Chaeyeon’s POV

“Ah, Chaeyeon-ssi.”

I turned around to see a woman smiling at me. I bowed at a ninety degree angle and forced a small smile on my lips, “Are you perhaps Dr. Kim? The one the administration had told me all about?”

She nodded and gestured me to follow her while giving a very descriptive tour of the hospital’s whereabouts.

“My name is Kim Sejeong. I'm also from the surgery department. If you ever need some advice or help, my door will always be open.”

I replied back politely, “I’ll make sure to keep that in mind, Dr. Kim.”

We finished the tour and headed to the hospital café, deciding to sit down and talk a bit more over a cup of coffee.

Dr. Kim handed me the menu, “This is on the house. Order whatever you like.”

I politely took the menu from her hands and thanked her.

Dr. Kim raised her hand, signaling a waitress to come over to our table. The waitress smiled when she saw Dr. Kim’s face, “Sejeong- I mean, Dr. Kim! What brings you here today?”

Dr. Kim smiled brightly at her, “Just a little business talk with a fellow staff. How are the others treating you?”

The waitress smiled back, “Better than the last job I had.”

Dr. Kim nodded, “I'm glad then.”

“Well then. I suppose you came here for one of our many delicious delicacies. Your orders?”

“I'll have the regular espresso.”

The waitress then smiled at me, “And yours, miss?”

“Strawberry latte, please,” I replied back with a polite head bow.

The waitress then took our menus and slightly bowed, “Please wait for a moment.”

As the waitress walked away, Dr. Kim smiled at me, “That waitress just now was Yoo Yeonjung. She used to work at another hospital’s café but the customers and staff over there treated her poorly. She decided to transfer after she couldn't handle it anymore and that's how she ended up here. I'm glad she's getting along with everyone.”

I immediately whipped my head and stared at the waitress from earlier who was now busy serving the other customers.

She also transferred to another hospital… like me.

“Is there something wrong, Chaeyeon-ssi?” Dr. Kim asked, immediately breaking my train of thoughts.

I stopped staring at the waitress and made eye contact with Dr. Kim as I forced a smile at her, “No, not at all. Nothing's wrong.”

She continued to eye me suspiciously but eventually let out a long sigh and seemed to have given up on trying to decipher what I was up to, “We should go back on track. We were here to talk about something important anyway.”

I nodded, but took a quick glance at the waitress before finally projecting my full attention at Dr. Kim.

Dr. Kim immediately changed her demeanor, a serious gaze overtook her once kind and cheerful smile, “Has the administration alerted you about the IOI Love Game?”

I shook my head, “They told me something about a game that this hospital plays, but I didn't get to hear the details about it.”

Dr. Kim slowly nodded, “I see. I guess they wanted me to explain it to you directly.”

She took a deep breath, “This might be a lot of information, but you’ll have to process all of this in your mind right now. The IOI Love Game is a ‘game’ where all doctors in IOI Hospital are involved.”

I frowned, “All doctors?”

“Other staff, like the hospital’s café staff, the kitchen staff, and the custodians are excluded from this game due to their past protests of being included in the game. Nurses are required in several departments so they're excluded from this event as well unless they want to join the game, but no one would dare join the game after knowing all of the rules and history of the game itself.”

I nodded, giving Dr. Kim the signal that I was ready for more.

“This game is very simple. We have this game six times a year, which means six months of playing and six months of enjoying the break before starting a new game. In one month, we are not allowed to interact with doctors from other departments. Nurses are fine as long as they're not participating in the game. And you're only allowed to freely interact with the doctors from your department and the nurses that are not participating.”

I raised an eyebrow, “What happens if you need to interact with another doctor from another department during an emergency? Like if someone from the ER department had to be transferred to the surgery department?”

Dr. Kim smiled, “Luckily, that's why we have nurses excluded from this game. They can deliver our messages through those times.”

“Oh.”

“Every department starts with one hundred points. There are several ways you can get caught if you're secretly trying to interact with someone else from another department.”

“What are those several ways?”

“One way that you can get caught is that on your staff badge, there is a metallic camera and sensor in there that can see what's in front of you.”

“So basically, you're saying it's like a camera that's recording everything you're doing?”

“Exactly. Don't underestimate the installed sensor though. It automatically beeps when it sees you interacting with doctors that they don't recognize from your department. One beep means one point taken away. The sensor would then send a automatic message towards the system chart where they would subtract the points away from how much messages they're receiving.”

