AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart

Chapter 229

written by LoveCR2 -- 2005

edited by All-About-AAE -- 2019

 

"I thought I'd be happy surrounded by my memories, but now they make me feel like I'm dying inside." -- Jin Sun-Mi

 

 

SUN-MI'S HOME, SUBURBAN SEOUL...

 

"Come and live with me, We'll have children of our own ... I would love you more than life if you'll come and be my wife ... When we dance, angels will run and hide their wings ... When we dance ..."

 

Min-Cho is in the downstairs bathroom, singing the lyrics of Sting's 'When We Dance' as he towel-dries his hair, when he hears the front door open...

 

The door closes, and he hears the clicking of high heels passing the bathroom. He finishes and puts down the towel. Seconds later, the clicking passes the bathroom again.

 

"Sun-Mi?" he calls out through the closed door. "Is that you?"

 

When there is no answer, he hurriedly pulls on clean shorts and a T-shirt.

 

 

Min-Cho opens the bathroom door, and sees Sun-Mi in the living room on the couch, her back to him.

 

"Sun-Mi?" he asks again. "What's wrong?"

 

"Go away! Leave me alone!" she replies, her voice shaky and rough.

 

He walks over and sees that she has a full tumbler of Crown Royal XO in her hand. From the level of remaining whiskey in the bottle from the kitchen liquor shelf, he judges that this is not her first -- or second -- glass since she came in...

 

As Min-Cho watches, Sun-Mi puts the tumbler to her lips and gulps down the contents, coughing quietly from the fire it ignites in her mouth and throat.

 

"Drinking like this is a waste of good whiskey," he jokes, trying to lighten her mood.

 

In response, Sun-Mi pours a full glass for another hit...

 

"I want you to remember, Min-Cho," she gravely requests, "This scene and how I look... Remember it all, so I can forget it..."

 

"I know from experience, that getting plastered isn't the way to forget," he advises, reaching over to take the tumbler from Sun-Mi's hand.

 

He expects her to resist, but she freely surrenders to his insistence, and he sets the glass down on the coffee table, out of her reach.

 

"May I join you?"

 

"Suit yourself," she answers dully, the effects of the straight alcohol already apparent.

 

He sits down next to her as he asks, "What happened?"

 

"You weren't right at all," she grumbles. "I told Senior everything as you said, but he refuses to let me go..."

 

"I'd do the same if I were in his place," Min-Cho states. "What if you're wrong?"

 

"And what if I'm right?" she counters, concocting the worst scenario in her mind... "How can I face a reality where my mother preferred death over me? And my father despised me so much he intended the same fate for me as for my mother?"

 

"Then why not find out the truth?" he suggests. "Why continue to torture yourself like this?"

 

"Because it's easier to live with the uncertainty," she justifies her decision. "This way, I can still grasp a sliver of hope."

 

"For how long? Your whole life?" he challenges her decision. "What kind of living is that?"

 

"Right now, one that seems better than the alternative," she answers grimly.

 

Dropping the argument, he asks gently, "What are you going to do?"

 

"Leave... get as far away as possible," she declares. "Being in Seoul, living in this house, has become unbearable. I thought I'd be happy surrounded by all my memories, but they just taunt me, make me feel like I'm dying inside."

 

He looks on her sympathetically. "Wherever you want to go," he offers, "I'll take you there."

 

"Someone once told me that he ran away to a certain place, because there were so few sunny days, even if you cried you didn't look bad," she attempts a joke that falls flat...

 

"London?"

 

"Where is not important," she clarifies, "and you're a true friend, Min-Cho... but..."

 

She looks away...

 

"All I've done is disappoint you. Why would you want to be with me anymore? Especially now?"

 

"Being with you is never a disappointment," he claims. "The disappointment is only when you leave. But what about Hyung-Chul? Can you forget him?"

 

Sun-Mi sighs... "I want to forget him, forget everything about my life here, become someone totally without a past," she confirms, musing gloomily, "But what if I can't? What will you do then? How long can a friend put up with that situation before it becomes tiring?"

 

"You're right, friends can only bear so much," he agrees, then adds confidently, "But I have a solution for that problem."

 

"Tsst..." she responds skeptically. "You always have a 'solution'... what is it this time?"

 

"It's simple... If 'being friends' is not enough, then why not try 'for better and for worse' ...?"