📍 Working-Class Mr. Ahn’s Unscheduled Visits to Dr. Yeon’s Clinic continues…
Grammar Questions and Secret Wishes
jennielee says
Before I can shed my socially acceptable professional mask this weekend, I savoured this line as an appetiser:
“While the thought of strangling his bestie with his stethoscope did cross his mind, as did bonking him with a defibrillator paddle, he decided mid-wrestle to save these tools for the boss of Jeon clinic across the street.”
While savouring it, I was naturally reminded of those devilish pronoun questions from Korean college entrance exam English passages – the ones designed to trap non-native English learners like me into wrong answers till the bitter end.
Question: Who exactly do these “he” and “him” pronouns refer to?
Options: (1) Mr. Ahn / Dr. Yeon (2) Dr. Yeon / Mr. Ahn (3) Mr. Ahn /Dr. Yeon (4) Dr. Yeon / Dr. Yeon
Flashbacks to circling the wrong answer while the English teacher who wrote this test smirked knowingly in the corner (though he himself doesn’t actually speak English well).
Official answer: (2) Dr. Yeon / Mr. Ahn
My wishful answer: (4) Dr. Yeon / Dr. Yeon
In this case,
I hope the subject doing the strangling with the stethoscope is Dr. Yeon, who, when at a disadvantage, has an old combat habit of turning whatever he can grab into a weapon.
However, ironically, I also hope the second-person pronoun receiving the defibrillator paddle bonking also refers to Dr Yeon. Because that’s what he wanted. It might seem like an incorrect answer, but you can’t fool Mr Ahn.
Head Nurse’s Recipe Notes
Asuka L. says:
Hi Jennie,
Thanks for reading this mad story.
I remember in my first post to you on your YouTube channel, I said I was ‘not really’ a shipper.
That’s still true. Realistically, I think the boys will be the deepest friends forever, even if they don’t meet too often because of their social circles.
There might (or might not) be some homoerotic tension between them, but they don’t need a romantic relationship, and are not likely to pursue one.
That said, if I WeRe a shipper, Yeon Clinic would be exactly the kind of hallucinogenic mushroom soup I would be serving my guests.
In this delusion, a whirlwind of things happen concurrently.
We fly in and out of both guys’ minds, just as they are flying into each other. We fly into their pasts and into their minds in the past.
We huddle with gossip queens and look at some old photos. We might have even visited the bathroom.
When the guys are boys, they are Si-eun and Su-ho. When they are older, they are the charming Mr Ahn and the respectable Dr Yeon (Dr Jeon can go suck it).
When they are not sure what they are, we can call them whatever we want.
(One of my guy friends told me he sometimes feels like he is still a teen who is just pretending to be a well-adjusted adult. It’s a confession that has stuck with me for years. In this universe, Mr Ahn and Dr Yeon will have moments like that.)
Lots of ‘he’ and ‘him’ pop up all over the place (so much male energy hahaha).
I understand this gives my soup a disorienting effect. It’s probably like what everyone in the clinic feels every time Patient A comes.
The official answer is indeed (2) Dr Yeon/ Mr Ahn. Wishful answer (4) creates a very tempting scenario, and I might just cook up a recipe for that; in Deluluverse, I think both guys want some bonking.
Cheers
Head Nurse, Yeon Clinic, heading off for a single malt.
Unplugged but Charged
J:
Mr Ahn, of course, knew to temper his grip when wielding that defibrillator paddle as his ultimate wrestling weapon.
He wouldn’t want to leave blue-black bruises anywhere on Dr. Yeon’s body, a body worn thin from brutal military doctor years and the long years of medical training for his license.
When his unscheduled visit earned him that signature frown – a smile always betraying the corners of Dr. Yeon’s mouth – Mr. Ahn hoped for a perfect blush to bloom across those pale cheeks.
He wanted to see that same rosy flush from their old Byeoksan days, a delicate colour that would paint the skin of another hidden cheek as well, as tender and neglected as the tired eyes from long days treating patients.
Mr. Ahn had discovered – through those nights of drinking soju together until dawn – that his skilled hands from years of hands-on work remembered exactly how to comfort his dearest friend during what he considered the minimal proper exercise routine for Dr. Yeon, who lived a sedentary lifestyle.
So he channelled just enough power into the paddle unplugged from its power unit to elicit soft mewling sounds slipping from between cracked lips, but enough to instantly make Dr. Yeon’s eyes well up with tears…
… Think of this as my advance deposit toward your magnificent feast – even though you humbly refer to it as just soup – catch you this weekend, with deep admiration.
If you’re thinking of adding a new, “spicy” flavour to your soup that might change its whole profile, you’re gonna need some really intricate euphemisms or metaphors.
But if you’d rather serve up a raw steak for me to slice into, then email is definitely the best way to deliver it.
Just so you know,
Dr Yeon’s clinic specialises in internal medicine, so there’s always a simple bed in the exam room.
The nurses are so on top of things that the white sheets are always freshly starched.
It’s also their thoughtful way of accommodating the working-class Mr. Ahn’s constant walk-ins.
But that’s where they’re wrong. It’s usually their own boss who ends up on that bed.
After a shower, Dr. Yeon is perched on the examination bed, its white cotton sheets still crisp.
His legs are parted just enough for Mr Ahn, also freshly showered, to fit between his firm thighs.
Dr Yeon would never stretch like this in front of anyone but Mr Ahn.
He even turned down the yoga classes offered as a wellness benefit during his residency training.
