80 Days of Sunny Rays | | myg

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Tuesday's are the slowest day at the clinic. I glance at the schedule and sigh with relief at only having a few patients scheduled today. One of them, however, was Mr. Min, who would be here any minute now. I sit at my desk, doodling flowers, waiting for him to come in. The bell of the door chimes as it opens, and the familiar face comes walking in. He's clad in a simple white t-shirt and jeans, but he makes it look good somehow.

I continue doodling as he signs in on the paper. "What's your favorite flower, Nurse Choi?" His sudden question catches me off guard.

My eyes dart around as I try to quickly come up with an answer, and I see a picture of tulips hanging on the wall in the waiting room. "My favorite flowers are tulips," I blurt out. Hopefully my answer is believable.

His eyes light up and he smiles. It is the first time I've seen him genuinely smile, and it is so pure, I want to see him smile like that every day.

Tulips are one of my favorite flowers too. They come in so many beautiful colors. I love picking tulips on sunny days," he rambles with an airy tone in his voice. Before he can continue, Dr. Rosenthal walks in.

"Mr. Min, how are you feeling today?" he asks.

"I'm feeling a day older Dr. Rosenthal," Mr. Min jokes, and they both laugh. The two converse as if they've been best friends for years. His laugh rings through my ears. A laugh I could listen to every day if I could. It made you feel warm and comfortable, as if nothing could go wrong.

"Nurse Choi?" I was brought back to reality by the voice of the doctor. "I'm going to go check on another patient. Please finish taking Mr. Min's information for me." I silently nod, and watch the door close behind him, half hoping he'll walk right back in any second now. This was my chance to find out more about Mr. Min.

"Have you ever gone on a picnic Nurse Choi?" I whip around to face to patient, his sudden question startling me. His face is full of boyish curiosity, a small smile tugging slightly at his lips. I once again look at his eyes and shake my head slowly.

"I can't say I have, Mr. Min," I softly reply, staring into his empty brown orbs. He hesitates, before his soft voice fills the air once more.

"Would you like to go on a picnic with me?"

I blink, unable to come up with an answer. The image of him sitting on a red and white picnic blanket, surrounded by beautiful wildlife forms in my head. I have to fight to keep a small from forming on my face at the picture. "Why do you want to go on a picnic with me, Mr. Min?" I ask carefully, setting down his chart on the table and crossing my arms across my chest.

"I've never been on a picnic, Nurse Choi. But I love picnics."

His vague and blunt answer leaves me slightly frustrated."How can you know you love picnics if you've never been on one before?"

He scratches the back of his head, messing up his soft black hair. "Nurse Choi, what's your type?"

I scrunch my eyebrows in confusion and annoyance that my question was ignored. "My type? My type of what?"

"Men," he deadpans.

My eyes widen at his response, unable to look away from his sharp gaze. "Men? Now Mr. Min, this is not an appropriate topic to be discussing during a medical examination," I stutter. Where were all of these weird questions coming from?

"My life is a ticking time bomb, Nurse Choi. Matters of appropriateness are of least importance to me at this point. But if that's how you feel, I'll just have to find out myself." With that, he slides off the examination table and walks past my stunned form, out the door. I jump as the door slams, only then realizing that his appointment wasn't over. I go to run after him, only to come face to face with Dr. Rosenthal as I open the door.

"Sorry Doctor," I shout before pushing past him and running down the hallway, ignoring his calls. As I make through the front door of the clinic, my eyes scan the dimly lit sidewalk for Mr. Min. I sigh in defeat at the absence of the thin man and start to make my way back to the front door. A large hand firmly grasps my wrist and pulls me into the alley beside the building. I start to fight against the man until he traps me against the wall with his body, his face finally in full view. "Mr..."

"It's Yoongi," he whispers into my ear, my voice catching in my throat. "Hangang Park tomorrow at 12:30. I'll see you there." He leans away from me and winks before disappearing down the dark alley.