The surgery went smoothly. Mi Rae didn’t expect anything but perfect from Kris. He was the best surgeon in Tolbom. His training on the field made him the best candidate for the hospital. He practiced medicine for longer than most Medical students do in internship.

“So you did come and watch, huh?” Chen had no escape. He got dragged there by his boss. Kris seemed to have fun. He knew how hard was to be under Mi Rae’s bossy hands. “How was it, boss? At the level of your almighty expectations?” Even though Chen realized that was a joke, the way he said it could easily be misunderstood. But Mi Rae knew Kris and knew how to respond to him.

“My almighty expectations lowered after I met you” She tilted her head to the side and smirked. Kris chuckled and leaned against the front desk.

“Is that so? Then maybe I should ask Joonmyeon to tutor me on ” Chen’s head was moving from one doctor to the other. He was waiting for a nice comeback from his boss but it didn’t come; or at least he didn’t understand it.

“Maybe you should since you have nothing better to do but sleep with the nurses” Chen’s eyes widened and looked at the surgeon curiously. The older man chuckled.

“Right in the heart, boss” He was careful to accentuate the last word. Mi Rae only shook her head and told the nurse to give her File 299.

“What is File 299?” Mi Rae and Kris glanced at each other before they turned to him. He jumped in surprise when she pushed the file into his hands.

“Why don’t you find out?” Chen watched his superiors leave him all alone in the hall. He sighed and looked down at the file in his hands. He just hoped it had nothing to do with surgery.

The case she gave to him was not related to surgery. Instead, it was related to the therapy ward. He was going to work directly with one of the most loved and appreciated doctors in the hospital.

The doors to the elevator opened and Chen met the last guy he wanted to see: Henry. The older guy raised an eyebrow and watched warily as Chen walked past him. The younger intern was the same. He kept his eyes on Henry until he walked around the corner and couldn’t see him anymore.

Henry blinked and tilted his head to the side in confusion. That was weird.

Chen stopped and leaned against the wall. For some reason, he started to feel like he shouldn’t have been so curious about File 299.

“Hello” He jumped in surprise when he felt someone tug his gown. He glanced at over his shoulder at the tiny human who was curiously watching him. Chen’s eyes softened immediately and turned fully to the little girl. “Are you mister Henry” Chen frowned.

“No. I’m Chen” The girl grinned and stuck her hand out. He glanced between her hand and her face. She pouted and grabbed his hand. He was still mesmerized by that little girl as she shook his hand.

“I’m Inna. I’m 6 years old and I want to be a doctor some day, too!” Chen chuckled and squeezed her hand. She looked perfectly normal if he were to bypass the hat on her head and hospital bracelet.

“Why were you looking for Henry?” Her expression changed quickly. She glanced around for that doctor but she couldn’t see him anywhere.

“Doctor Ji Eun told me to find him and tell him to move his in the recreation room and honor his responsibilities” Chen remained dumbstruck by her chosen words. He was sure she got instructions to say those exactly words by the doctor. “I can’t find him anywhere” That was probably why Henry was waiting for the elevator.

“Can I take his place?” She looked at his with bright eyes. “What do I have to do anyway? Play with you?” Inna didn’t have a chance to reply because someone much older did in her place.

“Do you think we only have children in therapy?” He straightened right away when he heard that cold voice. At first, he thought Mi Rae came to check on him. It wasn’t Mi Rae. She raised an eyebrow when she saw him relax and sigh in relief. “One of Mi Rae’s interns, I presume?” He nodded. She chuckled and told him to follow her. The girl smiles brightly and didn’t let go of his hand.

“What exactly does Henry here?” Ji Eun scoffed. 

 “Anything as long as he doesn’t have to work directly under Mi Rae” Chen took a good look around him. The therapy section was more silent and had a different atmosphere. It wasn’t about life and death; it was more about peace and recuperation. “You’re looking for the same thing, aren’t you?” He chuckled nervously. He was and wasn’t. It was complicated. Overall, he just wanted to be far away from the Surgery Dept.

Ji Eun led Chen in what looked to be the recreation room. Except a few children, most of the patients were adults.

“Today is the day when everyone meets here and talk about something that made a difference in their lives. Preferably, something good” She pointed to an empty chair. “Since children don’t know what that is, we tell them as stories. Overall, we try to make them see the brighter side of their lives since most of them suffer from depression” Inna let go of his hand and ran to her two friends. His eyes never left her. “Inna is a cancer patient” Chen tensed. She was so young.

