AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart

Chapter 79

written by LoveCR2 -- 2005

edited by All-About-AAE -- 2017

 

"Love isn't something deserved, it's something give freely, without concern for the consequences." -- Min-Cho Atwater

 

 

SOHO, LONDON ...

 

Breathing heavily from his hurried dash, Min-Cho stands in the doorway of the Arirang Restaurant's private party room, anxiously looking for Sun-Mi. He sees her at one of the tables, staring blankly at the wall.

 

"Sun-Mi! Are you all right?"

 

Sun-Mi turns toward him with moist eyes and a troubled expression. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to call you," she apologizes quietly as she stands up, "It just happened, out of habit."

 

Min-Cho doesn't wait for more explanations, but rushes over and envelopes her in his embrace. "It doesn't matter why, call anytime and I'll come," he promises.

 

Feeling secure in his arms, she rests her head on his shoulder, and lets her tears run freely...

 

"It all happened so fast," she sobs. "What should I do?"

 

"It'll be all right, everything will be all right," he speaks soothingly, patting her back comfortingly. "Take your time, think carefully, then tell me from the start."

 

She sighs deeply, wondering what to say...

 

"It was my interview with Director Kim. He claimed I couldn't transfer unless he released me from my contract with his program back in Seoul... and..." she finds it hard to continue...

 

"Go on, it's okay," he encourages her.

 

"To get that release, he... he wanted me to give myself to him," she refers to Eun-Ki's demands vaguely, unwilling to describe the repulsive situation in detail. "When I refused him, Director Kim accused me of being one of those... kinds of women... who entice men to advance their careers."

 

She gazes up at Min-Cho tearfully, her voice breaking, "But... it's not true! You have to believe me! I'm not like that..."

 

"Of course I believe you, I'll always believe you," he declares his unwavering support.

 

She shakes her head regretfully. "After that, I got so angry, I did something really stupid... I tried to slap him..."

 

"I'd say you were justified," Min-Cho remarks affirmatively. "If it were me, I'd have slugged him!"

 

"But instead of standing firm, I should have run away," she blames herself, "then maybe, nothing would have happened..."

 

"What did Director Kim do?"

 

"He grabbed my arm and trapped me against the table..." She closes her eyes and buries her face into Min-Cho's shoulder.

 

She cringes as she recalls, "I couldn't get away, and he told me... he'd take what I wouldn't give to him..."

 

"That scumbag!" Min-Cho is incensed, threatening. "If he did anything to you, I swear... I will kill him!"

 

"It's complicated enough already," Sun-Mi pleads. "Please, don’t get involved."

 

"I became involved when you called me back from the airport," he points out. "I'm not going to let him get away with this!"

 

Sun-Mi tries again to dissuade him, "This is my problem, not yours," she insists. Don't make me feel worse, and have more regrets, by doing something rash... please."

 

Min-Cho takes a deep breath to calm himself. "What do you want me to do, then?"

 

"Just listen, and hold me," Sun-Mi tells him clearly. "Don't do anything else."

 

"All right," he agrees, drawing her closer. "Go on."

 

"After that, I'm not sure what happened," she continues. "Everything is hazy... I was in a sort of daze... then I saw his face again, leering at me, eyes ravenous as he clutched me so I couldn't move... he didn't say it, but I knew what he wanted." She shivers viscerally at the memory. "I couldn't think ... I couldn't breathe, I was so frightened..."

 

Min-Cho probes cautiously, gently asking, "Did Director Kim... try to force himself on you?"

 

She shakes her head. "No, a ruffian ... there were two, coming after us ... but Huh Young-Mi fought back, and saved me..."

 

Puzzled, Min-Cho looks for clarification. "What are you talking about? I thought you and Director Kim were alone."

 

"Yes, but I could clearly hear her voice, Young-Mi's... telling me what to do," Sun-Mi goes on, sounding amazed at her own account. "The next thing I knew, I was freed, and he was down, staring up at me blankly..."

 

"Who, the ruffian?"

 

"No, Director Kim... he was lying there, moaning in pain. I see it clearly now: He just glared at me, but didn't say a word."

 

"How did that happen?" Min-Cho inquires wonderingly. "What you did to him?"

 

"Like I said, it all happened so fast, and I was in a complete blur," Sun-Mi reemphasizes her state of mind at the time. "But Young-Mi stopped those ruffians using the heel of her shoe and her shoulder bag." She looks at Min-Cho, clearly puzzling. "It's possible I did the same to stop Director Kim."

 

Min-Cho looks down at Sun-Mi's designer pumps, aware of the steel reinforcements in the tall, slim heels, and makes an educated guess, "You stomped on his foot?"

 

Sun-Mi tilts her head and thinks for a few seconds, "Maybe...?"

 

"If you did... and... I'm figuring correctly," Min-Cho recalls carrying Sun-Mi at the pool, "soaking wet, you're about 50 kilograms, right?"

 

"I beg your pardon," she instinctively bristles, eyes flashing, calling out his error. "It's 48 at most!"

 

"Okay, my bad," he concedes the mistake of guessing a woman's weight on the high side.

 

"48 kilograms... on an 8mm diameter..." he thinks aloud as he does the calculations in his head, and concludes, "That's about 1,200 metric tons per square meter... like being run over by a lorry! You could've easily broken his foot."

 

As Sun-Mi considers his reasoning skeptically, Min-Cho hoists her bag in his hand and remarks humorously, "This must weigh 5 kilos! What do you carry, lead weights? Let me see..."

