AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart

Chapter 241

written by LoveCR2 -- 2005

edited by All-About-AAE -- 2019

 

"I think you already know what to do, Sun-Mi. Just believe in yourself, and don't hold back." -- Min-Cho Atwater

 

 

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

 

"Where are you?"

 

Min-Cho's question comes from Sun-Mi's mobile, set on speaker mode and placed on the center console of the SUV.

 

"I was just about to leave for the airport," she answers. "Why?"

 

"There's someone who wants to speak to you first..."

 

 

"Hello, Sun-Mi?" Young-Mi's voice comes over the line.

 

"Young-Mi? You're with Min-Cho?"

 

"We met up at the airport, to discuss my treatment plans before I leave," Young-Mi explains. "I have a favor to ask..."

 

"Yes?"

 

"Will you take Ha-Eun for me -- be her mother again?"

 

 

Sun-Mi stares at her mobile in stunned disbelief...

 

"I know it must be a shock ... I'm sorry to ask like this, at the last minute," Young-Mi apologizes. "But I've come to realize that I have a long way to go, even with God's help, before I can be a good mother. First I need my own healing, and then make a new life for myself... I can't give Ha-Eun the attention she deserves."

 

"But Senior is taking Ha-Eun with him to London," Sun-Mi points out.

 

"That's because he was pressured to take her out of Korea, and I felt I had no other choice," Young-Mi explains. "But he's a busy CEO. I don't want Ha-Eun raised by a nanny... Sun-Mi, you're the only person I trust. No one else will love her like you."

 

"But I've plans to go away with Min-Cho, to Santorini," Sun-Mi relates her own situation. "I can't just back out on a promise."

 

"Please ... consider this seriously, and make the right decision," Young-Mi pleads. "Do it for Ha-Eun, and yourself."

 

"I don't know," Sun-Mi hesitates. "I ... I need time to think, to figure things out first."

 

"Of course, you're free to say no," Young-Mi acknowledges, backing off her pressure. "It's a lot to dump on someone... I'm sorry."

 

 

"Sun-Mi?" Min-Cho speaks up again. "I think you should consider this."

 

"But it's all so sudden. What am I supposed to do?" Sun-Mi expresses her confusion.

 

"You'd told me you wanted to be He-Eun's mother, more than anything," he reminds her. "I thought you'd be ecstatic."

 

"It's not because of Ha-Eun, but Senior," Sun-Mi identifies her main concern. "Having to see him again..."

 

"I might have a solution for your problem," he suggests.

 

"Min-Cho, this isn't the right time for a joke," she complains.

 

 

But he ignores her and continues...

 

"Remember, this morning I mentioned there's something you needed to know? That I'd tell you later?"

 

"Yes," her curiosity is piqued now. "What is it?"

 

"A DNA test I had done for you," he discloses, prepared for the backlash...

 

"How could you, without my permission?!" she protests, loudly and indignantly. "That's so presumptuous! Why would you do that!?"

 

"Because it's for your own good. It's time to put the past behind you, and move forward," Min-Cho declares to justify his action, "It wasn't just me, Yoon Hyung-Chul agreed, and helped."

 

"Senior was in on this, too?" Sun-Mi skeptically grumbles.

 

"Ask him yourself. We even flipped a coin, to decide you would tell you the outcome," he cites specifics as proof.

 

Conceding that what is done can't be undone, Sun-Mi steels herself for the worst. "Okay, tell me. Who am I, really?"

 

 

"You're the person you always believed you were..." Min-Cho's reply is simple, yet ambiguous, not the answer she is expecting.

 

 

It takes a moment for the meaning to register...

 

Then Sun-Mi releases a long sigh of relief... Tears well up, spilling over and running down her cheeks.

 

"Thank you, Min-Cho," she croaks, her voice raw with emotion. "You were right... now I can move forward."

 

"What are you going to do?" he gently prods.

 

"I made a promise... I'll keep it. I don't want to hurt you, by backing out again," she replies guiltily.

 

"Don't worry about me," he sets her concerns aside. "Like Young-Mi said, you should make the right decision for Ha-Eun, and yourself. I think you already know what to do, Sun-Mi. Just believe in yourself, and don't hold back."

 

 

"You're a true friend, Min-Cho. I'll never forget what you've done for me today," she says gratefully. "Whenever I'm in over my head, you know just what to do. Thank you for saving me ... again."

 

"Meong-meong," he barks jokingly. "If you ever need anything else, just whistle..."

 

"I will, be certain of that," Sun-Mi assures him. "But I need to go. There's something I have to do right now, or I may not be able to..."