Chapter fourteen.
" Did it hurt?" Hani smiled at the five year old girl who shook her head while holding back her tears.
" See, I told you it won't hurt that much... " after disposing the syringe and the empty bottle of vaccine, she shared a chuckle with her mother, who bowed and thanked in return.
She was unaware, that someone was staring at her; amazed and fascinated of how much she had improved from a few weeks.
Jihoo , was staring at her, while he reminisced the first few weeks of Hani working at his clinic.
The first few weeks of course;
...
...
The band tightened too much, and the boy was crying, loud.
"Is this how you have been trained at the nursing school?"
"Bianae.. Bianae.." The nurse bowed more than once apologising.
" Just... forget it and bring the vaccine..." Jihoo commanded dismissing her and turning at the sniffing boy, soothing him with a smile.
Hani, stared fascinated at how patient and how calming he was, when giving the vaccine. And the smile ... which made the boy to stop crying. He was surely the doctor prince.
She shook her head and took back her smile, making a mental note, that she should not fall for her employer. This was the workplace.. ani more than that.. a clinic where people are healed... she should focus on her duties... and shouldn't let those feelings distract her...
But it was hard...
For not.. to fall for someone who was,
That handsome.. and generous... and kind...
It wasn't that she had never wondered that why this kind of a person... that handsome... that generous and kind would be left alone.. without a lover..
She was curious but afraid to ask it straight away.
But when she saw that other girl.. Geum Jandi, a doctor she was not a nurse, unlike herself, she thought she had seen the hints of those feelings in his eyes, buried under a friendly smile.
She was curious.. even more, when she came to know that her; Geum Jandi's wedding was coming on next month... and that, it was not him who was the groom.
...
...
Even now, he was staring at the Wedding card, the names written in silver calligraphy, and the names,
Geum Jandi and Gu Junpyo...
Just for once, a few days ago, Hani saw a photo of that girl, dressed in a wedding gown posing with him.. but the photo was as always forever hidden between the pages of his medical book, just like his feelings.
Sympathy – was what she first felt for him, before her own feelings. He was a broken soul, Ani.. a broken heart and a lost soul... yet sort of divine.
" Jihoo Nim... " she thought to speak out at last. " was it her.. your first love?"
Jihoo stared at the curios nurse for a while, " ani..." he sighed.
" Have you finished cleaning the place ?" he quickly changed the topic.
" ah.. arasso... it's just the waste to be kept outside..."
" Hurry up then..." he stood up and left his room. " we are closing up for today..."
Geum Jandi was not his first love...
Since an age of five, he had loved someone else. He had loved someone, and seen only her as a woman for fifteen years, till she threw him away for her dreams.
Min Seo Hyun ; his second omma and first sarang...
She was the one who taught him, what extents one could go for achieving their goals. To think about that, he had never once been her lover but the dearest dongseong she deeply treasured, who pathetically loved her as a woman but not like a Noona, which she had always been.
When she abandoned him for the second time, which was the last time as well, she left him with someone else...
" Jandiya... make uri Jihoo smile again..."
Geum Jandi, who begged her to stay on behalf of him, who asked him to run after her... and whom he thought he would return for after suffering from being a burden for the person he loved.
Yet, she hadn't waited as well, she had half fallen for his chingu, the ever childish Gu Junpyo..
Once he found out that they both love each other, he again ran away, left her for him, as he knew himself, how hard it was to be rejected by one's first love, and as he knew that Gu Junpyo though called great, won't be able to bear that pain. So he let go, again.
Once letting go it never returned back and though he confessed she never heard that. It was how, Geum Jandi, remained as a chingu for him forever just like how Min Seo Hyun remained a Noona.
Now again the cycle repeated, when she appeared at his clinic, Geum Jandi asked her to stay, despite his disapproval.
" I'll be a bit busy the coming months... sunbae... sunbae will need someone to help with the patients..."
Wasn't it the same as before,
" Jandiya... make uri Jihoo smile again..."
He felt like a toy; to be handed down from the elder sibling to the younger.
Was he that tiresome?
He asked himself, but he had enough now.
He had enough of falling for someone.. and then be discarded.
