TITANIC ~ A Yoonmin Story

Nearer My God To Thee

Pom Hyo stands in front of the fireplace, staring at the large painting above the mantle. The fire is still going in the fireplace.

The room is empty except for Pom. An ashtray falls off the table. Behind him Yoongi and Jimin run into the room, out of breath and soaked. They run through, toward the aft revolving door, then Jimin recognizes him. He sees that his lifebelt is off, lying on a table.

"Won't you even make a try for it, Mr. Pom?" Jimin asks.

A tear rolls down Pom's cheek. "I'm sorry that I didn't build you a stronger ship, young Jimin."

Yoongi turns to his lover. "It's going fast... we've got to keep moving."

Pom picks up his lifebelt and hands it to Jimin. "Goo luck to you, Jimin."

Jimin hugs him. "And to you, Mr. Pom."

Yoongi pulls Jimin away and they run through the revolving door.

Out on the boat deck the band finishes the waltz. Woo Hwan looks at the orchestra members. "Right, that's it then."

They leave him, walking forward along the deck. Woo puts his violin to his chin and bows the first notes of 'Nearer My God to Thee'. One by one the band members turn, hearing the lonely melody. 

Without a word they walk back and take their places. They join in with Woo, filling out the sound so that it reaches all over the ship on this still night. The vocalist begins: "If in my dreams I be, nearer my God to thee..."

A seaman pulls off his lifebelt and catches up to Captain Kye as he walks to the bridge. He offers it, but Kye seems to stare through him. Without a word he turns and goes onto the bridge. He enters the enclosed Wheelhouse and closes the door. He is alone, surrounded by the gleaming brass instruments. He seems to inwardly collapse.

In the First Class Smoking Room Pom stands like a statue. He pulls out his pocketwatch and checks the time. The he opens the face of the mantle clock and adjusts it to the correct time: 2:12 a.m. Everything must be correct.

In Pilwoo's Parlour Suite water swirls in from the private promenade deck. Jimin's paintings are submerged. The Picasso transforms under the water's surface. Degas' colours run. Monet's water lilies come to life.

Down the corridor, in a First Class Cabin, two figures lay side by side, fully clothed, on a bed. Elderly Ida and Isador Strauss stare at the ceiling, holding hands like young lovers. Water pours into the room through a doorway. It swirls around the bed, two feet deep rising fast.

In a Steerage Cabin somewhere in the bowels of the ship, the young Irish mother, seen earlier stoically waiting at the stairs, is tucking her two young children into bed. She pulls up the covers, making sure they are all warm and cozy. She lies down with them on the bed, speaking soothingly and holding them.

A wave travels up the boat deck as the bridge house sinks into the water.

On the Port Side Collapsible B is picked up by the water. Working frantically, the men try to detach it from the falls so the ship won't drag it under. Colonel Hak Chunso hands Ho Sungchul a pocket knife and he saws furiously at the ropes as the water swirls around his legs. The boat, still upside down, is swept off the ship. Men start diving in, swimming to stay with it.

In Collapsible A Pilwoo sits next to the wailing child, whom he has completely forgotten. He watches the water rising around the men as they work, scrambling to get the ropes cut so the ship won't drag the collapsible under.

Hoseok removes the lifebelt from Seokjin's body and struggles to put it on as the water rises around him.

Captain Kye, standing near the wheel, watches the black water climbing the windows of the enclosed wheelhouse. He has the stricken expression of a damned soul on Judgment Day. The windows burst suddenly and a wall of water edged with shards of glass slams into Kye. He disappears in a vortex of foam.