The hallways of the Seoul University Hospital couldn’t have seemed more crowded. Nurses were busy clearing out the food trays for all the patients, leaving massive moving storage units against nearly every door. My only mission was to get to the ICU until and see what exactly was going on with patient 1204. This young man was lying on his death bed, unresponsive for fourteen years. It doesn’t make sense for him to just wake up like this.

                After a fast run through most of the busy hallways, the white walls in which I work in appeared before me. Nurses are usually sitting at the circular desks, writing on old note pads and filing colorful paperwork into patient folders. At this moment, it was unattended and all the men and women who were supposed to be in there were huddling by a room. Most of them were peering inside, completely out of the way but still making the scene far worse than it needed to be. The rest who weren’t looking inside had their eyes wildly searching the hall for me. It was my patient making the fuss after all.

                I pushed passed everyone running into the room to patient 1204 awake and crying his eyes out. His voice was so delicate and those eyes were a glistening brown. For a moment I couldn’t hear what he was saying because his handsome face truly captivated me. The two nurses who usually help me read his charts were busy sitting at his bedside trying to calm him down. A male nurse was holding him back onto the bed, since escaping was the patient’s only mission. He was coughing wildly as he yelled at everyone to get his parents. Screaming was not helping his dangerously dry throat.

                They got him to stop yelling as he snatched a water bottle from their hands and drank it quickly. The poor young man was silent as he drank the whole bottle in what seemed like one gulp. Before he could start screaming again, I figured this was my chance to step in.

“Hi Sehun,” I spoke nervously. “I’m Dr. Park. How are you feeling?”

                Patient 1204, or Sehun rather, furrowed his eyebrows at me with a squinting eye to match. He bit the cap of his water bottle nervously in his hand before squirming in his bed. He didn’t respond at all to me until I noticed his eyes weren’t really fixated on our interaction. Sehun was busy staring at all the nurses who were looking into his window from the hallway. I shut the blinds quickly and shooed the nurses in the room out. He is very nervous to be awaken in an unfamiliar room, it’s written all over his face.

“Are you hungry Sehun? I can go grab you some lunch if you want it.”

“…Mom says to not talk to strangers,” he whispered looking me in my eyes.

                His face almost made me laugh. The look he gave was almost as if I should know exactly what his mother said to him. Though in that moment I found his response adorable, I realized Sehun hasn’t been awake for fourteen years. As far as this young man knows, he is seven years old and is living with his parents who are now long dead. He coughed one more time, trying to clear his throat of something that puzzled him.

“1…2…3…4.”

                Sehun grabbed his throat squeezing it tight, shocked to hear the voice that came out past his lips. He had an angelic voice that wasn’t too deep or too high pitched.  The hands he wrapped around his neck were much larger than he imagine too. I could see him looking down at his body completely confused at the images that reached those brown eyes. Sehun had much longer limbs then what he remembers, and a fully grown head of soft dark hair. After rubbing his eyes and investigating most of his own body, he turned to me with a sad expression.

“M-mister,” Sehun said biting his lip.

“Call me Chanyeol,” I smiled.

“Can you bring me to a mirror please? The people in my room before said I wasn’t allowed out my bed, but I want to get out. I need to see something.”

“Are you confused on why you sound different or why your body is much bigger than you remember?”

                I didn’t want to throw the horrific story of his past at him so quickly. The pain of telling someone that their family is gone wasn’t something I could do to this young man. My heart felt as if it was being pulled by strings at the thought of hurting Sehun like that. It doesn’t make sense to me because he just another one of my patients. Delivering bad news is my job.

                Sehun shook his head at me, curious as to what I was going to say next. Instead, I walked over to the bed, pushing down the side rails and removing a pile of wires off his sheets. His long arms wrapped around my shoulders as I lifted him to his feet that haven’t been stepped on in over a decade. His nose bumped mine after a wobble, causing the two of our cheeks to brighten up with a shade of pink.

“Sorry Chanyeol,” he giggled feeling the collision of noses.

                Sehun let his arms fall off my shoulder while he gained more strength back into his limbs. I could feel his hands still squeezing my shoulders tight for support until the young man was ready to stand on his own. I moved my hand to his waist to help guide the teen to a mirror while he walked over to the bathroom. A lump grew in my throat feeling how small his hips were, but having my hand there didn’t seem to bother him.

