As per scheduled, Dr. Dong Youngbae was making his rounds routinely down the hall when his sharp eyes alertly caught the bruises and cuts Minji tried so hard to mask with her thick disguise. Along with his reputation for being the kindest and most caring doctor in the hospital, he was also enthusiastic when it came to offering help. “Miss, those wounds need some medical attention. Otherwise, it's easy for them to leave behind scars.”

Startled by his sudden approach, Minji jumped back a step and stared at the ground. Aside from his brother, she wanted her scarf and sunglasses to mask her injuries from everyone else too. “That's not necessary...” She tried to rush off, but instead bumped into the broad shoulders of the doctor, causing his stethoscope to drop down on the ground. “Sorry!”

While Youngbae and Minji both bent down to pick up the instrument, Youngbae's name badge came in the apparent view of Minji's small eyes and immediately, she looked up at him in surprise. “You're Dr. Dong, my oppa's attending doctor!” She pointed to his name as though Youngbae didn't already know himself. “My oppa's Choi Seunghyun, just down the hall to the left. Do you know how he's doing? Will he be able to go home soon?”

Straightening his cloak and adjusting the stethoscope back around his neck, Youngbae gave a quick nod and smiled. “His chart's been left in my office.” He lifted his wrist and took a glance at the time on his watch, “I'm a bit ahead of schedule. Would you like to come with me? I can quickly go over your brother's condition with you.”

Without a reason to deny his offer, Minji nodded and followed him down the hall into a small office with a view that overlooked the green gardens outside. “Wow, you have a beautiful view here!” At once when she sat down, she found Youngbae readying some medical supplies to treat her wounds. “What is this, a trick?”

“I wouldn't call it a trick but a fair trade.” Youngbae noted and handed her a paper folder while sterilizing some equipment. “You want to find out how your brother is doing, and I want to help you treat your wounds. That sounds pretty fair, doesn't it? So what's your name?”

“Minji,” Since it was out of good intention, she gave him a weak smile and consented him to help her. “So what do these medical terms and numbers mean? Is my oppa going to be okay?”

Youngbae took a tweezer and dabbed some cotton into an anti-bacterial solution. While Minji removed her scarf to allow him to treat her, he began to explain. “Your brother is very lucky not to have sustained any internal injuries. A few major bruises to his leg and arms, but no cracked or broken bones. The most concerning issue would be his head injury though.”

Minji furrowed her brows upon the cotton's contact with her wounds, which stung her momentarily. “His head injury, that's why he fell in a coma for a while.”

“That's right,” Youngbae nodded while concentrating on his work, “Luckily, he came out of it pretty quickly. However, it seems like he's getting major headaches as a result of the injury. We'll have to keep him at the hospital and run more tests to confirm whether those headaches are chronic or just temporary side effects.”

Silence fell through for the next few minutes, and Youngbae began to worry that the ointment and solution he was applying was hurting Minji. “Does it still sting a lot? If it does, you might have an infection...”

Tears started dripping down from Minji's eyes, but she quickly wiped them aside and denied. “No, it's not that. Oppa's the only one left in the world who protects me and cares for me. I just don't want anything bad to happen to him, that's all.”

“You still look very young, what about your parents?” Youngbae asked without realizing that he had hit a tender spot in her heart. When he noticed her eyes growing redder and more tears were streaming down her cheeks, he began to understand what was going on. “Family abuse is more common than you think.” He reached to hand her some tissues. “I personally know a few counselors, maybe they can help you.”

“No thanks, that's not necessary.” Minji rejected almost immediately. It wasn't the first time she was offered help, and she didn't want to be rude. Yet there were things that outsiders just wouldn't understand. “You probably think I must be crazy for turning down your help.”

Finished with patching Minji's wounds, Youngbae gave a light shrug and began to clean up around his office. “Everyone has their own story.”

Minji heaved a sigh and revealed, “Even though oppa hates him and he's very scary when he's drunk, he's still my dad and part of the family. He was once loving too, but after mom's death, he couldn't find it in him to enjoy life anymore. Please don't tell anyone or report him to the police.”

