"I believe this is our first time meeting. My name is Ginny. I'm Lily's best friend." Ginny reached out for a hand shake and smiled with a meaningful look in her eyes.
As if he was transparent in front of her, he faced her calmly. "My name is Lin Que, and I'm charge of Lily during her stay at the hospital. Pleasure to meet you." He shook her hand under her suspecting gaze.
Lily suddenly remembered that she took up his time, "Ah! Don't you have other patients waiting for you?"
"You're right. Then, I'll leave first. Remember to finish your meal and rest more. Drink the hot chocolate while it's still warm."
Ginny stepped aside to not block his way out. As he passed by her, they exchanged one last glance. Checking his watch, he hurriedly ran back to his room to submit Lily's blood sample to the lab and follow up on other patients.
After he left, Ginny peeked out to the hallway.
"What are you looking at?" Lily crumbled the empty bag of chips and tossed it to the trash.
"Something is weird. Have I met that dude before? He seems awfully familiar." She rubbed her chin and sneaked another peek again.
"Do you want his phone number and address too? Maybe that would remind you a bit more about him." Lily jokingly teased as she saw her friend's curious behavior.
"Lily! I mean it! I met him somewhere. He was looking at me weirdly too just now." With her hands on her hips, she frowned when she couldn't recall greeting him before. His name didn't ring the bell either.
"Yes. Yes. You've met him somewhere. Was it the bathroom, park, beach, boardwalk, school or your work place? I've listed the top Korean drama romance meet up spots." Lily continued joking around as she took another bag of snacks from the pile on the table.
"Sigh, forget it. Look at you! You literally have the whole vending machine in front of you! Aren't you limited to the set meals that that Doctor Lin made for you? You dare to eat these in front of him??" Ginny counted the number of snacks on the table and almost facepalmed.
"You see, he was the one who gave me all these. I was a very good girl. I didn't eat anything I wasn't supposed to." She clarified for herself.
"Aiyo! You act like you don't want to munch on any of these snacks. He bought every single snack there are in the damn vending machine to please your tongue. Are you sure nothing is going on between the two of you?" Ginny raised her eyebrows playfully several times, trying to hint some thoughts into Lily's clueless brain.
"What are you talking about? We're simply just doctor and patient! I had low glucose, so he gave me these." She continued stuffing veggie sticks into her mouth as she spoke.
Toby sat on the bed and observed Lily's reaction as she responded seriously. "Lily, what were you two doing when we walked in earlier?"
Lily almost choked after hearing her mother's question. "I already told you.."
"Nuh uh. Tell me honestly. From my angle, he was bending towards you, and your face was blocked by his. Were you two kissing?" Toby let out a spirited smile as if she was hoping there was some spark going on between them.
"Mom. Mom. He was only helping me wipe my mouth. I had chip crumbs at the corner of my lips and couldn't get it in my first try." She raised her arms in surrender. If there was a white flag, then she would have been waving it in the air already.
Ginny clapped excitedly, "Looks like Auntie also approves of this Doctor Lin! You should dump that stupid Hawk and try to see how it flows with him. What kind of guy would help a guy wipe a girl's mouth like that? At least that Hawk never did, am I right? Even if the Lin guy doesn't like you, it doesn't mean you can't like him."
Toby nodded, "Although I am not encouraging a triangular relationship. I do see you more cheerful these days compared to the other times. If Hawk doesn't make you happy, then dump him. There are many great men out there for you to choose."
Lily took a sip of the hot chocolate and pondered a few minutes before coming out with the truth. "Actually, Hawk and I broke up. Technically, he suggested a break and I broke it off. So, I dumped him?"
"What?! When did this happen??" Toby and Ginny's surprised tone almost made Lily spill her hot chocolate.
Setting the cup down, Lily summarized how they led to a break up without mentioning too many details. She always kept things private, especially those that she thought would bring negativity to her family and friends. Therefore, she told them that she felt much better after crying it out.
After chatting for a while, visiting hours were up and it was time for them to leave. This time, Lily didn't walk with them to the entrance. She saw the gloomy weather and frowned, hoping there wouldn't be a thunderstorm tonight.
On their way out, Ginny asked Toby to wait her for downstairs since she needed to use the restroom before leaving. Toby nodded and went ahead without her. Several minutes later, Ginny walked out looking refreshed and pressed the down button on the elevator.
Shaking her head at the sight of the used paper towel in her palm, she turned around to toss it in the garbage can. After throwing it out, she turned around and saw Lin Que with glasses and a surgeon mask on.
"Hmm? A Mask?...Mask????" Rubbing her eyes in disbelief, she carefully examined his facial features and compared it to the Tuxedo Mask from her memories. Walking up to him, she said, "Can you take off that surgeon mask for a second? I need to confirm something."
Awkwardly complying to her request, she gasped and pointed, "You're the Tuxedo Mask from the Convention!!! That's where I saw you before!"