Meteor

Twenty One

"What? Me?" He was taken aback by her direct question. It made Yu Jin feel slightly awkward and uncomfortable as he did not like being asked such personal matters, just like many other Koreans. However, because Kaylee grew up in the US, perhaps she was not aware of that cultural norm. The Americans had always been deemed to be breezy and straightforward like that.

"Of course, who else? You think that I'm talking to your knees or what?" She burst out a naughty laugh.

"Oh...I...I don't have any ideal type of girlfriend. To be honest, I'm not interested in dating a girl right now," he shyly said.

"Wait what? Then you wanna date boys? Are you gay? Or are you ase..." She zealously asked without the thinnest shred of courtesy.

"Shhhhh...stop it, we're in a public space," Yu Jin grumbled and used his hands to cover her mouth, "First, I'm hundred percent straight, I like girls. Second, I don't date because I wanna entirely focus on my studying, understand?"

"Oh I see," she removed his hands off her face.

"By the way, don't talk about such things in public places in Korea. The people here they're...well, you know...not really open compared to in the US," he heavily sighed and scowled at her.

"Really? Then I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you," she suddenly stood up and profusely bowed down her head in an apologetic manner.

"Come on, you don't need to do that," he quietly chuckled, "I'm not scolding you, it's just friendly advice."

"I understand, I'll be more careful next time!"

******

A few days later, in an evening, Yu Jin visited Eun Chae at the hospital to bring her dinner as usual. However, today was going to be really different as there was going to be exciting news.

"Hey Yu Jin, guess what?" Eun Chae ran over to Yu Jin's place, standing in front of him and looking at him with her joyful eyes.

"I wonder what makes my friend so happy?" He said and caressed her cheeks, "What's that?"

"I'm being discharged tomorrow!"

"Really?" He asked with excitement.

"Mm-hmm," Eun Chae nodded her head, "I'm checking out at 11 a.m."

"Yesssss!" Yu Jin shouted out loud and then hugged her as tight as he could.

"I'm so happy, you know? There were times when I thought I was really gonna die, but then I still survive. Is this magic?"

Without saying a word, he lifted Eun Chae up in his arms and cheerfully spun around a few rounds. They both burst into laughter together. It had been a very long time that Yu Jin had not been this jubilant.

"Hey, put me down. You're making me dizzy," she laughed and hit his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Yu Jin chuckled and gently put her down, "By the way, you gotta eat when you come back home, OK? You're so skinny that I can feel your ribs now."

"Of course, I will!"

"Do you need me to help you with moving the stuff tomorrow? I can ask for permission to leave the ER a bit early."