AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart

Chapter 70

written by LoveCR2 -- 2005

edited by All-About-AAE -- 2017

 

"Senior, don't look back... have no regrets... And I'll do the same... That way, we can both be happy." -- Jin Sun-Mi

 

 

PONT DES ARTS, SEINE RIVER, PARIS...

 

When Sun-Mi arrives at the Pont des Arts, the sun is already low in the western sky. She alights from the MBS van at the curb of Quai Fran�ois Mitterrand, across from the Louvre Pavilion des Arts. After thanking the driver for the lift, Sun-Mi draws the belt of her overcoat tight against the evening's chill. Her last shoot had finished late, allowing no time to make her intended appointment if she stopped by her hotel to change from the powder blue Chanel fitted blazer and pencil miniskirt she'd begun her day in.

 

With her heavy work bag slung over a shoulder, Sun-Mi trudges unhurried across the 155-meter long footbridge, heading toward the Institut de France on the opposite shore. After a full day showcasing the latest in fashionable, skyscraper heels for the camera, she is thankful for the relative comfort of her workaday 75mm LK Bennett courts.

 

Despite the 8�C temperature and a sometimes blustery breeze, the bridge is busy with pedestrian traffic, mostly paired off... couples strolling along slowly arm-in-arm... or conversing quietly at the rail, intent on the setting sun... or engrossed by more amorous activities. No one is paying any particular attention to anyone else -- as she'd intended, they would appear to be just another anonymous couple out indulging in the beauty of the romantic Seine...

 

Midway on the span, she stops and leans on the railing, awaiting Hyung-Chul's arrival. Her mind churning with apprehension, she gazes down at the murky brownish water below, focusing on the continuously swirling patterns of the flowing water. Gradually they have a calming, hypnotic effect on her psyche, lulling her into a meditative state...

 

... "Say your true feelings, and let whatever happens, happen" ... Pondering Min-Cho's advice, Sun-Mi wonders what might actually result...

 

 

* * * * *

 

... "Come back to Seoul, Sun-Mi... stay with me, always" ...

 

"So this is what you meant by 'sometimes business has to come before love'...?" she answers, mentally picturing him next to Park So-Won in a wedding dress, as she stands behind them, like extra baggage...

 

He reaches out, hoping to persuade her in his arms, but she shrinks back, not letting him touch her...

 

"Once I thought you were different; now I see that sons are truly like their fathers!" she accuses him. "But I won't do it... I won't degrade myself to live as the 'other woman' like your stepmother did for your father."

 

"All that matters is that we're together, right? Why are you acting like this?"

 

"How should I act? What kind of person do you think I am?!" she vents her frustration with an indignant slap on the face...

 

 

* * * * *

 

... "Yes, I promised to wait for you, Sun-Mi... but try to understand my situation" ...

 

"It's easy to understand you, because you're consistently a hypocrite" ... she blurts out the criticism bitterly.

 

"A man can only wait for so long, and put up with so much... You have only yourself to blame for what happened!"

 

"How dare you say that... it was you who betrayed me!" she retorts, demonstrating her anger with a hard slap to his face...

 

 

* * * * *

 

... "Believe me, it's you I really love, Sun-Mi... Let's go away to where we're free to live the life we choose" ...

 

"What about the Company? Our careers? Our families?" she objects. "We can't irresponsibly run off and leave everything behind!"

 

"We'll find a way ... anything is possible when we have each other... True Love is all we need" ...

 

"You're being idealistic and immature, Senior! Wake up to reality!" she declares with a slap intended to knock some sense into his head...

 

 

* * * * *

 

Picturing these scenes in her imagination, Sun-Mi sighs, "Why am I doing this? 'Whatever happens' is going to be a disaster, big time..."

 

 

By now the fading orange rays are painting their final gold-tinged strokes on the clouds scudding across a darkening sky. Hyung-Chul hasn't appeared, and Sun-Mi is about to give up and leave, when she feels her heart skip a beat. She catches her breath, as it skips another...

 

Turning to look, she scans the bridge for a few moments before she sees Hyung-Chul approaching. Even at a distance, he is unmistakable by his determined bearing and purposeful stride.

 

After the long months with no contact, a single word bursts out from her lips... "Senior!"

 

He hears his name called, and picks up his pace when he sees Sun-Mi...

 

... But in her longing she is unable to wait, and runs to him, flinging herself at him with a welcoming hug, then she leans contentedly on the support of his broad shoulders, releasing her worries in the comfort of his embrace...

 

NOT... Prudently, her head overrules her heart, preventing her feet from moving and making a fool out of her. But mental reservations have no control over emotions, and her unrestrained heart continues to flutter with an anticipation she had not expected to have...

 

 

Then he is standing in front of her, his presence commanding her full attention. His dark eyes, alive with intensity and penetrating force, peer into the depths of her wide open pupils as if seeing into her soul...

 

"I... I wasn't sure you'd come," Sun-Mi struggles to keep her voice detached amid the debris of her emotional coherence.

