AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart

Chapter 217

written by LoveCR2 -- 2005

edited by All-About-AAE -- 2019

 

"Looking back, I wonder if the mistakes we made -- all the pain and heartache -- were for a reason." -- Jin Sun-Mi

 

 

CREAM CAKE HOUSE, GANGNAM ...

 

"It's been a long time since we were last here..."

 

Sun-Mi remarks as she sips her latte and contemplates the scrumptious-looking, layered dessert on the plate in front of her...

 

"Brings back old memories."

 

 

"Some which I'd rather forget," Hyung-Chul recalling the acrimony of one exchange ...

 

... 'Do you still have to be with him? Do you want to end things with me?!' ...

... 'You act like you're concerned about me... but you tell everyone that we've broken up behind my back!' ...

 

 

"I'm sorry about blowing up like I did," he acknowledges his inappropriate reaction outside her house.

 

"I wasn't asking for an apology," she dismisses his concern. "Your feelings were genuine, and your point right on. But we have to accept what life hands us is not always the ideal. I have no regrets how things turned out."

 

 

Pondering that assertion ... unlike her, he is riven with regrets ... Hyung-Chul gazes raptly across the table, as if Sun-Mi was a mirage that could melt into mist at any moment...

 

With her stylish chignon and flawless makeup, dressed in a cherry red, two-piece Tahari ASL three-quarter sleeve, figure-skimming dress suit and sleek red and black Rebecca Sanver snakeskin 90mm slingbacks, she bears little resemblance to the garden crew 'boss' with dirt-smudged face, dusty clothes, and durable work boots.

 

He drinks in every detail, trying to make up for the long, lonely days and nights he'd languished through without her... the graceful line of nape and collarbones, perfectly framed by the portrait collar of her jacket ... the sparkle of her bright, vivacious eyes, rimmed with long, dark lashes ... the curve of her full, red glossed lips that form a dazzling smile, which since he first met her, has never failed to brighten his day...

 

 

"Why are you staring at me?" Sun-Mi asks in a low voice to not be overheard, self-consciously aware of his fixated scrutiny. "Are you taking another picture of me with your eyes?"

 

"Yes," he admits. "Seeing you again, like this, is amazing... I was afraid you'd left Seoul forever," he expresses the anxiety he'd held for almost a year.

 

"My life is here, my home. I could never leave forever," she affirms her return is permanent. "I just needed time to work things out."

 

"When I spoke to your parents, trying to find out where you were, they told me about your mother," he divulges. "Why conceal the truth?"

 

"I wasn't trying to deceive you... "I wanted your respect and not to disappoint you," she explains.

 

"Sun-Mi ...the things I said, the pressure it put on you ... it was exactly what I hated about my mother doing to me," he apologizes. "It was wrong. I'm sorry."

 

"We all do things we may regret," she reflects introspectively. "But looking back, I wonder if the mistakes we made -- all the pain and heartache -- happened for a reason."

 

"What do you mean?"

 

"The outcome was nothing we had expected, but everything we wanted, right?" she answers. "We should be thankful for that, and happy that our dreams were fulfilled."

 

Hyung-Chul nods in agreement. "So... are you happy now?"

 

 

Sun-Mi takes a forkful of tiramisu, pondering the question while she savors the taste and texture as it melts on her tongue...

 

"Yes, I am happy," she concludes. "And you?"

 

 

Before he can answer, her mobile rings...

 

Sun-Mi takes the phone from her purse and flips it open to look at the caller ID...

 

"Just a minute, I have to take this," she excuses herself, then answers the call... "Hi, Perla. What's up?"

 

 

Hyung-Chul can hear the pleasant female voice on the line... "Did you tell Kim Dong-Woo and Park Kyu-Won to knock off early?"

 

"Yes, something came up," Sun-Mi confirms. "Why?"

 

"Just verifying... So, who's the 'hot' guy? Park said you two seemed pretty chummy," Perla seeks to substantiate the rumor.

 

"Actually, this isn't a good time," Sun-Mi whispers, covering her mouth with her hand so Hyung-Chul can't make out her words.

 

"Oh ... Am I interrupting your tryst with Mr. Big?" Perla asks, deliberately louder, laughing as she guesses the circumstances.

 

(editor's note : Mr. Big is the on-and-off lover of lead character Carrie Bradshaw in the TV series Sex and the City, which aired on HBO from 1998-2004.)

 

 

Sun-Mi glances up at Hyung-Chul, her face reddening when she sees his knowing grin and realizes he has heard every word...

 

"Perla! ... I'm hanging up!" she announces crossly and snaps her mobile shut.

 

"Sorry, Senior," she apologizes. "That was my business manager."

