adora • lookism

5. Grimm Plastic Surgery Tower

At a dead sprint, the distance to the clinic really was just under a minute.

The moment her front foot passed the automatic glass threshold, Ari clipped her speed to a brisk walk, taking the opportunity to catch her breath. No matter how much of a rush she was in, she knew better than to run in a hospital. Despite his kind face, the president was quite strict about such things. And he was right to be, she supposed. It was good for a doctor to be strict about potential hazards in a medical clinic, no matter that it was for plastic surgery.

In a hurry, Ari stepped off the elevator as soon as the doors began to open and rushed round the left corner---and, as if summoned by her thoughts, so did the good doctor himself.

"Ah..." She couldn't stop a small noise from escaping her when she suddenly found herself smushed nose to collar with someone. Her left foot tried to force her weight back onto her heel while her right came to a sudden stop next to it, too close for balance. As she felt herself about to wobble over, a steadying hand immediately pressed behind her shoulder, anchoring her.

Ari froze, stunned to find herself plastered against a man's body as if she had just thrown herself into his arms. And it was a man, without a doubt---there was no mistaking the hard, well-toned planes of his chest when it was pressed so firmly against her own.

She looked up in a daze. Hangyul Baek smiled warmly down at her, his face so close she could count each of his lashes.

Ari immediately took a step away, surprised all over again. "Sorry Doctor Baek," she said meekly. She may have been praising his dedication to safety in her head, but that didn't mean she wanted to be chided by him over it either. "I wasn't being careful. You're okay, right?"

"Yes, I apologize as well," said Hangyul, his hand leaving the back of her shoulder. It reached up to instead curve around her cheek and jaw, the pad of his finger gently rubbing the reddened tip of Ari's nose. "I hope you weren't hurt just now; I would never forgive myself if I harmed your beautiful face at all."

If anyone else were to touch her face without prompt and then say such things, she'd think them a creep or a flirt. But when it came to Doctor Hangyul Baek, she simply saw this as a sort of occupational hazard and made nothing of it. He seemed to freely touch everyone's face, and really just placed great value on beauty in general---which she thought to be somewhat reasonable, considering he was a plastic surgeon. Plus his hands were almost always pristinely clean.

"I'm okay," Ari replied, smiling back at him. She ignored the hand on her face like it was a new ear she'd grown from her cheek, even as his thumb brushed the corner of her upturned mouth. "Just a bit late for my next appointment."

"This isn't your usual time," Hangyul remarked thoughtfully, still looking closely at her. "He must have requested a change in schedule for today... He's being a bit of a nuisance, isn't he?"

"It wasn't a nuisance at all!" Ari assured him. No, but why was he insulting his employee in front of her? It wasn't like she could agree. "I got the chance to finish most of today's homework early thanks to that."

Hangyul's eyes curved into half-moons, smiling at her like she'd said something wonderfully precious. "Then I'm glad." His hand lifted to pet her head, smoothing down the flyaways that had formed during her rush here. "Just tell me if he ever annoys you, I'll talk to him for you."

Ari beamed back at him and nodded cutely. She definitely wouldn't.

Not that she didn't appreciate the thought behind it, but she couldn't imagine any 'talking to' going very well. Hangyul Baek may work out, but her next client was built like an industrial refrigerator and looked like he'd throw one at you if you gave him a reason.