Chapter Text
Cha Young Min leaned against the emergency room entrance. A gentle smile dawned on him as the resident performed a simple procedure. His eagle eye focused only on the young man; the rest of the world seemed to stand still. Young Min would be lying if he said that he wasn’t proud.
“Go Seung Tak!” shouted the doctor as he wiped his smile away.
“Dr. Cha, I can’t right now. I’m too busy with a patient to do your errands.” The resident spoke to the doctor through his thoughts.
Moving closer, Young Min observed the young man unscrewing the cap, pressing down on the bottle to release the white cream onto his gloved finger, and then using his slender and silky fingers to apply the antibiotic cream to the patient's stomach. The precise pressure and speed with which his hands stroked the patient's stomach left Young Min wondering what unspeakable deeds the man completed out of the hospital.
“You’re weirdly good at that.” Young Min raised his brow while the corner of his lip rose in disgust.
Go Seung Tak turned to the first aid kit on the side table and plucked a large band-aid from the batch. His lean index finger slicked the cover off, and his body swayed back to the patient. Seung Tak’s maple-doe eyes concentrated on how his fingers glided the band-aid across the wound. Quick and efficient, but careful not to make any mistakes. Once the band-aid was applied to the patient’s stomach, Seung Tak rose from his chair and stood near the entrance where Young Min had once been observing the man.
“Yah, Go Seung Tak! You were oddly good.” Young Min followed the man and crossed his arms beside him.
“I’ve been practicing, remember?” Seung Tak glanced at the doctor and frowned. “You’re my mentor; how can you even forget? Are you feeling all right? Did your happy hormones drop?” Seung Tak cupped Young Min’s face and moved it in a left and right motion.
Young Min slapped the hands away and stared into Seung Tak’s worried brown eyes. “I’m fine, you punk.”
“Oh, what a bummer,” said Seung Tak as his hands wiggled into his doctor's coat pocket.
The older man glared at Seung Tak and rolled his eyes. “Keep your work life and private life separated from now on. I only need to know that you’re good with your fingers while doing surgery, not anywhere else.”
Seung Tak stared blankly at the older doctor, confusion written all over his face. “What do you mean?”
“Let’s go eat lunch.” Young Min walked out of the room and turned to see as realization hit Seung Tak. “Your treat!” He smiled as horror shone upon the other’s face.
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Young Min opened his tired eyes to find Se Jin, eyes wide with worry and confusion. His skilled hand rubbed his eyes as he turned to his side. “What’s wrong? Why are you staring at me like that? You should be asleep.”
“I was sleeping, but you started mumbling and smiling.” Se Jin whispered into the gloomy room, an orange light peeking through the curtains. “Did you have a sweet dream?”
Young Min dreamt about one of his many encounters with Seung Tak. He knew that the dream hadn’t finished, and for some reason, he was aching for the dream to continue. Young Min wasn’t sure why, yet the doctor lay there, attempting to close his eyes to fall back into a deep slumber. “Young Min-ssi?” Se Jin’s hand climbed up to his shoulder and squeezed.
A light groan echoed out of his mouth. His already failing plan was not going to work now. So, reluctantly, he pulled himself into a sitting position and twirled around to face his clock. ‘4:30 AM.’ it read. Disappointment cruised through his body, making the forming frown deepen. After all his years of working at a hospital, he knew he should be grateful that he got to sleep so long at his house; however, he couldn’t feel like that when he hit the hay at 11:45 PM.
“Yes, I did have a dream.” Young Min stood up from the bed and dragged himself to his closet.
Se Jin’s eyes followed the doctor as he fished for an outfit to wear. “What kind of dream?” Her voice was filled with curiosity.
The doctor pulled out a white button-down shirt and inspected it. “My dream…” Young Min trailed off in deep thought. His eyes darted around his small closet, feeling uneasy. Young Min knew what his dream was about, but Seung Tak’s name couldn’t roll out of his mouth. Although he knew that Se Jin would not mind if he spoke the truth, however, to Young Min, it felt weird. “I can’t remember it.” He chuckled as he picked out a blue sweater and moved it to his other hand.
“You don’t remember?” Se Jin frowned while narrowing her gentle eyes. “Are you sure?”
“Of course, sorry to disappoint Jin-ah,” replied Young Min while levering down tan-colored trousers. “I’m heading to the bathroom, and then I’ll prepare breakfast. You should get more sleep.” Se Jin nodded and watched as the doctor left the room.
