"This is it … take a deep breath, Shuhua … you can do this."
Yeh Shuhua, brand new surgical intern, grips the straps of the handbag on her shoulder. She brushes some strands of her long black hair out of the way before looking up to the sign above the entrance in front of her. "CUBE National University Hospital. It's finally time." She mumbles to herself before setting her sight on the doors in front of her. Six years of hard-work culminates to this moment, so her heart flutters just to approach the entrance.
As the entrance slides open, the cool air hits her before the hustle and bustle of Orientation Day engulfs her. Before her, countless tables with one or two attendance each line the lobby area. Each table has a sign for its purpose and a group new hospital staff. This is the main hospital, where sterile white walls and large walls of windows dominate. It feels as cold as it looks, despite having all these hot bodies in the month of August. This main building recently went through a multi-billion won renovation so everything looks so minimal and new.
Like a lost deer, Shuhua’s eyes start to blur with the countless movements and noises. She couldn't focus on where to go first. "What did the welcome packet say?" She mumbles to herself again.
"I think you just go to the table that contains your last name and check in." A cheerful voice helpfully states before Shuhua had a chance to dig the information out of her bag.
Shuhua looks to her right and there is a girl with fluffy strawberry blond hair smiling at her. "Erm … thanks."
"You're welcome!" The strawberry head chirps before heading toward a table.
Shuhua takes another deep breath and strides forward, eyes scanning for a table that contains her last name. She stops at the last table, her last name does start with a 'Y' after all. She was always amongst the last people during roll call, so why would it be different this time? The people ahead of her clears out to reveal two people sitting at the table.
"Name?" The left attendance asks. A woman with sharp eyes and a name tag that says, "Sunmi"
Before Shuhua could answer, the right attendance says, "Hey, be more welcoming. We're here to welcome these guys to the hospital." A girl with eye-smile and a name tag that says, "Chungha"
"…" Sunmi stares at Shuhua expectantly while ignoring her colleague.
"Shuhua. Yeh Shuhua." Shuhua watches as the girl flips through the many envelopes in a plastic bin.
"Yeh Shuhua. That's a cute name. You're cute, too. I love your white skin and dark hair … it's so long! We have another beauty joining our hospital. We might as well change our name to Miss Korea Hospital or something …" Chungha drones on, causing a small blush to warm Shuhua’s cheek. She isn’t sure whether to thank the girl or deny such praises.
"Here." Sunmi hands Shuhua a large folder, "You'll find your name tag, personalized orientation schedule, benefits information, department listing, and all the necessary safety information inside. During the different sessions today, you'll have a chance to discuss all the topics in there."
"Thank you." Shuhua respectfully accepts the folder with both hands. "Um … do you know where I should go next?"
"I recommend putting your name tag on first and head to the second floor auditorium. The hospital president will give his welcoming speech before dismissing everyone to go to their individual sessions. We're only doing one day of orientation, so the pace is pretty brutal … you do get a lunch break in the middle, though … and it's free! Just show your name tag." Chungha directs Shuhua as briefly as she could.
"Thank you, again." Shuhua awkwardly bows to the two attendances before jetting off to the auditorium so quickly that she misses the discussion from the two women.
"Sunmi, this year's batch of interns is another round of bishoujo characters!" Chungha excitedly proclaims to her indifferent friend.
"That last one looks like she just graduated middle school … it's going to be hard for patients to respect her, much less the old geezers around here." Sunmi rolls here eyes.
"I have a feeling that's not going to be the case, you've got to have faith, Sunmi!"
"Yeah, yeah … whatever… next!"

