Chapter 38 – Strangers

 

 

“That’s all for today, we shall continue tomorrow,” concluded a man in a white lab coat. “I’m sorry that you all have suffered greatly in medical school for you to come out and do this grunt work. However, that’s just how hard it is to become a doctor. After tomorrow the grueling task of being a resident will start for all of you. If we didn’t weed out all the weaklings back in medical school, you’ll all be weeded out here. If you’re too weak to handle this then just leave now. You’re better off finding a new job than waiting here and wasting your time. You’re dismissed.”

The crowd of fresh residents began to chatter amongst themselves as the director’s assistant left the room and gave them their well-deserved break. Over the past week all the potential residents had been subjected to the exhausting chore of learning the entire hospital like the back of their hand. Although it was hard and boring work, all the young doctors-to-be were eager to keep going. One especially determined woman stayed back and searched for the director. Twenty-eight year old Seo Joohyun hoped to meet him and score some brownie points.

“Hey Seohyun ah, it’s kind of weird meeting you here,” greeted a tall man with a girly hair style. “I guess you applied to our hospital after all. I haven’t seen you since our first year in med school. Where have you been hiding all this time?”

“Jungshin chingoo! It’s been ages I know. I’ve been wandering here and there, hoping to find a good hospital to work at. It’s been a really rough search, but I think I’ll finally get to work at this hospital,” Seohyun chirped eagerly. “It’s kind of sad that you’re one year younger than me but you became a resident before me.”

“Don’t say that, it’s not your fault. You were at the top of your class but you just got a of bad luck. Comon, wanna go grab a quick cup of coffee?” offered Jungshin.

“Nah, I’m on my way to go meet the director. I heard he’s a really nice guy so I thought I would go score a few easy points with him,” Seohyun explained. “Sorry I can’t take you up on your offer today. How about Minhyuk and Jonghyun? You guys were like inseparable back in college. Have they also been working here?”

“Yeah, Minhyuk is an intern with one of the labs around here. I don’t really know where since he just got hired a week or two ago. Jonghyun is also walking around these halls but I have no clue where he is right now. We’re all newbies here so it’s hard but we will manage. How was the first week at being a resident?” asked Jungshin while he fiddled with his long hair. Seohyun had always thought Jungshin was prettier than most girls, but usually kept her comments to herself.

“It was pretty hellish. That guy who’s guiding us is a total . He’s so rude and mean; I’m getting pretty tired of him. I think his name was Jae Min or something,” Seohyun commented quietly. “But shhh don’t tell him I said that. He might try to fire me if he finds out.”

“Don’t worry, you’re not the only one that hates that . Jae Min is possibly the worst resident leader of all time. I had him too and I wanted to die of boredom every time I had to accompany him on rounds,” Jungshin commented. “If he gives you any trouble, just call good ol’ Jungshin chingoo. I’ll set him straight. I’ll just get hyung to fire him for us.”

“Hyung?” Seohyun asked. “You have a brother?”

“Well, he’s not really our brother. Without hyung, none of us would be here right now. I don’t think you ever met him, but he’s such a cool guy,” Jungshin praised. “All the patients love him and he’s just about the nicest guy ever. I’m surprised he hasn’t gotten jumped by a few nurses yet. Anyways, he’s the assistant director here. Can you believe he’s only 28 and he’s already that high up? He’s a freaking genius.”

“Twenty-eight year old genius huh?” Seohyun wondered. “Nah… it’s not possible.”

“Did you say something Seohyun ah?”

“Oh nothing, don’t pay attention to me. I was just thinking out loud. So your hyung is the assistant director here?” Seohyun asked in hopes to swat her thoughts away. “He must be a really capable guy to be able to get you all jobs here.”

“Aw comon, where’s the love? We’re all qualified to get in on our own; hyung just gave us a little push in the right direction. If you want I can take you to him. I don’t think the director is in today so hyung will be the closest thing to him. Although I don’t know if he’s in either. Well, it’s worth a shot,” Jungshin supposed. “Comon follow me.”

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to go bother him? I mean, won’t he get mad that we’re interrupting him?” Seohyun wondered. Although she wanted to go see the director, she didn’t want to get scolded on her first week at work. Even if Jungshin was close to the director and assistant director, it wouldn’t look too good for her reputation if she got in because of her connections after she put more thought into it. “Let’s just forget about this.”

