Oh no, oh no, oh no…

0805.

My footsteps echoed dully as I climbed up the stairs in the reception area frantically.

Late late late!

I ran through the long corridor of Seoul National University Hospital’s Administration Building, dodging some startled slow-walkers and yelling “sorry” in the process, then slammed on the brakes at the end of a hallway, before making a sharp left and carrying on.

Why was this building so big… OOOH!

I jam-braked and scooted to a stop, before quickly walking back.

Lecture Hall 1. I had almost missed it.

Orientation Briefing for Incoming Residents 2015.

This was it.

I clutched onto my black tote bag tightly, taking in a deep breath to reassert myself, before proceeding into the lecture hall.

Thankfully, they had not started.

A bunch of people, too many to count, were seated in the seats of the lecture hall. Most of them were in groups, chattering livelily to each other. A few sat alone.

A lady wearing a blue dress over black leggings was standing in front, arranging a stack of white envelopes on the table in front of her.

I scanned the room for an empty seat, before making my way to the corner – seventh row on the left side of the hall, furthest away from the table.

I was okay with being alone. In fact, I enjoyed being alone at times. Nevertheless, I felt a little out of place knowing that most of the others had graduated from Seoul National University. I was one of the few who had come from other universities by myself, so I didn’t know anyone else here.

I placed my tote bag on the seat beside me, and started to glance around the hall, hoping to see a familiar face.

There were none, so I focused on the person in front instead.

She was wearing a black name tag, which was pinned to her dress, with the words “Shon Seung Wan” printed in Hangul on it.

Her facial features were pretty, and the way she arranged each envelope with delicate care portrayed a very demure demeanour.

After she had finally arranged all of them neatly, she smiled slightly.

A soft pull of her red lips like a gentle glowing star.

Dr. Shon took a look around, then checked the time on the blue watch on her wrist, before walking over to the door and closing it.

The sound of the shut door diminished the quiet chatter in the room to silence.

Dr. Shon made sure that she positioned herself at the centre of the hall before she began her speech.

“Dear Interns, welcome to the Seoul National University Hospital. I’m Dr. Wendy Shon. I’m a fourth year resident here in SNUH, and my specialty is surgery. I won’t be doing a general briefing, which will be taking place next week with your respective heads of department. What I will be doing today, is assigning you to your respective departments.”

She paused, smiling as she swept her gaze across the room, before continuing.

“There is one point I would like all of you to take note before I begin. Do note that in accordance with our hospital’s teaching policy, you will be assigned to a particular department for a minimum of 3 months, doing a total of 4 rotations in your first year. You will under-studying a senior resident, or in some cases, a junior consultant for your term. For those of you who get posted to Surgery or A&E during your first-year residency rotations, you will seeing a lot of me. If you have any immediate issues with the department that you have been assigned to, please look for me after my brief. During the course of your rotation, if you feel like switching fields, please look for your teaching resident instead.

“Does anyone have any questions they would like to raise now?” she asked as she looked around the room.

“No? I’ll be here after the end of the brief to answer any questions you all may have that you would like to ask in private. Now… let’s begin, shall we? Please listen carefully for your name, and then proceed forward to receive your orientation package once your name is called. ”

I listened attentively as Dr. Shon began calling out our names one by one,

“Dr. Lim Yu Jin. Internal Medicine.”

A lady dressed in a blue top and black skirt from the second row stood up. She walked to the table where Dr. Shon passed her one of the white envelopes, before returning to her seat.

“Dr. Kim Hyun Joo. Internal Medicine.”

“Dr. Choo Eun Bi. General Surgery.”

The list went on, and I watched the others go up to the front to receive their orientation package one after the other, listening out for my name with eagerly.

 “Dr. Park Sang Chul. Emergency Medicine.”

“Dr. Kang Eun Jae. Internal Medicine.

…

The number of envelopes were growing lesser, and I began to worry.

What if I…

“Dr. Kang Seulgi.”

My heart skipped a beat and I glanced up immediately.

“Pediatrics.”

I stood up immediately, and proceeded to the front to receive my envelope.

Pediatrics?

I was slightly surprised, because I was pretty sure that no one else in the room had been assigned to that department yet.

Dr. Wendy Shon smiled brightly as she held the envelope in her hands, just like how she smiled at everyone else who went up, but I noticed something different in her eyes.

It was…

…sadness.

No…

It was hurt.

I took the envelope from her hesitantly, saying a soft “thank you”.

I noticed her irises flicker at my words, but Dr. Shon simply nodded her head and I returned to my seat.

Halfway up the stairs, I glanced back at her, but she was calling out someone else’s name.

Maybe it was just my imagination.

