AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart

Chapter 188

written by LoveCR2 -- 2005

edited by All-About-AAE -- 2018

 

"What good is being in charge, if you can't bend the rules? Sometimes people are more important than business." -- Jin Sun-Mi

 

 

"Young-Mi has decided to testify!..."

 

Sun-Mi excitedly relates the positive result to Min-Cho over the car phone of the 2002 silver Porsche 911 Carrera C4 Cabriolet ...

 

"She's giving a sworn statement to the Assistant Prosecutor as we speak..."

 

 

"That's great news!" Min-Cho's voice is jubilant over the speakers. "How did you persuade her?"

 

"Let's just say I appealed to what we have in common as women," Sun-Mi declines to go into detail.

 

"Fair enough," Min-Cho accepts her reticence, knowing that further prying will go nowhere.

 

"I'm sorry I had to cancel this morning," she offers her regrets again, "but this was critical to do right now."

 

"I know," he agrees. "I hope things go well at the Board meeting."

 

"Aren't I the Queen of Luck?" she humorously brags.

 

 

They laugh at her joke, then Sun-Mi asks, "What did you want to tell me?"

 

"I'm flying to Shanghai today for business, then it's back to Busan and the Priceless Pearl," he says what he'd intended to share over breakfast. "I've been thinking it's about time I took that cruise..."

 

... the cruise she was to take with him, before fate intervened ...

 

 

"I'm sorry you have to sail alone," she affirms her decision to stay in Seoul.

 

"I have VIONA to watch out for me... and nag me," he replies. "I'll be in good company, until I go back to London."

 

Sun-Mi recalls Min-Cho's jokey observation ... 'Sometimes, by the way VIONA talks, I feel I have your twin sister aboard with me' ...

 

 

"Will you be returning from Shanghai to Seoul first?" she expresses the hope to see him again soon.

 

"Just to transit through Inchon," he states. "I won't be able to stay and see things through to the end with you."

 

"You've already done more than enough," she thanks him. "Without you, I couldn't have come this far ... I've never had a better friend."

 

"That's a badge I'll always wear with honor," he assures her.

 

"But I'll miss having you here beside me," she says wistfully. "Whenever I needed support, you were always there."

 

"Hey, you sound like we'll never see each other again," he objects to her grave tone, "Don't you know that, winter, spring, summer, or fall, all you have to do is call, and I'll be there?"

 

"You stole that line from a song," she chides him for the unattributed borrowing from James Taylor's You've Got A Friend.

 

"Because I want to make it clear where I stand," Min-Cho assures her he is sincere. "So call me... or just whistle if you prefer," he alludes to his role as her 'Toto'.

 

Sun-Mi laughs. "I'm shameless enough that I might just do that!" she jokes back.

 

"Meong-meong," he barks. "Got to go now. I've a flight at Gimpo to catch."

 

 

But Sun-Mi has another idea...

 

"Wait... I can meet you in Departures, to see you off," she suggests an impromptu plan.

 

"Don't bother," Min-Cho tries to dissuade her of taking the detour, "The Board meeting convenes soon. You'll be late."

 

"I'll be fine," she airily brushes aside his concern. "I've got it covered..."

 

"You just don't blow off an important meeting like that. It hardly looks business-like," he reminds her of the responsibilities, and restrictions, of corporate leadership.

 

"What good is being in charge, if you can't bend the rules?" she retorts. "Sometimes people are more important than business..."

 

 

He ponders her assertion for a few seconds, then concurs, "All right. Where are you now?"

 

"On Gyeongsu-daero, leaving Anyang," she informs him of her location and bearing.

 

"The Nambu to Gimpo is usually congested this time of day," he reminds her of what she's facing ahead.

 

 

But Sun-Mi already has an alternative in mind, "I'll take the Seouloegwaksunhwan instead, it's a longer drive but less traffic."

 

"Still, by the time you park and get into the terminal, it'll be too late," he predicts, doing the calculation mentally.

 

"Is that so?" she airily questions his reasoning. "How fast did you say this car can go?"

 

"The Porche? About 285, tops," he answers with the published statistic. "Why?"

 

"Cause I'm about to take her for a spin," she remarks, hinting back to her first ride in his beater '63 Austin Healy Sprite.

 

"Sun-Mi, you can't..." Min-Cho starts to protest.

 

"Aren't you the one who taught me life is too precious to hold back?" she interrupts.

 

"Yes, but..."

 

"And taught me to drive?"

 

"Yes, but..."

 

"Then you've nothing to say," she declares. "See ya soon ..."

 

 

Sun-Mi cuts of the call and quickly moves to the right lane, taking the exit ramp to the Second Gyeongin Expressway. Merging into the westbound traffic, she checks the mirrors and briefly glances over her shoulder first...

 

Then tapping the car horn as a warning, she smoothly slips into the open slot on her left to pass a lumbering truck. Cautiously but adeptly, she weaves the nimble coupe across lanes until she has maneuvered to the front of the local pack.

 

Now in the clear, Sun-Mi jams the accelerator down hard with her Manolo-clad foot. The 320 HP, 3.6-liter flat six roars in response, rapidly winding up the RPMs to the red zone as the sleek sportster surges forward.

 

Upshifting through the six-speed manual, Sun-Mi burns down the expressway like she's running on fast-forward, with the rest of the traffic standing still...