“Nah, Yonghwa hyung will love you I’m sure of it,” Jungshin assured her while continuing at a fast pace. Upon hearing the assistant director’s name, Seohyun’s legs almost gave it. The thoughts that she tried to swat away a few moments ago came rushing back into her head. Twenty-eight years old? A genius? Named Yonghwa? It was too much of a coincidence.  “Some people say he was a total jerk back then, but I find that so hard to believe. Yonghwa hyung was probably a saint in his past life or something. He’s just too nice to hate you.”

“Jungshin, can we go grab that coffee you suggested?” Seohyun begged. “Comon, let’s not bother the director today. I’m sure we will get a chance to see him later.” Seohyun knew it was just too impossible for such a coincidence to occur, but she wasn’t ready to face it regardless. If it was in fact the Yonghwa she knew, she didn’t have the courage to see him just yet. It had been almost six years since she last saw or heard of him and she needed to get her thoughts straight.

“Yonghwa hyung!” Jungshin called through the door once they arrived. The sign on the front only said the director’s name, Lee In Jung. Seohyun wanted to sigh a breath of relief, but even then she didn’t know for sure she wouldn’t be meeting with the man that she had loved for ten years.

“Jungshin… how many times have I told you to not call Yonghwa that in the hospital,” a voice scolded. Another sigh of relief tried to escape her lungs when she heard the voice call. As the voice was female it surely didn’t belong to Jung Yonghwa. “You can’t act so recklessly here. What if the director heard you? You know how he doesn’t really like that here.”

“Shin Hye noona, chill… I got this under control,” Jungshin guaranteed playfully. “So the director and hyung aren’t in if you’re answering I assume?”

“Yeah,” responded the female voice as she stepped out. “Jungshin, I’m only Yonghwa’s assistant so I don’t have any authority over you. If you come back here and bother me I’ll be sure to pass the complaint along to the director. You’re lucky you’re so close to Director Lee or else you would have been fired already. Then again, you and all your ‘brothers’ are a bunch of chodings.”

“Noona, I already told you I’m good. Oh, by the way this is Seohyun. She was my partner for a class in med school. She’s a new resident here so we were hoping to meet the director,” Jungshin explained. “I guess that will have to wait for another day.”

“Hi there Seohyun. A friend of Jungshin’s is a friend of mine. I hope you don’t hang around with this kid too much or else you’ll become an idiot like him,” Shin Hye joked. “May I ask how old you are? I wouldn’t want to be rude and speak to you in an inappropriate way.”

“I’m twenty-eight,” Seohyun responded quietly.

“That’s great! I guess we’re the same age. Well, at work you’ll end up calling me Shin Hye sunbae, but if we ever meet outside then just call me Shin Hye. Well, I’ll see you guys around. I hate to leave you on our first meeting, but I think we will have time to hang out eventually.” With a bow the small woman made her way back into the office, leaving Jungshin and Seohyun to resume their conversation.

“So, where have you been staying lately? I called your friend Yoona and she said you moved a few years ago. I never really saw you since.”

“Well, I’ve been living here and there with people, but I can’t seem to find any place to live. I hate being such a burden but things got so rough after I left my brother’s house,” Seohyun responded while walking towards the exit.

“You’re so rich but you do this to yourself on purpose? Why don’t you just go pay your brother a visit and ask him for some money?” Jungshin enquired. He already knew Seohyun was a determined and upright girl so she wouldn’t listen to him no matter how much he asked.

“No, I needed to make a life for myself. If I allowed my brother to pay for my school tuition and help me in live, I would still be a weakling. I need to do this in order to have a sense of accomplishment. I depended too much on others for too long. I needed to become independent for me to be someone in this world. Enough of that though.” Jungshin eyed Seohyun worriedly as she spoke about her brother. He hadn’t really been too close to her, but they were reasonably good friends. Jungshin always wondered why Seohyun tried so hard in life, but she would always respond with ‘I promised myself I would.’ It never really made sense to him, but he couldn’t question it too much. “Jungshin, I’ll get going now. I have to go see something about a potential house.”