 

He pops the clasp open and takes out some folders stuffed with papers, but Sun-Mi snatches her bag before he can dig any further.

 

"Those are for work, the rest is just my personal stuff," she chastises him irately, guarding her privacy.

 

But Min-Cho is visualizing the situation in his mind as he surmises, "If you struck Director Kim on the side of the head... he could've had a concussion, too, which would explain his lack of reaction."

 

He looks at Sun-Mi with admiration. "You did quite a number on him, even if you didn't know what you were doing!"

 

The realization of what likely had happened stuns Sun-Mi. "Ohmigod! Am I going to be arrested?" she blurts out.

 

"Probably not," Min-Cho tries to dispel her concerns. "If Director Kim is like most men, he'll be too embarrassed to admit publicly that a mere slip of a woman took him down. He's probably already found some excuse to cover it up."

 

Sun-Mi lets out a sigh of relief, hopefully wondering, "Do you really think so?" then worrying, "But, I'll never get the release now!"

 

 

Min-Cho picks up one of the folders he took from her bag, and sees her name and the word 'Contract' printed on it. "Are these the transfer papers?"

 

"Yes, that's the folder Director Kim showed me in our meeting," Sun-Mi identifies it, then ponders, "But, how did it get in my bag?"

 

"You must have taken it, after you beat him up," he suggests with a chuckle.

 

 

After skimming through the documents quickly, he concludes, "There's no conditions on release from a previous contract mentioned here. The way it looks, your transfer was already cleared to go through."

 

"What?" she is skeptical, "Director Kim clearly told me otherwise."

 

"Apparently he was bluffing," Min-Cho surmises, "hoping you'd be desperate and do whatever he wanted. But he certainly didn't count on what he got!"

 

"That bastard!" Sun-Mi fumes, furious at Director Kim's deceit. "I'll kill him!"

 

"Easy now, don't do anything rash you'll regret later," Min-Cho uses her own words in warning, and quips, "I'd say you did enough damage for one day. Who knew that Jin Sun-Mi is such a formidable opponent!"

 

The joke lightens her mood, and Sun-Mi smiles genuinely for the first time since he arrived.

 

"Thanks, Min-Cho," she gives him a warm hug of appreciation. "Having you beside me, I always feel stronger."

 

 

A light tap sounds on the door and Sun-Mi's Auntie Jin comes in, bringing tea and biscuits. Embarrassed at being caught with her arms around Min-Cho, Sun-Mi immediately takes a step back.

 

"I thought you'd like some refreshments," Auntie Jin explains her appearance, pointed ignoring the intimate moment she'd happened in upon, and then asks Min-Cho, "Should I bring some champagne, too?"

 

"That's not necessary, Auntie," he declines her offer. "Perhaps another day."

 

Auntie Jin gives him a knowing smile. "I'll let you two alone then, and get back to the desk."

 

 

After her aunt leaves, Sun-Mi asks, "What was that all about?"

 

"Your aunt was curious, so I gave her a plausible reason for rushing back from the airport to see you," Min-Cho acknowledges.

 

Sun-Mi glares at him suspiciously, "What kind of plausible reason could that be?"

 

He shrugs off her suspicions and moves on, "First, let's sit and have some tea, and I'll tell you why I'm traveling to South Africa."

 

 

They sit down and Sun-Mi pours tea for both of them. Eyeing the biscuits, she is suddenly aware of how hungry she is...

 

"I'm going to inspect a vein of rare blue diamond, potentially worth hundreds of millions," he explains, "After South Africa, I'll stop in Amsterdam, to personally oversee the first cuts, and choose a selection of the best gems to bring back here for auction..."

 

Sun-Mi is sipping tea and nibbling on a biscuit as she listens...

 

"I'm still trying to get my head around the idea that you're this sophisticated, world-travelling business tycoon," she admits to her amazement. But her curiosity still nags about what Min-Cho told her aunt. "There's some reason you're telling me this now, right?"

 

"It's so that when I say I know how to recognize a rare, priceless gem when I see one, you'll believe me, and take what I say earnestly," he explains. "Will you do that now?"

 

The unusual seriousness in his voice gives Sun-Mi pause. "This really isn't about diamonds, is it?" she deduces. "Exactly what are you trying to say?"

 

"Just how I feel about you," Min-Cho confesses, gazing fondly at her. "Although I've travelled the world, and seen many priceless gems, all of them pale in comparison to Jin Sun-Mi..."

 

"Why... that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever..." she pauses to swallow the lump in her throat... "why would you -- or anyone like you -- bother about someone like me?" she voices her uncertainties. "It doesn't make sense... like some Cinderella fairy tale... only even more unbelievable!"

 

"Let me put those doubts to rest for you," he expresses his sincerity. "As I see it, one priceless gem deserves another. When I return, the best of those diamonds will have your name on it, Sun-Mi, and with your permission, a place on your left hand..."

 

He reaches over and takes her left hand, holding it gently, feeling the softness of her fingers against his palm, and declares, "I promise to make every day as happy for you as you make it for me..."

 

Dumbstruck at his unexpected declaration, Sun-Mi stares at Min-Cho, stammering, "But... I... I..."

 

"Don't know what to say?" Min-Cho smiles as he reassures her, "You don't have to say anything now. Until I return, my promise to be 'just friends' still stands as-is," he states his intentions unequivocally. "After that, it depends on your answer."

 

Sun-Mi finally finds her voice. "Min-Cho, I don't deserve this..." she expresses her gratefulness.

 

"Love isn't something deserved, it's something given freely," he expounds, "given without concern for the consequences..."