↱ECHO↲ ⇾seongjoong⇽

第七

Hongjoong watches Joy sniff at the same bush for the thousandth time.

It's nice outside today, and the animal is enjoying herself as she trots along admiring the shrubbery of the gardens.

Yes, this fancy apartment complex has gardens, with little gazebos and benches— just like a park.

Hongjoong finds this fascinating, since this is the middle of Seoul, but it's nice that people can afford to live in places like this.

His own apartment is meager at best, and it really won't miss his presence for the next two months considering that it doesn't have much in it to begin with.

Hongjoong didn't bring much from Jinju when he moved and since he's more of the simplistic type, he hasn't really acquired much.

He only spends his money on two things: fashion (though it's usually knock-off) and his fur child, Joy.

In fact, he's pretty sure the dog has more outfits than he does.

Today, however, Joy is running around nude because as stupid as it sounds, Hongjoong worries that his new patient will judge him for dressing up the dog.

Not that Seonghwa particularly likes him much anyway— things were not going as planned.

In all his years as a home healthcare nurse, Hongjoong has never once met a client who didn't like him.

Sure, there were patients who were grumpy by natural disposition, but that didn't mean they hated him.

Seonghwa hates him.

And thinking it over, Hongjoong can understand why.

He's been nothing but awkward and unintentionally rude around him (which is completely out of character for him, especially when it comes to his career), he accepted this job based on a bet, and he can't stop looking at his face.

Ok, so Seonghwa had no idea about the last one, but that didn't make it any less true.

Hongjoong cannot stop staring at his patient's face.

It bears such a resemblance to Seongie that it's almost disturbing, and the more he observes Seonghwa, the more he sees his first love reflected in him.

It's impossible.

Hongjoong was so bothered by this that he even spent most of his first day on the job on Naver researching Seonghwa and his family trying to find a connection.

There had to be one.

But after hours of research, and a long night lying in bed recalling everything Seongie had told him about her family, nothing could be found.

All he knows is this:

Seonghwa was born to an heir of a small Jinju-based tech company that had just merged with the remnants of a Japanese conglomerate.

The company eventually moved to Ilsan, where the man presumably met and grew up with Wooyoung.

Seonghwa's mother is a surgeon who retired early from practicing to sit on the medical board of one of the city's largest hospitals.