A/N: I know that you can't get away with hitting someone with a car so easily. But for the sake of this story, just go along with it.
The moment GaEun opened that door, she felt JongDae's gaze on her back. When she turned towards him, JongDae sat up straight; a look of uneasiness on his face. GaEun assumed he was confused. He did get run over by a car out of the blue; he must not have remembered.
GaEun put on the best smile she could and shook off the tingle going down her spine, "It's a relief to see you awake." GaEun cleared her throat in nervousness, as JongDae's staring started to have an effect. "You definitely healed... A lot faster than average..." She notes out loud as she taps the pen in her hand against the words on the clipboard.
GaEun looks up from JongDae's information sheet to see him biting his lip. As a doctor, GaEun identified this as a sign that he was in pain. She puts down the clipboard in a hurry and rushes to the IV pump, "Does it still hurt? I can give you more narcotics..."
She adjusts the lever so that JongDae would receive more pain killers. GaEun goes back to JongDae's side table and starts to fidget with the bed adjustments. A stray hair falls onto her face as she looks down at the different buttons. She could feel JongDae's stare intensify when she goes to push the strand behind her ear.
"Can you rate your pain on a scale of 1 to 10? 10 being the most painful." GaEun asks over her shoulder as she goes to check the IV pump settings. She jumps in shock when the heart monitor starts going into a frenzy of beeps.
Surely his heart wasn't beating that fast, so there must be something wrong with the machine. GaEun knew they should've replaced it. She leans forward and starts to find the problem. Maybe a few whacks to the screen would get it back and running in no time...
GaEun wasn't aware of how close she was leaning into JongDae until she realized she was getting rather hot. She glanced over to see JongDae breaking out in a sweat. It must have been the same fever from last night.
GaEun puts the back of her hand against his forehead to check his temperature, "Mr.Kim... Do you feel hot? Do you still have a fever from yesterday?"
When their skin came into contact, a chill went down her spine. It wasn't a subtle chill; it was a sudden and thunderous spark. Before she could process any further, she found herself face to face with her patient; his hand wrapped rather strongly around her wrist. GaEun's eyes widen as she finally gets a good look into his eyes.
"Who are you?" JongDae asks straightforwardly. His voice wasn't as deep as she would have expected from this mysterious man, but his voice still made the hairs on her neck stand. The way the words rolled off his tongue entranced GaEun. She didn't even know that JongDae had her curious from the start.
GaEun got so caught up in the sound of his voice, that she didn't realize she hadn't answered him. "I..." GaEun wasn't sure if it was a trick question. She may have studied in America, but she was still quite uneducated in common sense. Wasn't it obvious what she was by her lab coat? Or the fact that she knew how to control the IV pump? It seemed like a simple question, but it was leaving her dumbfounded.
"I... I-I'm just your doctor." She stutters out. The intense look in JongDae's eyes changes, and she could feel the grip on her wrist loosen. For the first time since she walked into the room, JongDae looks away from her. A look of disappointment was all over his face. He cleared his throat, "Of course..."
GaEun stands up, "Do... Do you remember why you're here?" GaEun questions as she picks up the clipboard with shaky hands. She accidentally drops it, and quickly picks it up in embarrassment. GaEun clears her throat before preparing to write.
JongDae watches her intently but then looks away. His eyebrows scrunch together in confusion, "It's a blur really... But I'm fine now. Can I go, doctor?"
GaEun starts jotting down notes, "I'm sorry, sir, but we have to take precautions. It was a pretty bad accident."
"Accident?"
GaEun bites her lip as she has an inner battle. Shoot, shoot, shoot. Should she have just kept it to herself? Should she have just kept the truth from him so she won't get sued, or worse? He doesn't even remember what happened, so maybe she could get away with it...
"You got hit by a car some time after midnight. I'm glad it wasn't anything worse." GaEun visibly gulps when JongDae raises an eyebrow at how she said 'I'm' glad it wasn't anything worse.
GaEun was a terrible liar. She always gives indirect signs that she was lying. From fidgeting to biting her lip, she gave every single sign in the book. It was even worse, since the truth made her feel even more guilty.
Maybe it was because whenever she lies, GaEun knew it wasn't right. She should be taking responsibility for something like this and get it over with. But her fear of getting a permanent mark on her record as a resident doctor made the truth stuck in her throat. Along with the fact that resident doctors don't get paid much.
JongDae sighs and contemplates something; making GaEun even more anxious. She bites her bottom lip and taps her foot nervously.
"Did you call SuHo?"
GaEun breaks out of her trance and looks up in a daze, "Huh?"
JongDae raises an eyebrow, "SuHo. My emergency contact. Did you call him?"
