AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart
Chapter 152
written by LoveCR2 -- 2005
edited by All-About-AAE -- 2018
"Senior, I'm tired of going in circles. This is where we get off the merry-go-round ... This is where it ends." -- Jin Sun-Mi
SINSA, GANGNAM-GU...
Entering the bar, Min-Cho immediately notices Hyung-Chul alone in a booth across the room, his back to the door. Quickly he directs Young-Mi's attention in the opposite direction ...
"Let's sit at this table," he suggests, pulling out a chair for her that faces away from Hyung-Chul.
She sends a smile of appreciation for his gentlemanly action. "Thank you."
As Min-Cho sits opposite Young-Mi a server appears, recognizing him, "The usual, Sir?"
"No. I'll have a Manhattan," Min-Cho replies.
"A Virgin Mary for me, please," Young-Mi orders non-alcoholic, telling Min-Cho, "Because of the baby."
Knowing that Sun-Mi could appear at any time, he goes right to the point, "About the other night, at the Gala."
"Were you serious?" Young-Mi wants confirmation. "Be straight with me. No games."
"I thought I'd made my intentions clear," he earnestly assures her. "From the first moment I saw you, I wanted to make you mine alone."
"I find it hard to believe you'd give up a beautiful, talented, and successful woman like Sun-Mi, for someone like me, who's even carrying another man's child," she plays it cool.
"As I said before, Sun-Mi is like a cheap costume rhinestone compared to a rare, perfect gem," he flatters her.
Their server returns and leaves their drinks on the table. Young-Mi picks up her glass and sips...
"Speaking of rare gems, there's a certain one you mentioned," she drops a hint.
"I came prepared," Min-Cho grins as he reaches into his pocket.
Young-Mi stares at the ring he produces, with a diamond far larger than she had imagined, and gasps, "It's gorgeous!"
"And this is just a paste copy," he discloses. "The original is even more brilliant, and waiting in a secure vault in London for the right hand," he assures her. "What do you say?"
Young-Mi breaks her eyes away from the diamond ring, looking up at Min-Cho with a self-assured smile, gloating to herself ...
... he's fallen hook, line, and sinker ... all that's left is to reel him in, and she'll have beaten Sun-Mi again! ...
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
From across the room, Sun-Mi has seen Min-Cho and Young-Mi come in ...
"I've gotta go now, Cho-Jeh, he's here," she says, shifting her attention to the situation at hand.
"Whatever scheme Min-Cho is up to, you have to try and stop him!" Cho-Jeh urges. "You can't fall for his lies and tricks any longer, if you care about Director Yoon!"
"I can't believe I was no gullible, not to figure it out before," Sun-Mi criticizes herself. "But it's starting to make sense now."
"So what are you going to do?
It only takes a few moments for Sun-Mi to decide, "First, I have to do whatever I can, to keep Young-Mi and Director Yoon together."
Cho-Jeh is stunned. "What? That's crazy!"
"I'll explain later. Bye," Sun-Mi ends the call, flipping her phone closed.
Determined, she takes a deep breath, gathers her resolve, and without hesitation heads for Min-Cho, intent on a showdown ...
Looking over Min-Cho's shoulder, Young-Mi sees the storm approaching, flashing lightning bolts in her eyes. Smelling a rat, instantly her guard goes up ...
"You're my sister's fiancée! You're asking me to betray my husband, child, and sister?" she rebuffs him frigidly.
Puzzled by Young-Mi's sudden turnabout, Min-Cho still presses on according to script, "But I love you. I can do so much more for you than Director Yoon."
"Like what you did for Sun-Mi?" Young-Mi plays the bait as her rival nears.
"Sun-Mi? That stupid fool? How do you think she got the News At Nine?" he brags. "After I acquire MBS, the News, or anything you want, is yours ..."
From behind him, Sun-Mi's voice comes, low and menacing, "You ... bastard!"
Min-Cho turns to look, too. Seeing that Sun-Mi is alone, contrary to their plan, he immediately gauges that something is wrong.
But before he can react, Sun-Mi is in his face...