—

Shuhua pats her name tag onto her blazer's jacket, hoping that it wouldn't leave residue. She's wearing a chic navy business suit and white blouse. It took her a few months to save up from her part time job for this outfit along with other professional clothes. She looks around the mostly filled auditorium and picks an isle seat near the back exit. It is a small auditorium, so being in the back is actually not that far from the podium up front.
Having seated, she starts to take things out of the folder that she just received. There's so much to read and the schedule looks horrendous. "Intro … tour … pay and benefits … safety … infection control …" Lunch looks like it would never get here. Then there's even a breakout session after lunch.
"Can I sit here?" A cheerful voice pulls Shuhua out of her information overload.
She looks up to recognize the helpful girl from earlier, "Um … yeah. Sure." Shuhua nods and gestures toward the seat to her right.
"Thank you!" The girl sounds waaaaay too cheerful for this early in the morning. She’s wearing a similar suit to Shuhua, but in black instead.
Shuhua nods and turns her attention back to the information that's causing her eyes to blur.
"I'm Song Yuqi." The cheerful strawberry blond offers her hand toward Shuhua.
Shuhua glances at her name tag before nodding and accepting the handshake. "Yeh Shuhua."
"Shuhua … that's a pretty name." For the second time today, someone complimented Shuhua's name, causing her to blush a little. "That's a Chinese name, right?"
"No." Shuhua shakes her head, "It's Taiwanese."
Yuqi stares at Shuhua for a moment, as if she's debating to argue that Taiwanese is Chinese. Though that can be a touchy subject, so she chooses not to engage. "I'm Chinese … do you speak Mandarin?"
Shuhua blinks as she processes the information. "Y-Yes … do you?"
"Yeah! Ohmygosh, I have been dying to speak Mandarin ever since I left home last month. You don't know how great it is to find another Mandarin speaker! I haven't met anyone else who could. How lucky that I ran into you!" Yuqi rattles off four sentences in Mandarin in the span of one breath.
Shuhua claps her hands excitedly before nodding, "Me too. I'm glad I'm not the only one. I miss speaking Mandarin when I'm not home!"
“How old are you, Shuhua?”
“I’m 22. And you?”
“Me, too! So let’s not use honorifics with each other, okay?”
“I’m so glad you said that, because I’m so bad at it!” Shuhua laughs, her mood instantly improved.
"What's your specialty, Shuhua?"
"It's Gen …" Before Shuhua could answer, someone had lightly tapped her left shoulder. She turns to find a girl with a short platinum blond bob haircut looking down at her.
"I need to get through." The girl speaks in a very matter-of-factly, no nonsense voice while pointing toward the seat on the other side of Yuqi. Turns out, that's the only seat left in the auditorium.
"Oh, sorry." Shuhua and Yuqi gather their things and makes themselves as small and flat against the seats as possible for the other girl to get through. The platinum blond is quite petite. Her skirt shows off very skinny legs and sharp knees as she scoots through to the seat on the right of Yuqi.
When the new girl has seated, Yuqi turns back to Shuhua. "As you were saying …"
"Oh, yeah … General Surgery."
"Really? That's pretty awesome. I'm doing Neurosurgery."
"That's cool! It was my second choice, but it was super competitive … and I really liked my General Surgery rotation."
"Yeah, I know. I was pretty lucky." Yuqi smiles humbly.
"It has to do with more than luck, I'm sure you've worked very hard." Shuhua praises Yuqi and looks around, "Do you know how many Neuro residents there are this year?"
"I heard maybe 2 or 3 … what about you? I know there's been a down trend for General."
"I'm not sure, I think I might be the only one …" Shuhua scratches her head.
"Are you going to specialize within General?"
"Maybe …"
As Shuhua starts to explain, the platinum blond girl on the other side of Yuqi suddenly and loudly clears . It seems that the ceremony is about to start because there is a bespectacled older man standing at the podium. He must be the hospital president. Shuhua presses her lips together and smiles at the girl, who proceeds to promptly ignores her.
“Good morning. My name is Hong Seungsung and I am the president of CUBE National University Hospital.” He pauses for an applause. “Thank you. I’ll try to keep this short.” President Hong smiles warmly. “I would like to personally welcome everyone to our great hospital. We are very privileged to host so many young and interesting talents. We are very excited to have you here to be part of this amazing team of healthcare providers. We pride ourselves in first-rate patient care as well as innovative medical research. You will find that the staff here are always striving toward excellence. Today, you will meet some of those amazing staff.” He motions toward some people who are sitting in the front rows and also standing to the sides of the auditorium.
“I trust that they will welcome you with as much care and excitement as I am eager to show you. After this, you will go on a tour of the main hospital, then break into small sessions that are detailed in your individualized schedule. After lunch, you’ll get your identification cards and sign-in informations. Lastly, you will meet your respective specialty team. In the interest of time, if you have any question right now, I ask you to wait until after your small sessions, as they may answer many of your questions. If you still have questions at the end of the day, you may ask any of our staff in the administrative office on the third floor. Now, I will yield the podium to our esteemed Vice-President of Operations, Dr. Shin Junghwa.” Another round of obligatory applause fills the auditorium as a woman in a fine skirt suit strides up to the podium.
“Thank you President Hong and welcome this year’s group of fine young doctors, nurses, supportive and administrative staff. My name is Shin Junghwa and I am Vice-President of Operations. I am very excited to work along side each and everyone of you to make CUBE the best hospital in the Republic of Korea. Now, I will be leading you on a tour of our state of the art facility. If everyone will careful exit the auditorium and meet me outside in the lobby, we can begin the tour.”
Shuhua is impressed that someone so high up in the hospital is leading the tour. As the crackling of applause dwindles, Yuqi and Shuhua rise from their seats and join the lines of people streaming out of the auditorium. The first floor contains the information center, the medical information center, cafeteria, outpatient pharmacy, surgery departments such as (but not limited to): general, cardiothoracic, plastic, orthopedics, obstetrics and gynecology, and organ transplant. The small window on the door to the office of the General Surgery department shows no light. Shuhua was hoping to catch a glimpse of other residents or some attendings.
Yuqi and Shuhua follow at a leisurely pace with the slow moving group as they travel from the main lobby on the first floor to the basement first floor where the Neurosurgery department is located.
“Wow, I didn’t realize that I was going to be down here … in the basement.” Yuqi sighs as there is nary a window in sight.
Shuhua smiles and pats her back empathetically.
“I hope I don’t become pale and depressed as a basement dweller.” Yuqi mopes and turns to Shuhua. “Remember me when you bask in the sunlight of the first floor.”
Shuhua laughs and nods. “I’ll get you a sun lamp for your office.”
“Thank you, Shuhua. You’re too kind.” Yuqi fakes a single tear down her cheek.
Shuhua really likes how funny and outgoing Yuqi is, she helps the day go by quicker.
The second floor contains the main operating theater. There are other elective surgery departments as well as the conference rooms for various departments. The third floor contains executive offices as well as a bridge that connects to the Children’s Hospital. Various wards and units are on this floor, too many for Shuhua to remember. The only consistent thing is the smell of cleaning detergent and the metallic tang of stainless steel in the open air. Honestly, Shuhua’s mind was barely there by the time they reached the fourth floor, which contains even more wards and random rooms and corners and … Shuhua could see herself getting lost in here for days.

—

"I'm going to something called Quality Improvement and Infection Control on this floor." Yuqi looks at the next topic on her schedule. "Joy." She says sarcastically. The tour just finished and they have a moment to grab some burnt coffee from machines in the staff lounge on the fourth floor.
"Campus Safety and Information Security on the first floor for me." Shuhua sighs, it sounds so very much like death by boredom for her.
"That sounds even worse than mine." Yuqi laughs and waves to Shuhua. "Have fun and maybe we can meet again during lunch?"
"Yeah. Sounds good." Shuhua quickly adds. "It was nice meeting you!"
"Same!" Yuqi skips away to her next meeting.
Shuhua smiles and is glad to meet someone so cheerful on her first day. She puts her folder away and starts toward the designated conference room.

