Yuri's Apology, Will It Be Enough?

"Oh my God, congratulations!" Yuri shrieks and claps excitedly at the sight of an ultrasound image showed on her phone screen. "It's so cute. You guys must be over the moon."

"It looks like a blop of peanut," Sunny grabs Yuri's phone while tossing her dirty scrub into the designated basket on the corner of the resident changing room. "And Irene doesn't look over the moon at all. I bet Jackson poked holes in his behind her back."

"No. I am happy." Irene laughs, clutching the picture to her chest as she sits on Jackson's lap. Both of them are now in Hongkong, spending their residential program in one of the most prestigious cancer hospitals there. "I'm just not sure I can actually take care of a little human being. I mean, I couldn't even keep a cactus alive."

"I'm sure you'll be great, Irene." Sooyoung grabs Sunny's arm so she can get a fair share of screentime in this overly excited video call. "It's Jackson that I doubt about."

"Me?" On the screen, Jackson sticks his tongue out while hugging Irene tightly. "I'm a super husband. I give Irene and my baby nothing but the utmost care, right babe?"

"Wait a minute." Yuri stops undressing mid-way to glare from behind Sunny. "Husband? You guys got hitched?"

"Suprise!" Irene laughs. "We've just got officiated yesterday."

"Whoa. Double congratulations, guys." Entirely gives up to see between her two excited friends, Yuri changes into a fresh shirt and jeans while talking. "Where will the wedding be?"

"We're thinking of doing one back home in a month or two." Irene answers. "You're all invited."

"Awesome!" Sooyoung claps her hands excitedly. "You need to tell me the wedding theme at least four weeks in advance, alright? I need to color-coordinate everything!"

"There's no use of color-coordinating stuff if you have no plus-one to admire all that coordination, Soo." Jackson mocks in a grin. "At least try to grab a gullible intern by the first."

"Oh, Jackson. You know nothing. Soo has upped her game now." Sunny laughs. "She has a department-head wrapped around her fingers."

"Really?" Curiosity plasters all over Irene's face now. "Which department? Is he someone I know?"

"Send that invitation and you'll know." Grinning, Sooyoung moves away from the phone. Sunny, clearly reluctant of being asked about her plus-one, quickly tosses the phone into Yuri's hands.

"Nooooo. Don't get all secretive on me." Irene yells in agony. "Who is he, Yuri? Who is he?"

Yuri grins, shaking her head.

"How about you, Kkab Yul? Have you get it on with Dr. Shim?."

"Babe, what are you talking about?" It's Jackson's turn to grin. "It's Yuri. Of course, she has had Dr. Shim tested every bunk bed in every on-call room available in KJY."

"Yeah. Are we hearing wedding bells from your side too, Yuri?"

The room instantly freezes in a moment of awkwardness. Yuri sighs, sitting down on the bunk bed and smiles wanly at Irene. "I hope everything goes well with the wedding plan, Irene. Take care."

"Wait. What did I say wrong? Yuri. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. Update us on little blop's health every time, alright? See you soon." Yuri waves before quickly end the call. Letting herself fall on the thin mattress, she rubs her face and fall into another deep sigh.

"I'm sorry." Sooyoung comes to sit on the edge of the bed, patting Yuri's thigh. "I forgot to update them about the whole situation."

"You don't need to."

"Yuri..." Sunny also sits on the bed now. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"What do you mean?"

"Ever since that... ahem... event. You've been spinning like crazy at work." Clearly picking her words carefully, Sunny continues. "It's been three months of seeing you juggling endless shifts. It's not healthy and we're worried."

"I'm fine." She lies. She doesn't feel fine at all. Takings extra shifts is her way of forgetting all the mess with Jessica.

"We really hope you are." Sooyoung now gently rubs the tops of Yuri's head. "With Taeyeon coming back from Haepung we really hope you'll be back to our old Kwon Yuri soon. Taeyeon is coming back today right?"

"She is." Yuri smiles a little at the thought of having her best friend working by her side again. "Don't you guys worry. I'm fine and I'll be even better now."

"Good. How about you prove it with a drink with us at Funky Rabbit. My treat." Sunny stands up and offers a hand.

"Sorry, girls. I have an eight a.m shift tomorrow."

"Cancelled. I'll make Jay cover for you." Sooyoung also offers a hand. "Up now. We're gonna drink the rest of the night away."

"Not in Funky Rabbit though." Yuri takes each of her friends' hands and lets them pull her out of the bed. She can't risk seeing Jessica in Funky Rabbit. Not after all the pain she has inflicted on her.

"Let's just hit my boyfriend's place then. He just installed this awesome Jacuzzi."

"No way, Soo." It's Sunny who objects this time. "Yuri and I are not going to third-wheel you all night. Not in a jacuzzi."

"He's away for a conference." Sooyoung raises her eyebrows. "There will be just us and the endless flow of alcohol and take-outs."

"Awesome." Convincing herself that this might be the night where she can wash Jessica away from her mind with a drink or two, Yuri immediately grabs her bag. "Let's go!"

