T h e  F i r s t  S t e p 

The sound of soft jazz music with a mixture of silverware clinking and quiet chatter was dispersed into the quiet 5-star evening restaurant. In the corner of the large dimly lit restaurant room, a father and son quietly enjoyed their expensive five-course meal. The son took one more bite of his steak and set down his silverware next to the dish, reaching for the cloth next to him on the table. He patted and wiped his mouth properly before opening his mouth to speak. 

"Father," he addressed the old man on the other end, who was still busy eating. "You should know how packed my schedule is. Please consider that next time when you invite me out for a meal."

A low chuckle came from his dad and he set down his silverware next to his plate and reached for the glass of wine in front of the plate.

"Seung Hyun, you're working too hard," the old man told him. "You need to find yourself a woman and settle down."

The son watched his father take a sip of his wine before opening his mouth to reply. 

"Right now, there is a lot to be done since we have a major project coming up soon especially with Ji Yong's Group so I think I'll pass on that," Seung Hyun forced a strained smile to his father. "On top of that, since you're sick, I'm taking most of your work so that leaves me no time to fool around with some woman."

His father let out a laugh at his son's words and set his wine glass down on the table and reached for the bottle of Tenuta dell' Ornellaia Vendemia d'Artista Special Edition wine from Italy and poured himself another glass with a smile. As a father, he knew that his son constantly used these lies and words as an excuse to not get married but he also knew that his son was one stubborn and hard-headed man. 

"You're 25 years old," the old man said. "You should know it better than me."

Annoyed and exhausted, Seung Hyun took a sip of his wine before letting out a tired sigh and setting the glass back down on the table. His father has been bothering him lately about finding a woman and getting married — to be exact, he just wanted an heir to take over the company one day. In his mind, women are crazy and Seung Hyun couldn't stand the craziness or the person itself; besides, dating women was not his forte since he didn't know how to distinguish work from love life. If it was possible, he would like to work for the rest of his life since that was what he was taught from the beginning. 

Workaholic. 

Yes, that is what he is.

But he liked it.

A lot. 

"If this is all that you wanted to talk about during dinner to me, I'll be taking my leave then," Seung Hyun said, giving his father a small bow with his head. "I have plenty of paperwork to finish for the night and I don't want this meal to hinder it."

President Choi watched his son get up from his spot at the table and turn to leave, wondering when his son gotten so stubborn that his own father's words couldn't get through him. Breathing out a small smile, the old man continued with his meal as if nothing had ever happened. 

—

It wasn't until the next morning when Seung Hyun started feeling dizzy and weak. He woke up with cold sweats gathered on his forehead and the side of his face, thinking that it was just a hangover from the heady wine with his father last night, he took some medicine in hopes that the symptoms will wear off soon. It was unusual for him to wake up feeling sick like this since he has always taken good care of his health and body.

Being the workaholic he is, Seung Hyun forced himself out of bed to get ready for work. Unfortunately, it took him close to an hour to get ready because he was stumbling around his room and huge closet, trying to find a shirt, pants, and tie that would match. His vision would occasionally turn hazy but that didn't stop him from getting ready. 

"Mr. Choi, are you ready yet?" A knock came at his door. "The car is ready for you outside."

Before Seung Hyun could answer, he quickly caught himself on the edge of his drawer and pressed his right hand to his forehead, trying to ease the thumping pain in his head and temples. 

"O-Okay, I got it," he stammered. "I'll be r-right out."

He lifted the tie from the tall drawer top and draped it around his neck and turned to look at himself in the body mirror; his dark brown hair was a mess with random strands falling over his face as well as sticking out in all directions from his head and the bags under his eyes looked horrible - even his tie didn't match with his suit! Giving up on his mismatched clothing, Seung Hyun reached over to his wooden coat rack next to the drawer and grabbed his usual dark brown leather long coat, and slipped it on. 

"Mr. Choi, are you alright?" The voice of his secretary came through from the other side of the door. "If you're not feeling good, I'll make sure to"

"No, no, I'm finished." Seung Hyun interrupted him. 

Before the sick man opened the door, he quickly grabbed his folders of endless files off his bedside table and heaved out a tiring sigh. All he wished for is this horrible headache to go the hell away so that he can get his work finish with ease. 

——

The car ride wasn't much help to Seung Hyun's headache, every bump in the road was like his brain hitting the front of his skull and it caused him to groan out in pain, gaining the attention of his Secretary. The older polished man glanced at his boss and noticed sweats gather around his hairline and the side of his face, wondering if to mention the word "hospital" to the younger man. Just as he was about to, there was another dip in the car as it just drove over a pothole and Seung Hyun clenched his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut as well as pressing his right hand to his forehead. The secretary cleared his throat and turned to the sick man.

"Mr. Choi, if you like, we can stop at the hospital to—"

"No!" Seung Hyun refused loudly. "There is no need to go to the hospital, I'll be fine once this lousy car ride is over."

