TIME AFTER TIME ; jjk

11

Chapter 11

JEON JUNGKOOK

I didn't feel ashamed crying in front of Park Soohyun, but when the next morning came and the flashbacks of the night slid under my skin and burrowed into my body, it worried me that I must have made a fool of myself. She probably thought I was funny. Worse, she found me annoying. When she left last night, it felt to me that she'd rather be anywhere than be close to me. That she couldn't wait to be home and forget I happened. Because why would you still want to talk to someone who blatantly rejected you? She listened to my dramatic ass for painfully long minutes!

Isn't this what I wanted? I made her hate me though we were never even friends. It was making me anxious to know that she must be cursing me to hell... But we were okay last night. We talked peacefully. Soohyun even gave me advice on coping with dying patients and wished me a peace of mind. Maybe I should give her something in exchange of the time she wasted with me. She certainly thought of our moment that way. Jungkook, what moment are you talking about?

This day onwards, I would be nice to her. Soohyun deserved at least a civil treatment. From there, perhaps we could work it out and be good friends. That is, if she wanted us to be one.

That morning, I stood outside the residents' office in cardiothoracic surgery department, holding cups of coffee in both hands while getting nervous. I gathered courage to knock on the door then it opened and revealed all eyes focused on me.

"Hey..." I said.

The doctors regarded me with bright smiles and they threw Park Soohyun a suspecting look. There was confusion written on her face. I came here so random and I was actually starting to feel embarrassed.

One of the female residents in Soohyun's team grinned and said, "Looks like we've got Soohyun a coffee delivery guy now..."

"When do I ever get one?" another resident said, giggling as I grew more uncomfortable.

"Ssshhh, get a lover first."

Soohyun got up from her seat and raised her cup of coffee. "I am just drinking one right now." Then she faced her members in the team. "Can you guys stop teasing him? He already rejected me. We were never a thing. There's nothing to root for. Don't make him feel awkward."

She certainly made it more awkward.

The room suddenly fell silent and it had everyone finding anything to work on.

Soohyun walked to me and slowly led me out the door. When we were standing outside, she stopped and said, "I'm sorry about them." Her eyes dropped to the cups of hot coffee that were in my hands then her brows arched.

I offered her one. "For you... As a thanks."

"You don't owe me anything... I stayed with you last night because it was my choice. It's nothing. Give that Kim Taehyung since he loves free coffees."

I wouldn't want to insist because she looked impatient and her words only made me feel guilty so I nodded. "Okay. Thank you for last night. I bet I wasted your time."

"Didn't I just say it was my choice?"

"Still... You didn't have to do it but you listened to me."

"Fine." She sighed and everything had gone back to uncomfortable quietness the next second. I couldn't meet her eyes until she told me that she needed to go back to her team.

"I'll just see you around, I guess." I didn't have the chance to ask if we were really okay and I immediately said goodbye.

I arrived at our staff room and found Doctor Nam there who was about to leave. A smile threaded across her lips as I quickly handed out the coffee to her. She looked confused but she accepted right away with no further questions.