Take Care of Me (JiYoo AU)

Chapter 17: The Statement

It has been a few days since the day that Yubin’s mom woke up. Yubin looked brighter each day, especially when they hear good news from Yoohyeon. 

“We have to monitor her for a few months. Come back every month for the next 6 months, Mrs. Lee.” Yubin’s mom nodded and thanked the doctor. Yubin wanted some alone time with her mom so they all raided Yoohyeon’s office. All of them were laughing except for Handong. Minji noticed that Handong was too quiet so,

“Dong dong! Hey, is there anything wrong?” Minji asked softly as she sat down beside Handong. The younger gave a small smile.

“It’s just, I know Yubin’s mom will probably blame herself again for delaying our wedding. We moved our wedding because we wanted Yubin’s mom to be present and healthy. Yubin is probably assuring her mom right now that it’s okay. We both wanted our parents present since it’s a big day for the both of us. And I’m just worried, Minji. Yubin’s mom would probably feel sorry again and overthink things and it stresses out Yubin too. And I just- I don’t know what to do. I want to help Yubin too.” Minji gave a reassuring smile to Handong.

“Then why don’t you tell Yubin’s mom yourself that you’re both okay with it? Yubin’s mom is probably thinking that Yubin is probably just saying that just because she’s her daughter. At least, she knows that both of you are okay with it and she should just focus on recovering. How does that sound?” Handong just nodded weakly. She hoped that this would work so she could help her girlfriend. Yubin has always kept things to herself which made their relationship hard to manage at first. But Yubin slowly opened up to Handong so she wants to at least do something for her.

Handong left Yoohyeon’s office to talk to Yubin’s mom. She asked if they could call Yubin in Yoohyeon’s office so she would have time to talk to Yubin’s mom. Yoohyeon called Yubin to meet her in the cafeteria. Once they were there, Yoohyeon invited Yubin to eat.

“Just get a plate. I’ll pay for it.” Yubin  was about to refuse but Yoohyeon already gave her card to the cashier.

“Come on, Yubs. Just eat with me, okay?” They sat down at an empty table. Yoohyeon started eating but Yubin wasn’t.

“What are you doing? Go ahead and eat before it gets cold.” Yubin sighed.

“I should be the one treating you though. You just operated on my mom and I’m very thankful for you.” Yoohyeon waved her hand in denial.

“Nah, it’s fine. Sure we’re friends but we’re not allowed to receive anything from patients and their families. And your mom is my patient and you’re her family so I’m not gonna receive anything from you. The hospital bills that you pay and the recovery of your mom are enough for me. So just go ahead and eat.” Yubin hesitatingly grabbed her spoon and started eating. Yoohyeon smiled and went back to eat her own food again. A few minutes later, Yubin asked Yoohyeon a question.

“By the way, where’s Dongie? Is she in your office?” Yoohyeon shook her head.

“No, Yubs. She went to talk to your mom.” Yubin was about to stand up but Yoohyeon stopped her.

“Look, Yubin. Let Handong handle this, okay? She really wants to help you. She loves you so much that’s why she’s doing this. Trust her in this, please?” Yubin bit her lip, thinking whether to go to Handong or not, before giving in.

“Fine. I guess it's time for me to receive her help.” Yoohyeon smiled at that and resumed eating. Yubin continued to tell stories about how grateful she is for Handong. 

“There was a time where I got very sick. That happened during the first year of our relationship. I didn’t tell her. We weren’t living together yet and she was busy too with all the movies offered to her. I called one day and she noticed that something was wrong with me. She quickly visited me and took care of me. And because of that, she missed a movie offer. A movie that she really wanted to do. We fought because of that. I blamed myself for it. If only I didn’t call her that day, she might’ve gotten the offer. But, Handong said that she wouldn't be able to have peace inside her if she knew that I was sick yet she still took the movie. She told me to stop blaming myself because it's no one's fault. That day, I knew that she was someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. It's good to have someone you can trust and you know that they'll love you no matter what. That's what I feel about Dongie. I don't know what I would do without her." Yoohyeon softly smiled at that. Yubin wasn't the type to be really expressive so hearing how much she loves Handong made her heart happy. They finished their food and went back to Yoohyeon’s office. A few moments later, Yubin got a call from Handong. Yubin quickly answered it,