Chapter Text
Jeong Won held her tighter, as close to him as he could, pouring out all the regret he held within himself in the hug. The kiss was his apology and acceptance, while he wanted to show just how much he held back as he held Gyeo Ul.
‘I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stay by your side. As long as you’ll have me,’ whispered Jeong Won, as he slowly started to let her go and held her in front of him. Both of them had tear-stained faces, as they gazed into each other’s eyes.
Gyeo Ul was slowly trying to form words because the kiss and hug left her speechless. She blinked once, twice, and then slowly began to speak.
‘I’m sorry. Can you repeat that again please, Professor?’
“Just how exhausted am I that I’ve started to have hallucinations?” She began to wonder, as this was her first night off in three days.
She had made her decision to speak to Jeong Won that night because she knew if she pushed it even later, it would be too late. She had glanced at his calendar once, back in early November, on the outpatient desktop, as he was going over his schedule, that he had not fixed any appointments after December 26th. She had a feeling then, that her window to follow through with his mother’s request (and hers too, but she didn’t know she would) was slowly closing in.
The day Ye Ji Hyun got discharged from the hospital, following her recovery from the grade 4 liver laceration, Jeon Won had messaged her, asking her to meet him in the hospital coffee shop for a bite to eat. She was busy in the ER when she had received the message, with an intestinal perforation, and had to shift the patient for an emergency laparotomy with Dr Hwang Bae Jin, who was on call that evening. She couldn’t allow her emotions to get in the way of her patient at the time, so she had typed out a short curt reply that she was busy with an emergency laparotomy, and she was sorry she could not make it.
Jeong Won’s hopes of Gyeo Ul possibly feeling the same way he did had dropped. He had hoped to tell her that he was going to stay back in Yulje, but once he received her text, he wasn’t sure anymore. She had received a bouquet from her boyfriend while at work, and it had hit him in places he didn’t know existed before. Yet, she picked his oesophageal atresia repair surgery that day.
Her solo urachal cyst excision was meticulous, and the joy she felt following it was so palpable, he enjoyed every moment he spent with her, treating her to her favourite cold brew coffee in the hospital garden. When she had sent the message that she was not going to be able to make it to the coffee shop, he felt dejected. “Maybe I deserved it, for lying to her that time,” he thought, as he slowly finished his warm café latte. He was sure she had moved on and was now happy with the boy from the fancy imported cars, as she should be.
To have had her confess to him with tears in her eyes, and ask him to stay by her side was so overwhelming, he couldn’t help but kiss her.
She didn’t believe what was happening. ‘Can you repeat that again please, Professor?’
A teary-eyed smile graced Jeong Won’s face. ‘Jang Gyeo Ul, I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying in Yulje. I’ll be right by your side. As much as possible, as long as you’ll have me. I’m sorry I took so long to tell you. I wanted to tell you that day when I asked you to the coffee shop because I didn’t want to cross any boundaries as yet until I was sure how you would feel about it.’
‘Professor, I…’
‘I’m glad you told me because I like you too. If that kiss wasn’t obvious enough…’ He began to get nervous and started to look around his office. It was then that he saw the weather outside.
‘Oh! The first snow! And at Christmas!’
‘My first kiss, on Christmas, and on the first snow day, with the man I like… Isn’t that a wonderful Christmas gift to get, Professor?’
He laughed as he held her to his side, as they both gazed at the snowfall.
‘It is indeed. And if it’s ok, can we be comfortable with each other? You can speak banmal with me, and you can call me by name because I wouldn’t want to be called “Professor” by my girlfriend… would you be alright with that?’
‘Girlfriend?’ She smiled, with her heart beating as fast as a racehorse. ‘Yes, Prof… I mean, Jeon Won-sshi. I’d be alright with that.’
After staring out the office window for a while longer, stomach rumbling could be heard in the office.
‘Oh, sorry Gyeo Ul-a. I haven’t eaten since breakfast. Why don’t we grab a bite to eat? You’re not on call tonight anyway.’
‘Yes, I’m not on… You knew I wasn’t on call?’
‘Oh umm… What shall we get? Tteokbokki ?’
Gyeo Ul smiled and replied, ‘I’ll just change and come. Shall I meet you outside the ER entrance?’