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Young Min stared at his doctor’s coat. The coat for Young Min now represented more than just how he was the most skilled surgeon but rather how far he had gone. What he used to be and what he is now. It was a symbol of how he proved everyone wrong and was then stripped of his purpose, allowing him to learn that he too was wrong. And to Young Min, the most astonishing aspect was that it all happened during his time in a coma. One of his most terrifying life experiences led him to grow into a finer man. Which somehow came with new relationships and feelings.
His office door rattled and squeaked open, pushing him back to the real world. Young Min spun around to see resident Lee Sun Ho clinging onto a clipboard. “Dr. Cha, are you ready for your rounds?”
Young Min gripped his coat and slipped it on. “Don’t I have surgery today?” the doctor asked as he pulled his coat down and adjusted it to be more comfortable with his blue sweater and white shirt collar.
“Yes, sir, at 3 PM with Go Seung Tak as your first assistant. The patient is Huh Jia, age 34, and you are doing the Linx surgery for the gastroesophageal reflux disease, which should take one to two hours to complete.” Sun Ho spoke in a monotone voice as he flipped through the papers on the clipboard.
“No need to tell me what I already know.” Young Min interrupted the resident, “Tell the others; I’ll assign them a few patients.” The doctor passed by the man and left the room.
“Yes, Dr. Cha.” Sun Ho took out his phone and hurried after the older man.
o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Cha Young Min studied the young child’s charts and vitals with a stern face. This 9-year-old had quite a serious diagnosis that might continue to worsen with time. Young Min glanced at the young child as they clutched their father’s hand, tears swimming in the father’s eyes.
“Run an MRI; I’ll take this patient.” The doctor looked at his residents and fellow doctors with a long face. “Can I talk to you outside, Mr. Ryeon?”
“Oh, um, yes!” The father’s eyes jumped from Young Min and his child. “I’ll be back, Yeji.” The father grinned reassuringly as he retrieved his hand. He stood and followed Young Min as he began to head out.
“W-Wait!” called out resident Taehyun. “Wouldn’t an ECG be better than an MRI? After all,” The resident stopped himself.
Young Min halted in his steps and craned his neck to face the resident. His glare stabbed daggers into the others’ skin. Making the silence that followed feel internal. “Why not an MRI, huh?”
“ECG would catch any—” Taehyun gulped and lowered his head.
“Did you even read the report?” Young Min quired, crossing his arms. “This patient has a congenital heart disease that was not caught at birth; do you know the dangers? Because of that, her disease is considered high-risk. An MRI would give us a better understanding of her heart. Any ECG tests were likely taken after she was diagnosed.”
“You are right, but it can also be safe even without treatment, no matter the age. It might have even gone away with time. Which is why we should run an ECG test.”
Young Min sighed heavily and stared at the resident. Young Min had made it a goal that once he awoke from his coma, he would be nicer to the patients and those who worked at the hospital. Although the doctor knew that he was probably going against his word, even so, he didn’t desire to stop. The truth was that the young and stubborn resident was testing his patience.
“I know, which is why I’m telling you.” Young Min gritted his teeth as steam fumed out of his body. “Ryeon Yeji is diagnosed with a serious case of congenital heart disease. And that is a fact, not a question. I wanted you to ask for an MRI test, but resident Won will take over now.”
“Eh? Oh, okay. I will ask for one right away.” Jae Won replied while nodding rapidly to be quick on his feet.
“They said he was nicer now…” Murmured the resident under his breath.
Young Min glared one more time at the man before turning to look at Jae Won. “Tell Mr. Ryeon his options with surgery; I’m taking my lunch break now.” He stated, snarly.
With all eyes on him, Young Min brushed a hand through his styled hair while inhaling a deep breath; his feet propelled him forward, with every movement going unnoticed by the doctor as if he were drugged by the stress. The doctor continued to wince as his headache expanded to itch his whole body. His eyes shut down, looking for comfort in the quiet unknown. Even his feet burned with all the stomps he took. The annoyance that he felt—and his pent-up confusion—scattered over his body like a spider, methodically advancing in slow motion, waiting for the perfect moment to swallow him whole and continuing to allow the doctor to burn in the acid until he melted into more of the chartreuse liquid swimming in the bubbling chasm.
The doctor felt himself fall into the hollow chasm with a gnawing pain in his forehead. “Arghh!” Young Min moaned as his eyelids detached and a blinding light filled his view.
“Dr. Cha, are you alright?” That voice—the voice that filled his ears while he slept—belonged to the one and only Seung Tak.
Holy shit, why is his heart skipping?
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Words: 1817
Song track: FRI(END)’S
4.1.2024