After putting the equipment away, Youngbae went back to his seat and looked seriously at Minji, “As a code of conduct for physicians, I must respect your decision. But if you or your brother ever need help, this is my contact information.” He slid a business card across the surface of his desk, “My pager is always on in case of an emergency.”

Taking the business card from him, Minji nodded and thanked, “You truly are a great doctor, just like Nurse Dara said.”

Youngbae raised his left eyebrow in curiosity and blushed, “She really said that?” He could suddenly feel his heart rate accelerating. He and Dara had started working together at the hospital since their training days, and even though it was a compliment he's heard many times, it felt even better to hear that it came from Dara.

Beep beep...

“That's my pager, I better go check to see what the emergency is.” Youngbae reached into his pocket and took out the small gadget to read its comments. “Do you know how to go back to your brother's room?”

“I'll be just fine.” Minji replied in a slightly more cheerful tone than before, “Thanks for your help, Dr. Dong.”

“No, thank you!” Youngbae flashed a charming smile before exiting his office, leaving the young girl alone.

With another sigh, Minji stood up from her seat and walked towards the window of the room. Looking outside into the green gardens below, she clasped her hands together and closed her eyes. “I pray to the Angels in the Heavens above, please watch over my family. Oppa has had a hard life, he deserves better luck. Please help us find a way to get through our financial difficulties.”

++++++

Hesitant and unsure on how to inform her patient of his new found riches, Dara stood by the doorway to contemplate for a full dozen minutes. Every time she lifted her fist and attempted to knock, she would stop herself midway and reconsider her actions.

“It's rude to spy, especially since you work here.” The sudden sound of Seunghyun's voice startled Dara, making her stumble forward to push open the patient room door. He cast an indifferent look at her before staring back in the direction of the window like he had been doing for the past little while.

Nervously, Dara cleared in an uncomfortable manner and forced a shy laugh. “Choi Seunghyun, a relative of yours have left you some money on their will. I looked at the amount of the cheque, it's the perfect amount for paying off your medical fees.” She waited patiently for him to reply, but he barely gave her a response. “Choi Seunghyun?”

“I have no relatives,” He finally said, dully. “Now will you just leave me alone?”

At the start when he first awoke from his coma, Dara assumed he had been too ill to reply to her politely. But after a few days of seeing no changes in his attitude, she couldn't help but think of him as rude. “Don't think we really want you here in the first place.”

“Then release me from the hospital and let me go!” He raised his voice a little.

He certainly proved Dara wrong for thinking he had no emotion, but anger was the last thing she truly wanted from him now. “If you had been more careful with your driving, you wouldn't have had to be here in the first place!”

Seunghyun turned to face her with the most threateningly set of eyes possible. If looks could kill, she would have dropped dead right there and then. While her heart began to race as she scrambled to find the right words, she took a few steps back from him to buy herself some time. “Since you don't want the money, then I'll just find that girl and give it back to her.”

“What girl?” There was a sudden hint of interest in his tone. And if Dara didn't know better, he almost sounded somewhat hopeful.

Thinking he must be one of those men to pursue any pretty girl that came in view, Dara naturally rolled her eyes. “She has long silky hair, big brown eyes, and she was wearing a green dress.” Dara recalled, trying to match all the description she had of the girl from the brief encounter they had.

As though her words had hit a trigger within his brain, Seunghyun's eyes abruptly widened in shock. “Green dress? The girl by the window...”

Confused, Dara wasn't sure what to make out of his mumbling, “I'm sorry?”

“Where is she?” He questioned anxiously like he was about to expose some darkened secrets kept over the centuries.

“I don't know...” Dara found it quite intriguing that this girl in the green dress could somehow spark so much life and worry into a stone-cold emotionless man like Seunghyun. “Before I could ask for her name, she had already...” Dara stopped in mid-sentence when she noticed him trying to make a run for the hallway. “Hey! What do you think you're doing? You're not allowed to leave the room!” She darted to the exit and slammed the door shut, planting herself in between the exit and the bigger man.

It almost seemed hilarious to Seunghyun that such a tiny frame would think she stood a chance, standing in his way. Putting on a serious expression, he put a hand against the door behind her and leaned as close to her face as possible without touching her.