—

"Minnie, you're here! Finally!"
"Yeah yeah … I'm pooped." Kim Minnie, second year Neurosurgery resident, responds in an exasperated sigh as she plops down next to her friend on a sofa in the resident lounge. She has straight, shiny, long black hair and thick bangs that almost cover her eyes. Her makeup is minimal except for her dark eyeliners and eyeshadow. She’s wearing light blue scrubs surgeon scrubs under her white coat.
"Why? What'd you do?"
"Miyeon, you know last night I did an overnight, right? Right in the middle of it, a patient out! So I had to assist on a craniotomy. She wouldn't stop bleeding. So it took fooooorever." Minnie whines and kicks her shoes off.
"Oh no, that sounds horrible. You must be so tired." Cho Miyeon, second year Pediatric surgery resident, sympathetically pats her friend on the arm. She’s seated in the middle with Minnie to her right. She has wavy, luscious, light brown hair and the face of a goddess. She’s wearing a light green sun dress that really shows off her pale skin.
"Yah. Kim Minnie, can you put your shoes back on? Your feet stinks." Seo Soojin, second year Cardiothoracic surgery resident, complains from Miyeon's other side. She is a soft-spoken black hair woman with red cherry lips and glittery eye shadow. She’s also wearing the light blue scrubs of a surgeon.
"Shut up, Seo Soojin. Your feet would stink too if you spent the last 12 hours on your feet, sweating profusely while trying to save someone's life." Minnie points to her eyes, “Can’t you pity me for once? Don’t you see these dark circles under my eyes?”
“Pfft. Your dark eye shadow makes it impossible to tell.” Soojin rolls her eyes.
“Yah!” Minnie is in no mood to be put down this afternoon.
"And no, my feet won’t stink. You forget I've assisted on a 26 hours surgery before." Soojin nonchalantly shrugs, "No biggie. My feet didn't even sweat."
Minnie frowns as she sees Soojin's arm draped lazily over Miyeon's shoulder.
"Guys, please stop talking about feet." Miyeon interjects as the middle person.
"Yah. Cho Miyeon. I thought you were waiting to have lunch with me." Minnie turns her attention to Miyeon, who is basically snuggled against Soojin. "Why are you sitting like that with her?"
"What? I waited for you. Soojin came to keep me company and I got cold." Miyeon tilts her head onto Soojin’s shoulder.
Soojin smirks victoriously at Minnie. That lazy smirk with her eyes half-lidded really irritates Minnie.
"Fine. Stay warm here with your Soojin." Minnie frowns as she gathers her shoes, "I'm starving so I'm going to get lunch." She quickly rises from the sofa and storms out of the resident lounge.
"Hey, come back …" Miyeon calls after her friend.
"You know, as she gets older she sulks a lot more … is she finally going through puberty?" Soojin crackles.
"I know, right?" Miyeon chuckles, but nevertheless, she gets up from her comfy spot by Soojin. "I'm going to check on her, she's had a rough night so she is just a little grumpy." She waves to Soojin, "Join us in the cafeteria, okay?" Without waiting for a response, Miyeon pushes out the door after Minnie.
"Must be nice …" Soojin smiles knowingly and closes her eyes, a quick nap would be nice, too.

—

"Kim Minnie!" Miyeon slowly jogs towards her friend, who is already furiously pressing the down button to call the elevator.
"What? You didn't want to snuggle your Soojin anymore?"
"Are you pouting?"
"I am not! You said you'd have lunch with me, but you totally just wanted to hang with Soojin." Minnie crosses her arms.
"That's not true, I waited for you!" Miyeon points at her wristwatch, "You said that your overnight shift would end at 10AM. It's 1PM now, I've waited for you for three hours on my day off." Miyeon huffs and turns away from Minnie.
[DING]
The elevator opens and a wide-eyed Yuqi looks at the two residents, who are standing with their arms crossed and their backs to each other. Neither made a move for the elevator. "Excuse me …" They turn to glare at her in perfect synchrony. Reading the atmosphere, she quickly presses the door close button to continue on her journey down to the first floor.
"Soojin was keeping me company, she didn't want me to sit alone in the lounge like a weirdo." Miyeon continues after the brief intermission.
"You didn't have to wait there. You could have …"
"What? Waited in the office? On my day off? My first day off in a month?" Miyeon's voice starts to rise.
Sensing the anger quickly rising in Miyeon, Minnie turns around and gently grabs Miyeon's arm. "Sorry."
Miraculously, it works and Miyeon quickly diffuses. She turns to look at Minnie, who now has full puppy eyes underneath her thick bangs. "Don't do that …"
"Don't do what?" Minnie's lower lip pouts.
"That!" Miyeon points at Minnie's lip and laughs. "Your puppy look is getting old."
"But it works everytime." Minnie joins Miyeon in laughter. Her smile causes her eyes to go all squinty and cute as she waddles near her friend and gives her a big, warm hug.
Miyeon quickly smacks Minnies back, "Don't be a jerk to me."
"I'm sorry." Minnie coos into the side of Miyeon’s neck and presses the elevator button again, "Let's eat. You must be hungry."
"I am."
Miyeon light pinches Minnie’s cheek as a gentle punishment, she couldn’t be mad at this face for too long.
—

