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Yang Seokhyeong once thought that everything was over ever since his return to Korea in December 2018. It was a book that ends with a tragedy, with him living the rest of his life solely for the sake of his mother. Slowly, though, he discovered that starting anew wasn’t impossible for him — when she started relentlessly knocking on his door. A new chapter was to begin when he let her in his life.
After a quick lunch at a nearby restaurant, Seokhyeong and Minha proceeded to have their study date at a huge public library with a small cafe. He dropped her by at the entrance, parked his car, and bought two coffees, a hot coffee and an iced americano, before searching for his girlfriend.
Seokhyeong froze for a second when spotted her. Minha radiated a bright and warm aura; her hair was in a bit of a mess, but it still framed her face perfectly. She was extremely immersed in her work, shifting from her laptop to her thesis draft.
He smiled, reminded once again that there was no one as hardworking and beautiful as Chu Minha.
“Coffee, gyosunim?” Seokhyeong teased as he placed the hot cup of coffee beside her. Minha looked up to greet her boyfriend with a grateful smirk. The act of bringing coffee, coupled with the conversation starter, was something she’d done for him for the past two years after all.
“Thank you, oppa,” she drank the coffee as Seokhyeong took his seat, sipping on the straw of his all-time favorite iced americano. He quickly noticed how she had neatly laid out the papers that he was supposed to be checking today in front of him.
“You don’t have to do this for me, Minha-ya,” he softly said, frowning but still thankful for every little gesture she does for him.
“It’s a force of habit.” She offered him a green pen with a smile. Seokhyeong gladly took it from her grip, gently brushing their fingers along the way.
The two bears held a loving gaze towards each other for a second too long.
The professor was the first to break away. “Let’s get to work?” he suggested, even though he sounded like he didn’t fully mean it. Minha nodded, shifting her focus from her boyfriend towards the medical journal she was skimming through on her laptop.
The library was peacefully quiet. Every keystroke, every sip of coffee, and even every breath could be heard by the other.
Admittedly, Seokhyeong couldn’t stay focused on his work. At the end of a sentence, he discreetly looked up to take a momentary look at the woman in front of him, considering it a treat and motivation to read the next one. Up close, she was certainly glowing much, much brightly than before.
An hour must have passed and Minha couldn’t help but notice the sneaky bear’s behavior. He was trying his best to steal glances from her and he was utterly failing. She observed how he lightly looks up, takes a glimpse, and smiles widely before going back to his work. He hasn’t even flipped to another page in around five minutes.
Over time, she started glancing at him too, just to check if he’s on the next page already or if he was looking at her as well. Minha shifted her gaze from her screen, her references, and her boyfriend. Before she could realize it, she had been staring at Yang Seokhyeong way too much.
In short, neither of them were getting any work done.
“I’m getting a book,” she declared, standing up instantly so as to not change her mind. Clenched in her hand was a post-it of a reference another professor recommended to her.
Seokhyeong stared at her in surprise. “Okay,” he innocently said.
With full determination, Minha marched towards the aisle for obstetrician books. Yang Seokhyeong’s eyes naturally followed her before she disappeared into a long line of shelves.
Minha searched the title across the many books in the aisle, eventually spotting it on one of the upper shelves. She tried her best to reach it but failed miserably. Taking a deep breath, she stood on her toes with her thin fingers desperately reaching for the book. All of a sudden, another arm overlapped hers with the soft cloth of his blazer brushing against it. Minha turned her head to meet a smiling Seokhyeong too close to her face. He grabbed the book and landed it in her arms.
“Oppa, do you need this book, too?” Minha asked. Maybe it was a common reference for their department?
“Aniya…!” Seokhyeong frantically answered, suddenly scanning his fingers through the spines of some random books. “I was looking for a reference, then I saw you here.”
Minha smirked at his inability to lie. His eyes wandered around and his fingers nervously tapped his trousers. “I’ll go ahead then, I hope you find what you’re looking for,” she teasingly said.
He faked a smile of confidence as Minha walked back to their table. Once the coast was clear, he returned his attention to the shelves, murmuring the names of the authors and the titles. Suddenly, he felt something tugging onto the lower tip of his blazer, causing him to look for the culprit down on the floor.
It was a little girl, probably around seven or eight years old, looking straight up to meet his face. Her short hair was neatly tied into two pigtails and her gaze was full of innocence and curiosity.
