Chereads / Under the cherry blossom tree / Chapter 29 - Meeting him

Chapter 29 - Meeting him

*Next day*

"Why...why...why did he have to be here?! Of all places he could be in this world, he just had to be here! And he's gonna be here anytime soon. I don't even know how to face him!" She paced nervously back and forth in her cabin.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

Ae Rin froze, her heart hammering against her chest.

"W-Who is it?" She asked hesitantly.

"Dr. Rin, it's me, Hannah. May I come in?"

After hearing her voice, she heaved a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, sure..come in..."

Hannah swung the door open and greeted her.

"Good morning, ma'am. I actually came here to bring the new recruit to you. He seemed to have lost his way to your cabin." She said as a figure slowly emerges out from behind the door which was blocking his gaze from meeting hers.

"Wha?!" Her eyes widened as her gaze shifted to him.

" My name is Kyou Agatsuma, the new recruit. It's nice to meet you." He held his hand forward for a handshake.

"Uh..." Ae Rin looked down at the hand leaving an awkward silence as the nurse watches them. Kyou looked up at her expecting her to shake hands already.

"I-I'm Dr. Kim Ae Rin. It's nice to meet you!" She clasped her hand in his and shook it vigorously, forcing a smile...but what she didn't know was that her smile was eerie and evil.

"Uh...I-I think you can leave my hand now...." He smiled awkwardly as he noticed her holding onto his hand for quite a while now and the smile too, made him very uncomfortable.

"Y-Yeah! Sorry about that.." She quickly retreated her hand back and then there was the awkward silence again as they both avoided each other's gaze.

"U-Um...Dr. Rin, you have to check the patient's condition in room 274, remember? I think you should get going now." Nurse Hannah broke the silence.

"Ah, right! I almost forgot! Please excuse me now." She said as she hurriedly walked out of the room leaving Nurse Hannah and Kyou in her cabin.

Nurse Hannah sighed and shook her head.

"No one can understand her..." She mumbled under her breath.

"I don't want to sound rude, but...why did she smile like that?" He asked.

"Ah, that. She actually tends to smile eerily whenever she is nervous or anxious. She was once smiling the same way when one of her surgeries was almost unsuccessful. And the best part is that no one has ever told her that she smiles that way and so, she has no idea about it. You will slowly become familiar with the nicknames that a few of her co-workers gave her." She laughed.

"But why is she nervous? I m the one who should be nervous at a time like this." He questioned.

"No one has ever been able to understand her mind. Although she is an angel for the patients, but she's not the same towards her co-workers. In fact, she is quite playful and loves to tease others. I don't know what happened this time." She shrugged and continued, "Anyways, wait here in her cabin till she comes. She will probably return after 30 minutes or so since it's only a check up."

"Alright." He smiled and nodded.

On the other side, Ae Rin had finished the check up within 15 minutes. Her angelic smile faded away as reality struck her mind - Kyou is still in her cabin.

Then everything came back to her. The awkward handshake, her first impression on him - everything destroyed in a matter of time.

"How dumb can I be? That handshake was too awkward! How am I going to face him now? I call myself a demon and yet I can't handle such a silly thing? Ok..I need to make a good impression this time...Ae Rin, you can do this!" She slapped her cheeks a couple of times to straighten up a bit and then headed to the cabin.