"It's been three weeks, Eunji." Bomi yawns. "I can't believe you haven't made any progress yet."

 

"As much as I like chitter-chatter," I say quietly. Still looking at the open pelvis in front of me, adjusting the suction to where it was needed, while trying to keep her from talking about the topic she just brought up. "I don't think this is a good place for it, isn't it?"

 

I have been on duty for the last 48 hours. Tired, stressed, sleepy and hungry, I have yet to do anything to fulfill my needs as Bomi and I have been assisting in a Cystourethroscopy; Radical Cystectomy with Ileal Conduit; Ileo-Ileal Anastomosis, Bilateral Pelvic Node Dissection all in one patient. This was checking the patient's urethra, removing his entire bladder, and connecting the loose ends to his intestines, making a pathway for all his bowel and urinary secretions, and then removing pelvic nodes. Bomi and I already started prepping the patient at 6am in the morning, and scrubbed in the surgery itself at 7am.

 

Now at 3am in the morning of the next day, we were finally on the last part of the surgery.

 

Like me, everyone was already running on low batteries. Even the interns and other doctors who were watching us perform the operation from the viewing room were sleeping. We've played everyone's playlist after 16 hours; and now, 20 hours in, Bomi is the only one keeping all of us entertained.

 

As expected of course, our attending, Dr. Park, heard our conversation. Being our mentor when we were interns, he's one of the few attendings who are close to the two us. "And what is this chitter-chatter about, Dr. Jung?" he asks.

 

"Eunji has a huge crush on someone, doc." My stupid best friend answers for me instead, ignoring my glare. "But in my opinion, she's probably already, completely smitten."

 

Dr. Park pauses for a while and looks at the two of us. He says in a teasing tone, "Now that is indeed surprising isn't it Dr. Yoon?"

 

"It definitely is, Dr. Park. She been all over the place. I've never seen her being this awkward before. And that says a lot, having her stuck to my side since we were eight."

 

"Can you believe it? Dr. Smooth, being awkward?" Dr. Park teases me some more while prodding the patient's flesh for the nodes. "Now this is something I need to see- after I sleep for a whole day after this of long- operation, of course. I wonder who that person is..."

 

Ah yes, Dr. Smooth. I hate that nickname.

 

"Oh, Eunji was right. I shouldn't have brought this topic up." Bomi says, finally noticing the crowd that was watching the operation. "That person is going to have a hard time once everyone who likes Eunji finds out who he/she is."

 

"Ah, such a hard time considering our Dr. Smooth's fanbase." Dr. Park agrees. They both look at each other and laugh.

 

"Let's not start calling me that again shall we, Dr. Park?" I say firmly. "I do not have a fanbase. Who am I? Naeun??"

 

"No one stopped calling you that, Dr. Jung. Just because you don't hear it, doesn't mean that no one uses that nickname of yours when you're not around." he tells me as-a-matter-of-fact, and looks around the OR and the viewing room. "Haven't you?"

 

Almost everyone laughs uneasily and avoids looking us in the eye.

 

"I'll take that as a yes, then." Dr. Park smirks. "And about your fanbase-

 

Like I said, I do NOT have a fanbase.

 

"-Who here has, at some point, fallen for Dr. Jung's charms? Anyone who lies will never get their license!"

 

Bomi laughs and I stare in disbelief as everyone, aside from Dr. Park and Bomi, were raising their hands.

 

That I was aware of until now.

 

"Hey, when have I ever charmed any of you, huh??" I shout at everyone, pretending to be angry, but only get their laughter in return.

 

"Dr. Smooth is asking for proof, give her proof." Bomi, laughing, orders everyone who raised their hands. At this point, she successfully got everyone's energy back at my expense. Everyone was riled up and a few were already volunteering to give their testimonies.

 

"I had to carry some stuff with Dr. Jung one time but I got held up with something else." a resident says. "When I got to the storeroom, everything was gone. I rushed to where we were supposed to bring them and saw her just as she was about to put down the 4 boxes she was carrying. I felt so guilty because I'm a guy so I apologized to her and she just waved my apologies away and coolly replied, "I'm sure you got held up with something else. Don't worry about it. It didn't weigh a thing."

 

"Wow so cool" comments were flying all over the room as they continued ganging up on me.

 

A girl intern talks from the viewing room's intercom. "I lost my wallet and only found out about it when I was paying for my food at the hospital's cafe. Dr. Jung must've seen how embarrassed I was for holding up the line. She passed by after getting her order, and placed money on the counter. I shout thank you to her, and she doesn't even look back. She just lifted her hand coolly as she walked away." she starts making heart signs to me. "I love you Dr. Jung!"

 

Her fellow interns hit her playfully. We could hear them from the intercom saying things like "You're so lucky" and "I should lose my wallet next time too."

I on the other hand, had started feeling more and more embarrassed. The heat rising up my cheeks and making me sweat.

 

"I'm getting charmed by you right now, Dr. Jung." one of our scrub nurses say as she wipes my forehead.

