But Beautiful

part 12

It was evening before Jungkook had a moment to breathe. When helping Soojung with her first patient, he got to chatting with her and ended up assisting with providing after-treatment care for the rest of her schedule. He yawned behind his palm, wandering towards Dr. Yoo’s office after he saw Soojung out for the day. He was worried about what happened during Taehyung’s therapy session, but he hadn’t heard anything from either doctor, and his mentor had been present at every shot he gave. When he arrived at his office, he knocked a couple of times before entering. The man looked up from his desk, pushing his glasses up higher on his nose as he gestured for him to enter.

“Soojung left for the night,” Jungkook reported, standing in front of his desk. “Can I ask, did you hear anything from Dr. Lim?”

“Thank you for working with her today. I think it’s important to have connection with coworkers, especially when you’re in a job with such a high burnout rate. It helps make things easier to endure. That’s something I’ve noticed when it comes to other residents I’ve had: they’ve been eager to assist where they can but they’re not keen on communicating with their coworkers in a friendly way. You’re such a unique person, Jungkook, you’ve got a good head on your shoulders and a good heart in your chest,” the doctor spoke kindly.

Jungkook’s cheeks heated with the compliments, a pink hue taking over his face. “Th-thank you, Dr. Yoo.”

“No need,” the man dismissed, standing up and leading Jungkook from his office, beginning to walk leisurely down the hall. “As for Dr. Lim, he said that Taehyung was entirely unresponsive to him during therapy, which is unsurprising. He apparently made an exceptional mess with the paints today, which was unlike him. He mentioned you several times during the course of his session, but Taehyung didn’t show any emotion one way or another.”

Jungkook took the words in, thinking about them. “Does that mean there’s no trouble, then? Since he said there would be trouble if Taehyung showed discomfort when I was brought up?”

“Listen,” Dr. Yoo began, stopping and turning to Jungkook, “he’s not going to cause trouble for anyone. He’s talking tough because he’s jealous. I admit, I was jealous, too, when you first arrived and Taehyung was so receptive to you, because I had wanted to reach him for years now. But I’m of the opinion that every relationship forged with a patient is unique, and sometimes the soul responds to others in a way that isn’t visible to our eyes. I think that’s what’s happened between you and Taehyung, Jungkook. I think his soul recognizes something in yours that makes your relationship work.”

 

The intern looked at him with soft eyes, a small smile at the words he had just heard. “Thank you for saying such a nice thing,” he began, “and I didn’t mean to step on anyone’s toes when I arrived. Despite there being many unsuccessful attempts to get Taehyung to communicate, I’m just glad he’s begun to.”

“Jungkook, being a provider means stepping on anyone you have to to do what’s right for the patient,” the doctor laughed. “Not unnecessarily, of course, you have to exercise restraint within reason, but the core part of our job is promoting health and wellness, and putting the patient first – above other doctors – is the right thing to do. Now, I don’t know about your personal feelings towards Taehyung, and I’m not disbelieving of your story about how you came to be on top of him, but be mindful of your morals. The code of ethics is rather black and white when it comes to matters of doctor-patient relationships and the respect and professionalism it encompasses.”

“I know,” Jungkook replied quickly. “I don’t have any intention on being unprofessional with him,” he continued, shifting on his feet nervously, “and I don’t… well, I don’t know how I feel entirely when it comes to him. At the risk of being dismissed…” he trailed off, trying to organize his thoughts and how to express them.