She says

“He’s really back???” Bom, undeniably pregnant yet blooming like a rose, asked Dara while the latter had her first break of the day.

“Yes he is” Dara answered with disinterest as she opened her lunch box. She didn’t even bother to ask who Bom was talking about because she was sure there was no one else.

“Well what’s with your reaction?” her friend asked next.

“Everybody’s been talking about him all day it’s getting on my nerves already!”

“Wow!” Bom exclaimed, she had never seen the Head Nurse like this before “I didn’t even know you had nerves.”

Dara sighed in resignation and removed her glasses to massage her eyes “Well I obviously do since I’m getting more frustrated with all these oldies haggling everyone and talking about the “DRAGON” yet none of them could be pushed to go see him. And to add to this, Minji has to do more extensive crowd control than usual because all the locals seem to have heard of the island bad boy’s return and would like to pick-up more gossip to share. I can’t even distinguish who’s sick and who’s just here to tittle-tattle because they’re all at the entrance!”

“Oh my Dara! You’re really worked up about this aren’t you?”

“I am” she admitted as she arranged her meal “We’re swamped with people and I’m supposed to manage everyone but despite all the help it’s still not enough.”

“Your indeed in a very hard position” Bom told her sympathetically then patted her cheeks “But I know you Dara, this is nothing compared to what you’ve been able to already accomplish at this place.”

“Well… he just might change that.”

“Ow! Dara!!! Ji Yong is a different guy now. We’ve been talking over the phone since my marriage to Seunghyun and he’s a really changed man.”

Eating as though the food was just passing through , Dara frowned “I hope that’s true.”

Bom handed her a glass of water because she looked like she needed one and said in defense of her ‘cousin-in-law’, “He is a changed man now Dara… I really tell you. Which! Which! Makes him all the more exciting! So you really better watch out when our high school batch mates hear about it”

“I hope to God women don’t flock in here and bait him. The oldies are already hard to handle as it is.”

“But you have to understand them… didn’t you ever fantasize about Ji too?”

Dara turned red as a tomato “What are you talking about?!?”

The pregnant woman’s smile widened “Come on! Don’t tell me that when we were back in high school you didn’t secretly have a crush on Ji? He was every girl’s dream guy.”

“That’s a lie” Dara immediately answered “And I’m sure that you had set your eyes on Seunghyun since that time so Ji isn’t your dream guy.”

“But that didn’t mean I didn’t look” Bom told her mischievously “He was just so handsome with his uniform shirt let loose, his thick hair untouched by wax, and his demeanor. You never know whether you’re going to end up in jail or in his bed when you go out with him.”

“Bommie!” she apprehended “What would Seunghyun say if he hears you?”

“He’d laugh most probably. He just doesn’t seem to get jealous of any of the guys except for Nickhun.”

Dara laughed “Well you were supposed to marry Nickhun before Seunghyun woke up to reality and realized you guys are meant to be together so you have to give the man that. He can’t help it sometimes.”

Bom gave a small smile “Of course I do understand that and YOU’RE COMPLETELY CHANGING THE TOPIC! Come on Dara! Admit it, you had a crush on Ji Yong before too right?”

“You won’t let up will you? I never had a crush on him” she denied with utmost sincerity “I always thought he was such a show-off.”

“Really?” Bom asked in sincere surprise and looked at Dara as though she was not of this world.

“What is that look for? I really didn’t like him” Dara confirmed and resumed her eating as Bom looked on in puzzled curiosity.

She pretended not to notice the disbelief in Bom’s eyes and acted as normally as she can for she would never admit it to anyone even if they tie her to a stake and burn her.

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He says

In spite of the number of people inside the clinic, Young Bae, Seunghyun, and Ji found some time for themselves to have lunch together. Doctors weren’t really supposed to do it and Dara would chastise them if she knew but she was currently busy and would be busy for thirty minutes more – if they calculated the time right.

“We’re really sneaking around huh?” Ji asked Bae and his cousin.

“Dara disciplines us like a mother hen” his closest friend answered “but hey I’m not complaining about it coz she’s really effective. However, I thought it’d be great to sit down and talk to you some more man. I’ve had no news about you until last week when hyung told me you agreed to come down here.”

He smiled “My chiefs gave me a leave and told me to return when I feel like I can come back on field again.”

“That break’s well deserved” Seunghyun answered and opened the lunch box that Bom had prepared for him.

“Wow!” Ji exclaimed “That looks good.”

“It is” Seunghyun answered proudly “Bom’s cooking is heavenly and don’t worry, she cooked for the two of us.”

“Wonderful!” he responded excitedly “She’s really thoughtful. I haven’t tasted anything other than my cooking and the army’s in ages.”

“You don’t eat out at restaurants?” Young Bae asked.

“I’m sometimes too lazy to go out and since I don’t have anyone I want to go out with, I just keep to my pad and cook.”

“No way! You? The one who girls can’t seem to get their hands off from?!?”

Ji smiled “I didn’t mean there weren’t girls around. I just meant there was no one I wanted to go out with up there.”

“That’ll be great news for all single women under the age of thirty in the island” Young Bae smiled “I’m betting women will be gathering around in a disorderly queue by tomorrow.”

“Single women under thirty?” Ji jibed back “Come on man! That doesn’t nearly give me enough scope! You know I prefer experience over innocence.”

