"You know if you keep opening your mouth like that, you really are going to lose patients."
Ji Hoo looked at Jan Di as he did inventory of all his supplies. He needed to order a few more things to make it full again before summer break for students. He had seen plenty of them come in with scraped and bruised knees, fractures and many other minor issues. They were free and careless during the summer months.
Somehow, Jan Di had found out about his conversation with Kyu Lee and had hounded him for more information. There wasn't much she couldn't find out if she set her mind to it, but it turned out those two were friends since college. They had had lunch that day and Kyu Lee had spilled the beans about their conversation. If he had known this was going to happen, he wouldn't have said anything.
Why did women have to ramble about everything that went on during their day? Why couldn't they just let it slide and not gossip about everything? That had gotten under his skin every time since he had been a kid. All those times of listening to girls yap about how they were going to get into F4, or how they had been rebuffed by one of them had been one of the reasons he had taken to hiding in the fire escape. Everything had been too noisy.
Now that he thought about things, maybe it wasn't such a good idea to ask Kang Kyu Lee to work with him. She was going to bring way too much noise and annoyance with her. Sure she might be the best OB/GYN he knew but he didn't like her very much.
Jan Di cuffed him lightly across the head. "Are you even listening to me, Yoon Ji Hoo?"
"I'm listening. I just don't care. I don't particularly like Kang Kyu Lee," he replied, signing off on the order list and putting it in an envelope for the accountant to look at later.
"She's not a bad person."
"She doesn't listen."
"There is that. She seems to think she's the only one with good advice at times. Our instructors used to get on to her about it all the time. I wondered what she did after they scolded her. Now I guess she took her anger out on other things." She tapped her hand on the table. "Has she not been taking care of Eri?"
"More like hitting on Woo Bin and not listening to when someone tells her she's allergic to something."
Jan Di made a noise that was more like pity. "Probably so, but I heard Eri told her off a few days ago on the pediatric floor. She essentially said she was an idiot for not checking with her patient instead of relying on the admission paperwork. But you know Eri; she doesn't come out right away with it. She hides it under fact. It hurts worse than being called an idiot because once you realize what she's said, she's gone."
"I think she learned that from us."
The woman laughed. "Probably Jun Pyo more than anyone even though they've barely been around each other."
"She's gotten our worst habits."
They worked a little longer then Ji Hoo closed the clinic. They had to meet everyone for dinner since it was their designated weekly time. No one was supposed to miss unless they were sick or dead. Even being out of the country wasn't tolerated. Jun Pyo had tried that once and they had all gotten him for it. He was still wary of having ice water dumped on him.
They decided to meet at the coffee shop Eri and Woo Bin frequented and go to a new restaurant down the street a bit. One of the chefs was a friend of Yi Jeong's and he had invited them to try it out first. Normally they wouldn't go, but their normal haunts were getting too packed as people tried to get away from the heat.
Hoon greeted them as they walked through the door. Every time he saw him, Ji Hoo was grateful he had been on their side through everything. After Eri had left for France, her father Choi Hyun Won had showed up at the café asking for her address. He had wanted to go see Woo Bin to warn him away from his daughter. Hoon, being the frank man that he is, stood up to him and said everything he felt. None of them had said anything specifically to him, but he had lingered around their conversations enough to know. He had kicked Hyun Won out as soon as he said his piece.
Much like now. As soon as they walked in, Hoon greeted them happily. For a single father, he did the best he could, and his best was this café. He handed them iced coffees out of habit and went about his business. Everyone else was already gathered at the back booth when they walked up.
Everyone was talking at once save one person, but it didn't matter. They were all excited to be together again. Not like it wasn't that long ago when they were all together but it didn't matter to them.
"Are we ready?" Jan Di asked.
"No, we're waiting on another person," Woo Bin said. Everyone looked at him except the person who should be looking at him. Like usual, Eri was oblivious to the conversations with her headphones and new tablet.
"Who are we waiting on?" Jun Pyo asked, his temper about to get the best of him.
"Sorry, I'm late." Ji Hoo cringed at the voice he knew way too well. Turning around, he saw Kyu Lee standing there in what she apparently assumed was an appropriate dress. "I didn't miss anything did I?"
"Not at all," Jan Di said, but it wasn't her cheerful voice. She was warier than ever. So she hadn't invited her. That left one person.
"Let's go eat." Woo Bin pulled on Eri's hand to get her attention then to pull her out of the booth. She went with him quietly, eyes meeting Kyu Lee's face instantly.
No one missed the slight shock before Eri allowed Woo Bin to lead her from the café. They shared glances with each other before following the couple. Ji Hoo could already feel that this night was going to end in horror.
He hated when he was right. They arrived at the restaurant and Kyu Lee immediately started complaining about the atmosphere of the place. It was too dimly lit and no one could see where they were going. As soon as they were seated, she complained the water glasses were too dingy. Then the plates were too dirty. It kept going on and on and on.
