The Way for Us | Vincenzo

Chapter 23 - His Cold Stare

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Luzern, Switzerland

Moyeon closed the doors behind her silently, trying not to wake up the sleeping man who lied on the hospital bed. The 35-year-old woman placed the fruit basket she brought on the coffee table near her and took a seat on a chair next to the bed.

She let out a sigh, silently blaming herself for not knowing that one of her best friends had been suffering all this time. If there was one thing Moyeon regretted in her life was cutting all ties with her friends when she moved from Milan to Seoul two decades ago. She thought it was the best decision, as she could never move on with her life if she kept the things from the past.

To some extent, it's true. Moyeon could finally become a surgeon and traveled the world helping people like she had always dreamed of. It took her almost 20 years later to realize the price she had to pay for pursuing her dreams. All of the "what ifs" she had been questioning all of her life was never answered. Until she took some time off from her volunteering works and decided to spend some leisure time in Switzerland, only to be brought back to her past when she accidentally met Park Jihong that day.

"Don't look at me like that," Jihong chuckled softly, causing the Moyeon to return back from her wandering thoughts.

"Like what?" Moyeon asked back, trying to regain her composure and put on a smile on her face.

"With that sad eyes. You still can't hide your feelings huh?" Jihong smiled back at her. He missed her so much. Moyeon reminded him a lot of their cheerful childhood years. The times when they used to spend summer in Southern Italy, or spend Christmas together and played hide and seek until midnight. It was the best years for him.

"Tsk," Moyeon smiled and got up to prepare some fruits she had brought. She returned back to her seat with a bowl of fruit and started to peel off some apples for Jihong.

"Eomoni went back to the house to bring some side dishes, so you're stuck with me until she returned," Moyeone said. Jihong never left his eyes from Moyeon.

She really didn't change much, Jihong was surprised. He knew that the girl was always beautiful, but she really didn't change much except for how tall she had became and that she had no longer have that black silky hair color anymore. 

"Where have you been?" Jihong finally asked as he adjusted his position to sit comfortably on the bed.  "Honestly? I've been everywhere," Moyeon glanced at him for a second before she continued to peel off the apples. 

"I see that you are still adventurous, huh?" Jihong said and grabbed a slice of apple before Moyeon finished them all, causing the woman to playfully glared at him. Jihong only return the gesture with a big, goofy smile. Although the two had not been in contact for decades, they never felt like strangers the moment they met. But again, they were both so close growing up. Despite the fact that Moyeon has grown up to such a beautiful lady, Jihong was convinced that all he could ever see in Moyeon was a mischievous little girl that used to force him and his cousin to ditch their equestrian classes to play catch instead.

"Hmm, I joined the Doctors without Borders once I finished my fellowship program. Since then, I've been almost everywhere you could think of.. Africa, Asia, South America, you name it. My last program was in the Middle East!" Moyeon told him excitedly about all of her endeavours. Jihong only smiled knowingly, that his childhood best friend was finally able to pursue her dreams. He was genuinely happy for her.