Boy Next Door ✔

Chapter 3

Soo Yun finished his first surgery of the day in an hour. The young boy was wheeled into the recovery ward with his mother in tow, crying in gratitude to the doctor who saved his life. he watched them walk down the hall and disappear into the slide doors.

He walked back to the ER and stood at the reception desk. pulling out a stick of instant coffee from the stack next to the pens and pouring it into a plastic cup. He couldn't remember where he'd placed his portable coffee mug. That was his 5th one this month.

He used the hot water from the water dispenser to mix his coffee and took the first sip, smacking his lips. He was about to take the next one when he heard a child calling out.

"Please help my father. We've been waiting for an hour."

He sighed, placed his coffee on the reception desk and smiled at the nurse who was on desk duty before walking towards the child.

"Where is your father?"

The child grabbed his hand and dragged him to a bed where a man was bleeding all the way to the floor. A nurse was on his chest performing CPR and another one was examining where the blood was coming from.

"What happened?" 

The nurse moved aside making room for Soo Yun. 

"He was hit by a car trying to get his child from the road."

Soo Yun looked at the distorted face of the child and understood him. He examined the man on the bed and then crouched down to the child. 

"Is there anyone you can call?"

The child shook his head vigorously, tears streaming down his round face. 

Soo Yun called a nurse over and handed the child over to him, asking her to explain that they were going to operate on his dad. He then followed the trolley back to the surgery room. Thus the day ended this way. Patients being wheeled into the ER, some needing surgery, and some getting a few stitches. 

When Soo Yun finally went back to his cup of coffee it was already dark outside. The cup of coffee was gone, so was the desk nurse. He sighed and stretched his legs that were screaming in pain. He was about to reach out for another coffee stick when a mug of steaming aromatic coffee was placed in front of his face

He accepted hurriedly, sipping it and giving a smile of gratitude to the woman who was standing before him. 

The woman had the posture of a soldier. Every action she took was precise and purposeful. Her eyes were devoid of any make-up but they were smiling and full of love as she took a long hard look at Soo Yun. Her hair was in a tight bun, not a strand out of place. Her white  coat was immaculate and so was the sepia dress underneath it. 

Park Soo Min boldly screamed from the name tag on her white coat. She squeezed his forearm from underneath his scrubs and frowned. 

"You're getting thinner. You should move back home." She said, the words melting Soo Yun. He smiled warmly at her and held her hand, pulling her to the chairs on the waiting area. 

"Are you done with your consultations?" He asked as he sat her down and took the chair next to her. 

"I was done an hour ago. I was waiting for you." She patted his head gently and watched him drinking his coffee.

"The director wants to see you." She retorted absentmindedly, like it wasn't important. 

Soo Yun finished the last of his coffee and stood up in a rush, running to the elevator. "Why didn't you start with that?"

The woman rushed to catch up to him and punched the 50th floor on the elevator, "You have been in the OR all day, him waiting for a few seconds while you have coffee and rest your legs won't kill him."

They rode the elevator in silence, and walked down the gloomy hallway to the director's office in silence. Soo Yun tapped twice on the door then opened it and walked in, followed by the female doctor. She sat down on a chair while he stood straight at the front of the big mahogany desk waiting for the man behind it to finish his call.

The man behind the desk had a face like a brick. His movements were all sharp and with purpose, he hung up the phone and picked up a chart from the desk. He looked at it analytically  for a few seconds and looked up with a perfunctory smile flashed for just a moment at the woman on the couch. Behind the gun-metal spectacles his eyes were as grey as washed-out bed sheets and the lines around his mouth gave no indication that he ever lost himself in laughter.

"Did you finish your move?" He stared at Soo Yun from under his glasses.

Soo Yun nodded.

"How is the new house?"

"He's not in the new house." The woman interjected, walking to Soo Yun and clutching his hand. "He's in that apartment we got him in the city. The one he's been renting out."

The director stared at Soo Yun, ignoring what the woman said and waiting for him to speak up for himself.

"I had some changes I needed made to the new house. While they're working on them I'll be staying at my old apartment in the city."

The director nodded. "How long will it take?"

"A few months." Soo Yun responded.

"Do you need anything?"

"He needs to be home," the woman retorted before Soo Yun could respond. "Why does he have to move out?"

"Mom, I moved out because I wanted to." Soo Yun held on to her arm and pulled her back, stopping her from rushing behind the desk and doing god-knows-what to the director.

The director stood up. He pulled down his coat from the rack that was close to the wall and draped it over his arm. He picked up the files on his desk and stuffed them in his suitcase. He walked up to the front of his desk and sat on it, facing Soo Yun and the woman directly. 

"You heard him." He said to the woman.

"You both know that's not true," the woman stood between the two men, she knew how this conversation was going to end up but she had to say what she needed to say.

"He left because he felt you were blaming him for Soo Beom. And as if that wasn't enough you keep comparing them. They're both your sons but they're different darling. If we push the only one we have away we'll be left with nothing." 

Her eyes glimmered with watery tears and she felt as if the whole world was about to crumble. The two men in the room never seemed to see each other eye to eye. The older one stubbornly condemned and berated the younger one while the younger one stubbornly defied the older one.

I wish you both knew just how alike you were.

The director stiffened and stood up. He turned to the woman, ignoring all she had said. "If you've finished your consultations meet me downstairs in five minutes. We'll go home together. If he needs anything he has a mouth. He can ask me himself."

He walked away, leaving the woman with Soo Yun in his office. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close, gently rubbing his arm. Despite the heaviness in Soo Yun's stomach, it fluttered at the feeling of his body pressed against hers. He sunk into the warmth of her side, appreciative of the simple gesture. Her touch made the room warmer somehow, his future within its walls seeming a little less bleak.

She let go and ruffled his hair, smiling at him with so much love he couldn't help but smile back. "Look for me if you need anything son, and don't mind your father. You know he loves you."

She walked out of the office in long steady strides, disappearing into the dark hallway, leaving Soo Yun standing there alone, a smile on his face and warmth in his heart.