“Thus all men in this island have locked up their daughters and wives as we speak” Seunghyun announced as he handed Ji’s share “Do you know that my phone has been incessantly ringing the moment you left and settled in your clinic? What have you done in the ferry?”

He snickered “Travelled on it” he answered “But apparently that’s enough for people to start putting up arms and loading their guns. You didn’t warm people beforehand that I was going to be the substitute doctor did you?”

“Let’s say that I preferred to wait until you’re finally here before announcing it.”

“Coward” Ji accused him and began devouring Bom’s cooking.

“Well… haven’t you ever thought of settling down though?” the big man inquired seriously.

“Why would I?” Ji asked him back.

“Well it’s high time for you and I according to everyone on this island” the other man answered, making Ji look at his best friend with incredulity “Seunghyun already has Bom and Seung-ri’s just recently married too. Teddy’s settled down for quite some time and so the pressure is on for me and Dae and since you’re here, you too.”

“Why should I let pressure dictate my decision of when to settle down?” he answered.

“I’m not saying it’s going to dictate you” Seunghyun answered “what I am saying though is that it might be good for you to start thinking about it too. Most especially as you’re the one farthest away from family. I’m constantly worried that no one’s taking care of you and you really need someone like that in your line of work.”

“I can perfectly take care of myself so I don’t need to think about that yet and if I need someone to talk to I can just pick-up the phone and talk to any of you guys” Ji answered stubbornly, stuffing his mouth.

Seunghyun laughed and shook his head “You’re going to be very difficult to bend dear cousin. I pray that someone comes along and makes you realize just what you’ve been missing out on coz you do know you can’t always just call me and if Bae here settles down too, you can’t also bother him that much coz our wives wouldn’t like it.”

“This is one of the things I was afraid of when you got married” Ji told his cousin “You’re all sappy and stuff now.”

Seunghyun thumped him on the back “Tell me that after getting married huh?”

Young Bae laughed “It’ll be tough to look for someone for Ji, though. You’d need a mother hen like Dara to be able to control him.”

“Control?!? If she’s going to control me, I’d be out the door without a word.”

They all laughed at Ji’s very obvious distaste. They all knew how he hated that word – hence, his rebellion during their teens.

“Ohey!” Ji cried out after laughing for a whole five minutes, remembering something “What happened to Dara? It really surprised me to see her so changed. I remember her from before as this girl who had glasses bigger than her face and always buried in a book. She wouldn’t even talk before.”

Young Bae smiled at his reminiscence “You shouldn’t be so surprised about that as you’ve changed a lot yourself.”

“You got a point there man” Ji conceded “but did something happen? It felt like something did.”

Seunghyun nodded and suddenly looked as solemn as an owl “We didn’t tell you about it but about five years after you left, Principal Park passed away due to a car accident. It was the same spot where your parents had their accident. Mrs. Lee, her Aunt then became the Principal, and Dara decided to leave to pursue further studies in Seoul. That’s where she became a nurse and worked in the General Hospital. Before she came back here a year ago, she had been staying in the Philippines and doing voluntary work there. She has plans of taking up medicine too but as of the moment, I think she’s put that on hold. She told me that she’ll stay on until Bom can replace her as Head Nurse.”

“That’s impressive” Ji commended “I didn’t think she’d be able to last a minute in Seoul on her own much more in the Philippines.”

“It IS impressive” Young Bae agreed with a smile “We guess that’s why she’s become so tough. Forcing herself to live on her own and being so far away from any of the family she has left made her the mother hen she is now.”

“She must be really tough on her children.”

“She isn’t married yet” his closest friend answered “She was engaged to a lawyer in Seoul but they parted ways when she decided to go to the Philippines.”

“Ow” Ji responded “Despite of the way she looked like before, I was expecting her to be one of those who would get hitched early because wasn’t she pre-arranged to marry the son of a family friend of theirs?”

“Yup” Seunghyun replied, finishing off his lunch “That guy was actually the lawyer and his name is Jay. I’d heard that he even came down here when he heard she was back in the country and tried to woo her again.”

“She rejected him?!?”

“Well… not exactly” Young Bae said “From what Bom told us, Dara had told the guy that there were still a lot of things that she wanted to do and if he could wait then maybe they would still end up together.”

“And the guy agreed to wait???”

“It seems so.”

“Wow! That’s some dedication.”

Seunghyun smiled “That’s what I said so myself but you can’t really blame the guy. Maybe he’s really smitten with her and I wouldn’t be surprised. Dara’s not only developed the attitude, she’s also come out of her shell physically. I almost didn’t recognize her when she came back here until Bom told me who she is.”

Young Bae laughed “Seung-ri even tried to hit on her remember?”

Seunghyun laughed at that too.

“She does look different” Ji agreed “and maybe she’s developed the attitude too but I hope she doesn’t strangle me with her mother hen-ly powers.”

“We’ll see about that” Young Bae told him “She was able to bend over Seung-ri and Dae.”He looked at his friend and knew a challenge just by the glint in his eyes.

“You two” Seunghyun cut in and gave them both a look of warning “Stop that ok? Dara’s not someone you’re supposed to play around with and if she finds out you’re both purposely making her job hard for her, she’ll hang you outside to dry.”