“Hey, if things don’t work out with the house just call me alright? We have an empty room that’s just gathering dust. I’ll talk to the guys about it but I doubt they’ll argue. You already know how cool they all are,” Jungshin happily offered. “I know you’re going to deny it, but please think about it. I’d rather have you close to good friends than off in some stranger’s house.”

“I’ll see what happens. I think I’m at my breaking point now and I have no idea how I’m going to make ends meet. I think it’s about time I took a helping hand,” Seohyun agreed. Ever since she promised Yonghwa to be a stronger person, she hadn’t taken a single cent from her brother. She told herself she needed to become someone great through her own merit. With scholarships, hard work, and a few odd jobs here and there Seohyun managed to pay both her undergraduate tuition and medical school. It hadn’t been easy, but now she was too worn out to deny a friend’s offer of help.

“Don’t worry about us; we will welcome you with open arms. Give me a call once you’re done checking out the new place alright? Don’t be so stubborn anymore,” Jungshin scolded. “This is for your own good. Although it might be uncomfortable living with a few guys since you’re a girl, we’ll all make it work out. Just trust us on that one.”

“Ha, living with a guy…” Seohyun chuckled. Thoughts of how she had lived with Yonghwa for around six months began to swim around in her brain. Lately she had been remembering all the wonderful memories she had back in high school. Although ten years had passed since graduation, it felt like just yesterday they were playing around without a care in the world. “Um, yeah, I’m fine with that,” she answered once she came back to her senses. "It’s no problem. I’ll call you tonight to see how it goes.”

“Great. See ya tonight hopefully,” Jungshin hoped with a smile. “Cheer up alright? Soon enough you’ll be a doctor and you’ll have enough money to buy all the things you want.”

“Hehe, I hope you’re right Jungshin. I’ll see ya later.”

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“I’m sorry, but I can’t offer it any lower than I already have,” a middle-aged woman explained. “Leaving it at 500,000 won a month is already cutting it kind of close. I’m really sorry I can’t help you out more, but even then I need to make a living.”

“Ah, well that’s okay. Some things just can’t be helped can they?” Seohyun reasoned. “Thank you for taking your time to show me around. I’ll be leaving now.” Seohyun gave the older woman a deep bow and headed towards the front door. That was the fifth or sixth time she had to ask a homeowner to lower their price. After all, her salary as a resident was abysmally low and she had no means to support herself at the moment. It seemed that when she threw her money away, the world had closed all its doors off to her.

The dejected woman made her way out of the apartment complex and let out a deep sigh. Life wasn’t ever fair, but it seemed especially unfair for her. After leaving Yonghwa all those years back, nothing had gone right. Her brother left Korea to pursue further business interests abroad, her friends had all gotten really busy, money seemed to elude her grasp, and most importantly she had lost her love. Just as Yonghwa used to, she shuffled her way through the streets and wondered what would become of her life. She had nowhere to go or nobody to turn to these days. Jungshin was a good friend, but she didn’t want to bother him or the other guys. Seohyun began to realize that she would have to swallow her pride and just ask him for help. Just when she came to a resolution, she raised her head to meet with a frightening sight. A car came to a screeching halt in front of her, barely missing her as she crossed the street.

“Yah! Are you insane?!” called the man driving the car. “The light is on red you crazy woman! You should watch where you’re going.”

“Pabo! Stop yelling at her, she could be hurt,” reprimanded a familiar voice. “Let’s go check if she’s hurt.” The female dragged her partner out of the red convertible to check up on the girl they had almost hit. “Kwaenchana?”

“Yeah, I’m fine thank you,” Seohyun answered as she stood up. “I got a little scrape on my leg, but it’s no big deal. I’m sorry for getting in your… Min Jung?”

“Eh?! Seohyun? Oh my god, it’s you!” Min Jung squealed. “Girl where have you been all these years?! I’ve been looking all over for you but I couldn’t ever find out your location. It’s been like six years since we last spoke. What are you doing now? Where do you live? What happened all those years back?”

“Monkey, do you know this girl?” the rude, but extremely handsome man asked. Seohyun looked up at the man at Min Jung’s side and her jaw almost dropped to the ground. The man looked like someone that acted in Hollywood movies. He was tall, well-tanned, and his face looked like a renaissance artist had sculpted it. “Hello… earth to monkey?”

