Seoul university hospital ~ 10 a.m ~ 5 hours since the last incident 

when exactly one hour passed , my alarm went off again 

and by now my physiological clock was accommodated to the one hour mission , i couldn't snooze off for a few minutes even if i wished for 
i rose up from the floor and went to the patient , recording his vital signs ..

tiffany unnie came earlier , she knew about yesterday's events and ordered another investigations , she promised she will be dragging Dr.jung here soon to get my freedom 

~ who would take responsibilty if something happened to him in that lost hour ? ~ 

the jerk said , yet i knew he was right and it was all my fault to take the mission lightly 

i gazed at the ajussi patient again , my heart crushed for the thought of him being betrayed by the people he trusted - us - ! 
his family and his loved ones , no question he meant the world for them , he's way more important than what our lives revolves about , more important than what i lived for until now

i went and bowed for him deeply " i'm sorry ajussi "

last night i lost my dreams , lost my strength , lost my composure and the worst i almost turned out the kind of doctors i dissed the most and HE caught it right away , he saw right through me ; the ugly spark of my weakness .. 

thinking about it again ; apparently it was his plan from the beginning , how helpeless i am in the moment wasn't that what he always wished for ?

a helpless fish in the tank that he knew exactly i wasn't going anywhere outside 

i rose up again as i thought more , was it a coincidence that i lost my position in his department ? or was he the one who tried to get rid of me so i wouldn't get to expose his heartless crimes 

certainly something happened , there's no possible way an elective surgery would go this wrong , unless Dr.jung recklessly handled it for his selfish research purposes 

i have to think , what should i do .. 

even if i attempt to watch the surgery's filmed record , i was lacking in both knowledge & experience to pick up his suspicious move ..
i needed someone with experience in cardio thoracic surgery , anyone .. 

the door was opened and jimin nurse poked her head into the room " Dr. Seo , we're having ramen are you joining us ? " 

ramen ! my mouth watered at the simple word reminding me of the stomach rumbles i ignored up till now , however i shouldn't leave the patient again until Dr.jung's permission , i have to take responsibility for last night mistake until the end , until he set me free 
" i'll come later , thanks jimin " 

i looked into her hand and she had a new pink phone case with a fluffy white fur ball 

she noticed my attention diverted for the fur ball and giggled " hehehe isn't it cute , Dr " 

i nodded absentmindedly " yeah ..so cute and .. feminine " 

she chuckled " of course it would be feminine , i'm a woman after all Dr.seo " 

" yes , you are " i responded lifelessly and she was going to close the door again when i shouted " wait ! " 

i ran toward her when i realized ; jimin was the nurse in songki's operation and assessed in many others , she shall be able to tell if something was out of order about Dr.jung 's performance on that day 

i pulled her hand swiftly into the room and closed the door 

her eyes were getting a little terrified when my nostrils flared in determination , my seriousness trapping her 
 " jimin , i want to ask you something " 

 without a thought , she nodded " y-- yes ! "

i lowered my voice as i asked " you've been in the cardiothoracic surgey for two years now , and lately you've been assessing Dr.jung in his operations , songki's operation included "

she nodded again 

i took a deep breath and continued " working with Dr.jung , did you notice something lately .. " 

she frowned questioning " something ? " 
 
" something memorable , something that would bring attention to him "
 i bit my lip uncertain if i'm digging my own hole , what if she was his accomplice !

" yes DR.SEO !  you're definitly right , i thought so too " jimin answered earnestly 

i held her both arms tightly encouraging , i'll be the one to hear her out if no one decides to help 

jimin continued " not only me who noticed this , but actually almost everyone who works here did , yet no one is brave enough to talk " 

for a moment i was overwhelmed with fear and relief , both were overpowering me but i wasn't going to give up without a fight , maybe if i get some physical evidence i could bring him down 

" say it jimin , i promise you i'll keep your name hidden " 

she smiled " it's that he's getting hotter and hotter these days , it's unfair right ! " 

" what ??? " 

" Dr.jung , he's so ho.. "

" ..... "

" ah Dr.jung , good morning " 

when i got my blank shocked mind on track , it was already Dr.jung time to manipulate my mind's peace , he arrived the unit with tiffany unnie to check on the patient 

"oh poor juhyun~ah , did you spend the night here " tiffany unnie said , approaching me with teasing gaze 

i used all the voice i had within my soul to whisper to unnie " save me " 

" hehe , should i ? " she chuckled and went back to yonghwa's side 

Dr.jung quietly examined his patient , he would do it meticulously and detect each sign all over again whenever he came by as if he didn't trust anyone else on handling his patient 

" he developed two cardiac arrests in the past 2 days , his kidneys are shutting down , he'll not be able to go past another arrest " tiffany displayed the bitter events fluently representing how she was concerned about the case 

" the surgery went well , nothing wrong with his heart " he answered

" Dr.jung , i'm sure you did your best , however i think we should be prepared for the worst , we're losing the patient and i'll have to inform his guardians " 

" inform the guardians and let them see him " Dr.jung's voice deepened 

" Dr.jung  ... i'm sorry " 