“Technology is getting even more crazier these days,” I mumbled, loud enough for Dr. Kim to hear me.

She chuckled, “Don't worry. In the locker room, there's a metallic bulletin board where you can place your badge up there and keep it securely locked from everyone else with your own personal password. Your staff badge also monitors your daily behavior and basically keeps track of everything that you do here at this hospital. This can be really helpful for the administration to see if our staff are lacking or not. It's complicated, but you'll get it overtime.”

“Uh huh.”

“Another way is that the security cameras are on 24/7. They also have a similar behavior like the sensors and will send an automatic message towards the system chart. Doctors can also choose to remain quiet if they see you interacting or report to the administration, but they would need evidence. However, just one tiny bit of evidence can get your department to lose a point automatically.”

I nodded.

“At the end of the month, whoever has the most points left wins a special prize.”

“What's that special prize?”

She smirked for a second and whispered, “You can do whatever you want to a particular doctor from another department. Or you can just have the satisfaction of winning everyone else.”

I blinked my eyes, “So you're saying that this game is for doctors to bond with each other but also avoid each other?”

Dr. Kim shrugged, “I told you. It's somewhat complicated but you'll eventually get it.”

“What about the history of this game? When did all of this start?”

“About twenty years ago, IOI Hospital was known to be the dullest hospital in Seoul. During that time, it was our ‘Dark Age’ you could say. We weren't exactly your typical hospital. You could say we at having fun during that time. All we cared about was getting our work done and earning money in order to stay alive. But one day, the pediatrics department got a new staff, who would later turn out to be the legendary and most respected sunbae of all time in IOI Hospital history. Jang Geunsuk. He restored everything in order by developing this game. However, the first time he offered it to the hospital, no one agreed to his ideas and instead started to treat him poorly. But he managed to convince everyone during his 8th year of working at IOI Hospital and when they tried playing it, it was a major success. Us doctors, now not having our minds on money all the time, instead also have our minds on the game. This has been a IOI tradition and it will always be.”

“If he worked for twenty years, wouldn't he still be here? Did he quit his job or did he transferred to another hospital?”

Dr. Kim sighed, “He passed away in a car accident a couple of years ago. So, in order to respect him in the most sincere way, we kept the game continuing and made it an official IOI tradition.”

“Oh.”

“Any other questions regarding this matter?”

“I have one question.”

“Well then, what is it?”

“Does this count outside too? Like, in our personal lives?”

Dr. Kim laughed, “That would be going too overboard. They only count your interactions once you enter the hospital’s areas. For example, the garden is one of the places where they would count it.”

I slowly nodded, “I see.”

“Here are your drinks.”

The waitress smiled after she placed down both of our drinks. Dr. Kim smiled, “Thank you, Yeonjung.”

The waitress bowed then walked away. I took a sip of my strawberry latte, “When is this IOI Love Game going to start?”

She pondered to herself, “Hmm… most likely tomorrow. So, you better get prepared. Did I mention that the surgery department is very determined about this game? We hate losing, that's why we try our best to win. If I remember, I think we’ve kept our title for six years already.”

I cocked an eyebrow at her, “Six years?”

She nodded, “Because of this, the pediatrics department gets very salty whenever they see us around here in the hospital. The pediatrics department is known for having Jang Geunsuk in their department and they kept their title for the first 8 years of the game. That is, until we won the next IOI Love Game and ever since then, the pediatrics department has had a bitter rivalry with us.”

I bit my lips anxiously, “They're that upset?”

Dr. Kim sighed, “Although some doctors from the pediatrics department don't really care about the past anymore, most of them cannot forgive us for stealing the title right under their noses.”

She then showed a reassuring smile, “Not to worry, though. They don't bite. Just a few quick glares and glances, that's all. There's also one more thing you need to remember, too. Don't act recklessly in front of the other surgeons, excluding me. There are some who will welcome you while others will show off a cold attitude. That's why people like to think that the surgery department is full of cold-hearted people, but it's just that us surgeons hate being embarrassed. So make sure to always be careful. Us surgeons are always watching each other, so if anyone accidentally or purposely does something that impacts the surgery department badly, people will not only mock you, they will also put the pressure on the whole surgery department. And if that happens, it's quite a shame, but everyone will start treating you like crap and you'll be looked down for the rest of your life.”

