“Doctor, here are your patients tomorrow.” A woman in her specialized uniform places a pile of folders on the vacant space.

“Are these all for tomorrow?”

“I’m afraid so.” She sympathetically smiles. “Saturdays are always your toxic schedule doctor.”

She sighs out loud while giving the pile a glance. “Can you do a little run-through with the patients? Let’s see if you can reschedule some other people. I have an important meeting tomorrow.”

“Of course, doctor. May I?” The doctor nods, still focused on her own pile of papers. “Your first client is Mr. Hong at nine o’clock.”

“Is that before or after his weekend golf?”

“After, since he knows you’ll be running some tests for him.”

“Reschedule for Monday at eight o’clock. If he’s stern tell him I’ll add more minutes to his exercise evaluation.”

“Noted.” She says as she writes on the client’s portfolio. “Next is Mrs. Jo at eleven.”

“What was my first diagnosis about her?”

“It says here Atrial Fibrillation.”

“Switch her to Mr. Hong’s time, I need to do more routine exercises with her.”

“Tomorrow you’re meeting first time with Councilor Cha’s wife. Should I get the machines ready?”

“Is she visiting for the afternoon?”

Her assistant nods. “Right after her tea sessions with her colleagues at the university.”

“Call her and say I need her hear at eleven.”

“But… that’s the councilor’s wife doctor, they are known for being one of the biggest contributors to our clinic.”

“We’re just going to reschedule not forbid her to see me.” She says. “Very well, give me her contact number. I’ll call her myself.”

“Will do doctor.”

“Go on, we need to filter through them by tonight.”

The latter widens her eyes at her superior’s statement. She already felt guilty for passing her job and adding more stress to her doesn’t sit well with her. “Don’t worry doctor, I’ll reschedule some of those clients who aren’t urgent on your lighter days.”

“Okay.” She quickly replies and heads back to her paperwork. “You can leave now.”

“R-right, well… good night doctor. I’ll see you tomorrow.” She gives the latter a curt nod and nothing more than that.

 

It was only two hours later that she can finally say she was done for the day. She looked at all the reports and mails and other queries that were left unread over the days, double-checking just to see if she missed anything before closing her laptop. She gives herself a full body stretch, securing her once loosened ponytail then proceeds to hang her coat and head out of her office.

 

 

“Good evening doctor.” Another woman stops her. She looks at the wall clock just right outside their hallway and quite surprised at the latter’s presence at this time of the hour. “I see you’re still working hard. Heading home now?”

“Just about to.” She shortly replies while fishing up her brown leather messenger bag.

“Your friend is waiting for you at the lobby by the way, but of course, as usual, she’s already asleep.”

She nods again. “I’ll be off now.”

“Good night doctor.”

 

She politely bows down to her colleague then walks towards the lobby where she sees a blonde woman with short-bob hair leaning onto the vending machine for support. She had slightly open as she adjusts herself into a more comfortable position. It was an adorable sight so she fishes out her phone and takes a quick snap of the other one. She zooms in the recently taken photo, making sure she got the right angles before locking her phone.

 

Another picture for her birthday compilation. She thinks to herself.

 

 

“Hey, wake up.” She lightly taps, although it was completely obvious just how much of a heavy sleeper her friend can be. “Wake-up.” She says in an octave higher and gave her tapping a bit more force.

“Stop disturbing me, I’m eating.”

“With that mouth of yours hang wide open, it’s not much of a shocker.” Somehow, sub-consciously hearing the words mouth and open in one sentence pulled out her from the heavenly dream. The blonde looks around to see if there was someone judging her from afar, only to have a jet-black haired woman who was smiling at her. “So? Did you get to eat your meal?”

“Whatever.” She rolls her eyes and stood up to fix herself.

“What was it this time? T-bone? Ribeye?”

“No, I was eating all the papers you had inside your office so we can head home.” She does a few shoulder stretches, feeling the tension on her shoulders right away. “I already told you give your assistant more load work.”

“She’s new and I can’t trust her with that much files just yet.”

“Hmm, maybe your replacement will.”

Now that had her eyes rolling. “We’re still not sure about that Doctor Son Wendy.”

“Oh, but I do. You and I are going to make it.” She smiles. “Now let’s go home now Doctor Bae Irene.”

 

 

 

Irene watches as Wendy does her neck stretches while they walk their way home. “I see you had a tough day today.”

“Tell me about it.” Wendy successfully cracks the bone on her neck, sighing as soon as she felt the relief. “I had a lot of patients plus I had to travel to Seoul because one of my patients wouldn’t go to my referral unless I come and personally hand her myself.”

“You went to Seoul today?” Wendy only nods her head as she shifts to the soreness of her shoulders. “That’s a long drive.”

“I went to Seoul for like thirty minutes since Dr. Won had an urgent seminar to attend.”

“Your patience is really something else.”

“Speaking of Seoul…” Wendy trails off and links their arms together. “Have you received your mail?”

 “Is it supposed to arrive today?”