"Shuhua! Over here!" Yuqi waves excitedly when she spots Shuhua leaving the food line.
"Hey!" Shuhua smiles brightly and bee-lines for her new friend. She sees that the platinum blond from earlier also sitting next to Yuqi. "Hi." She greets both people.
"Yeh Shuhua, this is Jeon Soyeon. She's a Cardiothoracic intern. She was in a few of the sessions with me." Yuqi quickly gets introductions out of the way. "Jeon Soyeon, this is Yeh Shuhua. She's a General surgery intern."
"Nice to meet you." Shuhua cutely waves.
"Likewise." Soyeon nods awkwardly.
"So, how was your morning?" Yuqi starts to dig into her lunch.
"Boring." Shuhua sighs. "I know we're supposed to know all this, but they couldn't at least attempt to make it mildly more interesting?"
"The worst one was the Clinical Documentation one." Yuqi quickly adds between chews.
Soyeon quietly nods along. She waits as if she wants to gauge how the two other interns are before joining the conversation.
"I almost nodded off during that one." Shuhua smiles at Soyeon, wanting to be friendlier.
"You don't eat veggies?" Now, Yuqi turns to look at Soyeon's plate, that is divided into little piles of veggies and non-veggies.
"No. I don't like them." Soyeon blushes. As she shakes her head, her blond hair swishes around.
"Awww, cute." Yuqi eye-smiles at her. "I didn't eat veggies when I was little, either."
"Who you calling little?" Soyeon sharpens her eyes at Yuqi.
"Certainly not me. I eat my veggies." Shuhua laughs as she makes a show out of taking a bit of broccoli.
Soyeon makes a face like she is going to throw up. It feels nice to banter like this.
"Aren't you a doctor? Shouldn't you set a good example for your patients?" Yuqi laughs.
As the Yuyeonhua trio bicker their way into friendship, Minnie and Miyeon enters the cafeteria. They look around for a place to sit after picking up food, but due to today being orientation day, it was packed with people. "What the heck? I can't see any spot open!" Minnie squints behind her bangs while being careful not to spill the food on her tray.
"How about over there?" Miyeon juts her chin toward the a table, there were three girls already sitting there, but there is enough room to fit a few more people if they scrunch up a bit. The three seems to be in good spirit, with one chewing and laughing at the same time.
"Um …" Minnie hesitates, she doesn't really want to deal with a rambunctious looking bunch of new people. Her mood has barely improved after a whole night lacking food and sleep. But the growl in her stomach reminds her that it needs sustenance and it needs it now.
"Oh c'mon." Miyeon rolls her eyes and uses a free hand to grab Minnie's elbow. "You're bound to meet them eventually if they work here now."
"Hey hey, watch it. My food will spill!" Minnie whines again, like a spoiled puppy, as she is pulled toward the table.
"Excuse me …" Miyeon says in her sweetest voice and as soon as she has Yuyeonhua's attention, she bats her long lashes and smiles sweetly. "Can we share this table with you?"
Minnie stands there with slightly ajar. It's amazing how slow, simple Miyeon can transform into a charming Miyeon within seconds.
It is Yuqi's turn to be surprised, because she recognizes them as the two angry people who glared at her from the elevator. She gulps almost audibly. Shuhua, who’s waiting for Yuqi to respond since she found the table first, is perplexed by Yuqi’s sudden loss of words. These two seem to be full established residents, she didn't want them to get mad.
"Can we?" Miyeon turns up the sickly sweet act.
"Oh yeah, we'll scoot in." Yuqi snaps out of her shock and nods. She scoots to one side and Soyeon moves along while Shuhua does the same.
"Thank you~" Miyeon smiles with the fullest of her eye smile. Minnie awkwardly nods at the younger people and chooses a seat that is furthest from them. Miyeon settles into a seat across from Minnie. The table could seat six people. Shuhua is seated across from Yuqi at one end. Soyeon is in the middle of Yuqi and Miyeon. Minnie has an empty seat between her and Shuhua.
"Thanks for coming to have lunch with me on your day off." Minnie mutters as she watches Miyeon stir up her soup. "I'll treat you to somewhere nice next time."
"It's okay, I didn't have anything else planned today, anyways." Miyeon smiles again, looking as sweet and innocent as possible.
Minnie smiles as well and starts to pick up some veggies with her chopsticks. She is about to put the food into when she notices three pairs of eyes staring at them. "Can I help you?" She asks cautiously.
"Oh sorry …" Yuyeonhua turn back to their own plates.
"Don't mind her. She’s a little tired from an overnight shift." Miyeon smiles gently, trying not to scare the children. "Are you girls new interns?"
"Yes ma'am." Soyeon quickly answers, making Miyeon laugh aloud. Yuqi and Shuhua have to hide their face while grinning, they didn't realize that Soyeon was nervous.
"Ma'am? I'm not old enough to be a ma'am." Miyeon waves her hand and shakes her head, "I'm still in my prime. Right, Minnie?"
Minnie presses her lips together and raises her brows super high. She was put on the spot so she nods along, "Oh yes, Miyeon is in her prime. Look at her. Such beauty. Such charisma …" but she wouldn't be Minnie without adding, "but she's not my style, though."
"Yah!" Miyeon slams her hands on the table, making the three kids jump while other people turn around to look for the source of the noise. Her ears burn bright red from embarrassment and she wants to get up and run.
Minnie quickly grabs her hand, "I kid. I kid. Now eat your lunch." Minnie speaks in her puppy voice again. Miyeon calms down a little and nods.
"S-sorry, sunbae." Soyeon takes responsibility as the person who started it. For the first time in a while, Soyeon is both awkward and nervous.
"I'm Kim Minnie, second year Neurosurgery resident. This one," Minnie motions toward Miyeon, "is Cho Miyeon, second year Pediatric surgery resident."
Yuyeonhua quickly goes around the table introducing themselves.
"So Yuqi." Minnie smiles, "We may have a chance to work together, then. I'm not sure which resident you'll be assigned to, but there are only 5 of us so the chances aren't bad."
"Oh, I look forward to it!" Yuqi says brightly.
"Shuhua … are you okay?” Soyeon asks with a concerned voice. Everyone's eyes fall on Shuhua, whose mouth is wide open and food/drool has started to come back out of . She looks to be half idiot.
They follow her gaze toward the entrance of the cafeteria, where Soojin with her bomb body is strolling in. It looks like the wind is carrying her hair and sunlight glittering around her. Her expression is indifferent, but ily indifferent in her cherry red lipstick. Her white coat flutters like a superhero’s cape as she catwalks into the place like she owns it.
Shuhua thought that she was hallucinating this angel, but Miyeon quickly waves at her friend. "Soojin, over here!"
Angel Soojin turns toward their table and acknowledges Miyeon with a nod. She looks at Minnie, who is still wearing her jealous pout. The other three are strangers she doesn't recognize, especially the one that is currently drooling. Maybe Minnie's patient who out? Soojin doesn’t see any bandage on her head, though. The only open seat is between Minnie and the drooler. Maybe Soojin should go back to the lounge instead?
"Everyone, this is Seo Soojin, second year Cardiothoracic resident." Miyeon has already started the introductions, to which the interns also responds with their own. Soojin has no choice but to sit down or she'd seem rude. When it is finally Shuhua's turn, she stutters like a full idiot. "Y-Yeh Shushu …"
"Shushu?" Soojin repeats in an amused voice, what a strange name.
"I thought your name was Shuhua?" Minnie finally speaks up after clearing most of her plate. She was very hungry.
"It is." Soyeon and Yuqi tries not to laugh.
"W-what?" Shuhua is in a confused daze. "Yes, I'm Shuhua."
"So is it Shuhua or Shushu?" Soojin asks as she starts to unpack her lunch bag.
"It’s whatever you want to call me …" Shuhua replies and simply stares at Soojin, making the older girl slightly uncomfortable. It's not the first time someone's stared at her that way. This girl has a strange look in her eyes that Soojin finds oddly attractive, but the repulsiveness of the drool detracts from that.
"Okay …" Minnie widens her eyes at the weird situation and then looks across the table to Miyeon. “Eat quickly so we can get away from here.”
"Don’t rush me while I’m eating. I don’t want indigestion." Now it is Miyeon's turn to pout.
"You don’t get indigestion with whatever is going on there?" Minnie points in Shuhua's general direction.
“Soojin-sunbae?" Soyeon speaks up again.
"Yes?"
"I'm a first year Cardiothoracic intern. I look forward to working with you." Soyeon bows and offers her hand.
Soojin reaches across the table and shakes the offered hand. "Nice to finally meet you, Soyeon." She smiles and releases. "I've heard that a genius student will be joining us this year. But be forewarned, it's not going to be easy."
"Genius?" Yuqi quietly repeats and looks at Soyeon in admiration.
"Oh no, that's too much." Soyeon humbly shakes her head, "I'm not a genius, but I'll work hard."
"You know, they also called Soojin the genius student before she got here. Now she's the genius resident. Isn't that right, Minnie?" Miyeon looks across at her friend.
"I've also been called a genius." Jealous Minnie returns in full force.
"Why are you like this today?" Both Soojin and Miyeon exclaims. "Are you going through puberty again?"
"Why are you guys yelling at me? Can't I be allowed to express pride in myself?" Minnie looks around for someone to agree with her.
Of course, as her potential subordinate, Yuqi quickly agrees. "Self love is the best love."
"Please don't cater to her delusion.” Soojin warns Yuqi.
“Seo Soojin.” Minnie narrows her eyes at her frenemy. She lightly smacks Soojin’s shoulder.
Soojin pays her no mind as Miyeon sighs while looking between her two closest friends. “Guys, let’s not act this away in front of the interns.”
Soojin turns to Shuhua, who is staring at her with a smitten smile on her face. “What’s your specialty?”
“Whatever you want me to specialize in.” Shuhua replies dreamily.
“General surgery.” Yuqi interjects. “She specializes in general surgery.”
“Oh …” Soojin smiles knowingly. “You’re going to have fun.”
“What do you mean by that?” Yuqi asks in place of the smitten Shuhua.
“Oh, you’ll see.” Soojin wears a secretive smile on her red lips, which drives Shuhua wild.
“Can I please have your number?” Shuhua asks quickly while Soojin is chewing on some salad.
Soojin blinks at her, then shakes her head. “No.”
“What? Why not?” Shuhua pouts adorably.
Soojin shrugs and continues to eat her salad. Miyeon at this time has finished her food, so Minnie quickly gathers up her tray as well. “I’m ready to go.”
“But we can’t leave Soojin here.” Miyeon blinks, unsure why Minnie is in such a rush.
“C’moooon, she’s fine by herself. The ice queen has her food, she’s perfectly fine ignoring these guys. I want to catch some shut eye before my next shift.”
“But …” Miyeon looks at Soojin, hesitating.
“Go or don’t go, it’s your choice.” Soojin looks her in the eyes, then turns to Minnie. “But I don’t see why Miyeon has to leave when you need a nap. She can’t help you with that.”
“She’s my best friend, of course she needs to help me sleep.” Minnie counter argues with a strange reason.
“Ladies, ladies. Please stop fighting.” Yuqi speaks up to try to defuse the situation. “We’re about to leave to go have our identification cards made, get our sign ons, and then meet our residents and professors. You guys can have this whole table. We won’t bother you anymore.”
Soyeon starts to pack up her tray, too. Meanwhile, Shuhua doesn’t want to leave. She shakes her head when Yuqi signals toward the door. She nods her head toward Soojin, indicating that she wants to stay with the older woman. Not that they are good friends or anything, but Yuqi rolls her eyes at how quickly Shuhua ‘deserted’ her friends for a woman. Not that she has any problems with women liking women per se. Loyalty is just very important to Yuqi.
Yuqi and Soyeon have no choice but to leave Shuhua with her dreamworld.
“It was nice meeting you.” Yuqi bows to the three residents. Soyeon stiffly copies her. Together, they make their way toward the security office to get their IDs and sign-ons for the hospital computer system. Hopefully, Shuhua will snap out of her fantasy to make sure these things get done.

