Chapter 156 - The Tantrum

Hao Ren and Chi Yan gawked at Lee Tae Yang who was gobbling his pork cutlet hurriedly, without giving any attention to the people who sat beside him at the staff cafeteria in the hospital.

It was a normal sight in cafeteria where no one gets enough time to sit down and enjoy a meal.

"Yaaa...you are going to choke, eat slowly," Hao Ren warned him,

Lee Tae Yang waved his hand as if it is nothing and continued to eat,

"What are these? Are you going for paper discussion?" Hao Ren asked when he saw the stacks of papers resting on the table, "When?"

He nodded and raised three fingers and looked at his wristwatch to hasten his actions. 

"It is only two, you still got time to eat leisurely," Hao Ren reminded him.

Since they were in the last year of their residency, everyone was busy and stressed out with their thesis preparation. But no one expected that they will get to see the topper of the batch stress over for a normal paper discussion. 

"No, sir doesn't have any time to spare because he has to meet someone," Chi Yan said with a teasing sneer as he was the sole witness of Lee Tae Yang's change of schedules during the last one week,

Among the three of them, Lee Tae Yang's schedule was tight-packed with various tasks, since his thesis deals with most crucial surgeries, he had to attend and assist them, however, for the past one week no matter how busy he is, he made sure to visit neurology ward to meet Li Juan.

The Lee Tae Yang they knew was a law-abiding and morally upright person who remains devoted to his profession.

Even though he was quite popular across the hospital staff because of his extraordinary skills and godly looks, he always kept a distance with everyone, especially with patients. 

In university and hospital, there were a lot of women who swoon over him, yet he never paid attention to anyone and one night every thing changed when he saw a high school kid and practically threw himself at her,

Chi Yan eyed Hao Ren and gestured him to ask the real deal between Lee Tae Yang and that amnesiac patient,

"So what are you going to do after lunch?"

"I have to drop by the neurology ward,"

"To meet that patient?" Hao Ren who is not at all surprised by his answer only raised his eyebrows and asked,

"Do you want to tag along?"

Lee Tae Yang, who finished his lunch casually inquired, 

"Let me ask you frankly, whatever this idiot is saying," Hao Ren pointed towards Chi Yan and asked indifferently, "Is it true?" Hao Ren whose specialization was in cardiothoracic surgery could only depend upon Chi Yan who is the head of the paparazzi to know the inner stories happening in the hospital.

"Do you like that kid?" He asked directly,

"I like to spend time with her," Lee Tae Yang's answer was simple and yet it was ambiguous.

"Time..that's the only thing you lack," Chi Yan twitched his lips, "It is not that we are against you dating someone and I agree that she is quite good-looking, but she is a high school kid who lost her memories. What if she has a boyfriend? You don't know kids these days, what if she regains her memories and goes with him?"

"If she had a boyfriend, he could have visited by now," Lee Tae Yang casually said and sipped the juice.

"I don't understand, Tae Yang," Chi Yan pointed out, "There are a lot of women who wants to befriend you, yet you only talk casually to Yun Xian and Xiao Li who always remains with a poker face. Don't tell me that your ideal type is aloof, cold and silent?"

"Aren't they the same?" Hao Ren doubted, 

Lee Tae Yang ignored Chi Yan's questions, wiped his mouth and stood up with plate. 

"Are you coming with me or not?" He asked them,

"Yeah," Hao Ren quickly filled his mouth with the food and stood up with the plate, following the suit.

When Lee Tae Yang brought his friends to the neurology ward, it was filled with people, since it was the visitor's time, the relatives and bystanders of patients were happily chatting with eachother. 

On the far end of the ward, Li Juan sat quietly with a pair of downcasted eyes, without putting anyone in her sight as she sat there detached from the commotion happening in the ward,

Her reserved demeanour made her unapproachable but made one's heart long to keep looking at her.

Lee Tae Yang strode towards her in an elegant gait, gaining attention from everyone else in the ward, however his eyes were fixed on the girl who was austere and alone in a world of her own,

"Xiao Li," He called her in his deep husky voice,

Li Juan who was lost in her own world raised her head when she heard the familiar voice, the corners of her lips perching up in delight,

A transcendent beauty,

If Chi Yan and Hao Ren haven't witnessed it by their own eyes, they would never believe that such beauty exists,

She was a patient who is receiving medical care wearing simple hospital pyjamas while her head and leg were covered with bandages, yet, the smile on her plain face made her attractive than any of the women they have seen so far.

Lee Tae Yang moved closer while placing his folder on the side table and reached out for her hand, with a devilishly handsome grin on his face.

