AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart

Chapter 160

written by LoveCR2 -- 2005

edited by All-About-AAE -- 2018

 

"Senior and me... I'm not sure we're fated to be together... Maybe I'm trying too hard for what isn't supposed to be" -- Jin Sun-Mi

 

 

WOO-JIN'S FORMER STUDIO, MAPO-GU ...

 

"As they say, 'business before pleasure', right? ..."

 

The man looks to Sun-Mi for a response, but she doesn't answer, keeping her eyes fixed on her hands, clasped tightly in her lap so he can't see them trembling.

 

Seated on the studio's red cushioned metal-frame love seat, with only the towel for a covering, she shivers in the cool air after the steamy bathroom.

 

"... So let's get down to business."

 

He takes the matching red chair, facing Sun-Mi, and remarks on seeing the goose bumps speckling her skin, "A good, stiff drink should warm you up..."

 

 

The man leans forward, picks up the bottle of vodka he'd produced from his satchel, and fills the two shot glasses on the glass-topped coffee table between them. He shoves one closer to her, and takes the other...

 

"Drink up," he orders. "One shot!"

 

His tone communicates to Sun-Mi that she has no choice but to comply... or else...

 

She downs the contents as he does, in one toss, instantly choking as the high octane alcohol burns her mouth and throat.

 

He pours another, with the same declaration... "One shot!" ... and they empty their glasses again, with the same result as she gags on the blaze in her throat.

 

"Ahh... much better, huh?" he says with a long, satisfied sigh. "Another?"

 

Still coughing, Sun-Mi shakes her head.

 

 

He pours for himself, sipping the drink slowly as he eyes her with a menacing leer, worrying Sun-Mi that her only covering might soon follow the one that had wrapped her hair...

 

A minute passes, then more, as the warmth in Sun-Mi's gut spreads, flushing her cheeks hotly. Before long, she realizes, the alcohol will take full effect, impairing her mentally and physically.

 

If she is going to do anything to help herself, she has to do it now...

 

"Didn't you say we had some business to discuss?" she reminds him, hoarse from her tender throat.

 

"Yep," he replies brusquely, but doesn't pursue the opening, as his hungry eyes continue to feed on her.

 

"I feel at a disadvantage," she continues anyway, daring to look at him with the hope of engaging in conversation to forestall the alternative, "I don't even know who you are..."

 

He doesn't reply, just watches her, and she gives up the effort, avoiding his eyes and they lapse into a tense silence...

 

 

After he drains the last drop from his glass, the man finally speaks up...

 

"It doesn't matter who I am," he says bluntly. "What's important is why I'm here. You're a burden to some people in Seoul, a problem they want to see eliminated -- permanently."

 

A chill runs down Sun-Mi's back... but she keeps her voice level. "Does that mean... you're going to kill me?"

 

"Why kill you, when there's an alternative?" he repudiates her concern out of hand.

 

"What alternative?"

 

"Make yourself scarce," he elaborates. "If you're not to be found, nothing can happen to you, right?"

 

"You mean, leave Seoul?"

 

"Even better, get out of Korea, and don't come back," he makes her situation clear. "If I see you again after tonight, it leaves me no choice but to finish the job, in a less amicable way..."

 

"But this is my home. My family, my job -- my life -- is here," she pleads. "I can't just leave and never come back."

 

"Sorry, I don't make the rules," he rebuffs her plea. "That's the deal. Take it or leave it..." He grins evilly. "It really doesn't matter to me, one way or the other."

 

"Then I'll leave," she concedes. "But I'll need a few days..."

 

"I can handle that," he agrees. "By the way, I have a sending off gift for you..."

 

 

He picks up his satchel from the floor and takes out a thick manila envelope.

 

"Here, take a gander..."

 

He tosses it onto the table, rattling the bottle and glasses...

 

Sun-Mi picks up the envelope and removes a sheaf of papers... medical reports, sonograms, test results... a complete set of records documenting a pregnancy -- Young-Mi's -- ending in miscarriage.