—

After a few more minutes, Minnie and Miyeon also leave the cafeteria together. As they walk toward the door, Miyeon briefly looks back to see Shuhua staring at an emotionless Soojin. For some strange reason, they look really good together. She smiles and catches up to Minnie, who is a few steps ahead of her. Linking arms, they make their way toward the elevator. Miyeon presses the elevator button for Minnie. “I’m going to head home.” She quietly says. Things are calmer and more quiet when it’s just the two of them. Minnie reaches for her hand and holds it within the warmth of her palm. “Thanks for coming to see me on your day off.” Minnie smiles her signature squinty-eyed smile. “I’m sorry it wasn’t what we’d planned, I’ll make it up to you.”
“Don’t you forget that.” Miyeon’s heart melts at the sight of Minnie’s cuteness.
“Cross my heart.” Minnie makes an “X” sign across her chest and lets go of Miyeon’s hand as the elevator dings its arrival. “I’ll see you later.”
She steps into the elevator and selects the floor of her office. Miyeon waves and waits until the doors close to turn her heels and walk away. She looks down at her hand where the warmth quickly evaporated.

—

The cafeteria quickly empties out after the lunch rush, so it is just Shuhua there with Soojin, who doesn’t seem to pay her any mind. The redhead finishes her salad, some cheese, then a small container of fruits. She had packed it herself that morning and has all the intention of enjoying her lunch, spectator or not. After the last bite of fruit, she her lips and turns to Shuhua. “I’ve got to go now. See ya.”
“Wait … your number …” Shuhua holds her phone in both hands and offers it to Soojin. She has been waiting patiently while enjoying the show. The way those lips part and close was so appealing, they made all food look delicious.
Soojin chuckles softly and shakes her head, “Not today, kiddo.” She turns on her stilettos, which are not sensible shoes for the hospital setting, and exits the cafeteria, leaving a dazed Shuhua in her wake. Now, a normal person would have taken the rejection and move on. But, Yeh Shuhua is anything but normal. “She said not today … maybe later?” A wide grin quickly spreads on Shuhua’s face. There is hope after all.
Shuhua quickly dumps her cafeteria tray and trails Soojin at a safe distance. Quiet as a cat, she follows her new object of affection all the way to Soojin’s office, which is also on the first floor. The door has a glass window, where Shuhua can stand to the side to creep on Soojin. First, the older woman takes off her white coat. Her body looks good even in scrubs. She lays down on the sofa that’s situated along a wall. Doesn’t she know that sleeping after eating will cause digestion and bloatedness? Shuhua thought worriedly. Soojin didn’t turn on the lights, so it was hard to see her face in the dark room. Shuhua watches her for a little while before going off to get her ID and sign-in. Soojin closes her eyes after the other girl disappears from her sight. “What a strange person …”

