Chapter 18 – Own Careers
"Next patient, please." I called out loudly. I've been a Medical Technologist for a couple of years now. I used a referral from my aunt and her connections that's why I've been accepted at the city hospital. My daily routine is to test blood, urines, feces, as well as other specimens. Of course, at first it's kinda disgusting but when you already get used to it because you always encounter it everyday, it will become normal for you. I'm always assigned in laboratories and clinics so I don't get to move much around unlike the other medtechs that accompany doctors during their hospital rounds.
Suga and Kaori have the same job as mine, although they work at different places. We still haven't had catch up about each other's lives, we were all busy that we couldn't do even chatting on social media. We hung out sometimes whenever we had day offs, but it's very rare so we really cherish the time when we're together. As for Kei, I didn't have any contact with him, whether it's in person or virtually. I haven't heard anything since he went to the province, he disconnected all his social media that's why I couldn't contact him. His number wasn't working as well so I couldn't text him too. I felt bitter, I wanted to reach out to him but it feels like he doesn't want to be reached. I almost doubted his promise before.. but I just kept in mind that maybe he has reasons, so I didn't judge him easily.
"It's my breaktime, I'm going to eat first." I said to my co-worker. We take turns when having breaks since we're short on people. I went to the nearby fastfood chain and ordered my lunch. While I'm waiting for my order, I was surprised when I saw a tall person ordering in the cashier next to me. I can't see his face since he's wearing a facemask and a cap. I almost thought it was Kei.. but how could it be Kei, he's at the province. Maybe I was just mistaken.
"Here you go, ma'am. Enjoy your lunch." The crew handed a tray of my order so I accepted it. I didn't notice that I was staring at the guy, good thing he's not looking at me. I searched for a vacant seat but I couldn't find any. Then, I saw the tall guy approached a seat with a bag on the chair. Maybe he left it there awhile ago to reserve a seat for him. Well, I couldn't do that! I only have my wallet with me.
Should I ask the guy if I could share seats with him? He's the only one that's alone here. Ugh. Why am I getting shy?
"Hello, excuse me.. can I share seats with you?" I gathered up my courage to ask him. He just nodded in approval. Why isn't he talking? Anyways, I have nothing to do with that. I took a spoonful of rice immediately, I'm really hungry. I almost jumped my heart out when my phone rang. I didn't know putting it in vibrate mode would shock me. I saw the caller ID of Suga so I answered it.
'Hello, Suga' I greeted. 'Hey, do you have shift tomorrow? Kaori have her day off and I have mine too, you know we're hoping that we could go out.' It's so wrong timing! I have my shift tomorrow. 'I have work tomorrow.. I'm sorry.. Ugh, I really wanted to go out.' His voice changed after I rejected his offer. 'That sucks.. I really wanted to see you. It's been a while. I miss you, Misaki.' I can sense sadness in his voice. I'm sad too, I want to be with them. 'I miss you too, Suga.' I was surprised when the guy I was sharing seats with dropped his softdrink. He hasn't even started eating yet he dropped his softdrink already.
"Oh my gosh. What happened, sir? Wait, Suga.. I'll call you back, bye! " I dropped the call as soon as I said goodbye then I checked the guy if he was splashed with softdrink. He wasn't wet, maybe he avoided the spillage. "I'm fine.." He blatantly responded. He stood up and left to request for a new drink. In a few seconds, I was dumbfounded. When I heard his voice I recognized it.. it's like Kei's! I'm not mistaken, I'm sure it's Kei. I didn't see his face since he's covering it and he's avoiding my gaze.. but I'm sure that's his voice.
The fastfood crew went to our table to clean the mess when the guy was ordering another drink. I thanked him after he was done. Then, the guy returned with his new drink. I observed him as he sat down. "Is that you.. Kei?" The guy flinched as I mentioned the name. He removed his facemask unraveling his face. I gasped as I saw his face. He's really Kei!
I suddenly bursted into tears as I saw him. "Shit.. don't cry.. Misaki, I'm sorry I didn't show myself to you.. I was planning to surprise you." I wiped my tears as he sat beside me to pat my back. "I hate you. I really hate you. Why didn't you say anything? I looked dumb as I observed you since you stood next to me in the cashier." He offered me my drink so that I could calm down. "I was surprised. I didn't expect that I'll be seeing you here. I was going to visit you at the hospital but I saw you here instead so I didn't know what to do. I'm sorry, Misaki." I stopped crying and looked at him instead. I caressed his face, he's definitely real. "Why didn't you contact me?" He sat properly and sighed.