After I got back to my seat, I opened the envelope, and pulled out the piece of A4 paper inside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Dr. Kang Seulgi,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been assigned to the

Department of Pediatrics

For a rotation of

3 months

Below are the details of your teaching resident.

~~~~~~~~~

Dr. Bae Joohyun.

Associate Consultant (Surgery)

Fourth Floor.

Department of Surgery.

Main Office Building.

28 Yeon Gun, Jong Ro.

Seoul, South Korea

~~~~~~~~~

Please clarify any doubts you may have with our orientation officer and report to your teaching resident after the orientation briefing.

We look forward to working with you and hope that you will have an enriching and meaningful experience in Seoul National University Hospital.

Signed,

Dr. Liesel Anne Fong

Consultant (Surgery)

Chair of the Board of Residency and Fellowships,

Seoul National University Hospital

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Associate Consultant (Surgery) in Paediatrics.

Interesting.

Confusing.

I assumed that it meant paediatric surgery.

“…that is the last name on my list. Have I missed out anyone?

No? Okay great.

Please read through your orientation letters and once you’re ready, you may proceed to the locations indicated on them.

The resident whom you are understudying will then brief you further on what is expected of you during your term here.

Anyone with any other questions, please approach me for assistance.

This is the end of my briefing. Thank you all for being patient with me.”

A couple of people proceeded to the front to talk to Dr. Shon, while I slid the envelope into my tote bag.

Seeing that there was nothing else left for me to do, I stood up and decided to find my teaching resident.

Fourth Floor.

Main Office Building.

That was just three floors up.

I walked out of the room, taking one last glance at Dr. Shon, before I took a right, and proceeded to the lift I had zoomed past while I was rushing here.

I pushed the “Up” button and waited patiently for the lift to arrive.

A few seconds later, a petite girl approached from my right and then stopped beside me.

I was halfway to the point of zoning out when I noticed that she was looking at me.

Correction. Staring.

“Hey. I’m Clara,” she finally spoke, and she giggled when I turned to look at her, slightly flustered.

 “I’m sorry if I scared you. Do you always bite your lip and zone out like that?”

I considered myself to be pretty short, but she was almost half a head shorter than me, dressed in a white top and black jeans with flats.

The girl had pale skin with dazzling blue eyes and spoke with a unique accent. Her hair was blonde, tied up in a ponytail that bobbled as she tilted her head to the left and smiled at me.

She looked really young. Almost like a little kid.

“Hello, my name is Seulgi. Nice… to meet you.” I ended off awkwardly, unsure of who she was.

“Heya Seulgi~ Oh my God I have to rant because I’m so jealous that you got into paediatrics. I wanted to be in paediatrics so bad~” Clara began,

“You’re in the residency programme too?” I asked, slightly surprised because she looked too young.

Clara nodded, before she went into a full-on rant.

“Did you know how boring psychiatry is? I mean, it’s cool and all but I really wanted paediatrics. The worse thing is, my best friend got into anaesthesiology. Anaesthesioinglogy!”

I couldn’t help but laugh at how she enunciated it.

“But no~ poor Clara gets to talk to mad people. Poor poor Clara.”

The lifts doors opened and the two of us stepped in.

“Which floor are you going to?” I asked her, after pushing number “4”.

“Fourth, thank you. I’m going to make a complaint.”

“Complaint? To whom?”

“Complaint to my stupid sister. She better do something about it.”

“Your sister?”

Wait.

Clara?

“Oh great. I screwed up again,” she whined beside me. Her lips pulled in a pout.

“You’re Clara Fong. The –”

“Top scorer 20 years old yes please let’s move on.” Clara interrupted with a swishing motion of her hand. “WHY DOES THIS ALWAYS HAPPEN TO ME!” she ranted to the entire elevator, causing me to smile again.

“Well –”

“No. Shhh! I don’t want to talk about it. Okay let’s see… who’s your upper-study?”

“Dr. Bae Joohyun.”

Upon hearing the name, Clara smiled and frowned at the same time.

I had no idea that that was even possible until I saw it on her face.

“Well, you’re lucky. Irene is awesome. Brilliant, according to my sister.”

“Irene?”

“Yup, that’s her English name. She used to be lots of fun but she’s kind of emotional nowadays. My sister and Irene got into a fight the other day too. I don’t know why, but it looked bad so be careful she might be moody.”

I bit my lip as I took in what she said.

“You’re doing your dumb face again. You kind of look like a dumb bear. Don’t do that. It’s too ugly for your pretty face,” she continued, smiling.

“Anyway, just call her Dr. Bae. Not Irene. Not Bae. Not Joohyun And most definitely not Hyun. God bless you if you try that one.”

The lifts door opened and we stepped out of the lift.

Clara led me to a quasi-lounge area on the right, where she used the extension phone mounted on the wall to make a call.

Holding up one finger to tell me to wait, Clara kept quiet for three seconds before…

“LIESEL. I’M GOING TO KILL YOU. YOU MESSED WITH MY RESULTS RIGHT?

SHUT UP.

OPEN THE DOOR NOW.

I HATE YOU.”

Clara hung up the phone, slammed it against the wall angrily.

