Chapter 1

Wooyoung heard the sirens the second he pulled into the Gijeok Hospital parking lot. Immediately followed by the arrival of several ambulances skidding to a stop in front of the entrance of the ER, greeted by a group of frantic looking doctors in white gowns.

He can just smell the dried up blood and rubbing alcohol in the humid summer air.

Heaving a small sigh, the male stepped out of his car and walked towards the interior of the hospital in small, quick steps, trying his best to avoid getting in the way of the several doctors wheeling in the incoming stream of wounded patients.

“Chansung, what happened?”

“Bus crash. We have fifteen patients coming in.”

“.” A male voice swore behind him, followed by the sounds of fingers aggressively punching numbers into his phone, “Call the chief, and bring in the interns and Khun-hyung’s team. We’re going to run out of staff again. . . !”

Another male voice spoke behind him, slightly deeper and a lot calmer than the first one. “Calm down Junho, isn’t that cardiac surgeon from Seoul University coming today?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, when the is that bastard coming? He was supposed to be here an hour ago.” Wooyoung stopped in his tracks momentarily as the two pairs half jogged past him into the ER, pushing a patient along as their voices disappeared into the growing noise of the department.

It was only after they disappeared out of sight did Wooyoung realize that the two were talking about him.

jinyoung u fcker. u told me the wrong time & now im late. thanks you poop. >:(

Sending a string of angry texts to his little brother who interns in Gijeok Hospital, Wooyoung stopped mid-sentence as he felt a small tug on the ends of his shirt. Turning around, he was faced with the worried face of a little girl, wounds freshly bandaged up as she pointed towards an untended bed occupied by a middle aged man.

“Are you a doctor here sir?” Voice trembling a little bit, the little girl stared up at Wooyoung with expectant eyes, lips quivering in fear.

“Uh, well...kind o-” The girl’s eyes started b with tears as she glanced back at the man on the bed and Wooyoung nervously, “My daddy is really hurt but all of the doctors are busy, can you please take a look at him?”

Eyebrows furrowing a little in worry, Wooyoung ruffled his dark brown hair as he chewed on his bottom lip in thought, “I’m-I’m not sure if I can...see, it’s my first day here today and I’m technically not officially a doctor here so I don’t know if I’m allowed to see patients ye-”

The little girl interrupted his stream of words with a quiet sob, her grip on his shirt loosening, “Please ahjussi...my dad is breathing weirdly. Please…”

Taking a worried glance at the man on the bed, whom he knew was in critical condition the second he laid his eyes on him, Wooyoung looked around the department. Everyone was occupied over a patient, so he could possibly take a look at the man without getting noticed. Grabbing the little girl’s hand quickly, Wooyoung walked towards the man, trying to stay as unnoticed as possible.

“How old is your dad?” Placing his fingers on the side of the man’s neck and gently prying his eyes open, Wooyoung asked the little girl as he checked his pulse.

“F-forty-six.” She replied, voice shaking in anxiety, “Is he badly hurt?”

Pursing his lips in silence, Wooyoung placed his hand on the man’s chest, listening intently. Other than the obvious lacerations and severe bruises and cuts, his heartbeat was abnormally fast and the man was breathing with a lot of difficulties, he could tell. Each breath was taken with a loud and painful wheeze, things weren’t looking very positive.

“We need oxygen for this man here right now, he’s barely breathing.” Stopping a nurse who was walking by, Wooyoung instructed her frantically.

With a nod, she hurriedly walked off, not before stopping in her tracks suddenly and turning around to face the unfamiliar face. “I’m sorry but I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.”

“Does that matter? This man is in danger, he needs oxygen right now.” Raising his voice just the slightest bit at the young female, Wooyoung worriedly glanced back at the little girl’s father, whose breathing was becoming increasingly short and fast.

“Sorry sir, I’m afraid you have to step away from the patient. We cannot let strangers treat our patients.”

“He’s in critical condition!” Eyes widening in frustration, Wooyoung continued. His voice loud enough that a few stares were getting casted his way, “I’m a doctor, okay? Please just give m-”

“What’s going on here?” Wooyoung turned his attention at the sound of an unfamiliar deep and slightly husky voice, dark eyebrows knitted tightly together and lips pursed in distaste. The stranger looked around a year or two older than himself, yet his chiseled face was drastically different from his own rounded features that still suffered from some baby cheek fat. Walking towards them as his white gown trailed behind like a ghost, Wooyoung could tell he was considered authority amongst the rest of the department, and with a brief glance at his name tag, he absentmindedly noted the stranger’s name: ‘Ok Taecyeon’.

