AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart
Chapter 68
written by LoveCR2 -- 2005
edited by All-About-AAE -- 2017
"I'm in Paris, why can't I get the man I love, to love me in return?" -- Park So-Won
PRESTIGE SUITE, HOTEL WESTIN -- VENDOME, PARIS ...
"... I'll conclude the program today from Paris Fashion Week with some brief sightseeing..."
As she delivers her prepared script, Sun-Mi strolls the Quai des Tuileries next to the Seine River, with the Institu de France in the background...
Nursing a tumbler of Jim Beam Black bourbon, Hyung-Chul relaxes in the sitting room of his hotel suite, the lights turned low, as he watches the TV. Several dozen VHS tapes with MBS logo stickers attached are stacked on the coffee table, and in the VCR, the Korean language broadcast tape of Sun-Mi's latest segment for MBS' morning 'Fashion Today!' program...
"... In the City of Love, the main artery through the romantic heart of Paris is the picturesque Seine River..."
She stops and smiles broadly at the camera, her expression animated...
"... Behind me is the Pont des Arts, where you can meet someone and take that perfect picture with the setting sun reflecting off the water. Don't let this opportunity pass by... come out tomorrow and experience it for yourself, you won't be disappointed..."
She smiles again, waving briefly as she signs off: "This is MBS Special Correspondent Jin Sun-Mi, reporting for 'Fashion Today!'... Join me again tomorrow... Thanks for watching!"
He flicks the VCR to PAUSE with the remote, freezing Sun-Mi's smiling image on the TV. He lets his gaze linger, adding one more image to the hundreds accumulated in his photographic memory, gloomily thinking that her broadcasts may be as close as he will ever be to her again.
He is in the City of Love... alone...
His mood darkening, he gets up from the couch and paces to the window. From a third floor elevation he can look down at the expansive Jardin des Tuileries and glimpse the Seine River. Beyond that, the lights of the Eiffel Tower flash. In the other direction are the buildings of the Louve. The Pont des Arts that Sun-Mi mentioned is hidden, but he can make out the dome of the Institu de France.
As he replays Sun-Mi's tape in his mind, he wonders about the odd phrasing of her closing remarks... Of all the all the famous places and sights of Paris to choose from, why did she mention taking a picture of the sunset from a specific bridge? And why is it important to do tomorrow?
He is puzzling over this when his mobile buzzes... he looks and sees that it is So-Won calling.
"Yes, what is it now?" he answers brusquely, irritated at being interrupted from his preoccupation over what Sun-Mi said.
"Is that any way for a man to talk to the woman who will be his fianc�e some day?" she complains.
"Are you in the bar?" he asks, knowing her usual hangouts.
"Want to join me for a nightcap?" she purrs.
"Forget it," he refuses outright. "Why are you calling this late?"
"Since tomorrow is our last day in Paris, I'd like to do some sight-seeing in the evening," she hints for a date.
"If you want to see the sights, why call me?" he grumbles. "You know I'm not interested in fighting a crowd of tourists."
"Then how about a relaxing stroll in the Tuileries Gardens? Or along the Seine?" she suggests. "I remember when we went to scenic places in England, how you used to take pictures of me with your eyes."
... taking a picture...on a bridge... at sunset... in Hyung-Chul's mind, the pieces of the puzzle drop into place, and Sun-Mi's hidden meaning is suddenly obvious ... now he knows what to do ...
"I just remembered I have another appointment for tomorrow night," he turns down So-Won's request flatly.
"What appointment is more important than me?" she whines, displeased he has brushed her off, again.
"Sorry, you'll have to go by yourself," he refuses to acquiesce and placate her mood.
"But, oppa... it's Paris..." she tries to cajole him into changing his mind. "Can't we meet up later, after your appointment?"
The presumption by her use of 'oppa' grates him -- Hyung-Chul is tired of So-Won's unending attempts to insinuate herself into his personal life...
"Go to your room and sleep, we have a long day tomorrow," he orders firmly. "I'll see you in the morning. Good night..."
TUILERIES BAR, HOTEL WESTIN -- VENDOME, PARIS ...
So-Won puts her phone down on the bar, frustrated...
"Who could he have such a late appointment with, and at the last minute?" she grumbles aloud. "And why not see me afterward? Is he two-timing me? But with whom?"
She ponders over the obvious list -- the other actresses on the show, the hot models he might have rubbed shoulders with during the week -- but none of them seems like an obvious choice. Hyung-Chul has shown no interest in any other woman since she has returned to Seoul, except....
"It has to be Jin Sun-Mi," So-Won seethes. "Her appearance here is too convenient to be just a coincidence! Somehow, she has bewitched him, again... I warned her, right to her face, but she dares to ignore me! Why won't she face reality, let go, and disappear from our lives?"
So-Won grabs her scotch and water, and drains the glass.
"Because of that witch, I'm in the City of Love, drinking alone!" she commiserates with herself. "I should be with the man I love, the man I'm going to marry! Why aren't we together right now, indulging in the pleasures of love?"
She stares at her empty glass. "S'il vous pla�t, monsieur, un autre verre," she requests, sliding it toward the bartender.
"Oui," the man replies, then warns, "La barre se ferme bient�t, Mademoiselle."
"What was that?" she asks in English, having exhausted her limited French.
"The bar is closing soon, Miss," he translates for her.
"Merci," she replies, and then has a question for him: "I'm in Paris, why can't I get the man I love, to love me in return?"
The bartender smiles and shrugs. "Even in Paris, affairs of the heart are a mystery, no?"
So-Won nurses her drink, and her grudge, as she foments her next move: "Jin Sun-Mi , if you're expecting a romantic rendezvous to steal oppa away, I swear I'll do whatever it takes, to stop you..."