AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart

Chapter 132

written by LoveCR2 -- 2005

edited by All-About-AAE -- 2018

 

"I want everyone to know that Special Correspondent Jin Sun-Mi is back and ready bring you the News" -- Jin Sun-Mi

 

 

INCHEON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT...

 

"You want me to do WHAT?"

 

Standing beside their heavily laden luggage cart, parked just after Customs, Min-Cho questions whether he'd heard correctly.

 

"I want you to pretend you're my boyfriend," Sun-Mi repeats her request.

 

Immediately, he adds up the pieces. "Is this why you wanted me to come with you?"

 

"Not just that, but... yes," she admits frankly.

 

"Why didn't you say something earlier?" he complains. "You didn't think I'd have an opinion on this?"

 

"I didn't want to sit next to you for 13 hours on the flight, listening to your 'opinions' and bad jokes about 'pretend' boyfriends, that's why," she corrects his presumption.

 

"So, just like that, you expect me to go along with your charade?"

 

"Yes."

 

"Why?"

 

"Because... I asked?" she cajoles him sweetly, showing her brightest smile. "Please?"

 

"I'd rather be your REAL boyfriend," he grumbles, "but since you put it like that, why not?"

 

 

"That's better," she smiles smugly, happy that he so readily agreed. "There's a few ground rules first, though..."

 

"Wait, is this like all those 'rules' when we lived together in London?" he recalls their former situation.

 

"Uh-huh, because I'm moving into your place tonight," she informs him, unabashed. "That is, after you meet my parents today, of course..."

 

"All right, what's going on, Sun-Mi?" he demands an explanation for her audacious demands.

 

"I'll tell you more, later," she dangles the promise of an eventual explanation, "but for now that's all you need to know. In the meantime, don't fool around and say we're going to be married or anything like that," she warns. "Promise?"

 

The thought hadn't even occurred to him yet, but he gives his word... "Okay, I promise. No joking."

 

"Good," she rewards him with a smile, then asks, "Now... how do I look?"

 

Without hesitation, he answers, "Beautiful, as usual."

 

After passing through Customs, Sun-Mi had immediately disappeared to 'freshen up' from their long flight leaving in casual slacks, short sleeve top, and sandals suitable for the warmer Mediterranean climate, and returning in a chic Carolina Herrera emerald green, silk crepe mini dress with a wide scoop neckline and long bell-flared sleeves, opaque black stay-ups, and Saint Laurent black-and-white zebra-striped calf hair pumps.

 

"Seriously," she frowns at his glib attitude.

 

"You're my 'girlfriend', right?" he reminds her. "What else am I supposed to say to the woman I hope to marry someday?"

 

"Tsst...!" Sun-Mi hisses a disapproving warning.

 

"Sorry, it's a habit," he apologizes, unapologetically.

 

"And my hair?" she prompts him further, referring to the new 'do she adopted -- after letting her pixie grow out in Greece -- a baby bob with dramatic, asymmetrically side-swept wavy bangs dipping low over her left eyebrow, designed to cover her temple and the visible reminder of 9/11 she bears there.

 

"Perfect," he confirms. "But why the sudden concern about appearance? We're at the airport, not an audience at the Blue House."

 

Sun-Mi answers with an ambiguous smile, "Shouldn't a girl want to look nice for her boyfriend?"

 

 

Min-Cho starts off, pushing the cart toward the Arrivals Hall, with Sun-Mi tagging close beside him, one hand gripping the handles of a small, white Louis Vuitton purse, her 105mm stilettos tapping lightly on the hard floor, and join a slowly-moving queue of passengers and carts passing through the doors.

 

But after they take just a few steps into the Arrivals Hall, a commotion starts up at the barricades separating arriving passengers from those waiting to meet them.

 

"What's this?" Min-Cho asks when he sees the gaggle of reporters lined up, waving and calling to get Sun-Mi's attention, while the accompanying photographers begin a barrage of camera flashes. "I thought you said no one is expecting us, except your family and those two friends?"

 

"Jo Cho-Jeh can't keep a secret if her life depended on it," Sun-Mi hints.

 

Min-Cho quickly figures it out, "So you told her, knowing this would result?"

 

"Since the Media won't be denied their piece of red meat, I decided to meet them at a place of my own choosing, on my own terms," Sun-Mi reveals her strategy.

 

"Suddenly, I feel under-dressed," he cracks, understanding her purpose in changing now.

 

She notes again how his casual navy Polo shirt, white chinos, and brown boat shoes give his tanned, chiseled features and tall, muscular physique a sporty, yet gentlemanly edge...

 

"You'll do fine," she assures him, slipping her arm around his as they keep walking.

 

"Why don't I get the bags to the car, while you handle the reporters," he suggests, preferring not to face a slew of unwanted questions. "They're here to see you, not me."

 

"Okay, but just for the cameras, give me a send-off kiss, English style. You're my boyfriend, right?" she reminds him of his agreed-on role, expecting a light peck on the cheek like Hyung-Chul gave her at London City Airport.

 

"Your wish is my command," he jokes, stopping the cart. Then he quickly slips one arm around Sun-Mi's waist, pulls her closer, and moving his other hand behind her neck for support, presses a long, lingering kiss on her lips...

 

Caught totally by surprise, Sun-Mi is overwhelmed by his sheer physicality, the intensity of his lips burning into hers, their insistence stoking the passions at her very core from smouldering embers into searing flame...

 

 

Witnessing the unexpected display of public intimacy, the reporters go berserk, raising a raucous clamor accompanied by a frenzy of camera flashes exploding like a grand finale of bursting fireworks. Attracted by the uproar, passersby gather, some recognizing Sun-Mi, applauding and cheering the couple on...

 

Just as suddenly as he seized her lips, Min-Cho releases them, leaving Sun-Mi breathless and lightheaded, reeling from sensations that reverberate to the tips of her fingers and toes...

 

"That wasn't fair!" she protests quietly, still gasping.

 

Looking into her wide eyes with a boyish grin and a wink, he replies, "You asked for 'English style'... what did you expect?"

 

Before she can collect her wits for an answer, with a quick wave of his hand to the crowd and a jaunty toss of his head, Min-Cho takes off, pushing the luggage cart, leaving Sun-Mi wobbly on legs that seem like rubber...

 

Her face still flushed from their kiss, Sun-Mi ignores the line of reporters clamoring for attention, as with deep, slow breaths, she quiets her pounding heart. Then, her composure reestablished, she faces into the continuous barrage of blinding flashes, and confidently strides up to the barricades.

 

 

Raising her hand for silence, she waits for the hubbub to die off before she speaks, "Thank you for coming out today... First, I want to express to everyone, especially my long-time fans, my heartfelt appreciation for their concern and prayers -- your love meant so much, and was so important to my recovery..."

 

A reporter calls out, hoping for a follow-up to the kiss, "Do you have anything you want to announce today to the people of South Korea?"

 

Sun-Mi takes a moment to single out a few excited young women for a wave of her hand, accompanied by a personal smile, before she responds...

 

"Yes... I want everyone to know that Special Correspondent Jin Sun-Mi is back, and ready bring you the News..."