Everything You Are (Chaelisa)

Chapter 17

The following day, Chaeyoung was sitting in a quiet hallway on a gurney next to Jisoo and Seulgi. She hadn’t spoken much to Lisa since the previous morning and she knew she would have to soon. She was just avoiding any conversation with the cardiothoracic surgeon that would make her acknowledge her feelings.

“You can’t just avoid her,” Jisoo said.

“Yeah, it’s not fair to Lisa,” Seulgi added. “You have to tell her what’s going on in your head.”

Chaeyoung sighed. “I hate dealing with feelings. What am I supposed to say? Hey, I saw a photo of you and your ex and I’m worried that I’m just a rebound?”

Jisoo nodded. “Yes, tell her that. You have to be verbal, Chaeyoung. You can’t just run when your feelings freak you out. You’ve got to communicate.”

Chaeyoung ran a hand through her hair. “I don’t know. Maybe I got too ahead of myself with this one. I need to take a step back and-,”

“Chaeyoung,” Seulgi cut her off. “Don’t be an idiot. Lisa is perfect for you. If you keep doing this back and forth thing, then she might not be around when you figure out that you want to be with her.”

Chaeyoung bit at her lower lip as she thought about what her friends were saying. She didn’t want Lisa to give up on her. “I’m being stupid.”

Jisoo smiled. “That’s the general consensus.” She nudged Chaeyoung gently with her elbow. “You’re thinking too much. Lisa likes you and you like her. It’s that simple. Just let yourself have this, Chaeyoung. You deserve to be happy.”

Minhyuk was walking down the hall when he spotted his sister and friends. “Glad to see everyone working so hard.”

“You have no idea,” Seulgi replied. “Between being a doctor and trying to keep Chaeng’s love life intact, I’m worn out.”

A look of realization crossed Minhyuk’s face. “No wonder Manoban is being so grumpy. What’d you do?” He asked Chaeyoung.

Seulgi groaned. “I haven’t seen her yet. On a scale of one to ten how approachable is she?”

“She’s ‘hasn’t-had-morning-coffee’ level of unapproachable,” Minhyuk replied. “Enjoy being on her service today.”

Seulgi pouted. “She always gives me grunt work when she’s in a bad mood.” She perked up a second later. “But I’m her favorite so maybe I’m safe.”

“Or maybe Jihyo’s her favorite because that’s the only person she hasn’t glared at yet,” Minhyuk stated. “Sorry, Chaeng. I warned her off but you’re kind of dragging your feet here. I can only do so much.”

“No, you’re right.” Chaeyoung got off of the gurney. “I’m going to talk to her. I’ll catch up with you guys later.”

Chaeyoung made her way over to the cardio wing and spotted Lisa talking to Jihyo. She rolled her eyes as the nurse reached over to pick lint off of Lisa's lab coat. Chaeyoung doubted anything was on it to begin with. She took a breath to calm her unwarranted jealousy before making her way over to Lisa. "Doctor Manoban," she greeted.

Lisa glanced away from the nurse to look at Chaeyoung before she returned her attention to Jihyo. "Sorry, if you'll excuse me."

"Yeah, no problem," Jihyo smiled. She nodded a greeting at Chaeyoung before walking away.

Chaeyoung watched Jihyo leave before making a comment. "You two looked cozy."