The Odd Doctor Out | A Drama | S. 2

240 🩺 Honesty

'Surely that's not straight vodka.'

Yunho looked up to see San slipping into the stool beside him, his hair damp, and his scent smelling strongly of aftershave and shampoo.

'No. It's water.'

'Hah! It's going to be pretty hard to drink yourself into a coma on that.'

Yunho laughed sourly, rolling his eyes. 'I can certainly try.'

Stirring his martini that had been awaiting him, San's lips pulled into a smirk. 'And here I was thinking you were becoming an alcoholic.'

'Ya.'

'What~?! You can't say I don't have a point.'

Yunho exhaled, his lips in a soft smile. 'Touché.' Swirling his water around in the tumbler, he sighed heavily. 'San-ah, I fucked up.'

Sipping his drink, San swivelled to face him with a frown. 'That was a different voice to usual... I get the feeling this isn't about your course...'

Yunho nodded, not even surprised that he could tell the difference. Sighing heavily, he took a sip of his water and placed the glass back down on the counter. 'Mmm... San-ah... I went on a date...'

San's eyes widened, spinning around and slapping him in the shoulder. 'Ya! You, went on a date? When?! With who?! Why did you not tell me?!'

Yunho cringed, rubbing his shoulder as a wave of horrifyingly sickening guilt wash over him. 'God, don't make me feel worse than I already do. It was a stupid mistake. Her name was Rose...'

He felt his nausea flare up as the images from their date flooded his memory, and through it, he only just caught the surprised look on San's face as he said her name...

'Okay...' He took a deep breath. 'So you went on a date... With a girl...'

'Why do you say it like that for?'

'No reason...' San turned and took a long swig of his drink, half finishing it before turning back to him. 'So you went on your first date. Exciting stuff. How come that was the first thing you said after I fucked up? Why was it a mistake?'

Swallowing back his nausea, Yunho groaned. Putting his head into his hands, he scratched his fingers over his scalp. He felt ridiculous talking about it. He was almost embarrassed to come clean...

'San-ah, Mingi found out.'

And suddenly a heavy, prickly silence erupted over them. It felt weighty and sharp and prickly, and it only made Yunho feel guiltier.

San sighed, seeming to start to understand his pain. Or at least he thought...

'Yun-ah, can you start at the beginning for me?'

And Yunho couldn't think of anything he wanted to do less. Awkwardly swirling his water in his glass, he pushed back at his nerves and forced himself to speak.

'It wasn't anything serious. It was just a blind date, and I regretted it immediately. I wasn't even going to meet her again.' He groaned, rubbing his neck that was paining with the weight of guilt upon his shoulders. 'Ugh, but she works with the wife of a doctor who fucking took it upon himself to bring it up at work and Mingi was right there.'

San nodded, gritting his teeth with concern. 'I see... how'd he take it?'

Yunho felt so bad. He could see San's worried expression as he resisted the urge to pull out his phone.