Boys Over Flowers: How It Should Have Ended Part3 (The Return)

Chapter 7

"You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending." - C.S. Lewis

Chapter 7:

Ji Hoo sat at his desk, head throbbing. He was tired, and severely lacking sleep. His eyes scanned the report in front of him, his mind not really registering what he was reading anymore.

He rubbed his eyes and stretched his arms. He thought about lying down for a bit. He had a small, single bed tucked in the back room of his office that he often used to get a little shut eye. He was on call, so if they needed him they could just page him and he'd be up.

The door opened and Nurse Eun Mi came in. For the last month and a half she'd been assigned to assist him when he was on night shift – and she'd been coming a lot lately, even when he hadn't called on her.

She flashed the whitest set of teeth Ji Hoo had ever seen.

"Is there anything you need?" She asked, handing him a cup of coffee.

Ji Hoo shook his head. "I'm good. Thanks."

She sat in front of him and crossed her legs. "Are you sure? You look tired."

"A little. But I'll be fine."

She stood up and walked behind his chair. She leaned over and touched his shoulders.

"Are you sure? Because I could give you a little massage. You know, to ease the tension on your shoulders."

She started gently rubbing his shoulders.

If Ji Hoo hadn't been too tired, he would have known what was happening immediately. As it was, it took him a few seconds before he jumped out of his chair and stepped back.

"I'm fine. I'm good. I don't need a massage." He held his hands up as he moved away from her.

He saw her frown in disappointment, and Ji Hoo's mind suddenly clicked in.

"Look," he said, mentally kicking himself for being too slow to notice. "Just in case we're not clear here, just so we don't have any misunderstandings, I just want to say I'm..."

"I know, I know, you're engaged." She said, interrupting him. "But I don't care." She gave him a doe-eyed look. "I like you. I've always liked you."

He thought of all the times she'd brought him coffee, or something to eat. Or when he'd had to come in for emergencies she had always volunteered to come assist him. All this time, he thought she was just being too nice to him.

Babo! You're an idiot, Ji Hoo.

He cleared his throat and thought his next words very carefully.

"Nurse Eun Mi... you seem like a really nice girl but... do you really want to be with someone who would drop his fiancé just like that? Who would cheat on her? You want to be with that kind of person?"

"As long as it's you," she brazenly replied.

Ji Hoo closed his eyes. His head ached even more. Had he given her mixed signals? He worked alongside so many nurses, he was sure he treated them all the same.

"I'm sorry," he said. "But I'm NOT that someone. I will NEVER be that kind of person." He gestured to the door. "I think you should go now."

She left in a huff, and Ji Hoo found himself at a loss at what had just happened. He went back to his desk and sat down, head about to explode.

...

Jan Di's long day was finally over. Her legs ached from standing for so long. She glanced at her watch. Ji Hoo was working night shift again – he should be in his office right at that moment. She contemplated whether she should stop by and see how he was doing. He'd been overexerting himself lately – most of the time spending the day with her even though he had to work at night. Sometimes she worried that he might not be sleeping at all.