AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart

Chapter 150

written by LoveCR2 -- 2005

edited by All-About-AAE -- 2018

 

"What point is there in bringing up such matters now? ... Playing 'what-if' is a dangerous game" -- Yoon Hyung-Chul

 

 

GANGNAM-GU, SEOUL ...

 

"Joo-Hee was in the office today..."

 

Hyung-Chul brings up the subject as Sun-Mi downshifts the sleek red Maserati 3200 GT and slows on the long exit ramp from the Olympic Expressway onto Gangnam-daero.

 

"Oh?" she feigns disinterest.

 

"She came by to give me a thorough scolding," he adds.

 

Sun-Mi nods. "I think I can guess why... What did you tell her?"

 

"That we're just good friends now, nothing more," he replies. "What else?"

 

"I don't think Joo-Hee believed you, because she came to see me, too, just before the meeting," Sun-Mi recollects her encounter, feeling again the stinging slaps Joo-Hee had delivered in her attempt to wake Sun-Mi to her senses, she now realizes. "That's why I was late."

 

"What did you tell her?"

 

 

Sun-Mi turns left off Gangnam-daero onto Dosan-daero before she answers, "The same, but she didn't believe me either..."

 

"What Joo-Hee believes doesn't matter," Hyung-Chul maintains. "She's gone too far again, overstepping bounds, trying to protect me."

 

"But I don't blame her," Sun-Mi defends her mentor. "From Joo-Hee's perspective, its d�j� vu, so I can understand."

 

She exits Dosan-daero into a side alley and parks in a small car park behind the building where Min-Cho said he'd be with Young-Mi.

 

 

Hyung-Chul takes off his seatbelt and is reaching for the door handle, when Sun-Mi speaks up...

 

"Senior, I have something to ask you..."

 

He turns back toward her. "What is it?"

 

She looks at him. "If the situation were different -- hypothetically speaking, that is -- and you were not with Young-Mi, and I was not with Min-Cho, would it be possible for us to try again? Not like before, but as we are now..."

 

"Do you really expect me to answer that?" he wonders if she is serious.

 

"This is something that's been on my mind for some time, and I want your honest answer," she replies somberly.

 

"What point is there in bringing up such matters now?" he defers, claiming. "Playing 'what-if' is a dangerous game."

 

"Just living itself can be dangerous," Sun-Mi reflects. "Like I said that night, let's hold nothing back between us..."

 

"Sun-Mi... I..."

 

He pauses when her eyes meet his -- as he looks into their depths, he feels like time stops...

 

... 'it's two hearts, entwined at creation, now fused together for eternity' ...her words instantly speak to him from memory, along with another memory, of their kiss on the Pont des Arts...

 

 

Instantly, his heart is pounding like crazy and his throat parched dry. Slowly, they are being drawn irresistibly together like two magnets... leaning close, then closer...

 

Sun-Mi blinks, her long, dark lashes fluttering for a moment, and then closing as her lips pucker, reaching for his... Her face fills his vision, her scent his nostrils, her thoughts his mind...

 

Hyung-Chul reaches out from habit, to brush her hair back from her temple, uncovering the scar from the day that almost took her forever from his life...

 

... somehow, some way, we will be together again ... the thought pops into his mind ... True Love never fails ...

 

His hand moves, skimming the hair over the side of Sun-Mi's head, continuing until his fingers lightly rest on the nape of her neck. Feeling the tension in her body, he applies a slight pressure, moving her further forward, as he closes the remaining distance from his side...

 

For a brief instant, their lips touch with crackling intensity...

 

 

Then Sun-Mi's mobile buzzes an incoming text, interrupting the moment.

 

The intrusion of the outside world causes Hyung-Chul to suddenly draw back in response, as Sun-Mi opens her eyes wide, like being shocked from a trance into reality...

 

Thinking it might be from Min-Cho, she appeals to Hyung-Chul, her eyes saying 'sorry' as she fumbles clumsily inside her purse.

 

Locating her phone, she checks the message...

 

... Emergency! Call ASAP ...

 

"It's from my friend, Jo Cho-Jeh," she tells him. "She says it's an emergency. Do you mind?"

 

"Not at all," he answers, covering his disappointment, alighting from the car to give Sun-Mi privacy.

 

 

After Hyung-Chul is out of earshot, Sun-Mi takes a moment for a deep breath to slow her fluttering heart and allow the electric buzz to die away, so she can focus...

 

Then she hits the callback button for Cho-Jeh's number, and gets an immediate pickup...

 

"Sun-Mi... What are you doing?" Cho-Jeh greets her excitedly. "I've been trying to contact you all day!"

 

"Just calm down, Cho-Jeh," Sun-Mi replies. "Take your time. What is it all about?"

 

"It was last night, at the Gala, when Jin-Soo and I were in the hotel gallery, watching the stars," Cho-Jeh begins.

 

Sun-Mi chuckles, "Really? What stars can you see in the center of Seoul?"

 

"Okay, we just used that as an excuse, to find a private spot to make out," Cho-Jeh confesses.

 

"Good for you!" Sun-Mi enthuses. "When are you two going to set a wedding date?"

 

"Don't get me started on that," Cho-Jeh answers, returning to the purpose of the call. "It's what we overheard there that I'm calling you for, between Young-Mi and Min-Cho..."

 

"I know all about that," Sun-Mi claims. "After we swapped partners for a dance, they went off to talk..."

 

"Not just talk," Cho-Jeh reveals. "They were seriously making out, too..."

 

"Oh?" Sun-Mi is puzzled, as Min-Cho had said nothing about that to her. "What else?"

 

"You won't believe it," Cho-Jeh replies, "what Min-Cho said..."