The days as a doctor begin to blur all together when the job is just a repetition of events. I clock in, check on my patients and repeat until the occasional emergency requires my help. Working as neurological doctor in the ICU Unit can be a dead bore at times because half of my patients never wake up. Most of them are elders, but others are young adults who happened to be at the wrong place, wrong time. That seems to be how fate works in this place.

                My rounds are fun sometimes because the nurses will help me check on the charts and the monitors. It’s always nice to have someone to talk to since my patients don’t respond. All the other doctors can speak and understand exactly what is hurting their patients. I have no clue how they feel until I scan their brains and see myself. The nurses who help me seem to enjoy our conversations because they get the chance to speak to a man about their relationships problems. Since I’m a man and a brain doctor, apparently that makes me understand exactly why the nurses boyfriend’s screw up or anger them.

                I can’t complain though because I don’t really understand what its like to have a relationship that has its ups and downs. My fiancé and I have literally never fought or even hit lows before. We only seem to be climbing up and growing more and more in love with each other. I may just be the luckiest guy in the world, unlike patient 1204, who I happen to be reading the charts of. This young man is about nineteen years old now and has been in a coma for fourteen years. He has been here since I started working at the hospital two years ago.

                Patient 1204 was in a tragic car accident that killed his parents and made him brain dead or at least just completely unresponsive when we do scans. The car had been flipped off a bridge and landed on its roof crushing the two parents. While falling off the side of the bridge, patient 1204 flew out of the windshield and was knocked unconscious for the next fourteen years. Sadly, the only reason we haven’t turned off his machine at this point would be due to his grandparents.

                They took custody of the child after the passing of their son and daughter-in law. An agreement was signed that patient 1204’s machine would only be turned off if the grandparents passed away. About a week, ago, the grandmother passed away leaving the hospital no choice but to shut off his machine. I’m probably going to shut it off before I head home today. It’s really a shame seeing such a handsome young man die like this. Though as doctors we grow cold to death and loss, so to me it’s just another day at work.

“Doctor Park, please dial extension 440,” a nurse called over head on the speakers.

“Doctor Park speaking,” I said into the phone beside patient 1204.

“Hi Chanyeol, its Sun-Young. Your fiancé is here for lunch! Don’t keep him waiting too long.”

                After working here for so many years, the hospital workers all grow close. Almost like a family. The nurses are kind of like my sisters and I’m like their big brother. I’m not that much older, but I still feel like it’s my responsibility to see it that their work days are fun and not as boring as mine. They get all excited when my fiancé comes to visit because they think he’s so cute and we make the perfect couple. The fact that most of the workers aren’t disgusted at the fact that I’m gay allowed me to feel comfortable. It’s nice to know that my fiancé and I aren’t hated when we sit together at the lunch tables. He’s my world and I don’t want anything to ever change that.

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                There was an unusual silence today in the cafeteria where my fiancé works. I try to come here about three times a week, but it’s not easy having a set schedule with a man who works long hours in a place where emergencies are the norm. People hate hospitals because they only come here when something is terribly wrong. Though that’s not why I come here, so I’ve come to like this place. These walls are a second home for my perfect fiancé Chanyeol.

                We met when we were both nineteen at a music store. I love to sing along to any song you can imagine, while Chanyeol will strum some tunes out his guitar. The record store we were in happened to be small and leave it to goofy Chanyeol to drop a handful of records on me after tripping on a wire. Ever since then, we’ve been falling in love faster than we can help it. Although, he’s not the first person I’ve fallen for.

                Years ago, I lived in a quiet mountain side town where everyone stayed close and lived in harmony. I was six years older than a boy name Oh Sehun whose house was three doors down from mine. We would play together for hours and hours until our parents had to pull us apart to go eat dinner and head to bed. Sehun and I were friends since he was born, so I had seven years to realize that I was in love with him.

                I was thirteen years old when I started to care for him in a different way than usual. If someone dared to hurt Sehun, I’d be at their doorstep ready for them to apologize to him. He may have not seen it, but I was head over heels for him. At least that’s what my thirteen year old heart felt. One random day in the summer, when he was seven, his mother and father wanted me to come with them to the beach. Sadly I had to finish reading some horrible book for a reading assignment for school, so I declined the offer.

                That was the last time I ever saw Oh Sehun. His small hand waving goodbye out the car window would be the last image in my mind of him. The family got into a severe car accident that killed all three. Well, I think he was killed. My mom and father told me that Mr. and Mrs. Oh died after their car fell off a side of a bridge and crushed them. No one really told me about Sehun, so I just assumed he was dead. I cried for days hearing the news, and I promised myself to never love again.

                Chanyeol broke that promise I made myself. He taught me that my heart can heal over time, and that tragedy happens everyday. Especially here in the place we meet for lunch. I just have to turn off that switch in my head that makes me upset, which is easier said than done. Chanyeol’s handsome face was walking towards me in the massive and very empty cafeteria. His warm arms wrapped around me and I looked up into those handsome brown eyes.

“Hi Baekhyun,” he smiled before kissing me.

“Hi Yeol! I missed you.”

“No you didn’t. I missed you way more.”

                We both sat down at the metal table next to us and I pulled out the warm meal I had just cooked before coming to the hospital. His legs were pressing up against mine almost intertwining with each other. The little things like this make me smile more than anything else. It’s not easy being an openly gay couple in South Korea, but we make it work. Just as I passed Chanyeol his serving of food, a nurse who I’ve come to known well came running up to us.

“Hey there Baekhyun,” she panted from running. “I know I don’t do this often, but we really really need Chanyeol right now.”

“Oh that-“

“What do you need me for,” he groaned looking at her. “All my patients are asleep like they have been for months. Can’t I just eat a meal for thirty minutes?”

“Patient 1204 has woken up and he’s causing a fuss.”

                I looked at my fiancé to see his reaction at Sun-Young’s statement. His eyes widened as much as they could and he stood up immediately. He almost ran away from me without saying goodbye, but he stopped himself in his tracks. Chanyeol said he would make up for skipping out on lunch before kissing me on the lips and running off. I was shocked at how fast he left and for his kiss in public. Whoever patient 1204 is, it has to be a big deal that they’re awake.

                Since I wasn’t took hungry anyways, I packed up lunch and went to head out the doors. An ambulance stopped short just outside the front doors before pushing a bleeding man inside the building. There was red blood all over the gurney and a pale body lying against the sheets. I stared at the man who was very handsome. He had short brown hair with perfectly round eyes shut tight. The emergency worker who pushed the body away was telling his co-worker that this was a male who was shot in the chest at a gang fight. Go figure, another lost life in the hidden gang world of our country. I had no reason to stay here anymore since Chanyeol was busy with patient 1204, so it was time to go home. Maybe we can try lunch again tomorrow.