 

Hyung-Chul chuckles. "Mr. Big? Does she know something I don't know?"

 

"Perla is always joking," Sun-Mi deflects the question. "Don't read anything into it."

 

"You named your company after the business manager?"

 

"Actually, the name is from Min-Cho's boat, the Priceless Pearl," she explains. "We were sailing off the coast of Italy, brainstorming ideas, and 'Perla' stuck."

 

 

"This business, was it part of your new dream, too?" he probes for more understanding.

 

"Not exactly. I wanted to be able to support myself after leaving MBS, and had some ideas," she replies. "But ideas aren't enough. I needed a business plan to get financing."

 

"So you went to Min-Cho? Why choose him, instead of me?" Hyung-Chul asks, displaying his annoyance at her decision.

 

Aware of his jealous reaction, she gives her reasons...

 

"First, Min-Cho is a successful entrepreneur in multiple business sectors. Second, I'd already promised to take a cruise with him, so I owed him that much. And, third, I needed a change of scenery to clear my head..."

 

Sun-Mi has another bite of tiramisu, then a swig of her latte, before she continues...

 

"There's something about being on the open sea, amidst the raw elements of nature," Sun-Mi philosophizes, "It frees your mind of the encumbrances of daily life and opens you to new possibilities."

 

"I see," Hyung-Chul steps back his unwarranted assumptions. "And this was one of your new possibilities?"

 

"Actually, it wasn't my idea," she clarifies. "On the last day, when I was to fly from Spain to visit my Auntie Jin, Min-Cho suggested I consider turning my interest in gardening into a business..."

 

"Gardening?"

 

"When I was growing up, Daddy always said I had a 'green-thumb' like my mother," she reveals a bit of history...

 

... a pointed reminder to Hyung-Chul of what she'd said before ... 'Senior, there's a lot about me that you don't know' ...

 

"Min-Cho offered to put up the capital himself. So instead of going off to London, I sailed with him to Italy, and back to Santorini, while we worked out a contract for the partnership and planned the startup."

 

"So how did Perla come into the equation?" he asks. "Is she one of Min-Cho's business associates?"

 

"Perla?" Sun-Mi chuckles. "She's not a person, but an artificial intelligence business management program that Min-Cho developed... Process Execution and Real-time Logistics Administrator," she spells out the acronym.

 

Hyung-Chul is amazed. "That voice on the phone was a computer program? Since when do computers make jokes referencing American TV shows?"

 

"Perla learns from the people she interacts with, and Min-Cho's always cracking jokes," she replies.

 

Not totally believing, he wants to learn more, "What else does Perla do?"

 

"Just about everything... She monitors our greenhouses' climate and adjusts controls for optimal growing conditions, schedules employee tasks, processes eComm and phone orders, plots efficient vehicle logistics for deliveries, and handles purchasing, payroll, accounting, and finances," Sun-Mi ticks off the capabilities.

 

"If Perla does all that, what about you?"

 

"My official title, according to Min-Cho, is 'CDO' -- Chief Dreaming Officer -- but I also handle PR, HR, and Corporate Sales, since most people still relate better to a human face."

 

"And Min-Cho, besides being your angel investor?"

 

"He takes care of Perla and me. He's my 'CES' -- Chief Encourager and Shoulder -- to lean on," Sun-Mi answers with a touch of humor.

 

Feeling relegated to the periphery of her new life, Hyung-Chul jokes glumly, "What does that make me, your 'CST' -- Chief Spare Tire?"

 

"Senior, it's not a contest, I'm not choosing sides!" she tries to assuage his feelings. "Frankly, I owe a lot to both of you, my life even."

 

"Then why am I the one you left in the dark all this time?" he points out the fact.

 

Sun-Mi's eyes flash exasperation as she sets her fork down on the empty plate...

 

"I've had enough," she declares curtly. "You?"

 

 

He looks at his half-eaten dessert and quips, "Sure. I suppose I don't need the extra calories, anyway."

 

"That's what happens when you're unemployed for a long time, you get out of shape," she comments critically, eyeing his waist.

 

"I'm not unemployed," he defends himself, "I'm doing regular gigs at the Odyssey Club now."

 

"So I've heard," she replies dryly, seemingly unimpressed.

 

"It's my big dream," he justifies his decision to leave MBS. "I'm only doing what you did."

 

"There's no comparison!" Sun-Mi snaps, shooting a cold glare across the table. "Please enjoy the rest of your coffee... I'm leaving first!"

 

 

She stands abruptly and without hesitation starts off, her stilettos sounding sharply as she strides to the stairs.

 

Stunned by her unexpected reaction, Hyung-Chul stares silently at Sun-Mi's back as she disappears down the steps...