“You want to die? Call me a damn monkey again and I’ll kill you,” Min Jung growled with an acid-filled glare.

“Hey, calm down. That’s not what you said last night. Last I recall, you were the one that wanted me to call you a monkey while we did-”

“Aniya, just shut up. Hehe, Seohyun we have to catch up,” Min Jung nervously laughed while slapping a hand on the man’s mouth. “Look, there’s a café right on that corner. Let’s go grab a bit of coffee and have a girl to girl talk. It’s been too long. You, rude bastard, go off and do something for a few hours. Oh, and I’m keeping the car.”

“Yah, it’s my car. Go find your own. I have the keys anyways, so just get lost…” Before the handsome man could continue his sentence, Min Jung began to dangle a keychain in front of him mockingly. “Ugh, damn monkey! Fine, take the car. You can forget about doing anything tonight. If I come home drunk, you’ll just have to deal with it.”

“Stop complaining and shut up!” Min Jung ordered. “If you don’t leave within three seconds, you’ll wish you never started dating Lee Min Jung. Hana, dul, set…”

“Arasso, I’ll leave. You, girl over there, you better watch out. This monkey is a crazy one,” he warned. “I’m telling you, if you leave your back turned for a second she will kill you. Monkey, I’ll see you tonight. Be prepared to face the consequences.”

“Whatever, just leave,” Min Jung ordered. “Comon, Seohyun let’s go inside. Ignore that idiot.” The two once best friends made their way into the small café and each ordered a cup of hot coffee. “So, what’s up Seohyun? You seem a little down. I’ve really tried hard to look for you when I could but I failed every time. Even Hara and Yoona had a hard time finding you sometimes. Care to tell me what’s going on? How has Yonghwa been?”

“Yonghwa?” Seohyun asked in confusion.

“Yeah, you know the idiot that you met in high school? Jung Yonghwa, the big jerk with the heart of ice,” Min Jung explained in a matter of fact tone. “Uh, are you really okay? How could you not remember Yonghwa?”

“I know who Yonghwa is,” Seohyun replied sarcastically. “I meant why should I know about Yonghwa?”

“He came back to Korea just like he said he would. We split up after the four years were over. After he finished his undergraduate studies he said he was going to come surprise you here in Korea. Once he left, I joined a company and I got sent to help a few people in Thailand. I’m just now getting back to Korea myself,” Min Jung clarified.  “How has he been?”

“I don’t know. Yonghwa stopped calling me a bit by bit before the four years were up,” Seohyun responded. “Around March of the fourth year he stopped calling me. I figured he was just really busy when he didn’t call back anymore. I didn’t know he was back in Korea. Every one of us back here couldn’t reach him at all.”

“Please tell me you’re joking,” Min Jung commanded in a worried voice. “That can’t be right. I was there when Yonghwa got on the plane to come back. He said he was got into a medical school here in Seoul and that he would come find you. You want to know why that idiot didn’t call you after March? Some guy told him it was a good idea to try a ‘mildang.’”

“Mildang?”

“Yeah, it’s some stupid guy trick that’s supposed to make girls like you more. Basically they ignore you for a few days or weeks in order to get your interest. After you realize you can’t live without them anymore, you’re supposedly going to call him and beg him to come back,” Min Jung commented with an angry voice. “Min Ho pulled it once, but I kicked his before he even got to ignore me for a whole day. Yonghwa was hoping to surprise you when he got back to Korea. Are you sure he didn’t come back?”

“After I became really busy with school we talked less and less. This is the first time someone tells me that he was back home. That was more than six years ago and I haven’t even heard his name since then,” Seohyun remarked. “Are you sure he did come back? If he came back around that time I wasn’t here either. My brother took me on some trip to meet some influential doctors in Japan. I’m sure if Yonghwa came back, I would have known.”

“Ugh, that idiot…” Min Jung growled. “I knew I shouldn’t have let him go alone. He refused to let me go back with him. He said it was something he had to do alone. Had I known he would ditch you I wouldn’t have let him come by himself.” The whole situation was confusing to both of them. Both girls were telling completely different stories. If Yonghwa had in fact come back to Korea, why didn’t he find the girl he claimed to be in love with? Neither of the two explanations added up. The couple hadn’t been too close over the years they were separated, but it wasn’t enough for a break up.

