Chapter 58 - Asking for a friend

"What to do?"

Kim Jun Hyeon asked the other three doctors at the cafeteria table. They and looked at each other, puzzled, trying to pick up clues that explained the joke.

"Is it a logic challenge? A new Internet prank?" the oldest of them, Dr. No, scratched his head. The couple at the table, psychiatrist Marion Choi and her husband, Dr. Jang, smirked at the deduction of the Ji Hyeon Foundation's oldest surgeon.

"Ahhhh. So what we have to do? We must guess the trick, or give our honest opinion?" Marion Choi turned to Dr. Kim, who was beside her.

He sighed, "No, but… yes. Just answer what should be done."

"So the question is… 'Should a man let an acquaintance, that he will be out of touch for a few days, on a trip? Should he give her his trip's schedule? And as relevant information, they don't have a love relationship going on, or in their plans.'"

"Wow, so many things to consider. If they aren't lovers..., is it a business relationship? Is it important that they keep in touch?" The psychiatrist's serious question was received with surprise by Kim Jun Hyeon, but before he was forced to think about how to answer it, Dr. Jang spoke, sardonically:

"So interesting that you question it almost on the eve of the medical congress in Zurich, Dr. Kim. It wouldn't be a coincidence, would it?"

"Maybe he's asking for a friend." Dr. No amended, with a sympathetic smile, patting Kim on the back with familiarity.

"Couldn't you just respond without making theories?" he controlled the embarrassment with his best smile. "My secretaries and my resident said no, the nurse's head, the nutritionist and two patients said yes."

"Do you want to know what is polite to do in such a situation, or just want to know what people usually do? Do, or expect to happen?"

They were meeting in the clinic's cafeteria, as they made free consultations in the morning to evaluate a few eligible cases for pro bono treatment by The Ji Hyeon Foundation's staff. People came from all over the country with sad cases, hoping to get free treatment with specialists. Especially cases where serious accidents left serious aesthetic and functional sequelae. Although the Foundation has become a national benchmark in plastic surgery in recent years, its purpose was to make it accessible to those who could not afford surgical treatment in complex cases of cosmetic repair. In the afternoon they would discuss the cases and set the treatment line and priorities.

"My sunbaes are pretty elusive…" Jun Hyeon was regretting to have asked.

"They just want to be precise. I, who haven't been in a relationship for a long time," said Dr. No, who was a widower for 12 years, "decided to believe you ask this as a hypothetical curiosity; and that you didn't think much about the details."

"Dr. Kim has had a lot of hypothetical situations lately." Again Dr. Jang teased cheerfully, remembering the last conversation in the elevator a few days ago.

Dr. No continued: "I am in favor of calling. A gentleman calls, even if there is no commitment or interest. Call her to say thank you, break the news, and decide later if you will disappear after the trip or not."

Dr. Marion turned in shock as she did not expect this cynical advice from the oldest and most experienced of them.

"I'm curious to meet Miss Hypothesis." Dr. Jang hadn't got enough of it.

Before Jun Hyeon could deny something, his friend Dae Won's waving at him by the cafeteria door caught his eye. So he excused himself from the people at the table, saying,

"Think for a moment and answer me later."

Everyone agreed, and when the youngest of them walked away, Dr. Marion commented,

"Miss Hypothesis seems disturbing enough to totally change the usually discreet behavior of our always focused Dr. Kim."

"Yes. He looks very agitated. But his secretaries were complaining, yesterday, that he's been pretty grumpy. More than his normal self."

"From my part, I'm glad he finds someone. He's too lonely for his age."

The psychiatrist shook her head, in agreement with the older doctor's guess. "I think if Miss Hypothesis gets this call, maybe he's opening up to really love someone."

"Omo, stop talking about Jun Hyeon's love life, he's not even here to defend himself!" Her husband complained.

"What are you talking? You started it all!" Dr. Marion snapped. They all looked to where Dr. Kim was, meeting his friend.

He looked back at the group, knowing full well that they were gossiping about him, and made a fierce signal that they should stop.

The trio muffled their laughs.

…

Meanwhile, across town, Ye Rim slowly stretched on the couch, before turning the laptop on her lap on.

She checked her cell phone, but there were no unread messages. The singer didn't want to admit it, but she was bothered that she hadn't received a call from Ju Hyeon since President Baek's incident.

Eun Ha was right about that, but even so, she couldn't help but be curious about him.

She was not the type to stalk people on the internet. But after the conversation with Kim Jun Hyeon in the cafe, she felt allowed to officially do research on Dr. Kim, the surgeon-bar dancer, without feeling as a freak for stalking someone on the internet.

"Let's see, how should I research this?"

As imagined, the search for child dancers, as suggested by him, was vast and possibly fruitless. And research on his name brought his professional data. "Congratulations, Dr. Kim, for being such a person with so many titles. I still wonder how you have time to go to the gym and keep your abdomen hard."

She bit into a delicious, juicy peach she'd found in the fridge. She was sure it was one of Kang Dae's little gifts for her unnie.

She was under impression he was very careful about his personal information online, since apparently he dated a famous woman in the past and it was a tasty gossip for some time.

"Mmmm… Isn't it unfair? So, Dr. Kim Jun Hyeon, what's your secret for being that perfect ah? There was never a man I had ever known who didn't have a flaw… You sure ain't the first," she swung the fruit at the computer screen, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.

After a few unsuccessful attempts and several videos of child dancers, Ye Rim figured she might be following a doctor's false lead. After all, it could be a long time ago and no videos online at all.

Ye Rim had never been a heavy computer user, and she was getting a little tired of doing such a search when she came across a dance forum. Launching words into the website search field, one of the queries returned the topic:

'Kim Twins, what happened?'

There, the image of a terrifying headline in a newspaper from that time, where a photo of a couple of smiling teenagers in elegant dance costumes — clearly a young version of Jun Hyeon next to his twin sister — was sharing space with the image of a big fire and smoke consuming a house:

TRAGEDY: DANCE CHILD STAR BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH AFTER FIRE RESCUE

'Third Degree Burns and Great Commotion: Teenager Dancer Kim Ji Hyeon Undergoes Surgeries to Survive.'

"Oh!" she gaped.