Leaving the bathroom, I decide to go with a blue shirt, a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, and a floral infinity scarf with a pair of lace up

booties for the day. “Well now that I’ve made myself presentable, I guess I’ll go get breakfast at the cafe.” Saying that, I walk to the

door, grabbing my house keys, car keys and iPhone 6 that are lying on the kitchen counter, on the way out. Unlocking my sleek, red

Maserati GranTurismo Convertible Sport, I hop in and go get myself some breakfast.

I park my convertible in front of the Morning Light Cafe, and walk inside. The first thing that always hits me when I step inside is the smell of fresh new batches of pastries and the rich, warm and pleasant aroma of freshly brewed coffee. I get in line to place my order and when it’s my turn, the cashier asks, “Just the usual Shin-hye? A vanilla cappuccino and a blueberry muffin?”.

“Yes, thank you,” I said.

The cashier was a friend of mine, Lee Yu-bi. She is younger than me by two years and was working part-time at the cafe. Once I get my food, I head over to a corner table and start devouring my breakfast. During the last 15 minutes I have left before my shift starts, I catch up on the latest news and look at the weather reports. I finish my food and get up to throw away my trash and put the tray on the front counter. Looking at my white, leather, solar crystal Seiko watch, I see that I have six minutes to get to the hospital, but luckily it was a couple blocks away. Walking towards the exit with my head down looking at the time on my watch, I bump into someone. I lose my balance and fall backwards when all of a sudden I feel a pair of hands wrapped around my waist and keeping me from falling onto the floor. Raising my head up, I see a blurry but handsome face looking down at me.

“Are you alright miss?” he asked.

When my vision clears up, I get a closer look at the man and I see that he has a soft expression on his face, small lips, and kind of high nose bridge. I am caught up in the moment, but immediately remember that I only have a few minutes to get to the the hospital. Getting up, I gather my belongings that dropped when I bumped into him, and I rush out the door, forgetting to say “Thank you” and “Sorry” to the attractive stranger. I quickly get in the car and drive to the hospital, making it in time. Once reaching my office on the 3rd floor and in my white coat, I check my schedule and spend more than half the day doing neurosurgeries. Being proficient at my job, I finish them quickly, then take a 30 minute break at 6:30pm. Remembering the incident at the cafe this morning, I get a bit disturbed because it isn’t everyday that some gorgeous guy bumps into you at a cafe and catches you holding your waist to keep you from falling to the ground just like in mangas or kdramas. It was love at first sight, I’m sure of it. I start sulking, and regret not saying anything and asking for his number. Ugh, oh well.

“Shin hye!” someone shouted. I whirled around to see the person who had shouted my name so loudly and frantically. It was one of my younger coworkers. His coat and hands were bloody and he was breathing heavily, probably from running for help.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, since I didn’t get why he looked like a mess. If I had to guess, he was likely working a night shift today at the ER.

    “Shin hye, there aren’t enough doctors in the ER and it’s all a turmoil. The higher-ups told me to gather several more doctors who aren’t busy and to have them come down there to help,” he said.

    I ran down to the ER and saw an ambulance bringing in a young man who was in a car accident, the same one who I had bumped into this morning! He had lost too much blood, had a few minor injuries, a broken left arm, and a had lost some blood because of shards of glass that were lodged in his right forearm; there was also a large gash across his chest. I lead the paramedics to an unoccupied hospital bed where they transfer him onto. I hold a towel against his chest to temporarily stop the bleeding and attach him to an IV that gives him more blood. Then, I begin to get rid of the sharp foreign objects penetrating his bloody forearm, placing them in a large, silver tray. Once that task is completed, I fix up his broken arm and put on a cast, trying to finish in under 10 minutes. From that point, I have a fellow doctor operate on him and stitch his chest up.

A couple hours after the man is moved to a hospital room, I go to check up on him to see if he is awake. I look at his profile and see that his name is Song Joong Ki. I analyze Joong Ki’s medical test results and say, “I’m doctor Shin Hye. Nice to meet you. You’re going to be hospitalized for a week and put under observation because considering how your condition is unclear and the factors involved, you’ll be given specific medication.”

Joong Ki looks up at me and after a moment, he has an amicable expression on his face. “You were the one I bumped into this morning. Ah, I also forgot to say sorry for it too. Maybe I should buy some talismans, since I keep seeming to have good luck in the mornings and bad luck at night these days for some weird reason.” As he’s saying that last sentence, I become a bit surprised and think he is a bit eccentric. However, I still like him and decide to ask him out there and then, not willing to miss another chance and end up being irate. I blurt it out so quickly that he probably didn’t understand what I said, “Even though I only just met you this morning, I feel like it’s love at first sight! Will you please go out with me?!”

Joong Ki looked at me weirdly. Did he not hear me? Did I say that too fast?  Then after a minute of staring at me he finally spoke, “You just asked me to go out with you. Am I right?”

“Yes,” I said nervously.

“ We don’t even know anything about each other. Your smart, pretty and seem like a really nice girl, but I’m sorry. I’m going to have to say no. Plus the fact that my mother is a cynical person doesn’t really help either.” Then, as if on cue to end my embarrassment, someone knocked loudly on the door and opened it. It was an old woman who was wearing flamboyant clothing. She walked up to Joong Ki and was crying a bit. Then looking up, the lady said, “Are you the doctor? I’m Mrs. Song, his mother. How is he?” I tell her that he is okay but the hospital wants him to stay for a week under observation just in case. After asking a few more questions about her son, I excuse myself to leave them to spend time alone and for me to organize my thoughts.

It slowly is sinking into me that I was rejected, but I refuse to accept it. I’ve had enough of my boyfriendless life. I’m going to keep confessing until he accepts. Time to make a plan! I’m going to make packed lunches and buy beverages as inducements. Hopefully, it will make him consider dating me. I’ll also try to get to know him and tell him a few things about me. I only have a week to do this, so I better get started.

Day after day, I come to work bringing packed lunches to share with Joong Ki and try to become closer to him. However, on the last day of his stay at the hospital, I confess to him once more. I hope that my efforts bore fruit but I knew that once again I would be rejected like the last 6 times I tried.

I asked once more with a sad look look on my face, “Will you go out with me?” I wait quietly for the last answer I’ll ever get to that question, expecting a last “no”. But it never came.

“I accept your feelings. What do you want to do for our first date?”