The Six Halcyon Years
Working-Class Mr. Ahn's Unscheduled Visits to Dr. Yeon's Clinic continues...
Missed Part 1? Start here → PART 1
Warning: this post deals with some heavier psychological topics and dark fictional elements. Everything here is totally fictional.
Building a Life in Suho's House
J: Hi Asuka, before falling into deep sleep, I was reviewing our email exchange as a warm-up, and your email just delivered some happiness that opened right up before bedtime. I think I'm going to have sweet dreams tonight.
Firefighter Suho? That's way too sexy. Let me take advantage of this local bricklayer's opportunity for a moment.
Suho would naturally have gotten a military exemption due to his medical history. In my ocean of delusions, they start living together at Suho's house after his grandmother passes away — let's set this during Si-eun's second semester at Seoul National University Medical School. Suho would have transferred back to Byeoksan High as a first-year second-semester student. After 6 years of living together, Si-eun gets called to serve his country, and they face an unavoidable separation due to deployment to Iraq.
Si-eun's exceptional medical skills start laying their foundation during this time, and somehow, during his military doctor deployment to Iraq, he skips both internship and residency training entirely. So 5 years pass, and during this time they only manage to meet once a year in Seoul, doing most of their catch-up conversations... with their bodies.
And when Dr Yeon opens his clinic, their romance enters a new phase. On the surface, it's a beautiful fairy tale, but when my stress peaks on Thursday, the hidden dark subtexts of this beautiful fairy tale might emerge. This setup is borrowed from the twisted psychology of Dr Watson, who becomes addicted to dangerous situations and ends up limping in mundane daily life. Si-eun is also suffering from the same PTSD. When my work stress reaches its climax, I'll probably churn out tons of dark fairy tales. I might end up poisoning your boiling kettle HAHAHA.
Hope you have a chill evening! Your bricklayer Jen.
The Modeling Side Gig
J: During Si-eun's undergraduate medical school years, Suho works as a clothing brand advertising model. Once he becomes an adult and starts exuding that masculine scent, there's no way the entertainment industry recruiters stationed in Gangnam would leave him alone.
When Suho rides his bike to pick up Si-eun after late-night library study sessions, sharp-eyed female classmates whisper among themselves: "That guy... isn't he the XXX magazine model? You know, 'Sangkeumi'?"
That's how Si-eun finds out about Suho's side gig.
And once, Si-eun follows him to a photoshoot. Stylists, makeup artists... people everywhere touching Suho's hair and face. Watching Suho being 'handled' by all these other people from a distance, Si-eun's eyes grow dark. Si-eun still isn't used to sorting through his emotions. He can't even define them. Only much, much later does he get the feeling that emotion might have been jealousy.
Well, it doesn't matter anyway. Suho quit the magazine modeling job pretty quickly. They never talked about why he quit.
Suho's Grannie's Place
J: The house is the only inheritance Suho's grandmother left to her grandson after she passed away. It's an old house. I want to make it the home where the two of them lived together for 6 years during Si-eun's undergraduate years. I'm forcibly changing the setting so that it couldn't fit a double bed — they had to sleep on mats spread on the floor.
This is the neighbourhood supermarket that Suho and Si-eun — who were 'rumoured to be suspicious friends' in the neighbourhood — used to frequent. Their secret dating way was buying 'Melona' ice cream there and sitting on the bench in front of the supermarket to share it.
A: I really should print these out and enshrine them somewhere. I've already downloaded them onto my hard drive hahaha. Suho's grannie's place is a perfect setting for the blooming of young romance. So is the neighbourhood mart. I imagine people whispering behind the boys whenever they go out. But when Suho turns around to look them in the eye, they gulp and scurry away.
Is this sort of BL still quite taboo or even forbidden in Korea? Or are there distinct attitudes towards this from different social strata or different generations?
One curious head nurse.
Guardian Deities and September Scents
A: I simply can't get this slice of life out of my head. Work ends around 4 AM. When he punches in their shared door code, Si-eun wakes up from studying himself to sleep. Seeing Si-eun's messy hair with a few strands sticking up from static electricity, Suho smiles faintly. Si-eun opens his half-closed eyes and shuffles to the entrance, where Suho's taking off his shoes, wrapping his arms tight around Suho's waist. Suho's windbreaker is saturated with Seoul's crisp autumn dawn air from the seasonal transition. Si-eun hugs that windbreaker — and all that air it holds — as tight as he can.