The nurse bowed her head slightly in greeting at the taller male, pointing in accusation towards Wooyoung’s direction. “We have an intruder, chief, he was trying to look at one of our patients.”

The tall male, whom Wooyoung assumed was the chief of the ER department, took a quick glance at him, seemingly sizing him up and down before diverting his attention to the girl’s father, “How’s the patient’s condition?”

“But chief, the hospital policy suggests tha-”

Interrupting the high pitched protests of the nurse, Taecyeon raised a hand towards the female and looked over at Wooyoung, his expression unreadable, “Let him talk.”

Heaving a sigh of relief, Wooyoung walked closer to the patient, eyes skimming over his wounds carefully. “He has a few lacerations that needs to be disinfected and treated, I believe he has some broken ribs and is currently unconscious. His heartbeat is abnormally fast and breathing is very difficult.”

“And what do you propose?”

“I suspect a punctured lung. He needs to be provided supplemental oxygen right now, as well as tube insertion. I recommend going into surgery as soon as possible.” Taecyeon nodded, turning around to face the nurse until she received the message and ran off.

“Took her long enough,” Muttering under his breath, Wooyoung gave the little girl a small smile of encouragement before bending down so that they were in eye level, “Don’t worry, your dad’s going to be just fine. Promise me you’ll stay by his side, okay?” Breaking into a bigger smile at her enthusiastic nod, Wooyoung ruffled her hair gently and got up, facing the taller male that stood watching them silently, giving him a small bow of his head to avoid the other’s piercing stare.

“Oh! Aren’t you Jang Wooyoung-ssi?” At the sound of yet another voice, Wooyoung snapped his head towards the second male that walked in, faintly recognizing him as one of the two guys he saw at the entrance earlier on.

“You know him?” Taecyeon inquired, an eyebrow raised in confusion.

“Oh you’re here too chief,” Immediately straightening up his posture and taking out the stethoscope in his ears, the guy, whom Wooyoung recalled was named Chansung, nodded and glanced over at his direction. “He’s the cardiac surgeon from Seoul University Hospital that was transferred here, Jang Wooyoung. You’re more than an hour late you know, do you see how chaotic it is here?”

“Uh, I’m really sorry. There was some miscommunication issues and I-”

By now, Wooyoung had lost count of how many times he’d been interrupted as he stepped foot into this hospital, particularly by this certain ‘Ok Taecyeon’, “Tardiness is not allowed in the ER. Is this why they kicked you out over there?” Without waiting for a response, Taecyeon walked away. Not before taking a quick second glance at the shorter male, sending an uncomfortable shiver down Wooyoung’s body.

“Tsk, tsk, don’t mind him. He’s always like this.” When the chief disappeared into the buzzing crowd, the disapproving frown on Chansung’s face broke into a large smile at Wooyoung as he offered a handshake, “I’m Chansung by the way, might as well greet each other now since we’ll be working together soon anyways.”

Taking the other’s large hand in his, Wooyoung felt a small smile tug at the corners of his own lips as he slightly bowed his head in greeting, “Wooyoung. It’s nice to meet you Chansung-ssi.”

“Ah no need to address me formally, you’re a hyung to me anyways.” Eyes widening in surprise, Wooyoung took a closer look at the latter. Tall, muscular, and certainly very good looking, the male looked a good five years older than him.

Chansung chuckled, his laugh coming out a lot more high pitched than his voice, which was strangely amusing to the older male, “I know, I look a lot older than I actually am. Everyone always tells me th-”

“Yah Hwang Chansung, we need you over here!”

Yelling a reply back, Chansung put his stethoscope back on and bid Wooyoung a quick goodbye, shoving him a neatly folded white coat with his name meticulously printed on the name tag, “Oh, here’s your coat. Don’t be late again!“ With one last wave, the male jogged off towards the patient, not before turning around and flashing Wooyoung a big, toothy grin, “Welcome to the ER!”

