AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart
Chapter 168
written by LoveCR2 -- 2005
edited by All-About-AAE -- 2018
"I was afraid of exactly what's happening right now... Sun-Mi using all her feminine wiles to steal him from me." -- Huh Young-Mi
ORPHANAGE GROUNDS, KANGWON-DO ...
Dusk is already settling in, casting long shadows across the path as Hyung-Chul strides rapidly through the forest, a man on a mission...
While waiting for the wedding to begin, he had stepped out of the sacristy to settle his nerves, and seen Sun-Mi ambling away from the church into the woods. Deep in thought, she hadn't noticed him.
After finishing the smoke, he'd lit up another, watching for her return. On stubbing out that butt and noting by his watch that the wedding was to start in a few minutes, uneasy questions had nagged at him...
... where was Sun-Mi going at the last minute?... and more importantly, why hasn't she come back yet? ...
Something had urged him to find out the answers...
Coming to a fork, Hyung-Chul slows, looking for signs of recent passage, but the frozen, snowless ground is trackless. One way leads to the orphanage headquarters building, the other to the lake shore.
He takes a coin and flips, deciding 'heads' for the headquarters.
The toss is heads...
He starts down that path, but after a few steps, remembers...
... 'What is it about water, and sunsets, that creates a certain mood of finality?' ...
The uneasiness in his gut grows stronger, a sensation that something is not right. More memories come back -- but the words now carry a different, more sinister, implication...
... 'You and I keep going round in circles, like we're stuck on a merry-go-round that never stops ... What's the point of it all?' ...
... 'You have a responsibility now, a destiny to fulfill ... which doesn't include me ... I have a destiny to fulfill, too' ...
... 'We're not meant to be together in this life, but only the next' ...
... 'This is where we get off the merry-go-round. This is where it all ends' ...
Then the significance of those words sink in... and this place... the path leads to where Young-Mi was pulled from the lake, barely alive...
"Sun-Mi! ... No!" he shouts out in horror...
Hyung-Chul turns around and breaks into a desperate run, backtracking to the fork, then heading toward the lake and the fading sunset, praying he is not too late...
MEANWHILE, AT THE ORPHANAGE CHURCH ...
"The guests are getting restless..."
Jin-Soo updates the three people huddled together in the back of the church... one angry, one perplexed, and one in tears...
"That cad! I'm gonna find him, wherever he is, and punish him, big time!" Kui-Sung threatens, waving his fist in the air at Jin-Soo.
Jin-Suk tries to comfort Young-Mi... "Whatever happens, we're still with you," she says, hugging her weeping daughter.
By the church door, Sun-Dal is talking on his mobile...
"Okay, I got it... Thanks..." He glances over at Young-Mi, then says quietly, "Just keep this to yourself, okay?"
He snaps the phone closed. "Sun-Mi was last seen taking a path that leads to the lake," he reports.
"Why go there, by herself, of all places, right before the wedding?" Kui-Sung wonders aloud.
Young-Mi daubs the tears from her eyes...
"It's because of me," she states. "I told Sun-Mi I didn't want her at the wedding... that I never wanted to see her face again."
Jin-Suk gasps, "But... why?"
"Because I was afraid of exactly what's happening right now," Young-Mi bitterly presumes. "I'm certain Sun-Mi has enticed Oppa away, and is using all her feminine wiles in a last-minute attempt to steal him from me..."
"Could Sun-Mi really do such a terrible thing?" Jin-Suk doubts, still incredulous over the whole situation.
Sun-Dal speaks up, regretfully informing them, "I'm sorry to have to say this, but Hyung-Chul was spotted taking the same path as Sun-Mi, a few minutes later..."
ORPHANAGE GROUNDS, KANGWON-DO ...
In a dead run, Hyung-Chul sprints toward the lake, anticipating the worst...
He bursts from the woods into the clearing, just as the sun dips to the horizon...
Gulping air from his exertions, he scans the pebbly beach... and sees the discarded woman's handbag and high heel pumps...
"Sun-Mi!" he shouts, searching over the lake for her.
Meters out from the shore, he notices a dark shape floating in the water...
Desperate moments later, soaked to the skin, Sun-Mi's limp body is on dry ground, cradled in his arms.
Her eyes are closed, her face deathly pale... but she still has a faint pulse...
"Sun-Mi!" he calls her name urgently. "Sun-Mi, can you hear me?"
He is about to apply CPR, when she coughs out some water and half opens her eyes...
Between labored breaths, she whispers, "I'm...... so....... sorry......."
Then she exhales a low moan, her eyes close, and her head rolls to the side...