 

"Where did you get these?"

 

"From a mutual 'friend' of ours," he declines to reveal his source.

 

"What am I supposed to do with this?" she asks warily.

 

"You're the reporter. You figure it out," he replies. "It's what you've been waiting for, right?"

 

Sun-Mi wonders ... how would he know this ... and who is this 'mutual friend' ...

 

 

She puts the papers down, and says firmly, "Tell our 'friend' that I don't need it. I'm not interested in revenge."

 

"Suit yourself," he answers. "It's not my business."

 

"Then, we're finished?" she asks, hoping he'll be content to leave now.

 

... her mind is already growing woozy, her body starting to move sluggishly ...

 

 

He flashes a toothy smile. "Not quite. Now that our 'business' is done, it's time for some pleasure..."

 

Sun-Mi reflexively freezes as his words echo in her mind ... 'Let's go somewhere alone and have some fun' ... taking her back to that traumatic moment as she cowered helplessly before him, putty in his hands, awaiting a certain fate ...

 

 

The man gets up and grabs her arm, roughly pulling Sun-Mi to her feet. With her free hand, she grips the towel tighter, as he attempts to force a kiss on her. She turns her head away, refusing, but he cups her chin and compels her to look at him.

 

Her mind growing dull from drink, Sun-Mi struggles to focus... desperate for a way to escape...

 

Anticipating her intention, he squeezes her arm harder, digging his fingers in, bruising her tender flesh.

 

"P-please, you're h-hurting me," she whimpers, purposely putting a fearful tremble in her voice.

 

Surprised at how easily she succumbed to a little pain, her relents, loosening his grip...

 

"Relax... Do as I say, and you won't get hurt," he promises. "It'll be fun, just you and me, spending New Year's Eve together."

 

She nods, signaling her submission by closing her eyes and puckering her mouth invitingly, offering what she'd denied him before.

 

"That's better... now that you know what's good for you," he crows, leaning in closer for the kiss...

 

 

Sun-Mi can smell the alcohol on his breath, and realizes he is as drunk -- and probably as impaired -- as she is. Seizing the opportunity, she takes the fleeting moment he is off-guard to bring her knee up hard into his groin, with all the energy she can muster...

 

"Uhh..." He grunts with the sudden, intense pain, doubling over...

 

Despite her hampered reflexes, Sun-Mi twists, managing to break free of his loosened grip. But the man stumbles forward, reaching, and grabs the towel, pulling her back. Frantic to get away, she lets go of the towel and staggers, naked, toward the bathroom. Slamming the door closed, she locks it securely.

 

Following her, the man puts a shoulder into the door but it doesn't budge, then beats on it with his fist as he threatens drunkenly, "Bitch, when I get my hands on you, you'll pay for this..."

 

 

Inside the locked bathroom, Sun-Mi clutches another towel around herself as she cowers on the floor, back against the wall, anxiously watching the door, knowing that if her attacker breaks in, she'll have no escape this time...

 

... if only Min-Cho would arrive now to rescue her ... but even if he'd left his place immediately, it could still be an hour ...

 

 

The thought gives her an idea... "My boyfriend's coming soon, for New Years' Eve," she calls loudly through the door, bluffing. "If he catches you here, he'll kill you."

 

The pounding stops, and Sun-Mi hears the man cursing under his breath as his footsteps recede, leaving the studio...

 

Then silence.

 

 

She waits, apprehensive that the man will figure out her bluff and return...

 

Gradually, the shock and adrenaline rush wear off, and the effects of alcohol and fatigue set in. Sun-Mi's head droops... she snaps it back up again. trying to stay vigilant. But her mind is cloudy, her eyelids are heavy, and soon she can't keep them open...

 

 

 

FOUR HOURS LATER ...

 

"I feel like I was kicked in the head by a horse..."

