EXTERN

Chapter 17

 

I was bending up and down as I used my stethoscope to listen to the lungs of a little girl who’d come to have her health checked.

 

“I think you probably have a respiratory infection. I’ll prescribe some medicine for you, and then you can wait and collect it from the pharmacist, okay?”

 

The little hill-tribe girl smiled at me again but refused to get up until her mother eventually had to pick her up and carry her away so the next patient could come in.

 

Click!

I turned towards the sound of a shutter from the professional camera that had just taken my photo without permission. Behind the lens was a small, slender figure with a cute face, giving me an awkward little smile like he’d been caught red-handed. I had a vague feeling I’d seen this kid somewhere before.

 

“You…?”

 

“Er… I-I’m Yo. Mayo…”

 

I nodded and gave the small, fair-skinned boy a faint smile as he nervously shuffled closer to me.… Am I really that scary?

 

“D-do you remember me?”

 

I glanced at my watch, then at the waiting chairs, which were currently empty. The second-years organising the queue had probably decided to give us a lunch break first.

 

“Hmm?”

 

I tilted my head at Mayo in confusion. His face definitely looked familiar, but I genuinely couldn’t remember him. So I simply gave him a friendly smile and led the way towards the canteen, where the Home Economics students and villagers had been helping prepare food.

 

“It’s okay if you don’t remember… It wasn’t anything worth remembering anyway.”

 

Mayo muttered as he lowered his gaze to the ground. That only made me feel worse. It was like a tiny kitten had come asking me to take him in, only for me to refuse because I already kept a (venomous) snake at home.

 

“Aww, come on. When did we meet?”

 

I hooked an arm around his neck and ruffled his hair. I guessed he was probably a second-year Communication Arts student or something. He was carrying a camera, after all, and seemed to have plenty of free time.

 

“…When I came to get my blood tested…”

 

That was all he had to say before I immediately remembered. He was the kid who’d been raped by his senior. Fortunately, his blood test had come back negative—no HIV had been detected in his blood.

 

“Oh! How have you been? That senior hasn’t been bothering you again, has he?”

 

I smiled at my former patient again. But was I imagining things, or had Mayo’s face turned red? He was probably overheated from the sun. It was pretty strong today.

 

“Er… he…”

 

“YO!!!”

 

Before he could finish, a deep voice shouted out. A tall, heavily built guy came striding towards us. He was reasonably good-looking…Obviously, not as good-looking as me. He approached with an aggressive scowl, looking as though he was itching for a fight. Mayo immediately jumped behind me to hide. The guy and I weren’t that different in height, but judging by the sheer thickness of his body, this brute must have swallowed an entire bloody bear.

 

“P’Guy…”

 

P’Guy?

 

Was this the bastard who’d raped the kitten?

 

“Who the fuck are you?”

 

I immediately felt my eyebrow twitch. I was pretty damn sure I was the most senior person at this camp, and I absolutely hated juniors who showed no respect to their seniors. My faculty took seniority very seriously.

 

“P’Guy! Don’t!”

 

The bloody bodybuilder marched forward and tried to grab the arm of the kid hiding behind me.

 

“Hey! He doesn’t want to go with you, so you don’t have the right to touch him, do you?”

 

I shifted until I was completely blocking Mayo from him. Seriously, kid, are you too bloody small or what? I didn’t particularly want to interfere in someone else’s relationship drama, but I genuinely couldn’t stand watching someone being bullied.

 

“And what the fuck does it have to do with you? Mind your own fucking business!”

 

I could practically feel flames bursting from the top of my head. I was seriously running out of patience!

 

“Whether it’s my business or not, I’m the one who treated him for the fucking bite marks you left on him!”

 

“You—!”

 

“Yo! Come with me.”

 

I glared furiously at the bodybuilder, making it clear I wouldn’t back down if he wanted a fight. He glared right back but didn’t come any closer, perhaps because more and more people had started gathering around us. So I grabbed Kitten’s arm and quickly pulled him away.

 

“Thank you, P’Kan.”

 

I dragged him over to sit at my table for lunch. There was Mai, Ton, Tum, my fellow extern doctors, the third- and fourth-year engineering students…And, of course, the poisonous snake sitting on my right.

 

He immediately turned and practically hissed at Kitten in a decidedly unfriendly manner. Meanwhile, the little Communication Arts kitten sitting on my left attracted plenty of attention from everyone at our table, and practically everyone else in the canteen too. Well, my table was basically a gathering of good-looking people. Completely normal!

 

“Anyway, don’t make it so easy for him to bully you. You’re an adult now, and I’m not always going to be around to save you.”

 

As I spoke, I transferred some fried pork from my plate onto Mayo’s. Maybe it would help him grow faster. He was bloody tiny. No wonder people found him so easy to pick on.

 

“Yes.”

 

Mayo lowered his head shyly.

 

…What the hell?

 

Are you blushing over a piece of fried pork, Kitten?

 

“Ooooooh! Total husband material!”

