AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart

Chapter 86

written by LoveCR2 -- 2005

edited by All-About-AAE -- 2017

 

"Please, Sun-Mi, give me another chance... all I want to do is make you happy." -- Yoon Hyung-Chul

 

 

OUTSIDE PLAZA ON THE RIVER, CENTRAL LONDON...

 

"We're here..."

 

Hyung-Chul makes the announcement as he stops the Jaguar in the entrance drive of the hotel conjoined to Sun-Mi's apartment building and shuts of the engine. He turns to wake her, but she is already stirring.

 

"When did I fall asleep?" she wonders groggily.

 

"Even before we got on the M-11," he informs her that she had missed the entire trip back from Cambridge.

 

"You should�ve waked me," she sulks. "You know I don�t like you to see me like this."

 

"So what? It's not as if I haven't before," he dismisses her concern.

 

"Still, it matters to me!" she grumbles her complaint.

 

"Because it's me?" he suggests half-jokingly.

 

"Humph...so conceited!" she sniffs, opening one eye halfway to glare at him. "Give me another minute to wake up, okay?"

 

"Take your time," he offers, then remarks on her current state. "You really overdid your victory celebration at Brown's."

 

"Ah...yes," she recalls with a giggle. "The wine... so delicious!"

 

"When did you start to drink like this?" he reproves her newly-exhibited ability.

 

"Didn't I say, I had to learn a lot to survive here? But now that I can be your drinking partner, I'm more fun to be around, right?" she suggests, reminding him of his words to her father the night he slept over at her house.

 

"Sure," he answers, wishing he'd never spoken those words in her presence.

 

"Next time, Senior, I'll spot you points," she promises, needling him on the drubbing she delivered in their match. "I didn't realize you're so out of shape."

 

"No need," he refuses her offer out of pride. "I'll just practice more."

 

"Umm hmm..." she murmurs her skepticism, letting the subject drop.

 

 

A minute of silence passes as they each fall into thought, before Sun-Mi speaks up...

 

"Senior? I had a nice time today," she tells him. "Thanks for going with me."

 

"It was a good for me, too," he replies.

 

 

Another silence, before she speaks again...

 

"Senior? There's something I wanted to tell you..." she begins, then changes her mind.

 

His curiosity raised, he prompts, "What is it?"

 

"Next time," she defers answering. "It's late. I'll send you off now, and drive home."

 

"No need," he tells her. "You're already home."

 

Surprised to hear this, Sun-Mi opens her eyes wide and looks out the car window... to see if what he said is actually true...

 

"How did you know?" she moans with dismay.

 

"Sometimes I listen to gossip," he grins back.

 

"Senior, I'm sorry," she sighs, her eyes asking for forgiveness, "Several times today, I'd planned to tell you, but..."

 

"I know how that is," he assures her. ... he'd faced the same problem deciding how to tell her he was a Director of MBS ...

 

 

"I'll drive you back to the hotel," Sun-Mi offers, hoping to postpone having to explain herself.

 

"Thanks, but I can catch a cab," he refuses. There is a reason why he had come back here, instead of his hotel, and she had just broached it.

 

They both alight, and a uniformed valet approaches Hyung-Chul to ask, "Park your car, Sir?"

 

Hyung-Chul nods, tossing the keys to the valet, who drives the Jaguar away.

 

 

Looking for more privacy than afforded by the hotel entrance, they walk out to the street. Across Albert Embankment, the South Bank Jubilee Walkway is deserted, so they start toward the nearby crosswalk.

 

Sun-Mi looks apprehensively at Hyung-Chul as she begins her appeal, "I know how it looks, but I can explain."

 

"There's no need. What you do is your own business," he politely declines, knowing she will tell him anyway.

 

"But it's not like you think!" she defends herself.

 

"Oh? Tell me, what do I think?" he challenges her.

 

"That I'm out of my mind to risk a scandal by living here," she answers bluntly.

 

"Close," he agrees. "Then why?"

 

"If you're listening to gossip, you know I'm already the Queen of scandals now, so what's one more?" she rationalizes her decision, while sending him a glowering look.

 

"Okay, I get it," he admits his part in causing her situation, "I'm sorry about that."

 

"Don't be...It seems the more scandals I have, the more my ratings go up," she jokes with a bit of morbid humor.

 

 

They arrive at the crossing, and while waiting for the light to change, Sun-Mi explains, "Actually, it's just for my convenience. Min-Cho's doing me a favor while I look for a permanent place. It's nothing more... He's not even in the country right now."

 

Hyung-Chul still seems unconvinced, so she continues, "I know you're suspicious of Min-Cho, but I trust him completely. We're only very good friends, not 'living together'; and whether you believe this or not, Senior, it's the truth!"

 

The light changes, and they start across the street. Hyung-Chul, his mind eased considerably now, waits until they are on the Jubilee Walkway, at the wall overlooking the Thames, before he responds.

 

 

"Fine, let's say Mr. Atwater has no ulterior motives," he accepts her position. "But that still leaves one question open... how do you feel about him, Sun-Mi? Do you love him?"

