Chapter 1- Dilemma
Blinded
7 years ago, Seoul University Hospital.
"It's no trouble, Chaerin-ah..."
A dark-haired be-spectacled boy whispered softly to the younger but pale-looking girl in front of him.
"Jiyong oppa ...You are always there when Omma or I need help..."
The boy brushed away her tears gently with the back of his palm. He tucked a light brown strand of hair behind her ears. Her deep brown eyes stared at him thoughtfully. His mouth curled up at the ends.
" Oppa will always be there for you..."
*
*
*
7 years later. Seoul National University Hospital.
A bespectacled man pulled the stethoscope behind his spotless white collar. It was his first day interning in the prestigious and well-known Seoul National University Hospital.
He smiled at his beautiful blonde reflection in the mirror.
"Hello, I'm Kwon Jiyong. Nice to meet you."
The man in the mirror smiled back.
He nodded his head slightly.
It is time to go.
He walked past the spotless corridors, the pungent smell of anestheptics wafting into his system. It was his first day and for all he knew, he did not want to leave a negative impression by reaching late. But a soft but precise voice stopped him in his tracks.
" YG company has offered to bid 100 million won for KUA company. Both companies are known to be arch rivals during the 1990s, but..."
He turned to the TV screen at his right. A dark-brown haired girl, dressed in a beige jacket holding the mike in her hand flashed in the screen.
He smiled at her.
Her thoughtful deep brown eyes looked back into his.
" This is Lee Chaerin reporting from SBS news." The girl in the TV smiled.
"Jiyong-sshi!"
He turned in the direction and chuckled at his new friend.
"Coming!"
"Who were you smiling at?" His new friend whispered mockingly.
"No one." He whispered back, trying to maintain his stoic expression.
"Ah, but you had the expression of a boy in love-"
" Seonsaengnim!"
He cleared his voice and called out loudly, rudely cutting his friend.
" Someone called?" The middle-aged man with black curly hair asked curtly.
" It's me, Seonsaengnim."
The man at the front stopped in his tracks. The hall turned suffocatingly silent.
"Go on."
He prompted. The other interns stared at Jiyong, as if he had done something that earned him a step closer to hell.
" I was wondering...we had been rushing in and out of rooms and watching doctors treat patients...yet you never asked us any
questions."
He blinked, ignoring the nasty atmosphere.
There was deadly silence.
The middle-aged man pulled out a file. The interns stared at him in silence. His every movement echoed in the corridor. He held the file to Jiyong.
"Here. You are given 2 hours to give me a diagnosis of his illness."
Jiyong opened his mouth wide open.
"Ah...Seonsaengnim!" He stammered.
"You wanted a something to do right? Meet me 2 hours later."
Jiyong stared at the middle-aged man as he waved his hand and continued walking.
*
*
*
"Aish...yah, tell me what am I supposed to do? He gave me two hours to give him a diagnosis of you, but an hour has passed. I checked your test results and medical history but they indicated nothing! Aish...tell me!"
A blonde man ruffled his hair and laid his head next to the railing on the bed.
"Yah!!! You are so noisy! This is a hospital you know! Argh, if you have nothing better to do get me out of here! I'm okay, and my brother have no money for your hospital! Aishh...you are really useless, you blockhead."
A dark-haired boy, around nine years old, shouted at him. The other patients in the room stared at the duo.
"Hey! You are really loud and this is the hospital, you said so yourself! And don't call me blockhead! I'm Jiyong, at least call me hyung! Have some manners you!"
He scolded the little boy.
Oh, how this boy resembles his little sister.
The boy squinted at him with his tiny eyes. Jiyong slapped the boy's head lightly.
"What did you do? It hurts, hyung, it hurts!" The boy screamed at Jiyong while he rubbed his head sorely.
" Boy, why are you so noisy! It doesn't hurt at all its just a tiny knock on you head!" The older man pouted as he used his knuckles to tap the back of the boy's head.
" It hurts! You are such a jerk, such a useless piece of wood! No one wants to get treated by a jerk like you! Let me go home, I want to get home-" He screamed and started coughing violently as he punched and slapped Jiyong's arm.
" Choked by your own saliva, didn't you?" Jiyong said as he patted the boy's back.
But the boy didn't reply.
He continued coughing as he covered his mouth using the hand he used to slap Jiyong.Jiyong, panicking at the violent coughing, pulled his hand over the boy's mouth when the boy started hecking.
His eyes widened at the sight of blood on his palms and bright red splattering on his chalk white blouse. "Oh my" He gasped as he pulled more tissues from the box.