A pair of moist and lively eyes, that were like a sea filled with stars, were only glued to his exquisite countenance,

Li Juan gently grabbed his fair and strong hand as if it is a daily practice, 

At that moment, Hao Ren understood why his friend is attracted to this girl,

Though Lee Tae Yang's personality was warm, on the very first sight, his beguiling aura appear overbearing and intimidating to others, especially women who are not immune to his heaven defying looks,

He was like an emperor, who can be only admired from distance with respect and fear,

She was the only woman who dared to stare directly into Lee Tae Yang's obsidian eyes and gleam at him while holding his hand as if he is her precious possession.

"Did you had your lunch?" He inquired in a soft voice filled with concern,

Li Juan smiled in response and perked her eyebrows in a query,

"Yes, we just finished lunch...Xiao Li, these are my friends," He introduced his friends, "You are familiar with Chi Yan. This is Hao Ren, he works in the cardiothoracic department,"

Li Juan turned to face two men who remained dazed at the sight of her and blinked her eyes to acknowledge their presence,

When her gaze shifted towards the stacks of paper, her eyebrows creased,

"I am preparing for my thesis," Lee Tae Yang immediately took the folder and gave it to her,

Li Juan traced the spine of the folder and peeked at him for permission to open it,

"If you want to take a look at the papers, go ahead,"

As soon as she got his permission Li Juan opened the folder and went through the contents of the paper. Most of them were the scanned copies of medical reports and there were some hand-written notes on it. She ran her fingertip over the handwritten notes and inclined her head towards Lee Tae Yang, 

"I wrote it,"

Li Juan grabbed his fingers and slightly shook them as if she is praising his handwriting before carefully going through the papers with curious eyes,

"Is she like this from the beginning or?" Hao Ren inquired in a low voice when he saw the silent communication between them.

"It is the trauma," Chi Yan answered and tried to gain Li Juan's attention, 

"Xiao Li, are you getting bored here?"

"Do you want some colouring books?" Hao Ren suddenly asked in an enthusiastic voice which surprised the rest of them,

"Colouring often helps to relax and improves brain activity," He shrugged,

Li Juan smiled widely to show her willingness,

"I will give it to him," Hao Ren pointed towards Tae Yang,

Suddenly the buzzing sound of the Lee Tae Yang's phone heard and quickly picked up the call,

"Yes professor....no, I am free, I will meet you in five minutes," He ended the conversation, "Professor needs to go somewhere at 4 pm, he asked whether it is possible to meet earlier," He said with dispirited voice, "I need to go now,"

Li Juan immediately picked up two rough papers in which Lee Tae Yang wrote something and strike through it,

"You want to keep it?"

She slightly nodded and arranged the papers before giving them back to him,

"I will try to come when I am free," He assured before leaving, "Don't stay awake for a long time,"

Li Juan smiled and waved her hands,

As soon as the trio came out of the neurology ward, Hao Ren stopped his friend who was trying to rush towards his professor and asked in a serious voice,

What he saw in the ward, was enough to tell that relationship between Lee Tae Yang and Li Juan was more than patient and a doctor.

"Are you sure that what you feel towards her is not sympathy?".

"Whatever relationship we have, I don't want to restrain it within certain tags...We are happy with each other's presence and I want to keep it like that," Lee Tae Yang said with a resolute tone.

"That's it?"

"Yes," He affirmed and turned to leave, "see you,"

While looking at Lee Tae Yang's leaving back, Chi Yan grabbed his friend's shoulders,

"RenRen, Don't you think that we should tell him that, every relationship starts like this? I can't believe after all these, he does not want to acknowledge his feeling,"

________________________

As promised to Li Juan, Lee Tae Yang visited her before leaving the hospital and informed her that he will not be able to visit her for next two days. It was the weekend and he was planning to visit his family residing in Soul city. 

As soon as Lee Tae Yang reached his Apartment, he took a shower and sat in the balcony with a cigarette and a small photo album,

He was the young master of the Guan family and Lee family, yet nothing held more importance than the photo album in his life,

It was a gift from his mother,

It was the only proof of the moments he spent with his parents,

Lee Tae Yang carefully opened and went through the photographs,

Towards the end of the album, there was a picture a four-year-old Lee Tae Yang with his great-grandmother and a newborn baby,

"Wol Ju ah,' He traced the little face of the baby in the yellowing photo, " I'm sorry for forgetting your birthday...Wherever you are, i just wish you live happily," he said in melancholic voice and raised his eyes towards the sky, "Dad, Mom... please take care of her," 

All of sudden, Lee Tae Yang's phone rang,

It was from Chi Yan,

"Tae Yang, there is an emergency, can you come over? It is something related to Xiao Li," Chi Yan asked in a horrified voice,

"What happened to her?"

"She is throwing a big tantrum here, please come fast,"

Du..du..du.. the call got disconnected!!!