—

Since Yuqi left the cafeteria before the mass exit, she manages to beat the rush to the security office. After getting her badge and sign-ons, she goes down to the basement first floor to the Neurosurgery resident office. She softly raps on the door before she taps her badge to the pad to the right of it. “Oh, hi!” She recognizes the person sitting at the desk in front of her.
“Hi, Song Yuqi. My name is Kim Minnie, your second year resident and guide for the next year.” Minnie has her arms crossed and is leaning back in her chair. It must be her way of establishing her authority, but Yuqi simply finds her cute the way she looks so small in the large office chair.
“Hi Minnie-sunbae, I’m so glad it’s you!”
“Why?”
“Oh … because …”
“Don’t expect special treatment from me. I just met you an hour ago, we’re still strangers.” Minnie tries to act cool.
“I know, but I have a good feeling about us.”
“You’re not my type.”
“Eww … no … what?”
“That’s rude.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Whatever, your desk is over there. That box has some new scrubs and white coats for you. Now, we’ve got to go meet our attending.” Minnie hops off her chair and gets ready to head out.
“Okay.” Yuqi nods eagerly. She looks around the office which has a few other desks that look occupied. Must be the other residents. Just like she predicted, there was no window here.
“Well, grab the box. We can drop it off at your locker … the key should be in the right drawer there.” Minnie taps her chin before pointing at a spot.
“Oh, okay.” Yuqi grabs both the box and the key while Minnie holds the door open for her.
“Your badge will get you into rooms assigned to your specialty. Our office door also has a keypad for manual entry, just in case. Our code is 0502.”
“That seems redundant.”
“I know, but the keypad was there before the ID reader was put in and they decided not to remove it for some reason.”
“I see.”
“Each floor has its own locker room. We usually change into uniform there at the beginning of each shift. There are also showers and laundry equipments.” Minnie walks quickly down the hallway.
“Do you like it here, Minnie-sunbae?”
“Yeah, it’s a pretty good facility. I like our attending, she’s a good teacher … but a bit … eccentric? Is that the right word?” Minnie mumbles to herself toward the end.
“Huh?” Yuqi couldn’t quite catch the last of Minnie’s sentence.
“Oh nothing, here’s the locker room … looks like you’re taking over for our resident who just graduated. So locker six.”
Yuqi quickly unlocks the locker with her new key and puts the box with her new uniform inside. She looks around this windowless room. It looks clean enough.
“Are you done?” Minnie looks amused, as Yuqi looks so new with her wide eyes and open mouth.
“Uh huh …” Yuqi catches herself, “Oh. Yes, Minnie-sunbae.”
“You don’t have to use honorifics with me. It’s awkward, I’m not used to it.” Minnie is oddly down to earth compared to her earlier antics.
“Oh, okay. Thank you. I’m Chinese … so I’m not quite used to it.” Yuqi follows Minnie out of the locker room.
“Ah. I’m half-Thai on my mom’s side so I’m not used to it either.” Minnie smiles charmingly. Yuqi could really fall for this quiet charming side of her. “That’s why I don’t refer Miyeon as Miyeon-unnie. It sounds weird.”
“Is Miyeon older than you?”
“Uh huh, we’re both twenty-four, but she’s older by nine months.”
“I see. I’m twenty.”
“Ah, still a baby.”
“Thank you.”
Together, they walk through the corridors and make their way down to the fourth floor, where the main neurology department is. There they see small blonde figure in a white coat directing people on where to hang a painting.
“There you are.” Minnie calls out and the blonde turns around. She smiles brightly and waves Minnie over.
“Nicha, Nicha. Come look at this masterpiece.” It was an abstract painting that has Yuqi scratching her head. She couldn’t figure out what is the subject. An animal? A bowl of fruit? A person?
“I told you not to call me that.”
“But it’s so cute. I can’t help myself.” This doctor laughs and slaps Minnie’s arm, causing her the scrunch her face in annoyance and pain. “How’s my favorite resident today?”
“Anyways, Dr. Kim Yongsun meet Song Yuqi, my new intern.” Minnie makes another introduction. “Song Yuqi, meet Dr. Kim Yongsun, our professor and attending surgeon.”
Yuqi politely bows and waits for a hand to be offered, but it was never offered.
“Oh.” That’s it?
“Sorry, Yuqi. She’s a bit shy with strangers.” Minnie looks like she’s been through this before. “At least say hi and shake her hand.” She sounds like a parent of a young child or a wrangler of livestock.
How is this woman an attending of the Neurosurgery department ?
“Oh yeah.” Dr. Kim Yongsun laughs nervously and extends her hand. “Nice to meet you.”
Yuqi smiles sweetly and takes the long awaited hand. She knows she needs to turn up her charm factor. She’s always been quick to get to know people and she doesn’t see how this time would be different. “Nice to meet you, too. I look forward to learning from you.”
“Okay.” Dr. Kim quickly pulls back her hand and waves to Minnie. “I’ve got something to take care of … I’ll see ya.” With that, she runs off quite quickly.
That was weird.
“She’s weird, huh?” Minnie asks as if she’d read Yuqi’s mind.
“Um …” Yuqi laughs instead of answering.
“She’s brilliant, but strange. Once she warms up to you, though …” Minnie shakes her head. “Come, I’ll show you around the Neurology department and the wards where our patients are.”
Yuqi follows closely behind Minnie. It’s been a day full of interesting characters.

