AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart

Chapter 73

written by LoveCR2 -- 2005

edited by All-About-AAE -- 2017

 

"Didn't you just scream bloody murder, calling me in to save you?" -- Min-Cho Atwater

 

 

PLAZA ON THE RIVER, VAUXHALL, CENTRAL LONDON...

 

"... and like what I said before, just because we�re living in the same place, don�t start acting like we�re living together!"

 

Sun-Mi reminds Min-Cho of her expectations as she hangs up a pale blue DKNY suit in the wardrobe cabinet of her new dressing room.

 

"Now, move those boxes by the door over to those shelves," she orders, pointing to make herself clear.

 

As he moves to comply with her instructions, Sun-Mi thinks how odd it feels, to be ordering about the owner of the entire building she is moving into, like he is just anybody...

 

... almost as odd as the idea that this same man -- a millionaire many times over -- is seriously interested in her, to the exclusion of all other women ...

 

Min-Cho carries the bulky moving box to her specified spot with ease, popping the flaps open for her. Inside, it is packed to the top with shoe boxes.

 

"Why this sudden emphasis on rules," he gripes as he goes back for another box, "since I'll be leaving in a couple of days anyway?"

 

"When a man and a woman are alone together, you can't be too careful; anything could happen. That's what my Auntie Song in Seoul always said," Sun-Mi expounds her reasoning as she opens a shoebox and adds a pair of vibrant red YSL peep-toe pumps to the shelves arranged by color and heel height.

 

Min-Cho sets the next box down and leans against a cabinet to watch Sun-Mi unpack. "Was your Auntie right?"

 

"I never found out, not that I didn't give it my best effort," Sun-Mi pauses to reflect fondly on Woo-Jin. "For him it was a 'brother-sister' relationship, so nothing could have happened."

 

"I thought we agreed to stay as 'friend-friend', for the same reason, so I don't get your attitude," he criticizes her as he opens the flaps to reveal that box is also filled with shoes.

 

"Because the situation is different," she notes, unboxing black and white cap-toe Gucci flats and saddle-brown Michael Kors penny loafers to the shelves. "Which is why we need to keep a reasonable distance between us."

 

... she doesn�t have to say why, as they both know she is referring to their kiss outside her aunt�s front door ...

 

"Do you have a rule for what that 'reasonable distance' is, too?" he asks with a suggestive lilt in his voice, taking a step closer.

 

Close enough for her to touch now, and Sun-Mi is overtly conscious of the rippling muscles of his brawny arms and buff torso that stretch his thin cotton T-shirt skin-tight. The steady intensity in his eyes focused on her, just like that night when he'd held her in those same arms, sends an involuntary shiver sparking down the length of Sun-Mi's spine.

 

"Er... that is..." she suddenly can't seem to put together a coherent sentence, as the visceral memory of their intimate moment triggers physiological responses she cannot repress... accelerating her heart, deepening her breathing, sending a rush of heat that tingles her toes and flushes her cheeks... exciting a deep yearning to release herself into his arms for a repeat...

 

Flustered by her conflicting thoughts and feelings, Sun-Mi quickly raises a pair of fuscia Gianni Versace pumps between them as a defense, the pointed toes held threateningly in his direction.

 

"That's reasonable enough," she warns him to stay back.

 

"Whatever you say." Min-Cho shrugs and backs off, having elicited the reaction he'd hoped for, one that tells him it is only a matter of time before Sun-Mi wears down her own resistance herself.

 

He picks up a smaller moving box and places it on the dresser to open, as Sun-Mi gathers her wits and begins to suspect that he had manipulated her intentionally, and takes him to task for it...

 

"You jerk!" she irritably scolds him. "Keep it up, and I can move out anytime I like!"

 

"You think it's that simple, with all this stuff?" Min-Cho scoffs, referring to the pile of boxes still to be unpacked. "I moved you to your aunt's place in a single car trip. How can one person accumulate so much in just a few months? How do you even find time for all the shopping?"

 

Sun-Mi isn't amused by his criticism. "I'm a 'fashion' reporter, remember?" she answers tersely. "Advertisers provide this 'stuff' to showcase on my programs, and usually don't want it back once it's been worn."

 

Corrected, he still remarks sarcastically, "Sounds like a dream job... for a woman."

 

"You think so? Fashion is hard work," she retorts, taking a Christian Louboutin pump by its 120mm heel. "Try wearing these, for one."

 

Min-Cho cracks a lopsided grin that tells her he is seeing something humorous in his mind...

 

"Why? My legs wouldn't look half as good as yours in them," he jokes with a suggestive wink.

 

Sun-Mi rolls her eyes. "I knew it was a mistake to have you help me," she airs her regrets. "I can finish unpacking by myself, thank you."

 

"Aren't you being a bit touchy?" he chides her. "It's just clothes."

 

"Maybe to a man, but to women, clothes are more than just things to wear," Sun-Mi explains her thinking. "Our clothes express not just who we are but who we want to be seen as. ..."

 

She takes a metallic silver and jet black, crystal embellished Giuseppe Zanotti sandal from its box, admires the sleek silhouette for a moment, then places it on the shelf with its partner.

 

"... It's one way we have to show the things we want to reveal about ourselves, and conceal the things we prefer to keep secret."

 

"You mean, like these kinds of things?" Min-Cho asks with a hint of devilish humor in his voice.

 

Wondering at the implications in his tone of voice, Sun-Mi turns to see what he is talking about, and immediately notices the opened box with 'Aubade' imprinted on the lid, and the pair of sheer black, seamed nylons spilling out over the side.

