Chapter 6

HEART BEATS
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Of Anger, Lust, and Comfort.

"Welcome back."

Taeyeon stops mid-track in the quiet corridor. She clocks in earlier than she's supposed to but still, Yunho finds her here.

"Thank you." She tries to walk past him but the man extends both hands to stop her. "Yunho, please."

"I have a present to celebrate your first day back at work." He smiles so sweetly. Even with a single glance, Taeyeon's heart melt for it. "Palms up."

"What?"

"Come on, your attending says palms up."

Taeyeon holds her palms up in front of her body.

"Here, study this chart, we're performing a CABG at eight thirty."

Taeyeon stares at the heavy folder of patient's record laying on her palms. "Yunho, I can't -"

"Yuri cut a heart out three days ago. Even Jackson already had a taste of major surgery. We don't want you to fall behind, do we?"

Taeyeon sighs, holding the chart to her chest. Even with all her confusion toward the man, she can't resist the sweet candy he's offering. For the sake of her career, she nods weakly.

"That's my Taeyeon. See you in OR 3."

The candy is almost too sweet for Taeyeon to bear she feels like fainting in the OR. A while ago she witnessed Sunny help a junior attending harvest a vein from the patient's thigh. Now she's holding a human's heart in her hands while Yunho uses the harvested vein to bypass a blocked artery.

"Relax, you don't want to squeeze Mr. Chalamet's heart dry." The tease that sparks in Yunho's eyes can't even stop Taeyeon from focusing on the procedure. She sighs, letting her shoulders roll down a little, memorizing Yunho's stitching technic for future reference.

"You okay?"

"Huh?"

"Your knee. You've been standing for two hours now."

Glancing up, Taeyeon can see genuine care in those eyes. She hates the fact that it sways her heart a little bit. "I'm fine."

"I'm sorry I wasn't here when you underwent the surgery."

Dead curious about what Yunho had been doing those past two weeks, Taeyeon wisely chooses not to voice anything out. "What suture is that?" She asks, clearly steering away from the initial topic.

"Lembert. You have never done one before, haven't you?"

Taeyeon shakes her hand.

"I'll teach you one day. Remember when I teach you how to do your first sutures? All the poor bananas you butchered with the needle?"

Taeyeon sighs. It was one of the moments that drew her close to Yunho. To her, he used to be a god. The one who attracted her physically and intellectually. She learned so many basic medical knowledge from him. She mentally leaned on him for attention and comfort. Standing so close to him like this, all those sweet days come back to her fast and heavy.

What is this? Does she want to be with Yunho again? Doesn't she hate him? Has she forgotten all the heartbreak? When will she ever overcome these mixed feelings? How will she ever focus on her work with this ghost from the past around?

"Okay. Done." Yunho cuts the string. "You can let go now. Slowly."

Gently, Taeyeon puts the heart back into the cavity.

"Okay, let's warm him up. Get him off bypass!" Yunho's order echoes in the OR. For a few moments, every set of eyes in the room focus on the newly repaired heart. Everybody waits with bated breath.

Taeyeon watches the heart, pans her eyes to the monitor to see no heartbeat, back to watch the heart again. "It's not beating."

"Give it some time. It probably likes the warmth of your hands too much."

Taeyeon glances up, easily spots the grin hidden behind Yunho's mask.

"Give it a gentle massage."

"Huh?"

"Like this." Yunho grabs Taeyeon's hand and presses it against the surface of the heart. "Grab around the heart with one hand and squeeze it slowly.."

Hesitantly, Taeyeon does as she was told to. One. Two. Three times. She's so afraid that this whole surgery will turn into failure in her hands but on the fourth squeeze, the monitor beeping.

"We've got a rhythm." Yunho's eyes reflect another one of his charming grins as he gives Taeyeon a fist bump. "Mr. Chalamet just wants a little attention from Taeyeon. Good job everyone! Thank you very much."

"Teddy, can you watch Sunny close for me?" He asks the other junior attending. "Come on, Taeyeon. Help me fill the chart for this surgery."

