T h e  T h i r d  S t e p 

Lee Chae Kyung sat at her desk, after treating the man who stomped into the Emergency Room and demanded care on the spot by a male doctor, rubbing her left wrist which she injured while she defended herself from the men. She massaged the wrist in hopes that it was just a minor strained muscle that she had pulled. Just then, she heard the door to her office swung open and looked up to find Daesung with a frown. From the way he looked, she could tell that he probably ran from the 21st-floor stairway to all the way down to the 5th floor, where her office was located. Chae Kyung was surprised to see the look on his face and tried to hide her injured wrist by stuffing her hands into her lab pocket but Daesung knew already so there was no point in doing so. 

"Sunbae..." She started just as Daesung began making his way towards her desk. "I can explain what happened."

"There is no explanation to this," he said and gently took her strained wrist into his hands. "You hurt your wrist very badly."

"Yeah, but it was from self-defense," she told him. "Plus, those gangster men were just pushing my doctors around in the ER. They were demanding medical help with disrespect! I had to do something!"

"What if you were severely hurt?" He asked, his brows dipping in disappointment. "What if they had a weapon and was able to hurt you? Do you think you would be fine in the end?"

Chae Kyung stood up from her chair and looked at Daesung in disappointment. 

"You don't think I can protect myself and others? Especially from those bastards?" She sternly asked with a raised eyebrow. "Daesung, you know me the best out of everyone here working at this hospital. You should already know how capable I am at self-defense. These men were bothering everyone in the room and yet, no doctors did anything thing except for me."

Daesung looked at her and sighed. She didn't understand that if anything else were to happen to her, he couldn't bring himself to...

"Just promise me you won't ever do this again and place yourself in a dangerous situation like this," the male doctor said with a sigh of defeat. "If a situation like this ever arises again, just call the police. Please, Chae Kyung, just promise me that."

The female doctor dropped her gaze from his and pulled her strained wrist from his hands and tucked her wrist into her lab coat pocket. 

"Thank you for your concern but I don't need your advice," she told him, disregarding his words. "If that's all you came to say, please leave now since I have a lot of things to work on."

She sat down in her chair and let out a sigh as she straightens out a stack of papers on her desk and grabbed a fountain pen, Daesung watched her with his brows knitted. The female doctor busied herself with reading the first few paragraphs of a case study for an upcoming surgery for a patient, hoping for the male doctor would understand and leave the room. 

"Chae Kyung–"

"Sunbae, please...leave."

She said those words without bothering to look up at him and the male doctor nodded. He didn't say anything and turned, heading towards the door. When he reached and opened the door, Daesung stood there with his back towards the other doctor. 

"Let's reschedule our lunch to a different day when you're feeling better," He mentioned. "I'm still looking forward to having a meal with you."

There was a moment of silence as Chae Kyung tried to piece a sentence together since she didn't want to talk to the man anymore. 

"We'll discuss that another time," she told him.

With that response, Daesung sighed and walked out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him, and began making his way towards the elevators in hopes that his words would somehow get through the stubborn female doctor. 

—

Choi Seung Hyun slowly opened his eyes to find himself in a somewhat bright room — a hospital room. He let out a groan as he looked at the ray of sunshine seeping in through the window blinds and rolled around in the bed. He felt the needle in the back of his right hand and looked over to see a long tube attached to a tall IV stand next to his hospital bed. Seung Hyun rolled back onto his pillow and let out a long sigh, recollecting himself as he tried to remember what had happened. All he could recall was that he fainted after having the worst headache ever in his work office. He called for the nurse on the call button and asked for an assistant. Within minutes, a female doctor in blue scrubs, a white lab coat, and white sneakers came rushing in followed by a nurse. 

"How are you feeling, Mr. Choi?" The doctor asked, checking his vitals. "You've been out for the past three days. I assume you are feeling much better?"

"Yes, I'm feeling much better," he told her, surprising her with his deep voice. "I am busy with many things so am I able to leave now?"

The nurse looked over at the female doctor who was surprised to hear his random request. Chae Kyung, who had become speechless, had never had a patient ask her that question ever before. 

"Doctor Lee?" The nurse called her name and the doctor regained her posture. 

"Ah, that is hard to say," she told him, raising the man into a sitting position on the bed with the buttons at the foot of the bed, "You may feel good but your body is still recovering from the damage that you put yourself through. So I'd prefer it if you stayed for a couple more days until your vitals are perfect. I'll be monitoring everything if you need a sense of relief, Mr. Choi."

