AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart

Chapter 210

written by LoveCR2 -- 2005

edited by All-About-AAE -- 2019

 

"Toto never questions Dorothy... Right or wrong, he's always there for her." -- Min-Cho Atwater

 

 

MARINA REAL CLUB MEDITERRANEO de MALAGA ...

 

Min-Cho opens his eyes, squinting into the ray of golden light piercing the port he'd left open for air. The Priceless Pearl II rocks slightly in its berth from the gentle wake of a passing motor yacht. Outside, he can hear gulls crying as they circle and feed.

 

He pulls off the light blanket covering him and sits up, stretching arms and legs that are cramped from spending the night on the cabin settee. Clad in only T-shirt and Bermudas, the early morning chill raises goose bumps on his skin.

 

 

He turns to look, seeing that the door to the berth is closed...

 

For the entire two-hour ride from Grenada to Malaga harbor, Sun-Mi had sat in the back seat of the car next to him, uncommunicative, and on returning to the Priceless Pearl II, had gone directly inside the berth. He had elected to take the settee, and slept fitfully...

 

As much as he'd like to postpone the final reckoning, he needs to face the music...

 

 

But first, the practical needs attending to. Min-Cho gets up and in two steps is in the galley, to start up the coffee maker he'd forgotten to set the timer on.

 

As he is working on the coffee, Sun-Mi's voice faintly comes from the berth, through the closed door...

 

"Please ... Don't hurt me ..."

 

Immediately, he is at the berth's door...

 

Min-Cho turns the knob and pushes the door open. The ports inside are covered with curtains, so the berth is warmer, and still in semi-darkness. Sun-Mi is wearing her favorite Derek Rose pink satin silk pajamas, with the bedcovers over her bare legs.

 

Beads of perspiration dot her brow as Sun-Mi breathes heavily in the throes of a nightmare, struggling against some unseen terror...

 

 

Min-Cho steps inside and waits first to see if Sun-Mi awakens. Then he sits down on the bed, to watch as she returns to normal sleep...

 

His eye is drawn to the gap between her cami and boy shorts which exposes her soft, rounded belly. A long, red scar, marring the smooth, alabaster skin, marks where Bae In-Soo's blade had sliced deeply and almost taken her life.

 

That, and the jagged scar on her brow from 9/11, reminds him... Twice she had left him before, and twice he had almost lost her soon after...

 

"My priceless pearl, you are more precious to me than anything, or anyone, in this world," he confesses as she sleeps. "If it were up to me, I'd never let you go again..."

 

He looks up at the Peter Rabbit music box that Sun-Mi had installed on the shelf over the bed on the day she arrived -- a memento from home, she'd said -- but to him, a reminder that her heart belonged to someone else...

 

"Watch over Sun-Mi, little guy. Protect her for me," he projects his wishes.

 

 

He is about to get up to start breakfast, when Sun-Mi's eyes flutter open... and a frown immediately crosses her face...

 

"How long have you been watching me sleep?" she complains self-consciously, "You should've woken me up instead."

 

"It was another nightmare," he explains his presence. "I wanted to see that you were all right."

 

"You don't need to bother," she spurns his concern. "It's just a dream."

 

"It's the same almost every night," he repeats the worry he's expressed since she came aboard. "This isn't healthy."

 

"It's not a problem, just forget it," she snaps irritably. "I'm fine!"

 

"Sun-Mi..."

 

"I'm sorry, Min-Cho, but I don't want to talk about it anymore," she cuts him off.

 

"Sure," he lets the matter drop for another, more pressing...

 

"Last night, I pushed too hard," he expresses remorse. "What you do is your business, I have no right to interfere. I'm sorry."

 

His apology prompts Sun-Mi's admission...

 

"Last night, I was being overly stubborn. I'm sorry, too."

 

"So did we just make up? I'm off the hook?" he jokes lightheartedly.

 

Her eyes flash automatically, "What did you say?" she retorts, "I can still kick you out anytime I want..."

 

In response to her threats, Min-Cho grins happily, relieved that things seem back to normal between them.

 

But Sun-Mi isn't so convinced, and demands unabashedly, "Stop acting like a grinning idiot, and hold me for five minutes, if you really mean it..."

 

 

He complies willingly to her order, drawing her closer. Comforted in his arms, she rests her head on his shoulder... content that everything is right between them again.

 

"That's much better," she coos.

 

"I don't want to give you up," he declares his feelings openly now. "You mean too much to me. Does it have to be like this?"

 

Sun-Mi sighs, "I feel so guilty toward you. All I've done is take, and now, I'm taking even more."

 

Her response gives him hope. "Then you'll register me as the father?"

 

"Not right away," she holds back promising. "Let's see how things go first. But you're welcome to stay whenever you want."

 

"I'll definitely make a point to do that," he confirms, happy that she has left the door open.

 

 

"Do you think... I'm doing the wrong thing?" she asks tentatively.

 

"You're having second thoughts?"

 

"No. I just want to know... honestly, right or wrong? How do you feel?"

 

"Meong-meong," he imitates a barking dog. "Toto never questions Dorothy... Right or wrong, he's always there for her..."

 

 

Sun-Mi sniffles.

 

Min-Cho loosens his embrace to look, and sees the tears rolling in her eyes and wetting her cheeks...

 

"You're crying," he states the obvious. "Did I say something wrong?"

 

"No," she answers, burying her face into his chest and squeezing him tightly...

 

"What you said... it was exactly right..."