Hyun Joong looked at his watch again and sighed. It had been a few days since his conversation with Suh Young, and he hadn't been able to run into her since. He glanced at his schedule and then back again at the unrelenting timepiece. He knew he couldn't stall much longer. Either she'd show up in the next minute, or he'd have to stop standing in front of the patient's room and continue his rounds. 

"Miss Hu." 

"Ne?" The nurse looked up, surprised at being addressed by the handsome doctor who rarely came by the station. 

"Do you know where nurse Min Suh Young is? She was supposed to have been on duty an hour ago." 

"Oh, ne. Chamshimanyo." She held up a finger as she picked up the phone and dialed in some numbers. "Yobuseyo? De. Is nurse Min Suh Young still there? De . . . Ahni. She was supposed to start her shift here an hour ago. Ne ne. Algesumnida." She hung up and faced Hyun Joong. "Nurse Min will be up in a few minutes." 

"Is she working in two different wards?" 

"Ahni. At least, not permanently. It's just lately she's been getting all the overtime she can get. She even volunteers on her days off. They've been a little short handed on that wing since 4 this morning, but the nurse in charge said they're fine now, so nurse Min will be here in a little bit." She felt a little proud of the fact that she knew so much about her co worker. Ever since Suh Young had started working at the hospital, she'd kept mostly to herself and didn't offer any personal information. 

Hyun Joong filed the information away for later consideration and decided he'd run into Suh Young later on his rounds. "I see. Thank you for the information." He inclined his head, and the flustered nurse could only blush and mutter, "A- aniyo. Twaesseo," as he walked away. 

A tired looking Min Suh Young came walking towards the station several minutes later, and she made a hasty apology as she clocked in. The nurse from earlier just giggled and waved her off. "Ahni. You should just be late everyday so I can talk to him." Suh Young was in the middle of re-tying her hair when she arched an eyebrow and asked who. "Doctor Hyun Joong," was the bubbly reply.  Suh Young froze, not listening to the rest of the other nurse's chatter. Hyun Joong? She thought about it and then tried to act casual as she moved to one of the computers. "Do you know what patients he's seeing today?"
"Mm I think the ones who got admitted last night. But he should be through those already..." She looked quizzically at Suh Young who was scrolling quickly through the schedules. "He'll be on the 5th floor now."  
Suh Young didn't give a reply, just kept clicking on different things, trying to make it look like she'd been searching for something else. She stood up after a minute more of clicking on random things. "Alright, well, I'll be going now."  

All morning long, Suh Young felt jumpy. She was cautious every time she rounded a corner or entered a room. What's wrong with me? So what if Hyun Joong finds me? It's not like I'm doing anything wrong, she tried to reassure herself. But still she worried, and when her lunch break finally came she took a different route to the entrance.  "Suh Young ssi!" Her hand flew to her chest. "Suh Young ssi! Gidaryo!" 
"O, Jin Sang." She paused to let him catch up, and he laughed upon reaching her. "What's the matter? Did I startle you?" 
"Ahni." 
He blew out a breath. Always one word answers. Well, he'd get through to her some time. "Are you headed out to lunch?" 
"Ne. It's my break time."
"Ah. Did you have any place in mind?" 
"No. I hadn't really thought about it," she said indifferently. 
"Ah. Then you need to let me show you a place. It has some of the best tteokguk."
"Mm..." What to do? Suh Young wanted him to leave, but she also didn't want to be alone if she ran into Hyun Joong. 
Jin Sang was excited. Finally I get to go eat with her. We're definitely getting closer. He smiled to himself. 
"Jin Sang?" 
"Ne?" 
"This place, is it close by?" 
"It's about fifteen minutes from here. Waeyo? Don't tell me you're suddenly full," he joked. She shook her head. "Mian. I only have half an hour for my lunch breaks." 
"Mwoh?? That's really short. I thought you were supposed to get an hour?" 
"No. Just half." Because I want it that way. 
Jin Sang scratched his head. This girl is really something . . . "Then let me take you someplace closer." 
"That's o-" 
"Ah wait here. I forgot something." Jin Sang took off running back towards the hospital, leaving Suh Young standing in the middle of the parking lot. She sighed. Fine. But if I see Kim Hyun Joong . . . . 

"Suh Young ssi." Not for the second time that day, she jumped. She turned to find a very serious looking Kim Hyun Joong looking at her. "Hyun Joong." He was leaning against one of the cars, but he quickly closed the gap between them. He looked down into her clear, widened eyes. "You've been avoiding me," he stated. Suh Young didn't know what to say. She was still shocked. Hyun Joong sighed. "Fine. I'm not going to ask about what happened again if that's what you want... But can we please be friends again? I don't want to keep going around with this wall between us." 
"Hyun Joong -" 
"Please, Suh Young." 
She sighed. She didn't want to, but how could she ignore that look he was giving her? His eyes were so earnest. . . This was Hyun Joong after all. How could she turn him down after he'd been such a great friend? She flashed back to late night study sessions, buying ramyun, and going out for drinks. It had been fun back then. Could she have it again? Now? But she could still see the shadow of a third person in every memory. She closed her eyes momentarily. Will I be able to block that out? Can I just focus on Hyun Joong and enjoy being friends? 

Then very softly, "Yes." When she opened her eyes again, Hyun Joong was smiling widely. I don't want to disappoint him. "Mian ahead of time. I probably won't be that much fun..." 
He chuckled. "You're my friend, Suh Young. That's what matters." His beeper went off, and he pulled it out. "Annyeong. I'll see you later," he waved to her as he jogged back. 
I feel like I've peeked over the wall for a bit. And not hungry anyways, Suh Young started back for the hospital as well, thinking over what had just happened. 

Jin Sang ran into her inside. "Suh Young! Mian, I had to go get my wallet," he panted. "Oh. Gwenchanayo. My lunch break's over anyways." And she went to go peep over the wall again. 

Aniyo twaesseo = no problem, forget about it = you're welcome

gidaryo = wait

tteokguk = rice cake soup 
tteok = rice cake ; guk = soup