AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart
Chapter 170
written by LoveCR2 -- 2005
edited by All-About-AAE -- 2018
"If he's going to ditch me for Sun-Mi, I want the entire world to know what kind of man Yoon Hyung-Chul is" -- Huh Young-Mi
ORPHANAGE CHURCH, KANGWON-DO ...
"We've waited long enough," Young-Mi's decision is firm, "Let's go ahead and begin the ceremony."
"Without the groom, how can there be a wedding? This is such an embarrassment!" Jin-Suk frets.
Young-Mi looks over to Kui-Sung for support. "Dad, will you walk me up the aisle?"
"Umm... sure," he replies uncertainly. "If that's what you want."
"Yes," she confirms. "Jin-Soo, please take Mom in now."
Jin-Soo offers his arm to escort Jin-Suk to the front.
"I'll tell the priest to give the announcement," Sun-Dal volunteers.
"Thank you, Senior," Young-Mi replies. "Have him wait for my signal."
"Please, Young-Mi, reconsider this," Jin-Suk makes one last plea.
"I'm not going to hide in the shadows," Young-Mi answers stubbornly. "If he's going to ditch me for Sun-Mi, I want the entire world to know what kind of man Director Yoon Hyung-Chul is..."
As Jin-Soo escorts Jin-Suk to the front, Young-Mi gives Kui-Sung a hug...
"Dad, you have always supported me from the beginning," she thanks him. "You were always kind, regardless of what I did."
"Don’t be harsh towards Sun-Mi," he asks, "even if it is like you say. Consider it as her doing you a favor, to not marry a faithless man."
"You're right, Dad," she agrees. "I'm letting my emotions get the better of me."
After Jin-Soo seats Jin-Suk, he continues around to the side aisle, passing the musicians -- a piano, violin, and cello trio -- informing them to start without the groom present.
The trio then begins the processional, Schubert's "Swan Song, D. 957 - No.4 Serenade", played at a bright tempo...
Young-Mi smiles at Kui-Sung. "Shall we?"
"You're sure?" he give her a last chance to back out.
"Yes..."
"Let's go, then," he says solemnly...
Young-Mi enters on Kui-Sung's arm, the smile on her face showing no concern...
The guests -- nuns, postulants, and volunteers at the orphanage, MBS colleagues, and a few close relatives and family friends on both sides -- turn to watch father and adopted daughter as they proceed up the aisle with measured steps. The entire congregation is on edge, wondering about the procession of the bride beginning before the groom has appeared...
When Kui-Sung and Young-Mi are almost at the front, the priest enters from the sacristy doorway on the right and walks to the center of the dais, to stand in front of the altar...
Kui-Sung and Young-Mi stop at the step leading up to the dais. The music, timed to the procession, fades off...
Seconds of suspenseful silence slowly slip by as the priest awaits Young-Mi's signal to call the wedding off... Finally, he raises an eyebrow to catch her eye. In response, she nods slightly, signaling that it's time.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," the priest addresses the congregation. "Thank you all for coming to celebrate this day. However, due to some sudden circumstances, it appears that the groom..."
"... has just arrived, a bit late," Hyung-Chul speaks up from the sacristy doorway...
Hair and tuxedo still damp from the snow accumulated on his walk back from the lake, he joins the priest in front of the altar. When the priest motions with his hand, Hyung-Chul descends the single step, offering his arm to Young-Mi as if nothing has been amiss...
With a stern expression that communicates ... 'I ought to punish you -- big time!' ... Kui-Sung transfers Young-Mi's hand, then takes his seat next to his wife.
Jin-Suk, teary-eyed now that the wedding is back on, looks at her husband with relief. He pats her hand comfortingly.
Hyung-Chul and Young-Mi step up onto the dais, and the priest begins the timeless ceremony of the Church...
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today..."
MEANWHILE, OUTSIDE THE CHURCH ...
"Really, it's better now, thank you..."
Sun-Mi flashes a smile to indicate she is okay to her driver, Oh Sang-Woo, a heavyset, fortyish man employed at Min-Cho's apartment complex as the main desk assistant manager.
After Hyung-Chul had deposited her into the backseat of the limo, she had removed her soaked shoes and stockings. Then Sang-Woo had gone to work, kneading circulation back into her icy feet and legs with his beefy, strong hands...
"You could've really gotten frostbit, pulling that stunt!" he scolds in a fatherly manner. "What if Director Yoon hadn't followed you out?"
"I had to take that chance," she defends her scheme, thinking of the gratifying results over the discomfort she'd endured to make it possible. "It wasn't all for nothing..."
