AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart

Chapter 78

written by LoveCR2 -- 2005

edited by All-About-AAE -- 2017

 

"I won't cling onto you anymore... It's time to let go... Goodbye, Hyung-Chul." -- Park So-Won

 

 

MUN-YUNG DIAMOND HOTEL, GANGNAM...

 

 

Hyung-Chul leans out over the railing of the penthouse rooftop terrace. Below him, a few meters away, So-Won is sitting on the narrow ledge. Ten stories down, a crowd of gawkers mill about behind a police barricade.

 

"I'm here, So-Won..."

 

Hearing his voice, she turns her head to look, and responds, "I thought you wouldn't come..."

 

"Don't do this," he pleads. "Come back in, so we can talk."

 

"There's nothing to talk about... I have nothing left, nothing to live for," she declares,� her voice determined. "My life is over..."

 

"You're wrong, there's always another chance," he encourages her to reconsider.

 

"Is there? For us?" she bitterly reflects on her disappointment. "Now that you know the truth, you must hate me even more."

 

"I don't hate you," he disputes her contention. "I've never hated you."

 

"But you don't love me," she brings up his words from earlier that evening. "You've also said... you never loved me."

 

"Let's discuss that again, once you're safe," he holds out some hope to her. "Can you come in now?"

 

So-Won looks down and shakes her head, her eyes filled with fear. "I can't... I'm afraid to... to move..." she anxiously tells him.

 

"The rescue team is here, behind me," he reassures her. "They'll bring you safely in."

 

"No, they'll take me away, send me to that hospital again," she obstinately refuses. "I'll kill myself; I'd rather die, than go back there."

 

"I give my word that won't happen," he promises. "No one will take you anywhere you don't agree to go."

 

"You're lying!" she shouts, suddenly angry. "That's what they told you to say!"

 

"What if I came out? Will you trust me to help you?" he offers, hoping to persuade her.

 

So-Won looks down again at the ground, and then back up at Hyung-Chul. She nods. "Only you.. no one else. Promise?"

 

"I promise. Let me go and talk with the rescue team first, okay?"

 

"Okay..."

 

 

Hyung-Chul returns to the captain in charge of the scene. "Park So-Won insists that only I can go out to bring her in."

 

"It's too dangerous, Director Yoon," the captain refuses outright. "I won't be responsible for two deaths tonight."

 

Hyung-Chul considers his options for a moment, then asks, "Do you have an extra safety harness I can use?"

 

"Yes, but I have to caution that even with a harness, you can be seriously injured," the captain warns.

 

"I'm willing to take the risk," Hyung-Chul declares. "I won't let her die, because of me."

 

An officer brings a safety harness. Hyung-Chul removes his suit coat, and the officer helps him buckle the webbing around his legs and torso, clips the snap hook of the anchor strap to the harness, and shows him how to lock the other hook onto the railing bars. When he finishes, Hyung-Chul puts his jacket on again.

 

"Why are you doing that, Director?" the captain asks. "It'll be more difficult to move with the harness impeded."

 

"Park So-Won is afraid she'll be taken away to a mental hospital again," Hyung-Chul explains. "Seeing me in a restraint may trigger a negative reaction in her mind, and I'm concerned she might jump."

 

"Fair enough, Director," the captain agrees. "Maybe you can still talk her into letting someone else do this. No one will blame you if you don't go out there."

 

"No one, perhaps, except myself," Hyung-Chul replies. "This is partly my responsibility to see it through."

 

 

He goes back out onto the terrace, to the railing, and tells So-Won, "I'm coming out now."

 

Hyung-Chul clips the snap hook to the railing and climbs over, lowering himself onto the narrow ledge. Focusing intently on the ledge, he carefully sits down and slides across the ledge toward So-Won, until the anchor strap is stretched to its limit. Then he stretches his arm out, but is still short of reaching her...

 

"Move closer and take my hand," he urges, "and I'll help you back."

 

But So-Won instead shrinks away. "I won't go back unless we can be together again," she refuses, "Otherwise, life has no meaning, without you beside me..."

 

"I care about you," he says truthfully. "I don't want to see you hurt. Please, take my hand, So-Won. This isn't worth your life."

 

"Then... will you marry me?" she asks hopefully.

 

"I give you my word..." he replies vaguely, hoping she will interpret his words favorably. "Come back with me, to safety."

 

"First I want to hear you promise that you'll marry me," she insists. "Give me your answer, here."

 

Hyung-Chul mulls over the events of the past few weeks, as he considers what to say...

 

... 'Sun-Mi just moved into Atwater's apartment, to live with him' ...

 

... 'Forget me... Don't look back, only to the future. Have no regrets, and I'll do the same... That way, we can both be happy' ...

 

... 'My love is more than enough for both of us.... I'm a real, flesh-and-blood woman, here for you, willing to satisfy your desire' ...

 

... 'Park So-Won entered the country accompanied by an infant girl, the child she claims is yours' ...

 

 

He decides that there is only one right thing to do. He'd seen the children at the orphanage, waiting, hoping that someone will appear to love them... somewhere, his child may be waiting for her parents to appear, too...

 

"Yes, I'll accept responsibility... and marry the mother of my child," he promises.

 

So-Won nods, accepting his promise, and reaches out to grasp his hand. But just as his fingers close around So-Won's hand, she slips off the ledge. The sudden pull of her weight drags Hyung-Chul off, too, and they fall together...

 

A horrified gasp sounds from the crowd watching from below, but the safety harness holds, leaving Hyung-Chul and So-Won dangling in the open air. Someone shines a spotlight on the couple, casting harsh shadows on the wall behind them.

 

From above, Hyung-Chul hears the rescue team preparing to send a man down. He looks down at So-Won and speaks confidently, "Don't worry, everything will be all right." But already, his arm is tiring under the strain, his grip weakening...

 

One of So-Won's pumps dangles momentarily, then slips off -- long seconds pass before it clatters on the pavement below. The onlookers stare at the lone shoe with horrified awareness that the drama playing out above is deadly real, and a stunned silence settles over the scene.

 

On the terrace, a rescuer clips his anchor strap to the railing, while others ready ropes to help hoist Hyung-Chul and So-Won back up. "Hold on, Director. I'm coming!" he calls down as he heaves himself over the railing.

 

So-Won looks up at Hyung-Chul. "Because of you, I'm not afraid, whatever happens. I'll always be grateful, for what you did for me..."

 

Realizing her intentions, Hyung-Chul pleads, "So-Won, don't! This isn't the way..."

 

"It is for me," she replies. "I did my best to love you... now forget me, and go to be with the one you truly love."

 

The rescuer is dropping past Hyung-Chul as So-Won's hand begins to slip through his fingers.

 

"I won't cling onto you anymore," she says calmly. "It's time to let go... Goodbye, Hyung-Chul..."

 

As her hand comes free, Hyung-Chul helplessly shouts, "So-Won! ... Noooo...!"