AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart

Chapter 134

written by LoveCR2 -- 2005

edited by All-About-AAE -- 2018

 

"What happened in New York showed me part of the answer I needed... that family is more important than dreams" -- Jin Sun-Mi

 

 

PYONGCHANG-DONG, SEOUL...

 

"That double-crossing bitch!"

 

Kim Eun-Ki reacts angrily, tossing his necktie to the floor in reaction to the news.

 

From her bed, where she was reclining in a black, lace-trimmed negligee with a glass of Kathryn Hall Cabernet Sauvignon in her hand when he came into her boudoir, Eun-Hee grudgingly expresses admiration for the other woman. "I'll give her credit. This was a move I never anticipated."

 

"What would motivate Hyung-Chul to marry a woman like Young-Mi?" Eun-Ki scoffs, opening the buttons of his pale blue dress shirt. "Unless she took a lesson from you, and snared herself a Yoon by using the oldest trick in the playbook -- getting herself knocked-up."

 

"The way you say it, it sounds so... vulgar," Eun-Hee complains, placing the wineglass on the bedside stand. "But you're right, my husband let it slip that she's several months along already."

 

"Then it happened at the orphanage," he calculates the time back, speculating, "so was it her conspiring with Yoon Hyung-Chul, or with Bae In-Soo?"

 

"What difference does it make?"

 

Eun-Ki strips off his shirt, and drops it on the floor beside the tie.

 

"Whether she is still on our side, or has thrown in with him," he explains.

 

"How can she side with the Yoon's?" Eun-Hee argues, rising from the bed. "We have the goods on her, from the faked 'amnesia', to the whole episode with Hyung-Chul in the hospital and afterward. She won't dare oppose us, unless she wants to be destroyed herself."

 

Hearing her get up, he turns to face the bed, asking. "Then you think it's her and Bae, and Hyung-Chul is the ignorant patsy?"

 

"I didn't say that," she objects, approaching him with mincing steps in her cherry red Giuseppe Zanotti 150mm stiletto pumps. "There is one thing bothering me -- Hyung-Chul was to formally introduce Young-Mi as his fiancée at dinner tonight, but at the last minute backed out."

 

"I might have the answer to that question," Eun-Ki replies, eying the tantalizing hints of her supple form and swaying hips moving under the sheer fabric of the floor-skimming gown. "This afternoon, Correspondent Jin Sun-Mi made a surprise appearance at Incheon International, and announced her return to MBS."

 

Eun-Hee stops in front of him, less than a step away...

 

"When did all that come down? I thought you were supposed to be on top of such decisions," she is contemptuous. "How could you let something like that happen?"

 

He reaches out to touch the side of her head, caressing her loose, silky tresses with his fingers.

 

"Director Kim Sun-Dal made the decision completely on his own, without consulting me," Eun-Ki acknowledges the slip up. "I'm beginning to wonder if our 'spy' may be double-crossing us, too, and playing both sides."

 

"Then dispose of him!" she suggests irately, her eyes sparking.

 

Eun-Ki disagrees, "He still has value, as our only breach into the Yoon's inner circle. I'll just be more careful how I handle him."

 

"Do you have any idea who's backing Jin Sun-Mi's move?" she wonders.

 

Pressing her palms against his chest, she closes the gap between them. He runs his hands down her back from shoulders to waist, encircling her back and pressing her softness against him.

 

"Now, that question I have the answer to," he assures her. "Correspondent Jin didn't arrive alone..."

 

She raises her eyes to meet Eun-Ki's, smoldering with the desires his touch is awakening in her. 'Let me guess... Michael Atwater?"

 

"Yes... It seems the predictions of his split-up with Jin Sun-Mi were premature," he replies, feeling his passion rising as she grinds per pelvis into him.

 

"I can't believe their coming here, at this time, is a coincidence," she airs her concern. "Do you know what Atwater's intentions are?"

 

He pauses from nibbling on her earlobe to answer...

 

"No, but I hope to find out soon," he states assuringly. "I'll set up a meeting to discuss the stock offering, and probe him then."

 

Eun-Hee sucks in her breath when he attacks particularly sensitive spots with his lips and fingers...

 

"This could add a new wrinkle to our game," she ponders the new situation, closing her eyes. "All the pieces are on the board now. But who will make the first move...?"

 

Then she shivers as the sensations he is generating come faster and more intensely, ending their verbal interplay as a deeper, more intimate interaction begins...

 

 

 

JIN FAMILY HOME, SUBURBAN SEOUL...

 

"It's about time! I was going to send your Dad up to see if you got lost..." Jin-Suk jokes from the kitchen.

 

Sun-Mi, 'freshened up' after a stop in the upstairs bathroom, pads down the stairs in her slippers. She stops at the bottom of the steps and looks into the living room, where everyone except Jin-Suk is gathered around the coffee table, talking over appetizers and beer.

 

Hyung-Chul and Young-Mi are on the love seat; her face is back to normal -- the injuries apparently as superficial as Sun-Mi had suspected. Kui-Sung is in the chair across from them, and Min-Cho is in the middle chair, his back to her, talking animatedly...

