Lesson #5
Welcome New People
[ ANDROPHOBIA – a condition of which one experiences an abnormal fear of men. I got it, you were hurt, you were betrayed but that doesn't mean all men will do the same. ]
Ga Eul enters Min Jin's hospital room.
The 15 years old patient lays at her bed, staring outside of her window. She didn't look up when Ga Eul pushed the food trolley inside her room.
"Good morning Lee Min Jin! Time for breakfast!"
Silence.
Ga Eul clapped her hand. "Ah! Min Jin-ah I brought some of my old toys with me. Look." She opens her bag and pulled out a pink pig hand puppet. She sits at Min Jin's bed extending her arm to her so she can see the toy she had.
"Her name is Kara. She's a dear friend of mine." Ga Eul waves the puppet in front of Min Jin but she refuses to look at it.
Ga Eul inserts her hand to the puppet's body, cleared her throat and changes her voice. "Annyeong! I'm Kara, nice to meet you. Would you like to play today?"
Min Jin turns her eyes at the puppet then slowly looks up at the smiling Ga Eul. "Seriously, you're annoying." She turns her eyes again at the toy. "Is that even a toy? And what do you think of me, five years old?"
"I brought another toy!" Ga Eul jumps up from the bed and grabs the yoyo in her bag, she's suppose to give it to another patient but since Min Jin didn't like the puppet she'll try this. She went back to Min Jin and played with the yoyo.
"Look, it lights up if you hit it hard." She excitedly demonstrates it to Min Jin.
Min Jin returns her eyes back to her window and Ga Eul knows it would mean she will not talk to her more just like what she does everyday.
With a sigh, she puts back the toys inside her bag, places Min Jin's food tray at her bedside table and left the room.
I'll try it again tomorrow.
"No luck with Ms. Brat?" Jae Ra, Ga Eul's workmate asks as she sees her enter the kitchen with a dejected look.
"Don't call her that. She's just depressed and lonely that's why she's being unfriendly and her views in life changed because of her condition. What she needs right now is someone who can play with her. Someone she can talk to."
"Well, good luck with that. She's been here since before I started here and I've tried everything but nothing. You're free to do whatever you want just don't count me in." says Lizzy, one of the nurses.
"Where are her parents anyway?"
"Business. Min Jin came from a rich family, which of course explains why she's such a brat." says Jae Ra.
Ga Eul sighed again. She got five over-the-top rich friends too and it's true that they could be brats sometimes especially Gu Jun Pyo but she believes there's more to Min Jin's misery than just her condition.
"Yah, Jae Ra, you're in tonight, right?" Lizzy asks, changing the subject.
"I am so in! I can't even wait for my shift to end so I can get ready for tonight!"
"Ga Eul-ssi, you're coming too, right?" Lizzy asks her.
"Huh?"
"I heard some of them are working at the Neurology Department! And I believe Dr. Yoon Ji Hoo's coming as well!" Jae Ra's almost jumping from her excitement.
"Ji Hoo sunbae?"
"Yes, Ga Eul! And that's Dr. Yoon sunbae to you. Super hot F4 Dr. Yoon sunbae but maybe tonight we can start calling him Ji Hoo sunbae. You're coming with us tonight, right? Su Jin says there would be four guys so we need four girls and since you said you're single, I thought it would be nice to tag you along." says Lizzy.
"But don't get Dr. Yoon sunbae, okay. Tonight, he will be mine." says Jae Ra.
"Tonight?"
"Yes. So dress up nicely but not too nice, you know what I mean? We don't want to give them the impression that we're desperate. We'll meet at the entrance of that new Japanese restaurant downtown, 7pm."
"What for?"
Jae Ra rolled her eyes at the still clueless Ga Eul. "Blind date of course!"
Yi Jeong shifts his eyes to his side where a pretty lady is sitting at the passenger seat of his white SUV. She's uh …how does he put it, dressed up nicely? Elegant yet revealing clothes matched with shoes Yi Jeong considers to be deadly, accessories around her neck, wrists and ears, brownish hair that cascades through her see-through back and a smile that makes the guys turn their heads when she walks in.
In one word, she's hot.
Yi Jeong turns his eyes back to the road again. He should feel excited about his date with this gorgeous lady beside him but he can't find himself getting giddy because of it. Maybe because it's a date he didn't initiated to begin with.
He stopped as the red-light flashes above them. He turns his head to her and smiles which she answers with a smile as well. He waited for her to say something but doesn't seem to be happening so he just turns to look back at the road. This is going to be a long night, he sighed.
He was about to come up with possible ways to cut this date short when his eyes caught a familiar face from the group of people entering a restaurant at the side of the street.
With a few found excitement, Yi Jeong makes a turn to his left as the green-light turns on.
"Where are we going?" the lady beside him asks.
"You don't mind sushi, do you?" he asks her with his sweetest smile.
Yi Jeong almost laughed when she shakes her head, staring at his face with a stunned look, he's half expecting to see drool from her mouth.
They parked in front of the restaurant and went inside. His date woke up from his charms upon seeing the place he had brought her.
