AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart

Chapter 93

written by LoveCR2 -- 2005

edited by All-About-AAE -- 2017

 

"I'll give the credit where it's due... to the 'Goddess of Love'... who reopened my heart to True Love." -- Yoo Joo-Hee

 

 

"... I just sent you the link..."

 

Sun-Dal's voice comes through the speakerphone in Hyung-Chul's office, "The article just came up less than an hour ago."

 

"Okay, I'll check it out," Hyung-Chul replies, opening the email message and clicking on the URL as he talks, watching as the website for one of Seoul's entertainment tabloids opens to a news feature article.

 

Hyung-Chul reads the title aloud...

 

'Former MBS Announcer Jin Sun-Mi Wows on London's Red Carpet'

 

"That's it," Sun-Dal confirms. "I admit, I was a bit surprised when I saw it. But I can't talk now; I've a meeting soon, I'll call you later."

 

"Got it," Hyung-Chul hangs up as he reads the paragraph under the title to himself...

 

"Last night Global News Network Special Correspondent Jin Sun-Mi took a celebrity turn -- making news instead of reporting it -- in a glam debut appearance on the red carpet at London's Tate Modern Art museum at a private exhibit opening."

 

Under the paragraph, a video is loading, and a few seconds later, plays...

 

Even with Sun-Dal's warning, Hyung-Chul watches with astonishment as the camera closes in on Sun-Mi and Min-Cho, then pans up from her feet to her face as a British-accented female presenter provides running commentary, with the Korean translation in subtitles at the bottom of the screen...

 

... "Next up, making a bold statement in head-to-toe red, is Sun-Mi Jin, the 26-year-old host of GNN's 'Fashion Today!', escorted by billionaire entrepreneur Michael Atwater. She is wearing a stunning sequined Tadashi Shoji Ready-To-Wear cocktail gown, with metallic red, 105mm stiletto heel sandals and a color-matched clutch, both from Jimmy Choo's new Signature Fall Collection. Her spectacular diamond ensemble, on loan from Cartier, is valued at..."

 

"Hello? I brought coffee..."

 

Hyung-Chul pauses the video, looking up at his unscheduled guest. "Come in, Joo-Hee," he invites her in.

 

 

Joo-Hee goes directly to Hyung-Chul's desk and sets the two paper cups of vending coffee down as she perches on the arm of the adjacent couch.

 

"Thanks for the coffee. What can I do for you?" he asks.

 

"Can't old friends just have coffee together once in a while?" she answers obliquely, sipping from her cup, then notices what is on his computer screen.

 

"So you saw it, too?"

 

"Sun-Dal keeps me abreast of the news," he shrugs.

 

"Doesn't Sun-Mi look simply fabulous?" she enthuses. "I hate to admit, I'm a bit envious that it's her, and not me. I never thought I'd say she's exceeded all my expectations."

 

"Yeah, I suppose," Hyung-Chul agrees sourly, unsettled over the scene he'd just witnessed.

 

Joo-Hee notes his glum attitude and remarks, "Having regrets?"

 

"Should I?" he chuckles, realizing his face has betrayed his emotions.

 

"Is it true you arranged for GNN to transfer Sun-Mi to New York and promote her to Lead Correspondent?" Joo-Hee probes.

 

Hyung-Chul bristles, "Where did you hear that?"

 

"Rumors fly, especially when things happen without apparent reason," she fishes for corroboration.

 

"GNN is operated independently, how could I arrange something like that?" Hyung-Chul ambivalently avoids the bait.

 

"So you deny it?" Joo-Hee presses, her suspicions unallayed.

 

 

Unsure of how much she actually knows, Hyung-Chul decides the truth is better than a cover up...

 

"Okay, I made a call to my friend John White," he confesses. "Does that satisfy you?"

 

"This isn't the first time you've pulled strings for Sun-Mi, is it?" she directly lays out the accusation.

 

"What's the point of bringing this up now?" he answers vaguely, hoping to dissuade further inquiry.

 

"I've always suspected why Sun-Mi wasn't flunked out of the training program, but I thought it was Sun-Dal's doing," she deduces from his evasion. "Now it's all making sense..."

 

"Would you like to share your revelation with me, too?" he asks defensively.

 

"Everyone said I wasn't ready for the big time, and then the Seven O'clock News just drops into my lap," she describes the puzzle that had long vexed her, then states: "Me... Park So-Won... Jin Sun-Mi... at least you're consistent."

 

He is the puzzled one now. "I don't know what you're talking about."

 

"Your idea of 'compensation' for dumping me... was my love worth that little to you?" she answers, her voice expressing hurt from a deep wound still unhealed.

 

"Joo-Hee, we were young..."

 

"Maybe it was only puppy love, but you were my first," she reminds him, lowering her eyes so she can't look into his. "I gave you my whole heart -- my innocence -- everything -- believing you loved me as much as I loved you..."

 

At her confession, an unsettled air surrounds them which Hyung-Chul decides to tackle directly... "If could go back, believe me, I'd handle it differently," he apologizes. "But be honest. You were rebelling from your family's control, and I was reeling from my family's pain. I ran away to England, not to break up with you, but because I had no faith in love, it was something I couldn't comprehend..."

 

"Still, when I was most vulnerable, you just left and walked away," Joo-Hee relates her raw feelings bitterly, "without the decency even to say goodbye..."

 

"The truth is, my only feelings for you was as a sister," he makes it clear. "I was avoiding you because of a guilty conscious, not because I spurned you."

 

His frank revelation surprises Joo-Hee. "Then... you weren't rejecting my love?"

 

"Love meant nothing to me until I met Sun-Mi. After fate brought her into my life, something remarkable happened. The cold emptiness in my heart became warm and full, and despite myself, I began to believe in the possibility of love. Sun-Mi gave me a second chance, and that's why I can't let her go..."

 

As she listens, Joo-Hee nods and smiles. "You, too? I'd wondered if it was just me," she sighs wistfully. "I'd thought I was scarred for life, that love meant only heartache and I'd never love again," she divulges, "But after I met Sun-Mi, like you, I began to believe in the possibilities of love again, as ridiculous as it sounds."

 

"What? You were a fan of 'Musical Postcards', too?" Hyung-Chul smirks.

 

"Do I look like a lovelorn old maid?" Joo-Hee hisses, aware of the clich�s about the primary demographic of Sun-Mi's radio program. But then she confesses self-consciously, "Who didn't listen? Anyway, it wasn't every day..."

 

"You don't have to be embarrassed. I was one of those 'lovelorn old maids' myself," he reveals with a chuckle.

 

"You're a fool, Yoon Hyung-Chul," she scolds him lightly, "but promise me one thing."

 

"What?"

 

"I gave up my place in line for Sun-Mi, so don't let her get away," Joo-Hee admonishes jokingly.

 

"Having regrets?" he repeats her earlier remark.

 

"No, things happen for a reason," she acknowledges, "If I was still holding onto the past, my heart wouldn't have been open for a future with Sun-Dal... and Mi-Rae."

 

"You decided to adopt Mi-Rae?" Hyung-Chul asks happily.

 

She nods. "At first I was uncertain about the whole idea, especially an older child, of taking on another person's problems. But after a few hours with Mi-Rae, we both wanted to bring her home that day. I never thought I'd be so excited and happy about being a mom!"

 

"You're underestimating yourself," Hyung-Chul boosts her. "You just needed the right chance."

 

Joo-Hee replies, "I'll give the credit where it's due... to the 'Goddess of Love'... who reopened my heart to True Love..."