowledges with a chuckle, "When did you find out?"

 

"Chief Kim spilled the beans this morning."

 

"That's why you were cold towards me earlier?"

 

"I wanted to punish you for hiding the truth," Sun-Mi confesses. "Are you really a Professor?"

 

"Actually, my Uncle was exaggerating," he explains. "I'm just a post-grad working on my research dissertation. It's about how our minds affect speech patterns as we learn new languages."

 

"So I'm being used as the subject of a research paper?" she complains frostily. "Some type of guinea pig to experiment on?"

 

"He raises an eyebrow, and declares in a conspiratorial tone: "Yes, I was pretending to desire you for your body, but all along I was secretly interested in only your mind."

 

Sun-Mi smiles at the joke, then her face becomes serious again, and she asks crossly. "Why didn't you say anything? I don't like being the last one to know."

 

"My uncle asked me to wait until he'd talked with you, but I also hoped we might become good friends before the whole teacher-student thing became official," Min-Cho explains. "Namchin (boyfriend) sounds a lot better than Sunsengnim (Teacher), don't you think?"

 

"We'll have to see about that," she replies, peeved at his continual presumptions she'll be his girlfriend, "For now it's strictly Teacher."

 

"Lessons start next Saturday. I have to finish training my assistant first," he informs her. "Just to warn you, I'm quite demanding. Be prepared to work hard. I expect only the best from my students."

 

"But I'm the worst student; I barely passed English. Twice," Sun-Mi divulges. "You're not getting much to work with, I'm afraid."

 

Min-Cho seems unconcerned. "Don't they say, third time's a charm?" he reminds her. "You'll have good luck, with me as your Teacher."

 

The way he speaks, as if there is no doubt about her succeeding, raises Sun-Mi's confidence.

 

"Back in Seoul, some people called me the Goddess of Luck," she confides. "I didn't feel particularly lucky then, but..." She considers that if how effortlessly he'd saved her from the fall is any indicator of his teaching ability, she is in competent hands. "For some reason, I do now."

 

"Then consider this your lucky day," Min-Cho declares, "and I'm your lucky guy..."