 

"Hey! What are you doing?!" she exclaims irately, "You're not supposed to open that!"

 

He holds up a black satin and sheer lace demi-bra in one hand, the matching knickers and suspender belt in the other.

 

Sun-Mi flushes bright crimson. "Give those to me!" she demands, grabbing the sexy undergarments, quickly tossing them back into the box with the stockings, and pressing the lid down.

 

Clearly enjoying her distress, Min-Cho pushes the edge, "You're using those to reveal exactly what about yourself?"

 

He doesn't expect the intensity of her response, as she shoves him away with surprising strength. "It's none of your damn business! Now get out, before I kill you!" she puts an immediate kibosh to the matter.

 

With that said, she pushes him out of the dressing room, slamming the door in his face.

 

Laughing, he calls back through the door, "Don't worry, your 'secrets' are safe with me."

 

"Go away!" she orders harshly, her voice trembling from anger and humiliation. "Find something more useful to do than making fun of me!"

 

"I'll clean up the kitchen, then, while you get dressed," he replies with a conciliatory voice, trying to make peace. "We're still on for dinner out tonight, right?"

 

"Have dinner by yourself, jerk!" she shoots back vehemently, lettings him know how she still feels.

 

Min-Cho sighs, knowing he'd gone too far... again...

 

"All right, I crossed the line, I'm sorry," he apologizes. "No more bad jokes, today anyway, okay?"

 

"Fine," she answers, her voice softening, not wanting to hold a grudge against him. "But if you slip up again, I'll punish you..."

 

"... Big time!" he finishes the declaration for her with an unworried laugh. "I get it..."

 

 

Min-Cho heads for the kitchen and busies himself at the sink, washing their lunch dishes. A few minutes later, he hears the shower running in Sun-Mi's bathroom. Finishing the dishes. he dries and stacks them in the upper cabinets, then tackles unpacking the groceries Sun-Mi had bought at the supermarket that morning.

 

 

He is emptying the last shopping bag into the refrigerator's vegetable bin, when a loud shriek alerts him...

 

"Eeeek!!" Another shrill scream comes from Sun-Mi's suite, followed by her impassioned cry, "Get away from me, you!! .... Min-Cho, help!"

 

Wondering what it could be, he dashes in, looking first into the dressing room.

 

"Sun-Mi!?" he calls anxiously.

 

"In here!" she shouts back with a frightened voice from the bathroom.

 

He throws the door open and looks in, to find Sun-Mi cowering in the corner by the walk-in shower, a mop of dripping wet hair in her face, brandishing a hairbrush with one hand, while clutching a white towel over herself with the other.

 

"There!" she points across the room. "That... that terrible monster!"

 

Then Min-Cho sees the large, dark-brown beetle creeping over the sink counter beside him, periodically raising its pinchers to wave them in the air.

 

"That little bug?" he laughs. "It's a stag beetle; they're not dangerous. It probably came in on the boxes from the moving truck."

 

"It attacked me!" she wails, unconvinced.

 

Grabbing from behind with his thumb and forefinger, he picks the beetle up as it futilely tries to nip at him. Min-Cho turns toward Sun-Mi, holding the insect out, in front of her face.

 

"See? It's harmless," he tells her.

 

With wide, round eyes and a little squeak of fright, Sun-Mi draws back behind her hairbrush and yelps, "Get it away from me!"

 

Watching her, Min-Cho laughs, "It's just like I imagined."

 

"What are you talking about?" she wonders, keeping a watchful eye on the insect in his hand.

 

"Remember? When you answered the phone in Paris that night?" he prompts her memory.

 

Only then is Sun-Mi reminded of her frazzled and undressed state...

 

"Don't look!" she orders angrily, protectively clutching the towel tighter, instinctively raising it to cover her neck and shoulders.

 

"Look at what?" he asks, reflexively dropping his eyes as the towel moves up.

 

Sun-Mi glances down, too. Flushing red, she quickly lowers the towel again.

 

"You're not even supposed to be in here!" she protests angrily.

 

"Didn't you just scream bloody murder, calling your 'Knight in Shining Armor' to save you?"

 

"That doesn't give you the right to take advantage of the situation!" she argues, shooting fiery darts at him with her eyes -- the only thing she can effectively do and still retain any modicum of modesty.

 

"Okay, I'm going, if that's how you feel," he replies, teasing saucily, "But next time, use a bigger towel if you want to keep secrets."

 

 

Incensed at the implication, Sun-Mi tosses her hairbrush at him, demanding, "You jerk! Get out right now, or I'll... I'll..."

 

Realizing that there is little she can do, she leaves the threat unspecified.

 

"You're on your own, then, Princess," he grumbles. "I'm gone."

 

 

He leaves the bathroom, pulling the door closed tight. Smiling, he quietly counts the seconds off in anticipation...

 

"Eeeek!!" Sun-Mi's startled scream comes through the closed bathroom door, then her irate, distraught voice...

 

"Min-Cho Atwater, this isn't funny! You come in here and take that... that horrible thing with you! ... Min-Cho? ... Min-Cho?! ..."

 

Ignoring her demands, he answers Sun-Mi as he heads back to the kitchen, "Don't worry, your secrets are safe with me."

 

"You jerk! If you saw anything... I'm warning you..." her voice, growing more frantic, follows him. "Come back right now, or I'll ... I'll punish you for this! ... Min-Cho?! ... MIN !! ... CHO !!! ... "