AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart

Chapter 57

written by LoveCR2 -- 2005

edited by All-About-AAE -- 2017

 

"When you're so cold, remember that a hot cup of coffee is what really hits the spot." -- Yoon Hyung-Chul

 

 

HANNAM HANGANG BRIDGE, GANGNAM...

 

"There you are! I've been looking all over for you..."

 

The solitary woman on the small floating pier that extends into the Han River doesn't reply.

 

Hyung-Chul descends the concrete steps from the footpath and walks out on the wood decking to stand beside So-Won. In the shadow cast by the footpath lamps, he can't see her face clearly enough to discern her expression. Yet despite having only the light wrap around her shoulders, she stolidly faces into an icy wind.

 

Hyung-Chul had been in no mood, and in no hurry to follow So-Won, and by the time he'd cleaned up and gone looking for her, she was not to be found anywhere in the restaurant or bar. The doorman had seen a woman matching her description crossing the gangway to the shore, but did not recall which direction she'd gone.

 

In her haste to leave, So-Won had forgotten her mobile on the table, so with no means of contacting her, Hyung-Chul at first waited at steps to the gangway for her return. But as the midnight hour came and passed with an accompanying drop in temperature, he began to worry, and decided to search. On a blind hunch, he headed west, toward the Hannam Bridge over the Han River, about half a kilometer away.

 

As he nears the bridge, his search is rewarded...

 

"What are you doing alone out here?" he asks, concerned for her wellbeing.

 

"Feeling like the biggest fool in Seoul," she answers regretfully, "and acting like one, too, in front of you... I'm sorry."

 

"I was too harsh," he accepts part of the blame for what happened. "I have a tendency toward that; I'm sorry."

 

"Don't be," she tells him. "I needed a serious wakeup call, and you're the only one honest enough to speak the truth..."

 

"You have a long day of filming tomorrow," he reminds her. "Put what happened tonight out of your mind."

 

"I already have," she answers thoughtfully. "Thanks for being there, to save me from myself... again..."

 

 

He wonders about what she means by that, but doesn't pry. A long silence ensues, with the only sound from the water lapping at the pier, until she speaks again...

 

"Do you remember the first time we met?"

 

"Of course," Hyung-Chul answers immediately; as now the significance of this place strikes him. He readily retrieves the images captured by his eyes that night, and describes the scene in detail...

 

"It was a warm June night. I was out for a stroll along the River Thames, around midnight. Near Tower Bridge, I noticed you on a small pier, staring down into the water. You were carrying a large blue backpack strapped on your back, and wearing a heavy dark brown overcoat and winter boots, which I thought was odd..."

 

"So you stopped, and asked my name," she reminds him.

 

"And after you told me, you laughed and said, 'This looks pretty ridiculous, right?'..." Hyung-Chul recalls.

 

"And you said, 'If you're really so cold, a hot cup of coffee hits the spot' ... That cup of coffee was our first date," she says wistfully. "But I've never told you why I was there, have I?"

 

"No."

 

"That morning my mum called... My father had run off with another woman; she had no money for me to continue university," So-Won discloses. "Then that afternoon, my fiancée broke off our engagement -- his parents didn't want a 'scandal' in the family. In less than one day, everything had changed, and I thought my life was over. So that night I put on my heaviest coat and boots, and filled my backpack with books, so the extra weight would pull me under quickly..."

 

"That possibility had concerned me when I saw you," Hyung-Chul admits. "Would you have done it?"

 

She smiles and shrugs. "I'll never know. Fate brought you into my life instead, a total stranger who cared enough to ask my name, when I felt that life had no meaning left for me..."

 

Thinking back she asks, "Do you remember what I said that day we parted at the airport?"

 

"Of course," he replies, quoting her, 'Knowing you is the biggest present I've ever had'..."

 

"I really meant that," she reaffirms her words, and confesses, "and since that day I've carried one regret... that I had to leave you. I'd hoped, by coming back, we could pick up from the same place we left off. But now I see I was wrong..."

 

 

"Let me take you back now," he suggests. "Aren't you cold?"

 

"Yes," she agrees, "but you could do something about that..."

 

Taking the hint, he dutifully removes his suit coat, and places it over her shoulders. "Here..."

 

"That wasn't what I had in mind," she says, turning to face him. "I know it's not my right to ask, but... could you just hold me... just for a few minutes... just for old time's sake?"

 

"Sure, I can do that, for you," Hyung-Chul agrees.

 

Taking So-Won into his embrace, he feels her shivering; her arms are ice cold...

 

"You're freezing!" he exclaims, then scolds her, "Why do this? You could get sick!"

 

"I'm an idiot, I know that," she replies quietly, clinging to him for warmth. "But I needed to know if you cared enough to come for me. The cold I endure out here is nothing compared to the coldness in my heart, without you... Do you really feel nothing for me? Is it so difficult to remember what we had together? To believe it can happen again?"

 

"So-Won... it's just that..." he begins, his voice fading off as the sensation of having So-Won in his arms again, her heady intoxicating fragrance filling every breath, triggers long dormant, implicit memories... like riding a bicycle after years without practice... Effortlessly, mental pictures he'd banished, wanting to forget, flood back again... the sparkling of her enticing eyes ... the smoothness of her silky skin ... the sweetness of her inviting lips...

 

Hyung-Chul closes his eyes, his thoughts, feelings, and senses churning, as past and present, memory and consciousness indistinguishably meld together... He buries his face in So-Won's thick tresses, releasing a deep sigh, torn as his heart wrestles with his mind ...

 

... 'It's two hearts, entwined together at creation, and now fused for eternity' ...

 

He'd believed for so long that the heart fused to his was Sun-Mi's that he'd ignored the possibility that she didn't feel the same toward him... but that thought now taunts him ... Hadn't she told him so herself? ...

 

...'My life is one of dreams, Senior, while yours is one of realities ... like a meteorite from the heavens and a pearl from the sea ... being so different, can we ever truly know the other's heart and mind?' ...

 

Hadn't she proven it by leaving him and accepting the attentions of another man? And if he truly loved Sun-Mi with a pure heart, how could So-Won awaken this deep longing within him? ...

 

...'Open your eyes and see the truth... it's me, Park So-Won, who is here beside you... It can be love if we choose to make it so'...

 

 

At some point, Hyung-Chul knows he must determine which is true, but decides that tonight is not that time... there is something he has to do first.

 

He gently separates himself from So-Won. Looking into her eyes, he sees them filled with expectation and hope... Until he knows his own heart and hope, he will let her hope live, too...

 

With a smile on his lips, he says, "Next time when you're so cold, remember that a hot cup of coffee is what really hits the spot..."

 

Then he plants a light kiss on her forehead, and releases So-Won from his embrace.

 

Puzzled by his words and actions, unsure of what it means for her, she asks, "What was that for?"

 

Hyung-Chul simply replies. "For old time's sake... and for eternity's..."