“I don’t really know. I’ve been having a really hard time finding work and a place to live these past years. I didn’t know being poor was so hard, but now I realize what Yonghwa had to go through,” Seohyun lamented. “I haven’t stopped thinking about him for a day, but I haven’t had the courage to look for him. I figured if he didn’t show up at the end of the four years that he wouldn’t show up at all.”

“You guys are still complete idiots,” Min Jung groaned. “How many obstacles have come your way since you got together? There have been so many bad things in your way but you always found a way out. How could you let yourselves do this to each other?”

“Can we talk about something else Min Jung? I’m too tired to talk about Yonghwa right now. Even though I haven’t really gotten over him, I’m still really mad. If I saw him again I’m sure I would give him an earful. Let’s just drop it alright?” Seohyun suggested. Her first week at work had been pretty awful and talking about Yonghwa wasn’t making things any better. Although she wanted nothing more than to see him again, she wasn’t sure she would be able to remain calm if she did. “How about you? Where have you been?”

“Like I told you before, I’ve been in Thailand for a few years. I decided to go ahead and major in International Relations while I was in Japan. I originally was planning on working with the Japanese Department of State but in the end I started working with a nonprofit organization. It doesn’t pay much, but the job is a reward itself,” Min Jung told her friend with a smile on her face. Min Jung had always been a caring person so it didn’t surprise Seohyun to hear such a thing.

“What company is it?”

“Oh, it’s the one that Uee started up. Once Uee found her path, she started an organization to help pregnant mothers in less developed countries. I was the administrator for all of Thailand, but I got called back to Seoul to become the Vice President while Uee is touring.” Seohyun’s self-esteem took yet another nose-dive for that day. Every one of her friends had been doing something important besides her. Hara was director of her parent’s old psychiatric hospital. Yoona and Taecyeon were taking care of Yoona’s parent’s business. Uee and Min Jung were helping out the rest of the world. And what had she been doing? All she had done was wallow around in her sadness and do mediocre jobs while hoping to be a resident at a hospital. Compared to her, her friends were all amazing people.

“Oh, that sounds really cool,” Seohyun said in an unenthusiastic voice. “Seems like all you guys are doing something cool besides me. What have I accomplished in all these years? In ten years all of you are important people in this world and here I am barely hanging on. I bet Yonghwa is some bigshot in this world too. It seems like I couldn’t keep my promise of being worth something after all.” Min Jung’s face also began to sport a look of sadness upon hearing Seohyun speak.

“Nah, you’re just a late bloomer. I’m sure you’ll get to where you want to be soon. I believe you’ve kept that promise well. Even though you say you’ve accomplished nothing, you have. You got yourself through college and medical school on your own. If that’s not an accomplishment, I don’t know what is,” Min Jung comforted. As always, Seohyun was grateful to have her friend back by her side. In all the rough years Seohyun was going through she missed Min Jung’s comforts the most.

“So you said that guy’s name was Min Ho? Is he your boyfriend?” Seohyun asked in hopes to change the subject. Her life was already crappy and she didn’t want to drag Min Jung into her depressive state.

“Oh yeah,” Min Jung replied with a gentle smile on her face. Seohyun recognized it as the same smile Min Jung wore when Yonghwa was around. After all those years of suffering, Seohyun was glad Min Jung had found someone of her own. “His name is Lee Min Ho. I met him back in Thailand when I was doing a few tours when I first got there. Min Ho’s dad is a rich American businessman that’s been doing a few acts of service for poor people in other countries. I met him when he was bringing a team of doctors to the village I lived in at the time. Since we were competing for the love of the villagers, things became pretty firey. One day that fire just exploded and well, you can guess what happened.”

“You mean you and him did it?” Seohyun asked with a giggle. “Wow I didn’t know you were like that Min Jung. I guess that time you caught us on the couch really left an impact on you.”

“Aw, comon we aren’t kids any more. Back when we were in high school I remember how embarrassed you and Yonghwa got when we mentioned . Don’t tell Min Ho just yet, but I think Min Ho junior is on his way,” Min Jung joked. Seohyun tried her hardest to not spit the hot liquid all over the girl in front of her when she heard the news.

