AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart
Chapter 157
written by LoveCR2 -- 2005
edited by All-About-AAE -- 2018
"Little by little, I want to fill the emptiness in your heart... Little by little, perhaps we can find our happiness together." -- Huh Young-Mi
ON RIVER STATION, JAMWON HANGANG PARK ...
"Is Sun-Mi's ghost going to haunt us forever ...?"
Frustrated, Young-Mi looks out the window, into the blackness of the river.
A gray pall had set in between them since leaving her house through this moment, contrasting the festive Christmas lights decorating the floating restaurant.
"Why come here, if you're only going to mope over the past?" she complains.
Hyung-Chul looks up from the drink he'd lost himself ...
"I have to face it head-on, to put the past behind me," he replies. "Better now, than after the baby comes."
Hearing his struggle, Young-Mi looks on him with sympathy now, instead of irritation ...
"I'm sorry," she backs off her harsh stance. "I didn't mean to be unreasonable. But dealing with this is wearing on me. I feel helpless to do anything about it."
"I'm sorry, too," he agrees. "I thought it would be easier as time went on, but it's harder."
"For me, too," she admits, assessing their future negatively. "This nagging fear I'll be just as alone in marriage as in our engagement."
His expression offers no encouragement, or excuse.
"Will you ever see me as a woman?" she wonders aloud. "Will it be any different if I'm your wife?"
"It is what it is," he replies. "You can't force one person to love another."
"But you promised to care for me, make me happy," she reminds him. "Caring means meeting my needs, and not just for food and shelter. A woman needs love to live life happily."
"What do you want from me?"
"Just what any woman in love wants! ... Your arms around me, your lips on mine, our bodies and hearts joined together as one," she replies bitterly.
... 'It's two hearts, entwined together at creation, and now fused for eternity' ... words that mock him now ...
"Let's not talk about it anymore," he unilaterally calls an end to their argument.
He takes a small, wrapped box from his suit jacket and shows it to her.
"I have a present for you, for Christmas," he says the words without enthusiasm.
"I don't need it!" she refuses, still upset from their tiff.
"Fine, have it your way," Hyung-Chul growls as if it makes no difference to him whether she takes the gift or not ...
He places the box on the table and stands up.
"Where are you going?" she snaps, surprised he's leaving so suddenly.
"Up on the deck, for a smoke," he clarifies his intent.
"Oppa ... I'm sorry ... Of course I want your gift. Thank you," she attempts a last-minute correction.
... too little, too late ...
"I'll be back in a bit to collect you," he replies, "then I'll take you home ..."
SEOGANG BRIDGE, YEOUIDO HANGANG PARK ...
... 'Let's go somewhere alone and have some fun' ...
Trapped in the cab, desperate for a way out, the memories of another bleak situation haunt Sun-Mi ...
"Get out. We're taking a walk," the taxi driver orders.
"No," she refuses, staring at the dark river -- where her ravaged and lifeless body may soon be deposited -- calculating her options for survival.
In the cramped confines of the back seat, where his size and weight are less of an advantage, she has a fighting chance, like a badger backed into its burrow. But she lacks a badger's sharp teeth and claws to defend herself.
Sun-Mi fumbles in her bag, grabbing her keys ... holding them so they protrude between her fingers like metal spikes, then conceals her hand inside her coat sleeve. It isn't much, but if she can catch him by surprise and scrape his eyes, blinding him even temporarily, she might be able to make her escape.
"Fine, have it your way," his rough voice rasps. "We can talk here just as well ..."
... Talk? ... Is that all? ...
"What do you want to talk about?" she asks, daring to hope her assumptions were wrong.
"Does 'cheap wine' ring a bell?" he replies.
She stares at the eyes looking back at her in the mirror, transfixed ... "Min-Cho?!" she gasps with sudden recognition.
Like flicking a switch, her fear turns to anger ... "You had me scared to death! What did you think you were doing?!"
"I'm sorry about deceiving you with the ruse and forcing you here, but you'd cut me off completely," he reminds her of her part, "I did what I had to do."
"I had every reason to cut you off," she retorts, the feelings of humiliation returning. "You purposefully made a fool of me, using me when I was most vulnerable! Did you expect me to just forgive and forget?!"
"No, but I expected you to get the story straight first," he disputes her interpretation of what happened, "before you went to extremes."
"You think I'm stupid?" she huffs. "Of course I checked out what Cho-Jeh told me, about that long-ago feud between the Kim's and the Yoon's. It's true."