Then when dinner was served she nitpicked all of her food. Everyone looked at Woo Bin because they all knew he was the culprit. He refused to meet anyone's eyes. They could all see why he was wary of her.
When the waiter passed by, Eri got his attention then turned to Ji Hoo to sign. He read the flying hands then turned to the man. "She says you put oranges on the side salad. She can't eat them. Plus it should be chicken instead of fish."
The waiter took the entire plate back leaving the expectant woman with nothing to eat. Yi Jeong, who was on her left, cut a piece of his meat and set it on the salad plate beside her. She smiled at him and took it gratefully. She would have asked for a bit of Woo Bin's but he ordered fish so she couldn't eat it.
"Why can't they get the orders right?" Kyu Lee muttered.
"Why can't you close your mouth?" Ji Hoo snapped. Everyone looked at him. "You haven't said a kind thing since you got here. It's starting to get under everyone's skin."
He was tired of listening to someone complain as much as this woman had. No one else had said anything about any of the stuff she had spouted out. No one wanted to since it was a new restaurant trying to get its feet under it. How could someone who didn't know food be so critical about things?
Kyu Lee watched Woo Bin carefully. He met her gaze and held it, something he had never done before. He was doing this on purpose. He knew that no one really knew that he had dated her for an extended period of time. Usually his conquests didn't last more than a few weeks, but they had dated for nearly a year. She had broken up with him after finding out that his family was tied to the mafia. That, and another girl had come into his view.
"Woo Bin," she said batting her eyes at him, "do you remember going to Sky Rose Garden on our first date? You were so nervous you dropped water all over yourself. Then there was Namsan Tower. I'm pretty sure our lock is still there."
Ji Hoo glanced at Eri as the woman kept talking. He was certain she had her hearing aids in, but he couldn't tell what she was thinking. Yi Jeong's hand moved under the table as he glared down to the other end. This was going to end horribly.
Jan Di jumped in to save the situation. "You weren't invited here to give a background on your past relationships. I'm not sure why you were invited here, but that wasn't it. If you need to talk to Woo Bin, do it somewhere else and not here."
Kyu Lee realized what they were doing a little too late. By Woo Bin inviting her to dinner, he had proved what he had told her twice. No matter what she said or what she did, F4 was a family unit. They had completely surrounded the woman she was targeting even though they were sitting at a square table.
Complete and utter shock stole across her face as she watched the woman down the table turn her head and wipe at her eye. Yi Jeong spoke to her then lifted his head and glared at her. Casanova was gone and in his place was an angry potter. He pushed his chair back and stood, pulling her along with him.
Ji Hoo lost his temper as he watched three of his friends leave the restaurant. He shoved his chair back a lot harder than Yi Jeong had and stalked to the other end of the table. He grabbed Kyu Lee's hand and jerked her up, yanking her behind him. He pulled her into a quiet corner away from everyone and put his back to the entrance.
"I told you to leave Woo Bin alone. Baiting him at dinner isn't the right way to get into anyone's good graces. I told you that woman has a hard time with her emotions and here you are bringing up something publicly that has no reason to be public. What happened between you and Woo Bin in the past is just that. It's the past. He doesn't want you anymore, if he even did in the first place so destroying his relationship is petty and childlike. For an intelligent woman, you are sure dumb," he fumed.
"You have no right to say that to me," she scolded. "I'm not the one who keeps a woman locked in her emotions."
"It's not me who keeps her locked in. It's people like you who can't see what's going on and keep your mouth shut that keeps her introverted! Woo Bin has told her everything he has ever done with a woman because he refused to keep it secret, and here you are spouting off things that you did nearly three years ago. We all have enough issues going on right now. We're all worried that something will happen to her or that child, and you as her doctor aren't making anything better!"
He was so mad his face was turning red. Kyu Lee wanted to leave, but he blocked her path. He wasn't the type to get violent, but his words were weapons enough to make anyone fear him.
"When will be a good time for me to come to your clinic?" she asked.
Ji Hoo just stared at her, dumbfounded. "What? You think I'm going to work with you after this stunt? You've really gone crazy."
"You're the one who said he needed an OB for his clinic."
His mouth worked but he couldn't find the words. He did need an OB but not one who would put her emotions before her patients.
He shoved his finger in her face. "I need someone who will listen no matter what they think is right. You don't have that capability."
She was always right, especially when it came to her patients. How could he say she wasn't? He didn't know what she went through in a day. Well, maybe he did since he was a general practice physician instead of specialist like her or Eri. It still didn't give him the right to talk down to her like that.
"Woo Bin and Eri are going to change doctors so you won't have to worry about them," he announced suddenly. "Don't try to change their minds. It won't work. They have an appointment tomorrow."
He walked out of the restaurant without another word. But something strange happened then. Kyu Lee's heart finally resumed its normal beating. What in the world was going on for that to happen?