Second Arrangement

CHAPTER 14 - WHAT HAPPEN TO HELL NO?

JACKSON

I gave her a week to settle back in Beijing with her new job before executing my plan. I fled back to Beijing today with the agenda of discussing my new cookie as well as finishing up the Panthepack project. I didn't tell her of course. I didn't go to Beijing with the sole purpose of visiting her, so I would tell her when I was sure that I had time to visit her. Once I stepped into the office, I went into meeting immediately. During the meeting, I noticed Henry took glances at me several times. Raising my eyebrow at him, he didn't say anything and just shook his head. Once the meeting was over, he came over to my seat and accidentally nudged my phone. It came alive immediately and our photo appeared on the screen. It wasn't a photo that contained our faces, but just our holding hands. The one that I put up on instagram to blackmail Ellie.

"Is that the one from your instagram?" he pointed to my phone screen.

I nodded, "Yes, it is. What's up?" I figured he wasn't going to talk about the photo at first but his face told me he had changed his mind once he saw that photo.

"Can I ask is that Ellie's hand that you're holding?"

I grinned, "Yes."

Henry exhaled and shook his head, putting his hand inside his pocket as he lifted his head back up to show his disapproval. "Really man? Why are you letting her back into your life again? What happened to 'hell no' to the exes that ask you to take them back into your life again?" He reminded me of my answer years ago when our fans asked us what we would do or say to our exes if they ever asked to be back into our life again. I remembered I was strongly against the idea. I remembered saying that it was their lost for walking away from my life and they should face the consequences. "She's not just your ex-girlfriend, but your ex-wife," he spat. "She's the one that broke your heart. Are you seriously going to give her a chance to do it all over again?"

"No, man.. No...," I assured him. "It's not her fault for walking away. It was both our decision to get the divorce. You knew the reason and this time, we tried to make it right."

He shook his head still, "I know. But she can choose to stay here and try getting to know you better, but what did she do? She ran away! If you didn't accidentally run into her at her hospital, would you find her today?"

I shrugged, "Doesn't matter. All that matter is that I found her again and we agree to make it work this time. And so far she has proved that she has changed. She really makes some efforts this time," I argued. I didn't need to tell Henry the details, but I wanted him to give her a chance as well.

"I don't know man...," he was still in doubt. "I just don't want you to be heartbroken again by her. I've heard from Jaebeom and Jinyoung about how bad you took her decision and even after the divorce, so I truly hope she's true to her words, and not send you down the hill."

I stood up and patted his shoulder, "I assure you, she won't."

The rest of the day went as usual. After the meeting with the designers at TWD, I had a meeting with Panthepack to discuss our next schedule as well as finalized our next album. We had recorded half of the songs, but since I went back to Korea earlier than scheduled, we had to postpone the recording. I planned to finish recording the rest of the songs in the next several days. The rest of the team thought I was crazy for pushing my schedule so tight like that, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to concentrate if I missed Ellie so much. It was better to cramp all the recordings as earliest as possible then sneaked some time out to see her at the hospital after I had finished recording all of them.

ELLIE

I made a bargain with Jackson. This time, I wouldn't know how long I would be in surgery since I was just the second surgeon. Plus, it could be a back-to-back surgeries, so I would be in the operating room all day long. It would be impossible to post a story every day. Plus, my mobile phone would be in my locker or with one of the nurse, so it wouldn't be with me all the time. Yeah sure, the nurse would help me replying my messages or answering my calls, but if I allowed her to, and usually it would be for hospital stuff only. I wouldn't want her to open my personal messages or answering my personal calls as well. So updating Instagram story was not an option here. Luckily, he understood my reason and granted my request. Phew.. It felt good not to think about uploading something every day. So now I could focus on my surgeries.

Jackson's men worked quick as well. They had put up the CCTV above the door as well as inside the apartment before I arrived there. The apartment luckily looked like the photos so everything was really in good condition just like advertised. I had no problem setting into my apartment and thanks to Jasper, I adjusted quickly to the hospital as well. His senior that would work as the first surgeon was really nice and we went into a meeting immediately. We discussed everything for the first and second surgery that were scheduled for the next day. I introduced myself to the rest of the OR staff and got to know the setting as well before the real surgery began. The moment I was in scrub and held the knife again, it felt good. Back in Korea, I didn't do surgeries as much as before because I was the consultant, so I only helped when needed in difficult cases. But here, I would get into surgeries almost every day until the month ended. Looking at the schedule, it would be exhausting, but I knew it would be fun.

"How's it?" Jasper took me to lunch when our schedule matched. Since we didn't have much time for lunch, we just ate at the cafetaria.

"It's good. Everyone is nice to me," I nodded, "Even your senior. He really taught me a lot during the surgeries. I really had a lot to learn these past few days. Thank you for telling me this opportunity."

He smiled wide, "No worries. The moment I heard about the spot, I immediately remembered you and knew that you wouldn't miss the opportunity. You're just so much like me."

I scrunched my nose at his comment, "Sorry, but we're not alike. I'm not narcissist like you."

"What can I say," he patted his shoulder, "Not everyone was born handsome and smart like me."

I pretended to puke, "See.. I can't be that bold like you."

He was about to retort my statement when my phone buzzed. I put it on the table in case I didn't feel it vibrate in my pocket and might miss the call from the hospital, but I regretted my decision when I saw whose name showed up on my screen. Jasper craned his neck and he could definitely see the name as well.

"You're still talking to him? Does he stalk you? Or are you two really in a relationship?" he bombarded, didn't give me the chance to pick up the call. He even dared to reach for my phone and was about to slide the reject button.

I quickly snatched my phone back, "It's none of your business. Return my tray, will you?" And just that I left him and picked up the call when I was finally alone.

"Hello? Can you talk right now?" Jackson's voice was heard through the receiver.

"Yeah, it's okay. I can talk. I've just finished lunch," I didn't realize how much I've missed him until I heard his voice.

"Ah.. So you do eat," he teased. "Good for you. Anyway, are you busy later today?"

"I eat regularly, you know," I pouted. I knew he wouldn't stop scolding me if I skipped my meal. "And no, I just have one more surgery and it will be finished around 6 PM. What's up?" I answered, thinking that he would ask for a video call or such, but I guessed, he could always find ways to surprise me.

"Send me your location. I'll pick you up for dinner."

"What??" Did I hear him right? He was in Beijing already?

"You heard me. 7 PM is okay? You need to shower and finish whatever you need right? So 7 PM okay?"

"Yeah, okay," I answered reluctantly. Oh well, I could interrogate him later when I saw him. Right now, it was useless to scold him since he's been here already. And maybe, he really had some jobs to do here, so there was a possibility that he was here in Beijing because of work, and not me.