A/N: Oops, I lied :D No Siwon/Soo-Kyung action here... but we're getting there, I promise!

ChapterTwelve

Siwon pulled his car into the lot, sliding the gear smoothly into park. The engine purred softly, and then quieted as he reached for the keys. He reached for the door handle, ready to exit the vehicle, only to glance at his watch and realize he still had twenty minutes to spare.

Twenty minutes to contemplate why on earth he was there.

Leaning back against the seat, the door slightly ajar to let air in, Siwon allowed his thoughts to drift. He wasn’t sure why he was back at the hospital in the first place. He had always hated hospitals, and his dislike for them had increased since his uncle was warded. Yet, here he was, back in the one place he never wanted to be, feeling almost excited.

He wondered if Soo-Kyung received the flowers. It had been fairly presumptuous of him to send such a huge bouquet, but he had wanted to impress her. Siwon wasn’t quite sure why, and with a frustrated sigh, he closed his eyes.

He never felt this need to impress anyone before. He was Choi Siwon, eldest son of the illustrious Choi family and nephew to Park Chang Euk. People were impressed just with his name, and he never felt any pressing need to emphasize who he was.

Except with Soo-Kyung.

He wanted her to know that he was different. Different from all the other men she had no doubt dated. He wasn’t just another patient’s family member. If he was honest with himself, he wanted to be more than that. He wanted to get to know her, man to woman.

But so far, Soo-Kyung had thwarted his plans at every turn. After the Parks’ party, she had coolly thanked him and her hosts for their hospitality, and then left without a backward glance with Kang Dae.

He had thought he had been fairly obvious about his intentions towards her – he paid exclusive attention to her and allowed no other woman to monopolize his time that evening, but Soo-Kyung had left the party without even attempting to give him her number. She didn’t seem to realize that he wasn’t the sort of man to lavish attention solely on one woman.

His surprise had turned to disbelief, then frustration, as he realized that he had no other way of contacting her. He had tried, covertly of course, to wrangle her contact details from Jung-su and In-Young, but his cousins were sharp and if he had pressed them further, their curiosity would have been aroused.

And that, he could definitely do without. He loved Jung-su and In-Young dearly, but sometimes the Park siblings didn’t know how to mind their own business. He didn’t want anyone knowing of his relationship – if he could even call it that – with Soo-Kyung until he knew exactly where he stood with her.

But he couldn’t ask her, not without knowing how to contact her. So he’d tried his luck with flowers, sending them straight to her office in hopes that she would know they were from him.

He chuckled to himself at that thought. How many men would send Soo-Kyung a bouquet of fifty roses?

But as soon as the thought entered his mind, Siwon sobered. He hadn’t considered the fact that she didn’t return his affections because she already had someone else. Siwon swore under his breath, the prospect of Soo-Kyung already belonging to another man sending a slight pang of disappointment through him.

He fervently hoped it wasn’t the case; he might be a playboy but he would never go after another man’s woman. And he fervently prayed that it wasn’t so, because he didn’t want to believe that the first woman he had envisioned in his future might not be his for the keeping.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

Seung-heon closed the last file on his table, glad to be rid of the paperwork littered on his desk. There were so many case files to be updated that sometimes he didn’t know where to start. He appreciated the quietness of his office; it was a far cry from the usual hustle and bustle of the pediatric ward. There was always a baby howling, a child crying, a parent scolding, a nurse soothing.

It was never ending. Yet, he relished it all. He enjoyed working with children, interacting with their parents, even when they sometimes got on his nerves. Looking around his office, he smiled as his gaze landed on various pictures of his previous patients, babies and children who had come to him with some affliction or other, yet recovered and went home with smiles on their faces.

Seung-heon walked to the window, a small privilege accorded to him when he had been promoted to assistant head of the pediatric ward. It overlooked the parking lots at the back of the hospital, but what he really loved about the view was the vast greenery that stretched out beyond. When troubled, he often started out at the forest, allowing the trees to calm him as he imagined the fresh air and the damp wet smell of the grass.

A movement in the parking lot caught his eye. He stared at the car. It was the latest Ferrari 458 Spider in a bright scarlet red, designed to turn heads wherever it went. He wasn’t really a car person, but several of his friends were, and this model was all they could talk about for some time. There was apparently only two in all of Korea, and here was one of them, sitting in the hospital parking lot.

A well-dressed man emerged from the car, his legs swinging elegantly out of the vehicle. Seung-heon frowned. What was he doing here?