"What is this place?" she said as she clings at Yi Jeong's arm, waiting for the receptionist to arrange a table for them.
"Tsukame Rarenai." Yi Jeong reads the name of the establishment at the backdrop of the reception area. He bits his lips, containing his grin as he looks at the resto's logo.
"What?"
"Tsukame Rarenai, that's the name of this resto." he said as the receptionist assists them to a less crowded area. It's impressive how they had managed to arrange a nice-looking table for them considering this is not a fine dining.
Yi Jeong helps his date to her seat and then sits at the other side. The table is small with no pre-arranged cutleries or any kind of plate, just a plain standard grill in the middle. His date stares at it with a sour look.
At least now the night is starting to have more life.
An employee approached them and bows, he gave them two sets of menu.
"Why are we here?" she asked him, not even daring to look at the menu.
"We're going to eat." He answered in a cool and calm way.
"Here?" she raised her eyebrow, looking around the restaurant and even shrugged when she looks up at the waiter.
"You said you're up for anything. I thought it would be nice to try something new."
"Yeah, but …this is not what I have in mind."
Yi Jeong can't hide that he's enjoying watching his date cringe as she scans the place even more. He turns his eyes to the menu so she will not notice and decided to order food for the both of them.
Ga Eul is not having a great night in contrary. Lizzy, Jae Ra and Su Jin excused themselves from their dates and went to the washroom, she had no choice but to run after them, not really wanting to be left with their dates alone.
"What the hell! You said Dr. Yoon sunbae will be here?!" Jae Ra shrieks at Su Jin the moment they entered the washroom.
"Yeah! And some of the doctors at the Neurology Department, those are not doctors! They're just Nurse Aids, not even a real nurse!" Lizzy yells.
"Yah! I didn't say Dr. Yoon sunbae will be here! I said some of the employees from Dr. Yoon's clinic will be." Su Jin responded with the same anger.
"What's wrong with Nurse Aids? It's better than jobless." says Ga Eul, she had seen this one coming. She texted Ji Hoo before joining this so-called 'group blind date'. He confirms that he was not invited to any particular dates, in fact he had an operation scheduled right at this hour. Even though it was just his first residency year at the hospital, he and Jan Di had been regarded as highly qualified and most of the time they were invited to assist in operations already. She didn't mention this to her co-workers though, it seems that they have no knowledge of his friendship to Ji Hoo and she believes it would be best to keep it that way.
"Don't tell me you liked them, Ga Eul?" Lizzy asks.
"I'm not saying I like them. I'm just saying that even if they're not doctors that doesn't mean they're bad people."
"Since you like them so much why don't you go back and date all of them." says Jae Ra. She flips her phone open and dialed.
"Who are you calling?" Su Jin asks.
"Joo Hunnie. I would rather go clubbing with him than spend the rest of my Friday night with those losers."
A couple of ladies went inside the washroom, giggling. "He's sooo handsome!"
"I know right! He looks like an idol!"
"No! He's even more handsome than idols! Did you see his dimpled smile? Eeeeiiiiiii!"
Ga Eul and her co-workers have to cover their ears from the girls' screams. "YAH! YAH! YAH!" Jae Ra yells at them.
The two girls who seem to be in their late teens stopped from screaming and apologized then left the washroom immediately.
When the ladies got back to their dates, some of the customers were standing on their sits, craning their necks at the other side of the resto.
"What's going on?" Lizzy asks as they take their seats.
"I think there's a celebrity over there." says one of their dates.
"Are they filming a drama or a movie right now?" Jae Ra stretches her neck upward so she can have a glimpse of the celebrities.
"I don't think so. I don't see any cameras in there. It's probably some lame celebrities on a date trying to disguise as ordinary people." says the guy opposite Lizzy.
"Too bad the crowd recognized them." says the guy in front of Su Jin.
Ga Eul, just like the rest of the diners, is trying to find a good angle to have a glimpse of the celebrity. There was a beautiful woman at the very last table at the corner.
Wow. She looks like an angel.
"Wah, she's so pretty!" says Jae Ra's date.
"Yah! If she's so pretty why don't you date her!" Jae Ra yelled at him.
"With that kind of beauty do you think she will even look at me?"
"Oh yeah, you're right. She's waaaay over your league." says Jae Ra.
"But you know what they say, pretty girls end up with average guys." says Lizzy's date.
"Yeah, that's why we're dating you guys." Jae Ra retorted.
Ga Eul's only half listening to the conversation happening with her companions, she's intrigued at the pretty lady's date. He had his back to the rest of the restaurant but he looked familiar to her. His hair, his nape, his shoulders, even his crisp suit screams familiarity to Ga Eul. If that guy has a single ear pierce on his left ear, she wouldn't be surprised but she's too far away from them to clearly see.
It can't be Yi Jeongsunbae.
The pretty lady is a good give away that it was indeed Yi Jeong but why would he bring his date here? It would be impossible to see any members of the F4 at this kind of establishment. The place is just not F4 material.