Yet... nonetheless he found something happening to his heart again; himself repeating the same mistake.
Ani...
But this time, he was not going to let go...
" Oh Hani..."
" Eh?" the girl looked up from sweeping the place.
" Remember So Yi Jeong?"
The clumsy nurse nodded her head with excitement, " ye... isn't he the one she's dating- that teacher from the kindergarten?... what was her name again... agh.. I don't remember.."
" Ga Eul..."
" Ah! Ye.." she grinned.
" He's holding an exhibition.."
" An exhibition?"
" Hmm" Jihoo nodded. " He's a potter after all..."
" Oo... I see.." she grinned, wider.
" want to go with me?"
" Eh?" her grin vanished and a gasp took it place, " w-who? M-me?" she pointed at herself.
Jihoo smiled.
" A-A-Arasso!" she smiled and jumped and squeaked.
What a child she was? Even more childish than Geum Jandi... that thought made him chuckle.
So... was it going to be a date?
What would they say?
The week was quiet and peaceful, it was only interrupted when a day prior to the exhibition, Ga Eul appeared all of a sudden just before the clinic was to be closed.
She was aiding her father who was dragging his leg along the way.
" Jihoo sunbae... " Ga Eul called out.
And without wasting another second Jihoo and Hani was by her side aiding the mid aged man to a bed.
"What happened?" Jihoo asked concerned.
" Appa.. appa was working in a ... " Ga Eul trailed off in sobs.
Hani lead her to a bench and soothed her while Jihoo treated Mr. Chu's injuries. It appeared that Ga Eul's appa was working in a cleaning service and he had fell from the stairs injuring his leg. His knee was damaged and was asked to take bed rest for a week or two.
Ga Eul was crying, even when they reached home, and after Hani it was her omma who soothed her and told her to calm down. Maybe because it was her omma or maybe the woman had a unique rough tone to silence her whimpering, that Ga Eul stopped crying.
Jihoo waited outside, till the three of them settled inside, to make a call to Yi Jeong.
" Anyeong." From the greeting he knew, that the potter was worn out.
" Ani... just called to check out..." he hid the news about Ga Eul's appa.
"Mwo ?.. what about hurabeujji?" the doctor became concerned even more.
" He plans to announce the engagement at the exhibition..." it was followed by a sigh and a long silence.
" so... What are you going to do? "
" Hope at least Ga Eulyang's would accept us..." Yi Jeong smirked, for his own pathetic condition.
" Hope everything would go fine for you... "
" Gumao..."
And the call was hung up.
Back inside the house, Ga Eul was sniffing, while aiding to her appa.
Mr Chu chuckled. " Still crying like a five year old?.. agh... when would you grow up..." with another few grunts he managed to place his leg in a comfortable position.
"Appa..." Ga Eul sniffed even more. And Mr.and Mrs. Ch exchanged a chuckle.
" Don't you have a party to attend tomorrow?"
" Appa..."
" Agh! Have you even thought what to wear for that yet.." Mr. Chu asked in a teasing tone.
"This isn't a time to think about those things ..." Ga Eul sniffed louder.
" Better you wear something decent... So saebong will be horrified if you wear that strapless piece of – what do you call it? Is it even a dress.. agh kids these days.. tsk tsk tsk" her mother shook her head with disappointment.
"jeez... how many times have I told you to throw it away..."
" it was-" she sighed, stopping mid sentence. She was going to say it was him, the So Yi Jeong, himself who bought her that pink strapless dress -well it was almost strapless, and it's back was too open for her mother to call it ' proper clothing '.
With a sigh and a glare, she dismissed herself, after all her parents never knew about Yi Jeong's past Casanova life. God knew what they would do, if they came to know that their only child ,their precious Ga Eul was dating a reputed playboy. A former playboy, to be accurate.
But the times when her parents were kept in dark were soon to be ended, an the coming days were not to be much auspicious as anticipated.
A/N:
Yes I know it's sad. And it would be a bit more in the next chapter. It's the theme after all, the rivers slowly streaming through obstacles, they will have a lot of obstacles to face, and we are almost at the peak of it.. so wait and see what our dearest SoEul would do.. of course their love would be enough to reach a happy ending.. despite all the obstacles..