The secretary heaved out a great sigh and turned his head back to the front. His young boss was such a pain in the when it came to his needs for health and the secretary blamed it on the boy's father for forcing him to do work even when his health was more important. As a secretary, he had always been with President Choi from the very start and watched his son, Choi Seung Hyun, grow up the complete opposite of his father. There came a point in that boy's life when he started putting work ahead of everything and that carried on into his adulthood. He always wanted to be on top of things so much that he would combine all of his work into one big project to get finished but only to be rewarded with bigger work than before. You could almost say that work was the fuel to his strange engine. 

It didn't take long for the car to pull up to the curb where the company was. The big letters on top of the entrance spelled out Choi Corporations in big bolded letters that would catch anyone's eyes from a mile away because of the way that the sunlight would always reflect off the silver bold letterings. The chauffeur quickly got out of the car and made his way over to Seung Hyun's door and opened it. As the chauffeur did, the morning sunlight cut through the darkness of the car and caused the young boss to roll back and groan painfully. The chauffeur quickly bowed and apologized, hoping to be forgiven. 

"Argh! You ing driver!" The young man groaned loudly before lifting a leg and stepping out of the car. "Next time, be more careful!"

The chauffeur hurriedly bowed again and again at the man's angry words as well as apologizing. Annoyed and sick, Seung Hyun ignored the man and continued stumbling towards the entrance to the building. The secretary walked beside him, carefully watching Seung Hyun's steps and making sure to catch him in case he stumbles or falls. As they neared the entrance doors, the secretary quickly walked ahead of the young man and opened the glass doors, holding them for the young boss. Annoyed with a thumping headache, Seung Hyun walked past and into the building, not bothering to thank the secretary. 

Once they reached the giant office of Mr. Choi, Seung Hyun immediately dismissed the secretary and quickly got to work, ignoring the fact that he was sick. He reached into his father's desk drawer and pulled out a small jar filled with Ibuprofen and twisted the top open. He shook the jar and two red tablets fell out. 

"Hopefully this works.." he mutters, tilting his head back and dropping the tablets into his mouth. 

Seung Hyun swallowed the pills and recapped the bottle, throwing it back into the drawer and slamming it close. Letting out a sigh, he lifted the pen on the desk next to some documents and began reading. The documents were titled Project #13: Ji Yong's Group, which has been an ongoing project that will soon take action in a couple of weeks. Kwon Ji Yong, a successful businessman like Seung Hyun, had asked his best friend for help as he plans to build a large resort on Jeju Island to attract visitors from all over the country. As the young boss read on, the letters and words soon turned into blurs and no matter how much he blinked, the blurry words wouldn't sharpen at all. 

"Aish..what the hell..."

Seung Hyun groaned and stood up from his seat only to feel a wave of nauseous come over him. He quickly caught himself on the edge of the desk where the papers laid but quickly lost balance and fell to the floor with a loud thud! watching the papers from the desk fly in the air and slowly land quietly on the floor. Defeated and exhausted, the young boss's eyes slowly started to close. The last thing he heard before the darkness swallowed him was his secretary bursting through the door and shouting his name.

—

"Doctor Lee!"

A loud shout echoed through the hallway catching the attention of patients and other nurses as well as doctors. A young female doctor with long brown hair that was put up into a messy bun wearing fitted light blue scrubs, white sneakers, and white lab coat stood at the opposite end of the hall reading through her clipboard papers of patients and check-ups, ignoring the calls and shouts for her. She clicked her tongue each time she checked off a patient and wrote down the note of their last IV change. The whole day she had been going around and examining her patients while the other doctors were leading in surgeries. 

"Doctor Lee!!!"

Letting out an annoyed sigh, the female doctor finally turned her head towards the incoming assistant. He was a young man, around the age of twenty-three or twenty-four. He had glasses, straight hair, and was also wearing light blue scrubs the same as hers. 

"What? What? What?" She snapped, tucking the clipboard under her right armpit. "Aish! Stop shouting my name through the hallway, geez! You're disturbing the patients and visitors! What do you want?"

"The son of a large company collapsed and is in the ER!" He told her, out of breath. "The nurses told me to come and get you since they don't know what to do as well as they don't want to get charged for anything! You're also one of the Doctors on duty for this ward."

The female doctor let out a sigh. 

"Aish..those good for nothing nurses," she muttered. "Fine, I'll go down there."

She handed the assistant her clipboard and told him to bring it to her office before dashing down the hallway and two flights of stairs before reaching the Emergency Room. The doors automatically opened and she rushed over to the gurney where the pale man laid. A few nurses were gathered around him, commenting on his body and how handsome he looked, even though he was sick until the young doctor gave them an irritated look. She didn't like the nurses in the Emergency Room since they did nothing but gossip and talk about the patients that came in. 

"What's the condition on this man?" Chae Kyung asked, checking the pulse on the man's right wrist. "His pulse seems fine..."

"His name is Choi Seung Hyun, 25 years old," A doctor from behind the counter told her as he looked through some files for his many patients. "A workaholic, I must say. You can definitely see signs of stress on his body. I suggest an electrolyte solution, Doctor Lee."