Ga Eul rubs her eyes, they might be deceiving her. Lately she's been in the constant company of So Yi Jeong because of the wedding preparations, his features were stuck on her mind. She chuckles to herself.
"The appearance will catch you but it's the attitude that will keeps you in."
Ga Eul whipped her head back to their table, it was the guy in front of her who said that, technically it was her date.
"Yeah, and you know what they say, it's better to date average-looking girls that stress yourself with a pretty one." says Jae Ra's date.
"So you were saying we're not pretty." Jae Ra counters back at him.
Ga Eul sighed. Is it going to be like this for the rest of the night? She looked down at her untouched food. It looks delicious but she's not into Japanese stuff. She prefers Korean, one of the many 'common' things about her.
"Your friend doesn't seem to be in a good spirit."
Ga Eul looks up, her date was talking to her. After her (twice) ex-boyfriend Su Pyo and her old crush Yi Jeong, Ga Eul had never looked at other guys with romantic views, she felt nervous on talking to other men. Her misfortunes with her ex-boyfriend and from her rejections from Yi Jeong, a small fear had started forming in her chest.
She grabbed her orange juice, quickly sipped two gulps before answering. "She's actually being considerate to your friend."
Ga Eul was surprised when he suddenly laughed. She looked at the others, they were talking to their dates as well, except Jae Ra and her date who seems to be bickering, she giggles, those two reminds her of Jan Di and Jun Pyo.
"If she's being considerate then I don't want to see her get mad." He said, still laughing watching the two argue. "If they'll end up together, how are we going to manage being around them?"
"They're not so bad." She said, joining his amusement. "I have friends who fights louder than them."
He looks back at Ga Eul, eyes wide in shock. "And they're couples?"
She nodded. "Yep, about to get married in June actually."
"Wha-" he was left speechless. They both turn to look at Jae Ra and her date, still bickering and when they turn their eyes at each other again, both burst into laughter.
Maybe this date wasn't so bad after all.
"Aren't you bothered?"
Yi Jeong looks up from his tempura to his date. She had her chopsticks in her hand but her food is still untouched.
"Bothered about what?"
She gave him a dissatisfied look but didn't answer. She picks up a sushi from the serving plate, smells it and with closed eyes took the smallest bite Yi Jeong had ever seen in his life. He had to drink his iced tea to suppress his laughter. He should have recorded it on his phone, he and Woo Bin would die of laughter from watching it, no doubt.
Yi Jeong turned his attention back to his food when she opened her eyes, she looks like she's ready to puke. She stood up. "Excuse me." she stormed out and headed to the washroom. Yi Jeong had to cover his mouth from laughing.
Thanks Ga Eul-yang for making my night filled with comedy.
He turns his head over his shoulder to look at Ga Eul's table. She's engrossed chatting with the guy opposite her which he assumes is her date among the four men. The man said something and it made her laugh.
Something inside Yi Jeong stirred. Why does he feel like he doesn't like what he saw? He stares at her for a couple more seconds before turning back to their table. He took another drink, wishing that strange feeling will go away.
His date is back and his mood was lifted again on what she said.
"I think I need to go home."
"Really? Why?" he acted like he was disappointed.
"I don't feel well, I think it's because of the food." She eyes the food in front of them with disgust like they are the grossest thing in the world.
"Aw that's too bad. After this I was hoping we can go ice skating."
"Ice what?!"
"I know a good ice skating rink near the Marriott Hotel downtown." It didn't go unnoticed that her eyes sparkle at the mention of a hotel.
"Ice skating?"
"Yeah, at the public ice skating rink."
Her face turned from excitement to disappointment in nanosecond.
"My car's waiting for me outside, you don't have to drive me home." she said before walking out on him without even a simple smile.
Ga Eul rubs her hands together as they wait for a cab outside the restaurant. They didn't even notice that it was already time to go home. Jae Ra and her date first got a taxi and then they were gone. How the two managed to agree on taking the same cab is a mystery to all of them. Su Jin's date has a car so he offered her a ride home. Lizzy ditched her date the moment a cab stopped in front of her, leaving the poor guy to walk towards the train station.
"I had fun tonight."
Ga Eul turns to her date with a smile. It was actually not bad for a blind date. She had fun talking to …
"Wait, I didn't catch your name earlier." She said as the taxi stopped for them.
"Jun Baek, that's the name you're going to scream in bed."
"What?"
"So, your place or mine?" he asks as he opens the cab door for Ga Eul.
"What?"
"Ow come on, Ga Eul-ssi. No need to still act all innocent. You got me already. I suppose my place, right? You look like you still live with your parents." He surveys her from her toes and up.
"What did you say?!"
Jun Baek gave her a reassuring smile just like what he did during their normal conversation back at the resto. "Don't worry, I have lost of condoms at home. You can choose any flavors you want." He let go of the taxi door and stepped closer to Ga Eul, pulling her waist towards him. "Or we can do it raw, if you like." He whispers.
Pak.
Jun Baek fell to the ground, his mouth bleeding as he looks up with wide eyes at the person who just landed a punch in his face.
*89*