—

“Hello.” Soyeon peeks her head in after opening the door on the first floor.
“Hi.” Soojin is holding a compact mirror and reapplying her lipstick. Once she’s done, she fixes up her flattened hair a little bit.
“I’m your intern?”
“I’m your resident.”
“I hope we get along and have a good working relationship.”
“Me, too.” Soojin smiles and gets up from the sofa. She fixes the creases in her scrubs and nods toward a desk. “That’s your workstation. The box has your scrubs and white coats. Your locker is number six, the key is in the box as well.”
“Okay, thank you.” Soyeon goes toward the box.
“The locker room is next door on the right. You can take your things there. When you’re ready, let’s go meet our attending.”
“Yes, sunbae.”
“Just call me Soojin.”
“Yes, Soojin.”
Soojin nods and goes to her desk. It was nice to have someone as succinct and quiet as she is to be her intern. Soojin gets so tired when there is a lot of talking and doing. As a surgeon, she conserves all of her energy for surgery and not much else. Some people may call her lazy, but Soojin just doesn’t care for all that stuff.
When Soyeon finally returns, they quietly make their way to the Cardiovascular center on the third floor.
“Jeon Soyeon, this is our attending, Dr. Moon Byulyi.” Soojin quietly stands in the middle of the center while extending her hand toward a woman with long purple hair. “Dr. Moon, this is Jeon Soyeon, my new intern.”
“Wow, nice to meet you.” Dr. Moon winks at Soyeon and offers her hand.
“Nice to meet you, too.” Soyeon firmly grasps Dr. Moon’s hand.
When a normal handshake should have ended, Dr. Moon puts her other hand over Soyeon’s. “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”
Soyeon is wide-eyed, “Y-you have?”
“Yes, Soojin is so cold … I hope you’re not cold like her.” She steps closer to Soyeon, so close that Soyeon could smell her perfume … or cologne? “Are you, Soyeon?”
“I-I-I …” Soyeon stutters. She can’t think of anything. Shock causes her to lose her normally fluent speech.
“That’s enough.” Soojin interrupts and shakes her head. “Don’t scare her away.”
“Did I scare you Soyeon? I didn’t mean to.” Dr. Moon lets go of Soyeon’s hand.
Saying that Soyeon is dazed and confused would be an understatement. “Um …”
“Yes, you did.”
“Did I scare you when we first met, Soojin?”
“No.”
“I remember you were so shy and sweet, Soojin … you blushed so much … you used to ask me for help all the time …”
“No, I did not!” Soojin blushed deeply.
“Byulyi-unnie … you used to call me.” Dr. Moon smiles wickedly.
“Yah!” Soojin buries her face into her hands, what a twist! Soyeon wouldn’t have predicted it to turn out this way.
“Alright, alright … I’ve got to go, looks like the nurses are starting to get a little jealous.” Dr. Moon tilts her head toward the nurses station, where some nurses do look a little jealous. “Nice to meet you, little Soyeon. I’ll see you at tomorrow rounds.” And with that, she flits away like a little butterfly.
“Wow.” Soyeon doesn’t have any words to describe what just happened.
“Sorry you had to see that. She’s too much sometimes. That weirdo.”
“Are you alright?” Soyeon gestures toward Soojin’s red cheeks.
“I’ll be fine, can’t believe I let her get to me today of all days.” Soojin motions for Soyeon to follow her. “I’ll show you around.”
“Thank you.”

—

Shuhua opens the door to an empty room. She wasn’t sure what she was expecting, but it feels a bit disappointing to walk into an empty room on your first day. There are multiple work stations set up, but looks like she’s the only one who will be using the room this year. Shuhua doesn’t have any residents above her, she’s the first General surgery intern in 3 years. The desks are empty, but clean and not dusty. They must have cleaned the room before she came. It’s kind of nice to have a whole office to herself, but it feels so lonely at the same time.
As she looks around the room, a knock raps at the door. Who could that be?
Shuhua quickly opens to find a group of people, nine to be exact, staring at her intently. “Are you Yeh Shuhua?” The shortest person asks in a serious tone. They were all very beautiful women wearing blue scrubs and white coats, but they look so intimidating.
“Yes.” Shuhua gulps.
“We need you to come with us.” The tallest one grabs her hand and pulls her out of the room.
“What’s happening?” Shuhua struggles and tries to pull her hand back.
“You’ll see…”
“… soon enough.”
They drag Shuhua to the main meeting room of the General Surgery department. All along the way, people watch Shuhua’s kidnappers with intense interest. She would have stared, too, if nine goddess-like beauties were traveling together like this. But, they’re like a pack of wolves following the shortest woman. They have this powerful aura that is hard for Shuhua to describe. When they finally reach their destination, they usher Shuhua into the dark room.
“What …” Before Shuhua could finish her question, the lights flip on quickly to reveal a cake, some balloons, and a giant banner that reads ‘Welcome, Shuhua!’
A confused Shuhua turns toward the nine doctors, who lined one wall of the room. They have something in their hand … party poppers. [POP!] The loud sound echos in the room, causing Shuhua to cover her ears, before the smell of smoke fills the air. “Welcome, Shuhua!” They yell together.
Shuhua stares at them as tears start to well in her eyes, whether from shock or the smoke, it’s hard to tell.
“You must be so confused.” The shortest one, the leader, steps forward. The name embroidered on her white coat read, Dr. Kim Taeyeon, General Surgery.
It dawns on Shuhua. These nine people are general surgeons, who have been waiting for her for three long years after their past residents left. They each have a specialty within General Surgery. One by one, they step forward to introduce themselves.
“I’m Kim Taeyeon.”
“I’m Jung Jessica.”
“I’m Lee Sunny.”
“I’m Hwang Tiffany.”
“I’m Kim Hyoyeon.”
“I’m Kwon Yuri.”
“I’m Choi Sooyoung.”
“I’m Im Yoona.”
“I’m Seo Joohyun.”
“We’re the surgeons of General Surgery and your mentors.” Dr. Kim Taeyeon motions toward her colleagues. “We are so excited to have you this year. It’s been a while since we have a resident. We each have our own sub-specialty that we would like you to explore.” They were looking at her like wolves circling a deer. “If there is one that you like, please be sure to let us know … for example, head and neck …”
“Yah! Kim Taeyeon, don’t try to push for your specialty.”
“What are you trying to pull?”
The cacophony of voices quickly rise up to protest Dr. Kim Taeyeon’s intention.
“IF anything, she should pick abdomen.”
“No, surgical oncology!”
“NO! Endocrinology!”
It was simply too much for Shuhua, who had just resigned herself to an empty room. Now nine people are fighting over her. She wanted to run out of there, but the exit is blocked.
“Guys, guys. That’s to be decided later.” Dr. Seo Joohyun speaks up. “She just got here, give her some time.” She seems gentle enough. “Shuhua, we got you a cake …”
Dr. Seo goes to the table and brings a pink cake toward Shuhua. “We went to the best cakery in town … it’s strawberry, their most popular flavor!”
What happened next, none of the nine could have expected.
“I hate strawberry … waaaah.” Shuhua lets out a loud wail and starts to seriously cry up a storm.

