Staring at the ceiling had become a sort of ritual for him, looking for anything to distract from what was to come. He knew it wouldn’t be long before his next surgery. The dark ambiance matching the musty underground clinic that made his father’s old clinic seem like a damn University hospital. Taehyung had long since grown accustomed to the foul smell of blood and cigarettes. 

“Get ready for the transplant.” Taehyung sighed as on the other side of the clear rubber drapes he could see the makeshift surgery room. It was fashioned out of what could’ve been described as a secret basement, 2 small surgery rooms connected to a much larger room. 

What would his Sohee think of him now? All these years later. He had boasted completing his undergraduate at John Hopkins... for this.

“Doctor Kim, shall we begin?” A voice asked in rough Japanese. He stood up, brushed off his doctor's scrubs, and headed to the nearby sink turned disinfecting station where he washed his hands before entering the room. He took the gloves handed to him by a pretty Japanese nurse named Mina. 

The surgery was on the simpler side, a simple organ transplant. He had, as of now, done this operation hundreds of times. Yet, this was something he felt no pride in boasting about. 

He reached for the scalpel. 

“Let’s begin.” He announced in Japanese. 

The other surgeons around him had already prepared the patient, setting him up perfectly. He took his scalpel performing a perfect cut in the sharpied area. He quickly began to work skillfully removing the old organ. 

“Heart rate?”

“His heart rate is normal sir.” His anesthesiologist answered monitoring the EKG (electrocardiogram). Things were going smoothly. “Pancreas?” Immediately a box was brought in with the replacement organ. 

He carefully transplanted the new pancreas into the body. He knew very well, that the original owner of this organ had not voluntarily donated his organ. He had fallen under financial troubles and without money to give had been forced by the Yakuza to "donate" it.

That’s right, meet the new Taehyung. He was a dirty doctor. Profiting off of wealthy criminals and corrupt businessmen. Even now he was performing an organ transplant for a Japanese crime lord.

Within an hour he finished his operation and his assistant finished suturing up the incision. Sighing in relief that he could finally wipe his hands off the dreadful operation. About to remove the surgical mask and gloves, he heard frantic yelling from the adjacent room.

“Just let him die.” The voice was clearly from the Japanese surgeon in charge of harvesting the organ. 

He bit his lip in frustration and quickly rushed into the other operating room. He immediately noticed everyone was in panicked frenzy, there was blood gushing out of the patient's body. He quickly changed gloves and forced the operating surgeon aside.

"He's going into cardiac arrest." A nurse squealed in fear.

“Get out of the way!”

“Get two packets of blood now!” He demanded towards the other nurses. 

Two assistants immediately rushed into the backroom as he noticed that the heart rate of the donor was caving. There was a ruputered artery, clearly from the sloppy work of the other surgeon. 

He remembered when he had first met the donor. A middle aged Japanese man who had gone to loan sharks to get money for his young daughter’s surgery. He had been unable to pay that debt and was forced to donate one of his organs to fix the debt. Taehyung remembered assuring the weeping man that he would make sure that he lived to see his daughter. A promise he wanted to keep. 

“Stay with me!” He begged the unconscious patient. It was no use, he was losing him.

ing his hands into the large incision. He began to manually pump the heart as more blood was administered to the patient. A risky procedure known as open cardiac massage.

“Let him die!” The other surgeon scolded him trying to redeem his pride. “Don’t waste your time.” 

Taehyung recalled the scared expression the father had, a desperation he felt with no other options. He couldn’t let him die now…  Taehyung heard a faint beep from the EKG (Electronic Monitor for heart rate) , then another one in close succession. Touching his glove against the patients wrist, he could feel his pulse 24 29 46 50 69

The anesthesiologist looked at him in wonder. The man’s heart rate began to raise to a healthy level. 

“Administer the patient 50ml of Midazolam (sedative for stabalizing) now!” Taehyung had saved the man’s life. He turned towards the other surgeon as he let the assistant finish up. 

However, he was far from finished. Turning towards the cowardly doctor in disgust, the still prideful man, pissed off Taehyung to the point he couldn't hold in his frsutration.

“You call yourself a doctor!” He grabbed the collar of the surgeon. “What kind of monster gives up on his patient?”

The other doctor feeling his pride attacked slapped away his hands. “We’re all monsters here. This is our job! I only care about getting paid, so act like a hero all you want, not even god can forgive us for what we're doing!"

Taehyung clenched his fist tighter, his finger nails digging into the fabric of the surgeon's collar. But knowing that the doctor wasn't lying, he slowly released him. For every patient saved, one died. Many patients had been forced to donate all their vital organs. Taehyung given no choice but to listen to the orders of his boss, and follow instructions. 