-

Every single hospital looks the same, Wooyoung thought to himself as he walked down the long hallway towards the locker room. Blinding white walls, dripping IVs, crying patients and the same exact smell of death hidden in the strong scent of rubbing alcohol. Gijeok Hospital looked almost identical to Seoul University, just less extravagant and dolled-up (which he was glad of because he never understood why dying has to be done in a glamorous way).

Stopping in front of the male staff locker room, Wooyoung pushed open the door to an empty room ( much to his relief ) and quickly changed into the white doctor’s coat Chansung had given him earlier. He was already late enough, and he didn’t want to leave a bad first impression. Although, he quickly reminded himself, he probably already ruined that part of the plan with his little scene earlier on with the little girl’s father.

Heaving a loud sigh, he began to make his way out of the door, yet the long, floor length mirror at the side caught his attention for a brief moment. Without knowing it, Wooyoung was staring at his own reflection in the mirror.

It taunted him.

He still looked the same. Same dark brown hair with his fringe a little overgrown, same equally as brown eyes, lifted nose and thin, pink lips. He still looked the same, especially in his white doctor coat and stethoscope tucked carefully in his chest pocket. He still looked like a doctor, but he felt like a murderer. The name on his coat stood out like a sore thumb, the black stitches of writing starting to turn a haunting shade of dark red.

It reminded him too much of the splatter of blood over his gown that day.

“His vitals are going down!”

“Doctor Jang, do something!” Wooyoung faintly heard the cries of his First over the loud ringing in his head, and the distant beeping of the monitor grew dimmer as his head throbbed in panic. His hands shook violently, and with a loud clang, the metal scalpel he was tightly grasping onto fell onto the cold surgery floor.

“Doctor Jang! Get back to your senses, the patient!”

Cold sweat trickled down his forehead and Wooyoung began shaking his head furiously, the pool of blood quickly collecting over the patient’s open chest-

“Doctor Jang!” A sudden voice beside him and a loud slap on his back interrupted Wooyoung from his trance, breaking his train of memories back to the reality in the locker room. Glancing up, he eyes were met with a pair of soft, familiar, brown ones, “Chansung-ssi…”

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you! The rest of the department are all waiting to meet y-” The look on Chansung’s face suddenly turned into one of concern at the sight of Wooyoung and his trembling hands and sweaty forehead, immediately, his gaze softened in worry, “Hey, are you alright?”

No, Wooyoung thought. “Y-yeah, I’m fine. It’s just a little hot in here.” He lied, avoiding the younger doctor’s worried glance.

“Is it?” Wooyoung could tell Chansung wasn’t convinced, but he was kind enough to not bring up the matter, “Yeah, the weather’s getting really warm, and the hospital’s too cheap to turn on the air conditioner. I swear they’re trying to kill us all here.”

Wooyoung chuckled at the sheer irony of the other’s remark, slowly feeling a lot better under the other’s lively presence. “Anyways, we should probably get going, everyone’s dying to see you. I’ll show you the office, it’s just down the hallway.” Wooyoung nodded and followed after the latter’s lead, trying his best to breathe normally and act like he didn’t feel like absolute as he occasionally nodded and smiled at Chansung’s cute rambles.

“Everyone’s really nice, with the exception of the chief, as you probably already experienced first hand. But honestly though, he’s such a softie and an idiot under that frown once you get to know him, you’ll see.” Wooyoung nodded and smiled again, the face of Ok Taecyeon resurfacing in his mind and sending shivers down his back, “Junho’s a major , we’ve been best friends since preschool and we also graduated from the same med school together, and now we’re working in the same department, you get used to him after a while.” Wooyoung couldn’t help but notice the small smile tugging at the corners of Chansung’s lips when he talked about Junho, even though he did it as nonchalantly as possible, the twinkle in his eyes and that carefully hidden grin gave his controlled facade away.

“Khun-hyung, ah, be careful of Khun-hyung.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s pretty much perfect. He’s our trauma surgeon, and a very talented one at that. He’s the nicest guy you’ll ever know, honestly, and he looks like a male god. I’m not even exaggerating. That guy is perfect, and you should stay away from him.”

Wooyoung frowned in confusion, “Why should I stay away from him then?”

“Because he’s taken.”

Wooyoung blinked, growing more and more confused by the second, “...and?”