"When I came to the province, I thought that I could easily find a job, but I was wrong. Since, my province has a small population, medtechs like us aren't that much needed. The hospitals were in need of mostly doctors and nurses, and the occupation for medtechs were usually full already. So, I worked hard to find a job, I mostly got into interviews and all that but I've never been accepted. I got devastated that time. My parents were already retired and my brother was recently fired by his boss that time. So, we really needed to find a job as soon as possible. After months of trying and praying, I've been accepted in a hospital nearby. I heard that the medtech in that hospital resigned so I immediately rushed to apply. To be honest, I didn't have time for my social life so I haven't been able to contact you. I really focused on my work so that I could stay longer in that hospital. I'm sorry.. if I didn't reach out for the past years." I guess it's really painful for him that even though he's already stable, he could still remember the feeling. He's also getting teary-eyed while explaining.
"It's okay.. it's okay.. I'm just glad that you're fine after all of that hardship. I'm so proud of you, Kei. I'm sorry I'm not there when you're devastated." He wiped his eyes and smiled. "Thanks, Misaki. I'm already okay. It's just I still get emotional whenever I've had flashbacks of my sacrifices before." He returned to his seat and we continued eating. I just realized that we're in a public place. I got shy because we created drama in here.
"What about you? How's your career?" He asked. Unlike him, I didn't have hardship like that. I guess I'm just lucky to be able to have a job easily. "I'm doing fine too. I've been working at the city hospital for a couple of years now. Just like what I've said before you went back to your province, I used my aunt's referral so I got a job easily. Also, they're still urgent hiring for medtechs here since we're out of people. So, we take turns in our shifts and breaktimes." He nodded as I explained. "How long is your breaktime? Do you need to go back soon?" I looked at my wristwatch and noticed that I only have 30 minutes left. "Yes, I still have 30 minutes left though. Why?"
"Nothing. I just wanted to talk to you more.. you know, to make up for those years that I didn't reach out.." I smiled. He's only gotten here and he's already making me blush. "Okay, let's spend the 30 minutes wisely. Uh, about what happened awhile ago, why did you spill your softdrink?" He choked after I asked my question. What just happened?! "Hey, are you alright? Seriously, what's happening to you?" He grabbed his drink and sipped on it.
"About that.. uh, nothing, I was just surprised." I looked at him with confusion. "Why were you surprised?" He didn't know what to say so he just murmured something. "Nothing. Don't worry about it. So, do you still live in your house alone?" I nodded. "Yes, of course. It's convenient since it's also near the hospital." Oh right, he said that he came to visit me, is he going back later to his province? "Are you going back home later?" He shook his head. "No, I'll stay at my house in the neighborhood. I'm off for a few days." My face lit up as soon as he said that he'll stay for a few days. "Uh, when will your shift end?"
"I'll be off at 6 PM." We finished our food and drank the last sip of our drinks. "Can I pick you up? Do you want to have dinner at my house? I'll cook." My mouth formed an 'o'. He now knows how to cook huh? Maybe his mother taught him. How can I resist that? I'm also curious about his cooking skills. "Sure." We went out of the fast food chain and walked to the hospital. "I'm going inside now." We stopped when we reached the main entrance. He handed me his phone while showing me a dial pad. I guess he wanted me to save my number so that's what I did. I bid him goodbye and proceeded to the laboratory. My heart's beating so fast. I really couldn't believe that Kei visited me!
"Hey, Misaki. You went on a date huh? I'm jealous!" My co-worker, Yumi, exclaimed. Huh? How does she knows? "You saw us? We weren't on a date, though." She giggled. What's with her? We really weren't on a date! "Well, I went out buy some snack because I was really hungry. Then, I saw you with a tall blonde guy. Is he your boyfriend?" I shook my head. "He's my ex, Yumi." She was shocked so I laughed at her reaction. "Ex?! But why were you looking at each other like lovey-dovey?!" Lovey-dovey? We're not! "You're blind." I rolled my eyes as she teased me. We went back to work when a patient came in.
Hours passed and my shift has finally ended. I checked my phone if Kei has texted me. I saw a message from him saying 'Misaki, I'm already here at the main entrance.'. My cheeks immediately felt warm. I'm clueless about why he's doing this but I guess it's related to what he promised. Is he trying to win me back?