He knew Choi Siwon, of course. While Park Chang Euk was a patient, his son and nephew had been the hot topics in the staff cafeteria and the pantries. It wasn’t so much as their chaebol status that had set tongues wagging; he knew many a female nurse and doctor had been captivated by Park Jung-su and Choi Siwon’s good looks.

But Park Chang Euk had been discharged months ago. Seung-heon knew because he often had lunch with Kang Dae, and Kang Dae had mentioned that the old man was recuperating nicely after his bypass surgery and had adhered to his instructions for proper rest and care.

Seung-heon was also positive that Kang Dae mentioned that all of his follow-up consultation with Mr. Park had taken place in the Park family residence. Mr. Park was still too weak to move around, but the arrangement had also allowed the prominent family some semblance of privacy.

Which brought him back to the present. What exactly was Choi Siwon doing in the hospital? Did Park Chang Euk have another heart attack? It wasn’t uncommon for elderly patients to have successive heart attacks, but Seung-heon knew if that were the case, it was unlikely that Chang Euk would survive the second one, given his age and medical history.

Seung-heon reached for the phone, intending to make a call, but quickly withdrew his hand from the device when it started ringing.

“Hello?” he picked up the handset cautiously.

“Seung-heon?” Soo-Kyung was on the other line.

“Yeah, Kyung. It’s me,” he automatically answered, his thoughts suddenly shifting to Choi Siwon and remembering the other man’s interest in the social worker.

Was Soo-Kyung the reason why Siwon was back at the hospital? Were they dating? He’d heard, through the grapevine, that Kang Dae and Soo-Kyung had been invited to a party at the Park residence.

He had casually asked Kang Dae about it over lunch the other day, and the cardio-thoracic surgeon had affirmed their attendance at said party. But Kang Dae hadn’t said anything beyond that, so Seung-heon wasn’t sure what had transpired during the party. He had been dying of curiosity, wanting to know if Siwon had made a move on Soo-Kyung – he had sensed the other man’s interest in her in the elevator the other day. But he knew Kang Dae was Soo-Kyung’s trusted confidante for a reason; he never betrayed her confidence, and he never shared more about Soo-Kyung than was necessary.

So Seung-heon was left hanging as to the current relationship between Soo-Kyung and Siwon. He wasn’t sure if Soo-Kyung would fall for the chaebol; she was a woman, after all, and women were often susceptible to good looks and wealth. Men who had both often had women in the palm of their hands.

He seriously hoped not. Seung-heon couldn’t bear the thought of Soo-Kyung being just a mere plaything for Siwon, who would no doubt discard her to the side once he got bored with her.

“Seung-heon? Are you there?”

The voice jolted him from his thoughts, and he belatedly realized that Soo-Kyung was still on the other line, waiting for his answer.

“I’m sorry, I was distracted. What were you asking me?”

“What has you so distracted? I’ve been asking for my file for over five minutes now.” Seung-heon could hear the laughter in Soo-Kyung’s voice.

Her file… “Oh!” Seung-heon remembered he was supposed to hand Soo-Kyung the case notes on one of his patients.

Now Soo-Kyung was really chuckling at his absent-mindedness. “Yes, ‘oh!’” she teased. “You were supposed to drop it off half an hour ago.”

Seung-heon was glad to hear the lighthearted tone. Soo-Kyung had been down since Jae Woon’s death, and for a while he had wondered if she would ever smile again. That fear was apparently unfounded, since she seemed to have recovered and was in good spirits.

“Now you’re drifting off again,” Soo-Kyung scolded, knowing that Seung-heon had stopped listening to her. “Are you busy? Shall I just come over and pick it up?”

“Aniyo,” he immediately responded. “It’s my fault, so I’ll bring it over to you. Give me five minutes.”

“Alright, see you then!” Soo-Kyung hung up.

Seung-heon stood up from his chair, and stretched, reaching for the file that Soo-Kyung wanted. She was the best person to ask, he realized, about Choi Siwon’s presence in the hospital. If Park Chang Euk was indeed a patient again, his social worker would know. If not…

Seung-heon let that thought trail away from him, determined not to think about Siwon’s interest in Soo-Kyung.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

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A/N: If you're curious, here’s how Siwon’s car looks like: http://www.seriouswheels.com/pics-2012/def/2012-Ferrari-458-Spider-Rear-Angle-1280x960.jpg. It's one of my favorite cars... so drool-worthy in red, don't you think? ;)