“This is for our little Ming Guk here….” The doctor hands out a paper pocket of medicines to the mother of the boy. “Make sure to have him take the tablets twice a day while the powder will be once a day. It’s enough for a week, I’ll give you again once he finishes all of it.” He turns to the boy and gently brushes his hair. “Ming Guk ah, be a good boy and listen to your mom, alright?”

            “Yes.” The boy smiles.

            “Thank you very much doctor.”

He just smile.                                                                                     

            “Doctor.”

He looks at the village head who just arrived.

            “What is it, village head?” he asks.

            “This arrived at my home.”

He takes the letter from him and sees that it was sent to him ten days ago.

            “It seems that the letters arrived three days late again. Once I received it, I immediately come here to give it to you. It came from the city.” The village head says.

            “Thank you very much for bringing this here.”

He told his assistant to distribute the medicines pockets her prepared to the remaining patients there. He enters the temporary home the villagers assembled for him. He goes to the small room where he sleeps and read the letter. It’s from his parents. His mom is reminding him to return to the city to attend to the family dinner. It’s no ordinary dinner because it will be with the family of the woman his parents wants him to marry. It will be the first time he’ll meet the said woman and at the same time, their parents will be setting a date for the wedding.

He looks at the calendar. Its tomorrow and he almost forgot if only he didn’t receive this letter.

He goes to the capitol to purchase some medical paraphernalia like gloves, stitch thread, and syringe because he’s running out of them. He also gets some basic medicines. There is no medicine available to that place but those basics. The medicines he gives for free to the people in the island are the things he orders from the city. Lastly, he made a phone call to his mother to tell them that he’ll come tomorrow.

The night comes; he prepared to go back to the city. He takes the bracelet made from shells from his drawer. One of his child patients gave it to him. It’s not a secret from the village people that he’s about to get married. That little girl was very sick yet she made this bracelet carefully and before she dies, she told him to give this to his bride as a present.

He walks to the door.

            “Doc, are you sure that you don’t want me to come with you to the port?” his assistant asks him.

            “No need. I can manage. Rest early so that you’d have enough energy for tomorrow. I’ll leave things to you for now. I’ll be back the day after tomorrow.”

Everyday, the village people visit their place for free consultation and medicines. It’s serves as the medical center of this village.

            “Have a safe trip Doc. Have a great time meeting your bride.”

He just smile.

            “Doctor! Doctor!” the village head and a man are running towards them.

            “What’s the matter?” he asks them.

            “I’m glad we…….caught up….on you….before you leave.” The village head says while catching his breath.

            “Doctor, help….my wife is now giving birth.” The man says.

            “But, this village has a midwife right?” he wonders.

            “Yes that’s true. She’s in our house now but it seems like my wife’s life is now in danger so the midwife told me to get you.”

            “We know that you have a very important thing to do in the city, doctor but this is an emergency. You’re the sole doctor here…our only hope. Please come and see his wife.” The village heads says.

            “Please….I beg you doctor. My wife and my child….save them!” the man pleads him with tears in his eyes.

He came to this remote island four months ago. His family owns a big hospital in the city yet he chose to be here. The place lacks medical help that’s why he decided to come here as a volunteer doctor. The entire village expressed their gratitude for having a doctor like him here. There is no hospital and the nearest place where they could get medicines for fever, flu, and cold is at the capitol where he went earlier and that’s an hour away from this island.

He sighs deeply and turns to his assistant.

            “Please take my medicine bag.” He says.

They rush to the man’s house.

________________________________________________________________

He sits to the wooden floor next to the door. It’s already morning and he feels relieved that finally the mother and child are now fine. It’s good that they arrived in time. It was a dangerous situation because the baby is almost losing air inside the womb while the mother is unconscious. The old woman, the village midwife couldn’t do anything about it that’s why they came for him. He immediately performed a C-section to get the baby. The mother also regained consciousness a few hours after that.

The man gives him a cup of tea.

            “You don’t know how much grateful I am doctor. My wife and son are now out of danger. I will always be thankful to you.”

            “Don’t mention it. Just take good care of them.” He empties the cup and stand.

            “Are you still going to the city?”

He takes his jacket and wear it.

            “Yes. If I leave now, I could still arrive there before dinner.”

            “But….the weather is not good.” The man points to the window.

It started raining while he’s doing the operation and it’s still raining until now.

            “It’s a very important appointment. I need to get there.”

The village head arrives.

