Feeling Brew

~18~

Isla waved with her free hand. This time, there was only one small cup of coffee resting on his desk, but his face definitely looked as tired as the last time she'd seen him.

Dr. Han's eyes darted from her face to her cast a couple times. "Wanna talk about it?"

Isla grinned. "That's why I'm here." She told him the story of Mi Ran pushing her into the pool. She was supposed to meet her yesterday afternoon at the Aquatic Complex, but after waiting an hour, the girl was a no-show.

"So, you're telling me you trained really hard, and this girl pushed you into a pool, and you shattered your elbow? And there's some past trauma from a bad competition you took part in? Wow, there's a lot to unpack here."

"At least I have a really good friend by my side. He's been taking good care of me. He seems like such a different person from when I first met him. Back then, he struggled to even say hi."

"You're talking about my Taeil, right?"

"Moon Taeil?" Isla whispered.

She knew Taeil was Dr. Han's adopted son, but she'd never intended to bring it up during her counseling session. At the mention of his son's name, the doctor's eyes lit up. His wrinkles seemed to fade, and he sat up eagerly.

"He talks more now?"

Isla nodded slowly. "Yes, he really seems to have come out of his shell, if you ask me. To be honest, he told me everything about him being adopted and how he felt like he was lied to for years. He complained about his mom and other things. I know it's not my place to intervene, but I was wondering if I could hear your side of the story. Taeil has become someone I really care about, and in order to help him move past these traumatic memories, I was hoping you could tell me what happened."

Dr. Han had never seen someone so concerned about his son, and it touched him. All these years, he had tried to keep an eye on his son secretly, but he had been so worried that Taeil had no one but Johnny and Mark. And after university, they would all probably be taking different paths. They would disappear from his side, and he'd have no one. He'd feel the same way he probably felt when he found out he was adopted. And after his divorce with his wife, Dr. Han had never seen Taeil in a worse state. Seeing Isla care about him so much put him at ease.

"I would be happy to tell you everything. But in return, can you tell me everything about my Taeil? Like maybe what are his favorite foods? And what kind of coffee does he like to brew? Is he good at latte art? Does he write songs on napkins so he won't forget the lyrics? I want to know everything."

If one thing was certain, Isla wanted to help Taeil reconcile with Dr. Han. The man clearly loved his son more than anything in the world. And knowing that Taeil was secretly helping his father by working shifts, he knew that deep down he cared, too.

"Where should I start? I'm sure you're curious about which came first, right? Feeling Blue or Feeling Brew? Before Taeil was adopted, I was a doctor in a big hospital. But a lot of the patients I saw never felt comfortable trapped between those four sterile white walls."

Isla knew exactly what he was talking about. When she had been in the hospital for her broken elbow, she had been itching to be discharged. But Dr. Han's office had never made her feel trapped. The paintings and the smell of coffee felt strangely calming instead.

"Anyways, I opened up the Feeling Blue psychology clinic where anyone could come in to talk about their daily problems. It could be anything, but I just wanted to be there for people and provide a positive environment. While I was busy providing for my patients, I made a mistake and put my family on the back-burner."