Chapter 126 - The Day Of Proposal

"I came out to my unit," Yul said simply and Zeng stopped midway, his spoon hanging there before his gaping mouth.

"Really?" He asked, surprised and Yul nodded.

"Wow, that's great!" Zeng smiled, then hesitated. "Were they good with it?" He referred to Yul's team.

"Most of them were," Yul answered honestly. He wasn't expecting everybody to be cool with it.

Zeng nodded understandingly.

"One of the first years came out too," Yul added with a smile, "Apparently he liked this one guy more than he should. That's why he was distracted these days. The kid said it was cool that he shared being bisexual with me."

"That's sweet," Zeng commented. It was nice that the newer people were comfortable enough to share it with their colleagues under Yul's influence.

"I also told them you will be attending the next department event with me," Yul added.

"Yul, I-" Zeng looked flabbergasted, "You will have all your colleagues there." He was a bit sceptical about how they could form opinions on him and Yul.

"So?" The boyfriend raised an eyebrow, "I want to show you off."

Zeng blushed, shaking his head at the stubbornness, knowing that Yul was somehow going to persuade him to come to the event.

Now that Yul was done with the coming out, he had to focus on the proposal.

He planned everything and even discussed it with Subin. The best gave a green flag. This Saturday, Yul was going to propose to Zeng.

It was going to be a private thing. He wouldn't mind proposing in a filmy style in a famous restaurant or putting up a hoarding of 'will you marry me?'. He sure as hell would enjoy that but Zeng wouldn't. The man will run away and hide under the bed.

"I am doing it today."

He texted Yuan. After all, Mr Baby Brother was the one who gave him the final push. He too gave a green signal.

>All the best.

>Don't forget the flowers.

>Choose something meaningful.

>Ge will appreciate it.

"Ok thanks," Yul kept that in mind.

Yul had asked Zeng to be home on time on the designated date. The other had playfully narrowed his eyes.

"What are you planning?" The doctor asked.

"You will know soon," Yul kept his secret, "Just make sure to not overwork on Saturday."

Zeng was intrigued. "Okay."

======

He was late. Yul looked at his watch, all dressed up. Zeng was more late than his normal timing. Was he overworking again? Was there an emergency?

Yul knew it was petty of him to be irritated, especially when somebody's life may be on the line but he had been working on this for weeks now. He wanted this to be perfect.

The flowers, the candles, the dinner, he had meticulously prepared everything for his special person. A velvet-covered box was carefully tucked inside his pocket.

It was their day.

Yul gave over everything once again, rechecking everything. It was going to be perfect. Zeng would love it, Yul smiled at the thought as he traced a finger over the platinum rings.

Zeng had promised Yul to be there on time. However, whatever happened at the hospital held him back.

Zeng came back home, looking stressed. He did not have his heartwarming smile, nor did he greet Yul when he crossed the hall, in his own thoughts.

"Zeng ge, what happened?" Yul asked at once, his voice laced with concern.

When Zeng looked up at him only then did he notice how well dressed Yul was. Oh, he had forgotten about the promise to come home on time.

"Are you okay?" Yul asked again.

Zeng sighed, closing his eyes and reopening them. He simply asked, "Can we cancel today's plan?"

"But what happened?" Yul needed to know.

"It's nothing," Zeng pushed past him to walk away.

"Ge? What happened? At least tell me-"

"Can you please shut up?!" Zeng yelled.

Yul flinched. He was taken aback by the sudden rage thrown his way. "What are you getting so angry for?" He asked, his voice barely controlled.

"Because you are annoying me, Yul," Zeng snapped again. His headache was getting even more severe. Having been threatened by a patient's relatives to take the medical case to the court had caused a lot of fuss in the hospital. They were barely contained, almost ready to jump to violence. Zeng, as the senior doctor, had to protect his juniors. He had tried to be calm but the other party was not backing down, demanding an explanation on why the surgery was unsuccessful when the cause of morbidity was unexplainable.

Zeng had tried to explain but the unhappy clients had given an ultimatum to drag them to the criminal court. The entire department was stressed over it, especially Zeng who had conducted the surgery along with his juniors.

Such cases drag a lot and might ruin careers of the doctors involved. Zeng did not feel right about it. He needed some time alone. Home was where that was possible.

However, Yul had been prying since the moment he entered the door.

To Yul, something must have happened with Zeng to make him look so depressed. The officer wanted to find out.

He needed to clear things up first before diving into the plan. However, Zeng had snapped at him, very unnecessarily. He was called annoying for merely asking what's wrong.

He was not taking any shit.

"Aren't you being too harsh?" He said defensively.

He had been planning this for weeks. He worked hard to make it perfect. He had worked so meticulously to give Zeng the perfect proposal which he could never imagine rejecting. And what was he getting in return?

Unreasonable anger.

"Seriously, what's wrong with you, Zeng ge?" He said a bit too harshly.

"There's nothing wrong with me," Zeng seethed. His anger knew no bounds. He knew it was unreasonable. Yul didn't even do anything. He knew nothing. But the stress below Zeng's skin was crawling and it was waiting to be leashed and Yul just happened to be there, a punching bag of sorts. "I just don't want to play your stupid game today, Yul. Don't annoy me with your childish antics. I have had enough!"

Yul scoffed. Did Zeng just say Yul was the one annoying him?

Wasn't it the other way round?

Yul's eyes darkened. It felt like all the efforts he had put into making the evening memorable were in vain. He almost regretted giving too much of himself when the other clearly was not interested.

And that hurt him.

A void started growing in his heart, consuming him as resentment started filling it.