 

“They’re so bloody compatible!”

 

“Way better than that bastard Per!”

 

“I told you! Hia Kan should be the husband!”

 

I blinked and stared around the table in confusion. What the hell? Why was I the only one not following this conversation?

 

CLANG!

A spoon struck a metal plate loudly. My female friend’s slender figure suddenly shot up from the table and walked away, leaving behind an awkward silence as everyone exchanged confused looks.

 

“I thought Nong Per would be the first one who couldn’t take it… Turns out it was my own friend.”

 

May-I shook her head and got up to follow Natcha.

 

“It’s nothing. Come on, just eat.” Guide spoke up and shovelled another spoonful of rice into his mouth, clearly wanting everyone to stop paying attention to our friend’s strange behaviour.

 

“Speaking of which… aren’t you jealous, Per?”

 

Muek turned towards the person sitting beside me.

 

Per looked utterly miserable, pushing the food around his plate.

 

…What the hell is wrong with you now, Per?

 

“Hmph! Even if I was jealous, Kan wouldn’t care about me anyway.”

 

I blinked several times and turned towards him in confusion.

 

“Me? Not care about you?”

 

“…”

 

He said nothing. Instead, he wrinkled his nose, pursed his lips, lifted his chin and stared dramatically in the opposite direction. At this rate, I was worried he’d give himself a bloody crick in the neck.

 

Grab!

Without asking, I reached over and took the giant brat’s hand in mine. Everyone at the table immediately stared at us as though their eyes were about to pop out of their heads. Bloody hell, you lot are dramatic!

 

“What’s wrong? Are you sulking at me?”

 

When the giant brat finally turned back towards me, I gave him my biggest smile, made my eyes sparkle at him, and held up my little finger as a peace offering. Please stop sulking at me, you poisonous snake. I need to hurry up, finish my food and get back to work. By now, the villagers were probably queuing all the way down the bloody mountain.

 

“Friends again?”

 

GRAB!!!

 

“Oof!”

 

I nearly had the air knocked out of me when the poisonous snake suddenly threw himself at me and squeezed me tightly in an extremely possessive hug. You’re not seriously acting like a child just to show off in front of the kitten behind me, are you?

 

“Cough! L-let go first! I can’t breeeeathe!”

 

I nearly choked and had to smack my boyfriend’s muscular back until he finally loosened his arms before I suffocated to death.

 

“P’Kan… are you and P’Per…?”

 

Mayo began hesitantly. Come on, kid. We were practically merging into one person with that hug and you still need to ask?

 

“Husband and wife!”

 

Before I could explain anything, Mr Sulky answered for me.

 

…Well. There you have it. Mayo immediately went silent. The kitten lowered his head until his face was practically touching his plate, making a stab of guilt shoot through me. Could someone this innocent and sheltered be uncomfortable with this kind of relationship?

 

“Er…”

 

I fidgeted, looking left and right because I had no idea how to explain it. If he suddenly started crying, wouldn’t everyone think we were bullying the kid? It didn’t help that practically every person sitting at this table looked like they belonged to a gang of delinquents.

 

Whoosh!

Just as I was deciding whether to rub the little kitten’s back comfortingly, he lifted his head. The corner of his lips curled into a faint smile. For just a moment, I could have sworn I saw something sly gleaming in the kid’s eyes.

 

“It’s okay… If something is meant to be ours, then eventually it’ll become ours.”

 

With that, Kitten stood up and walked away from the table, remembering to take his camera with him. All I could do was blink after him in confusion. …Ours? What the hell was he talking about?

 

“Ooooooh, looks like you’ve got competition, Per.”

 

“I reckon Hia might have to give in to the kid this time. That little guy’s got something about him.”

 

“So my wife’s going to become somebody else’s husband?”

 

“Awww. Looks like someone’s about to lose his wife.”

 

I fought back my laughter at the engineering kids’ ridiculous theories. Bloody hell, the things you lot come up with.

 

BANG!

“Anyone who thinks they can steal my wife can fucking try!”

 

I turned towards Per. His face was thunderous. He was clearly furious, and he’d deliberately shouted the declaration loud enough that the small figure who’d just left the table would undoubtedly hear him.

 

“…”

 

Nobody dared say a word. All I could do was gently rub my boyfriend’s arm. Ever since I’d met Per, I’d never seen him this angry before. The entire canteen had fallen deathly silent, as though nobody even dared move.

 

“Calm down… Do you seriously think I’d let someone have me that easily?”

 

“…”

 

“I’m telling you right here…”

 

“…”

 

“Other than you… I genuinely have never thought about being with anyone else.”

 

“…”

 

I tightened my grip around his large hand, trying to send every feeling I had through that touch. Please understand me. In this life of mine…I only need you to be my man.

 

“…I’m yours alone, Per.”

 

“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

 

Yep…

Fuck.

The entire bloody camp heard that!

 

Who the hell would dare challenge the one and only cool Hia Per nowwwww?!

 

#TheCurseOfHavingAHotterWife