silver lining » wonwoo

seven;

The tapping sound of her fingers and the phone made, echoed in the hallway as she huffed once in a while. Hyungsuk was going on a stroll around the hospital, probably making friends with the nurses, while they were waiting for their father's shift to end.

It was a sunny Sunday and he was only supposed to have his shift done until 3pm, hence Yiseul brought a box of lunch because they planned to go to the amusement park after having lunch together—as he promised them. But it was almost ten to four and he still had a consultation with his patient. She was low-key getting irritated at the patient for keeping her waiting in the empty hallway.

The door creaked opened and Yiseul automatically got up with a smile on her face to greet her father. Everything seemed normal, except the fact that her father was following behind a guy with the same round glasses she saw a few weeks ago. Shock would be an understatement, but she managed to put a straight face and bowed afterward. The urge to get irritated and softly curse at the patient suddenly disappeared.

Wonwoo copied her action. A smile drawn to his face when he saw the therapist's daughter. Yiseul eyed her father who threw her a suspicious glance, but she quickly looked away.

"We'll arrange your next session later then," her father broke the silence.

"Okay, sir," Wonwoo answered shortly, bowing to him as a sign of gratitude.

The boy shot her a smile once again like he really was about to leave, yet they remained in their spots and held the staring contest until a voice interrupted them. "Oh hyung, you're here?"

"Hyungsuk-ah," Wonwoo greeted him nicely, shifting his gaze to him. The two of them instantly got along really well which to her, looked like a pair of old friends who was reuniting.

Yiseul moved to stand beside her father who had just locked his room. She felt awkward to have found out that her friend was one of her father's patients. There was nothing bad about that, it just felt strange to finally interact with him again after taking a hiatus from being friends. And when Soonyoung told her that he started seeing a therapist, she had never thought it would be her father.

"Hyung, we're going to an amusement park today, do you wanna come?" Hyungsuk asked cheerfully. He sounded like he would rather have Wonwoo than his own sister to come have fun at the amusement park that it made Yiseul huff. Until she remembered one thing.

Subtly yanking him by his bag, she told him, "Wonwoo is probably busy, you just can't ask him like that."

For a split second, Yiseul noticed the same fearful eyes whenever the topic brought up, right before it was replaced by confusion in his face. What amazed her was the fact that he didn't clench his fists, though he still tensed up a little bit, indicating that he might get better by time. It seemed like she didn't need to cover him up, but she did anyways. And it was a relief for her when he flashed her a slight smile.

"Um," he cleared his throat, bringing a hand to his mouth. "Yeah, I have plans to do this afternoon, so maybe next time."

Hyungsuk's smile was turned upside down after Wonwoo said so. They only met for, what, twice or probably thrice. Yiseul didn't get the hype Hyungsuk got for him. Though, she would probably do the same if she were in his position. It is Wonwoo we are talking about.

"Okay kids, off we go!" exclaimed her father which caused a smile to grow back on his face.

That was one of the advantages of having a father who was good at reading expressions. A disadvantage, in Yiseul's case, would be being interrogated until she would finally tell the truth.

"There seems to be an issue between you two," he said straight up to the point when they entered the car.

They had just finished their lunch in the healing garden, which to their luck was quite empty. Wonwoo had parted with them since they took a different path to reach their own destinations. Strangely, Yiseul couldn't get rid of the thoughts if Wonwoo had arrived home safely.

"Ahem," her father cleared his throat, distracting her from her thoughts.

"Yeah, a classmate," she answered, then realizing that it wasn't the exact appropriate answer to his question. "I mean, we barely know each—"

"Lies," Hyungsuk immediately cut her off, causing a playful pinch to land on his arm. "It's a lie! How come you two barely know each other when the other night, Wonwoo hyung came to give you that thing you hang on your bag ever since then."

"You saw the whole thing?" she shouted almost too loud that her father thought he was going to lose his hearing.

"Yup! Noona, it's obvious you look shy in front of him," he grinned, showing some of his missing teeth.

"There's nothing going on between us!" she insisted, looking ahead with a fierce look.

Any gossip that was heard to Hyungsuk was never safe. There was a chance he was not going to let her live by bringing it up over and over again, and the only thing that could ease off this situation was her pretending to be mad. Both her father and Hyungsuk knew how cold and terrifying it could get when she got mad. And it wasn't because of her screaming and throwing a tantrum, but because she got totally silent like her lips were sewed. It worked to put Hyungsuk in a state of silence in the backseat.

"Does he have many friends at school?" her father suddenly asked out of nowhere.

Yiseul gave him a side glance. From her point of view, she could see his eyes that were focused on driving getting tired. The bags under his eyes start to jut out even more. With a few strands of his hair that was getting white, it was only then she realized that he was getting older. "He's quiet, but yeah. Why?"

"He's been through a lot. It would be good if he has friends to keep him company during the tough times. Besides, he's a good boy," he answered and Yiseul was bewildered about how her father suddenly knew about Wonwoo more than his own daughter.

On the other hand though, she was triggered to ask about the amusement park thing; what caused him to be afraid of that place, but he would probably just brush it off, saying that he needed to 'keep it professional'. "Even once he said that one of his reasons to start seeing a professional is because he's starting to accept what he's actually facing and that he doesn't want to keep his family and friends worried. Isn't that nice?"

*

hi it's been quite long since i last updated, but i hope this doesn't disappoint and good luck to everyone having exams! also thank you very much to whoever waits for this story (although this sucks) :)