I waved goodbye to Yumi and rushed to the main entrance. My mouth automatically formed a smile when I saw Kei sitting at the waiting area, wearing his flannel and black ripped jeans while listening to music. He really doesn't change. "Hi, Kei.." I greeted shyly. He smiled as he saw me. We walked out of the hospital and headed to his home. When we got there, I saw a bunch of groceries piled up in the table. "Are you done cooking?" He nodded. "Yes, but I'm not yet done organizing my groceries." Kei went to the table to store the food in the cupboard. I sat on the couch and stared at him while he's cleaning. He's handsome as ever.
I was startled when my phone rang. Oh, right. I forgot to call Suga back. 'Hey, woman.. what happened? Why didn't you call me back?' 'I'm sorry, Suga.. I forgot to call you back. Anyway, I have shift tomorrow.. if you want you can go with Kaori' I heard him groaned on the other line. 'It's the two of us again! I swear Ushijima will kill me if he find out that I was always with his girlfriend.' I laughed. Ushi is a bit of a jealous type so Suga's really scared of him. 'You're overreacting, Suga. I know you miss me but I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you soon.' I heard him clicked his tongue. I can imagine him rolling his eyes. 'Make sure of it! Okay, take care always, Misaki.' 'Thanks, bye Suga.' I clicked the end button and our call was ended.
I saw Kei approaching me while having a stern expression. Goodness, what happened to him? I just answered a call then he became like this. "What's with the look?" He held my wrist and led me to the table. "We're going to eat." I swear he's up to something. "What's wrong? You're being weird." He clicked his tongue out of annoyance. "You can just tell me if you and Suga are together. Why didn't you tell me?" His words didn't process in my mind. Wait, what? Why did he come up with that conclusion?!
"What?" He smacked his forehead with his palm. "Is Suga your new boyfriend?" I bursted out laughing. So, he's jealous that's why he's acting weird. "Why are you laughing? Don't make me dumb." I stopped laughing because I got scared of his aura. "I'm single, Kei. Suga's my best friend. Didn't you know about our friendship, me, Suga, and Kaori? We've been close friends since end of college years." His angry face turned into a calm one. He bowed his head out of embarrassment while I'm trying my best not to laugh again. "So, the two of you aren't going out?" I shook my head.
"No, dumbass. Suga still doesn't have a love interest." He sighed deeply, as if something heavy was removed out of his chest. "How about you?" I froze when I heard his question. Why would he ask that?! Stupid. Isn't it obvious? Did you become numb or what? "Stupid." I whispered to myself. "What?" I was startled when he leaned closer so that he could hear me. My gosh! His face is so close! "Why are you so close?! Move.." I shoved his face away. "I couldn't hear you. Speak loud-" I cut him off because he's so stubborn. "It's still you, idiot!" Both of us were shocked when I shouted. I didn't mean to say it out loud.
Seconds after, his mouth formed a smirk. "I'm so happy, Misaki." I furrowed my eyebrows. "What do you mean?" He slowly leaned closer as I moved back. "I'm still inlove with you because you made me fall so fucking hard. All these years that passed, there's no day that I didn't think of you. I'm really happy that you feel the same way too." He scanned my face with his eyes then planted a look on my lips. He leaned closer until our lips were locked on each other. My heart was beating fast as our lips moved in sync. I missed him so much. I longed for him for so many years, I hope we won't get separated again.
"I missed you." I said after our kiss. "I missed you too. Let's eat, the food will get cold." I nodded and looked at the food he cooked. It's curry, my favorite. I've tried his mom's curry before, I wonder what's the taste of his version.
He placed a serving of curry to my plate and I took a spoonful of it. My eyes twinkled as I savour the curry. "It's delicious! Thank you for making this, Kei." He smiled and we continued eating.
"Do you want to sleep here tonight?" He asked. I blushed as I remember that it's been a long time since I slept here. The last time was painful too. "Okay." Of course, I'll agree. I missed sleeping with him. I'm excited! I can hug him while sleeping again.
We went to his room and I immediately jumped on the bed. It's really soft and bouncy. I also hugged his dinosaur plushies. "I missed you too, my babies!" Kei laughed as he stared at me. "You're already 25 yet you're still like a child." I rolled my eyes at him. "Don't mind him, babies. He's still arrogant as ever." He clicked his tongue and glared at me. "Who's arrogant huh?!" He attacked me by tickling me. I couldn't stop laughing. "Stop it, Kei!" After a few minutes, he stopped tickling me and pulled me into a hug. We just stared at the ceiling, nobody made a sound. We just shared the silence.
"I'm going to fulfill my promise this time, Misaki. I'm really going to win you back." I rested my head on top of his chest. Whatever happens to us now, I hope it wouldn't be tragic like before. The future that we're hoping before is happening now, I hope we could be happy this time..