“I'll make sure to keep that in mind then,” I replied back with a sigh.

Dr. Kim nodded with a smile, “Oh, by the way, you don’t need to be so formal. It actually makes me feel a bit old whenever someone talks to me like that. I’m a ‘96, how about you?”

“... ‘97.”

Dr. Kim smiled at me, “Call me Sejeong unnie then. I don’t really do well with the formalities.”

I nodded, “Sure, Sejeong… unnie.”

Sejeong unnie grinned, “Is it okay if I call you Chaeyeon then?

It took me a few seconds before I finally nodded.

“Great! Now then, we should head back to the surgery department. I still haven't introduced you to the other surgeons.”

+++

I found myself walking around the surgery department after Sejeong unnie had introduced me to everyone and then excused herself due to an important meeting.

Turning to the right, I could hear voices coming from the end of the long hall I had just entered. I raised a suspicious eyebrow and silently jogged to the source of the sounds until I saw two girls standing in front of the refreshments machine that was a few yards away from me.

“Kyulkyung, we’ve been searching for her for at least half an hour. Let’s just search for her tomorrow. I’m getting hungry right now. Don’t you want to eat king crabs?” the tall girl out of the two complained.

“Only ten more minutes, Nayoung unnie,” the other girl, who I’m assuming was “Kyulkyung”, replied back with a determined look on her face.

The tall girl immediately gave up and let out a long sigh, “Fine. Only ten more minutes. And that’s that.”

The two girls were starting to bother me. Who were they? Of all the places in this hospital, why were they here at the surgery department? But what really made me curious the most was… who were they looking for?

I slipped out of my hiding place and walked over to them with an annoyed frown on my face, “Are you two looking for someone? You don’t look like you’re surgeons.”

They slowly turned around, a nervous face was plastered on both of their faces, although the tall girl’s face looked quite lifeless. The shorter girl nudged the tall girl by the arm with a forced smile, “We were looking for the new surgeon, right unnie?”

The tall girl clearly showed no emotions but she nervously stuttered, “Y-Yeah. We heard from someone that she came here this morning and wanted to meet her before leaving the hospital.”

So they were looking for me. I raised an eyebrow, “I am the new surgeon. Do you need anything?”

The shorter girl continued to stare at me with a frown. She then reached out her hand and smiled, “I’m Zhou Kyulkyung. This is Im Nayoung. We’re both from the pediatrics department.”

I stared at her offered hand for a moment. I then suddenly remembered what Sejeong unnie had told me earlier.

“Us surgeons are always watching each other, so if anyone accidentally or purposely does something that impacts the surgery department badly, people will not only mock you, they will also put the pressure on the whole surgery department. And if that happens, it's quite a shame, but everyone will start treating you like crap and you'll be looked down for the rest of your life.”

She was right. I came here for a reason and to avoid anything that will hurt me, especially her, I can’t be like my old self anymore. I can’t let the past repeat itself again. I… don’t want to get hurt again.

I let out a scoff, “Sorry, but I don’t plan on just becoming friends with anyone here. It’ll ruin my reputation with the surgeon sunbaenims. Obviously, they’ll mock me if I were to become friends with… other people.”

The girl who offered her hand for a handshake immediately flashed me a threatening glare, “What did you just say?”

I was about to open my mouth to repeat what I had just said, but the taller girl stopped her, “Not here, Kyulkyung. Now’s not a good time. There’s still people here plus the security cameras are still on right now.”

The tall girl then nervously laughed as she pulled the shorter girl closer to her, “I apologize for her behavior, Chaeyeon-ssi. She must have not expected you to be like this.”

I crossed my arms as I continued to eye at them with a raised eyebrow.

“It was nice meeting you, Chaeyeon-ssi.”

Before I knew it, the taller girl pulled the shorter girl away and they both left me alone in front of the refreshments machine.

I studied their backs and sighed to myself.

Somehow, that Zhou Kyulkyung girl greatly reminded me of her. I winced at the thought. I closed my eyes and squatted on the floor. I let the tears that was trapped in my eyes escape and planted my face in my hands.

It was this feeling again. The feeling that was once the cause of my euphoria. The feeling that changed my life forever. The feeling that broke my heart into small pieces. The feeling that left a huge scar on me. The feeling as if I was in love. Like I once did with her.