“Ahh!” Jongin yelped as his grandpa pulled his ear when he got out of his car. He’s still not over the kneeing of his balls by Areum and here he is, suffering again. The elder pulled him to the house without stopping. “Grandpa, that really hurts~” he whined, holding his grandpa’s arm.

“What do you think are you doing? You suddenly resigned from JL Hospital. And you did not contact me when you came back. Do you know how surprised I was when your mother called me?”

Jongin held his ear, pouting. In front of his grandpa, he’s just a little kid.

“I just wanted to see the city on my own,” he reasoned out. The elder scoffed, hitting him on the leg with his cane and Jongin jumped away from him.

“For a month with no contact? Who are you kidding?”

“Grandpa, seriously, you should stop hitting me. I’ll get all kinds of bruises if you keep on doing that. Besides, I’m already an adult. I don’t need your supervision,” Jongin remarked and the elder raised his cane again. Like a reflex, Jongin stepped back.

“Adult, my . If you’re an adult, be responsible. You suddenly resigned without telling me. Where on earth will you work now?”

Jongin smiled rather sheepishly. “You can just give me a position in-”

“Dream on. I only hire people who are responsible and are cut for the job. I will arrange for your temporary position but you should show the people there that you’re not just accepted because of your connection with me. Don’t make me regret not putting you in a plane back to the U.S. right now,” the elder huffed and Jongin just nodded slowly.

Since he was a kid, there’s always this kind of charisma that comes from his grandpa that stops him from retaliating.

“What happened to your arm?”

“Huh?” Jongin blankly asked as he raised his arm. Knowing that a weak spot dedicated to him is bigger than the strong wall in his grandpa’s heart, he suddenly pouted like a kid.

“I was in an accident,” he replied, sounding like he’s going to cry any sooner. Sometimes, he does childish things that a 27 year old should not be doing.

“Accident? Are you okay?” the elder asked again and basing from his tone, he’s letting his guard down. One point for Jongin.

“Yes. My bike was damaged so I rented a car.”

The elder nodded slowly. Jongin was already smiling inside, knowing that his grandpa would let the issue go because of what happened to him. That’s what he thought until the elder opened his mouth.

“Since you said you’re already an adult, pay your rent on your own and I’m not going to give you any money.”

“What?” Jongin quickly asked.

“You heard me loud and clear. Work and earn your own money,” his grandpa replied. “And when are you going to get married? You’re already 27 and I’m already this old. When am I going to see my grandchildren running in this house?”

“Soon. I’ll get married soon,” Jongin huffed. He’s already tired hearing that from his grandfather. Being the only son from that household puts a lot of pressure on him. His future children will be the only hope of their lineage who’ll be carrying the Kim family’s name.

“How soon is your soon anyway? That’s the reason why I told you to go that date with Doctor Han’s daughter. I’ll arrange a blind date for you.”

“Grandpa, there’s no need for you to do that. Besides, I already found the woman who’s going to be my wife.”

“Really? Who is she? What does she do?” the elder asked curiously and Jongin could see his eyes twinkling because of what he said.

Jongin grinned.

“For now, it’s a secret.”

 Since you said you’ll give me a position there, I’ll be closer to her. 

Sighing, Areum took a seat on a bench outside the operating room. A four-hour surgery just ended. Standing for those long hours took a toll on her aching ankle. Everytime she closes her eyes, Jongin’s face pops out of nowhere. She still couldn’t forget how his face twisted into a pained one when her knee hit his balls.

Thinking of the possibility of meeting him again makes her shudder. She’ll be embarrassed and sorry at the same time.

“Doctor Lee, are you okay?” Doctor Jeon asked as he got out of the adjacent operating room. Areum lifted her head and let a small smile break on her face. “Yes, I’m just a little tired,” she replied. The younger doctor smiled back at her.

“I’ve noticed that you were limping. Did you twist your ankle?” he asked, pointing at her ankle.

“Yeah, kind of,” she muttered, pulling her foot, trying to hide it. Doctor Jeon crouched and without saying anything, he touched her ankle. Sojin has been telling her that the younger doctor has a crush on her but being the ‘I don’t date younger guys’ kind of woman, Areum just laughed at the idea.

“Did you put ice around it already?”

“Yes. That’s the first thing I did,” Areum replied right away. Doctor Jeon smiled while standing. “If you need my help, just tell me,” he stated and Areum’s brows bristled. What was that about?

“Yeah, sure,” she just replied, not really getting why he just said that.

“And…Doctor Lee.”

“Huh?”

“The thing that happened at the emergency room,” he started and Areum could totally see where the conversation’s going. She sighed internally. Jongin really dropped a bomb when he opened his mouth and she’s suffering the after effects. “Was the guy telling the truth? Did you ask her to marry you?” he continued.

Sometimes Areum just wanted to say ‘yes’ to such questions. She’s too tired of denying it.

“Me? Asking such guy to marry me? I would never do that,” she replied, laughing. Doctor Jeon’s face became brighter.

“That’s a relief,” he mumbled.

“What?”

The younger doctor looked flustered and Areum saw how his ears turned red. “Nothing. We were just shocked that he suddenly said those things,” he replied.

“Kids these days really are good at lying,” she commented casually.

“Yes, they are,” he replied. Areum could feel the atmosphere between the two of them getting awkward. “I need to go. I have to check on some patients,” he continued, breaking the icy moment,

Areum nodded right away. “Okay.”

And as she look at his back while he’s walking away, she couldn’t help but think of what Sojin said. If Doctor Jeon does have feelings for her, it could turn bad. Areum likes the guy as a junior and a colleague but she does not see him as a possible romantic partner. And if he happens to think of confessing to her, Areum’s worried that she would hurt him.

Why are younger guys only hitting on her and not guys of her age or older than her?

As she was about to stand, her phone started ringing. Kim Jongin. She rolled her eyes and cancelled the call. She took merely 3 steps and her phone started ringing again. A grunt of frustration escaped her lips. Cancelling the call for like 4 times, she walked through the lobby.

The 5th time her phone rang, she fished it from her pocket and pressed it on her ear. “Why? What do you want?” she asked angrily.

“Noona.”

“T-Taeyong?” she muttered before looking at the caller ID. “Sorry for that. I thought that kid’s calling me again.”

“Noona, are you coming home?”

“Yes, I’m actually doing my last round and I’ll be heading home. Why? Do you want me to buy anything?” she asked, reaching for the patients’ chart from the nurse on the reception area.

“No. I was actually wondering if you could pick me up here at school.”

Areum raised a brow. “You’re still at school? At this hour? It’s already 9.”

“We had to finish a class report so we stayed behind. I’m going to wait for you.”

“Okay.”

As she pocketed her phone, nurses suddenly came running and she quickly looked at the entrance of the emergency room. The blaring sound of the ambulance could be heard. It’s already been a normal scene that she sees almost everyday but the amount of blood from the patients being wheeled in was enough to make her shudder.

She saw Doctor Jeon rushing to one of the patient's side. “What should we do? Doctor Hong already went home,” she heard a nurse asked her colleague.

Areum put back the chart on the counter and pulled her sleeves up. “Clean his wounds quickly,” she instructed to a nurse when she made her way to the other patient who was already being assisted with a BVM. She examined the look in his eyes. She pulled her stethoscope and tried to hear his heartbeat. It was faint that she could barely hear it.

The man’s skin was already turning blue and his breathing was getting shorter and shorter.

“What happened to them?” Areum asked to a member of the paramedics. “The building that they were making collapsed. Four are still trapped there. Two already died on the way here,” the wo