"But isn't it shameless, doing this right before he's to marry your sister?" Sang-Woo questions her propriety.
"All I wanted was five minutes alone, to say goodbye," Sun-Mi explains. "Is that asking too much?"
The look of disapproval on Sang-Woo's face shows he is not convinced, remarking, "It might look different to some..."
As a pink blush returns to her blue flesh, Sun-Mi broods over what to do now...
... 'Just disappear ... and never show your face here again' ...
... 'I need to witness the reality myself, to put the past behind me' ...
... 'Go quickly, before we both regret' ...
With Sun-Mi's feet now warm to his touch, satisfied that his self-appointed task is complete, Sang-Woo urges for a decision, "Miss Jin? We should leave soon, if we're going to make the airport on time."
Sun-Mi acknowledges his statement with a nod, but is not ready to depart... just yet....
"I'm going inside first, to take a look," she replies. "Then we'll leave."
"Is that wise?" he voices the same doubt that she is thinking.
"I'm going to indulge my heart again," she explains her purpose, "Just once more..."
"Why continue to give yourself pain?" he discourages her.
She repeats what she'd told Hyung-Chul, "Because I'm an idiot who still believes in True Love... A real idiot..."
Sang-Woo understands the stubborn hope of the heart, and drops the matter. "I'll wait outside, while you get ready," he tells her.
He exits from the limo and closes the door to give Sun-Mi privacy behind the gray-tinted window glass.
Sun-Mi first inspects her face in the mirror of her compact, checking that her makeup and hair are in order, intent on looking her best, whether it's in victory, or defeat...
Putting away the compact, she pulls on fresh, dry stockings, stretching the nylon taut before fastening it to the suspender clip. Then she smooths her skirt down over her slender thighs, and opens the shoe box that Sang-Woo had taken out from her luggage in the trunk. In place of the water-logged Manolos lying on the floor, she slips into a pair of jewel encrusted, brushed silvergold Stewart Weitzman open-toe pumps.
At Sun-Mi's tap on the car window, Sang-Woo opens the door and offers a helping hand...
She alights from the car, first testing the steadiness of the tapered 90mm heels on the fresh snow.
"Would you prefer that I accompany you, Ms. Jin?" he asks. "It may be slippery in spots."
"Thank you, Mr. Oh, but I'll go by myself," she confidently declines his assistance, assuring him, "I'll be careful."
"Very well, as you wish," he accedes.
"Wait here with the car, ready to leave as soon as you see me come out," she requests. "I may be in a hurry..."
"I understand," he reads between the lines.
"And please, don't say a word about anything that's happened to Mr. Atwater," Sun-Mi orders. "I want to call him first myself."
"My lips are sealed," Sang-Woo promises, wondering what news she will report to Min-Cho.
She smiles. "Thanks... It'll be just a few minutes."
The limo is parked in a small lot next to the church. Under Sang-Woo's watchful eye, Sun-Mi treads cautiously up the walkway and steps without mishap.
But upon arriving at the main entrance, she changes her mind, deciding instead to enter through the sacristy, where, unobserved by the anyone, she can watch Hyung-Chul's face, instead of his back...
But upon arriving at the main entrance, she changes her mind, deciding instead to enter through the sacristy, where she can see Hyung-Chul's face, instead of his back...
... it's just so I can know if he's really happy... she justifies the decision to herself ... to be sure he's happy, before I go ...
Waving back to Sang-Woo, she retraces her steps to take a flagstone path leading to the back of the building, finding the uneven stones more slippery than the concrete, so she makes her way more slowly.
The door is unlocked. The heavy latch opens with a loud clunk, but as she expects, the sacristy is unoccupied.
Inside, Sun-Mi takes off her snow-powdered overcoat, leaving it on a convenient hook by the door. She starts across the room, her heel taps on the hard floor breaking the silence. Concerned the sound will give away her presence, she stops to slip off her shoes.
Carrying the pair in one hand, she pads almost soundlessly in stockinged feet on the cold stone tiles, to the doorway on the left side of the sanctuary. There, she puts the shoes down, where they will be readily available should she need to put them on quickly.
The heavy, dark-stained oak door is slightly ajar. Through the narrow gap, she will be able to watch the proceedings without being noticed...
But before Sun-Mi looks, she pauses a moment, closing her eyes as she prepares herself for the emotional shock of watching Hyung-Chul and Young-Mi vow to join their lives together as husband and wife ... 'till death us do part' ...