GaEun processes his words, "Uh... SuHo... Oh. We, uh, called him last night, but he didn't answer. We were going to call him this morning, but you had woken up. I can go call him now if you want."
GaEun watches in shock as JongDae pulls out the needles connecting him to the IV pump, "No need. I'm going now."
GaEun stands in place helplessly as JongDae stands up from the hospital bed effortlessly, despite having several broken bones the night before.
"Are you not worried about the person who ran you over?"
"Should I?" JongDae asks as he walks across the room to where his clothes from last night were hung up.
GaEun stutters over her words as she still can't get over the shock at JongDae walking around without pain, "Well... I mean... You don't have to... I just don't understand why you're not at least interested. Considering the fact that... y-y-you did just wake up with no memory of what happened."
JongDae slips off his shirt with ease, making GaEun look towards the ground until he put his shirt on.
"I'm not concerned about that. What I'm concerned about is SuHo not knowing anything." JongDae slips on his suit jacket. He picks up his watch from the table and puts it around his wrist.
"But why are you so concerned about finding the person who ran me over?" JongDae asks GaEun, only making her even more flustered, "Uh... N-No reason. But if you did find out who hit you... Would you, by any chance... Sue them?"
JongDae only smirks in response.
~~~~~
JongDae was able to read people like an open book. Blame it on his keen senses, but he could always read people easily. At first glance, he can tell if you're someone he could trust. It proved helpful to his pack. And to JongDae, GaEun was blatantly saying, 'I'm a liar."
"Are you not worried about the person who ran you over?"
JongDae knew the moment those words came out of her mouth, she was lying. She couldn't have been more obvious. GaEun was connected to him being run over somehow, but that wasn't the problem right now. SuHo was probably going to give him a stern lecture about not showing up on time.
"...But if you did find out who hit you... Would you, by any chance... Sue them?"
JongDae smirks to himself at how ignorant she was to her obviousness.
"No." JongDae replies monotonous. When he tries to exit the room, GaEun extends her arms to block his way. Even if JongDae was much taller than her, she stood her ground.
"You wouldn't sue that person? Why is that?" She asks in shock.
"I'm sorry, but there's somewhere I need to be." JongDae gently pushes GaEun to the side with one hand.
JongDae rushes to the exit while constantly checking his watch. He should probably call out of work today since SuHo would surely want an explanation...
"You're not even limping." JongDae internally groans when he heard the Doctor's voice right behind him. He didn't bother looking her way, "Does that bother you?"
He felt GaEun glance over him, "A bit... I thought you'd have a limp at least. It was a pretty brutal hit..."
JongDae stops and abruptly turns around, making GaEun bump into his chest, "You say it as if you were there."
GaEun steps back and bites her lip. She stares straight at the ground as the truth starts to tumble from her lips, "Well... Th-The truth is..."
"As if it wasn't obvious already, you're gonna tell me you did it, aren't you?" JongDae interrupts her confession.
GaEun looks down in shame and avoids eye contact. A blunder of words fall from her mouth, "I'm sorry... I know saying it was an accident isn't a good enough excuse, so I'll repay you in any way. I feel so guil-"
"I already said I'm not going to sue you. Shouldn't you be happy?" JongDae crosses his arms tauntingly, making GaEun crawl into her shell.
"I am! Really!" GaEun exclaims more fearfully than in actual joy.
"Just forget you ever saw anything, and that'll be good enough for me." JongDae shrugs before walking away, leaving behind an astonished doctor in a trance.
~~~~~
There were so many things wrong with letting him walk away. There were so many rules being broken by letting him leave. Yet, GaEun remained in her spot as the intriguing man disappears from eye sight.
When the fear of being sued subsided, all that was left was a growing suspicion. He must be crazy for letting GaEun off the hook so easily. Not that she was complaining, but it left her even more perplexed. She had so many questions that only JongDae could answer.
"Yah! Dr. Cho!" GaEun breaks out of her trance at the calling of her name. She turns on her heel to see JinHyuk running towards her.
"I heard the person you brought in last night just woke up, but when I went to the room he was gone." JinHyuk exclaims worriedly in between his gasps for air.
"Mmhm... He just... left." GaEun mumbles, hoping her senior wouldn't hear her.
"What?! Left?!" JinHyuk's eyes widen at this revelation.
GaEun stuffs her hands in her lab coat pockets and stares off into space, "He was really... weird. He seemed like he was in a rush, too."
"Maybe you scared him off." JinHyuk jokes. But GaEun could only shrug in response, "Maybe."
"Did he perhaps exclaim that he was going to 'end your career' or 'call up his lawyer' on his way out?" JinHyuk changes his voice into what he thinks JongDae would sound like.
GaEun shakes her head, "He said he was going to let it go."
JinHyuk crosses his arms and hums, "Huh... That really IS weird..."
