The Odd Doctor Out | A Drama | S. 1

6 🩺 Bar Chats

Yunho didn't keep a habit of drinking, but he could have fooled anyone the way he downed his beer at the bar. He plonked it upside down on the bench and raised a hand, signalling to the bartender that he wanted another.

'Jesus, Yun. Are you planning on dying tonight? I thought you didn't drink?'

Yunho looked at his friend who was sitting beside him, sipping on a mystical looking blue and pink cocktail that looked particularly deadly. 'San, I'm fine. A couple drinks won't kill me.'

'Yeah but they might if you keep downing them that quickly. This is like your forth drink, Jesus. What happened? Are your parents being ignorant pricks again?- Mind my language, I just strongly dislike the way they treat you.'

'I know, I know.' Yunho sucked in a deep breath and heaved the sigh of the century. 'My mother wants me to tutor some guy.'

San raised an eyebrow as he idly stirred his hell-in-a-fancy-glass. 'Oh? What for?'

'Pre-med bio.'

As the bartender dropped another drink down before him, Yunho tossed a couple bills down onto the bench to pay. Thanking the guy, Yunho went to down his drink, just as he'd done with the previous ones.

'Woooh ho ho no you don't. You're going to go bankrupt at this rate. If you don't die of blood alcohol poisoning first.' San slid the glass across the bench to him, away from his friend. 'I take this as your plan fell through? I thought you said you were finally going to tell your bloody parents you don't want to follow along with the family jewels... so to speak.'

'Ugh.' Yunho buried his head in his hands. 'How could I possibly tell them I don't want to go into medicine?! I'd be disowned.'

Patting his back, San scooted his chair over a little. 'Yunho-yah, we've been over this. You need to be true to yourself. Why didn't you tell them what we talked about last time? It was a good plan!'

'I was going to! B-but...'

'But you chickened out again?'

'Mmm.' Yunho resurfaced from his hands, turning to face his friend. 'San-ah, I don't think I'll ever be able to tell them.'

San pursed his lips, providing a small, sad smile. 'You know, I sometimes wonder whether you keep wanting to pull out of the medical field because of your parents pressuring you all the time, rather than you actually disliking it... Yun, just a few months ago you were ranting and raving about how amazing you felt on your last placement and how sad you were that it would be ages until you got to practise again.'

He was right... That was the reality of the sad cycle that Yunho was stuck in. One minute he felt like he wanted to just put his head down and flip burgers for the rest of his life, never stepping foot in a medical library ever again; and the next, it didn't seem all that bad after all...

'Okay. So who's the kid you're tutoring? You said pre-med right? Damn. Even you didn't go into med direct.'

Yunho exhaled in amusement. Although San was not exactly the most academically inclined person he knew, even San knew that pre-med was not for the faint of heart - a kind of self torture or suicide, if you will.

'I have no idea who he is, other than apparently he's the son of my mother's old school friend.'

'Woa wait, she actually has friends from school?!' San whistled in surprise. 'Damn. Didn't think that woman had time for anyone, her son inclusive.'

Yunho rolled his eyes. 'Right?' He ruffled his hair violently, messing it up to the point where if one of his parents saw him right then, they would probably send him to ED under the assumption that he was so unwell he would probably die on the spot - assuming they didn't kick his ass for being at the bar instead of studying. 'Shit. San what the fuck am I going to do?'

'About your degree, or about your tutoring?'

Yunho groaned. 'I don't know. Both?'

San sighed, sliding the boy's drink back over to him. 'I dunno fam. You've got to do what you feel is right. Census is coming, so now's the preferable time to make a decision. Do you want to do med?'

Yunho stared down at his drink helplessly. 'I don't know.'

Nodding, San took a sip of his cocktail. 'Well until the answer is a hard no, then keep at it. I've known you a long time, Yun. I know you love helping people. I've listened to you a million times talk about miracles you watched, brought by the hand of medicine. And the envy and admiration in your voice was evident every time. You love it Yun. You always have, even if I think sometimes you forget that, thanks to your oblivious fucking parents. God, how can one be so smart, and yet so stupid at the same time..? Anyways, Yunho, you just have to decide whether this is the right route for you to take. Not anyone else. You. You already studied biomed. You have a degree. Finishing med isn't the be-all-end-all.'

Yunho nodded, not looking any better than before, despite appreciating his friend's words beyond belief.

'And the tutoring, look, if you're really too busy to do it, just talk to the kid's mother. Don't even bother with yours, she never listens to you anyway. There's that other kid in your grade that does tutoring, right? I saw his cringe-as-fuck Facebook add come up on my newsfeed the other day and I wanted to heave. Give the woman his flyer for Med Made Easy or whatever the fuck his slogan is. Bet she'd love it.'

Yunho couldn't help but laugh. 'Thanks San-ah.'

San smiled warmly, giving his friend one more comforting rub on the shoulder.

'Anytime, Ho.'

~~~

A/N: So I'm on a thirty minute break between classes and thought I'd distract myself by pretending to study lol. Yunho is currently me, and he is my spirit animal. God it's only week 3, but I feel like I'm about to drown already. Ew

Also, legit just adding this in every chapter I publish. If you know anything about types of summation, nerve impulses, excitatory post-synaptic potentials and reflexes or mono/polysynaptic shit, hit me up PLEASEEEEE ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

xxx