"Yes, but it's also irrelevant now. I only brought it up so Young-Mi would think I had reason for revenge."
"But why tell Young-Mi that I was a naive idiot you wanted to discard? That it was because of you that I got the News?" Her eyes flash fury and hurt at him. "Of all the people in the world, how could you say that to HER? ... The man who supposedly loves me, trashing me like garbage!"
"I was trying to win her confidence, by playing on what she already believes," he tries explaining.
"Don't say anything more," she interrupts bluntly. " I can't hear a word of it ... just take me home."
"But, Sun-Mi ... we need to talk ..."
"Am I speaking a foreign language?" she snaps back. "TAKE! ... ME! ... HOME!!"
"Sorry ... you're not going anywhere until we talk," he lays down the line.
Sun-Mi crosses her arms, petulantly signaling her obstinance. She ignores him, looking out the window.
... Irresistible force meets immovable object ...
Knowing Sun-Mi, Min-Cho realizes that this could take a while ...
He puts a CD, Brian Crain's A Simple Life, into the car's player, adjusts his seat back, and closes his eyes to listen to the mellow music while he waits her out.
In the back seat, Sun-Mi sits stiffly, prepared to play the game, too.
When the CD's third track, Northern Lights -- the original bumper music for Sun-Mi's radio program Musical Postcards -- comes up, Min-Cho hums along a few bars.
Then he reminds her, "When I visited Seoul back then, I never missed your show. I even had friends record it and send the tapes to London. I listened to them repeatedly, until I'd memorized every word."
As the music plays, he quotes one of her monolog readings ...
"During the months since I broke up with you, I couldn't let my heart settle and I was really confused. After the meeting with you, you were the one who made me realize the world is beautiful. You made me appreciate my life and myself. I learned to be thankful for being born. Just as much as I loved your heart, I love the people of this world. Even if I see one flower on the side of the road, I think of all the times I spent with you. The days I rested my head on your shoulder, the days we sat by the ocean watching the sunset, I really loved those times together."
"Do you remember saying that? It's how I feel about you, Sun-Mi," he confesses.
He glances into the rearview mirror, but she is unmoved.
"Listening to you, I learned a lot," he goes on. "Especially how stubborn you can be, enough to insist on doing your program, even up to the point of fainting."
Sun-Mi sighs at the reminder, as if it's all tedious to her.
"You know, if you insist on keeping this up, eventually -- without sleep or food or water -- you're going to faint from exhaustion, like on that night," he warns. "Then I'll have to carry you to the hospital ER, and sit at your bedside like a devoted Oppa until you recover."
His threat is real ... she knows he'd do it just to spite her ...
Sun-Mi glares at him, giving in. "Oh ... all right! Say what you have to say, but be quick about it!"
"I need just five minutes," he requests. "Five minutes for you to hear me out ... and then, if what I have to say doesn't interest you, I'll take you home ... Agreed?"
She rolls her eyes, already prepared to brush him off. "Agreed! What do you want?"
Min-Cho turns around to look seriously at Sun-Mi, so she know this isn't one of his jokes ...
"I want you to quit MBS, come to Busan, and sail away with me ..."
ON RIVER STATION, JAMWON HANGANG PARK ...
"The pearls are beautiful, I'll wear them for the wedding ..."
Young-Mi thanks Hyung-Chul with a smile as she steps up, beside him, to the railing overlooking the river.
"By that, should I infer that the event is back on?" he asks. "What happened?"
"I met with Sun-Mi, and she persuaded me not to break up."
Hyung-Chul looks quizzically at Young-Mi, incredulous to hear this.
"You can ask her yourself," Young-Mi avers. "She confirmed what you said, that there's nothing between the two of you anymore. I'm sorry for accusing you falsely. Forgive me? Can we move on?"
She holds out the last request with hope, but he doesn't respond at first, and continues staring into the water, pondering ...
... 'I'm tired of going in circles. This is where we get off the merry-go-round. This is where it ends' ...
... 'Is Sun-Mi's ghost going to haunt us forever? ... It's like we're stuck going in endless circles' ...
Hyung-Chul decides it's time they all break free of the past ...
"Yes, let's just look forward from here," he finally replies, reconfirming his commitment to her.
"I know it will be hard," she sympathizes. "You don't have to love me completely at first. Little by little is enough ..."
She joins her hand with his on the railing ...
"Little by little, I want to fill the emptiness in your heart, too," she declares, "Little by little, perhaps we can find our happiness together ..."