Your Hand in Mine || Chaelisa

Season 3 - 8

"Well," Dr. Kim starts with a small grin. "You're looking great today, I must say. Both of you." She doesn't miss the way Lisa glances at Chaeyoung, with green eyes sparkling and full lips curled in a hint of a smile. Chaeyoung's answering one is nothing but radiant.

"We feel great today, too," she tells Eugene - and Dr. Kim can't suppress the urge to arch her brow when they find each other's hands on the couch without looking. A soft caress, a gentle squeeze, and another look exchanged, shy and bright at the same time.

They definitely slept together, Dr. Kim thinks with a sigh. Although, if that's the case, she'll have to kick herself for telling them not to since this is the result.

"Alright," she starts, cautiously. "It seems like you've had a breakthrough." They nod. "Would you like to share what happened?" And so they do. With Lisa's encouragement, Chaeyoung's the one who tells her about the letters she's been writing to her lover all this time. By the time she's done, Dr. Kim's left a little bit speechless. More than a little moved, too; the feeling only deepens when Lisa dabs under Chaeyoung's eyes with a napkin, murmuring something that she can't quite catch. Perhaps, that's for the best. She thinks that whatever it was, it was for Chaeyoung to hear and no one else.

"Wow," is really the only word she can think of saying at the moment. "Well, it certainly makes me happy to see so much progress in such a short period of time," she states, earning herself another nod from both of her smiling patients. "I must ask, however. Lisa," the young woman snaps her gaze up to meet hers when she hears her name. "How did reading Chaeyoung's letters make you feel? What exactly caused this breakthrough for you?"

"Oh," Lisa breathes out with a chuckle. "That's -- you might want to push your other appointments to Thursday," she jokes.

"Honestly, I just might, that's how curious I am," Dr. Kim replies, tone matching Lisa's. Chaeyoung's laugh is less watery with each passing second.

"I..." Lisa's gaze drops to her hand that's holding Chaeyoung as she clearly tries to form her response. "Reading her letters made me realize what she's been going through. Not fully, but at least somewhat, you know? It made me see it a little better. I'm not saying that I wasn't seeing it before, but it was definitely a huge step in that direction." She chews on her bottom lip. "It was similar to talking with your father, except I was talking with the past you. And I put the past you through enough pain to last you several lifetimes, probably."

"So did I," Chaeyoung whispers.

"I know," Lisa says. "And I know you know that. You're aware of that, and you're trying to redeem yourself, and you need to go through a lot of healing yourself, and I knew all of that before, but the letters made it so much clearer. They solidified that knowledge."

"It's okay," Dr. Kim says with a laugh when Lisa leans in to meet Chaeyoung but stop to throw her a questioning look. Seeing such a powerful woman slightly out of her element strangely made her even more likable. "You may kiss as long as you keep it within the confines of my office - and within the PG-13 category, please."

There's pink dusted across Lisa's cheeks when she pulls away after leaving a chaste kiss on Chaeyoung's lips.

Dr. Kim tilts her head to the right, studying them. Chaeyoung looks elated, it's easy to see. Lisa's own happiness is muted, whether on purpose or out of habit, Dr. Kim isn't sure. "I must say, your progress is remarkable," she comments. "But I feel like I should bring some things up. There will be easy days, but there will be tough days, too. I'm not saying this to be a buzzkill - I'm saying this because I've seen it happen. Sometimes, you might relapse, and it's okay. It's important to remember that it takes time - a lot of time to rebuild the trust, and no matter what happens, no matter what the voices in your head will be telling you on a bad day, it's important to remember why you're doing this. Remember the love you have for each other. Okay?"