Taeyeon wishes she can be the one who closes instead. But Sunny is already jumping in joy as Dr. Altman shows her how to take off the retractor, completely oblivious of Taeyeon's predicament.

Sighing, Taeyeon follows Yunho out of the OR.

"The chart is ready, Dr.Jung." Taeyeon tries to hand the folder to Yunho but the man is busy searching something behind his desk in the small office that junior attendings share.

"I'll just leave it here for you to go over and sign." Mumbling, Taeyeon puts the folder on the desk then stands up to leave. "I have clinic duty today."

"Got it." Yunho shows his brilliant smile as he drops a thick notebook on top of the folder. "In here you can find all the wonder of cardiology practiced by Dr. Burke, the god of heart surgery himself."

"Ummmm."

"You have the talent and the brain." Yunho randomly opens the notebook, revealing two pages of scribbled notes and hand-drawing of an open heart. "I'm sharing this treasure with you so we both can be the best cardiologists of this era. This notebook belonged to him once. You're going to sip from the endless fountain of knowledge."

"I don't want to be a cardiologist."

"Oh, come on. You just say that to avoid me." There. That smile appears on Yunho's face again. The smile that weakens Taeyeon's heart.

"I'm not avoiding you. I have other interests."

"What? Peds? Ob-gyn? Your brain belongs to Cardio." He rounds the desk and grabs the book. Pressing the book against Taeyeon's chest, Yunho then reaches for Taeyeon's hands one by one and make her hugs the book. "There. Read it whenever you have the chance. Dive in and see the wonder yourself."

"I know you're trying hard to avoid me." He steps closer, cornering Taeyeon against the desk. "I know I deserve nothing but cold-blooded revenge but don't let your hatred toward me keep you away from reaching your dream."

"You want to be the best surgeon, Taeyeon. You told me yourself in that one summer night I can never forget. Go. Reach that dream. I'll do anything to support you."

"Why?"

"Because I want to do something good for you.Because someday I want us to at least be friends."

"Friends?"

"Yes. Friends." He stares deep into her soul now. "We can be friends, right? I'm not a virus you have to avoid at all costs. Especially not in this stage of your career where you have to absorb as much knowledge as you can from every possible direction."

Taeyeon looks down at her canvas shoes, losing words.

"I hurt you so much before. I probably am hurting you again at the moment. Words can't convey how much I regret losing you." His hand touches her chin now. "I always want the best for you, Taeyeon. Let's be friends until you're ready to open your heart for me again. Or until my dying day. Whichever that makes you the happiest."

She looks up to that soft gaze. She looks up to that affection that used to mean so much. Her eyes involuntary fall close. She can feel Yunho leaning in. She can feel his breath fanning her lips.

"Yunho! Max told me you're here."

The doors fly open. Taeyeon takes a step back, turning her head to see who has saved her this time.

"Oh. Having one of your dirty meetings, don't you?" A pretty lady in long chestnut hair strides in. She breezes past Taeyeon with total confidence. Her elegant long dress hugs her pregnant body snugly. "I don't mean to interrupt the kiss but we have something to talk about."

"Steph." Yunho gulps. His panic stare pans from the protruding belly to Taeyeon. "What's going on?"

"Our baby has a heart defect." Rather ceremoniously, the lady well-manicured fingers extract an ultrasound image from her Gucci bag and shove it toward Yunho. "I want you to get Addison here now. Get your killer mentor too. Dr. Burke, is it?"

"Heart defect?" Yunho squints at the ultrasound.

"Excuse me, miss." The woman turns her attention to Taeyeon now. "Can you leave us for a moment? This is a family matter."

"I'm not... We didn't..." Taeyeon grapples for word. She doesn't want the lady to think something is going on between her and Yunho.

"Wait a minute." The woman pulls at Taeyeon's name tag. "Kim Taeyeon? Yunho, is this that student you fooled around with five years ago?"

"Steph, come on..."

Slap!