" i only allowed you to inform the guardians , never said anything about considering him already dead " he stressed the words to unnie arrogantly  

unnie crossed her arms and suggested " what about professor han ? " 

" he's attending a conference in the US " he replied his attention on the patient 

" it would be perfect if you could contact professor han for further evaluation Dr.jung "  

" if you want to act like a restless wife , you go call him " 

if they weren't at her workplace - precisely at the ICU , unnie would have had beaten him up to death , i knew she's qualified for such a task but she apparently controlled herself 

" by tomorrow morning , i want his CT brain , all kind of bacterial cultures and .. " he was ordering 

" by the way , can you set seohyun free already , i asked jimin to notice your patient from here " tiffany requested 

jimin shouted " what me ?!!! " 

tiffany winked at jimin to silence her " i'm sure she'll never mind watching over your patient Dr.jung , she'll give you a call if anything happens " 

" ah yeah , since i'm already here " jimin happily ate the bait 

yonghwa definitely heard them both , since he had a momentary eye contact with unnie before he pours his whole attention on the patient again 
   
a moment of freaking silence he spent by reaching for the torch from his pocket and examined the patient's pupil reflexes before he nods slightly " okay " 

my eyes widened in silent celebration , i've never imagined that he would let go of me after how immaturely i acted last night ! 
did he forget about it or simply doesn't care ?

he murmured " she's useless anyway " 

useless ; it surely sounded as a compliment if i'm getting my freedom 

afraid he might change his mind if i stayed any longer , i quickly bowed " then i'll go , Dr.jung " , and quickly spotted the exit

" wait " 

i heard the poisoned word and froze , i could see the freedom door right before my eyes yet it seems so far away now 

" yes , Dr. jung " clenching teeth ,i flipped my stoned body to face him again 

he packed the torch into his pocket and looked into my eyes " my iced americano , the hospital's café isn't my favorite so make sure you find the closest Starbucks from here " 

" eh !? " 

" i like chewing ice ; an ice americano with melted ice is the worst " he seriously remarked the fact with a pointing finger right into my face 

tiffany sank her both hands in her coat's pockets , giving yonghwa her sincerest hostile tone  " apparently , this hospital is oozing with 'sick' people " 

" yeah since it's a hospital " yonghwa replied , his challenging eyes never leaving mine 

" okay , Dr.jung " i accepted his request 

his lips almost smirked when he gazed at his hand watch and reminded " it's 15 minutes until my operation , i hope you get here on time " 

-------

i walked out the ICU with annoyed stomping steps echoing across the whole hospital 

what does he think he is ! he's good for nothing , his patient is dying and he still has time to order me around 

americano .. i hope he chokes drinking that or worse gets arrhythmia and no one would be there to help , no DF , no CPR , nothing !! 
idiot , short armed octopus , devil , gangster , cocky duck 

" ommaa ! that person over there , she's a scary ajumma " 

" shhhh , you can't talk about other people passing by , where's your manners kid ! " the mom lectured the small cute kid which clearly pointed a finger toward me 

i smoothed a strand of my hair into it's right place , then turned over to smile at him 

" hey cutie " i waved at him with a smile , he frowned at me and turned his head away 

my life was so pitiful that even kids weren't accepting me anymore 

i almost bumped into someone who suddenly came out of the storage room to block my way ! 

 i recognized him , he was Dr.Lee jonghyun -the plastic surgeon 

he looked rushed , adjusting his hair and coat , and i hated to imagine what was he doing there that lead to mess him up 

" oh Dr. Seo "

i bowed for him and smiled  " ah Dr.Lee , annyonghesyo " 

he flashed a smile with dashing dimples at me " luckily we met , were you heading somewhere just now ? " 

it was known that interns existed to answer the seniors' needs around the hopsital , starting with morning coffee , lunch , laundry until watching over their patient on the cold floor throughout the night but i was unfortunately already occupied in the moment 

" i was asked to bring that idio... Dr.jung's iced americano " 

Dr. jonghyun laughed out loud and warned teasing " be cautious , he likes chewing his ice "  

i rolled my eyes " i already heard about it ! " 

he laughed again , passing a hand through his silky messy hair " it's a matter of time before he starts torturing his own department residents , and then he'll leave you alone " 

he continued " i heard that you didn't get accepted in the surgery department , i always thought you had the potential but what should we do about the system " 

my smile faded instantly , he was right even if i was qualified i no more have a chance to be one of them " yeah "

" what are you going to do , Dr.Seo ? " 

" i don't know " 

there was nothing to do about it anyway , i talked big to the department manager yet he and i knew by heart nothing could be done about it 

Dr.jonghyun patted my back warmly " don't lose hope "  

there wasn't a lot of sensible surgeons around the hospital but Dr. Lee was gentle and caring toward interns , well  'female ' interns to be exact but i liked him 

pulling my lips into a faint smile i assured him " i'm not giving up  yet Dr. Lee , i'll do whatever to get my residency back " 