"How could you do this to me?" she charges him loudly. "You lied from the beginning. It was all lies!."
Momentarily stunned by her unexpected attack, Min-Cho stares back, at a loss for words.
Sun-Mi turns her attention to Young-Mi, imploring, "Whatever he said, don't believe a word of it! Don't be swayed by his slick talk! He's a fraud, an imposter, and all he'll do is hurt you ..."
She pulls the engagement ring off her finger and holds it out. "Here ... It makes me sick to look at it..."
Dropping the glittering ring into his drink, Sun-Mi whirls on her heels and stalks off...
"Wait! ... Sun-Mi!" Min-Cho calls.
When she fails to stop, he gets up and heads for the door, after her.
As Min-Cho rushes out, Hyung-Chul comes up to the table, astonished by the scene he'd just witnessed.
Young-Mi looks up at him, eyes wide... "Don't ask me, I don't have a clue about what just happened ..."
OUTSIDE THE BAR...
Bursting out the door, Min-Cho sees Sun-Mi at the curb, trying to wave down a taxi. Coming up behind her, he grabs her arm and spins her around to face him.
"What were you doing?" he says incredulously. "The plan was to have them break up, not us. You just ruined everything!"
"Good!" she spits back. "At least I did one thing right today!"
He smells the alcohol on her breath. "You're drunk! Let me get you home safely, and we'll talk there."
"Now you're concerned, after what you did to me?!" she shouts, pulling her arm from his hand. "Just leave me alone!"
"What are you talking about?" he replies, confused. "At least tell me what's going on."
"Does 'cheap wine' ring a bell?"
"Sun-Mi, that was just part of the scheme ..."
"Right, the scheme you pulled over my eyes!" she accuses him. "You made a fool out of me ... using me against the man I love, ... I hate you!"
"You don't understand. We need to talk this over, and clear things up."
"What is there to clear up?" she refuses. "I'm going to stop you, and protect Senior!"
"This is ridiculous. Come back with me," Min-Cho reaches for her arm again.
"Don't touch me!" she angrily soves him away. "I'll have nothing more to do with you, Mr. Atwater."
Ignoring her refusal, he grabs Sun-Mi by the wrist, insisting. "I said, we're going home to talk!"
With her free hand, Sun-Mi slaps Min-Cho on the face, blustering, "And I said, don't touch me again!"
A firm hand grips Min-Cho's shoulder. As he glances back to look, he hears Hyung-Chul bellow, "Take your hands off her!"
Then before Min-Cho can react, a fist slams into his chin, knocking him to the ground...
But instead of the gratitude he expects, Sun-Mi turns her fury on Hyung-Chul, exclaiming, "What are you doing, Senior?!"
Kneading his bruised knuckles, Hyung-Chul answers her irate question. "Why... helping you deal with this jerk."
"Keep your help to yourself," she rebukes him. "I don't need it, and I don't want it... Just leave me alone! I'm tired of going in circles. This is where we get off the merry-go-round. This is where it ends."
She opens her purse, takes out the jeweler's bag with the anklet inside, and tosses it at him ...
"Forget everything I said, I don't want this anymore."
"Sun-Mi, please..." he pleads. "At least, let me give you a safe ride back."
"Go and take care of your fiancee, Director Yoon," she rejects his offer. " I can take care of myself, thank you very much!"
Seeing a taxi approaching, Sun-Mi waves it down and gets in.
The taxi takes off, leaving both Min-Cho and Hyung-Chul staring after her, dumbfounded at what has happened.
IN THE TAXI ...
"Sir, take me to Jamwon-ro ... and step on it!"
The cabbie glances into the rearview mirror. From the livid glare in Sun-Mi's eyes, he decides not to ask questions, just answering, "Yes..."
As the cab changes lanes and picks up speed, Sun-Mi stares straight out the windshield, but she's not watching the street. Her mind is burdened with determining what she will do now, and where she will go ...
She doesn't look back. There's no point, because she's burned those bridges ... the only way left is forward ... to an uncertain future ...