“My landlady called, she said it came earlier this evening.”

“No wonder you’ve paged me so many times.”

“Duh? That’s because I know that mail contains good news.”

“You’re way too optimistic about this.”

“What not to be positive about this Joo? You and I both know that you’re qualified no, scratch that you’re over-qualified. Top of the class, full on A-lister and best in our clinic! Of course they would want to have to join them, it would be an honor!”

“And you?” Irene looks at her. “You think you can make it?”

“Well I’m just trying to rub off some of your luck on me.” That comment made Irene laugh. “Ooh I can’t wait to go to Seoul! It’s a big city with big opportunities and finally the experience of working at one of the best hospitals in the country.” She smiles.

“You speak of Seoul as if it’s our last hope of sunshine.”

“Because it is! Think about it, we cannot have the exposure we want here. Sure, I love this town and most of the people here are nice and all but Seoul-”

“Is everything you hoped for? Your dream place to have your dream job?”

“Oh come on, don’t make it sound like I’m a Seoul stan or something.” She rolls her eyes. “But honestly though, don’t you think that’s nice?”

Irene takes a few seconds to answer. “It does sounds nice.”

“Trust me on this Joo, your world is going to turn around once we move to Seoul.”

 

Irene doesn’t say anything more and so they walked in silence until they reach Irene’s house. Wendy hugs her farewell before crossing the street where walks her way to her own apartment building. Irene’s home is any like kind of home in the small town. Traditional yet timeless. It was probably nothing compared to the houses that are being constructed nearby or like the ones that Wendy is currently living on but it was home nonetheless.

 

 

“I’m home.” She greets to no one as she takes off her shoes and slips on her home sandals.

“You’re here!” An old lady wearing floral-patterned onesie meets her halfway with a bright smile. “I thought you were sleeping again in the clinic.”

“I just had to do some paperwork and rearrange my schedule for tomorrow.”

“Oh! Tomorrow is the day we go on picnic right?”

Irene smiles. “Yes grandma, we’re going on a rest day tomorrow.”

“Good! Because I’ve prepared everything we need for tomorrow. Although I’m not finished yet with preparing side dishes.”

“That’s okay grandma, let’s just eat dinner first then I’ll help you with preparing.”

Her grandma nods and together they start to prepare their table for dinner. “By the way, a mail arrived this afternoon.”

Irene immediately stops right away. “Do you know where it came from?”

“Seoul I think?” She says unsurely. “It looks like the one you’ve been waiting for months now.”

“Where is it?”

“Right by the tab-Joohyun! No running!”

 

As soon as Irene moves back to their living room, there she notices a cream white envelope. She immediately grabs the item, pulling it closer to her chest as she closes her eyes, trying ease her quick and uneasy breathing. When she finally calmed herself down, she turns it around and saw the familiar sealed emblem making her heart beat in expeditious movement. With shaky hands, she slowly unseals it and read the content with her eyes.

 

 

Greetings Doctor Bae Joohyun,

 

This is our reply to your letter of intent to apply for residency in the Cardiology Department in Life Care Community Hospital. We have thoroughly discussed regarding your intent and even conducted series of physical visitation to further evaluate your skills and talents that you have acquire to come up with a better conclusion.

The board of the hospital has decided last week and I am very pleased to welcome you into our prestigious institution. You have been accepted to become one of our residents specifically in the Cardiology Department, being under one of the greatest cardiologists we have in the country. We believe that with your acquired talents and skills Life Care Community Hospital will be one step closer into achieving our vision- and that is to be the best healthcare provider in the entire country.

In line with this, we are hoping for your presence next week around ten o’clock in the morning to have your official welcoming in our community. We hope a week’s time is enough for you to settle any unfinished business you have and comply the following requirements.

 

Once again, welcome to Life Care Community Hospital.

 

 

“Joohyun dear?” Her grandmother’s voice echoed around her head. “Is everything alright?”

“Grandma…” She says with shaky tone. “I’ve been accepted.”

“Really? Well that’s good news!” Irene looks at her grandmother’s genuine smile. “We should celebrate!”

“BAE JOOHYUN!” Hearing Wendy’s loud voice had Irene rushing out of their household where she sees Wendy right outside the window of her apartment, just right across the street. “DID YOU GET YOUR MAIL!?” Irene lifts up her envelope. “Well?! What does it say!?” Again, Irene doesn’t respond verbally and proceeds to nod her head, making her friend’s eyes widen and lips spread out into a huge grin. “YES! WE BOTH GOT IN!”

“Be quiet!” One of Wendy’s neighbor’s say in a loud tone.

Wendy on the other hand could barely give her neighbor attention. “CONGRATULATIONS TO THE BOTH OF US JOOHYUN! WE’RE FINALLY MOVING TO SEOUL!”

“I said be quiet! I’m watching a movie!”

“YOU TRY AND BE QUIET I’M CELEBRATING!”