"I need to leave now," He demanded, ignoring her suggestion, "I can't afford to lose any time even if I'm sick. I probably have a whole stack of paper waiting for me to look through. Please get my clothes. "

The female doctor was taken aback by his words and tone of voice and stared at him. 

"I'm sorry?"

"I am ready to discharge."

There was a moment of silence as the doctor processed his request. 

"That isn't for you to decide," Chae Kyung sternly told him breaking the silence. "We'll decide whether to discharge you or not, based on your health at the moment."

Not listening to the doctor, Seung Hyun pulled the needle out of his hand and pushed himself towards the edge of the bed, where the female doctor stood blocking his path. 

"Move." 

"Please get back to your bed, sir."

The man let out a sigh of annoyance and placed his big hands on her tiny shoulders and forcefully moved her to the side. Chae Kyung was surprised to see how much strength in him despite having a fever that caused him to collapse a few days ago. Seung Hyun made his towards the small closet in the room and grabbed his suit out from the closet. The female doctor stared at him with a clear stern expression on her face. 

"Are you not going to listen to me, Mr. Choi?" She asked with her arms crossed.

"Give me one good reason as to why I should be listening to you?" He retorted, sending a glare in her way.

"I have been the only one nursing you back to health and I know what you can do and cannot do," she told him. "So it's best that you rest here a couple more days before returning to your work."

Seung Hyun heard her out and proceeded to let her words go in one ear and out the other. He turned to face the doctor and gave her a fake smile.

"Thank you for your concern but it is best if I leave this hellhole."

The female was left flabbergasted at his choice of words and watched him make his way towards the bathroom to change. It took a while for the man to change and Chae Kyung was counting the minutes as she waited while sitting down on the couch in the room. Seung Hyun was surprised to still see the doctor in the room when he came out of the bathroom neatly groomed, suited, and freshly cleaned.

She couldn't deny that he was up-right perfect but she couldn't let that thought distract the matter at hand! 

"Mr. Choi —"

"I will be taking my leave now," he told her, not bothering to listen to what the doctor had to say. "My secretary will take care of the hospital bill so contact him if you have any questions or concerns."

Ignoring his words, Chae Kyung stomped over to the door beating Seung Hyun by a mere second. She stood in front of him with a stern look on her face and the man knew that she was not going to let him leave the room without a fight. His tall figure towered over her but the female doctor wasn't afraid since she knew that she could've tackled him to the floor if she wanted. 

"Please get back to your bed, Mr. Choi," she demanded. "You are not healthy enough to leave the hospital just yet."

Seung Hyun rolled his eyes and placed a hand on his hips. He was losing his ing mind with this doctor! 

"Who do you think you are?" He asked her, narrowing his icy glare at her. "You're just a doctor who knows nothing. You are seriously wasting my—"

"Wrong." She snapped at him. "If it weren't for me, you wouldn't even be standing here."

The tall man scoffed at her words. 

"Move!" He demanded a lot colder this time. "Do not make me use force on you."

Being the kind of stubborn person she was, Chae Kyung ignored his childish demand and stood up on her tiptoes, raising her left arm and pressed the palm of her hand on the man's forehead. Just as she had thought, he was still fighting down a hot fever and was forcing himself back to work even in this vulnerable state. If she didn't stop to feel his temperature, Seung Hyun would've collapsed from his ongoing fever the moment he stepped out of the hospital.

The man was taken aback by her actions and fell back a step. He quickly reached up and grabbed her wrist and pulled her hand away from his face, not knowing that her wrist was injured and swollen. A sharp pain ran down her arms and Chae Kyung winced at the pain. 

"Ah!" The female doctor yelped out in discomfort. 

Seung Hyun, realizing what he did, let go of her wrist and Chae Kyung took her wrist into her free hand. She honestly didn't expect that much pain to come from her injury and Seung Hyun suddenly felt the need to apologize but kept his mouth shut since he wasn't the one who started the fight. An awkward silence fell between the two since neither of them knew what to say break it.

Just as the doctor was about to open to tell the man to return to his bed, the door behind her was pushed open, bumping her in the back. Seung Hyun's arms instinctively opened and caught the flying doctor, who landed on his chest, causing both of them to fall to the ground. For a split second, as they locked eyes, Seung Hyun saw her beautiful bare face; her large curious eyes, small button nose, and red plump lips.

He was immediately captured in that instant.

In the doorway stood Doctor Daesung as he watched the pair scramble to get off of each other. Both of their cheeks turned beet red and Chae Kyung quickly got up and ran out of the room, hiding her face with her hands as she did. 

End