 

"Wow, look at you. You're smoother than me!" I jokingly say. Everyone laughs again. Despite being today's jestee, I'm still proud that Bomi was able to wake everyone up.

 

"There was that one time in the cafeteria, I had an apple in my tray and I was rushing to get the last plate of pasta from across the room. Because of my tray, I didn't notice that the floor was wet. I slipped and Dr. Smooth caught me with one arm and then caught the apple that flew from my tray." an intern also testifies.

 

"Wow you were actually able to copy a scene from spiderman..." Bomi says. "Smootherman!"

 

"Smootherman!"

 

It's the lamest nickname ever, but everyone is too hyped up to notice. Dr. Smooth sounds so much better now.

A lot more stories come out as we finish removing the last node from our patient.

 

"Alright, do you two want to close the final layers?" Dr. Park asks us.

 

"I'll do it Dr. Park!" offers Bomi.

 

Dr. Park hands her the needle and forceps then, leaves the sterile area and removes his gloves. "Great job everyone! Thank you for showing your love for our Dr. Smooth."

 

Laughter fills the OR again, and everyone starts saying good bye.

Dr. Park turns to the two of us sternly. "You've been here for more than 48 hours. Don't let me catch you making rounds again when you've exceeded hours. You know the rules." He makes the 'I'm watching you' gesture at us. "I know your team has two days off. Don't you dare come here unless you're called."

 

"Aye!" the two of us answer at the same time.

 

He finishes up everything he needed to do and sign, and leaves the OR. Aside from us and the two nurses who will help wrap up the surgery, the rest of the people  also starts to leave with him.

 

 

"You know you're going to get hit at home right?" I ask Bomi quietly after a few minutes of silence. She ties the last knot on the inside of the patient's skin that we've been stitching, and I cut it.

 

"I know, I know." Bomi laughs, she starts to stitch again. "But has there actually been any progress between you two? Three weeks really, I would've gotten to second base with someone already at that time."

 

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. I'm not like you, you gorilla." I tell her. Bomi is the type to intentionally flirt around, but I'm the one who gets teased as a flirt. How tragic. "I don't know what she sees in you." I quietly say, shaking my head.

 

"What was that?"

 

"Nothing. I said I don't know what everyone sees in you."

 

"No one can resist the Yoon charm. You know that." She winks at me and clicks her tongue as a brag.

 

I roll my eyes in reply.

 

"You were so awkward that first night. It was unsettling. Did you know how much I lied through my teeth that night?" Bomi tied the last knot on the suture and let me cut it. We leave the sterile area and remove our gloves. "Three weeks, and the only progress you've had was to stop being awkward around her."

 

"What do I do? We've been total opposites of each other so far." I sigh. "She likes plants, she's really picky with food. We're like meat and tofu."

 

"Meat and tofu." Bomi laughs out loud. "The is that? You really say the dumbest things sometimes."

 

"You're one to talk." I sneer.

 

The nurses assist us in removing our surgical gowns. Now that the surgery is done, our bodies finally relax and we begin to yawn a couple of times as we scrubbed out. Immediately going to the residents' locker room to change, the two of us quickly removed our scrubs and changed into our clothes. We wash our faces and comb our hair.

 

"Not gonna take a bath anymore." Bomi says. wiping her face with a towel.

 

"Me too," I say. "I'll probably fall asleep if I shower right now."

 

"Let's grab sandwiches before we go?"

 

"Sure." I yawn again, and wipe the tears in my eyes.

 

We grab tuna sandwiches and a bottle of water each from the cafeteria. We walked towards the parking lot which was on the other side of the building. I take a bite from my sandwich and yawn almost immediately after, causing me to almost choke. I hit my chest with my fist and cough.

 

Bomi weakly laughs at me, her sleepiness showing. She barely has her eyes open now. "Are you sure it's safe for you to drive?"

 

"I'm honestly not sure." I yawn again. "I'm so tired, do you want to drive?"

 

Bomi scoffs at me for teasing her. She's tried to get her license for the 2nd time earlier this year but failed the written exam. "No thanks, I hate you, and I got everything handled anyway."

 

"You know I don't even bother to ask you to drive at times like this anymore." I laugh and ask her, "What do you mean?"

She doesn't answer and just motions her head up to tell me to look in front of us. I comply and see the beautiful pink haired girl I've been trying to get close to the last few weeks, sitting in the lobby's waiting area. She notices us too and stands up, unconsciously fixing her jacket before joining us in walking.

 

"Hey." she lifts her hand up as a greeting. "You guys ready to go?"

 

"Why are you here? How did you get here?"

 

"I took the 8pm bus. When Bomi asked me if I could drive for you guys."

 

"You've been waiting here for hours?" I exclaimed and glared at Bomi who just laughed uneasily. I look back at her to apologize, "I'm sorry."

 

"It's fine, I was able to catch up on the writing I had to do while waiting for you guys anyway." she smiles at me, waving off my apology.

 

Bomi opens the door on the backseat of the car and just shoves her body in there, immediately falling asleep, not even bothering to close the door. I push her feet inside th