So why do his muscles relax so smoothly only when he’s with Mr Ahn?
Always Starch Linen: A Thank You Note
Ah Jennie, regarding the boys tumbling about on starched white sheets, I must say you’ve bestowed upon me a most tantalizing bouquet of fine herbs to work with heheheh, thank you.
But do give me a while to ferment them; my projects are due 3rd week this month and progress deadlines limit my freedom to cook a proper dish.
(Though I can perhaps still make some fast food on the side, and I will definitely make time to read the blog—I’m looking forward to Coma, which I believe should boost my energy levels in healthier ways than too much ginseng.)
Oh one thing, I’ve always wanted to say that your English is of a shocking high standard, especially since it is not your native language.
You are really remarkable, Jennie.
I wish you much fun exploring possibilities with the boys.
ASL,
Always Starch Linen
Friday Night Creative Release
Hey Asuka,
I’ve finally entered Friday night where the blazing weekend unfolds – time to peel off that professional mask I’ve been wearing so primly all week and let something moisturize my brain (and sometimes other private part too) HAHAHA.
Without a job, we can’t pay rent, so ‘work’ remains our top priority – but of course, we can’t indulge in guilty pleasures without restraint either, right? So please, never feel obligated to serve up any dishes.
And I figure, any chef witty enough to string along a faceless wireless friend across the Pacific probably keeps their natural talent intact even after a decade away from the kitchen fires – that’s exactly the kind of chef you are, isn’t it?
As you dive headfirst into worldly matters and get swamped with heavy workloads ahead, I’ll occasionally send you a fast-food one-liner to bring that Dr. Yeon-esque grin to your lips – hoping these modest verses will grant at least brief moments of laughter to brighten your days when work makes them arid.
Dr. Yeon was perched half-seated on the crisply pressed white sheets – his slightly curved back reminded Mr. Ahn of those Byeoksan days, of that classmate’s hunched shoulders whenever he’d bury his nose so deep in textbooks he seemed ready to disappear into the pages entirely.
Dr. Yeon’s drowsy gaze followed the knot of the towel barely clinging to Mr. Ahn’s waist. Water still dripped from the tips of Dr. Yeon’s brown hair, each droplet landing with soft taps on his knees.
Despite the bright daylight, the small cubicle where the two young men faced each other was shadowed by the curtain drawn across the clinic corner.
Glancing at the water trailing down Dr Yeon’s slender calves to his Achilles tendon, Mr Ahn rather roughly towelled his own damp hair.
Dr Yeon’s eyes, watching his old friend, were as murky and humid as August summer. Carefully lifting Dr Yeon’s softened chin, Mr Ahn said,
You need to dry your hair properly. You’ll catch cold.
Mr. Ahn scolded him like a doctor coaxing a stubborn kid patient. His chiding voice was low and sweet.
And he was smiling faintly.
Dr Yeon’s mouth, gazing steadily at his still-handsome old friend’s face after ten years, was more demure than ever.
But his eyes were intensely wanting. Without a single blink, he traced every movement of Mr Ahn’s gestures.
Go ahead and beg hyung for a kiss, you psycho.
I couldn’t be more thrilled to breathe life into those utterly useless vocabulary clusters I memorised from TOEFL Vocab 1000 – words that never see daylight in real conversation.
Imagine how delighted Professor McGonagall must have felt unleashing those ‘sealed’ spells when she finally got to battle Voldemort’s army 😂
Your wireless friend,
Brick Layer Jen
Stubborn Hearts and Mountain Tears
This time, this scolding carried an even more mischievous tone – chiding Dr. Yeon’s demure, quiet mouth.
His old friend’s stubbornness was a familiar kind of “flutter” to Mr Ahn.
His longtime companion was never honest until his eyes grew moist with fever and excitement, right up until tears would finally break through.
It was a more persistent obstinacy than any chronic condition his most difficult patients carried, the kind no prescribed medicine could ever cure.
But Mr. Ahn still found his bestie’s stubbornness adorably endearing.
The demands never spoken aloud were obvious in those doe-like eyes, and when he wanted to be filled completely, without any gaps left wanting, he would tearfully grip Mr. Ahn’s shoulders tightly.
And Suho would always respond. Always. Just as he had always responded to Si-eun’s wild courage.
Asuka, and when those two climbed to the mountain top, I imagined Dr Yeon with his cult-like medical mythology crying like a child, going “eong-eong”
so my commute home was thoroughly delightful.
Hope it was like a tasty Jollibee burger – bad for the body but delicious.
Jen
Jingle bells jingle bells, eong eong all the way
Oh my! Christmas has come early!
This was really quite romantic *squeals and giggles* hahaha
I am glad you share Prof McGonagall’s delight, but I doubt she was as moisturized as you.
(That said, a liberated and moisturized dominatrix McGonagall would be quite a sight as the new, leather-wearing headmaster of Hogwarts. Goodness knows where she hides her extra wands. But I digress…)
Thanks for writing.
It was a pleasure to read, and re-read.
Such a soft (but hot) scene. Was Dr Yeon wrapped in anything other than Mr Ahn’s gaze? Any towel for the Weak Doctor?
If not, no matter how stubbornly he keeps his face unreadable, rising passions will surely reveal his desire…
Ah, spicy! I can just imagine how many nurses have their ears pressed to the door.
Have a great weekend,
Sincerely fantasizing,
Head Nurse ASL, got to towel dry myself too
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