Though feeling extremely intimidated by his behavior, Dara knew she had to keep up her front. If there was anything she learned during her training days, it was not to let a patient take control over her actions.

Rather than to flinch out of the way like Seunghyun had anticipated her to do, he was astonished to find Dara staring straight back at him into his eyes. Even if she didn't say a word, he could tell how serious she was about not letting him leave the room. Heaving a dreadful sigh, he slowly backed away from her and returned back to the patient bed.

Finally, Dara could do the same and heave a sigh, but of relief. She was about to turn around and leave the room when he spoke up again.

“That day when I woke up, did the girl in the green dress come in as well?” He had once again made himself snugged up against his plump pillow, leaning against the headboard. “She was standing by the window...” He pointed before he began to cough. All that hard work of trying to intimidate Dara must have taken a toll on his health.

Turning around, Dara looked at him momentarily before giving a reply. “Aside from Dr. Dong and myself, no one else visited you that day. Not even your sister.” She walked up to his end table and decided to pour him a cup of water. As she reached for the jug, however, two familiar looking metal bands were once again carelessly left out. “You really should put the rings away before they get lost.”

“Didn't I tell you already? Those aren't mine,” He regained his composure after his coughs and turned to her in a frustrated manner.

After she handed him the glass of water, she picked up the rings in her hand and examined them closely. “There are some initials engraved on the insides of the rings. 'CSH & PB'. Does that mean anything to you?”

“Well, yeah.” Seunghyun set down the cup after taking a few sips, “My initials are 'CSH' obviously, but 'PB'...”

“Maybe it's better to keep the rings here until you remember,” Dara gave him a weak smile and placed the bands back where she had found them. “So let me confirm one last time. The cheque...”

“If you don't mind, please help me take care of the medical fees.” Seunghyun pulled his blanket up and slid down to lie comfortably in the bed, “Thanks.”

Taken aback, Dara could hardly believe her own ears. “Please and thank you?” She whispered with a smile. Of all the patients she had witnessed over her years as a trainee and now an official registered nurse, Seunghyun had to be one of the most interesting people she has encountered thus far. “I'll go take care of the medical fees for you then.”

The moment Dara approached the administrative section of the hospital ward, she found an excited Minji chatting with one of the other nurses working on the floor. Curiously, Dara made her way up to them and greeted. “What's the party all about?” She joked and found a receipt in Minji's hand that amounted to the same one as the cheque Dara held in her own hand.

“Nurse Dara!” Minji said excitedly, “The Angels must have heard my prayers! The essay I wrote for the school contest. I won first prize! It's just enough to pay for Oppa's medical bill!” As happy as she was, she even grabbed onto Dara's hand and began jumping up and down.

The enthusiasm in Minji caused Dara to accidentally drop the cheque in her hand. Coincidentally, it fell into the bucket of dirty water the cleaner had left behind while mopping a section of the waiting area, completely soaking and ruining the asset...
 

++++++

Standing on the rooftop of the main hospital wing, Bom lifelessly watched the branches of nearby trees swaying in the wind. Her hair also blew in the direction of the gust, but she made no attempt to fix the strands. She was too occupied in her thoughts of Seunghyun and the risks she was faced with as his guardian angel.

Despite not physically being in the administrative area, she learned of all the events that occurred. Minji's essay winning first prize had to be the works of another angel, not that Bom doubted the young girl's writing talents. It just seemed too coincidental, too fateful.

While another gust of wind blew over, it appeared to carry Daesung's voice along with it.

“We're angels, we guard our chosen ones and we do not fall in love. That's what we do. One day, you'll still have to leave him. Isn't it better to do it sooner than later?”

Bom found her heart tightening at the thought of losing Seunghyun. It was already the third time she fell in love with him and the third time she has been sent back to complete her mission without failure. Yet with the added condition now, how could she bring herself to make the love of her life fall in love with another woman?

Already, she had encountered her love rival, Dara Park, the sweet and innocent nurse adorned by all. And most of all, unlike herself, Dara was still very much alive, living in the same realm and world as Seunghyun.

“What am I supposed to do?” She found herself whispering while a tear rolled down her cheek.