Capture Your Heart

Chapter 193 Opposite of “I Love You” 1

The Buddhism, one of the three major religions in the world, originates from India, where Karin chooses to take a trip. She wants to find the serenity of her soul here, as well as the purified peace and happiness as she decides to seek the truth in life and search for the methods of solving problems.

After getting off the plane, she finds a hotel in downtown to live in, where she can hear the sounds of chanting sutras.

Troy calls her in the evening, and she picks it up—

“…Hello?”

“What are you doing?”

“Reading.”

“Aren’t you missing me?’

She laughs. “I have to focus on the books, you know.”

“Put them away, and have a chat with me.”

“No work tonight?”

“Yes, I have, but you’re my sweet distraction.”

“Just imagine that I’m still there with you.”

“You mean lie to myself?”

Karin sighs, “A man like you should focus on your work. How could you be controlled by your desires?”

Troy says with an edge, “I start to regret that I allow you to take a trip in India. I’ve been already at the mercy of my desire for you, and I don’t think I can survive the whole month.”

“But I’m already here.”

“So you don’t want to come back anymore?”

“No.”

She’s annoyed. “Gotta go. I have to read my books.”

“How dare you!”

“What?”

“Press your hand against your chest and think hard.”

“About what?”

“I’ve put aside my work to call you, but you leave me alone for your fucking books? Why are you so ruthless?”

“I need have a rest. Time for sleeping. If you’re too tired to work, just go to bed. Nighty-night.”

Karin instantly cuts it off, and Troy glares at the phone with gritted teeth. “Fine. How can you hang up without my approval? If you came back, I’ll…”

Karin visits Datong Temple the next morning. Listening to a kind-hearted monk’s preachment, she’s fascinated, not wanting to walk away.

After half an hour of preachment, she walks up to him and sit down, sincerely begging, “Please help me…”

“What can I do for you?”

“I’ve done something terrible which I can’t tell my fiancé. I’m afraid that he’ll break up with me if he knows what I’ve done…”

The monk smiles. “I can tell you’ve been upset. Well, I’ll tell you a story today, then I’ll tell you another two on the following two days separately. I’m sure you’ll know what to do on the third day.”

“Okay. Thanks!”

“Now close your eyes and clear your mind. Al you have to do is to listen to the story and find its motif.”

Putting his palms together devoutly, the monk says gently, “Once upon a time, there was a young monk whose job was to sweep up all the leaves in the yard.

It’s hard to get up early in the cold mornings of early winter. Every time there came the winds, the leaves always flied in the wind. Hence, sweeping up all the leaves was a headache for the monk as it took much energy and time. He desperately needed a solution to ease his burden.

Then an experienced monk told him that he should shake the trees hard to make all the leaves fall and sweep them up once for all.

The young monk thought so and shook all the tree hard the next morning and swept all the leaves up as he thought he wouldn’t sweep leaves again the third morning.

On the third morning, the young monk was dumbfounded when he woke up to find the mess of leaves scattered on the ground of the yard as usual.

The eldest monk told him that as long as the wind didn’t stop, the leaves would always be scattered on the ground in a mess.

Finally, the young monk realized that one should live in the moment as thing might not go well as one has predicted.”

Karin slowly opens her eyes and listens to the conclusion. “You can’t resolve your problems of tomorrow but you can focus on the problems of today. Every day we’ll face some challenges, and we make it day by day.”

“I see.”

“You want to tell me that I should maintain a correct attitude towards life before solving my problems.”

“You’re so smart.”

After leaving the temple, she walks in the bright sunshine and thinks of the monk’s words as she feels calmer and more peaceful than yesterday.

Troy calls her on time after she has a bath. She answers the phone as she dries up her hair with the towel, “Troy…”

“Do you miss me?”

She flashes a half-smile. “You know I’ve been fed up with your cheesy lines.”

“Come on! Aren’t we lovers? If you tell me ‘Yes’, I’ll tell you the same.”

“What if I say ‘No’?”

“You have to say ‘Yes’, even if it’s a lie.”

“How shameless you are.”

“Look what you’ve made me do...”

“Are you feeling better if I tell you I miss you?”

“Sure.”

She nods and says sincerely, “I miss you.”

“Not a lie?”

“No.”

A huge smile curves Troy’s lips. “I miss you, too, babe. Where have been today?”

“I’ve visited a temple where a monk told me a meaningful story.”

“Share the story with me.”

“It’s a secret.”

“Now you piss me off.”

“Then I’d better hang up and run away from you. Bye…”

She hangs up on him again. Troy feels really exasperated.

He smashed his phone on the floor. It’s the second time that she’s hung up on him which she’s never done it before. He wonders if Karin has changed herself into another person.

On the next day, Karin goes to the temple again to find the monk for the second story.

The monk tells her, “There was a monk who went on a trip with a stranger. The stranger didn’t like the monk and he insulted the monk in various ways on their trip.

Finally, the monk asked the stranger, ‘If you are given a gift which you don’t accept, then whom does the gift belong to?’

The stranger answered, ‘The man who gives it to me.’

The monk smiled. ‘Yes. If I ignore your insults, you’re insulting yourself.’”

The second story is very brief but it’s meaningful for Karin. The monk asks her, “Guess what did the stranger say to the monk?”

Karin shakes her head.

“The stranger was rendered speechless and left the monk…”

The monk concludes, “As long as we have a strong mind, others will never exert any influence on us. If we care too much about others’ opinions, we’ll fail to follow our heart.”

“Follow my heart…”

Standing in the shades of the bodhi tree, Karin is trying to understand the implications of the monk’s conclusion. The monk wants her to realize that she should follow her heart and tell Troy the truth since she doesn’t mean to be an evil person…

Since tomorrow will be the last day for stories, Karin is looking forward to the last story.

Troy calls her in the evening as usual asks her directly about her routine of the day.

“Did you go to see the fucking storyteller again?”

Karin reprimands him, “Show your respect for the Buddha, okay? He’s not a storyteller but a monk.” All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

“Crap! I shouldn’t have allowed you to go to India. Now you’re going to be a monk.”