(im)perfectionist
vinny hong x jo!reader
jay jo's imperfectionist sister meets the flawful vinny hong.
part 2
part 1 | part 3
pairing: vinny hong x jo!fem!reader
part warnings: fem!reader, cursing, mentions of blood & violence, jo!reader, physical descriptions (resemblance to jay, jay's mother, heavily implied asian features) intelligent!reader, implications of academic pressure, second person's pov (you, you're, your), wb main story SPOILERS
—
Despite his protests, you still eventually called an ambulance to come pick you up. The red-headed stranger carried no identification cards with him, and you couldn't say what your relationship to him was when the medics asked. You were lucky enough you had connections from your parents' colleagues inside the hospital so you were quickly accompanied in the E.R.
The smell of disinfectants, the scent that your nose unconsciously got used to. For some it brings back unpleasant memories, some of it mostly includes a loved one dying, or finding out about a serious, life-threatening condition of oneself, that would forever scar a person's notion of a hospital.
You were just here a while ago, now you're here again.
But for you, it somehow grew to be comforting over time. You wonder why. Maybe it's because of the fact that this is the only place you can help you parents without your mother following you around and yelling at you. Besides, there is also beauty in hospitals—In contrast to the bad things, hearty laughs still fill hospital walls whenever a couple finds out they're having a baby, when an oncologist finally clinically pronounces a patient cancer-free, a warm moment of a family hugging after a mother gives birth to a newborn—and many more.
“How is he?” you asked upon entering the hospital room after paying for all expenses and settling the hospital bill, and you were welcomed by the sight of the doctor checking on the unconscious redhead.
“He'll be fine. You did well on the temporary stitches, [Y/N]. He was fortunate enough to be helped by you. Luckily we still have a bag left of the same blood type as his, so the blood transfusion was done immediately and fortunately didn't become a problem for us. Now, we're just monitoring him. A little rest while the stitches heal and he'll be fine.” Dra. Kwon, a family friend of your family of doctors. You thanked her in response. You had already told her everything that happened beforehand.
“Dr. Kwon, Please don't tell my parents. Especially my mother.”
“Of course, [Y/N]. Dr. Jo would never hear of this.” She put her hand on your shoulder as she briefly mentions your mother. “It's frustrating how much she forces you to submit yourself to the Medical field, but she refuses to see your potential. If only she would see you as Jay's equal…”
Her remark caught you off-guard and made your shoulders perk up. You couldn't counter her, because it was true.
She excuses herself and leaves you inside the hospital room with the fiery haired, delinquent-looking stranger, and you finally got a clear view of his face under the cool-toned flourescent hospital lights. You sat down beside the bed and rested your chin on your palm.
You stared at him intently and studied his features. He somehow looks about your age. He's really pale. And he looks like he's been through a whole lot. From the other fading bruises and scratches on his face that tells you he got them a while ago, and the ones all over his limbs. Not to mention the stab wound that he recently got. You leaned down almost to his head's level. It's the first time you looked at someone so wild-looking… yet also serene.
You've only ever looked at your family members this up close, but their faces weren't this atypical in your eyes. You've only ever prolongly stared at Jay, after a relative of yours in a family reunion told you you looked like a carbon copy of him, you wanted to pinpoint how they say. You needed to. Although Jay was weirded out by you that time—whatever.
This red hair's pale, chapped lips and overall pale skin contrasted his wild, disheveled vivid red hair. And he has two beauty marks under his left eye. Fascinating, indeed.
Jay's beauty was irrefutable, but it seemed like the kind of level you can see anywhere in any day. And you weren't even sure if it came from pure genuineness, or only out of admiration because you already know him well as his sister, so it's certainly not a one-look-and-I-immediately-knew-he's-beautiful type of beauty.
But this one... he's so seemingly flawful yet also flawless. You don't get to see this kind of face everyday. You suddenly felt the urge to paint a portrait of the unique beauty of the stranger lying unconscious on this hospital bed. But wouldn't that be weird?
You were snapped out of your thoughts when Dra. Kwon went back to the hospital room for more patient assessments. As the doorknob clicks, the red haired man softly groans. He furrows his brows as he possibly starts to regain consciousness. You figured that was your cue to leave, so you excused yourself from Dra. Kwon and rushed out of the room before he woke up completely. With a last "If he wreaks havoc inside this hospital room or yells at you, please tase him.".
“How are you feeling? What's your name?” You faintly hear Dr. Kwon while you stand outside of the door to eavesdrop as she interviews the red-haired patient.
“...Where am I?” You heard not only the audible baritone annoyance, but also utter confusion in his voice.
“You were taken to the hospital. Do you have any legal guardians? Do you want to make a call?”
“No. No guardians.” That was the last you heard of him before you saw yourself out of the corridor. You left the hospital after making sure all the expenses were covered.
The next day before class, you heard from Dr. Kwon that the red-haired stranger left immediately after, even if he hasn't yet fully regained his strength.
—
It had been months marked since that accident occured. He had almost never crossed your mind after that.
