a heartbeat away (just pull me in)

Six

Time in: 2:00 pm March 1st, 2023

Reason: Check up, B-12 shot

Symptoms: leg fracture, fatigue

Usually the one who was supposed to have sweaty palms and an accelerated heart rate was the patient. And, 𝘺𝘦𝘴, Jiyeon did have those traits, but she also had a condition. What was Hyunjung's excuse?

In her life, Hyunjung had had one and a half girlfriends. The first, a girl from her freshman year of college. It lasted six months, and Hyunjung ended it to focus on studies. She had felt bad, but wasn't exactly devastated about the whole thing.

The half had been in Hyunjung's failed residency. A weird thing with another resident that never really got off the ground. Again, Hyunjung had been focused on other things. In that case, it had been the new clinic, which in her defense, was a lot of work.

It had never exactly been love. Hyunjung never did stupid things, or felt silly or had momentary lapses in breathing. She didn't stay up late at night thinking about it. She was able to focus, always clear headed.

Jiyeon came into her life and hit her with a metaphorical train that hadn't stopped on impact.

Hyunjung thought that maybe it was because from the moment Kim Jiyeon entered her life, she already felt strongly about her. Annoyed, primarily. Annoyed, and yet; when they first met, there was a spark. Physically and mentally, when their hands touched for just a second, Hyunjung remembered feeling a faint jolt like touching a stove that was too hot.

And she was curious. Somehow along the way, Hyunjung went from finding Jiyeon completely insufferable to, well, still insufferable but, in a different way. She made Hyunjung's head fuzzy, made her skin heat up, made her think about dumb things like holding hands. All concepts that  Hyunjung was sure she'd never be juvenile enough to feel.

Juvenile. Yes, that was the word. Jiyeon made her feel young— and not in a good way. The terrifying way when you don't know what the hell happens next, except in Hyunjung's case, she always knew what was going to happen. Since she was 13, her plans had been laid out, the next step simply a mark on the calendar, a new day.

New days with Kim Jiyeon were like walking into a bees' nest blindfolded.

Hyunjung kept telling herself she should just refer Jiyeon to a new doctor. One who wasn't an idiot that fell in love with patients, perhaps. But then Hyunjung would think, well, what if I never saw her again? From there she'd think of the year Jiyeon was gone, how she came back, her condition. And it just became clear that she couldn't do it.

Her father used to say don't get too attached to patients. Hyunjung regretted the fact that it was the one piece of advice from him she'd ever utterly failed (but in her defense, her father never warned her about ones with an annoyingly gorgeous face and a really pretty gummy-eye smile).

Hyunjung pressed her hand against her temple, looking at Jiyeon who was looking at her with wide eyes. She already had the shot in her hand, now it was just about helping Jiyeon get into position. For some reason when it was just the two of them, the action made her skin tingle more than it should.

Jiyeon sighed, then looked down at her dress. "You know, I meant what I said at the hospital. You should be buying me dinner for this." She gave an exaggerated, failed wink, cocking her head to the side.