“You’re finding Irene, right?”

Clara smiled brightly at me.

Unbelievable

“Uhh, yeah. Is she here?”

“Nope, you’re going to want to be going to the fifth floor instead.”

“Fifth floor?”

“Yup. Paediatrics is up there. My sister probably screwed up the floors because Irene’s office isn’t really official yet. Irene moved up to the fifth floor after…”

Clara paused for a moment, biting her lip, then smiled as she continued.

“Well, anyway she’s up there now. I know I should have told you this before the lift went off, but I wanted to talk to you a little longer. Aren’t I like the weirdest person, you’ve met?” she said as she smiled brightly at me.

Wh – at?

I just stared at her blankly.

“I said, aren’t I the weirdest person you’ve met?” Clara repeated, frowning slightly.

“Y-Yes, I guess.”

“Great. I was just checking. It would if I wasn’t. Anyways, got to go hammer my sis! See ya later alligator!” she sang as the glass door beeped open.

Leaving me standing there.

Lost.

Great.

I walked back to the lift and jammed my finger against the button, shaking my head at my luck.

I was still somewhere lost in awe after talking to that baby dragon

After another lift ride, I finally arrived at my destination.

I walked over to the extensive phone outside the office, then searched the list beside it for her name

Dr. Bae Joo-hyun. Extension number: 0816

There she was.

I picked up the phone and punched in the numbers.

The phone rang once, twice, before someone picked up.

“Hello?” I asked with a clear voice.

“Go in. Turn left. Last office.”

The phone hung up.

And the door beeped open.

Well.

That was easier than I expected.

I walked through the door, and the office looked like any other regular office.

There were a bunch of cubicles lined up in a row in the centre, and then a few larger offices further in. I haven’t been here before, but I assumed they were for people with higher positions. I did my clinical exposure in my final year at Severance Hospital and the office layout was something similar to this.

I turned left and started walking past cubicles, then smaller offices, before finally I reached a relatively larger office that had her name on a makeshift board beside the door.

Dr. Bae Joohyun

Associate Consultant (Surgery)

I raised my hand slowly and knocked twice on the glass door.

“Come in.” The same voice from the phone sounded from the other side as she looked up from her papers.

I pushed open the door and entered the room.

The first thing I noticed about Dr. Bae were her eyes.

Dark brown.

With a burning intensity that wrapped its flames around my heart.

Her beauty was captivating. No, paralysing.

Her skin, as white as winter’s snow.

Her complexion. Flawless.

Her dark and light brown-ombre hair that covered her ears as it fell neatly onto her shoulders…

“Why are you staring at me?

Her voice jolted me out of my thoughts and I pursed my lips before stuttering a reply.

“I’m K-K-Kang Seulgi. Pleasure to meet you… Dr. Bae.”

Only after I ended my sentence did I remember to walk to her and offer her a handshake.

Great first impression there.

Stupid. STUPID.

Irene stared at my hand, as though she was thinking of whether she was going to take it, before she finally reached out and touched my hand.

Not shook.

Touched.

A sideways run of her fingers down my palm.

A permission gesture.

Like Will and Caesar in The Planet of The Apes.

Okay…

“I don’t have any operations scheduled for today, so just hang around in the lounge until something comes up,” Dr. Bae said, breaking our eye contact, as she took her hand back and returned to tidy up her papers.

I wanted to ask her a question, but bit my lip and fumbled with my hands as I hesitated.

“Why are you still here?” she said coldly as she looked back up at me. There was a little bit of annoyance in her eyes this time around.

“I… Well… I was just wondering how you’ll contact me. I don’t have a pager yet so…”

“You don’t have a pager?” she raised her voice.

“Yes. I haven’t been issued one…”

“Unbelievable.” She sighed, shaking her head slightly.

“…yet.”

My heart fell a little lower.

This was not going the way I had hoped for at all.

Why did she have to be so…

Dr. Bae reached for her phone on the table, unlocked it, and then held it towards me as I looked at her apprehensively.

“Key in your phone number.”

I took the phone from her in a haste, pressing the numbers quickly before passing it back to her.

She saved the number, pressing her lips together in concentration as she fumbled with the options on her phone.

 “I’ll call you once I have your pager. I need to go and find…”

The fire in her eyes seemed to have dim a little as she looked back up at me thoughtfully.

No, she was looking at me, but her mind was someplace else.

Then, Dr. Bae regained her focus as she said, a little… less cold.

“I’m busy now. I’ll show you around later. You can tag onto other ward rounds if you’d like, but don’t wander off too far. Just tell them that I sent you.”

With that, she returned to her pen and paper, and I took the hint this time around, excusing myself from the room with a word of thanks.

First impressions with Dr. Bae.

Check.
 

~~~~

A/N

Hope that you all enjoyed this short chapter. 

I'm not really in a good mood now, so I shall not talk too much.

Next chapter should be out 150930

Thank you for being patient with me.

koofs