After the bell rang in class and the teacher left, you were supposed to stay in your seat to wait for Jay to gather his things, as the both of you agreed on going home together today.
Jay sat from all the way to the other side of the room. You don't usually talk to each other to gossip in class like what your classmates expect of you two. You two are too pre-occupied to even cross that short distance for an idle chat but you get along very well as Student Body Leaders. Like you, studying is the only thing he only ever did in his whole life—or in both of your cases—forced to do your whole lives.
You felt someone's finger tap your shoulder to call your attention. You looked behind to be greeted by the sight of Yuna's friendly smile and Mia's shy, awkward tight-lipped grin, both whom you've only ever talked to maybe twice or thrice?
“Hello, Student Body Vice-President! I'm Yuna, this is Mia.” Yuna flashed you a smile and gestured toward the shy girl. Your wide-eyed gaze shifted from Yuna to Mia.
“H-Hello.” Mia waved shyly as she was mesmerised from how much you and Jay looked alike close-up, star-struck by finally having a closer look at your face, since almost no one in the classroom ever had the guts to approach you. She figured how you and Jay were alike, even the uninterested look and the glasses. It's just that Jay's glasses' frame were horn-rimmed while yours were silver and thinner-framed than his.
“I know who you two are.” You also flashed a civil smile. They were also members of the Student Council.
You were never really open to friendships, you sometimes speak to your classmates, only to answer their queries and help mid-school year transferees to catch up with your lessons when your teacher asks you to help them. But to actually have friendly chats in class about everyday, usual things? Never.
“Leave my sister-in-law be! She's having her alone time!” Shelly, the annoying frolic blonde girl also waddled to your seat and joined your conversation. Ah, this girl you knew well.
You once helped Shelly adjust to the lessons and the class in general when she transferred to Sunny High. When you tutored her, most of the time you'll either get your ears assaulted by multiple questions about Jay all at once, or find her zoning out and staring dreamily at your face instead, with her chin leaning her palm—claiming, quote, that you "might have made her gay for making her catch feelings for you" because of your uncanny resemblance to Jay, her crush.
You wondered why she liked him so much, he's a walking flag of mood-swings. You think of your brother, he's not a bad guy but sometimes he's just like... a rock. You almost groaned in annoyance as you braced yourself for the next scenario that'd be most likely to happen.
Shelly loomed over your desk. “Hey, if it's okay to ask, what is Jay like to you on family dates? Does Jay open your car door for you? Does he pull your chair for you? Does he help you slice your steak?” There it is.
You almost winced at the thought of Jay doing all those cringy stuff. He was always more of a quiet yet caring type. Besides, you can do all of those things by yourself. You won't need Jay or anyone's help for those things. He slices Kay's steak for him only because Kay can't do it himself, but it's only because Jay insists and claims Kay is still a child and he might accidentally nick his hands.
“Wait, do you even go on family dates?”
You tried to recall, your family dates were never the usual burst of energy. You weren't exactly an energy outburst type of family either, if they haven't already gotten the clue. In the Jo household, everything needs to be planned beforehand and put in place—organized, and most of all, perfect.
Mia, who was confused by Shelly's interrogation, interjected, “And why are you asking her those silly questions?”
“I heard from an article that how a man treats his sisters is how he'll treat his girlfriend. I just want to know how he'll treat me when we're finally officially dating.” Shelly confidently crossed her arms to her chest.
“Shelly, aren't you getting too ahead of yourself?” Yuna's face almost crumpled as she pursed her lips and cringed at the blonde girl's words.
“[Y/N].” Jay calls from behind the three girls. Shelly immediately squeals and fawns over him when she turns around to face him.
“Hello, ladies!” Minu and Dom who were behind Jay, also stopped by your seat to hear what the commotion is all about.
From Jay's slightly annoyed expression and the two other's close proximity to Jay, you figured they might have had approached him in his seat too and bothered him already before they went to yours. With them crowding around your seat, from your other classmates' point of view, you almost look like long time friends having a chat after class. But the truth is, all of you were all still in the meeting stage so everyone is still getting to know each other.
“Hey, [Y/N]. You and Jay going home together?” Minu offers a boyish smile as he and Dom approaches you, wrapping arms around each other's shoulders.
“Yeah.” Jay answers for you as he ignores Shelly's doting gushes. The poor girl.
Minu pushed his way to get to you. “So, we're forming a biking crew, but our members are lacking. Jay told us you were also into cycling.”
“Only because she's interested in everything sport.” Jay once again answers for you.
“I'm not asking you, man!” Dom sputters to the side of Jay's face as he swats him back with an open hand and turns back to look at you. “So now, we're inviting you. You in? You'll be the only woman in the crew–”
“Hey! Didn't I say I'll join? There'll be two women in the crew if she joins. Sister-in-law, please join us.” Shelly finally let go of Jay's arm and sandwiched your hands with both of hers.
Mia threw Shelly a concerned look and averted her gaze from the blonde girl to Jay, probably to see his reaction, but Jay didn't seem to care about Shelly's delusions and only minded the urge to just get out of there as soon as possible. As right now, he would go as far as cutting off his ear to block the noise around him.