"Let's gooo!"

"Ummmm, I'm sorry, Dr. Kwon." A young man, handsome in a white lab coat, interrupts them.

"What, Sehun?" Yuri glares at the intern standing at the door. "I'm off my shift and definitely not on-call."

"But-"

"You don't get to call one of us unless for a life-threatening emergency, remember?" Sooyoung mercilessly pulls on her scary-resident face at the poor man. "Is this an emergency?"

"Mmmmm, I don't think so."

"Then you should run away from here with your tail between your legs." It's Sunny's turn to play the mean card. "Go! Go before I send you to the morgue to record dead people charts!"

"Dr. Shim sends me to get Dr. Kwon." The intern turns around in fear. "He's waiting at his office."

"Dr. Shim?" Yuri gapes.

"Are you saying that Shim Changmin is already back?" Sooyoung asks in a yell because the intern is already far away.

"Yes! He wants to see Dr. Kwon! Now!"

At Sehun's shouted confirmation, Yuri sighs. "I guess I'll be late to the Jacuzzi party, Soo."

"Are you sure you want to see Dr. Shim now?" Sunny holds Yuri's arm to stop her from walking. "Do you want us to go with you?"

"I'll be fine. You guys go ahead without me."

"No." Sooyoung moves to lay on the bed. "We'll wait."

"Yes." Sunny sits down on the old grey couch, smiling encouragingly at Yuri. "We'll wait."

"Wish me luck." Yuri steps out, taking another deep sigh.

"Hey." Yuri knocks the slightly ajar door before stepping in. "You're back."

"I am." Shim Changmin turns in the leather chair behind his desk. "How are you?"

"Good."

"Those eyebags say otherwise."

"Did you call me here just to comment on my eye bags? They are Balenciaga, by the way. Not everyone can afford two at once."

Eyes twinkling, Changmin smiles. "Ah, Yuri. I miss your humor. Sit down."

"How was the proficiency test?" Yuri throws a small talk because it's Shim Changmin, the ever kind attending.

"Boring. It was the seminar after that kept me alive."

"Cool. It must have been a fun week for you."

"It was refreshing, to say the least." Changmin leans in and rests his hands on the desk. "Listen, Yuri. One of the panel in the seminar, Dr. Shepherd from Seatle, shed new light on some old neurology issues and I like to apply it on one of my patients."

"If you're asking for my help, I hope you still remember that I'm not planning to take neurology as my specialty."

"The patient is Jessica's grandma."

It's like a drop of a bomb. Yuri stares at Changmin with mouth slightly open.

"I hope that by saving Kwon Jiyoon," Changmin makes air quote. "you might find a way back to Jessica."

"You gotta be kidding me," Yuri mumbles and stands up. "I've caused enough mess."

"That's why you need to start patching things up." Changmin stands up too. "This is a very brilliant way of apologizing. I want to help you."

"I think it will be better if we both stay away from Jessica at the moment."

"Until when? It's been three months."

"I don't care about time. I'll wait until she's ready to forgive me."

"Yuri, come on. We can make this work. Trust me. I already have a solid team formed in my mind. Dr. Shepherd has agreed to observe too. We might be able to wake Kwon Jiyoon up."

"What is this? Clinical trial? If it's a patent treatment I would have heard it before. I'm not participating in turning Jessica's grandma into a lab rat, Max. I'm not giving her another excuse to withheld forgiveness."

"Yuri..."

"I've done enough. The in the car. The blow-up in the lobby. I've put too much misery on the girl I love. I'm not going to add more."

"Just think about it, okay. I beg you."

Yuri turns for the door, saying nothing.

"I'll have the files sent to your e-mail tomorrow morning. The first team meeting will be on Monday. You'll have all weekend to reconsider."

"Don't bother, I'm planning to spend my weekend wasted."

"Yuri, come on."

Slamming the door shut, Yuri walks away.

"Yureeeeee."

Yuri stops in the hallway leading to the cafeteria, opening her arms wide for her dashing friend. "God, I've missed you calling my name in this corridor."

"Me too." Taeyeon's smile nearly splits her face in two when they put their arms around each other.

"How was your first day back in KJY?"

"Awesome," Taeyeon whispers now. "I don't want to sound insensitive but damn I've missed real trauma cases so bad."

"Enjoying all the blood and broken bones, are you?"

"The ER in this hospital is like night market compared to the cemetery that is Haepung's. I've got one case of butchered jaw and two cases of punctured lungs this morning alone. Exciting!"

Yuri laughs. "Good for you. Are you going to grab some lunch? My shift doesn't start until 2 p.m. We can eat together."

Shaking her head, Taeyeon drags Yuri's away from the cafeteria.

"No. No. No. Don't drag me to your lunch date with Jiyong. I've had enough third-wheeling for this week."

"Just shut up and follow me."

"Where?"

"Ssssh."

"Taeyeon.... I can't."