It's so loving and so real. It has been humming in my mind the whole morning. I'm going to incorporate what I can into the soup. Thanks for cooking, as always. Head Nurse, pretending to work.
J: Hi, Asuka! I was doing all that groundwork because I wanted to capture that windbreaker saturated with the chilly transitional autumn air. I'm glad you liked it!
About my delusion of Suho doing magazine modelling as a side gig — I said Si-eun felt 'jealous' but that doesn't really seem like a fitting emotion for Si-eun. I'm thinking of revising it to Si-eun feeling 'slightly uncomfortable' when I post it on my blog later.
If Suho had actually been keen on the entertainment industry (really, there's no way those Gangnam recruiters would've left that face alone), Si-eun would've been his most enthusiastic supporter.
I got tomorrow off. I'm making a video right now — it's a DP and Weak Hero crossover analysis. The quality is still not very good, but I feel like I finally poured out everything I've been wanting to say. The main topic of this video is 'windbreaker', which will probably make you chuckle. Your bricklayer Jen.
A Small Bowl to Keep You Warm
A: Hi Jennie, I will definitely catch the vid when it comes out. Here's a small bowl to keep you warm first:
Although he feigned being exasperated with his most persistently ill patient, the truth was that Dr Yeon very much looked forward to Mr Ahn disrupting his routines. On days when he did not visit because of work demands, Dr Yeon felt the time crawl by. Such days were random, and he always feared Mr Ahn had been injured at his work site.
He remembered the ice-cold days of Suho's coma. Days of numbness and sadness that stretched into weeks and then months. Dr Yeon could endure medical school and military service, including a little-known stint in Iraq that had lasted for five years; even before that, he already had the grit to weather the ruthless bullying of his high school days. But if anything ever happened to Suho again, Dr Yeon knew he would fall apart. This was the one thing he could not bear.
The trauma of years ago had not been expunged, only buried with work and kept out of the waking world. But it lived on in Dr Yeon's dreams. Whenever it visited in the silence of tired nights, he became Si-eun the high schooler again, the boy who gained the world and lost it.
During the six halcyon years living with Suho after Eunjang High, he sometimes woke up shivering with sharp breaths, damp with sweat. He would then lurch to the desk, weak from the weight of bad dreams, and memorize anatomical notes as a way back to sleep while he waited for Suho to return from his delivery runs.
When Suho punched in their shared door code, Si-eun would open his half-closed eyes and shuffle to the entrance, where Suho took his shoes off. He loved early autumn in particular, when his hair stood up from the static (that never failed to draw a smile from Suho). Suho's windbreaker would be saturated with the crisp air of dawn. Si-eun would hold him tight and breathe in the scents of September, of Seoul, and of Suho. It chased all the boogeymen away.
On days when Suho stayed home, the terrors weakened, as if out of respect for the presence of a guardian deity, though they still persisted. But with Suho around, when an attack came, Si-eun would awake to find himself in Suho's arms. In summer, this could be uncomfortably warm, but the nightmares chilled Si-eun from within, so he was always deeply grateful for the snuggle, and sweated out the remainder of his sleep with a light smile.
The comforting embraces happened because Suho, who slept in class like a log, would rouse instinctively upon hearing Si-eun's soft whimpers and half-formed sleep words. Sometimes he heard Beomseok's name.
Once, he heard "don't die, Suho, please", and in the thick darkness where a dreaming Si-eun could not see him, Suho's toughness broke apart as he cried silently and hugged the precious, wounded soul that had curled into a fetal position. He wet Si-eun's hair with his tears as he kissed the top of his head. "I'm here, I'm here. Si-eun-ah, I'm here," he had whispered over and over until Si-eun's breathing eased.
That alone had made him want to quit night delivery work, but when he discussed it with Si-eun the next morning, the boy genius had dismissed the idea.
"Day delivery work is more dangerous; it'd give me more nightmares if anything. Plus, they're just dreams. They can't do a thing."
They can crush your soul, thought Suho. But he downplayed his own worries.
"Awww, but I just want to hug my favorite bolster."
"Don't think I don't know you are rubbing yourself on your favorite bolster."
"You were awake? Why didn't you say so? We could have eaten some ice-cream."
"Oh, you bought some?"
"No, but we have popsicles full of fresh cream don't we? Mine is sea-salt caramel, yours is vanilla."
"...yah... Ahn Suho... you must be the healthiest guy in this neighborhood, really."
That morning, they had dessert for breakfast. It also chased the boogeymen away.
