Yuan’ first week in the office had been rather hellish. She had been walking on eggshells ever since she found out that that Dr. Park was none other than the Park Jinyoung who owned Park Medical. It made sense.

She wanted to hang out with her fellow dieticians during their break time, but she couldn’t, and she made up all sorts of excuses not to join them during lunch at the hospital cafeteria. Of course, she brought her own lunch just to be safe, and told her colleagues that she would join them next time. She wondered how long they would keep inviting her if she keeps answering them with the same thing.

For most of the day, she would be locked up in her office, studying the patient records so she would be able to make the proper diet plans for them. So far, she only needed to go out when she had to submit the plans to Nara, another employee in her department in charge of checking her work before they are delivered to Dr. Nam, the same one who invites her for lunch every day.

She made sure she doesn’t come out of the office unless absolutely necessary. She adjusted her schedule and went to work earlier after finding out that the Ice King, as others referred to him, comes to work at exactly seven in the morning. She even makes sure the floor is already quiet before she goes off work. All of that just to avoid the chance of ever seeing Park Jinyoung again.

It had been a peaceful weak of praying that the owner of the hospital wouldn’t wander to their department. Of course, she had to be extra vigilant about her work if she did not want him to notice her. Since Park Medical was a community hospital, it did not have unnecessary personnel, and she learned from Rina that everything goes through the doctor before files and medical records make their way out into the hands of other doctors.

He's that smart, but he’s also cruel, Yuan thought, sifting through everything and pointing out everyone’s mistakes. The other day, she heard her colleagues talking about this man from the pediatric ward being summoned repeatedly to Jinyoung’s office all day for making several mistakes on his report on a patient. Yuan met that doctor the same day and he appeared to have not gotten any sleep, dark rings under his eyes and disheveled with a day’s growth of stubble.

The last thing she wanted was to end up like that doctor.

But Rina said it was trust issues that makes Jinyoung such a strict, cold perfectionist. “He has trust issues. Hell, he wouldn’t even let any other doctor handle his sister,” the secretary, who knows all the gossip around the hospital, told Yuan one time. “He doesn’t trust anybody to do the job. If he could, he would run this whole hospital by himself.”

Yuan was curious about the bit about Jinyoung’s sister, but she didn’t press on it, deciding that it was none of her business. She didn’t want to be like Rina who made the boss her business even when she didn’t have any right to, so she committed that piece of information into oblivion. She needn’t have to know anything more about the owner of the hospital, especially because just the thought of him made her stressed.

Weeks went by and she did not encounter him, not once. It was much to her relief. Her new routine worked out, and she did her work efficiently without committing mistakes. She has almost forgotten about his existence and even risked going out to lunch at the café-restaurant across the street, sometimes with Nara, but most of the time on her own. It was safer that way. At least, if she makes detours in the event that she meets Jinyoung again, she wouldn’t have to drag anybody with her while making up excuses.

But again, the hospital proved to be such a small world when this female patient from Seoul was admitted to the hospital. Everyone talked about her and how she got the suite, a rare occurrence in the hospital since everyone just either took regular private rooms or stayed in the ward. This particular patient, however, took the rarely used suite and complained a lot to the personnel about the food she was given during her stay. It wasn’t a surprise since she is a big investor in several conglomerates in Seoul. Of course, she had the money to burn and could afford a private suite.

All of the dieticians, even Dr. Nam, had all but given up on giving her the supposed food she should be consuming, and soon, it fell on Yuan’ shoulder to handle the case. The patient wouldn’t eat anything she didn’t want, but the things she wanted were all included in the list of things that she wasn’t supposed to be exposed to.

“She thinks she could live off of the IV, but she needs to eat something if she is to regain her health.  She’s been here two days and she has managed to turn this whole department upside down,” Dr. Nam said to Yuan in muffled tones, her forehead on top of the table.

“Did she say what she wanted to eat?” Yuan asked.

“Yes, she wanted to eat cheese burgers cause it’s her cheat day, but her stomach can’t take it. She needs soft food and she insists on drinking fresh lemonade just when the last thing she needs is more acid in her body.”

“Oh. A stubborn one.”

“I can’t handle her. The last nurse who went to her room came out crying, and she threatened to inform Dr. Park. Apparently, they’re acquainted. Good thing he’s out of town.” Dr. Nam grumbled. “I’m going crazy. All that work to put this hospital in the map and this one patient walks in threatening to tear it down.”

The bit where Dr. Nam said that Jinyoung was out of town gave Yuan the courage to venture nearer to the patient. “Can I see the patient?”

“Do what you must. You know where she is,” Dr. Nam said, handing her the clipboard where all the food and medication that was supposed to be prohibited for the patient to take are listed.

Yuan immediately made her way to the private suite, taking a deep breath outside the door and composing herself before knocking and opening the door. The room was altered from the last time she saw it when Rina toured her. All the furniture was changed save from the hospital bed. There was now a plush carpet where the bed stood. The drapes were changed to ecru silks. Everything just looked even more lavish, even the twenty three-inch flat screen that went with every private room was replaced with a way larger one complete with home theater speakers.