" only if you could get a recommendation letter just like NANA " he said in pity 

recommendation letter !! i never thought about this 

" ah right !! if i could get one ... " i exclaimed for a moment at the faint glimpse of hope then realized how i don't have any professors as family members , i'm different from NANA .. i worked really hard to get what i craved and i knew i wasn't going to get anything in this life without a price - as if spending my youth wasn't enough price

i was getting depressed all over when Dr.jonghyun suggested casually " i know someone who could get you a recommendation letter " 

i looked up at him in a shock 
" re... really ? " 

" however , the one who could get you the letter wants something in return " Dr.Lee smiled flashing his dimples again

his radiating excitement nudged me with uncomfortable vibes , it hit me with wave of suspicion that i couldn't shake off 

 it couldn't be ... it can't be what i'm thinking ! 

i stiffened at the thought , my hand reached to secure my shirt firmly closed , going this low is ...

" a contracted marriage "

i let out a big heavy sigh in relief and the smile found my lips again  " thanks god i just thought it's something else , if it's a contracted marriage then i can do..... WHAT !!! " 

" calm down Dr.seo , it's just a business deal you know , he's a man with good connections which could help you get whatever you wish for in this hospital " 

i stared at him in disbelief ! how could he talk about a fake marriage that casually as if it was a scene of some drama ! it's true that my purpose has always been to be a surgeon but marriage and love were something i had always believed in  

" no , i can't " i cut him firmly 

it was crazy how people still believe in marriage as some kind of deal , truly that was disgusting 

" then never mind , i guess i'll have to find someone else , thanks for your time " Dr. Lee nodded in understanding and walked past me

 my gaze followed him , he had the only solution for my case yet i let him go 

i quickly stormed the facts , if i just give my name on a temporary marriage contract i'll get my recommendation letter ? 

and it could turn out better than what i expected , watching a lot of dramas ; arranged marriages NEVER goes wrong .. 

 to add up , the husband usually turns out to be a warm hearted gentleman that women were blind enough to ignore his existence for the past decades ! 

" Dr. Lee " i hurried and stopped him  

" yes ? " 

i gazed down and tucked my hair behind my ear ashamed " i guess i'll give it a try " 

" good . the meeting will be  tonight at 10:00 p.m room 133 , ok ? " 

" whose gonna be the husband ? " i asked 

" i can't tell unless you are serious about it , if you come you'll eventually know Dr.Seo " jonghyun's lips twisted in a creepy smirk and then he left 

i had the feeling that i'm going to do the craziest thing ever just to be a cardio surgeon ! 
but if i still have the chance to be a cardio surgeon then it's worth it  

definitely it was worth it .. it was all worth it   
--------------------------

room 133 - 10:15 p.m 

yonghwa gazed at his gold rolex watch , then folded his arms back on his chest in obvious annoyance 

" she's late " he hissed the words , and watched the quiet street from the window of some vacant room in seoul university hospital 

" i'm sure she'll be here soon " jonghyun answered calmly and continued " she really needs that opportunity more than you could imagine , she's willing to do anything to get the recommendation letter "  

yonghwa chuckled in bitterness " aren't all women the same ! willing to do anything to get what they want " 

" well , that's their charm " jonghyun teased , " you didn't ask who is she ? " 

" any woman will do " yonghwa replied unconcerned  

they heard a knock on the door that got their full attention , yonghwa unfolded his arms in anticipation to meet his future fake wife .. 

the door was opened and seohyun went in bowing deeply panting and apologizing at the same time " anneyongseyo , sorry for being late , i had an emergency and .... " 

she rose her glance and noticed yonghwa ! she widened her eyes in a shock and gasped , yonghwa was even more shocked then her 

" HER ? " 

" HIM ? " 

they exclaimed in sync pointing at each other and looking at jonghyun for confirmation 

jonghyun nodded with a smirk totally enjoying the scene 

as she processed the situation seohyun shook her head  " no ! i'll never marry him , not in a million years !! i don't care about the letter anymore , i'll never do this " 

seohyun rushed out of the room , shutting the door roughly behind her .. 

yonghwa gritted his teeth absorbing the shock of such a humiliation , he never experienced such a humiliation in his life and to add to his sorrow it was by HER out of all people 

he glared at jonghyun as he voiced calmly " what kind of joke was that ? " 

" you said you didn't want attachments , or a headache of a woman demanding you to fall for her , that's why Dr.Seo was the most suitable candidate for that deal " 

" yes i said so but not HER , she gives me a really horrible headache too " yonghwa replied in pain massaging his temples , he glared at jonghyun next and asked " why are you trying to help her ? " 

jonghyun talked seriously " i awfully know you hyung - whatever you say - i know that you were the one who stood in her way and canceled her residency despite her ranking , you aborted her dream just because you don't like her, that's really cruel man  " 

yonghwa scratched his chin roughly and sighed , he walked toward jonghyun who was sitting on the vacant bed and lowered his head to get closer to jonghyun eye level cornering him mentally 

" i awfully know you too , you never cared about rankings nor the acceptance system here ! so jonghyun~ah , abandon the fake moral speech and tell me why are you exactly helping that wi