— Chapter 28 —
At the moment, Haneul was checking up on a patient who was just sent awhile ago. The child had a mild fever. Haneul had told the girl's mother to let her take the medicines every after meal.
Hyung Seo's operation is 5 days away. Haneul was pretty nervous since it's her first time operating a patient, but she had learned alot, she'll be successful. I guess?
Haneul went back in her office and sat on her chair. She leaned her head on the headrest and sighed deeply.
She was staring at the window where she can see the nurses and other doctors walking by. She was so out of the earth that she didn't notice Jisung entering her office.
"Haneul? Hey, you okay?" He waved his hand infront of Haneul's face and she snapped out of her thoughts.
"Uh, y-yeah, I'm fine. What brings you here?"
"I just wanted to ask you out tomorrow, wanna go to the coffee shop? I noticed you've been overworking these days"
"Oh, yeah sure. I don't have anything to do tomorrow anyway"
"That's great. Your break time is at 3 right?"
"Yep. You?"
"I'll be out by 3:10. Wait for me here alright? I gotta go now, I still have to visit my other patients" He smiled at her and exited the room.
Haneul was about to close her eyes when a knock on the door was heard.
'God what is it now this time?'
"Yes?"
"Dr. Lee? Your patient in room 173 is having a hard time breathing!" A nurse said and Haneul stood up immediately and ran to the said room.
When she arrived, she checked the monitor and it was working normally. She checked his heartbeat and it was beating rapidly.
She took the oxygen mask and wore it on the patient.
"Sir? Sir do you hear me? If you can please follow my words alright. Now breath in... breath out." She said that three times and the patient finally was breathing normally again.
"Check his blood pressure and everything. If you need me, I'll be in my office" She bowed at the patient's family and headed outside.
She was thirsty so she went to the vending machine nearby. She inserted a paper bill and picked a drink from the machine.
As she got her drink, she went back to her office to get some rest that she needed. She hasn't been sleeping that well these days since she wants to work overtime.
Haneul was about to drink her soda when a hand took the drink from her hand. She was about to shout at the person but she saw her brother standing beside her.
"I heard you've been tiring yourself these days?" Mark said and drank Haneul's soda
"Hey that's mine!"
"Not so fast young lady. You need to sleep right now and don't drink anything like sodas or coffees. It won't let you sleep easily"
"But I'm thirsty Mark"
"Drink water missy. Where's Domin?"
"In his office obviously" The two entered her office and Mark sat on her chair.
"What are you doing here?"
"Just paying my sister a visit, why? can't I?"
"No, you can't. I'm tired and I need to sleep, now can you go back home. It's fucking 8 in the evening Mark. Go back home" She said and laid on her foldable bed on the corner.
"Just sleep Han, Taeyong hyung told me to watch over you tonight, we don't know what runs in Bang Chan's mind" When Mark mentioned his name, Haneul sat up and looked at Mark.
"Should I resign here?"
"Not yet Han, we need to see how those mother fuckers play their game. For now, keep it low-key. We don't want them to attack earlier than we expected" She nodded and laid back on her bed.
"Don't worry Han, we're always with you".
🕯️
"I swear I'm so close to punching Hansung's butt. Ugh that freak" Domin was once complaining again about Hansung. The two really hated his guts ever since their first encounter.
"Chill dude. He's not our enemy here, remember that"
"Yeah yeah whatever, managing my parents' company was way better than this, I don't even know why I followed your path". Yes folks, you heard that right. Domin didn't follow his parents' path for taking care of their company.
Jaehyun was now running it since he had also stopped selling candles and other stuff.
"That's because you love me. Now come on we have to check on Grandpa"
"You're going home?"
"No bitch, I meant Mr. Moon, I call him grandpa, remember?"
"Oh sorry hoe. I forgot, silly me" Domin said sassily and rolled his eyes. Haneul laughed before hitting his shoulder.
"Ow! Why do you have to hit me that hard?! I'm not a punching bag you idiot!" Domin shouted and chased Haneul on the halls.
"You can't catch me- oof" Haneul bumped on a hard wall.. Well, not a wall to be exact.
"Hey you okay?" Jisung helped her stand up and she patted her coat before nodding
"Why are you running?"
"That bitch chased me" she pointed at Domin who rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out.
"Oh, is that so? Be careful alright, you don't want to hurt anybody"
"Yeah, sorry for that Sung"
"No worries. I'll see you later alright"
"Yeah sure, see ya later" She waved before skipping back to Domin who was still panting.
"Where ya two going?"
"Coffee shop, wanna tag along?"
"Nah, I have to do something later. Enjoy your date!" He shouted and ran away from her. Haneul scoffed and shook her head before going to Hyung Seo's room.
~
"Grandpa! 4 more days to go, are you ready?"
"A bit nervous but I know you'll do your best sweetie. I trust you in this"
"Aww, thank you grandpa. I promise me and Jisung will do our best. Have you eaten yet?"
"Yeah, I just finished eating. I was a bit sad since you and Dr. Park weren't here. But I totally understand that you were busy, so it's alright."
"Don't worry grandpa, we'll find a way to accompany you more" Haneul took her stethoscope and checked Hyung Seo's heartbeat.
"Have you taken your medicines grandpa?"
"Yes I did, the nurse won't go out if I won't take it" he glared at the nurse who wasn't paying attention to him. Haneul chuckled and told Hyung Seo to get some rest, since she has to check the other patients too.
