On Your Ground | Jensoo

Chapter 4

"This cast fucking sucks," Jennie grumbled, as the doctor walked in.

"Hello to you too, Jennie." Jisoo bit back a smile, and Jennie rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, it's a pain in the ass. I used to be able to saunter. I used to be graceful. Girls used to stare at me when I'd walk past. Now they do, but only because they're afraid I'll fall into them or on my face. Again."

"So no improvement with the crutches from a couple days ago?"

"Ugh. I need to thank you from stopping me from falling on my face; you should just follow me around, catching me whenever I trip or stumble on these stupid fucking crutches."

The doctor laughed before leaning against the examination table that Jennie sat on top of. She pulled out the file and asked Jennie the standard questions and examined the cast and her leg. Jisoo stayed next to Jennie for the whole time, leaning into her a little. With Jennie leaning back against her arms on the table and Jisoo pressed into her side, it was almost like she tucked herself under Jennie's arm.

"So what's it looking like, cutie? How many more weeks of this shitty cast?"

"You're healing remarkably well. I've ordered some x-rays for next week – I'll be able to get a better sense then, but I have a hunch you'll be out of the cast soon!"

"Great. Even a bulky cast boot would be preferable to this," Jennie said, pointing at her leg. The doctor pushed off the side of the table and faced her.

"Well, Jendeuk," Jisoo said, shyly tucking her hair behind her ear, "if it makes you feel any better, if a girl who looked like you walked past me, I would definitely stare. Cast or not. See you next week, Jennie."

Jennie's heart gave a squeeze. Jisoo reached over and patted her arm, as usual, when Jennie grabbed her hand, stopping her.

"Wait. Coffee. Let's do coffee, like you said. As friends."

"We should. Definitely," she answered, brightly. "Text me."

-

They sat at a coffee shop a few days later.

Jennie shared a bit about her own life – she moved to Seoul to get away from her family (mostly her mother, she liked Jaebeom just fine) for her undergrad and had stayed since. Using some of the money her mom set her up with before (basically) disowning her, she'd been renting out her house, working at a bookstore, and going to school.

Jisoo told her more about her life as a doctor ("My mom died when I was a kid; that inspired me to become a doctor... Ortho kind of fell on my lap – I was originally thinking oncology, but it hit a little too close to home...").

She went to med school and completed her internship in different cities. She decided to move back a few months ago, to be closer to her father. Unfortunately, there were no full-time surgical residencies available at any of the nearby hospitals, so she took the position at the clinic. She was able to perform surgeries at the hospital – mostly on a consultancy basis with some of her patients or for the last two months, filling in on a vacation leave – but she was itching to get back in the O.R. more permanently.

The conversation was comfortable. Jisoo didn't seem to mind Jennie's general distaste for everything. She laughed at Jennie's snarky jokes, sometimes throwing Jennie off with her own wit. She reprimanded Jennie when she was too harsh, keeping Jennie on her toes. She listened when Jennie shared her frustrations about the situation – the injury, the pain, the crutches (Jennie didn't complain about their appointments though. She couldn't even complain as a joke). Jisoo was nothing but empathetic, encouraging, and helpful.