Dom leaned over your shoulder and whispered, making sure no one hears except you, as he's also seeing what you're seeing. “So, [Y/N], which of Shelly and Mia do you think will actually be your sister-in-law?” Dom lightly nudges you twice, earning a protesting “Quit it!” from Yuna, who heard him because of your close proximity.
You tried thinking about it. You already have a lot of things in your to-do list. For today, this week, probably even the whole year. And you can't possibly just skip your extra-curriculars when cycling tournaments occur. You're also not a cyclist, and you already have Women's Basketball. Your mother even claimed basketball was a distraction from your studies. Joining the basketball team was a choice you made on your own, without agreement from your parents.
You've urged Jay to do the same and pay no mind to what you mother wants, but he didn't know what he wanted... yet.
“Sorry, but I already have too much on my plate right now. You already have Shelly, surely her skills would make up for the both of us.” You turned your back to them to fix your things, uncaring if it seemed rude to turn your back from them.
“But, even if we have Shelly, we're still missing a member.” Minu crumpled one side of his lips.
You zipped your bag up. “Then I guess you'll have to find someone else.” You straightened the straps of your bag and wore it on your back before you followed behind Jay outside the classroom. They took your declination and didn't push you anymore when you rejected the offer.
“Now what? Shall we go and blackmail someone who wronged us in the past so we can punish them?” You stepped to make your way outside the door completely but Dom's words made you remember something.
You halted your steps and looked back at them as you remembered something. Speaking of wronging. Everyone was looking at you now and waiting for you to tell them what you have to say. You composed yourself before you opened your mouth.
“That grouch from Gunn High.”
“What grouch from Gunn High?” Minu tilted his head slightly in confusion, leaving his mouth open as his forehead creases.
“I remember you blabbering about how you got beaten up by a "Gunn High-fucker" just recently. Someone who also used to be in Minu's old crew. I don't remember his name. But you should probably recruit him, whoever the hell he is.”
You got flashbacks of covering for Jay to hide his suspension from your mother, with them attending private trainings with the principal after that fight with students from the all-boys school, Gunn High.
That was also the first time you heard Jay engaging in a physical fight. Had you not seen Jay's busted face with your own eyes, you wouldn't have believed it. That fight happened just recent and the root was the Gunn High Schoolers kidnapping Yuna, resulting to Dom—with his boldly declared strong feelings for Yuna, acted on his impulse and came to her rescue. You weren't sure how Jay and Minu got involved because you weren't there. They brawled and the next thing you knew was that Jay, Dom and Minu got suspended and Jay got stripped off of his title as the Student Body President.
After what you said to your forth and mentioning that accident again, they all looked baffled, until Minu and Dom slowly looked at each other. It took them a few seconds to reply,
“Vinny? Vinny Hong? Why him?”
Vinny Hong? Now, that name sounds quite... familiar. Just where did you pick up that name again?
You shrugged. “Sure, whoever that is, as if i know. It's his fault why you all got into trouble last time, so tell him at least to compromise for what he did and join your crew or just blackmail him, whatever works.”
Dom immediately protested, as if the simple bring up of this Vinny Hong's name triggered his stress lines and made him age forty years older.
“Screw him, you'll be a much more valuable option than him!” Dom's mouth elongates vertically as he basically spits his words.
“Yeah, sure.” You picked up the rest of your things to hand-carry. While Jay waited for you outside the door. “We're going. See you Monday.”
—
“I don't like your noisy friends,” you told Jay after you exit the school gate.
The sun was already setting, creating a orange hue of the sky, as students from Sunny High scattered around the sidewalks, also making their way home after class.
“They're not my friends.” Jay looked ahead and to the trees at the side of the road, while dragging the wheels of his fixie through the sidewalk and matching your footsteps. He promised to treat you orange chocolate flavoured bungeoppangs today.
While getting some in a bungeoppang stall with Jay and jesting about how his taste buds might fancy a wasabi-flavoured one, your phone vibrated, indicating a text notification, but you have something nore important to search for. You were holding the small brown bag containing freshly cooked and still hot orange-chocolate stuffed bungeoppangs on one hand and your phone on the other. Jay munched on his pastries while you were busy fiddling with your phone. He had probably already noticed how you were so focused on what you're looking for.
Upon skimming your unnattended notifications, while scrolling to find older text messages, you finally caught a glimpse of a message from sender 'Dra. Kwon'. Your index finger stops mid-air. You hesitated to click before viewing it.
It was the text from months ago after that accident, that night when you stitched a red-haired stranger.
Now it made sense. How could you have missed that?
You re-read her text with a straight face.
Dra. Kwon: Thank you for your effort, [Y/N]. I forgot to tell you earlier, but the patient's name is Vinny Hong. He refused to tell us his name, but when his friend came to the hospital to fetch him, he asked the room number of a bright red-haired patient called "Vinny Hong". He's the only patient we have with bright red hair, and this friend is the one he left along with after he got discharged. In case you're interested in the identity of the man whose life you saved.
Gotcha.
You shoved your phone inside your pocket.
***
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