            “It seems like we have a typhoon. It won’t be a good idea to sail.” He says.

The doctor didn’t listen to them and still insisted to go to the island’s small port. His assistant and the village head follows him. Unfortunately like the village head said, there is a typhoon. The waves are big and unstable that’s why there’s no service boat arrived to the port. This is the only way out of the island and he ended up not leaving.

________________________________________________________________

PPACKKK!!!!

His father slaps him hard on the face the moment he enters their house. He missed the dinner because of the typhoon. He also failed to make a phone call because there’s no phone in that island. If only he left that night then he would be able to attend but because of that emergency, he wasn’t able to.

            “Bad son! How could you do such thing! We had never been embarrassed like this before!” his father yells angrily.

            “I’m really sorry. I didn’t do it intentionally.” He says.

            “You finished the med school only to be a village doctor of that stupid place! You’re spending your time, money, sweat, and blood on that small island without getting a single penny yet I let you do it because you told me you that it’s what you want. And in return, what did we get? A humiliation!”

He bows his head because he has nothing to say. He failed them.

            “Husband, he just arrived….let’s talk about it later….” His mother persuaded his father to go back to the room.

            “I couldn’t believe that my only son will be the one to give me this humiliation!”

He’s still standing there when she returns.

            “Are you alright?” she touches his face. He just nods.

            “Look at me.” She commands him.

            “Mother, I couldn’t leave the night before because there’s a person whose life was in danger. I have to deliver the baby….the next morning, I tried to go but because of the typhoon in that place, there was no way to cross the sea.” He says.

           “I know and I understand you. Your father knows about it too….he’s just really mad at this moment.”

            “I’m sorry, mother…”

            “Things happen and sometimes, we can’t do anything about it. Somehow, I’m glad that you didn’t cross the sea during that typhoon. We could’ve lose you…” she smiles at him in a comforting manner. “That mother and child….were you able to save them?”

He nods.

            “Good job my son.”

________________________________________________________________

He didn’t waste any time and goes to the house of that family.

            “I came to personally apologize for what happened. Something occurred and I wasn’t able to come as promised. I’m truly sorry.” He bows his head in front of the couple.

            “Huh!” the madam exclaims in an unpleased tone.

            “You being a successful doctor despite your young age and all the achievements you got in the professional field sounds impressive. I heard good things about you as a reliable and kind-hearted doctor. I also liked your parents because they’re good people too. Those are the reasons why I thought that you’d be the best pair for our daughter. However, not showing up that night and making us wait for nothing is like a huge slap in our face. You clearly chose your work over the woman who’d be your wife. You might be a reliable doctor but not a responsible husband. How could I leave my precious daughter in the hands of a man like you? How could she rely on a lacking husband like that?” the father says.

            “It was not my intention to bring such ill feeling to your family.”

            “Tell your parents that our decision is final. The wedding is off.”

It’s not like he’s hoping for a wedding. If they tell him to still marry their daughter then he would but if not, then he couldn’t do anything about it. He just want to apologize personally.

            “Again, I’m truly sorry.” He bows politely and leaves.

            “So hateful….He made us look funny. Does he think it’s that easy?” the madam utters.

           “What’s done is done. Now that there’s no reason for our families to be one, we’ll be cutting whatever connection we have with that family.” The man says to his wife.

________________________________________________________________

The woman goes next to the window and sees the doctor walking towards a car. He remains standing there before finally gets in the vehicle. For a moment, she got a glance of his handsome face.

He’s the man her parents arranged to be her husband. She had seen his photo before but hasn’t met him in person. Two nights ago, they were supposed to meet over dinner but he didn’t show up. Her parents are furious about it because they think that they humiliated them. As for her, she has no feelings about it. She’s not angry for him not coming that night. She’s not relieved either that the wedding is off because sooner or later, her parents will find another man to marry her with.

            “Miss, the young man asked me to pass this to you.” A house help gives her a small white envelope.

She opens it and reads what’s written in the small card.

I didn’t mean to make you wait.

I’m sincerely sorry.

At least he’s a gentleman to come here personally to apologize she thinks. Also included in the envelope is a bracelet made from seashells. Her lips curves into a slight smile because she likes it. She holds it in her palm for a bit. It’s the first and last gift she received from that man…..her former fiancée.

________________________________________________________________

The doctor is quietly sitting next to the window.

After that incident, his father banished him out of anger. He returned to the island without any privilege of being a rich man’s son. Living there without his father’s support wasn’t really hard since he had never fully depended on it before. He might be an heir but he is used to the plain way of living in that small island. The only thing that’s hard for him is the thought of causing pain to his parents.

