The Odd Doctor Out | A Drama | S. 2

374 🩺 The Great Contemplation

Sitting at the breakfast table with his parents in their usual seats, Yunho took a deep breath. This morning, after getting perhaps what might have well been the best night of sleep he'd ever gotten in his entire life (albeit, regretfully, in his own bed), and definitely the longest sleep he'd had, he felt particularly light... Energised...

'Yunho darling, you look like you're in a good mood this morning,' his mother said, sipping her morning coffee.

He smiled down at his oats, nodding. 'I guess I am...' Ever since he'd woken up in his bed that morning, he'd just felt like an entirely different person. And for the first time in as long as he could remember, he wasn't irritated to have to have breakfast with his parents...

'Anything especially pleasant happen since you woke up this morning?'

Smiling, he shook his head. 'No... I just feel... less stressed...'

Glancing up, he caught the look his parents exchanged... Perhaps a look that read maybe this was a good choice for him, after all...

'What are you going to do today, son?' his father asked.

Stirring his oats, he shrugged, thinking... He could do anything... Anything he wanted... 'I hadn't really thought about it... I guess I could text San and see if he wants to catch up...'

His father nodded, returning to his breakfast, and as the sun only just rose high enough to spill light through their windows, for the first time, his nod didn't seem harsh...

'Darling, feel free to stop by the clinic this afternoon,' his mother said, passing him the brown sugar before he had to even ask. 'I have some books that I thought might come in helpful for your new job.'

Yunho looked up, surprised by her words. He hadn't expected them to be so... helpful... 'Thank you, mother,' he replied, a little breathlessly in his surprise...

She smiled, before her eyes pulled down to his neck... 'Darling, I know you are more than capable of doing it yourself... But... Would you let your mother change your dressing for you...?'

Silence.

He stared at his mother, who had never before asked him first. For the first time, it occurred to him that perhaps his overzealous mother, hadn't been breathing down his neck, trying to do everything for him, because she didn't trust him to do it...

For the first time, it occurred to him that maybe... Just maybe... She wanted to do it, because he was her son, and she wanted to look after him...

'I-... okay...' he whispered, feeling his heart swell... Maybe his mother could be caring, and look at him as her son, after all...

And with that realisation, came another, far more profound...

What if everything looks different now, because I'm not studying...? 

What if me being stressed about uni, meant that I changed the way I saw my parents' actions, altogether...?

~~~