It's too late for Yunho to do anything. The woman already slapped Taeyeon so hard and so fast it leaves a red mark on Taeyeon's cheek.

Taeyeon doesn't even have a chance to gasp. It feels like a lightning strike. The ache goes straight from her fair skin to the very core of her soul. She doesn't want to cry but tears start to well up in her eyes.

"Stephanie Hwang! Are you crazy? Apologize to her now!"

"What? She deserves it."

With trembling hand, Taeyeon's cover her aching cheek. She wants to scream. She wants to slap back. Yet she does nothing but stands frozen in front of the lady in luscious red lipstick, staring at her with bubbling hatred.

"Don't be so overdramatic, girl. A drop of Aloe will fix your skin. Now can you leave? My husband should be available for another intra-office affair in a few days."

Shaking all over, Taeyeon turns and runs. Tears fall unbidden from her eyes. The anger. The shame. She never felt this humiliated before.

She never felt this low.

With the rest of her long shift passed in a blur of frenzied surgeries, Taeyeon gets home 36 hours later with fatigue oozing from her every pore. Nothing can't beat the embarrassment of being slapped by Yunho's wife though. The red mark on her cheek might have gone now but the wound in her heat still feels like new.

All this time, she had assumed that Yunho was so brazen in his advance toward her because his marriage has ended. His pregnant wife slapped the hard truth into Taeyeon today. The truth of how much of a fool she is.

Sighing, Taeyeon opens the door and heads to the kitchen. It's still early but the alcohol in the fridge is calling her name. She's going to drown this humiliation to the bottom of the bottles. She's going to drink the morning away and spend the night wasted. Maybe tomorrow she can forget. Maybe tomorrow she'll feel better.

"Jiyong...." Disbelief strikes Taeyeon when she sees the man in the kitchen, drinking milk straight from the carton in front of the fridge.

It's really him. Kwon Jiyong is back.

"Jiyong!" She closes the distance between them in a short run, grabbing his arms, shaking his body. "You're okay! You're alive."

"Hi." Jiyong smiles hesitantly. "Who are you?"

"Huh?" Taeyeon lets him go, looking up to his confused eyes anxiously. "I'm Taeyeon. We're a housemate."

"Housemate?"

"Yeah. You had an accident." Taking a step back, Taeyeon is now aware of the thick bandage peeking from behind Jiyong's head. "You don't remember me?"

Shaking his head slowly, Jiyong puts the milk back into the fridge. "Everything is a little blurry right now. My head hurts when I try to remember stuff."

"Oh, God." Taeyeon covers . She can't believe this. The incident took his memory away. "I'm so sorry, Ji. I'm sorry."

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windflower01
#1
Chapter 29: This story is truly a gem.
soshifiedpixie #2
Chapter 29: reread parts of this today. you did so well authornim!
forgotme #3
Chapter 29: Request for a sequel??😁 or another yulsic.. You did great..
starfl
#4
Chapter 29: It’s been what? Five months I think! I’m so sorry. I got stuck at chapter 27 I guess… :( I have a trip and also continue with my studies! I’m so sorry but finally I finished this…

…and it was soooo awesome! The best! THE BEST! I loved so much. Thank you for writing an awesomely piece like this. :’) I’m sad because this is the end!!! I got emotional
langsircoklat #5
This story is so exciting to read..please make another yulsic story..😍
kun90ero
#6
Chapter 29: wii happy ending, makasi penulis terbaik deh kamu
SoneBuddy
11 streak #7
Chapter 29: Happy ending for everyone. Thank you author 😊
soshifiedpixie #8
Chapter 29: taeyeon and jiyong's having a baby and yuri and sica's getting married🥺💖 thank you so much for this great story!
kimtaeny1110 #9
Chapter 29: Gosh i love this gang..., so sad that it ends here
Keichan13 #10
Chapter 29: Five years of dating before meeting Yuri’s mother ahahaha far out! How did they do that for so long! Absolutely happy with the ending and also praying for your next story to be yulsic!