“Your girlfriend is a doctor, isn’t she?” she blurted, speaking in formal language but somehow sounding casual. Puzzled at her appearance, Seokhyeong stood perfectly still. “The one you took the book for?” she almost demanded.
The professor felt obliged to treat her like an outpatient. “Ne,” he calmly responded. The girl was so tiny, probably standing below his waist, but she had a strong authoritative presence that even a bear would feel obliged to listen.
She nodded approvingly as if Seokhyeong had just given the correct answer to a teacher. “An ob-ste-tri-cian?” she said every syllable slowly. Seokhyeong theorized that she had only read the word somewhere, but it was still impressive for a girl her age to know the term.
He chuckled as he knelt to the ground to meet her eye level.
“Ne,” her eyes were deep black, reminding him of the very person they were talking about. “A really great one, at that.”
The little girl stood on her toes to seem a little taller than him. “Then can I ask her a question?” she inquired, folding her arms in confidence.
Seokhyeong hummed before replying, a usual habit he had when talking to children. “You can ask me too, you know.”
“Ahjussi,” the girl responded with her eyebrows furrowed. “What do you know about ob-stet-rics?”
Seokhyeong laughed at her obvious tone of anger. “I know quite a lot, actually.”
“You don’t learn things just because you’re following her around in a library,” she claimed, her voice filled with annoyance. She stomped a foot on the ground to drive the point further.
“That’s true,” he lowered his head to hide the blush forming on his face. From her tone of voice, Seokhyeong knew that she wouldn’t believe him if he said he was a doctor, too. In her eyes, he was probably another love-struck boyfriend who couldn’t stop following his girlfriend around.
She smiled victoriously, almost saying ‘ Of course I’m right!’. Seokhyeong noted the many similarities the little girl had with Chu Minha — the spirit, the boldness, and the relentlessness.
Actually, worlds will collide if he ever had them meet.
“So, can you take me to her, please?”
“Geurae,” he nodded lightly, conceding defeat to the little girl. Seokhyeong was also curious as to how their interaction would go. He stood up to walk back to their table with a fierce little rabbit tailing him. Even a bear would feel threatened with her energy and presence.
—
As much as Chu Minha wanted to return to her work, she couldn’t help but ponder on her relationship with Yang Seokhyeong. She was never really much of a strict life planner; in fact, she didn’t even think much over her decision to become a doctor when everything was going fine in the lab. When she sets her eyes on something, she tries her very best to pursue it no matter how hard it was — but she can’t discount the fact that some of them stemmed mostly from spontaneity.
Gladly, it all went well though. She’s happy working as a doctor even though it’s undeniably difficult, and she’s in a relationship with someone worth waiting for.
Lately, however, she found herself imagining the immediate future with Yang Seokhyeong even to the littlest detail. When she met him, Minha could somehow visualize tomorrow and the day after, as if the book of her life had suddenly found its direction. Going from a wise doctor’s life, a wise married life (something she never really considered beforehand), and possibly a wise parent’s life… that is, if Yang Seokhyeong obliges.
She was scanning through her references, trying her best to snap out of her thoughts, when she saw her boyfriend arriving with no book in hand. Instead, a little munchkin was closely following him. Seokhyeong greeted her with a smile, shifting his gaze between her and the little girl like he was asking for help.
“Oppa, who’s that?” Minha asked, adjusting her seat to face outside the table.
“Seonsaengnim, can you help me?” she ran towards her arms and Minha carried her onto her lap. Compared to when she was with Seokhyeong, the little girl looked more vulnerable, like she was holding everything in to seem strong. “I have a medical question for an ob-ste-tri-cian.”
Minha softly brushed her hair and wiped the sweat on her forehead, probably from running around too much in this huge library. “Okay, but why didn’t you ask Oppa instead?”
The little girl interjected before Seokhyeong could even muster up a reply. “Only a doctor would know the answer.”
Minha tried to keep the laughter in when she looked at her boyfriend. Seokhyeong nodded, eyes closed and mouth tightly sealed, as if saying “Yes, you can tease me about it later”. You really wouldn’t think Yang Seokhyeong was a doctor at first glance.
“Okay then, I’ll answer you,” Minha returned her attention to the girl. “What’s your name?”
“Kang Gaeul,” she said under her breath, gripping her hold over Minha’s hand.
“Then, Kang Gaeul-ssi, what’s your question for the doctor?”
Gaeul took a deep breath before explaining. “My mom is pregnant and she’s having a really hard time at home. The professor told her to get lots of rest. I wanted to know more about why she’s sick. So I was trying to read some books on it, but I don’t really understand anything.” Her voice began to break.
