That Spring When Hydrangeas Bloom

05

"I'm so tired of seeing pussies everyday." Minyoung slumped herself against the cushions, seeming like she was in total distress of her current situation. We were at their department eating ramen, which already served as my late lunch.

We both just came out from surgeries and Professor Kwon gave me a one-hour break to eat. Minyoung was the only person available because the guys were busy so we decided to just eat together.

I just chuckled at her usage of a non-medical term because I already gave up on reminding her to use "vagina" to make it sound proper. We were just approaching our second month of residency and this was all she had been complaining about. She had also been ranting about patients who treated them as if they were their slaves because some mothers were just too overly sensitive but of course, they had no choice but to abide.

I understood her sentiments, though, because I also had been through OB before but it felt rewarding as well to witness babies taking their first breath into the world.

"If you're going to change your mind like Seojun, do it now." I finished gulping down the soup up until the last drop and Minyoung still looked troubled.

Seojun, on the other hand, was already processing his application papers after finishing just one month in CS. Yangju would most likely accept him in pedia anyway so he might join us again soon.

"I like babies," she answered.

"Why didn't you enter pedia, then?" I took her hydroflask from her side and opened to see if it had water inside. When I saw it empty, I stood up to refill it.

"I only like newborns because when they cry, mothers just have to pop their boobs out and they'll be silent in no time." I rolled my eyes at her logic and just drank water while she cleaned up the table.

"Oh, by the way." She looked at me first before continuing. "We're working with the pedia department for a fetus with gastroschisis[1] and your hot doctor's on the team. How's it going on with him, anyway?"

I mentally cursed at Minyoung for doing it again–calling Dr. Kim 'your hot doctor.' She had been doing that ever since and I was getting sick of it already.

"He's not my doctor."

She put down her hydroflask after drinking water from it and looked at me with nonchalant eyes. "Just your baby, then."

I was about to snap back at her but I was stopped when the door opened and there came in Dr. Kim, looking mighty in his white coat.

He just looked at me with blank eyes and I just gave back the look for a second before shifting my gaze to my phone, not daring to greet him because he didn't seem like he would, either. He then turned to Minyoung. "Dr. Park, the conference is starting soon."

He looked too serious and I can't help but feel kind of creeped out about it. Minyoung looked shocked when she checked the time so she hurriedly got up to prepare. I then silently excused myself because I felt like the dark forces were encircling him, making me feel suffocated.

While walking back to my department, I can't help but be bothered by my chain of thoughts. I didn't know why, but it suddenly felt distant between Dr. Kim and I. After that night, we didn't get to see each other outside of work anymore. It wasn't like he asked me out for coffee and I rejected or vice versa, though. We just became busy with our hospital duties. Or perhaps, he was ignoring me.

I'd greet him with a smile whenever I saw him at the hallways or the cafeteria, but all he gave was a mere nod with a smile that didn't even look like a greeting at all. It started days after we went out and I really can't understand why. I recalled our past encounters to check if I did something wrong but I couldn't remember any.