章 23: CAFE
"S-Soojin…"
She heard someone call her name.
"S-Soojin…"
Is it a dream again???
"S-Soojin…"
I want to keep dreaming about him.
"S-Soojin…"
She opened her eyes and heard loud knocks on her door. A deep-sounding voice called her from outside the door.
She stood from the couch and slightly opened the door.
"M-Ms. Han??? Sorry, did I disturbed you???" The psychiatrist shyly smiled.
"Dr. Ma?!?" She slightly opened the door.
"Did I bother you??? I called on your phone but you weren't answering. Then I called your uncle and he said you went home already." Dr. Ma explained.
She remembered Detective Sungmin told her about someone calling her from work, Dr. Ma Donhyu. And he had to tell the psychiatrist about going to Jeju with his uncle.
"Sorry, I didn't hear your call. I dozed off on the couch." She explained.
"You must still be tired from your flight. How about I come back next time???"
"It's fine, Dr. Ma." She stopped the visitor, "How about we have coffee somewhere?"
"Sure." The doctor timidly smiled.
She stepped towards the couch and grabbed her little rosy sling purse and phone. Before she goes back to the door, she checks the notification.
!!!1 MESSAGES!!!
She didn't open it. She already felt desperate to give her number to a stranger. Replying too fast felt awkward. Too eager. Too fast.
The Psychiatrist smiled when she closed the door and stepped down with him. They walked side by side on the street silently.
Then they heard laughter and a kid with a bike passed through them. Dr. Ma immediately set his body aside to protect her. Gently touching Soojin's elbow with his hand.
"Hey!!! Watch where you're going!!!"
Soojin felt the touch. The gentle grip. But the surprising tingling wasn't there.
There was no memory.
She shrugged her head and stopped herself from worrying. Maybe she's tired. Maybe the psychiatrist's touch was too fast for her to catch on. She only woke up from her sleep this morning and it's only past five in the afternoon.
"Are you okay???"
"Yes, thank you."
"Kids are so carefree nowadays."
She smiled, "Do you have any plans on having kids, Dohyun???"
"I do. I love kids. I think finding the mother of my future kids will be harder than making one." Dr. Ma joked.
She gently laughed, setting her small knuckles upon her lips. The implied nature of copulation, making the population grow fast. It was easy. But not for her. Soojin hasn't done it with anyone and she plans to stay pristine until she finds the one.
"What about you, Soojin???"
"Uhmm… I don't know."
"You are still young, having kids will be too far ahead to think of."
She forced a smile.
'I won't be having kids if I stay with Ghost.' She thought.
Her memory of his nature was still a question for her. She only had a glimpse of the investigator's recollection. Small bits of memory that the detective thought of that day. The threat to Insu's life as their suspect, the time Ghost changed into Detective Sungmin's father image, and the investigator calling the name "Eunhee".
She wanted to know more about him. She wanted to be closer.
"Soojin???"
"Yes???"
"Aren't we going to have coffee here???" Dr. Ma pointed at the cafe.
She veered around and saw herself a few steps away from the coffee shop. Awkwardly smiling, she walked back towards the door which the psychiatrist opened for her. Teasing her with a smile from mindlessly walking past the location.
From the other side of the road, a man took a picture of Soojin with his phone. He marched towards the cafe and entered the establishment.
"One normal Americano and a butter croissant for me, and a sexy caramel macchiato and blueberry muffins for the lady, please." Dr. Ma ordered at the counter.
The clerk smirked at the way Dohyun used the word "normal" rather than regular and changed "hot" with "sexy". Soojin stopped herself from giggling at the psychiatrist's little quips.
When their coffee came out, the doctor handed over the cup and she quickly swiveled around to find a seat inside the cafe.
"SHIT!!!" The man gritted his teeth.
"I'm sorry!!! I'm so sorry!!!"
She tried to clean the coffee stain with a napkin. Gliding the thin paper against the hard abdomen beneath the wet shirt.
"OUCH!!!"
"I think you burned him, Soojin." Dr. Ma said.
"YOU THINK?!?"
The psychiatrist ignored the outburst. But his forehead wrinkled from the horrible behavior.
"Maybe we should get you to a hospital, sir," She suggested.
"DAMN IT!!! I can't go to the hospital. I have an important meeting tomorrow. What if they let me stay longer."
"I don't think they will make you stay more than an hour." Dr. Ma mumbled.
"WHAT???"
"How about I take you to my place and give you first aid???"
Dr. Ma's eyes broaden from Soojin's suggestion. He wanted to protest but he found no reason to do it. Acting overprotective might scare the woman off and he can't leave Soojin with a stranger.
"I think it's a good idea."
"My place is only a block away from here." She proposed.
"Are you sure???"
"Yes." She nodded.
The man stared at the two strangers and scoffed, "Fine."
When the man took a step forward, he immediately winced from the pain of his burned skin stretching on his stomach. Soojin saw the reaction and quickly walked up closer to her burn victim, touching his hand and arm.
She expected an electrifying sensation to surge into her nerves and gradually send her into a trance from the avalanche of memories.
But there was nothing but the warm palm in her hand.
'Is he???' The hopeful thought crossed her mind.
She wanted to ask. She wanted to know. Her heart raced inside her chest. Staring at the rude man with high cheekbones and an arrogant look in his eyes.
The man gazed back at her. She intended to smile but kept the excitement filling up her heart.
"Soojin???" Dr. Ma stood baffled.
She held the stranger's hand longer than a minute or two. She needed to be certain that she wasn't hallucinating about the entity she was longing to see.
'Is he following me??? And I accidentally caught him???' She wondered.
"Should we get going before it gets dark???" Dr. Ma asked.
She embarrassingly smiled, "I'm Han Soojin."
"I'm Gil Youngjae." The man replied.
"And I'm Ma Dohyun, we should start walking." The psychiatrist looked annoyed.
She looked at Dohyun and let go of Youngjae's hand. The two men let her lead the way out of the cafe towards her house.
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