 

Sun-Mi gripes of a throbbing hangover as she takes another cup of steaming herbal medicine from Min-Cho's outstretched hand, gulping it down to quench her still-ravenous thirst...

 

"176-proof Balkan vodka will do that," he sympathizes as he settles down beside her on the couch that doubles as a bed in the studio. "How much did you drink?"

 

"Just two shots... I think," she vaguely recalls. "It's still murky, what actually happened."

 

She shifts her legs under the bedsheet that she'd found spread over her when she awakened, and had gathered around herself, when she sat up to take the medicine...

 

"You don't remember?"

 

"Some things... I tried to be brave... I really tried." She stares into her cup, recounting the experience. "But I was so afraid, I could hardly breathe. Somehow, I don't remember now, I escaped to the bathroom... then I must have passed out..."

 

"The bathroom was locked, and you didn't answer," Min-Cho relates the circumstances he found on his arrival. "Sorry about the door..." he refers to the split doorframe that he'd kicked in, desperate to find her... relieved that she was still alive... "You gave me quite a scare actually."

 

 

"I knew that you'd come," she replies, raising moist eyes to look at him with warm appreciation. "And you did..."

 

"Why is it, whenever I have to save you, you're only wearing a towel?" he jokes, trying to lighten the moment. "Who was the bug this time?"

 

Sun-Mi smiles as she recalls her first day living with Min-Cho in London, when she was paralyzed at the sight of a little bug...

 

"It's this guy who keeps reappearing," she answers. "I don't know who he is, but somehow it involves me, Young-Mi, and Senior..."

 

"Did he hurt you, besides that bruise?"

 

At the reminder, she touches her arm where the man's rough grasp had marked her...

 

"No. But he implied that he'd have to kill me if I didn't leave Seoul. He also gave me a package. Some papers, about Young-Mi..."

 

"What I found on the table, documenting her fake pregnancy?" Min-Cho describes them. "If that's for real, it's a bombshell."

 

"I know, and that's why I can do nothing about it," Sun-Mi states her intentions.

 

Min-Cho is amazed. "What? You came here expressly to expose her! Now you're going to back down?"

 

"Although Young-Mi plotted to scheme Senior, somehow the fake baby became a real one. How can I destroy an innocent child's life for revenge?" she explains.

 

"I see your point," he admits. "But you're letting Young-Mi get off without any consequences."

 

"What do I gain by going ahead with it?"

 

"Director Yoon, for one," Min-Cho reminds her, though he'd rather not.

 

"Senior and me... I'm not sure we're fated to be together," she shares her frank, but regretful, thoughts. "Maybe I'm trying too hard for what isn't supposed to be..."

 

 

Surprised to hear this, Min-Cho boldly steps into the opening she's made...

 

"Then where does it leave me and you?" he asks hopefully.

 

"I don't know that either," she replies honestly, "but I'm willing to find out..."

 

"Oh?"

 

"So I'm accepting your offer," she affirms her decision. "If you help me pack, we can leave for Busan tomorrow."

 

"There's no rush, the day after tomorrow is soon enough," he quips happily, "First we have some business here to take care of..."

 

"What business?"

 

"I'll tell you tomorrow," he promises. "But right now there's something more important, while we have the chance..."

 

She looks at him suspiciously. "What's so important right now?"

 

Min-Cho grins. "Have you forgotten? It's New Year's Eve..."

 

Sun-Mi smiles. "We were planning to go out..."

 

"... someplace appropriate for a bath towel," he adds jokingly, "and here we are."

 

"I didn't realize that you're so prescient," she remarks, "but right now, I can't think of anyplace I'd rather celebrate."

 

 

He checks his watch and confirms, "There's still ten minutes left. What should we do?"

 

"This..."

 

She moves closer and rests her head contentedly on his shoulder.

 

Min-Cho puts his arm protectively around her. "You want to do this for ten minutes, to bring in the New Year?"

 

Sun-Mi smiles, confirming, "Anything else would be a waste..."