The old man followed and after a few minutes, he was in a deep slumber
"Mina, can you please check Mr. Moon's blood pressure later once he wakes up? Me and the other doctors have a meeting in 2 hours"
"Will do Dr. Lee" Haneul left the room and went to Bang Chan's office. As she entered, be was talking with an unfamiliar person.
"Dr. Bang? can I come in?"
"Oh Haneul! Sure, come in. I'll talk to you later Minseok." The man went out of the office and Bang Chan signaled Haneul to sit down
"What brings you here Haneul?"
"I wanted to talk about Mr. Moon Hyung Seo's operation. Days ago, when we were checking up on Mr. Moon, Hansung appeared and said that he'll do the operation instead of us. Is it true Dr. Bang?" Bang Chan looked at her before shaking his head
"No, I don't trust Hansung with Mr. Moon, I heard he's been holding a grudge against the old man. I prefer you and Jisung will do the job."
"Really? then can you tell this to Hansung? I'm not in the mood to face that bitch ass"
"Sure, I'll inform him later. If he'll do something, please report it to me immediately"
"Will do Dr. Bang, I'll go now. Sorry for interrupting your time with your visitor"
"No it's okay Haneul, it's not a big deal" Haneul stood up and bowed before exiting the office. The man who was inside awhile ago went back inside.
Haneul decided to eves drop for a bit, and what she heard shocked her the most.
"Is that the girl that the Lims despised the most?" The man asked
"Well, yes. I need to act for a bit longer then when the time is right, let's do what our boss told us to do" Bang Chan said and Haneul scoffed
"Well too bad Bang Chan, I already know your game and I'm just playing along" Haneul whispered to herself and smirked before walking away.
~
Haneul was currently in her office resting. She got tired after having the meeting with the other doctors and staffs.
She had the time to scroll through Instagram and she was shocked to see the numbers of notifications and chats, yet she didn't bother to check them.
Then, a knock was heard. She told them to come in and the person who entered was Jisung. Haneul turned her phone off and placed it in her pocket.
"Let's go?"
"Yeah sure, let me just grab my stuff" She took her phone, keys, wallet and a emergency keychain.
"Uhh, emergency keychain? What for?"
"Oh Jisung, we don't know if danger is near" She said before going out with the man.
They decided to ride Haneul's car since it was parked near them. Haneul started the engine and turned the radio on.
The first song that played was perfect by One direction.
"Ooh! I love this song. I've always vibed with my cousin everytime this song plays on the radio" Jisung said
"Oh really? Can you sing for me then?"
"Sure, I'd love to" he chuckled and when the chorus came, he sang along
"But if you like causing trouble up in hotel rooms.
And if you like having secret little rendezvous.
If you like to do the things that you know we shouldn't do, then baby I'm perfect, baby I'm perfect for you."
"And if you like midnight driving with the windows down. And if you like going places we can't even pronounce. If you like to do whatever you've been dreaming about, then baby I'm perfect, baby I'm perfect, so let's start right now." Haneul sang along and when they finished, they laughed and Jisung found Haneul's smile beautiful
"You should smile more Han. You look even more pretty with it" Jisung said and Haneul blushed
"What's with the sudden compliment Sung?" She chuckled and Jisung smiled
"Nothing, I just want to see you smile more. I love it" There was an awkward silence between them but they finally arrived at the coffee shop.
Haneul parked the car and they both went out. They entered the coffee shop and it was a bit packed.
"What day is it today?" Haneul asked
"Sunday?"
"Oh, that explains it" She said before walking to the counter, leaving Jisung at the entrance.
"Hey wait for me!" He followed the girl and they both ordered
"Good afternoon ma'am and sir, what can I get you?" The cashier asked and they looked at the menu
"Hmm, I'll get one caramel latte and one oreo crepe cake. And.. how about you Sung?"
"I'll get an iced Americano and one strawberry cake"
"Alright, that would be $45. You can wait on your table ma'am and sir, it'll be ready in 5 minutes" The two paid and thanked the cashier before finding a seat.
The decided to sit near the window since it was the only vacant table for two. They chatted for a bit while waiting for their orders.
"Do you have any siblings Sung?"
"Yeah, I have one younger brother and one older sister. You?"
"I have three older brothers. You can say we're a very chaotic siblings, there's no day that we won't have a simple fight"
"Oh really? I thought having older brothers would be fun"
"No Sung, trust me. I hate being with them. But even tho we hate each other's guts, we still care for each other at the end of the day"
"You must be really lucky to have them"
"Yeah, I guess I am. Anyways, why did you decide to be a doctor than running your parents' company?"
"Well, I'm not that into business. My sister does so they decided to give her the company"
"Oh I see. How old is your younger brother?"
"He's 18. Turning 19 next month"
"Oh really? can I meet him soon? I really wanted to have a younger brother but sadly, I got older ones" She sighed and Jisung chuckled
"Sure, I'm sure he'll be excited to meet you one day" Their conversation was cut by the waiter serving their orders, they thanked him and ate their cakes while chatting a little bit more.
Ever since Haneul had a job, she could say that this was the best break that she had in so long.
— tbc.
Ps. Haven't proofread yet.
word count: 2155 words
date published: 11/05/22
_NCTEAXT_