“You’re pregnant?!” Seohyun yelled, letting the whole café know that Min Jung had a little orb of life inside her. “Ehe, sorry…”

“I’m not sure yet, but my period is a tad late. Although I would rather not get pregnant now, it’s best to have something to tie that idiot down,” Min Jung pointed out. “As you can see we fight a lot, but I still love the big idiot. And you know… the fun we have at night isn’t too bad either.” Min Jung gave Seohyun a small wink and made a ‘rawr’ sound to add emphasis to what she was talking about.

“Ahem, well I think I’ll get going now,” Seohyun awkwardly interrupted. “I’m sorry I can’t stay longer but I’m currently house hunting. Mind giving me your phone number? I guess since you went to Thailand you changed it.”

“Ah that’s right. Sorry I never called you but it seems like we both changed our numbers. Oh, and if I find Yonghwa, I’ll let you know,” Min Jung assured her. “I know you don’t want to get onto that topic, but we have to find him and figure out what happened. You two are never going to learn to stay together are you? Maybe this time you should get a little Yonghwa junior inside you so you can keep him by your side."

“Min Jung, I appreciate the help, but I don’t care about finding Yonghwa anymore,” Seohyun lied. “I’m too tired to care about that anymore. He left me and that’s all there is to it. If you find him, then keep it to yourself.” Seohyun took back her phone from the girl sitting in front of her and stood up to leave. “Sorry I couldn’t meet your boyfriend on better terms. I’ll be sure to greet him properly if we meet again. Let’s hang out sometime alright?”

“You got it. I’ll call you whenever I have some free time.”

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Are you going to be like that the whole night?” Jungshin asked while carrying a large suitcase. “Comon, don’t be so shy. It’s not like you haven’t met the guys before.” Currently, Seohyun was walking along the long driveway in front of Jungshin’s home. From what she knew of the boys of his group, they weren’t all that rich. However, the house in front of her spoke otherwise. The large two story, red brick house almost looked like a mansion. “I already asked everyone and they were fine with it. There’s no need to be worried.”

“But I feel like I’m intruding. Are you really sure this is okay?” asked the worried girl. This wouldn’t be the first time she was staying at a friend’s house, but she was tired of doing that. She needed to find a place of her own where she wouldn’t be bothering anyone else in the process.

“Guys, we’re home!” Jungshin called when he walked in the door. “Here, wear the guest slippers for now.” Seohyun took off her sneakers she had been wearing and slipped on the white shoes in order to enter the house. Jungshin almost had to pull the shy girl into the living room in order to meet up with her new housemates. “I brought a very special guest with us too.”

“Seohyun noona!” called Minhyuk and Jonghyun. Seohyun laughed at their name for her. Although it felt kind of embarrassing to be called that, she was two years older than them. Jungshin, although younger than her, never really bothered to call her noona. “Thanks for taking our offer. It’s been so long since we last saw you. We’ll never forget how you helped us pass medical school. Without you we would have never passed,” commented Minhyuk.

“We thought we would never see you again,” Jonghyun cut in. “It’s good to see you around again. Jungshin told us you’re working with that Jae Min. If you ever get any trouble from him, just ask Yonghwa hyung to help you out. Hyung is a really nice guy and he would love to help you out. If there was an award for the most caring person in the world, Yonghwa hyung would win it. He’s even the same age as you so I’m sure you’ll get along just fine."

“Yeah, hehe, I hope we do,” Seohyun responded nervously. Her stomach was filled with so many butterflies she felt like it would make her fly away. Even though she knew their hyung could be anyone else besides the Yonghwa she knew, she couldn’t shake the ominous feeling away. Something about the situation made her want to just leave their house and never return. All the hairs on her body began to stand on end and she felt as if she had just been dunked in a pool of frigid water.  

“Yeah, Yonghwa hyung seemed to be kind of interested in you. When we asked him about bringing you here he said yes immediately, but there seemed to be something bugging him. He said something about your name being common. I’ve never really met any other Seohyuns besides you,” Jungshin pointed out. “Maybe he knew someone named Seohyun back then? Who knows? Anyways, let’s go grab some food, I’m starving.”