 

A casual grin eases onto Hyung-Chul's lips. "Then why play spy games?" he asks with a shade of humor, referring back to her insistence on cryptic messages while they were dating in secret, half a year ago. "You could have just called, or sent a text..."

 

"Old habits die hard, I suppose," she replies indifferently, shrugging off any comparison between then, and now, as meaningless...

 

Hyung-Chul takes a few seconds to peruse the sunset as he observes, "Weren't we once in a place like this before?"

 

Both their minds go back to the ending moments of what Hyung-Chul had called their 'first official date' on a wooden bridge in Yuldong Park, with the sun setting over the lake, where she'd asked him...

 

... "Can you retake that picture you took of me with your eyes? This scenery and my expression, I'd like you to take care of it for me... I'm going to forget it all, but I'd like you to remember it for a long time instead. You can't forget"...

 

Sun-Mi picks up on his comment, "What is it about water, and sunsets, that creates a certain mood of finality?"

 

Hyung-Chul is unsettled by her words, but presses on... "Why did you want to meet?"

 

"To tell you I'm requesting a permanent transfer to the London Bureau," she announces her plans, making it clear by implication that she isn't returning to Seoul... or to him...

 

"Before you do that, consider there's a place waiting for you on Eve's Morning, and we have a commitment for the talk show you wanted to do," he tests her conviction.

 

"I appreciate that, Senior," she politely declines, "but here, I have opportunities I'd never considered before. I want to pursue them, and see where they lead... "

 

Hyung-Chul decides this is a good point to bring up one subject he came to find out... "I've heard rumors, that among these 'opportunities' you're pursuing, is Chief Kim's nephew, Michael Atwater," he broaches the topic without tipping his hand as to what he already knows.

 

"Does that concern you?" she responds stiffly, probing for his reaction to her potential interest in another man.

 

He parries her question back, "Should it?"

 

"Min-Cho helped me a lot when I first arrived, and he's become a close friend," Sun-Mi downplays the extent of their relationship, wanting to get back on track with her original purpose...

 

"I only mentioned this as a caution... do you really know him that well? He may not be the person he appears..." Hyung-Chul attempts to raise doubts without going into the specifics.

 

"Is anyone really who they appear to be? Even the best of friends can betray you," she bats the accusation directly at him as a challenge. "Coming to London has opened my eyes to many things -- I've learned to be strong and make my own way, and not depend on anyone. You needn't burden yourself about me anymore..."

 

"You've changed, Sun-Mi," he reflects, "something about you is different than before..."

 

... she knows his observation is sincere, unlike Min-Cho, he is not prone to flippant remarks about her hairstyles or skirt length...

 

Taking a deep breath to settle her inner butterflies, she takes the plunge. "Do you think so?" she responds, neither denying nor confirming his impression. "Then indulge me this once..."

 

She steps closer, stretching her arms up and around his neck... Then, before he can react, she raises up and kisses him on the lips... as Min-Cho had kissed her... to see what happens...

 

 

Her bold move catches Hyung-Chul unprepared, but elated ... finally, his dream come true ... his years of waiting were not in vain... Immediately, he sweeps Sun-Mi into his embrace, holding her firmly, but gently, in his arms, still not fully believing what is happening...

 

As their kiss continues, a warm, peaceful glow builds within Sun-Mi; gentle tendrils spreading until they permeate her with a blossoming sensation of utter bliss. It is not the toe-tingling rush she had experienced with Min-Cho, but a swelling wave of joy that surges and breaks into an exhilarating, transcendent awareness -- of body, heart, and soul -- that they are inextricably linked with an unbreakable bond...

 

The world isn't spinning, she isn't floating on air, or entranced by a mystical spell -- those trite literary conventions pale in comparison to the reality she is experiencing... and in this moment Sun-Mi knows, without a shadow of doubt, that she has found her heart's desire... her True Love...

 

Her long quest satisfied, with a delicate, lingering touch, she ends their kiss. Then, resting her head against Hyung-Chul's chest, she listens to his heartbeat, and feels her own beat in unison, bringing to mind what she had told him that day on the mountain ... it's like two hearts, entwined together at creation, and fused for eternity...

 

 

Meanwhile Hyung-Chul puzzles over her intentions ... are they moving a step forward, or taking one back ...

 

But before he can ask, Sun-Mi answers his unspoken inquiry, "I wanted to let you know my true feelings before I have to go." She tries to keep her voice steady, and mask the sadness in her heart, as she eases from his embrace and puts a symbolic space between them.

 

"If that is how you feel, then why are you doing this?" he argues desperately, seeing his dream slip away just as he's grasped it.

 

"Sometimes business has to come before love," Sun-Mi enjoins him with his own words. "Surely you, if anyone, can understand this, Senior:.. You told me that I needed to work harder, and focus on becoming a celebrity..."

 

They both envision that night, when they'd exchanged harsh words... and initiated a Cold War which neither wanted...

 

"I denied it at the time, but you were right," she admits. "That's why I feel like this is something I have to do right now, or I won't be able to... I want to become a top correspondent and fulfill my dream, but there's so much I need to learn and experience... it may take a long time... perhaps even a lifetime..."

