Girl In The Winter's

Chapter 21

The room was suddenly silent, everyone focused their eyes on the two people who looked at each other. Ayumi's face paled as if she could not believe what she was seeing right now. The man who had disappeared for almost two years without a trace, the man who had made him distrustful of love, the man who had made his heart freeze and the man he so longed for now stood before him.

"Do you know each other?" Yuri asked breaking the silence.

Erik just raised his eyebrows without taking his eyes off the woman who now looks more beautiful than the last time he saw her, the woman who was always present in every dream, the woman he longed for, the woman who had made all her dreams shatter into pieces.

"She's one of the students at UBC, where I teach in Canada," Erik replied calmly making Ayumi sculpt, his eyes looking at Erik with a look of hurt eyes. Student, so Erik only considered her a student.

"He's your student? Aren't you an art lecturer?" This time Dr. Lee who asked, he stood beside Ayumi while staring at Erik probing.

Erik looked back at Ayumi's guidance doctor with a cold look, "No, he's not my student, but almost all the lecturers know him for his cleverness."

Ayumi's face turned pale, she now really felt hurt, her longing and waiting all this time was just a waste because the person she missed only thought of her as a smart student was nothing more than that, he did not even acknowledge their closeness all this time.

Foolish, whispered Ayumi in heart, she was a stupid woman because she had fallen in love with a cold-hearted man in front of her. He cursed his own stupidity, his eyes looked at Erik with the look of injured eyes, who was now also looking at him, his eyebrows slightly furrowed at the look of those eyes, his chest felt in the crumb and pain, and he felt, he knew his words had hurt the girl he loved but his heart hurt a lot more when with his own eyes he saw what the girl was doing.

The laughter of Dr. Choi awakened the two from their respective minds, now everyone was staring at Ayumi's stepfather who was looking at her with pride.

"He is very smart, he even got a perfect score when he graduated yesterday" said Dr. Choi was proud.

"really?" Ask Mr. Lee enthusiastically, to which Dr. Choi with an excited nod, "Good, my son is also very smart they will be a suitable couple" he continued, who welcomed the laughter of all but two people who faced each other, they speak a thousand languages.

"Didn't you have a boyfriend?" Erik asked who made the room go back into silence, everyone looked at Ayumi who was still speechless.

"It seems you know a lot about him." Dr. Lee broke the silence, his hands folded over his chest, his eyes sharply staring at the man before him who was just standing relaxed.

Erik looked back at Dr. Lee was cold, "I've seen him with a man, and a girl as beautiful as him," Erik looked back at Ayumi who was still silent, "There are definitely many who like it, right?"

Ayumi could only speak a thousand languages, silence enveloped the room for the umpteenth time, everyone was waiting for her answer, "Ayumi, is what she said right? Can't you introduce her to Appa? Does your brother know him?" Dr. Choi asked which made the girl take a deep breath.

"He's right I have a lover" said Ayumi, who made everyone look at each other, "But he left me almost three years ago" she continued, staring intently at Erik, "He even left without giving any news, like disappearing into the earth. Maybe he's with his girlfriend right now, with no recollection of me being there and stupidly waiting for her all along."

"Is that enough to answer your question, Lecturer Kim?" Ayumi asked in a cold voice that made Erik speechless.

All eyes were now focused on Erik who finally shrugged his shoulders indifferently, and that only made Ayumi even more hurt. Ayumi took a deep breath, she couldn't hold out any longer to be in the same room as the man who pretended not to know her.

"So now you don't have a boyfriend?"

Ayumi looked at Dr. Lee asked casually.

"No," he replied firmly which made the handsome doctor smile obliquely.

"Good, because now you're my lover.” Dr. Lee smiled as he looked at the gaping Ayumi in disbelief at what she heard.

***

It only takes one match and gasoline to burn a large forest. And it only takes one person's mouth and a simple act to spread the gossip of dating Ayumi and Dr. Lee Soo Hyuk in the whole Hospital. Just a shout, "Darling, wait for me!" from the Vampire doctor in front of a nurse who was on guard then like a fire that spread burning dry forest, in just a few minutes everyone in the entire Hospital already knew the news.

Ayumi had just come out of the ER room where there had been a stir due to the collision streak when the surgeon called her affectionately, he even ran after him and of course it was a show that was enough to make anyone who saw it would think otherwise.

Everyone is now staring at Ayumi with curiosity, speculation is circulating, even bets are starting to open about how many days the playboy doctor will leave Ayumi. But he doesn't care about all that, he doesn't care about the whispers around him, he did not care when the nurses and the female doctors looked at him with contemptuous eyes because finally like all of them he had fallen into the charm of the Vampire.

All he had to do was put up his earphones and all the whispers would not be heard, but not with his mind and heart hurting, no one could cover it all up.

Ayumi is now on the roof of the Hospital, her favorite place to be alone. From here he could see the sunset view that had become like a ritual for him every day. White earphones greeted her faithfully, this time the sound of Adelle softening from the tiny object, her hands resting on the wall fence her eyes gazing into the distance, the wind on her face gave her coolness and for a moment blew away all her troubles that befell her today.

The sound of ambulance sirens was heard from below, as well as the streets filled with traffic, as the second largest city after Seoul and the largest port city in South Korea, this city always looks crowded, but the crowd does not affect Ayumi because she always feels lonely, she always misses the man she had met, the man who did not admit it.

****