Review: Guardian Deities and September Scents
J: Your soup kept me warm on the train. I was grinning so hard that the grandma across from me kept staring lol. Here's my amateur take on your soup — as always, humour me. Hope your busy weekend tastes like sea-salt caramel.
Although he feigned being exasperated with his most persistently ill patient...
I. Scheming Doctor Dr Yeon secretly wants his patient to never get better. What a terrible doctor, right? This scheming doctor... time "crawling" by... Will he ever get needy enough to pout at Mr Ahn? I read this viral tweet about all those texts Si-eun sent to comatose Suho... perfect spelling, every single one... felt like he was being needy. Broke my heart reading it. Makes me wonder — did Suho read them all after waking up? How did that feel?
II. Clinging to Life Support He remembered the ice-cold days of Suho's coma. Clinging to life support, barely hanging on by a thread — my chest hurts again.
III. That Puffy Face Days of numbness and sadness that stretched into weeks and then months. That puffy face from too many sleeping pills. Arms that wouldn't sync with his steps. Empty expression, except when he'd spot traces of Suho in Baku, Gotak, Jun-tae... (I'm covering my face)
IV. Med School Girls Swooning Dr Yeon could endure medical school and military service, including a little-known stint in Iraq... Med school girls swooning, med school guys seething with jealousy... then Iraq, where his surgical skills made him untouchable... (getting hot just imagining it)
V. Never Experience Anything More Intense The trauma of years ago had not been expunged, only buried... Si-eun will never experience anything more intense again. So in his mundane daily life, he's not physically limping like Dr. Watson, but mentally he's pushing it all down into the dark depths.
VI. Halcyon Years During the six halcyon years living with Suho after Eunjang High... "Halcyon years" breaks and mends my heart. Is this all just a dream? I imagine Si-eun sometimes gently tracing Suho's eyebrows while he sleeps, just to prove it's real.
VII. Paint-Chipped Jade Metal Gate When Suho punched in their shared door code... In that shabby house — grandma's only inheritance — there'd be no fancy keypad, just Suho pushing through that paint-chipped jade metal gate. But still, Si-eun shuffling toward his returning Suho? Heart-wrenching and adorable. (Melting again)
VIII. The Scent That Never Lets You Go It chased all the boogeymen away. I knew you'd love Suho's windbreaker soaked in Seoul autumn air. They say smell is the sense that never lets you go.
IX. Reading It as a Sleeping Child But with Suho around... Si-eun would awake to find himself in Suho's arms. You can't see while sleeping, but in dreams, the boogeymen keep tormenting him. So, reading it as a sleeping child, calming down to familiar scents? Pure romance.
X. Si-eun Doesn't Know Suho Hears Once, he heard 'don't die, Suho, please'... (Eyes getting misty) Does Si-eun know that Suho hears his sleep talk...? No way...
XI. Rubbing on the Favorite Bolster He doesn't know Suho hears his sleep talk, but somehow knows perfectly well that Suho uses him as a pillow and sometimes rubs against him pretty hard??
XII. These Cheeky Lines Si-eun could never make jokes like this to Suho, but Suho can throw out these cheeky lines... makes me tingle with joy.
XIII. Confessing This Sin at Church Mine is sea-salt caramel, yours is vanilla. I understood this metaphor instantly and need to confess this sin at church this Sunday.
XIV. Morning Mouth Exercises It also chased the boogeymen away. Even the boogeymen fled from watching these two puppies do their morning mouth exercises.
GPT could never match the sweetness, wit, and romance of your secret notes. With respect, Jen.
(They'll definitely need to time-travel for that towel from Dr Yeon's clinic.)
Cheeky Jen.
Who is Jennie? Bricklayer. Local correspondent for the Yeon Clinic deluluverse. A sous chef who checks whether the soup actually tastes like Seoul. A specialist who designs this kitchen to hold more than Suho's coma — philosophy, history, society, culture, stacked one recipe at a time.
Who is Asuka? Head nurse and main chef of the Yeon Clinic. A Scheherazade who sings the Song of Achilles she found shelved next to a book on Zen Buddhist masters. Fluent in several languages, conversant in single malts and the precise emotional damage of Weak Hero Class 1. Signs off as ASL. (Always starch linen.)
This free ebook will ruin you. In the best way. A character analysis of Si-eun, Su-ho and Beom-seok that goes beyond what subtitles can carry. Take it — it's free → DOWNLOAD HERE
This post was originally published on Jennie's blog in the autumn of 2025. The original blog has since moved to Blogger due to hosting changes — welcome to the new home.
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