AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart

Chapter 169

written by LoveCR2 -- 2005

edited by All-About-AAE -- 2018

 

"Senior, don't say any more... This is what has to be. This is our fate. So let's both accept it, and find a way to be happy" -- Jin Sun-Mi

 

ORPHANAGE GROUNDS, KANGWON-DO ...

 

That ominous mental picture of Sun-Mi, her life on a thread, haunts Hyung-Chul as he barrels down the last stretch of the forest path...

 

He bursts from the trees into the clearing, just as the sun dips to the horizon, breaking through a bank of clouds for a final moment of orange glory...

 

Panting from his exertions, his eyes scan the pebbly beach...

 

Then he relaxes, a grin of relief coming over his face...

 

"What is it about water, and sunsets, that creates a certain mood of finality?" he says philosophically.

 

 

"Senior...?"

 

Sun-Mi, seated on a large boulder near the beach, turns from her contemplation, showing a mixture of surprise and consternation on her face...

 

"The ceremony is supposed to start any minute... Why aren't you at the church?" she scolds as if he is a truant boy skipping school.

 

"I might ask the same of you," he bats the query back playfully.

 

"I'm not the one getting married," she notes, irritated at his blithe attitude. "Mom must be having a fit right now, wondering where you are... not to mention Young-Mi!"

 

"A few minutes wait isn't the end of the world," he downplays her concern. "I had something more important to do first."

 

Sun-Mi isn't persuaded. "What could be more important than being on time for your own wedding?"

 

"Clearing my mind," he answers...

 

 

Crossing the clearing toward her, he explains. "When I was in the hospital and needed a quiet place to sort things out, I'd come here and watch the sunset."

 

"I... had some thinking to do, and wanted to see the sunset, too," she shades the truth, hoping to sound convincing.

 

"It seems we've been in a few other places like this before," he reflects, his photographic memory bring back the sunsets at Lake Yuldong and the Seine River. "Just like old times..."

 

"Did you really come here today, just to see the sunset?" she probes, wondering if perhaps her telepathic message had gotten through.

 

Instead of answering, he asks the question that was on his mind since he'd seen her drive up in the limo, "It can't be easy, being here. So why come?"

 

"My sister is getting married," she states matter-of-factly. "Shouldn't I come to wish the bride and groom happiness?"

 

Hyung-Chul, focusing intensely, gazes deeply into her eyes, "Is that how you really feel, Sun-Mi... are you happy, too, like this?"

 

"Of course I'm happy," she lies, averting her eyes so he can't read the truth in them. "You didn't know? I'm finally on the cusp of realizing my greatest dream."

 

"Ah...yes," he recalls, "Director Kim Sun-Dal informed me. It's a big step forward. Congratulations..."

 

"Thanks."

 

"Michael Atwater was able to accomplish something that I was never able to do for you," he acknowledges his rival's success.

 

"Yes, I owe Min-Cho so much," she concurs. "Going to London was really lucky for me, to meet such a good person."

 

"Well, they did call you the 'Goddess of Luck', right?" he jokes, then adds seriously, "But I think he's actually the luckier one..."

 

Sun-Mi doesn't know what to say to that, and their conversation dies in awkward silence...

 

... so much to say... but nothing that can be said...

 

 

"Senior, it's getting late," she finally speaks up.

 

He nods, then his expression changes...

 

"But before I go, there's one thing left I can do for you," he states evenly, taking her right hand in his left, holding it loosely.

 

At his touch, Sun-Mi's heart skips a beat... She looks down at their joined hands, wondering what is on his mind...

 

Hyung-Chul reaches into his pocket, taking something from it in his right hand. Turning her palm up in his hand, he places his other hand over hers and opens his fingers...

 

When he moves his hand away, she sees he left a small, gray rock on her open palm.

 

"I'm returning it back to you," he tells her solemnly ... returning that part of her heart she'd given to him ...

 

 

Sun-Mi stares forlornly at the once-hopeful symbol of their enduring love...

 

... what had she ever seen in it? ... it really is just a piece of nondescript stone, nothing more ...

 

 

"Give it to the person who deserves it, who can truly make you happy," he says, closing her fingers over the stone.

 

She raises her eyes, to look at face, to see if he really means this...

 

"Go now, Jin Sun-Mi," he orders, squeezing her hand in a final farewell. "Quickly, before we start to regret..."

 

Not waiting for her reply, he turns and starts off...

