A Thousand Purple Stars (JinJi)

Insult to Injury

Jaebum was checking out some of the magazines that the office had put out in the waiting room while Jisoo sat in a chair, fidgeting and pressing an ice pack to her ankle.

He might not even be here, she thought to herself. It was a Saturday night, and it was late, and there was a good chance that this wasn't even his shift. Of all the ways she had imagined tonight turning out, this was not where she expected it would go. After spraining her ankle, Jisoo had tried to convince Jaebum that she was fine and could just go on home and ice it herself. But he insisted on getting a doctor's opinion in case anything was broken.

But Jisoo was terrified of running into Jinyoung. It was too soon after the whole payment thing, and she didn't have enough time to prepare herself, mentally or emotionally, to see him. And considering that she had been distracted enough earlier with thoughts of him to sprain her ankle, she doubted facing him again would do her any further good.

"Jaebum, seriously, we can just go," Jisoo said, trying one last time. "It's actually starting to feel better, I don't want to waste the doctor's time."

"You took a pretty nasty fall," Jaebum said.

Nasty enough that she also had scratches on the back of her elbow and the back of her leg. And if she were telling the truth, her ankle was still throbbing and she was afraid to move it. But all that, of course, was second to the pain in her chest caused by the thought of possibly running into her fake boyfriend. Jaebum put the magazine down and sat back in the chair beside Jisoo.

"Better safe than sorry," Jaebum said. "If nothing's wrong, he'll just say so, but it's better to just have someone look at it anyway."

He wouldn't budge, so Jisoo just sank down in her seat, dreading the evening. She was finally put out of her misery when the door to the side of the receptionist's area opened and her worst fear came true. Jinyoung was standing there, dressed in blue scrubs and holding the clipboard she'd used to sign in. Jisoo tried to hide her face with her hair.

"Kim Jisoo," Jinyoung called out, the way he would any patient's name when the doctor was ready for them.

At first, when the receptionist handed him the clipboard along with the patient's chart, he was thought the receptionist was playing a prank on him. And then he was amused. He scanned the clipboard and saw that she was in for a sprained ankle, and he remembered that Nawon had pulled a similar trick on him back then. He felt his heartstrings being pulled. What was this girl trying to do to him?

Ever since she handed him the money, he had tried to tell himself it was hopeless and she didn't see him as anything more than a business partner. That he should stamp out his feelings before he got hurt. But then, seeing her name on the clipboard gave him an unwelcome surge of hope, that maybe she was pulling this stunt because she wanted to see him.

And then he saw Jaebum sitting next to her, and those thoughts were canceled.

"That's you," Jaebum said, tapping Jisoo on the shoulder and nodding towards Jinyoung, whom he just assumed was the assistant on duty. Jisoo did not want to look up. She didn't know how Jinyoung was going to react, but she knew it couldn't be good.

"Jisoo, the doctor's ready to see you," Jaebum said again, this time getting out of his seat and helping Jisoo stand up. Jisoo groaned quietly, letting Jaebum take her by the arm as she limped toward the door, closer to where Jinyoung was standing.

He held the clipboard in one hand and his other was clenched in a fist by his side. He was reading the signs: Jaebum and Jisoo together, Jisoo wearing a cute and slightly revealing outfit, her hair curled, Jaebum in a nice shirt and holding her by the arm. He clenched his fist tighter. He felt feverishly hot under his collar. As Jisoo was passing by the doorway, Jinyoung held out his arm with the clipboard, stopping Jaebum from entering.