Minha gently caressed Gaeul’s head as she softly cried on her chest. Seokhyeong rushed towards the pair to offer them his handkerchief. The couple exchanged looks of worry and understanding, awfully aware of the burden of a family member in times of a difficult pregnancy.
Minha gently wiped the brave little girl’s tears. “Do you remember the name of her condition?” she asked when Gaeul calmed down a bit.
“Antiphospholipid…” Gaeul answered slowly and carefully. “...antibody syndrome.”
Minha softly patted the little girl's back. “Gaeul-ah, you don’t have to worry about things like that, okay?” she gave her warm words of comfort. “Your mom’s condition makes it hard for her blood to circulate, which results in a difficult pregnancy.”
Seokhyeong gently carried the little girl and seated her on the chair.
“Do you see her taking injections?” Minha placed her hands on Gaeul’s lap, reassuring her like a doctor, like an older sister, or maybe even a mother. “They’re heparin shots that can prevent her blood from clotting, so her blood flows normally. We usually prescribe that at the early stages.”
Gaeul nodded. “Will my mom be okay? Will my little brother be okay?”
The two doctors were used to comforting expecting mothers or their worried partners, but rarely did they have to do it for a little child.
Minha somehow understood the worries of the little girl. She, too, watched her mother carry her younger brother in her womb when she was young. But she couldn’t imagine the burden Gaeul had been carrying because her mom was fighting even harder due to her condition.
“The doctors will take care of her,” Minha said, even though her heart was breaking into pieces. “So all you have to do is be a good daughter.”
Gaeul nodded slowly. Seokhyeong and Minha gave her the time to process her emotions, providing her a blanket of comforting silence that still assured her that she was not alone. Sometimes, simply being there was enough. Even with no words spoken, the burden started to feel lighter because of other people’s presence.
After a few minutes, Gaeul seemed to have calmed down considerably.
Minha patted her head. “Let’s go back to your mom, hm?”
“Right, isn’t your mother looking for you, Gaeul-ah?” Seokhyeong asked.
“I think she’s still in the cafe with her friend.” She was sitting still while Minha redid her pigtails. “I told her I was just going to peek at some books. She’s probably looking for me right now.”
Seokhyeong frowned when he remembered how far the cafe was from their table. “Do you want me to carry you back?” It kind of broke his heart when he imagined the little girl wandering around countless aisles to find an answer, or even just a consolation, to her mother’s woes.
Minha nodded at his suggestion. “Only if you’re comfortable with it though,” she added as he finished up tying her hair. She spared a glance towards her boyfriend, both agreeing to tread carefully with every word they say.
Gaeul gently touched her hair, smiled at how perfect they seemed, and offered her arms towards the big bear. “If seonsaengnim trusts you this much, then I guess it’s okay,” she said, pouting, but the two doctors could feel that she was actually grateful for their help.
Seokhyeong laughed softly while picking her up, holding her in one of his arms like she weighed a feather. As Minha wiped the remnants of tears on the little girl’s face, she noticed her face becoming lighter and her expression softening.
Gaeul didn’t have to hide her worries behind a mask of bravery anymore.
The afternoon sun softly shone through the tall glass windows of the library, bathing the three in a warm orange light. Seokhyeong and Minha stood closely to each other, with Kang Gaeul comfortably hanging on one of Seokhyeong’s shoulders.
Anyone who’d see them can mistake them for being a small family on a library trip, and the couple would have a hard time convincing them otherwise.
“Gaeul-ah, if it’s any consolation to you,” Seokhyeong said, adjusting his one-hand hold over the little girl. “I’m currently helping another mother with the same condition as your mother, and it’s going great. I’m positive that your mom can get through it too.”
“You’re not a doctor,” she answered matter-of-factly, causing Yang Seokhyeong to pout while his girlfriend snickered closely beside him. Seeing as how she’s cracking jokes at him, she must feel better now. He was relieved though that Gaeul seemed to feel better, although it was at the expense of his own dignity.
“Ahjussi,” the little girl continued, seemingly entertained that the doctor — the only one she acknowledged as a doctor — found it funny. “You shouldn’t be sticking to seonsaengnim all the time.”
Minha laughed heartily. “How did you know he does that, Gaeul-ah?” she nudged his free shoulder.
Seokhyeong scorned, recognizing that the two girls were going to work together to tease him. “Not all the time,” he defended, trying his best to sound unfrightened at the possible power of the two.
