Later that day, Chen got surprised by his superior. Kris had a complicated surgery in an hour and he personally asked him to come and watch. He said it was good for him as a prodigy surgeon but Chen was looking for ways to get out of it.

“You’re such a stupid guy” Somehow, Henry ended up on the same parlor as him. Chen turned to his teammate and sighed.

“What do you know? Have you ever worked in the department you hate the most?” Henry scoffed and leaned more into the uncomfortable chair.

“I’ve been around longer than you. I know how this hospital works. You work night shifts. You should notice it soon enough” Chen rolled his eyes.

“Notice what?” Henry raised an eyebrow and stared blankly.

“This hospital has few patients by day but becomes full by night. Do you know why?” Chen shook his head. He had an idea but didn’t want to admit it yet. “Because things happen after the sunset. While most of these patients are normal people, TolBom has its own secrets”

Henry’s words got Chen to think a lot. He had a few questions about his first night, as well. There was only one person who knew exactly what was going on and that was Mi Rae. Chen stopped in front of her door and pondered. There were 50% chances to get supplemental hours of work and maybe be forced to work in Surgery for a few days. But, at the same time there were 50% chances for her to tell him something important. Actually, the percentage in reality was 90% to 10%.

While he was thinking he didn’t notice the door opening. It hit him straight in the nose and broke it. Mi Rae raised an eyebrow and stared patiently at her subordinate.

“You broke my nose!” Mi Rae rolled her eyes and walked past him. He leaned his head back and grabbed the tip of his nose. “You broke my nose! Take responsibility!” She only waved at him as she turned the corner.

Chen ended up in the ER. The one who had enough time to stay and listen to his complains was his best friend, of course. Baekhyun was bemusedly watching his friend ramble about his boss.

“That aside, how was your first nightshift?” Chen scoffed and flinched at the same time. His nose hurt every time he was moving his head or mouth.

“Weird. The ER was full and I just realized a lot of accidents happen in the dark” Baekhyun chuckled and patted pitifully his shoulder.

“You’re lucky if you work in different fields. I have to be here twelve hours per day” That wasn’t such a bad thing. Baekhyun enjoyed working a lot but what he didn’t like was his boss. 

In the end, Chen had to go tend to the old man. He started to ramble about what he thought was wrong with him. Of course, he wasn’t even half right. He wasn’t in danger at all. He only had bones rheumatism. That was why it became difficult to stand for a long period of time when it was a change in temperature.

“But can I get an CT scan just in case? My insurance can hold it” Chen rolled his eyes but agreed. Maybe that way the man was going to realize his condition.

Since he had no patients to keep him busy, he walked around. He found the oncology section and gasped. His boss was there and she had a few children around her. Chen smiled when he saw her smiling. That was a rare sight. He was lucky enough to witness it so soon. He sneaked closer and eavesdropped. He couldn’t miss the chance when the door was half open.

“Do you want me to tell you a story?” The kids nodded eagerly. She chuckled and ruffled a boy’s hair fondly. “But you have to go back to your homework after it. Do we have a deal?” Chen chuckled silently. They were children. Besides, no one liked doing homework.

“Is it about a princess?” Mi Rae nodded.

“Once upon a time, there was a Faraway Land. It had a king and the king had a daughter and a son”

“What about the queen?” Mi Rae blinked. She got taken aback by that question and it was only the beginning of the story.

“The king was a playboy. He couldn’t marry and have a wife” Jae Hwa almost laughed out loud. What kind of response was that? However, the kids found it relevant. “Anyway, the princess was happily living her life when a huge dragon came and started to destroy the kingdom” The kids were captivated. “The king tried everything in his power to save his people. In the end, he went to the village and made an announcement. Whoever killed that dragon was going to get what he had always wanted. One man was strong enough and fought the dragon. He cut his head off and brought it in front of the king. The king asked him what he wanted. The villager said he wanted to marry his daughter. The king got furious and told him that was impossible. The princess could only marry a prince” One kid interrupted her.

“Isn’t that discrimination?” Chen covered his mouth in hope he wouldn’t be heard. He was having fun. Mi Rae’s expression was blank but he could see how hard it was for her to come up with responses.

“Define discrimination” The kid shut up instantly. “So, the king didn’t accept his request. The man had enough power to kill the king therefore, he got exiled to another land” the kids awed. “Happiness didn’t last for long. Before the man left, he cursed the king and his family. She was going to rot with her selfish father. The princess couldn’t live like that anymore and she left the kingdom in hope of finding a cure”

“Did she find it?” Mi Rae shook her head.

“No. But she found something better. She found a prince. Actually, he found her wandering the Land of Water. He was the prince of that kingdom and he took her with him. He took care of her and helped her search a cure. She learned that she couldn’t run away from her curse and family. She didn’t really need some magical cure. She only had to fight against it”

“But what was the cure?” She sighed and leaned back.

“She didn’t find one. There was no cure to her suffer. But the longer she survived, the stronger she got” Chen froze. He heard that before. Actually, the whole story sounded very familiar.

“What about the prince? Did they marry and have children?” She chuckled. Chen got curious too. He leaned closer and lost his balance. He didn’t fall but he whimpered loudly. She glanced over her shoulder and caught glimpse of his head.

“No. The princess had to go back to her kingdom. The king died and she had to take his place. She was going to be the queen” The kids groaned in disappointment. “But the story continues. Even if she left, they promised each other to meet again” She got up slowly and walked towards the door. She tried to make as less noise as she could. The kids watched her with interest. She opened the door wider and caught Chen red handed.

 “Uh” He blinked and tried to think of a reason good enough to save him.

“It seems someone likes to eavesdrop. Do you have too much free time, Jong Dae?” He glanced over her shoulder at the kids. They were amused and seemed to know exactly what was going on.

“Actually, I’m waiting for a CT scan” She raised an eyebrow and walked past him. “I only have a patient. I do have a lot of free time” She took a sudden turn and ended up in the Surgery Department. He followed her closely. His eyebrow started to twitch when he saw Kris. “I don’t want to operate”

“We’re not here for that” She opened a back door and urge dhim in. “We’re going to watch Kris operate” He frowned. What was the point? He didn’t want to be in the Surgery Dept. He just wanted to be a diverse doctor, like Chanyeol.  

Once they took their seats, Chen started to think about the girl he met a few years ago. Somehow, that fairy tale of Mi Rae’s made him think of her. She had one request from him: to find her.

Find me. Please. No matter what, please find me

Mi Rae noticed Chen’s grip on his pants. She raised an eyebrow but brushed it off as annoyance. He hated surgeries because people were too noisy. Well, she couldn’t judge him. She finished her Medical studies but never practiced them. She wanted to build a safe house for her family and innocent people. ToldBom was her safe house. She chose her staff very closely and according to their pasts and conditions. No one was normal in Tolbom, not even the janitor. Maybe that was why she was so respected. She gave them a second chance at living a normal life.