 

"... the devastation was beyond belief; the debris pile where the Towers had been was immense! I'd never seen anything to compare to it. Everywhere it was still chaos..."

 

"How did you get in so close? Wasn't the area cordoned off?" Hyung-Chul questions.

 

"I had a friend who knew someone with security clearance," Min-Cho explains. "I wanted to go to the last place where Sun-Mi had been to start my search."

 

"I admire you so much, Min-Cho, risking your life in such a dangerous situation, just to search for my sister," Young-Mi gushes enthusiastically, gazing at Min-Cho attentively. "I heard buildings in the area were so damaged, they could have collapsed at any time."

 

"The danger wasn't totally past," Min-Cho agrees. "But someone had to do it..."

 

Hyung-Chul's face darkens at Min-Cho's veiled reference to his failure to help Sun-Mi.

 

"Please, everyone, have more fruit," Young-Mi urges, picking up a fork to spear a plump, juicy-looking strawberry.

 

"Thanks," Hyung-Chul replies automatically.

 

But instead of placing the berry on Hyung-Chul's empty dish, Young-Mi moves it to Min-Cho's half-empty plate instead.

 

"Thank you," Min-Cho says, reaching to take the fruit just as Young-Mi is moving another berry... Their hands 'accidentally' touch, and Young-Mi, as if startled, drops the fork onto the floor.

 

"Oh... I'm sorry," she apologizes, leaning down for the fork just as Min-Cho also does, so their hands 'accidentally' touch again.

 

"Never mind, I'll get it," he smiles at her as he picks up the utensil and places it in her palm. Her fingers close, briefly holding his hand.

 

"I'll get another, she quickly offers.

 

"Thanks but I have enough now," he declines.

 

 

Sun-Mi, appalled at Young-Mi's blatant flirting in front of her own fiancée, speaks up with a note of sarcasm, "Sorry to interrupt... But, Daddy, what did you want?"

 

"We were all catching up with recent events before dinner," her father answers. "I didn't want you to feel left out."

 

"Thanks, Daddy," Sun-Mi beams a smile, noting that with the chairs filled, she has nowhere to sit anyway. "But I'll go help Mom in the kitchen."

 

Sun-Mi starts off, just as Jin-Suk calls out, "There's no need, Sun-Mi. Everything is ready, come and get it!"

 

"Shall we?" Kui-Sung says to his guests as he stands.

 

Min-Cho, Hyung-Chul, and Young-Mi all get up together. Turning toward the same gap between the loveseat and chair, Min-Cho and Young-Mi come up face-to-face, almost touching...

 

Her eyes look directly into his as she apologizes, "Sorry, I didn't mean to be in your way."

 

"Please, go first," he tells her, moving back slightly.

 

She nods and steps past him, consciously brushing against him in the constrained space. Min-Cho follows her, then Hyung-Chul.

 

 

As Min-Cho passes Sun-Mi, she grasps his arm, pulling him aside toward the stair, until the others are ahead. Then she urges Min-Cho forward, keeping her hand on his arm. He looks at her oddly, wondering what she is doing, but Sun-Mi only flicks her eyes back at him and smiles...

 

 

At the kitchen table, Kui-Sung takes the head seat at one end, and Jin-Suk the other end. To Kui-Sung's left is Hyung-Chul and Young-Mi on one side of the table, and Sun-Mi with Min-Cho on the other side.

 

Before they sit down, Sun-Mi announces, "I have something to tell everyone..."

 

Five faces look at Sun-Mi, curious about what she is has to say...

 

"I went to London to pursue a dream that I'd wanted for my whole life to do. I didn't achieve my dream there, but I found someone who became a good friend. When I went on to New York, still chasing that dream, and everything came crashing down -- literally -- I learned that this friend was indeed, someone I could count on when I had nothing else..."

 

She pauses to look up and smile at Min-Cho. "Thank you... again... for taking care of me."

 

Then Sun-Mi goes on, "Before leaving London, I was faced with some serious questions about my life and my future, that I didn't know how to answer at the time. But what happened in New York showed me part of the answer I needed -- that family is more important than dreams, and something I'd always taken for granted, could be taken away in a single moment... That's why I came back to Seoul, to be with family, and that's why I asked Min-Cho to come, too, so you could meet the person who saved me, more than once..."

 

She pauses again, and Kui-Sung takes the opportunity to say, "We're all very happy that you did, Mr. Atwater."

 

"Sun-Mi? What is it you're trying to say?" Jin-Suk prompts, sensing something is up after what had happened upstairs. "Be considerate of our guest, the food is getting cold."

 

"The food can wait, Dear," Kui-Sung hushes his wife. "Go on, Sun-Mi... take your time."

 

"By coming home and being here, with all of you tonight, the rest of the answers became clear," she explains, then looking directly at each person, addresses them in turn, "Daddy... Mom... Sister... Brother-in-Law... what I wanted to say is..."

 

She takes Min-Cho's hand, squeezing it to send him a hint in advance, but her eyes are fixed on Hyung-Chul's face as she announces... "Min-Cho and I... we're going to get married..."