AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart
Chapter 216
written by LoveCR2 -- 2005
edited by All-About-AAE -- 2019
"Since when does a 'business relationship' include a baby? ... This is incomprehensible!" -- Yoon Hyung-Chul
OUTSIDE THE JIN FAMILY HOME, SUBURBAN SEOUL...
Staring at Sun-Mi, surprised by the unexpected encounter, Hyung-Chul's first inclination is to embrace her in his arms. But propriety quickly suppresses the urge, and he contents himself with adding to the diverse collection of mental pictures taken over the years...
Momentarily, his thoughts fly back to her words when they'd parted that night at the Han River almost a year ago... 'I want to be clear. I'm not planning to come back to this life. I'm moving on, and not looking back' ...
... yet, here she is, like a miracle, in front of him ...
"Sun-Mi! ... How...?" he blurts out excitedly. "Is it really you?"
Sun-Mi's face light up with amusement as she removes gloves and hat, dropping them beside a gardening basket at her feet...
As if they'd just spoken yesterday, she answers with a tinge of humor, "Who else would I be?"
Then she pulls off the wide barrettes holding a high, twisted bun in place. With a practiced toss of her head, the wavy auburn shoulder-length tresses shake free, falling loosely about her shoulders.
But the humor is lost on him, as he peppers her with questions...
"Perla's Florals is your company?"
"Yes."
"And this is your house now?"
"Yes."
"When did you return?"
She hesitates before answering, brushing a damp wisp of hair off her brow first, "About six months ago."
... more than long enough for it to be clear to him that she had deliberately avoided contact ...
The conclusion raises darker thoughts, which percolate in Hyung-Chul's mind as he continues the questions...
"I spoke to your parents. They claimed not to know where you were."
"They don't," Sun-Mi confirms the veracity, tossing a bone to ease his concern, "I haven't contacted them either..."
"Yet ... you bought their house?"
"We used an agent to transact the purchase anonymously, and registered it in the Company name."
"We?" ... the word raises another specter in his heart ...
"Me, and Min-Cho," Sun-Mi elaborates simply. "After he sold his development in Seocho, we both needed a place to stay in Seoul. This house was ideal for our purposes, and with so many happy memories here, I was loath to let it go."
Her answer reinforces what she had told him before ... 'When I come back, we'll both have a new life, a new destiny to fulfill... with someone else' ...
"So you're living with him?" Hyung-Chul cautiously probes the situation.
"What does it matter to you?" she questions his prying. "Senior, if there's something you want to say, speak directly!"
Challenged, he responds in kind, "Then tell me directly, too... Have you and Min-Cho married?"
Sun-Mi glares at him, annoyed. "I've said this before, I'm not the kind of person anyone should marry!" she answers sharply, "Min-Cho and I only have a business relationship, and..."
The sound of a baby's whimpering, coming from the gardening basket, interrupts her...
Sun-Mi reaches down and takes out a handheld electronic baby monitor from the basket, checking the screen with maternal concern...
"Shhh... shhh... It's okay, Mommy is watching you," she coos soothingly into the device. "There, there, everything is all right. Mommy will come in soon to get you..."
Eventually, the child quiets, and Sun-Mi puts the monitor back down.
But while watching and listening, Hyung-Chul's ire has accumulated, and now he explodes...
"Since when does a 'business relationship' include a baby?" he rebukes her heatedly. "This... this is incomprehensible!"
"Why are you surprised?" Sun-Mi rebuffs his disapproval, reminding him of the secret she'd shared in confidence, "I told you before I left, that I was going to be a mother."
"But like this? A child deserves to be have mother and father living together, as a family!" he argues avidly, painfully cognizant that for much of his childhood he'd been denied that opportunity.
"It's not what you're thinking!" Sun-Mi defends herself. "Just calm down, be reasonable."
"What's 'reasonable' about a deadbeat dad leaving you alone to raise his child?!" he criticizes Min-Cho loudly.
"Please, lower your voice, Senior!" Sun-Mi pleads, "What if someone is watching?"
"If you're so ashamed," he chastises her angrily, "why accept that kind of treatment from him? Why not stand up for yourself?"
The two men by the gate, overhearing the dispute, have stop working and are looking toward Sun-Mi and Hyung-Chul...
"Is everything okay, Boss?" the man who'd spoken to Hyung-Chul asks.
The second man, eyeing Hyung-Chul closely, takes a menacing step forward with his shovel clutched in his hands.
"Everything is fine, Mr. Kim," Sun-Mi deflates a potential confrontation. "You and Mr. Park can knock off early today."
The two men appear skeptical, but follow orders, heading for the truck with their tools.
"Are they gardeners, or bodyguards?" Hyung-Chul quips, having cooled off a bit and dropping the matter, knowing that he can't win an argument once Sun-Mi digs her heels in.
"They're just being protective of me," Sun-Mi affirms the message clearly communicated to Hyung-Chul, "as a single mother..."
From the monitor, they hear the baby's cries again, louder now...
"Sorry, I have to go in," she excuses herself, immediately heading for the front door of the house.
But before Sun-Mi takes two steps, the door swings open and a young woman -- dressed in a clingy ribbed white tank top, citron yellow short shorts, and tangerine block heel sandals, with the strap of a small lime green Fendi purse slung over her shoulder -- appears with the crying child in her arms...
The truck, just starting to move off, brakes to a sudden halt, the two men inside watching on with interest.
Speaking over the baby's wails, Sun-Mi anxiously asks, "What is it, Su-Ji?"
"She's inconsolable!" Su-Ji replies, summarizing the situation rapid-fire, "It was all of a sudden ... I was getting ready to go out, and she started crying! ... I've just changed and fed her, so it couldn't be that ... I tried everything, but she won't stop ... You have to take her!"
"My clothes are filthy," Sun-Mi answers, looking toward Hyung-Chul for help...
He shrugs agreeably.
"Give her to Chairman Yoon to hold, Su-Ji," Sun-Mi directs.
Su-Ji delivers the bawling baby to Hyung-Chul. Surprisingly, after just a few seconds cradled in his arms, she stops crying.
"Wow! You have a gift," Su-Ji commends him.
She glances briefly at the truck, then back to Sun-Mi, declaring, "Gotta run... Back in an hour or so, okay?"
"Sure, no hurry," Sun-Mi excuses her.
Su-Ji waves toward the idling truck, calling loudly, "Hey! Guys! ... Can I get a lift?"
The passenger side door opens and Park gets down, welcoming her on with a smiling invitation, "No problem. Hop in, Su-Ji!"
Su-Ji runs for the truck and climbs in, sliding over to the middle seat of the cramped cab. Park squeezes in next to Su-Ji, and she waves gaily to Sun-Mi as they drive off.
"Who is Su-Ji? Your nanny?" Hyung-Chul remarks, watching the departing truck.
Sun-Mi turns to explain...
"Su-Ji is Min-Cho's cousin from London. Cambridge is on Easter break right now, so she came a few days ago, to see Seoul and help me out with the baby."
Hearing that Su-Ji is Min-Cho's relative brings Hyung-Chul back to his earlier criticism...
"So he sends her, instead of coming himself? What a jerk!"
Sun-Mi doesn't argue the point, instead agreeing with Su-Ji...
"Since you're so good with the baby, can you stay and take care of her for a while? I want to clean up and change."
"Sure, no problem," Hyung-Chul agrees cheerfully, actually glad of being handed an excuse to stay longer.
Sun-Mi starts off, heading for the front door, as she invites him...
"Come on in, Senior. When Su-Ji comes back, I'll buy you a cup of coffee for a reward..."