He’s going home to his parents….He received a letter from his mom telling him that he can now go home. His dad hasn’t fully forgiven him but at least the last four months had cooled down his anger.

He noticed an elderly having trouble placing his baggage on the top shelf so he stand and help. While doing that, passengers board the bus. When the doctor returns to his spot, a man is already sitting in his seat next to the window.

            “Uh…I thought it was empty so I….do you mind?” the man asks him.

He notices that the man next to him takes out two golden bands from a small pouch. The man turns to him.

            “I’m marrying my woman. What do you think of these bands?” he asks him.

The doctor looks at the rings. They’re plain but beautiful.

            “They’re perfect. I’m sure she’d like it.” He replies honestly.

The man smiles.

            “She’s from a rich household yet she chose to love a poor librarian like me. Her folks are against us that’s why we decided to elope.”

He heard about this kind of union before. A person from a rich household will only be wed to a person of the same social status. A marriage between an upper and lower class would never be allowed therefore, eloping is the only solution.

            “I went to that country side to find a place for us to settle in. Though I can’t provide her the same comfort her folks raised her with, I want to make sure that I’d be able to give her a decent life. I’m going to meet her tonight.”

He smile as he sees the happiness and anticipation in the man’s face.

            “Congratulations on your wedding.” He says.

            “Thank you.” He returns the rings to the pouch. “How about you? It seems like you’re not married yet.” He points at his empty ring finger.

            “No, I’m not.” He says. “However, I was supposed to get married four months ago.”

            “Oh…Do you mind if I ask what happened?”

            “I made a fault…My bride’s parents called off the wedding.”

            “Uh…I’m terribly sorry about that.”

            “You don’t have too. It just so happened like that.”

            “You must have grieved about it.”

He just smiles lightly.

They continue to talk for a few more minutes. The man told him a lot about his love for his woman and he admires his devotion. He silently hopes that he’d find that kind of happiness too. Despite knowing that he’d eventually marry a stranger, he still wants to find a woman he’d be able to love with all his heart and love him back the same way.

An unexpected thing occurs the next minute. Everything happens so fast that passengers are caught off guard. The bus swerves fast and crushes into a truck carrying metal poles.

The doctor opens his eyes. His head is aching. It feels like a sharp thing hits it. Blood slowly rolls down his forehead. His head is spinning but he decided to stand up from where he’s lying. The passengers are injured too and he hears each one groaning in pain. He blinks and shakes his head to wake his senses. The bus has fallen down sideward.

            “Is…everybody….alright?” he asks.

Then he sees the man sitting next to him earlier. A metal tube pierced into his chest.

            “M…mister…” he calls him.

The man looks at him.

The doctor uses his palms to put pressure to the wound but the blood keeps on flowing.

            “Hang on….Stay with me my friend….We’ll get you to the hospital soon. Don’t close your eyes…” he tells him.

            “Joo…..hyu..n…” his voice is hoarse and weak.

            “You’ll see her soon….just hang on a bit…”

            “M…y…Joo…..hyun….” the man coughs blood.

            “Stay with me my friend…stay with me do you understand?”

________________________________________________________________

The doctor opens his drawer and takes out the velvet pouch and small picture of a lady. These belonged to the man from that day.

He stares at the picture of the woman. She’s the lover of that man. The doctor decided to look for her to tell her about what happened. It seems like the woman doesn’t know about the accident since she didn’t arrive at the burial.

He sighs.

He failed to save his life and he somehow felt like the man died in his place. It could have been him if only the man didn’t mistakenly take his seat. The fact that he’s breathing now causes that woman to lose her man.

He couldn’t bear that thought that’s why he promised himself to find that woman and return the rings to her. She needs to know what happened to her groom. Also, he sworn to the man’s grave that he’d take care of her to the best that he can.

After months of searching, he finally got news from the private detective he hired. He immediately goes to the address of the said woman. He couldn’t believe it when he found himself standing in front of the same mansion he went before. It means that the Joohyun he’s looking for is none other than the only daughter of the Seos. The same woman he was supposed to marry.

            “Master and Madame Seo left the country three days ago.” The house help tells him. “They brough lady Joohyun with them.”

            “When are they returning?”

            “They won’t be returning for a long time.”

            “Do you perhaps know their location overseas?”

            “I’m sorry but nobody in this house had been informed.”