 

... back to the church, to Young-Mi... to start a new life, a new destiny... without her...

 

 

'Wait..." she calls after him.

 

He stops and looks back, wondering what she wants.

 

"I... um... I can't get up," she says hesitantly, "My feet... they're like blocks of ice... I can't feel a thing."

 

At his raised eyebrow, she turns away, her face coloring...

 

"Don't ask, it's embarrassing," she declines to explain. "But... could you tell my driver to come and fetch me? ... I ... uh ... left my mobile with my purse in the car..."

 

"It's five minutes just to go back," he calculates, glancing up at the low cloud layer that has covered the sky while they talked, bringing the dusk early. "It will be dark in ten. You can't stay here, like this, alone... You should get warmed up as soon as possible."

 

"Really, I'll be okay," she tries to assure him. "Just go, you're already late."

 

 

But he doesn't go.

 

Looking at her tall stiletto heels, he knows she could never safely navigate the forest path in her condition...

 

"I can help you," he offers.

 

"Don't even think of it," she declines. "If I lean on your arm, it'll slow you down too much."

 

"True," he agrees. "So that leaves only one choice, then..."

 

Sun-Mi looks up and sees his roguish grin...

 

 

Two seconds later, he is hefting her up effortlessly in his arms.

 

"Senior!" she exclaims, flustered, her heart thumping wildly in her chest at his unexpected move.

 

"Relax, there's no one around to see," he points out. "Put your arms around my neck. It makes it easier."

 

She complies, gratefully. "Thanks..."

 

 

Hyung-Chul notes that her shoes and legs are wet, confirming his suspicions... "Why did you really come here?" he asks.

 

He is looking Sun-Mi directly in the eyes; she knows that he'll know if she doesn't answer truthfully...

 

"Because... I'm an idiot who still believes in True Love... A real idiot," she answers with a forced smile, reluctant to open her heart again, not knowing what will happen if she can't keep her emotions in check...

 

But Hyung-Chul presses... "Didn't you say, we've been through a lot together, that we've earned the right to speak plainly, to not hold anything back between us?"

 

"Even so, there are some things that shouldn't be said," she insists. "Things that a person will never have the right to say..."

 

He gazes at her, unblinking. "Can you bear the weight of leaving those words unsaid?"

 

"Senior, the wedding... we should go now," she reminds him, avoiding the question.

 

"Yes..." He gives up the effort...

 

 

Hyung-Chul starts off slowly, carrying her down the path in the growing darkness.

 

Sun-Mi rests her head on his comforting shoulder, feeling warm and secure in his strong arms...

 

... the next five minutes will be among the shortest, and most precious, in her life ...

 

 

Snow begins falling, a thick shower of large, fluffy flakes that settle on the trees and blankets the ground with a layer of white, bringing a soft hush to the forest.

 

 

Hyung-Chul plods on, leaving a trail of footsteps in the snow, each step taking them closer to the end...

 

"What about you?" he asks, sympathetic to the pain he knows she must feel. "Will you be alright?"

 

"My happiness is for me to take care of," Sun-Mi replies. "You needn't be concerned about that anymore. It will be the best, for both of us, Senior, if you put me out of your heart and mind forever."

 

"Are you saying...?" he suspects where she is leading....

 

 

"I won't see you ever again like this, Senior," she confirms his thoughts. "I'm leaving Seoul tonight, and when I come back, we'll both have a new life, a new destiny ... with someone else."

 

"What if we ran away, you and I, and made a destiny together?" he speculates on the possibility.

 

Sun-Mi catches her breath as her heart leaps... for a fleeting moment she indulges the fantasy, until reality breaks in again...

 

"That will make us both real idiots then," she replies, quashing the dream before her resistance to it collapses.

 

"I'm already an idiot, to have ever let you go," Hyung-Chul declares, the love for her he has kept repressed shining in his eyes.

 

 

She gazes back, the love she feels showing plainly in her face, too...

 

He leans his head toward her, bringing his lips closer to hers..."

 

"I don't know why things turned out like this," he murmurs, "If we could just turn back the clock..."

 

 

"Senior, don't say any more," Sun-Mi stops him, before they do something rash they'll both regret...

 

"This is what has to be," she concludes, stabbing the knife into her own heart with her words. "This is our fate... "

 

Sun-Mi tightens her arms around his neck, knowing that this will be their final embrace...

 

"... So let's both accept it, and find a way to be happy..."