It's too late. Taeyeon already drags Yuri into a meeting room. Inside, a few people are seated around a conference table. Yuri's eyes instantly fall at Jessica who sits beside Dr. Webber. Shim Changmin, Jiyong, and two other doctors are also in the room but it's Jessica's cold stare that reaches Yuri first.

"Well now that we all here, I'll give the opportunity to explain this project to Dr. Shim." Dr. Webber nods at Dr. Shim.

Yuri is about to bolt out of the room but Taeyeon yanks her hand and forces her to sit by Jiyong's side. That one act alone serves her another icy glare from the ice princess and Yuri has no other option but to stay. Maybe Jessica wants her here and it will cost her more if she leaves just like that. Adjusting herself on the seat Yuri tries to focus on Dr. Shim has to say but her eyes keep on panning to Jessica.

How can't she? The girl looks so mesmerizing. The anger and annoyance in her eyes make her even more attractive to Yuri's eyes. The way Jessica's lips curl into a deep frown oddly reminds Yuri of how sweet Jessica looks when she smiles. Yuri wants to fix her mistakes so bad. It's crazy how deep she realizes her feeling is when she can't even touch Jessica anymore.

Too bad God hasn't created the button to undo things in life. Too bad Yuri has caused too much damage. Not only she has had in the back of Jessica's car with Max. She also has kept it from her and let her damn told the story. Not only she has broke Jessica's heart. She has also embarrassed the girl by making a scene in the lobby of this hospital right before everyone's eyes.

"Jessica, I'm sorry."

Yuri was going crazy. She was not on her right mind. She wasn't even fully realized they were in the lobby of Kwon Jiyoon's Teaching Hospital. The moment the Porsche stopped on the driveway of the hospital, Yuri bolted out to find Jessica.

"Yuri. Not here." Jessica hissed, glaring. Her eyes were red, probably of all the tears she had shed in the helicopter ride all the way from Haepung.

"Jessica, please." Feeling extremely guilty, Yuri tried to catch up with Jessica's hurried stride. "Let me explain. I can explain."

"Really?" Jessica walked faster. "I knew that , Yul. Those are from that night. There's only one logical explanation of why I found it on the back of my car. The car that hasn't been moved from Haepung since that day."

Yuri gulped.

"It was Max, wasn't it?"

Yuri could not answer. How could she put it into words? The tremendous regret she felt within. Her head spun. Her heart drowned in anxiety. She needed to do something. She needed to fix this fast.

So she knelt. In the lobby, clinging to Jessica's hand like it was her lifeline.

"Please, Jessica. Forgive me."

She didn't really care about all eyes that suddenly fell on her. She didn't count the many heads whipped to see what's going on. She just wanted to show her feeling to Jessica.

"Yuri, don't be stupid."

"I am stupid. I did so many stupid things. Forgive me. Take me back."

Yuri could see Jessica's eyes turn dark. She also noticed how the ice princess' cheeks turn red. Jessica was angry. Enraged even.

"I love you, Jessica. There's only you. Please." Yuri tried once more. "I promise I won't make the same mistake ever again."

People started to whispers. From the corner of her eyes, Yuri caught sight of Max coming.

"Max. Stay away." Yuri hissed. She didn't need him to meddle in time like this.

"Yuri, get up." Max hooks one hand under Yuri's arm to help her up.

Shrugging Max's hand, Yuri tries to make eye contact with Jessica. "Jessica, please. What has happened between me and Max was a stupid mistake. You are my one only."

"Yuri, everyone is watching." Whispering, Max tries to pull Yuri away.

"I don't care."

"But Jessica does," Max whispered again, forcing Yuri to stand up and practically dragged her out of the lobby. "Not everyone in this Hospital knows her ual preference and I think she'd like to keep it that way."

"Oh, God." Yuri suddenly realized her mistake. Turning her head, she saw ember of fire in Jessica's eyes. What has she done? How could she be this stupid?

"Jessica!" She yelled her name one last time. "I'm sorry!"

Not even a single word escaped the fort of pique that is Jessica Jung. The ice princess turned around, walking away without a single word.

"Yuri, what do you think?"

"Huh?" Yuri looks up at Dr. Shim then stares at the picture of brain scans on the screen in front. She didn't even realize there's a presentation going on.

"God. She was daydreaming." Jessica folds her arms across her chest, glaring at Dr. Shim. "If you seriously think of subjecting my grandma into this new treatment at least choose team members who actually interested."

"I think, just like the rest of us, Yuri was just stunned by Dr. Shim's explanation." Taeyeon cuts in, kicking Yuri's foot under the table. "Of course we've read about transcranial direct current stimulation therapy before but the use of Zoltidine alongside the treatment is a little too out of this world, don't you think? Isn't it like simultaneously yelling to wake someone up but then drug her back to sleep?"

Taeyeon's words manage to shift the focus of Yuri's brain. She takes a quick look at the open notepad in front of Taeyeon and reads a few words before putting up her serious expression. "Yeah. While I fully question the use of Zoltidine, I think the 47% probability of waking up is a promising number. We should do this."

"No. I'm not