“Did you see her yesterday?”
“Last night, yes,” Seokhyeong wanted to take a few seconds to answer, but he did so in a split second, the memory of walking her home and their daily good night kisses still fresh in his memory.
Gaeul held her index finger up, counting a one. “Did you see her yesterday yesterday?”
Minha smiled because she knew that Seokhyeong was walking into the little girl’s trap, and the dense bear had no idea.
“I drove her to work, so yes,” he cautiously replied, noticing the snarky smile of his girlfriend. Seokhyeong remembered her schedule even more than his own, and he made it a habit to pick her up whenever their morning shifts matched.
Gaeul sneered. “Yesterday yesterday yesterday?” she said every word teasingly, almost mockingly.
“I just saw her at work,” Seokhyeong defended, but his tone of voice didn’t sound completely convincing. No matter how hard he tries to deny it, it was painfully obvious that he sticks to Chu Minha all the time.
“Aniya,” Minha promptly corrected. She was smiling from ear to ear at her boyfriend’s desperate attempt to seem not completely head over heels for her. Seokhyeong responded with a pout, as if she had betrayed him with his deepest secret. “And your face proves you were lying,” she sneakily added.
Seokhyeong grunted as Gaeul laughed audibly. “Okay, we did have lunch together, but that doesn’t count because it was at work.”
He decided to look straight ahead instead, both to save him from embarrassment and search for a pregnant mom looking for her overly energetic child.
“It counts,” Gaeul confidently concluded as if she had won the argument.
Minha cheekily smirked, observing the defeated look of Yang Seokhyeong in the hands of the little girl. “It definitely counts,” she confirmed as she lightly patted his upper back.
“So, ahjussi,” Gaeul started to recite her ruling. “Don’t just follow seonsaengnim all the time. You should get a job or something…”
“We’re here!” Seokhyeong immediately pointed at the nearing café before she could continue. He trotted, in cute small steps as Minha noted, and successfully put a stop to the sermon from Kang Gaeul.
“Cheater,” the little girl angrily murmured. Minha couldn’t help the smile forming on her face as she imagined him and potentially, their little daughter spending countless afternoons just like this.
Seokhyeong quickly spotted the worried mother asking for directions to one of the baristas. “Eommonim!” he called, gently placing down Gaeul on the floor.
Her mother quickly turned her attention towards them and hugged her daughter tightly. Seokhyeong smiled, fully knowing how strong maternal love could be.
The mother took a few moments before paying attention to the pair in front of her. “Gyosunim!” She quickly recognized the professor of obstetrics and gynecology, the very man who knows more about her unborn child than herself. “What brings you here?”
Seokhyeong couldn’t believe his eyes when he realized it. A pregnant mother with a history of antiphospholipid antibody syndrome wasn’t extremely rare; was this coincidence or fate?
“Oh, eommonim!” Come to think of it, the resemblance with Gaeul was uncanny. “We found Gaeul reading a book near our table.”
“She couldn’t find her way back, so she asked us for directions,” Minha continued. She hadn’t been assisting him with outpatients recently, but she did see the patient file of Gaeul’s mother sometime in the past few months.
“Chu Minha-seonsaengnim, right?” the pregnant lady inquired. “I’ve seen you around the ward, but it’s nice to see you outside the hospital, in your casual clothes.” She continuously shifted her eyes between the couple, their smiles already revealing their supposedly secret relationship.
“Geundae, eomma,” Gaeul interjected, breaking the loving atmosphere the couple had radiated. “Seonsaengnim helped me. Ahjussi was of no help.”
Seokhyeong and Minha lightly laughed at her innocent remark. Gaeul’s mother awkwardly laughed, aware of her daughter’s tendency of being awfully honest, before turning her attention to her.
“Gaeul-ah!” her mother hissed. “That ahjussi is Yang Seokhyeong-gyosunim, he’s taking care of me and our little boy.”
“Ani,” Gaeul scrunched her eyebrows. “He’s not even a doctor.”
Minha noticed her boyfriend trying to hide his smile by looking down at his feet, a cute quirk he would do whenever he felt shy.
Thankfully, the awkward situation was disrupted by a call from the mother’s phone. Gaeul promptly took it from her mother’s free hand, widely grinned as she read the name of the caller, and answered, “Appa? Eo, appa.”
The pregnant woman softly tapped her daughter’s head as she continuously bowed to the couple. “I’m sorry for interrupting your date, gyosunim!”