 

The question catches her by surprise. "What?"

 

"Is it to be just friends, or hoping for more?" he presses for an answer.

 

His question touching a sensitive nerve, she bristles at his prying. "Why do you need to know that?"

 

"Because... it's you..." he answers, showing deep concern in his eyes. "What happens to you, is important to me. Whether you believe this or not, Sun-Mi, it's the truth!"

 

She recalls his encouragement and support when she'd shared her concerns about Woo-Jin and Young-Mi ... but that was before their friendship moved to be something more, and things turned complicated ... Yet today had shown it was possible to reopen the door to that earlier time... that she could trust herself to be 'just friends' with him again...

 

"Honestly, I sometimes wonder myself," she admits, deciding to confide her internal struggle. "That's why I'm not sure how to answer him..."

 

The implication in her words makes Hyung-Chul wary, leading him to ask... "Answer him how?"

 

Sun-Mi lays it out plainly, "Min-Cho intends to propose when he returns ... and ... I'm seriously considering marrying him."

 

 

The revelation that her relationship with Min-Cho is already at that level stuns Hyung-Chul... "Marry? But you've only just met!" he raises the logical point.

 

"For months, we spent hours together every day... we practically know everything about each other," she counters his argument. "When I needed someone, he was there beside me. Without Min-Cho's help and encouragement, I'm not sure I could have survived here."

 

"Just because a guy helps you out, doesn't mean you owe it to marry him," Hyung-Chul reasons.

 

"If that was all," she agrees. "But, it's not... we share a closeness that goes beyond our time together. With him I feel safe, and special in a way I've never felt before. I don't need to prove myself, or become someone else... he accepts me just the way I am. Is that friendship? Or love? What do you think?"

 

"I think it's easy to confuse friendship, and love," Hyung-Chul concludes. "But if everything is as you say, then why the doubts?"

 

"Here, everything is fine," she states, touching her temple, then puts her hand over her heart and sighs, "but here, I still wonder..."

 

 

Seizing on her indecision as an opportunity, he ventures, "Is it possible that you're unsure because of someone else?"

 

Sun-Mi suspects there is something more to his questions. "Senior, what are you really trying to say? Speak clearly!" she demands.

 

... 'Try telling Sun-Mi how you really feel' ... Sun-Dal's advice rings in Hyung-Chul's mind, and he decides to do just that...

 

"What has happened these past months, it's not like you think. I've never stopped caring about you, Sun-Mi. I can't live without you by my side," he bares his feelings, "There is no one in my heart except you. Please, believe that I mean what I'm saying."

 

His words stuns Sun-Mi, and she struggles with the contradiction between his profession and what she has witnessed, beginning with the night she overheard him considering a 'marriage of convenience' with Park So-Won. ... 'Sometimes business has to come before love' ... he meant what he said then, too ...

 

Sun-Mi's chest tightens with the pain of that moment, until she can hardly breathe. And like that night, her first impulse is to escape...

 

"Senior, I want to go back now," she tells him quickly, before the tears smarting in her eyes can overflow. "I'm sorry I can't see you off."

 

Not waiting for his reply, she hurries off. The light changes as she comes to the street and she doesn't hesitate. By the time Hyung-Chul reacts, Sun-Mi is already in the crosswalk.

 

"Wait!" he calls to her. "Sun-Mi...!"

 

Instinctually, she looks back. Seeing Hyung-Chul coming toward her, she quickens her pace. But with long strides, he catches up with Sun-Mi at the roadway median. Grasping her by the arm, he spins her around to face him...

 

Abandoning her attempt to run away, she waits for him to speak.

 

Briefly winded from his sprint, he gasps haltingly, "There is something more... I have to say... before you go..."

 

Seeing him reach up to grasp his necklace, Sun-Mi is curious as to what that could be.

 

"Will you marry me? ... I love you Sun-Mi," he breathlessly makes his impromptu proposal, showing her the ring, not even taking time to remove it from the chain.

 

 

But as Sun-Mi stares at the ring, she recalls her dream that foresaw this moment, as the images flood back from memory ... the busy thoroughfare at night ... the crosswalk ... his breathless proposal ...

 

Hyung-Chul anxiously awaits Sun-Mi's response with hopeful expectation, but as the seconds tick down on the crossing light his optimism begins to wane. The light changes, and traffic begins to move on both sides, before she gives her answer...

 

"Marry you?" she repeats to herself, as if wondering if she is dreaming again. But the images fade as reality intervenes and tears roll in her eyes. "How can you ask me now? ... Why now, when things are like this?"

 

"I know it must be a shock," he pleads for her consideration. "But I couldn't let you walk away without knowing my sincere feelings. I can't bear to lose you... please, Sun-Mi, give me another chance... all I want to do is make you happy."

 

Sun-Mi takes a deep, calming breath, and wiping the tears away with her hands, looks up at him with clear eyes...

 

"I am happy, Senior," she declares in as steady a voice as she can muster, "And I know now, without a doubt in my heart, that I can be happy... without you..."