When an impatient doctor meets a composed lawyer, will their world collide?
***
Chaeyoung Park wasn't born with patience of a saint. She wants everything to be done fast, quickly and effectively. At least, that's what she learnt in Med School. But...
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“Tell me this isn’t happening,”
Lisa’s mom yells inside her room. She scans Lisa’s face first before sparing Chaeyoung a glance. “Tell me this goddamn thing didn’t happen” She requests and Chaeyoung would want to tell her that except that she doesn’t remember what the heck happened last night.
“Well, it did,” Lisa’s confession shocks her more than anything. “And there’s nothing that you can do about that, eomma”. Lisa grabs Chaeyoung’s hand and laces their fingers together.
“Lisa, you don’t have to be so stubborn” Her mom hisses. “This is not supposed to happen,” Cheon Seo Jin’s wrath starts. Chaeyoung opens her eyes to peek and notices the swollen veins in the woman’s neck. A side effect from being too angry.
“But it already happened and I’m not going to let Chaeyoung go. No matter what you say. No matter what people think of it,” Lisa retorts and Chaeyoung knows that it’s probably wrong to be easily distracted at times like this but she can’t help it. This is the closest version of attorney Lisa inside the courtroom that she will ever get to hear.
“You,” The accusation begins as Lisa’s mom throws a sharp glance at Chaeyoung. She hates herself a little because she feels threatened by that. “Do you know who I am? Do you know what I’m capable of doing? Do you know that?”
“I don’t know who you are or what you’re capable of doing,” Chaeyoung hears herself saying that. “But I just want to tell you that I have no meaning to turn your family upside down like you think of me,”
“Bullshit, bullshit” Her mother spits. “Don’t fucking lie to me. You think I don’t know what people like you always do to people like us? You lie to us. You take everything that belongs to us and make it yours. You do shit like that,”
“I am not sure to whom you are implying all these accusations,” Chaeyoung sucks air into her lungs. “But I am going to tell you this, that people like me have no intention of taking anything from people like you. I might not be as rich as you are but it’s not a ticket for you to accuse me like this,”
Her hand trembles from all the penned up anger. And Lisa must have noticed that. “Eomma, you have to stop being so mean to Chaeyoung,” “Wae?” Cheon Seo Jin yells in her face. “Why would I have to be nice to her? Wae? She’s not even my family,”
“Or I’m going to leave,” The ultimatum is laid on the table and Chaeyoung hides behind Lisa as Cheon Seo Jin stills. The blonde figures out that a still Cheon Seo Jin is far more dangerous than any other versions of her.
“What did you say?” Her eyes blink inconsistently. “What did you say? Jjinjja, Lisa. This isn’t like you at all,”
She shakes her head, trying to reach for Lisa’s hand but her daughter refuses that gesture. “I’m serious,” She presses her lips together. “Be nice to Chaeyoung or I’m leaving with her,”
She warns again. But her mom stares at her emptily. Like every single emotion has drained from her. “Are you serious?” She asks her for the last time and Lisa nods. “Apologise to Chaeyoung and I will forget that this ever happened,”
“I would rather die than apologizing to that stupid fuck,”
Her mom hisses. Then, she turns her back on both of them. It takes Cheon Seo Jin a moment before she can compose herself again. By the time she turns to face Lisa again, the attorney knows all hell breaks loose.
“Get out of my house. Both of you. And don’t ever think you can come back, Lisa. Because once you’re out of this place today, you are no longer associated to this family,”
Chaeyoung hangs her head low. Her whole body is heavy with emotions. But next to her, Lisa stands up straight. Eyes unbothered by the situation.
“Understood, Ms. Cheon,” is her only reply and Chaeyoung feels herself being pulled away. “Let’s go, Chaeng”
Lisa drags her behind. Just when she twists the doorknob, Bomi appears with a lollipop. “Hey,” stupid grin breaks on her face. “Is Halmoni inside? I think she forgot about our Karaoke date,”
“She’s inside,” Lisa kneels down, her lips grazing her niece’s cheek. “I’m sure she’s just preparing her voice. We all know Halmoni has the best voice in the world,”
***
The whole ride home is silent and Chaeyoung loves it. She doesn’t know what to say if it wasn’t. They arrived at the complex sooner than what was estimated and Lisa doesn’t even ask her if Chaeyoung needs help with her luggage. She just carries them with her.
Then, she waits until Chaeyoung is safely inside and locks her door before disappearing into her own unit. The silence that welcomes her home scares Chaeyoung so she keeps the TV on in the background and the radio plays as she soaks herself in the tub, the hot water from the shower head drips on her back, unknotting tired nerves.
She knows sooner or later she’s going to have a conversation with Lisa. But she hopes, dutifully, it won’t be today.
When Chaeyoung is back in her room with wet hair and dressed in pyjamas, she picks up her phone and occupies the couch. There are 3 texts from Lisa. She inhales before clicking on one of them.
Lisa neighbour: I’m going out to grab so food Lisa neighbour: I leave your food outside. Lisa neighbour: You haven’t grabbed your food. Are you okay?
Chaeyoung puffs her cheeks. Instead of texting, she gives the woman a call.
“Hey,” Lisa picks up at the first ring. “Is everything okay?” “Everything’s okay”
Chaeyoung replies. “I just took a shower and it kind of went far longer than I originally intended,”
“That’s a relief,” Lisa sighs airily. “I haven’t had my food yet because I was waiting for you. Can I come over?”
And talk about things? I am not ready - Chaeyoung’s mind blurts. But her lips are a traitor. “Sure. The door’s unlocked,”
***
They eat in front of the TV. Chaeyoung isn’t sure what its showing but she’s sure as heck that Lisa won’t mind either. “You barely eat your food,” Lisa points out before sipping her hot tea. “Maybe because my mind is still all over the place,”
“What are you thinking?” Lisa swipes her lip with her hot tongue. “About what happened last night,” Chaeyoung looks serious. “I need to know if we slept with each other or it’s just your way to go rebellious against your mom”
“You really don’t remember?” Lisa scowls and Chaeyoung shakes her head. “Not even the slightest?” She asks and another headshake. “Wow, that’s something else but to answer your question, yes - we did. We had sex yesterday, Chaeng and you are allowed to say that,”
"You're not lying right?"
Chaeyoung looks at her in disbelief.
"What do you think?" Lisa asks her back. She looks frustrated and Chaeyoung isn't sure why. "Look," She says when her breathing hits normal.
"I am not going anywhere, Chaeng. Should anything happen, I'll take the responsibility,"
"It's always easy to promise," Chaeyoung can feel her eyes turning moist by now. "How do I know it's not empty words?"
Lisa stares at her for more than a moment. Then, she leans in and wipes the blonde's tears away. "Let's get married. You and I. I don't know where this is going but all I know is that we are each other's family now,"