                We made it to the bathroom and I stood him in front of the mirror before flicking on the lights. His hands traveled to the sink for some support, but his head stayed low looking at the ground. Once the lights came on, Sehun lifted his head slowly, afraid to see the reflection looking back at him. It was as if he was completely aware that the face about to look him back was something he had never seen before. Fortunately for him, he had one of the most handsome faces I had ever seen, so whatever the reflection was, it was beautiful.

                Sehun locked eyes with the ones looking back in the mirror. He stared for a moment, observing every inch of his head; every crease near his eyes, all the birth marks on his neck, and even the length of his own hair. Tears began to pour out of his gorgeous eyes after seeing himself for the very first time since he was seven years old.

“How old am I,” he cried still staring into the mirror.

“You’ve been here in the hospital for a very long time, Sehun. I know this is hard to-“

“How old am I?!”

                I stepped back in shock hearing the young man yell at me. His eyes were burning with anger and unanswered questions. Sehun began to walk back to his bed slowly, dragging along his IV machine with him. His head shook in doubt while each foot took a step. I followed quietly and sat down next to him on the edge of his bed. There was no more trying to dance around the topic. Sehun needed to know what happened.

“Look at me,” I said turning to him. “What I’m going to tell you isn’t going to be easy to hear. If you have any questions, poke me so I know to stop, okay?”

“Okay.”

“You came to this hospital when you were seven years old because your family got in a car crash. The car you were in fell down the side of a bridge, but you flew out the windshield before it hit the ground. Your mom and dad stayed in the car when it hit the ground. So when the hospital workers got to the car, you were asleep. Now you’re nineteen,” I explained feeling him poke me.

“Where is Mom and Dad. Why aren’t they with me after I’ve been asleep for so long? Don’t they want to see me?”

“Sehun, Mom and Dad passed away in that car crash.”

                Sehun looked at me with the saddest eyes I have ever seen in all twenty-five years of my life. I could tell he understood what it meant to have someone pass away. It was the fact that I was telling him it was his own parents that were gone and he’d never see again. Sehun kicked his legs back onto his bed and wrapped himself in his sheets. That’s when the sounds of light sobbing rang throughout the room. Just as I went to comfort him, a nurse opened the door. It was Sun-Young.

“Dr. Park,” she smiled popping her head into the room. “Oh no why is he crying? Does he need pain medication?”

“No, he’s not in any physical pain. Sehun, I’m going to step outside. If you need me press that red button on the wall behind you.”

“…I want to be by myself. You can leave now,” he cried into his pillow.

                Sun-Young and I walked towards the emergency ward, as my help was needed for a patient who came in with severe injuries to his head. Apparently this patient had been involved in a gang fight and had a bullet shot through him amongst many other injuries. Although I was listening to everything Sun was telling me, I couldn’t help but think about Sehun sitting in his room alone crying. For the first time in my medical career, I was letting my emotions get involved with a patient.

○○○○○○

                Around five hours ago, I was leaving Seoul University Hospital because my fiancé and I were supposed to have our weekly lunch date, though it was interrupted thanks to emergency. Since I’m almost positive that Chanyeol hasn’t fed himself since we attempted to eat, I figured we switch today into a dinner date.

                I walked through the glass doors waving at the familiar faces I saw. Visiting so frequently has made this place engraved into my mind. Almost every hallway and person I passed has been seen by my eyes over a hundred times before. Nothing can surprise me.

“Do you know where Chanyeol is right now,” I asked a nurse near the front table of the ICU Unit.

“Probably in room 10, with the patient that caused a scene earlier today,” the male nurse yawned. “That kid has been lying in bed for hours so I’d just go in there wait for your fiancé.”

“Is that alright to do? What if the patient is awake?”

“He probably needs someone to talk to. He’s been in a coma for fourteen years.”

                My eyes widened at the thought of a family sitting at home waiting for their loved one to wake up after fourteen years. They must really love this person to pay for medical expenses like this for over a decade. I headed towards room ten, with steaming hot kimchi and warm pastries in hand. People have always told me that I’m great at speaking, so I’m sure this patient will be fun to talk to.

                Outside of room ten was a little sign that had the patients name on it written on white printed paper. However this color wasn’t as new looking as what I’m used to seeing. It was almost yellowing from sitting in this sign holder for so long. The name read “Oh Sehun. D.O.B April 14, 1994.” My heart dropped so low, I could feel it reaching down into the pit of my stomach.  Every inch of my body froze in shock before shaking in fear. This couldn’t be the same Sehun that I was in love with my whole childhood. There is no way. Sehun is supposed to be dead with the rest of his family.