The One He Stayed For
Prologue
You were supposed to be a file in a locked cabinet. Another case. Another fragile girl.
But when Dr. Joo Yeo-jung met you—scarred, silent, and more fire than anyone expected—he didn’t walk away.
In a sterile hospital room, where healing is clinical and loneliness is louder than pain, he brings you tea, quiet hands, and paper cranes. You bring him memories he’s tried to bury.
This is a story about two broken people. One trying to forget, and the other learning how to live again.
A slow-burn, emotionally raw Yeo-jung x reader fanfic about trauma, tenderness, and the kind of love that doesn’t ask you to be whole—just human.
You were a survivor of long-term abuse, but unlike Dong-eun, your story never made headlines. No justice. No closure. Just quiet suffering and a body that learned to flinch before it could speak.
You were found half-conscious in an alleyway six months ago. No ID. No emergency contact. You were labeled “trauma-induced selective mute”, and transferred to a psychiatric unit for observation.
That’s where you met Dr. Joo Yeo-jung.
You hated him at first. He was too kind. Too calm. You couldn’t trust calm — calm was what abusers used before they hit you. But he never touched you without permission. Never asked questions you weren’t ready to answer.
Instead, he just… showed up. Every day. Even when his shift ended.
You didn’t ask why. But deep down, maybe you knew: he was healing from something too. And maybe, just maybe, you weren’t as alone as you thought.
Not Broken
The hospital walls were too clean. Too white. They made your bruises look uglier, like the pain didn’t belong in a place like this.
You sat curled on the edge of the bed, eyes trained on the clock ticking quietly above the door. It was the only thing that moved — other than your chest, rising and falling in slow, tired waves.
You didn’t look up when he came in. But you knew it was him. Dr. Joo Yeo-jung didn’t walk like the others. He walked soft — like he was afraid the floor might shatter if he stepped too hard.
Dr. Joo Yeo-jung
Good morning
He gently set down a tray of fruit and tea.
No clipboard. No nurse. Just him.
You swallowed, throat dry from not speaking.
You
You don’t have to keep coming
Dr. Joo Yeo-jung
But I want to.
He was sitting in the chair across from you. His voice was calm, but it never felt cold. Like even silence wasn’t something to be afraid of around him.
You finally glanced up. His eyes met yours, but he didn’t flinch. He never did — not when you screamed on your first night, not when he saw the cigarette burns on your arm, not even when you told him you didn’t want to be saved.
You said suddenly. It came out raw, defensive.
Dr. Joo Yeo-jung
I never thought you were.
He nodded once, not smiling.
No one had ever said that to you before. Not your mother. Not the police. Not the counselor who quit halfway through your case. No one had ever said that to you before. Not your mother. Not the police. Not the counselor who quit halfway through your case.
He reached into his coat and pulled out a small, folded paper crane and set it on the table.
Dr. Joo Yeo-jung
I made this in med school
Dr. Joo Yeo-jung
They said we had to learn to keep our hands steady.
Dr. Joo Yeo-jung
I made a thousand before I could hold a scalpel without shaking.
You stared at the little bird, its paper wings perfectly creased.
Dr. Joo Yeo-jung
It’s for you
Dr. Joo Yeo-jung
When you’re ready… maybe you can make one too.
Stay
HOSPITAL ROOM — LATE AFTERNOON
You’re sitting on the floor by the window, knees pulled to your chest.
Yeo-jung sits in the chair nearby, a paper crane resting in his hand.
Dr. Joo Yeo-jung
I brought tea.
Dr. Joo Yeo-jung
Chamomile again.
Dr. Joo Yeo-jung
Thought it might help.
You
You don’t have to keep showing up.
You keep staring at the wall
You exhale shakily. He doesn’t push. The room is quiet except for the sound of the rain outside.
You
I don’t even know why I’m still here.
You
I feel like I’m rotting in place.
Dr. Joo Yeo-jung
You’re not.
You
You don’t know what it’s like in my head.
Dr. Joo Yeo-jung
You’re right
Dr. Joo Yeo-jung
But I’m not going anywhere.
Something tightens in your throat.
You
Even when it’s quiet, it’s loud in my body.
Dr. Joo Yeo-jung
I believe you.
Your voice starts to crack.
He watches you, calm but not distant.
You
I didn’t do anything to deserve what happened.
You
But I still feel… dirty. Ruined.
Dr. Joo Yeo-jung
It’s human.
You start crying quietly, almost like you’re trying to hide it.
He sets the paper crane on the floor beside you.
Dr. Joo Yeo-jung
You don’t have to hold it together right now.
Dr. Joo Yeo-jung
Not with me.
You
You’re supposed to be my doctor.
Dr. Joo Yeo-jung
I’m not here as your doctor.
Dr. Joo Yeo-jung
Not right now.
Dr. Joo Yeo-jung
I’m here because I care.
You bury your face in your knees.
You don’t ask him to leave.
Dr. Joo Yeo-jung
You don’t have to be okay for me to stay.
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