Taehyung still fuming with hatred threw his gloves against the wall as he stormed out of the room, the rubber drapes slashing against his shoulder as he did. 

“We don’t pay you to save his life.” The cold voice that stopped him was his boss. Sakabara Ryo. A famed Yakuza who had built up a reputation for giving illegal treatments to any high level client willing to pay. 

“You promised that you’d let me run the operations and you wouldn’t interfere.” Taehyung snapped back.

“And I do… so long as you follow orders.” He paused. “And choose the most profitable side.” 

Taehyung turned to face him. A tall lanky Japanese man of 50 with a conniving face. He wore thin glasses to hide his deceptive eyes. Though physically he seemed less than intimidating, Taehyung knew he could never mess with his boss. After all he held a lot of power over him. 

“Keep working hard, I already paid you. Remember you have another surgery in three days. Rest up.” The man pat him on the back in a friendly manner almost mockingly as he walked past him into the operating room. 

Taehyung finally breathed a heavy sigh as the man left. His relief at the fact that he had been able to save both patients meant that tonight he could sleep semi-peacefully. 

He walked to the elevator of the underground “clinic”. Taking it to a seemingly normal Japanese bar owned by the Yakuza. He exited the bar into the city and noticed that it was late. As was normal for Tokyo, he walked over to a nearby vending machine and purchased an iced coffee. 

He cracked it open and stared into the night, letting the bitter coffee ease the bitterness he felt inside.

“I knew I’d find you here.” Taehyung knew that it was nurse Mina Myoi. She was a daughter of one of the head members of the Yakuza he worked for, a girl he had promised to take under his wing to gain favor. “You always get the same thing.”

Taehyung took another sip ignoring her. She wrapped her arms around his waist. “You know I’m only still here because I like you.” 

He knew she had feelings for him, truthfully he didn’t hate her, like he resented the ones he worked for. Yet at the same time, while she had a kind heart and went along with whatever he requested of her, she wasn’t her. 

Taehyung slowly removed her arms from him. 

“You never fail to keep me entranced.” She whispered coyly. “I guess I’ll just have to keep trying.” 

He calmly walked away, she followed close behind. “Where are you going?” 

“To make something right.” He answered heading to his car, a small vehicle, nothing special. “Want to see?” 

“Sure.” She quickly climbed into the passenger side as they pulled out of the clinic.

They drove for about 30 minutes. Tokyo even at night was a large city with many people, until they arrived in a small neighborhood. He parked the car and followed by her, made his way to a small apartment building. He rung the bell for about a minute before a voice finally answered the intercom.

“Hello?” It was a woman’s voice.

“It’s about your husband Tachibani Yuuto.” He answered. 

Mina gasped, before quickly covering with her hands.

“Who are you?” The voice answered cautiously. 

“Daddy?” A young girls voiced echoed through the intercom.

“Please I’m a friend of your father. I just saw him.” The apartment gate opened. Taehyung walked inside followed by a curious Mina. 

“What are you going to do?” She inquired.

“I’m going to do the right thing.” 

They knocked on the apartment door and the door slowly opened. Immediately a cute little girl’s head popped out of the crack. “Do you really know my daddy?” 

“Get back Akari.” The wife ushered her daughter back in, rightly cautious of the stranger.

“I just came to say that your husband is alive. I finished the operation on him and he’ll live. Though he may never be able to eat more than one meal a day. I would recommend for the next few weeks—” 

The lady slapped him on the cheek. Taehyung didn’t even flinch as he had experienced this so many times. They had every right to after all.

“How dare you come here after all that you and your gang has done to him!” She was angry as expected. Mina forced her way in between the two of them, trying to defend him. 

“Didn’t you hear? This man just saved your husband’s life, you should thank him.” Mina scolded the wife. However, Taehyung calmly grabbed her shoulder, assuring her he would handle it. 

Once again face to face with the wife, he continued. “I just wanted to apologize that I had to do that. Your husband spoke about how much he loved your daughter and I want you to know that not only are you free from your debt. But your husband was able to provide this as well while he gets better.” 

Taehyung reached into his coat pocket and revealed an envelope. The thickness of it revealed there was a signifcant sum money inside.

The wife gasped as she felt the large stack of bills inside. Mina stared at him in disbelief. 

“Let’s go.” He turned away and was quickly followed by a horrified Mina down the stairs and out of the apartment. 

“Why did you do that? Why did you lie?” Mina questioned in frustration. “That was the money you got from the surgery. You just gave away 50,000,000 yen ($48,000).”

“I guess you really are a good person.” She mumbled.

Taehyung didn’t need the money. He had been