“You mean you guys live with him here?” Seohyun asked while trying to hide her surprise. Her heart began to speed up and the air around her suddenly seemed to thin. She kept telling herself she was making a big deal out of nothing, but her heart wouldn’t listen.

“Yeah, he’s the reason we even have the house to begin with. Since he’s the next in line to be the director, he makes quite a bit of money. He was cool enough to let us all live here,” Minhyuk explained. “I think the director is planning to retire in two years so Yonghwa hyung will become the youngest director at our hospital ever. I’m telling you, that guy is a genius.”

“Ah,” Seohyun grunted in attempt to feign ignorance. “How did you guys meet him?”

“Turns out our parents all knew each other back in Busan. Small world huh? When Yonghwa hyung was in his last year in medical school my mom set up a family reunion and we all ended up meeting there. Once we found out we all went to the same school we all became pretty good friends,” Jonghyun explained. The walk to the dining room became an arduous task for Seohyun upon hearing their explanations. A twenty-eight year old genius from Busan? That was just too much of a coincidence to not be the Yonghwa she knew. Her legs suddenly felt like they were made of jelly and had to work at four times the pace to keep up with the three boys leading her to the table.

“Yo, hyung! Our guest has arrived!” Jungshin called to the man sitting at the table facing away from them.  The man nodded his head and began to pick up all the dishes he had spread out on the table. “Hey don’t clear the table just yet. We still have to eat to.”

“I’m eating a few leftovers from last night,” the oldest male finally responded, leaving Seohyun frozen in horror. “I’ll set up the table with the new stuff I just made while you were gone Jungshin. Here take these and put them in the-” Suddenly, the sound of glass breaking filled the room as Yonghwa turned around and saw the girl standing next to his younger brothers.

“Hyung what’s wrong? Why did you drop those plates?” Minhyuk asked in a worried voice. “Jonghyun go get the broom or someone will get hurt from the glass.” Jonghyun nodded and ran over to the closet where they kept their cleaning supplies. The two oldest people present continued to stare at each other with wide open eyes and a terrified look on their face.

“Do you two already know each other?” Jungshin asked while observing Seohyun and Yonghwa stare at each other. “Is there something wrong hyung? Do you know Seohyun already?”

“Jungshin chingoo… I do-”

“No, Jungshin, I don’t know her,” Yonghwa interrupted the still stunned girl. “She’s a complete stranger to me. You guys eat alone, I’ll be working on a few things for the meeting tomorrow. I’m sorry I can’t stay with you and eat on your first night here Seohyun-shi.” Seohyun wanted to scoff at the words coming from Yonghwa’s mouth, but it was better to avoid conflicts in that situation.

“It’s okay, I’m the one intruding in your house. Thank you for letting me stay,” Seohyun responded and added a deep bow. “I’m Seo Joohyun, please treat me well.” Yonghwa gave her a slight bow of his own and made his way out of the dining room. The pair that had once been termed as the ‘Inseparable couple,’ greeted each other as two complete strangers for that night. If they both analyzed the situation, they were in fact strangers. After ten years of separation, there was no better way to describe each other.

 

 

 

Author’s Note: Hey guys, ace is back again for good (well I hope). Sorry for not updating yesterday but I’m still not really into the writing mood. Before these past few chapters updating had been something I enjoyed. However, now it’s become more of a chore and obligation. It’s not because of you guys, but because I still can’t get my thoughts together. I might update once over the weekend, once I get all my plans out on paper. I know it’s kind of confusing now, but I’ll be sure to explain it. Since I’m still in writer’s block mode, this chapter came out sloppier than I wanted it to. This was the intro to the ‘season two’ of the fic so it was bound to be not too exciting. Hopefully next chapter is better in terms of my writers block.

Yay for the CN Blue boys! I had no idea where to put them, but at last I found a new spot for them. Another character I put in is the minor role of Lee Min Ho. As some of you may not know who he is, he is the same Lee Min Ho from Boys Over Flowers. Since he was paired up with Min Jung for a while, what better way to make up for Min Jung having nobody to love her than to put him in? He might have a bigger role later on, but for now he’s just Min Jung’s boyfriend. Also, Park Shin Hye has made her appearance too. I can’t have a Yonghwa related story without that little cutie. As for her role, we shall see in a few chappies.