The Odd Doctor Out | A Drama | S. 2

249 🩺 Pained

When San got back to his seat, the first thing he noticed was how much worse Yunho looked then when he'd left him. Sitting down, he took out his phone from his pocket and glanced over the notifications, and therein, laid his answer.

'Min dropped by?'

Yunho nodded, staring down at the cabinet. 'He's not talking to me.'

'He's in pain, Yun.'

'... So am I...'

San watched as his friend wiped at his eye with his sleeve and sniffed.

'San-ah, why do I feel like this?'

Giving him a small sad smile, San leant forward and put a hand on his shoulder. 'I don't know, Yun. You are the only one who can know that.'

Yunho groaned, and just in that moment, his phone dinged on the table beside him. But the moment his eyes flicked over the message; not even reading the text; he immediately flipped his phone over aggressively, before digging his hands into his hair and ruffling it up beyond messy. 'Fucking hell.'

Frowning, San reached out and took his phone, careful not to expose whatever was on the screen again to him.

5:13pm
New Message: Rose
Hey~ I thought you might need a few days to think it over so we can talk about it🌷
I figured you must have had a bad day at work. That's okay, everyone has them 😔
Call me~ 🌹🌷🌺

San glanced back at Yunho, and then the phone. 'Uh, Yun? How explicit were you when you broke up with her?'

'Quite.'

'Well I kind of get the feeling she doesn't think you meant it.'

Yunho groaned. Picking up his scotch, he took a small sip, before sighing in exasperation. 'I literally don't know how to be any clearer. I do not want to see her again. Ever.' He suddenly closed his eyes and exhaled, his face full of defeat. 'Why am I such a mess?'

San sighed. Turning Yunho's phone to silent and putting it beneath his jacket out of sight. 'Because you don't understand your own emotions. You're frustrated, and you're searching. This Rose girl is just making it harder. But that doesn't mean seeing her was a bad thing. You now know at least that you weren't searching for her.'

Yunho leaned forward and rested his head over his arms.

Patting his back, San couldn't help but notice himself in his friend. Every time San hung out with his uni friends, he felt that frustrated, uncertain wave of emotion wash over him, and the moment he would get home, he would sit at the table and put his head in his hands; just like Yunho, asking himself why it had to be like this.

'Yun-ah, don't worry about anything else right now. Forget Rose, you already told her where you stand. Forget Mingi not talking, he'll come back when he's ready. Just focus on you, and how you feel. Practise talking about it, to yourself, and get a feel for the words that you're too afraid to use. Use this time, to find yourself.'

A soft laugh drifted from behind Yunho's arms, and as San wondered what he could have possibly said that was even the slightest bit funny, his friend's voice rang out; as pained, and as raw as ever.

'It's funny, because in the past, Mingi has said the exact same thing.'

~~~