 

"What do you want me to do?" he asks, demanding clarity.

 

"Forget me... Stop waiting for me... I don't want to carry that burden any longer," she spells it out to him. "Senior, don't look back, only to the future... have no regrets as to what happened. And I'll do the same... That way, we can both be happy..."

 

Hyung-Chul realizes he is in a position from which he can't argue... he has only himself to blame for how things came to this ...

 

"If that is what you want, then just do it. Don't waste time concerning yourself with what you think my feelings may or may not be," he surrenders his own heart's desire, dejectedly accepting her decision.

 

 

"Let's end as we began, two strangers whose paths crossed by accident," she determinedly conveys her expectations... "When we meet, act as it you don't know me personally, and I'll do the same. We are now just two people who shared a beautiful moment on this bridge, watching the sunset together, before we leave on our separate ways..."

 

Hyung-Chul feels an emptiness yawning inside ... once more, he has to let her go...

 

Sun-Mi turns to him and smiles, a friendly smile, without any depth of connection. "Have a good night, Sir," she gives him a cheerful farewell with a polite dip of her head. "I'll be leaving first..."

 

She walks away, her pace unhurried and deliberate... true to her word, looking only forward, not back...

 

 

Hyung-Chul stares after Sun-Mi, trying to make sense of what had just happened, as the words to an old Phil Collins song, Against All Odds, reverberate in his mind ...

 

How can I just let you walk away, just let you leave without a trace? ...

When I stand here taking every breath with you, ...

You're the only one who really knew me at all ...

 

How can you just walk away from me, when all I can do is watch you leave? ...

'Cause we've shared the laughter and the pain, and even shared the tears ...

You're the only one who really knew me at all ...

 

So take a look at me now, well there's just an empty space ...

There's nothing left here to remind me, just the memory of your face ...

Oh take a look at me now, well there's just an empty space ...

And you're coming back to me is against the odds, and that's what I've got to face ...

 

I wish I could just make you turn around, turn around and see me cry ...

There's so much I need to say to you, so many reasons why ...

You're the only one who really knew me at all ...

 

So take a look at me now, well there's just an empty space ...

But to wait for you is all I can do, and that's all I've got to face ...

 

 

Sun-Mi is nearing the far end of the bridge, his attempts to connect with her telepathically -- make her pause and look back -- a failure. Unable to look any longer, Hyung-Chul gazes down at the river, lighting up a cigarette in a habitual, but futile attempt to settle his mind...

 

 

On the far bank of the Seine, Sun-Mi stops, the weight in her heart too great, and her eyes too blurryd, to see the way for another step...

 

She senses a light touch on her shoulder and turns, hoping to find Hyung-Chul there, reaching out to comfort her, but it was just a wisp of the chilly wind... Wiping the tears away to see more clearly, she searches the bridge, hoping to catch a final glimpse of him before she goes.

 

When she finally locates Hyung-Chul, he is with a woman, their arms linked together, and his parting words take on a different significance... "You needn't bother concerning yourself about how I feel, just do what you want" ...

 

"Sun-Mi, you idiot," she berates herself. "Can't you accept that he's already moved on, and forgotten you?"

She wants to run away, escape the pain in her heart, but she forces herself to watch, to come to grips with the new reality she faces...

 

 

At the center of the bridge, So-Won is clinging to Hyung-Chul's arm possessively.

 

"Oppa! Why was your phone turned off?" she whines. "I was looking all over for you!"

 

He doesn't ask how So-Won knew where he was, or what she might have seen...

 

"Who was that you were talking so intently with?" she hints to the latter, as she links arms, nudging him in the direction opposite that which Sun-Mi had taken.

 

"Just someone I met, by chance," Hyung-Chul replies emotionlessly. "A stranger who happened to cross my path, and stopped for a moment to watch the sunset..."

 

"Why the long face? You look like someone died," So-Won adds with an air of smugness. "Don't worry, I'll make you happy tonight..."

 

 

But as Hyung-Chul walks off with So-Won clinging on, the turmoil on his face is soon replaced with a peaceful smile.

 

Seeing the change in his mood, she credits herself, "See what I meant, Oppa? With me, you can't be anything but happy, right?"

 

Hyung-Chul doesn't reply -- his mind is somewhere else, far from her, absorbed in contemplating a picture he'd taken with his eyes; an image to contradict Sun-Mi's claims that it is the end for them...

 

... around her right ankle, she still carries his gift symbolizing their eternal connection... a precious pearl from the deepest ocean embraced by two gemstones from the highest heavens...

 

Hyung-Chul's recalls his words that night as he presented his hopes to Sun-Mi...

 

... "If you give an anklet to your sweetheart, the two of you are fated to meet in the next life. Now it's certain we'll see each other in the next life" ...

 

The memories lift his spirit with a renewed confidence, and he vows to himself...

... "I don't care what promises Fate makes for us ... I give you my promise, Sun-Mi, I'm not waiting that long..."