"Miss! Miss!"
He called as he franticallly flipped through the boy's medical records. He took a breath. Suddenly, the brokenpieces seem to fit each other.
He knew it.
*
*
*
"Seongsaengnim! I have studied the boy's case and concluded him to be a case of brain hemorrhage-"
The middle-aged man cleared in his throat halfway through Jiyong's sentence.
"We've done MR scans and X-rays and there is no sign of hemorrhaging or bleeding in the brain, and there is no visible damages too. Anyway, he said himself that he is fine and he wants to go home, so we'll discharge him soon."
He stated blankly, but a small smile crept behind his state-of-fact face. Jiyong stared at him in disbelief.
"Seongsaengnim, the test results may not be accurate, please...do a retest. And he's like my sister, sometimes they lie that they are fine because they don't want to burden their siblings with hospital fees-"
The older man waved his hand in dismissal and walked away, leaving Jiyong showered by the cold lights in the corridors of the hospital. He stared into the empty space in front of him, as if they symbolize his future.
He lost it, within the blink of an eye.
*
*
*
"Minzy ah, Oppa bought chocolates, Oppa bought your favourite chocolate..."
Jiyong called as he gently gave the gate a slight push. It squeaked loudly in the silent night.
"Minzy, Gong Minji ah..." He called again.
Silence.
She must have slept, that sleepy-head, he thought. He bent down over the tap and brought a basin under it. He opened the tap. Water pounded onto the basin, and he took a cloth and rinsed his fatigue drawn face. He closed the tap and put the cloth down. The silence was drowning him. Sensing something wrong, he called again,
" Minzy?"
He straightened his body and pushed open a sweetly decorated door and switch on the lights.
A young girl, dressed in a yellow dress and blue tights leaned limply on the coffee table, her hair drenched in her perspiration. Jiyong rushed over and grabbed her shoulders.
" Minzy ah..."
He called as he gently shook her. Her eyes opened slowly and she squinted.
" Oppa..."
She whispered weakly. Jiyong placed his hand over her forehead. It was burning hot. He panicked.
"Minzy ah! You are burning hot! We have to get to the hospital! Come, get on my back!"
"Oppa, I'm okay...I feel fine...no need...no need to go to the hospital." She whined in her weak voice. He shook her shoulders hard.
" Minzy, listen to me! You are very ill, we have to get to the hospital as fast as possible. Minzy ah, listen to Oppa." He said, trying to control his frustration. He knotted his eyebrowns and tapped his back.
" Oppa ah... I'm fine. I feel fine." She set up right.
" Gong Minji."
Minji froze at his stern voice.
Suddenly, the phone rang. Jiyong reached into the bag and his shaky hands grasped his phone. He swallowed the lump in his throat and answered his phone.
" Yobosseyo-"
" Oppa its Chaerin ahh... oppa please come here I'm scared. I'm scared oppa!"
A voice cut him off at the other end of the line, trembling like a leaf. Jiyong paused awhile. He could here the sobbing from the other end of the line.
" Calm down Hunchae ah, tell me what happened slowly-"
" I don't know...don't know. I don't know if he's dead or alive...oppa..."
Jiyong looked at the air in front of him.
" Where are you? I'll come right now."
"..."
" WHERE ARE YOU?! IF YOU KEEP QUIET I CAN'T HELP YOU!"
He shouted into the phone, frustrated.
"...I'm in room 307, myeongdong-"
" Okay I'll come over right now." He hung up the call and pulled over his jacket.
He felt someone gripping his ankle as he tried to rush out.
He looked down.
" Minzy ah..."
She grabbed his ankle with both her hands.
" Oppa, please don't go...stay with me oppa, I'm sick- I feel terrible- oppa..."
She begged.
Jiyong stared at her.
" Minzy..."
Whassup folks!
Here's my first chapter, I hope you guys will take a looooong time to enjoy it! THANK YOU TO ALL MY FIRST BATCH OF SUBSCRIBERS! and my two commentors with weird comments(secretly judging you), cuz I have really no idea how to reply to you crazy folks. Yep, I did a poster, it took me 2 hours but its still kinda sloppily done(boohoo) Feel free to write any comments on my story or poster, I'll take it up if I find that it is useful:). Personally I think that my writing style is a little too draggy:( I'll be really happy if any of you are going to give me tips on it. Enjoy! And have a lovely saturday/friday/sunday!
Yours sincerely, the alien with starry vision.*hundred and eighty degree bow*
Comments