Hearing the petty banter go back and forth made Irene shake her head. “Let’s talk tomorrow Wendy!” She tries to make her voice loud enough for her friend to hear.

Thankfully though Wendy did, giving her a thumbs up. “Good night Joo!”

Irene waves her friend farewell before coming back to her grandmother who just finished preparing their dinner together. “Let’s eat?”

 

 

“Why are you not eating anything?” Irene stops midway when she noticed her grandmother was just looking at her. “You should eat.”

“Let me just look at you eating, it’s already enough to fill me.”

She looks at the latter weirdly. “My salary isn’t due until next week. Tell Aunt Gong that whatever you owe her will be fully paid next week.” She says.

That comment earned Irene a nudge on the head. “You rascal.” Her grandma says before grabbing her own utensils to feed herself.

“I’m going to Seoul next week.”

“For a tour?”

“No, they want me to move to Seoul by next week.”

“Wow, looks like you’re really needed there.”

“Maybe I should just take the week off. What do you think?”

“The whole week off?” Irene nods her head. “You don’t need that much of time to prepare dear.”

“There’s a lot of things to do, besides I already told the head of the clinic that I am expecting to receive a letter today. I’ll tell him that I need to move by next week. I need to clear my office, train the replacement for three days and observe him for a day and then sell some stuffs so we can look for a decent apartment fitting for the three of us. But I think we’ll be fine once we put this house for rent. Maybe we should take pictures and then-”

“Why would we have this house for rent?”

“That’s because you are coming with me.”

“Joo, we already talked about this.”

“I can’t leave you here all by yourself.”

“People have known me in this address. If we move now, the people who owe me money won’t pay me back. I want to stay behind. My life is not in Seoul.”

“You’re not giving the city life a chance.”

“Sometimes not giving a chance is also a chance.” She says. “I like my life here and our home is not just any other ordinary home you know that. It holds one of the most precious treasures and tourist spots in our small town. I’m generating money here over small tours and bartering. I’ll manage.”

“Tell me honestly, do you really not want to leave because you like living in this place or is it because you’re still waiting for him to come around?”

“Joo…” Her grandmother slowly trails off. “I know he’s going to come around. We just have to be patient with him.”

“Dad is never going back.” She states. “Nor the people who owe you money.”

“You don’t know that, give him a chance. He’s still your father.”

“Sometimes not giving a chance is also a chance.” She repeats. “If you want to wait for the people who are never coming back then that’s your call. But don’t use the ‘father’ card on me because you and I both know that the only thing I was to him was the girl who bought beer for him when he’s too drunk to do so.”

“Joohyun-”

“I’m not like you nana, I can’t welcome back people after leaving me behind. They made their choice long time ago so they should it up.” She wipes and stood up from their meal. “Your heart is too pure but that heart of yours will be your greatest weakness and it end you some day.”

 

Irene prepared herself to head to sleep with a heavy heart. She never fought with her grandmother like that or even argue in general. When her father left them at a young age, Irene promised herself that she would never ever fight with the only family member she has. Her grandmother practically sacrificed a lot for her to be where she is right now and all Irene wanted to do was to return the favor. Now with a job that has bigger pay, Irene can afford to give them a good life. One that her nana deserves to have. Yet despite all of her hard work, she’s still waiting for him to come home.

She never really understood how could she wait for him even after all the things he has put them through. All the unpaid debts that the two of them struggled to pay through the years, the years where Irene could’ve just enjoyed her youth but instead, she worked hard and studied hard, hoping that she would be able to bag a scholarship and earn some spare change and the pain that’s imprinted on her heart.

 

Nonetheless Irene decides that she still has a week to persuade her nana. With her stubbornness and her grandmother’s pure heart, she was confident that she would win the battle. She’s going to give her the good life and Irene was determined to do whatever it takes to do so.

 

 

“Joohyun? Are you sleeping?” Hearing the old woman’s voice coming from the other side had Irene rushing towards her bed to cover and pretend to sleep. “Joohyun?”

 

She closed her eyes tightly, hoping that with her not responding her gradma would just leave her alone and talk it over in the morning. However, it seems to be a genetic trait in the family as she feels the edge of her bed slowly sink and her grandmother’s hand soothing her hair. As she feels those gentle , bit by bit, she could feel herself being filled with guilt.

 

“I’m sorry for being so stubborn.” She hears her say. “I’m sorry for not seeing the plan that you have for me…”

“I just want to give you a good life nana, that’s all I want.” Irene says before she could even stop herself. “Waiting for him is useless, he’s not coming back.”

“You may not understand me now, but when you truly love someone you would still wait for them to come back to you, even if they took everything with them. You are willingly and patiently waiting, hoping that they would get back to their senses and realize that someone is waiting for them, even if it’s impossible.”

“But why?”

“Because you love them Joohyun, you wait because you love them. You wait, even if you slowly run out of reasons to.”

Irene finally sits up, meeting her grandmother’s eyes. “I’m not giving up on you nana, by the end of the week, I’m confident that I can still convince you to come to Seoul with me.”