Chapter 40: An Embrace

It’s amazing how doctors and nurses work. Random, I know. But I couldn’t help but be absolutely immersed in watching how she cleaned the cut on his lip. Being a nurse or a doctor is probably one of the hardest jobs in the world.

People are literally putting their lives and the lives of their loved ones in your hands, how can they deal with that pressure? I can only imagine how long it takes to learn all this stuff, diagnostics, medicines, cures and diseases and there was probably so much more to it than just that. How did they remember it all?

And I thought learning English was a hard and brain straining task to do. It was probably nothing compared to what they do.

I remember my Father telling me how being a Doctor was a very good and well respected profession and that when he was just a young boy that he wanted to become one. Save peoples lives and do a job with meaning and honor. But when his Father left his family, he had to leave school and work several small jobs to get money for his family. He never had the time or money to go to a medical school, or any school at that. He never had the chance to follow his dreams.

I guess that’s kind of what happened to me. After he died we were struggling for money, so I did nearly anything and everything to put food on the table. And then came that fateful day in the market, a year passed and then I met Tiffany and fell in deep and mesmerizing love with her.

Kind of like how my mother and father met, falling in love, getting married and having kids.

The only difference with my story was that I was married without choice, not that I minded, and unlike my father as a child, I never really had a dream that I wanted to follow into the future, an ideal life that I wanted to live. I was too busy worrying about everything and everybody else. But now…I guess I do have a dream.

Stephanie Hwang MiYoung is my dream, my future and my life. I would follow her until the ends of the earth, and I’ll never ever let our hearts untangle from each other, our strings will always be tied to one another.

“Here put some ice on that.” The nurse said softly, I looked up to see Siwon nodding slowly and taking the ice pack from her.

“Uh, thank you.” He gave a small bow as he sat on the examination table, pressing the cold object against his jaw, letting out a grunt of pain.

The nurse then went back, tidying some things on the counter.

I walked up to her. “Thank you for helping my friend over there. Do you think you could give us a moment of privacy?” I asked quietly.

She gave me a small smile before bowing and leaving the room. The door clicked shut, confirming the fact that it was just him and me now. The atmosphere was tense and awkward. If there were one person that I disliked, hated even, it would probably be Siwon. He was an for treating Tiffany the way he did, and then when he said all those things to me on the day I got shot, he kept on exiting and entering Tiffany’s life at the worst moments, and, in my eyes, things would be so much easier if just stayed away from us. But I knew I had to apologize, and, as much as I hated to admit it, I was wrong. Even if it did feel good to punch him square in the jaw, possibly ruining his annoyingly handsome face, I had to say I was sorry, for Tiffany.

I took a deep breath as I turned to face him.

“So…” I started awkwardly as I sat in the chair opposite him. “Are…you feeling any better?”

He gave out a low and sad laugh, making me furrow my brows. Why was he laughing all of a sudden?

“Why are you helping me?” He asked, removing the ice pack away from his face, letting a hiss of pain escape his lips.

I stared at him for a moment as he rubbed his jaw. “What do you mean ‘Why am I helping you’?” I said, gritting my teeth. “You were hurt, so I decided to help you.”

He chuckled slightly. “I mean, why help me after all the things that I’ve done to you, to Tiffany. Why?” He asked seriously. “I just don’t get it.” He went on, “If I was in your shoes, and I saw Tiffany kissing some other guy, even on the cheek, I think I would’ve probably thrown him over the balcony, let alone help him afterwards.” He said as if it was the most difficult thing in the world to understand.

“I guess that’s just the difference between you and I.” I shrugged. He finally met my gaze and stared at me for a moment as if he was trying to read my mind. “I realized I was wrong for hitting you like that. So, I helped you in a form of apology.”

He shook his head disbelievingly. “Do you really think I’m going to believe that?”

I stared back at him, slightly shocked at his words.

“C’mon Taeyeon, we both know that you have disliking towards me, probably even more than that. This isn’t the first time you’ve hit me.” He leaned forward. “And I know that sitting here right now and even conversing with me is enough to want to make your stomach turn. You’re not apologizing because you feel sorry, you’re apologizing because Tiffany told you to.”

Well at least now I didn’t have to pretend that I didn’t despise him.

“I know her too well sometimes.” He chuckled sadly.

“She told me that you’re still in love with her.” I said, my gaze hard on him.

He slowly lifted his head and stared at me intensely, letting out a sigh, breaking his eyes away from mine before he nodded slowly. “It’s true.” He said in a sad tone, keeping his head down. “I know, I should’ve gotten over her a long time ago, but every time I try there’s just something pulling me back.” He sighed. “I’m not going to try and get her back, there’s no point now. She has you, she doesn’t need me anymore.”

“I know how you feel.” I said, causing him to lift his head and look at me, although I didn’t look back to meet his gaze. “After I came back, and you two were still together, I’ll admit that I was jealous of you for having her.” I said truthfully.

He didn’t respond. He probably had a cocky grin on his face, most likely happy that at one point, I did wish that I were in his shoes. “As much as I hate to say this,” He said, heaving a sigh. “I’m glad she has you, Taeyeon.” He said, a tinge of sincerity in his tone, catching me off guard. He gave me a small smile when my eyes met his. “I know you’ll take care of her.” He said, nodding his head, although I felt he was talking more to himself than me.

“Thank you.” I said, standing and bowing to him slightly.

“I hope in the future we can put our differences behind us, and maybe become friends.”

I smiled at him. “I guess we could try that.”

* * *

I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders, making me feel so much more at ease, so much lighter. Maybe Siwon wasn’t such a bad guy after all? In some ways I could relate to him, in the sense we both had to watch the person we loved so dearly be with someone else. It was a sight that I never want to lay my eyes upon again. I think he acted the way he did because he was desperate to keep Tiffany, but we all know how that worked out for him.

I sighed as I entered the ballroom, really just wanting this party to be over with. All I wanted now was to be alone with Tiffany. That’s all. We’d been apart way too much this evening and it feels like it’s taking forever to end.

As soon as I walked in, people began to notice my presence. I bowed to several people in respect, since most of them were much older than I was. They all returned my gesture with a small bow or a warm smile. I was about to make my way over to the ladies I saw Tiffany talking to earlier, but something else caught my attention.

“Taeyeon!” I heard a voice call my name, causing me to turn around. A smiling Jessica, with a very happy looking Yuri standing behind her, greeted me.

“Congratulations!” She said, flinging her arms around my neck, pulling me into a rather tight hug, making it hard for me to breathe. I looked over to Yuri for some help, but instead she stood and laughed at me, an annoying smirk on her lips. I glared at her playfully as Jessica’s hold on me got stronger.

“Sic-a…a-air...” I managed to gasp out ag