As soon as the patients took their seats, the session started. Ji Eun was there, right next to Chen.

“Today, we have a special guest. He may or may not come here in the future" Chen’s eyes trailed over the patients. They were about 10 with the kids and at a first look, they all looked completely normal.

“Are you married?” The woman who asked that was probably in her forties. Everyone laughed.

“I’m not” She stared at him blankly. Something about her was off. She was inspecting him from head to toe yet it felt like she was actually looking through him.

“Is there someone who wants to start the session today?” No one responded. Ji eun narrowed her eyes at a person specifically. It was a guy who didn’t look much older than Chen. He was lazily standing on his chair. “Luhan” He flinched when she said his name. “This is a good day for you to start” He didn’t raise his head. He was looking at anything but the doctor. “Tell us-“

“I don’t want to” He spoke so fast that Chen didn’t understand what he said. Ji Eun nodded. She knew better than to force a patient to talk when he didn’t want to.

“Then what about you, Mi Young? Tell us a story about your husband” The woman started to smile in an instant. Thinking about her lovely husband, she started to talk about their honeymoon. As she was speaking, he realized just how much that man changed her life.

“What does she suffer from?” He leaned closer to Ji Eun and asked.

“Postnatal Depression” Chen frowned. “I know. She seems so content with her family life that it would be hard to imagine. But after her second child, she became anxious, started to cry a lot at night while watching her baby and even got the urge to kill it” He glanced at Mi Young subtly. She was laughing with one of the women next to her about something she said. “She’s doing better now but she’s far from seeing her children”

“What about the first boy?” Ji Eun froze and glanced at the boy from the corner of her eyes. He was staring at the wall.

“He is one of our first patients here at Tolbom” She didn’t continue. That boy was a special case and she didn’t want to delve into details yet. That only made Chen more curious. Besides, he had a case that he didn’t even start yet.

The session continued like that. After Mi Young, everyone told a story or two about something that made their lives either happier or easier. There was a man with posttraumatic stress whose wife left with their children. He was probably 60 years old and he had a lot of problems at home. Chen found it very interesting. He couldn’t sleep because every time he would close his eyes, he would see his dead friends. He got into an accident and he was the only survivor.

After they started to leave, Chen turned to his superior.

“Do you know who patient 299 is? I got his case from Mi Rae and-“ He stopped when he noticed just how surprised Ji Eun was.

“299 is Mi Rae’s special case. And not only. He is a kid with more than one problem” Chen showed her the file. Ji Eun glanced between the file and Chen with uncertainty. If Mi Rae gave it to him, he must be some kind of prodigy intern. But he wasn’t. She could see that in his eyes. He was soft and easily impressed. 

But Mi Rae was her boss too and she had no choice but led him to the patient. It wasn’t far at all. He was sitting silently on his chair, doing nothing but stare into space.

“299, commonly known as Luhan. He got kidnapped when he was young and has been found two years ago. He’s been held captive for 3 years in a basement” Chen’s eyes widened. “He’s not an easy patient. Read his file closely”

“Wait. Where can I find him?” She turned her head to the lonely young adult in the room. Chen froze. “He is that Luhan?” She nodded. She was ready to leave when she glanced at him for the last time. She wasn’t worried for Luhan as much as she was worried how Chen was going to approach him.

Chen gulped when he realized that everyone left. He was all alone in the room with Patient 299.

“Hello” He bowed respectfully and sat next to him. He waited for the boy to say something but he didn’t. He copied Luhan and stared at the wall. “I’m a new intern. I’m going to look after you from now on” He felt like he shouldn’t tell his name yet.

Luhan didn’t respond in any way. Chen sighed heavily and got comfortable on the chair.

“I’m curious what exactly you see on that wall” He glanced at Luhan for a moment before he turned back to the wall. “I see something. Something that’s been haunting me for a while”

His eyes softened as he started to remember. She was such an easy going girl but she was a mystery. When those men came after her, he got scared for her. When she left, something inside of him changed. His whole plans changed, actually. She was the reason why he moved to Seoul and went to Medicine School. He wanted to protect people.

While Chen was reminiscing about old times, Luhan got up and left. When the intern realized his patient left, he groaned.