Sterile. White. Sterile. The bleak walls of the hospital are glaring at him with their pure whiteness and the smell of disinfectant reaches his nose along with the cool air rushing to meet his sweaty, exposed skin. The nurse guides him down the long hallway to a plain room with a one-way mirror on the side. Kyungsoo feels awkward walking around in only his boxers so a faint blush is apparent underneath his milky skin as he looks around the room nervously.

The nurse starts by sticking numerous colorful wires to various parts of his body and she motions for him to step onto the treadmill surrounded by machines in the middle of the room. He obeys, albeit with a generous dose of hesitation and anxiety. She bows her head politely at him and proceeds to leave him alone in the room. His heartbeat is speeding up just the slightest bit now from the tension and a voice comes out of a speaker on the ceiling of the pristine room.

“Do Kyungsoo, there is nothing to worry about. Please relax.”

He takes a couple deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself but it only succeeds in making him even more nervous, the butterflies eating at his stomach and making it churn uncomfortably. At this point, the automatic glass door slides open and his parents step into the room too. The relief is apparent on his face as he sees them and they smile reassuringly at him while mouthing a ‘fighting!’

“Do Kyungsoo, we shall be starting the treadmill now.”

The smooth conveyor belt underneath his bare feet starts rotating slowly and he finds himself calmly walking along its surface. It starts speeding up incrementally and soon he’s at a brisk jogging pace, his breathing still steady and controlled but a tad faster than normal.

He needs to do well on this test. He needs to in order to live up to his parents’ expectations but, most importantly, for the promise of a happy future. He closes his eyes as he imagines the face of the man he’ll soon be able to meet in person for the first time in his life. He can feel the treadmill still speeding up underneath his feet and he increases his speed to a sprint. His muscles are becoming hot but he smiles at the feeling of being closer to his special person after he reaches the end of the test.

Sweaty and out-of-breath, the nurse guides him to the shower room and he gladly rinses himself off before returning to their assigned hospital room where his parents are waiting. They flash a proud smile at him as he walks through the door and he mimics that smile, the emotions reaching his eyes and glowing skin.

His doctor can feel the joyful atmosphere in the room and smiles a bit to herself as she flips through the examination results on her desk. “Kyungsoo’s physical health appears to be doing well. His blood tests, organ, and bone health tests all came back healthy. We were also unable to detect any problems in his genetics that may present a problem for the reproductive implant. Congratulations!”

Upon hearing the news, his mother’s eyes start to brim with tears and she brings her hands up to her face in an effort to stop them but they start to flow freely down her cheeks anyway. His father gives him a proud pat on the shoulder and he grins brightly at them.

Kyungsoo meets the love of his life in two days.