Idiosyncrasy 특질

Chapter One

                                "You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,
                                                      Love like you'll never be hurt,
                                                       Sing like there's nobody listening,
                                                       And live like it's heaven on earth."
                                                                                               ― William W. Purkey

"Oh come on, Taehyung-ah, it will be fun," the voice on the other end of the line said and the young man wearing a medical coat shifted the cell phone it from one ear to the other.

"I can't, So-Hee-nah." The man checked his watch and frowned. "I can't turn up hung over tomorrow, besides, these are your friends more than mine."

"They are your friends as well, you just are too far into the closet to see that."

"So-Hee-ssi!" the young doctor exclaimed sharply, then lowered his voice when he saw the head nurse frowning at him. He bowed apologetically at her, then turned away from the nurse station and walked a few step towards the elevators. "I will not discuss my sexual orientation with you."

"Oh come on, Kim Taehyung-ssi. You should have come out of that closet ages ago. When we were both thirteen years old you got hard by fondling my brother's biceps instead of ogling my titties," the voice taunted again and Kim bit his lips. His best friend was right. Still, up till now he had managed to keep his sexual life discreetly under wraps outside his tightly knit friends' circle. He was not about to change that now that he was an intern at one of the biggest and most famous children's medical care units in the country.

"Minho and Taejin will love seeing you again, you are the person who brought them together, remember?"

"Just because I ditched Minho-nah years ago doesn't mean I am responsible for their relationship, noona," Kim replied and checked his watch again. "I need to go. Tell them hi from me and congratulations."

"No, I won't! We meet at 10 PM at the night café in Itaewon. Be there or else."

Taehyung knew So-Hee long enough that she would be pissed off beyond belief, so he relented.

"Alright, but only for two hours. What can be so bad about two hours at the night café," Taehyung replied, trying to persuade himself.

"Right?! 'Laters."

With a sigh, Kim stared at the cell phone in his hand when he could only hear the disconnect signal.

"Aish!" he said underneath his breath. Lim So-Hee was his oldest friend. They were like siblings of different parents and while So-Hee was out to her parents, Kim Taehyung was still in the closet. His parents would have a fit and disown him if they ever knew and because of his chosen professional path of a future paediatrician he also had to keep his mouth shut. He had worked too hard for the past five years to endanger it all. Besides, the medical profession was so time-consuming he had hardly a moment to do anything outside his studies, let alone date someone. So from to time when he had the time and enough alcohol in his blood, he had discreet hook-ups that could not even be specified as one-nightstands. However, his good friend So-Hee was adamant that he should have fun tonight and the partnership party of two of their friends seemed to be the right opportunity. With a sigh, he added the party time and location into his cell phone calendar and was about to turn when he almost bumped into two nursing students.

"How are you, Kim Taehyung-ssi," both girls said and giggled. "Some of the interns and nursing students want to get some drinks tonight and we wondered if you would join us."