AAE -- Wishes Of The Heart

Chapter 242

written by LoveCR2 -- 2005

edited by All-About-AAE -- 2019

 

"I left the convent uncertain about the future, but now I feel ready to move forward, and take a step in faith." -- Huh Young-Mi

 

 

INCHEON AIRPORT ...

 

"What did Sun-Mi mean, that she was in over her head, and you saved her life again?"

 

Young-Mi has the question for Min-Cho immediately after he hangs up his mobile...

 

 

"It goes back to when we first met, in London," he explains. "Sun-Mi jumped into a swimming pool when she didn't know how to swim. She went down like a rock, but I pulled her out before she drowned."

 

"But you didn't even tell her, who her real father is."

 

Min-Cho grins roguishly across the booth in the airport concourse bar... "I didn't� intend to. I never opened the envelope,

 

Young-Mi is surprised. "What?"

 

He has a sip of beer from his bottle... "It was only a last resort, which I didn't need to take."

 

"But what if Kim Eun-Ki really is Sun-Mi's biological father?"

 

"It doesn't matter who her father is, what's important is who she believes herself to be," Min-Cho philosophizes. "Sun-Mi believed that about others, like Ha-Eun, but struggled with the same understanding about herself. All she needed was a little help to see things clearly."

 

"So you had this all planned secretly," Young-Mi surmises, "since you came to see me at the convent."

 

"I'm sorry I had to keep you in the dark, but I didn't want to leave anything to chance," he states his reasons, "in case someone might 'spill the beans' inadvertently."

 

"But what if Hyung-Chul had won that coin flip?" she points out an obvious risk in his plot. "What would you have done then?"

 

 

Min-Cho takes a 100-won coin from his pocket and flips it, catching the coin and slapping it down on the back of his hand, keeping the result covered... "Your call."

 

"Heads," she guesses.

 

He shows her the coin -- tails.

 

Min-Cho flips again...

 

"Tails."

 

He shows her the coin -- heads.

 

"Once more," she requests. "Heads again."

 

He flips, and shows her the coin -- tails.

 

She eyes him suspiciously, "How did you do that?"

 

Min-Cho holds out his open hand to show her two coins, turning them over to reveal that one has two heads, the other two tails.

 

"They're marked to be identified by feel, so it's a simple matter to palm the coin that's called," he explains the trick. "Hyung-Chul never suspected a thing."

 

"Like Sun-Mi," Young-Mi adds with a chuckle. "Obviously, you're willing to do whatever it takes to achieve your goal."

 

"Isn't the saying, 'All's fair in love and war'?" Min-Cho quotes the old adage.

 

 

Young-Mi sips her Coke as she ponders the situation, then remarks, "Why do all this, intending to get Sun-Mi back together with Hyung-Chul, when she was ready to leave with you? ... I never took you for the self-sacrificing type."

 

"You're right, I'm not a saint," Min-Cho concurs. "I tried everything I could to come between them. But I wanted her love, not obligation. Finally, I realized I was struggling against 'True Love' and knew it was time to get out of the way."

 

"Putting Sun-Mi's happiness first must be hard, leaving an empty space in your heart," Young-Mi empathizes. "I admire you for that."

 

"I also admire you. Giving up Ha-Eun for Sun-Mi's happiness, at the cost of your own, had to be hard, too," Min-Cho praises her.

 

"It took time for me to accept that. You were very persistent," she gives him credit.

 

"It's not that I persuaded you," he sees it differently. "You always knew the right thing to do, but just needed someone to tell you it was okay -- that you weren't being a bad mother by giving up Ha-Eun back to your sister."

 

Young-Mi sighs, "It does make me feel a little sad, knowing Sun-Mi will be the mother I could never be to her."

 

"Don't sell yourself short," Min-Cho disagrees. "I've seen you work with children. You have a real gift, a truly warm heart."

 

"Yet I'm no saint, either," Young-Mi answers modestly, "All the evil still lurks down deep, waiting to reassert itself. Whatever good is in me, comes from a greater power than my own -- God's Holy Spirit -- indwelling my heart, giving me the desire and ability to do what's right."

 

"Whether it's God, or something else, I don't care. What I see is a changed person from before, a phony who became real," he affirms his observation. "I'm certain you'll make a great mother someday."

 

"Perhaps," she grudgingly allows. "But like I told Sun-Mi, I have a lot to accomplish first, with God's help, before I'm ready for that."

 

 

He leans forward on his elbows, focusing his eyes intently on her...

 

"There's something else I admire -- you know your goal, and don't let anything keep you from achieving it," he commends her.

 

"Is that because it takes one to know one?" she counters insightfully, evenly returning his intense gaze from behind her veil.

 

"Touch�," Min-Cho laughs. "It seems we have more in common than first appears."

 

"That's crossed my mind, too," she agrees. "I'm truly glad that I've come to know you."

 

 

Min-Cho tips his glass against hers, "Here's to success as you start on a new life."

 

"May you find happiness in your future, too," she tips hers to his in return.

 

 

They both take a swallow, then he asks, "Have you ever sailed, Young-Mi?"

 

She shakes her head. "My family was poor, so that wasn't possible. But I used to sit on the hill above the harbor as a child, watching the boats sail in and out, dreaming I was at the wheel."

 

"Perhaps, we could sail together someday, and I could show you how it's done," he offers.

 

"That's kind of you, Min-Cho," she replies, touched that he'd seek to fulfill her childhood wish.

 

 

"Attention, all passengers on Korea Air Flight 11 for Los Angeles. Boarding will begin in ten minutes..."

 

"That's my flight," Young-Mi says, standing up. "Thank you for everything. I'll keep you informed of my progress..."

 

She extends her hand, "Goodbye, Min-Cho. May God bless you and go with you."

 

But Min-Cho answers as he stands with her, "Goodbyes are premature, Young-Mi. I'm on that flight, too."

 

"What?"

 

"Seat 9C," he says, showing his boarding pass.

 

"I'm in 9D," she recalls her own seat number.

 

"What a lucky coincidence," he quips.

 

"You had tickets for Santorini. How is it you're going to LA?" Young-Mi wonders, realizing that she, like Sun-Mi and Hyung-Chul, hadn't suspected what was up.

 

"As it happens, I also needed to inspect and fit out my new yacht docked in Marina Del Rey," he explains his purpose. "So, just in case, I double-booked the second flight."

 

"Then you'll be staying in L.A. for a while?"

 

"Someone has to monitor your rehabilitation program with APHRA," he reasons. "I thought I'd do it personally, if you approve, that is."

 

"Actually, I'd like that," she consents. "It will be more comfortable with someone I know in L.A."

 

"I'll be taking a short shakedown cruise this weekend. Why not join me?" he offers. "You did want to sail."

 

Young-Mi laughs. "Are you always this presumptuous?"

 

"I'll let you be the judge of that," Min-Cho flashes a charming smile. "We have a long flight for you to decide..."

 

He grabs the handle of her rolling carryon, and offers his arm...

 

"Shall we go together, Miss Huh Young-Mi?"

 

 

She nods, slips her hand around his arm, and they head off for the gate.

 

"This morning, I left the convent uncertain about the future," Young-Mi reflects, "but now I feel ready to move forward, and take a step of faith..."