Minha looked over to her boyfriend, expecting a response, but all he was doing was grinning like a proud boy with a crush. “Gwaenchana-yo, eommonim,” she replied in his stead.
“Eomma, appa is outside,” Gaeul interjected. “He said he finished quickly with his client so he can pick us up.”
“Really?” the mother questioned. “We’ll get going then, thank you, gyosunim, seonsaengnim.”
“Anieyo. Please take care, eommonim,” Seokhyeong bid goodbye.
The couple bowed as the mother and daughter walked away, then watched them being welcomed by the father. He carried his wife’s bag, held onto his daughter’s hand, and gently greeted the baby in his wife’s womb. It was a beautiful sight — a family who genuinely loved and was there for each other through thick and thin.
Minha clasped her boyfriend’s hand and intertwined her fingers along with his. Seokhyeong felt a jolt that sent him back to reality; he didn’t even realize that he had fallen into another plane while watching the family.
It wasn’t a secret to Chu Minha that his family history is a complicated mess. She was still unsure of how that had affected him, especially since he also had to live with the rumors wherever he went. They walked together, in silence, allowing him to process the emotions he couldn’t seem to explain.
“She sounds like you,” Seokhyeong finally remarked, slowly looking over to admire the beauty of her onyx black eyes. “A tiny version of Chu Minha.”
Minha tried to read his face, a mix of longing and sadness that he always tried to hide.
“Gaeul-ah is like you too,” she answered. “She worries and cares a lot for the people she loves.”
Seokhyeong smiled lightly, gently gripping his hold over her small hand. Minha heard him sigh under his breath. When the afternoon light gleaned over them, she admired his gentle chestnut eyes that seemed to carry the weight of the world.
“She’s a good kid,” she said with a soft reassuring smile.
“It’s because her parents are good people.” Seokhyeong immediately added, like the thought had been there for a while now.
Minha’s heart ached at his sentiment. Yang Seokhyeong was the kindest person she’d ever come across, despite all the hardships thrown in his way.
“You’ll make a great father, you know,” she declared as she knew it as a definite fact.
“Ne?” he exclaimed, looking over at her, surprise written all over his face. How could Chu Minha pick up his deepest, inner feelings in a one-minute conversation?
She beamed so brightly, like a ball of sunshine that simply lights everything he sees. “You’re a good person, too,” she reiterated, digging her fingers deeper into his.
Seokhyeong couldn’t help but chuckle at her confident remark. Before getting into a relationship with her, he promised to be a better person for her — a person worthy of her beautiful love. He was still imperfect no matter what he does, but being with her inspired, and continuously inspires, him to become an even greater person.
“And you’ll make a good, no, a great mother.”
Smiling, Minha quickly planted a soft kiss on his cheek.
The couple continued walking, hands intertwined, as they reminisced about a future that they would gladly share.
“I bet you’ll spoil her,” Minha whimsically said, vocalizing the image in her mind.
Seokhyeong admired her beautiful features that softly shined. “Jinjja?”
“When she goes to me and I say no, she’ll go running to you,” she shook her free hand as if she was running, which of course, he found endlessly cute. “Shouting ‘Appa! Appa!’, and you’ll immediately say yes.”
“Really? I think I’ll tell her to ask you again.”
Minha clicked her tongue. “Then I’ll say no again, she’ll sulk, and you won't be able to handle it.” Her storytelling was imbued with passion. “Appa, appa, jebal, something like that.”
“And I’ll say yes no matter what?” he asked, snickering.
Minha beamed widely, “Absolutely.”
He laughed lightly. “I can see that happening,” Seokhyeong remarked with an optimistic and loving smile. A few years ago, if he was told that the best part of his life is yet to come, he wouldn’t believe it.
“Me too,” Minha replied, placing a soft kiss on his smile. She never really had a set-to-concrete plan to follow, but she found herself plotting the rest of her life to the specifics.
Meeting, loving, and being with each other was indeed a significant plot point in the books of their lives. Under the warm afternoon light, Seokhyeong and Minha gazed into each other’s eyes, the very ones that reflected a beautiful future ahead.
“If there’s a little Chu Minha, can’t there be a little Yang Seokhyeong too?” he mused.
“But one of you is already too much to handle.”
“Hm, I think another Minha would be more challenging.”
“Actually, how about twins? Two Minha’s would be better.”
“Okay, okay. Anything’s okay.”
Writing this chapter of my life —
He chuckled.
Filling the rest of the book —
She smiled.
With you.