“And you’ll be tempted to grab his and kiss his face. Trust me. But he’s taken, and you can’t do that.”

“Anyways,” Chansung continued, ignoring the obvious shock on Wooyoung’s face, “Minjun hyung is the weird one, you’ll know who he is the second he opens his mouth. He’s the grandpa of the ER, but he acts like a prepubescent little boy, I don’t know what Hyejeong sees in him. But he is a really caring hyung though, you’ll love him.” Before Wooyoung knew it, they were already stopping in front of a door, the big two letters “ER” printed neatly on a tag right beside the entrance, “You’ll meet the rest really soon, they’re all waiting.” With a smile and an encouraging nod, Chansung pushed open the door to a room full of white coats.

“Oh my god, is that him?”

“His cheeks, oh god, they’re so cute. I want to squish them.”

“Excuse me Hwang Miyoung, you can’t be cheating on me the second someone new comes.” A male said towards the side of the room, and Wooyoung immediately knew he was this ‘Khun’ Chansung was talking about earlier. Strong defined eyebrows, soft, brown hair and big, round eyes, his smile alone was enough to make anyone want to “grab his and kiss his face”. With a small chuckle aimed towards the female beside him, whom he has an arm wrapped around, Khun gave Wooyoung a big smile and a wave, “Welcome Wooyoung-ssi!”

“Yah, Chansung, did you kidnap the kid or something? He looks like he just saw a ghost.” A familiar face Wooyoung remembered as Junho gave a small scowl at the larger male beside him, sitting on top of a desk with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

“Please Junho, I think it’s you guys.” Chansung rolled his eyes playfully and gently pushed Wooyoung forward, straight into the tight embrace of someone else.

“Wooyoouunnnggg!” A loud voice screeched, wrapping Wooyoung in a tight hug as he half skipped in excitement, with the younger boy still in his arms. Tucked in with his face half in the other’s chest and half in his armpits, Wooyoung could faintly see the name tag on his coat, ‘Kim Minjun’. Chansung is scarily accurate, he thought. “Where did you find such a cute puppy? You’re so adorable, can I have him?”

“Oppa, stop scaring him, he’s not a dog. You’re suffocating him too.” A girl spoke beside him, smiling despite her instructions at Minjun, “I’m Hyejeong by the way, welcome to the department.”

“Why are you guys so loud, get back to work.” Taecyeon appeared from his own seperate office at the far end of the room, his face emotionless and cold as he stood in the doorway, eyes making its way to Wooyoung’s once again. With a scowl, Minjun let go of Wooyoung and clicked his tongue, “Ok Taecyeon, you’re such a party pooper.”

Taecyeon couldn’t help but let out a small smile, yet it disappeared almost the second it appeared. “It’s not someone’s birthday, it’s just a new staff. Now get back to work.” With that, he turned around and walked in his office again, not without giving Wooyoung one last glance, “Oh, and uhm, welcome by the way.”

Wooyoung bowed in respect as he left while everyone else began getting back to their own positions, muttering protest after protest.

“Ugh, Taecyeon hyung is always like this to new people, don’t worry about him, he gets better.” With a small smile, Chansung reassured Wooyoung as he left with a clipboard, “I need to go check up on a patient anyways, see you later!” Wooyoung nodded, giving few smiles to everyone else who were also making their way out of the office, leaving just him and Junho behind.

Pushing himself off the table, Junho pushed his arms through the sleeves of his coat and glanced up momentarily at Wooyoung, “I’m sure this place is like a shed compared to your big Seoul Uni.”

“N-no, it’s fine here, really-”

“You’ll get used to it here, but there’s just one rule you have to follow in the ER.”

Wooyoung froze. Rule?

At the other’s shocked face, Junho smirked, his eyes twinkling in amusement, “Just one.” Walking past the new doctor, Junho gave a small pat on his back, “What happens in the ER, stays in the ER.”

A/N: The first chapter of the story if finally up, just in time for the festival ( I really recommend you all to go check it out, all the stories are great )! I hope you guys liked it and I hope didn't bore you too much ; a ; I tried to make all the characters as diverse as possible, and don't worry about some of the less likeable characters, I left a lot of room for character development ;))) Characters will be further introduced in the next few chapters or so, so do look forward to it! As for always, thanks for reading! - Lindy o u o