AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart
Chapter 105
written by LoveCR2 -- 2005
edited by All-About-AAE -- 2017
"Now there are no more bridges left, nothing to go back to ... the only way remaining is forward ." -- Jin Sun-Mi
SUN-MI'S APARTMENT, FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK CITY...
"For the last time Cho-Jeh, I'm focusing on my career right now!..."
Sun-Mi stops typing on her laptop and glares with irritation at her mobile on the desk, set to speaker mode...
"... I'm not looking to start a new relationship," she grumbles, "despite what anyone might want..."
"Aha! ... Then, you HAVE met someone?!" Cho-Jeh reads between the lines, and eagerly plies Sun-Mi with questions. "Where? When? ... What is he like... Tall? Handsome?... A stud?"
Sun-Mi leans back and swivels her desk chair slightly, stretching her arms over her head as she vents her exasperation with a long sigh...
"What difference does it make?" she avoids answering specifically, fingering the scalloped lace trim of her white Lise Charmel silk chemise, pondering how much to disclose to her gossipy friend.
"At least, doesn't he have a name?"
"He's just some guy I met, it's nothing serious..."
"What? You hooked up with some guy, and don't even know his name?!" Cho-Jeh's accuses, making a pretense at being shocked to pry for more information.
"Cho-Jeh! How could you even think I'd do something like that!" Sun-Mi protests, taking the bait. "His name is Ha Jin-Woo, and we met on the flight coming here... Are you satisfied now?"
"You did say, on the flight?" Cho-Jeh asks for clarification.
"Yes, we were sitting in the same row, and some wine spilled..." Sun-Mi begins, then decides she's said enough, maybe too much...
"I knew it!" Cho-Jeh replies jubilantly. "I bet Jin-Soo 10,000 won you'd meet a guy by your third day in New York, and he doubled-down if it was less than 24 hours... I'm rich!"
"You gambled on when I'd meet a guy?" Sun-Mi is incredulous.
"It's hardly a gamble, since you're the double Goddess of Luck AND Love," Cho-Jeh states smugly. "So, tell me more about this Prince you met..."
"All right," Sun-Mi concedes, giving up her effort to maintain any privacy. "But he's no one you'd confuse with a Prince... he's just a regular guy," she tries to dial down her friend's expectations. "Jin-Woo is tall and thin, no great physique, and not particularly handsome," she gives an honest appraisal. "He's a bit socially awkward, too, and definitely not wealthy... he's an accountant."
Ready to end the conversation, she focuses again on her keyboard and starts typing...
"But he's available, right?" Cho-Jeh still enthuses, not ready to give up, quite yet. "And you must like him, at least a little, or you wouldn't have said anything..."
Sun-Mi stops typing and carps back, "I really don't have time to discuss such useless things now, I'm busy."
"It's 5 AM there! How can you be busy?" Cho-Jeh remarks doubtfully.
"Just a minute..."
Sun-Mi slides the cursor to SEND, dispatching an email to London, before she speaks to Cho-Jeh again, "I'm in the middle of coordinating with London on next week's 'Fashion, Today!' segment."
"Well... I could call back in the morning, say your time 10 PM?" Cho-Jeh offers.
"That won't work either," Sun-Mi demurs, as she picks up her phone and empty coffee cup, padding quietly in a pair of red satin Alberta Ferretti mule slippers to the kitchen, where a fresh cup of expresso is waiting in the coffeemaker. "I've a conference call from nine o'clock to ten with LA and Tokyo, a follow-up call with Seoul, and then I need to put a summary report on the Bureau Chief's desk by seven in the morning."
"My god girl, when do you sleep?" Cho-Jeh is amazed. "How do you manage to do it?!"
"I live on coffee, that's how," Sun-Mi quips while she deposits her empty cup in the sink. Grabbing the full one, she assures her friend, "But once I get established here, things will be easier."
Going to the living room, she settles onto the couch, leaving her slippers on the floor as she folds her bare legs up beside her.
"Are you really sure this is what you want to do?" Cho-Jeh questions.
Sun-Mi gazes through the windows as the golden rays of dawn spread a warm glow over the residential towers on the other side of Central Park...
"I've never been more sure," she answers firmly. "Before I worried too much about what I thought others expected of me, but now, I'm chasing my own dreams first."
Cho-Jeh isn't convinced. "You're not sounding like yourself, Jin Sun-Mi," she states bluntly. "What's happened to you?"
"Maybe I'm finally seeing life for what it really is," Sun-Mi replies flatly. "A gritty reality that bites..."
A ping on her computer, announcing an incoming email, attracts Sun-Mi's attention...
"Sorry, I have to go," she says. "I've been summoned."
"Don't work so hard, and lighten up a bit," Cho-Jeh advises. "When I come to New York, I want you in good shape to show me around."
"Okay, it's a deal... I'll be tour guide, if you pay for dinner," Sun-Mi jokes, and ends the call, "See ya..."
But while she sips her coffee, pondering their conversation, another call rings on her mobile...
"Thanks for calling back, Uncle," she greets the caller. "How are Joo-Hee and Mi-Rae?"
"They're doing well," Sun-Dal replies. "I wish I could say the same about Hyung-Chul, though."
"Has he said anything about me?" she inquires hopefully. "Anything at all?"
"I'm sorry, not a word, even after I brought up that you'd moved to New York," he gives her the negative report straight. "Sun-Mi, why keep doing this to yourself?"
"I... don't know," she replies. "My head tells me it's futile, that I've burned all the bridges and there's no going back. But my heart just can't give him up. I keep telling myself I'll stop being a fool, then go right back and repeat it again..."
"I know it's hard not to have closure," he sympathizes, "But for your own sake, and for Hyung-Chul's too, just move on. Stop punishing yourself... I'm not trying to be harsh, I just care about you, and want to see you happy again."
"You're right, Uncle," she replies resolutely. "I'll end it, right now. Don't mention me to Senior again, and don't speak of him to me anymore, okay?
"You've made the right choice," he confirms her decision. "I'll give your greetings to Joo-Hee..."
"Bye..." she says and closes her phone...
"It's really over," Sun-Mi tells herself aloud to reinforce her decision. "No more hanging onto useless hopes, no more looking back, just living my own dream..."
She gets up from the couch, steps into her slippers, and returns to the desk. There, she sees the new email is from Min-Cho, not the London office as she'd thought, with the subject... 'Why don't you pick up my calls?' ...
She clicks on REPLY, and quickly types ...Min-Cho ... Sorry, I'm busy right now, but I'll get back to you ...
Then she recalls the advice he'd given her ... 'Say your true feelings, accepting whatever happens... this way, whatever the outcome, you can take the next step with confidence' ...
"Jin Sun-Mi, stop being so wishy-washy," she encourages herself, "It's time to act on what you preach..."
She takes a deep breath and, biting down on her lower lip, types ... 'Actually, to be honest, I'd like if you stopped trying to contact me. I've decided to move on. Don't forgive me, don't wait for me ... I won't be coming back' ...
Before she can second-guess herself, Sun-Mi hovers the cursor over SEND and presses the touch pad with her index finger...
... now there are no more bridges left, nothing to go back to ... she tells herself ... the only way remaining is forward ...
With a sigh, she turns in the chair to look over the luxurious living room of her apartment -- Min-Cho's apartment -- she corrects herself, and knows what she has to do next.
Turning back to the computer, she opens a new email and types: ... Jin-Woo, ... Remember your offer to help me find an apartment? I'd like to meet ASAP. Call me after work, okay? J ... Sun-Mi ...