~~~~~
JongDae knew he was in for it the moment SuHo walked into the cafe with an incredulous look.
"You could've been caught!" SuHo immediately scolds his second-in-command the moment JongDae informs him of why he was absent, "What if the doctor had seen you transform?!"
"She didn't." JongDae confirms with confidence.
"I hope she didn't. Because that woman found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time." SuHo groans, making JongDae lower his head in shame.
"Don't let this happen again." SuHo leaves that demand in the air as he rushes out of the cafe to go to his daytime job. Although SuHo was being hard on him, JongDae knew he was only worried; just as any leader should.
And being Beta, JongDae knew he wasn't fulfilling expectations. After their previous Beta had died protecting the pack, JongDae was put on the spot. SuHo went especially hard on JongDae in order to get him into shape for the position. JongDae didn't want to be a burden to his pack, but so far, he was failing by doing something as simple as staying out after midnight.
And he was going to disappoint his other boss if he's late to his daytime job too. JongDae throws his coffee cup into the bin on his way out without looking. With his briefcase in hand and his tie straightened out, JongDae starts the short trudge towards his office building.
Despite the crowded sidewalks, JongDae didn't have to use his 6th sense in order to know that someone was following him. If they were trying to be covert, they were failing. But JongDae doesn't slow down his pace, and continues to look straight ahead. He wanted to see just how far the person would follow him.
However, when he got to the front of his office building and the presence was still there, he knew this couldn't go any further.
JongDae stops in the middle of the sidewalk and turns on his heel, to see a woman admiring the blossoms on the tree in front of the building.
"Why are you following me?" JongDae firmly asks. The woman ignores his interrogation and proceeds to observe the tree; even going as far as to touch the petals of the colorful blossom.
"Are you just going to ignore me?" JongDae groans when the woman remains unresponsive.
JongDae walks up to her and takes her wrist that was extended towards the tree into his grasp. He tugs on her arm, causing her to twirl and face him.
"Why are you here?" JongDae glares at her, when he realizes it was the doctor who had gotten him in trouble in the first place.
"Oh! What a coincidence! I didn't see you there." She smiles innocently up at JongDae. The woman was a terrible liar.
"Really? Because you followed me for 4 blocks, starting at the cafe." JongDae lifts an eyebrow at her attempt at concealing the truth; the truth which JongDae can easily get out of her.
"If you're still worried about a possible lawsuit, just know that I'm going to put a restraining order on top of it if you don't tell me why you're here." JongDae threatens.
"Alright! Just let go!" GaEun, as JongDae recalls, slips her wrist out of his iron grip, and dangles it at her side.
JongDae notices how his height allows him to tower over her significantly, "Why are you following me?"
"I..." GaEun struggles to find words. Her eyes flicker everywhere except at JongDae, as she contemplates on how to possibly explain the situation.
"I was curious." She admits while staring a hole into her shoes.
"About?" JongDae inquires.
GaEun nervously looks JongDae up and down, "You had 2 broken ribs, a fractured collar bone, a wound that required 6 stitches, and a hit to the head which could cause a concussion. Yet here you are..." GaEun looks over his shoulder towards his office building, "Standing here and about to go to work as if nothing happened. Not even the most efficient medicine in the world can heal a man overnight."
JongDae nervously clears his throat as he realizes that GaEun's thoughts were piling up, and were starting to make sense. She continues her theory, "Either I'm crazy, you're supernatural... or I have the hands of God. There's no other way to explain how you could be healed so quickly."
"Well believe me... You definitely don't have the hands of God, considering those were the hands controlling the wheel when you ran me over." JongDae remarks.
He turns to walk away, but it's GaEun's turn to grab his wrist and turn him back towards her, "Wait!"
JongDae glares down at her, but GaEun doesn't flinch like she did before. She was focused on the medical aspect of the situation. GaEun pokes him in the chest, just above his heart, where she remembers his stitches were, "Whether you're healed or not... Your wound is still stitched up. Come by the hospital occasionally so I can check on it. I already feel bad as it is..."
GaEun steps away from JongDae, "I work night shifts. If you need anything, let me know."
And then the doctor blended in with the city crowd and was nowhere to be seen.
JongDae covers the spot where she had poked him in the chest. It wasn't until he placed his hand over the spot that he realized his heart was racing; just as fast as the first time he saw her.
~~~~~
After another successful operation in the ER, GaEun quickly removes her scrubs and latex gloves and shoves them into the contaminated bin. In the middle of washing her hands, an intern at the ER rushes up to her.
"Dr. Cho, your 8pm appointment is waiting at the front." The intern informs.
GaEun turns off the faucet and grabs a paper towel. She turns to the intern perplexed while drying her hands, "Appointment? I never scheduled an appointment."
