“…and her pelvic compression[1] is positive both laterally and AP[2].” That was the last thing I heard Seonho say upon arriving at the ER. I was called to examine a 34-year-old TA victim who was referred to our hospital 18 hours after the accident. She had severe waist pain, unable to sit, stand or urinate.

I respectfully greeted Seonho and his professor before proceeding with the patient’s neurological exam. “Power in the left leg is grade 1 with a proximal one-third loss of sensation. Right leg is grade 4 with no sensory loss. Her ankle and foot pulses are also intact.”

“Thank you, Dr. Kang.” The professor had a huge grin on his face that I had to admit he looked good. I took a glimpse at his coat and it said there ‘Lee Ik Jun, MD. General Surgery.’ I heard he was a new assistant professor who just recently passed his fellowship exam. The aura he gave off felt so light and comfortable, too. He looked extremely young to be a professor and I already had a hunch he'd be a crowd's favorite.

He turned to Seonho this time. “Dr. Kim, wanna scrub in to my first ever surgery at your hospital?” To which he replied with an enthusiastic “Yes.”

The rest of the day was filled with rounds, outpatient visits, and one surgery for me to observe. Every single time I had to scrub in, I couldn't describe the joy I was feeling for being able to witness surgical procedures that I only read in books. I took it as my chance to learn because I knew I was still lacking. 

Of course, I completely acknowledged that it was unfortunate on our patients' parts to undergo such trauma and stress because of illnesses they didn’t even ask for. I wasn't someone who was out of touch to reality. 

“Jesus Christ I’m so tired already!” Bogum exclaimed. We were given an hour before our duty ended to do a quick scan of our notes in preparation of the exam.

Since we were taking the exam at the same time, I forced him to study with me because I had no companion at our office. Junghae was studying with his friends and I didn’t want to be a bother at all. Like us, Bogum also had bimonthly exams while the others were done already with theirs in different days. Apparently, it was mandated by the hospital for all residents, leaving the rest of the jurisdiction to each department as to when and how to conduct the exams. I wasn’t sure if other hospitals did the same, though.

“Same but can you shut your mouth I’m trying to concentrate here,” I said, running my eyes over my iPad to cram what I can cram. I knew this wasn’t an efficient way to remember information but somehow, it worked for me. 

Bogum left 15 minutes before 7PM and I was left alone in this long table, waiting for Junghae and Professor Kwon to arrive. Nervousness would take a toll on my performance so I tried my best to calm myself down. That way, I could smoothly gather my thoughts and will effectively process every question.

A few minutes before the time, I received a text from Seonho.

[BF: Good luck on your test, love.]

It was just a simple text, but it did wonders on my mood already, having the hunch that I will indeed do well. We also changed each other's contact names to subtle yet unhiding ones, as per that man’s request that I cannot reject.

I replied a simple ‘Thank you, love.’ and kept my phone because we were about to start.

“This is your first ever bimonthly exam so I expect you to do good. How well you do here will make an impact on your recommendation letter once you go for fellowship training. Best of luck to you two.”

Professor Kwon gave out the test booklets and answer sheets to Junghae and I. We started answering soon after to make use of an hour and a half to finish  100 questions. The level of difficulty was above average and I felt like I milked by brain for answers to the fullest after I finished the test.

“Great work, you two. I'll text you your scores tomorrow. See you on Monday. Have a nice weekend.”

I bid Junghae a farewell before I got in the elevator to the parking lot. It was already less than 30 minutes to 9PM and I knew I shouldn’t have brought my car with me on Fridays. I was itching for a good sleep already.

“How was your exam?”

Seonho was sitting on the hood of my car with his arms crossed looking like he was shooting a car commercial. He wasn’t the on-call resident tonight so he could go home but I didn’t expect him to be waiting for me here when his shift ended at 7PM.

I surveyed the area to see if there was anyone close to us but he just laughed it off and open his arms wide for me. “C’mon, let me give you a hug.”

I ran into his arms and embraced him, taking in his woody scent mixed with a little aroma of anything aquatic. He changed his perfume. “The exam was hard, and you smell so good.”

He gave my forehead a quick peck before taking my car keys out of my bag to give me a ride back home. He said he didn’t want me to feel more tired after driving and so he asked someone to drive his car for him.

He did that gesture again of protecting my head from bumping, enough to make me smile again. This man had manners; my boyfriend had good manners. I felt like I was slowly falling for him, for every little thing he did for me that already seemed big enough for a sweet gesture. What was more beautiful was the fact that he wasn’t doing it to impress me; he wasn’t being good on purpose just for me to paint him as a good guy. Everything he did felt so natural, that he was already like that even before we met.

“You know it’s gonna be tomorrow, right?” he asked when the stoplight turned red. It was a Friday night where everyone was all in a rush to go home for the weekend so the traffic was expected.

“Yes,” I nervously answered. “Do you think your grandma wil