—

The reflection in the metal elevator shows a very puffy-eyed Shuhua. She gently taps along her cheekbones with the pads of her index fingers. She did not plan on crying like that on her first day, much less in front of nine attendings. “Ugh … so embarrassing! I could die!” She whines and gently beats her chest with a curled fist. But it was their fault for stressing her out so much on her first day. In the end, they all apologized and offered to go get her another cake, but she just couldn’t take that much pressure right now. It was A LOT to deal with.
[DING] The elevator door opens to the first floor and Shuhua pulls out her phone to find her bus route home.
A gentle clacking of heels causes her to look up and sees Soojin strolling right in front of her. She can only see the back, but having already memorized that fine figure, Shuhua knows instantly that it is Soojin. Again, Shuhua transforms into a stealthy stalker and follows Soojin all the way to the parking garage. Soojin keeps an even pace through the turns and endless rows of cars.
As they near a red sports car, Soojin whips around and looks Shuhua straight in the eyes. The younger girl barely had time to duck behind a concrete column for cover. “How long are you planning on following me?”
“Um …” Shuhua peeks out from behind the column, “I … I was just going the same direction.”
Soojin narrows her eyes at Shuhua and then rolls her eyes. “At least have the guts to admit it.” She unlocks her car and tosses her handbags to the passenger seat. “Word of advice, if you plan on doing that again, I might mace you next time.”
Shuhua gasps and shakes her head, “I wasn’t, I promise!” She knows that it’s a lie, but she simply had too many embarrassing moments today to add another one to it.
“Fine.”
As Soojin ducks into her car, Shuhua runs up to her door. “Would you like to go out with me?”
Soojin stares at her with those half-lidded cat eyes. “No.” Again, a very succinct answer that quickly deflates Shuhua’s courage.
“Why?” Shuhua’s loud voice fills the garage.
Soojin’s answer is a quick slam of her door. It’s not long before the engine purrs and then the tires squeal as she whips out of the parking lot. Shuhua looks after the retreating taillights and smiles. “Wow. What a woman.” At least Soojin didn’t hate Shuhua enough to hit her. She also didn’t seem homophobic either. There’s some hope.

—

[Bing Bong]
Soyeon presses the stop button on the side of the bus to signal her stop. As the bus pulls into the stop, she leaves her seat and tries to weave through the crowded bus to the door. Once outside, she takes a deep breath of fresh air before wiping her brows. It’s the beginning of August and it’s already so hot. Soyeon pulls out her phone to look up directions to her apartment. Having moved in just yesterday, she still needs a little help getting around.
“Soyeon?” A familiar voice calls to the right of her.
Soyeon looks to find Yuqi, who just hopped off the same bus. “Yuqi!” She’s surprised to find the cheerful girl bounding up to her.
“Were we on the same bus? It was so crowded, I didn’t even see you.”
“Yeah, I think so. It was rush hour after all.”
“Which way are you heading?”
Soyeon points in the direction that the map had shown her. “That way.”
“Oh! Me, too!” Yuqi is practically glistening in the sunlight. “Come, I’ll walk with you for a bit.”
“Okay.” Soyeon nods and starts to walk along with her new friend. Friend. A strange word to echo in her head. It’s been awhile since that word last echoed there.
“Man, I’m so tired after today.” Yuqi uses a handkerchief to dab the sweat on her forehead. “There was so much crammed into one day.”
“Yeah.” Soyeon nods.
“How was your department?” Yuqi asks.
“Fine.” Soyeon wasn’t sure how to explain Dr. Moon. “Soojin is my second year.”
“Nice … but Shuhua might fight you.” Yuqi laughs and recounts her meeting with Minnie and Dr. Kim.
“She sounds interesting.” In a way, Soyeon wished Dr. Kim was her attending instead. She doesn’t know how to deal with cheesy, greasy people like Dr. Moon. Give her an antisocial person anyday.
“Yeah, I hope she and I will get along quickly.”
“I know you will.” Soyeon smiles sincerely, because Yuqi got Soyeon to warm up to her quickly. It’s not an easy feat.
The walk continues to be that way, where Yuqi would talk animatedly and Soyeon nods or agrees in a few words. It feels comfortable, like they have known each other for a long time. The walk ends quicker than expected when Soyeon spots her apartment building. “Here’s my stop.”
“Really?” Yuqi laughs and points at the building. “I live here, too.”
It was Soyeon’s turn to be animated. She got so excited all of a sudden. “No way! That’s awesome!”
“Yeah!” Yuqi nods excitedly. “I’m so happy, you don’t even know.”
“Me too.” Soyeon laughs at cute excited Yuqi.
“Let’s get inside before we melt out here. What floor are you on?”
“Third. You?”
“Fifth.” Yuqi whines.
“It’s okay … maybe we can go to work together tomorrow?”
“Yeah! That sounds great.” Yuqi pulls out her phone, “Give me your info.”
They exchange contact information before splitting up. Both their hearts are full of excitement because of the start of a new friendship.

—
After a busy day, Minnie really wants to go home. She barely had any rest today because one thing added on top of another. She taps on her phone to silence the alarm. With a loud yawn, she rises from the sofa/bed in her office. The clock reads 9:30PM. Enough time to have a quick shower before her shift at 10PM. After she gets off at 10AM tomorrow, she is just going to pass out in her nice, comfy bed at home. All the other Neurosurgery residents had gone home. So the room was dark, with the only light filtering in through the door’s window from the hallway.
The phone vibrates once. A text message.
“Have a good shift.” From Miyeon.
“Go to bed.” Minnie quickly texts as she makes her way to the staff locker room.
“Good night.”
Not wanting that to be the last words, Minnie sends a cute emoji of Minnie Mouse blowing a kiss.
She smiles and turns the hot water on. It’s time to wake up and get to work.