"He said you scheduled it earlier today. He needs to get his stitches checked." The intern passes on the message.
GaEun throws the wet, crumpled paper towel into the waste bin without looking. "Thank you for informing me!" GaEun says as she passes the intern.
She easily navigates her way through the hospital until she ends up at the front.
JongDae sat amongst a sea of other impatient people in the waiting area. For some reason, despite the many faces surrounding him, JongDae stood out to her among everyone. GaEun walks up behind his seat, "Mr. Kim?"
JongDae turns in his seat, and GaEun lamely waves at him. GaEun remains glued to the spot as JongDae stands up, grabs his briefcase from the chair next to him, and approaches GaEun.
"You're still in your work clothes?" GaEun asks as she takes note of the crisp suit, shiny briefcase, and straight tie.
"I just got off of work." JongDae supports his statement by loosening his tie, "I usually work late, but they can't exactly stop you when you have to go to the hospital."
"I see." GaEun nods before leading JongDae into the ER.
Since the operation from before was over, the operation room was deserted. Taking advantage of the emptiness, GaEun situates JongDae on a chair before rushing around the room to wash her hands and place her needed supplies on a metal tray.
When she turns back to JongDae, she is taken aback to see JongDae had relieved himself of his suit jacket, and remained in only a white, button-up shirt and a loose tie. She couldn't stop herself from noticing how the shirt perfectly outlined his toned body. When she had brought him to the hospital, she was so caught up in stitching his wounds that she never noticed how muscular he was.
GaEun shakes her head and clears her mind of such thoughts.
"Can you take off your shirt?" GaEun asks in the most professional tone she could muster. JongDae nods as he removes his solid red tie from around his neck.
Without a word, the buttons to JongDae's white button-up shirt come undone with a flick of his wrist. He slips his arms out of the sleeves and lays the shirt on top of the abandoned suit jacket. The planes of his muscular chest were on full display, but GaEun made sure to focus on the task at hand.
"I'll start removing the bandages now." GaEun informs JongDae. Once he gave the nod of approval, GaEun starts to undo the medical tape holding the cloth in place. GaEun unknowingly holds onto his shoulder to keep him still while gradually pulling the tape away.
Once that tape was discarded, GaEun gently peels the cloth away from his wound, as to not inflict pain onto him. But when she pulls the cloth off, she is surprised to see that there was no blood stain on the bandage. In fact, there wasn't even any trace that there was a wound there; except for the stitches, which were deemed unnecessary now.
"Huh?" GaEun quietly stares amazed at what was behind the bandage, "It's... Already healed." GaEun traces her hand over the stitches in wonder. A wound that should have taken days to heal, had done the same overnight. Instead of questioning JongDae about it, GaEun proceeds to undo the stitches.
JongDae remains silent and allows GaEun to do her job. GaEun glances away from her work occasionally to see the way JongDae's head was slightly bowed; making his bangs drape over his dark expression.
"Did you feel any pain while you were at work?" GaEun asks as she tugs at the sutures; trying to avoid opening the wound again.
"No." JongDae's answer was simple and curt.
"That's good." GaEun sighs in relief.
JongDae lifts his head with a smug look,
"Do you feel guilty?"
"Of course I do!" GaEun exclaims, causing her to suddenly jerk one of the sutures. Although it surprises GaEun, JongDae doesn't flinch.
"Sorry..." GaEun mumbles, making her feel twice as guilty than before.
"What was an office worker doing in the middle of the woods, anyway?" GaEun grumbles as she removes the last of the stitches.
"Running." JongDae shrugs.
GaEun takes out the disinfectant and applies it to the already fading scar,
"Where to?"
"That's a secret." JongDae dismisses.
His answer only makes GaEun laugh,
"And you're a man full of secrets, aren't you?"
JongDae suddenly wraps his hand around her wrist and leans closer, almost menacingly into her face as the atmosphere around him changes,
"Why do you want to know so much?"
GaEun searches the depths of his eyes for answers, "If you're a man full of secrets, I'm a woman full of curiosity."
"Being too curious can get you in trouble, you know." JongDae teases, but GaEun could feel an underlying message behind it.
GaEun smirks and gathers up the most confidence she could muster,
"Why? Are you a man full of trouble too?"
"What if I am?"
"Then I'm getting even more curious." GaEun flashes her signature smile.
"So am I." JongDae admits with a mysterious smirk, "Being a doctor, you must not have a boyfriend. Since you work so late."
"Being an office worker, you must not have a girlfriend. Since you work so late." GaEun retaliates.
And she felt it; the little tug at her heart when JongDae flashed his rare smile at her. GaEun could sense so much mystery behind this man. Everything he did made GaEun want to learn more.
~[GabbySLee]~