The female doctor nodded her head at those words and mouthed thanks to the other doctor, who just nodded his head to acknowledge her thanks. 

"His guardian said that he collapsed from a high fever and stress from overworking," One of the better hardworking nurses told her. "The guardian should be waiting in the waiting room right now if you need to talk to him."

As Doctor Lee looked, she noticed how pale his face was and how cold his skin felt. Judging by the way he looked, it will probably take him a good two to three and a half-day for to wake up but possibly a whole week for his body to recover from what he had done. It was quite often to see these kinds of patients since they lived in a time and place where work has taken over everyone's lives — including hers, as well. 

"Alright, get this man to a bed," she finally instructed, agreeing to the male doctor's suggestion from a minute ago. "Also, give him four 200 mL bags of an electrolyte solution — make sure to write down when you put the bag in as well as when you change it. His body is also cold so make sure to give him a heated blanket as well."

The nurses nodded at her instructions before taking the gurney and pushing it towards an empty bed in the room. As the doctor watched the two nurses find a bed for the patient, she couldn't help but think about his name again. 

Choi Seung Hyun.

"Hmm...I felt like I've heard that name somewhere before.."

"Oh, Doctor Chae Kyung." 

The young woman quickly turned her head to see a handsome young doctor followed by two medical assistants carrying clipboards walking towards her way. It was Kang Daesung. He is a famous doctor in the hospital who was known for completing a successful 48 hours surgery on his feet; it was something for her to be jealous of since he was a man of admiration. Every woman in the hospital has already fallen head-over-heels for Kang Daesung, who only has eyes for one woman. The man strode over to the young woman and smiled.

"Hello, Doctor Kang," she greeted him with a smile and small bow. "It's nice to see you again."

"Hey, I thought I told you to drop the honorifics with me," he grinned, patting her back. "You're different than the others to me, I hope you know."

"What's that suppose to mean?" She rolled her eyes. "And yes, you did tell me to drop the honorifics but there are other patients and workers here and besides, I still feel awkward calling you by your name..."

The two doctors shared a small chuckle before Doctor Kang turned towards his two assistants.

"This is Doctor Lee Chae Kyung," he told them with a smile. "She is one of the best doctors here — the second-best from me to be exact, so please treat her with the same amount of respect you treat me with, and please learn from her."

Chae Kyung blushed at his on-point exaggerated introduction of her to the two students. Although Daesung was the son of the president of the hospital, smart, and intelligent, he was not of Chae Kyung's interests even though they were the named the famous "Hospital Sweethearts" because they're always together, he wasn't on her list — to be completely honest, she has no interest in anyone at all. Being a doctor was already so much that having a relationship on top of that was going to be so much more stressful and overwhelming for her. 

"Well, I'll be leaving now," Daesung said. "If you need anything, please tell me."

The young doctor smiled and nodded her head. 

"I will." She replied, playing along. 

Daesung smiled at her before turning around and heading for the exit of the Emergency Room, his assistants following closely behind. Letting out a loud sigh, Chae Kyung stuffed her hands into her lab coat pockets and watched the back of Daesung disappear behind the automatic doors of the ER. She tried so hard to make herself like a perfect man like him but she could never do it since she only saw him as a peer that she looked up to and someone whom she really admired. They were naturally both close to each other like actually couples but Chae Kyung always made sure to draw the line when heart-to-heart moments come up out of the blue. 

"Doctor Lee," A nurse called to her. "We just are just about finished with the preparations for the IV and fluids."

"Alright," Chae Kyung nodded, making her way over to the bed. "Make sure you record the time, bag number, and mL of the bag. Also, make sure you check up on him every thirty minutes, I want to know if any color is returning to his face or not."

The nurse nodded and left to fetch the bag of electrolytes solution, leaving the young doctor and the sleeping man by themselves. Chae Kyung moved closer to the bed and peered over to see his face, surprised at his shocking handsomeness. As she looked closer, her brows furrowed as if it was reminding her of someone she knows but couldn't think of a name. Fortunately, it didn't take the nurse long to find the solution since it was sitting at the counter that someone had already fetched it for her. She rushed back towards the bed only to find Doctor Lee leaning over the bed, staring at the man's face. 

"He's handsome, isn't he?"

Chae Kyung nearly jumped at the sudden voice that came from behind her. She turned and saw that it was the same nurse from before holding a long rectangle bag of clear fluid in her arms and quietly snickering.

"S-sure," the young doctor answered. "But he isn't my type."

The nurse playfully shook her head at the doctor's words and walked around the doctor and hung the fluid bag on the IV stand next to the bed. After watching the nurse set up the connection to the tube to the IV stand correctly and saw that the fluid was running clearly through the small tube into the long tube that delivered the fluid into the arm, Chae Kyung dismissed herself and turned around to leave the ER. As she did, the man's face kept on popping up in her head and she couldn't help but think about his name. 

"Choi...Seung...Hyun..." She said his name quietly. "Not too bad for a guy like him...I guess."

Shrugging her shoulders, the doctor continued on her way towards her office. 

End