The Odd Doctor Out | A Drama | S. 1

7 🩺 Late!

Seonghwa blinked his eyes open, squinting at the bright light.

'Mmmh... what's the time?'

Pushing up onto one elbow, finally opening his eyes, he realised that he was alone.

Like most nights, Seonghwa had fallen asleep in the doctors on-call room, fully dressed up to and including his white coat from the night before. Sitting up, he stretched, feeling fully rested for the first time in a while...

Wait-

He pounced on his phone, and when the screen lit up, he died a little on the inside.

Eight twenty four...

He had a meeting in exactly one minute... Now even less.

Seonghwa had never moved so fast in all his life. Cursing himself for forgetting to turn on his alarm, he tore out of the staff room faster than Usain Bolt.

But he was destined to be late. There was no way he could cross the entire span of the hospital in forty-five seconds.

Looking at the room number on his phone, by the time he got to the correct office, he was fantastically puffed.

Gathering his cool and sucking in a few massive breaths, picturing his lungs completing the oxygen exchange as though that was going to make any difference, Seonghwa ran a hand through his bed hair and straightened his glasses on his nose.

He knocked.

The door swung open to show his Sunbae looking at him with a disappointed expression plastered on his face. 'Mr Park. So nice of you to join us this morning.'

Seonghwa cringed, shying down and nodding in apology.

A bright voice however floated over to them from somewhere behind his Sunbae. 'Go easy on him, Han. It's only eight thirty four.'

As Han Sonsaeng gave him one last stern glance before stepping back, Hwa felt himself gasp.

There, standing up from his spot at his desk, was the red haired doctor that he had seen a few days prior on the ward. His hair was still a vibrant shade of red, and although there was a definite air of tiredness about him, he still seemed to glow. What was more, his eyes seemed to widen just a little, upon seeing Hwa.

'So you are the infamous Park Seonghwa?'

Seonghwa's mouth gaped in the air, confused. 'I- uh, um... I'm sorry - You know me?'

Seonghwa's Sunbae chuckled as he moved to take a seat opposite the red-heads desk.

'Well since Han Sonsaengnim talks about you across nearly every lunch we have together, I feel like I already know you very well.'

Seonghwa, completely stunned, let his eyes flicker to his Sunbae, who seemed to be quite red in the face.

'I hear you have great skills, Park Sonsaeng,' the red haired doctor said, gesturing for him to sit.

Doing as instructed, Seonghwa felt quite wide-eyed, unsure of what to say. His mentor had always been quite harsh towards him - encouraging and trusting, but harsh nonetheless.

'Oh stop exposing me will you,' his Sunbae said, brushing it off awkwardly. 'Seonghwa, this is Doctor Kim Hongjoong, Senior Resident in Paediatrics. He studied under me, oh, a while back now. God, Hongjoong, you're getting old.'

Kim Saem scoffed, a beautiful sight to behold in Seonghwa's opinion. 'Oh please. It wasn't that long ago. But if I'm getting old, so are you.'

It was insane for Seonghwa to witness his mentor so casual and so friendly, and he couldn't help but wonder whether Han Sunbae just disliked him as a student. Either that or he enjoyed making his life a living hell.

Hongjoong was already one ahead of him though. 'Don't let your Sunbae's strict teachings deter you. He did the same thing with me back in the day. He gets a sadistic kick out of it, I'm sure. Last time I had the pleasure of sitting down for a drink with him, he ranted and raved on for about half an hour about how you are a better student than I ever was.'

'Oh please, I did not!'

'You did so!'

'Fine, but that means nothing. You were a horrible student.'

Hongjoong laughed. 'You're just jealous that your wife wouldn't let you dye your hair like mine.'

'It was blue!'

'Not much gets past you I see.' Laughing, Hongjoong turned his kind attentive smile and gaze to Seonghwa. 'You will learn a lot from Han. I know I did. Although he almost killed me more than once - more out of stress than anything else. I swear I almost had no hair left to dye. I've never had so much hair loss from stress in my life.'

Hwa gave the red haired doctor a nod and a small smile. He knew exactly what he was talking about.

Kim Saem swivelled around in his chair and started sifting through files that were piled up on his desk. Selecting the correct folders, he turned back and suddenly, it was all business.

'Park Sonsaeng, have you been brought up to speed on Miss Lucy Bennet's condition?' As he spoke, Hongjoong made a point of making eye contact with Seonghwa, making it a little hard for him to concentrate. He found himself noticing how clear his skin was, despite having his office buried under nine miles of paperwork.

Seonghwa nodded, slightly mad at not being able to just focus, and worried that in his nervousness, his sentences might not exactly be considered as coherent.

'Good! Our lovely little Lucy was finally admitted to hospital last night for monitoring of her undiagnosed neurological condition, and our departments will be working together as part of the multidisciplinary team to formulate an appropriate plan of care. Han Saem and I have already liaised with the Neuro team, and our primary focus today is to go over and formulate a plan from the perspective of a speech pathology department for a health assessment.'

Kim Saeng, who had been shuffling through documents before him, looked up at Seonghwa, and it was only then that he realised that he'd been saying this for his benefit. Hwa promptly nodded. 'Yes, Kim Sonsaengnim.'

Hongjoong's lips pulled into a small, amused smile - so small Seonghwa almost missed it -, before he continued. 'She is on a thickened fluid diet at the moment due to a high risk of aspiration, and on three hourly PRN aspirates ...'

The more detail that was laid out before Seonghwa, and the longer he spent in the office, the more he finally felt himself fall to ease. It wasn't often that he felt comfortable to input into conversations with his Sunbae and other doctors about plans of care. Although he had the knowledge, he was often scared to use it. But there was something about Kim Hongjoong that made him feel more comfortable with himself, enough that he felt more free and comfortable to contribute to the conversation. He possessed this warm golden aura that emitted a sense of safety and comfort, a kind of safety net if you will, and by the time the meeting was over, Seonghwa felt like the time had passed in the blink of an eye.

'It was lovely to finally meet you, Park Sonsaeng,' Hongjoong said as he walked them to the door. He held out a hand to shake.

Seonghwa felt himself stutter. 'L-Likewise... Kim Sonsaengnim...' He shook his hand, and felt himself melt under the doctor's kind gaze. Stop overreacting, he told himself. But alas, his eyes transfixed onto the older's...

That was, until he felt his Sunbae staring a hole in the side of his head. 'Okay boy, stop gawking at his ridiculous hair. We have outpatients to see. Let's go, we don't have all day,'

Yes... Ahem... his hair...

Snapping out of it, Kim Saem's lips pulling into a tiny smirk, the last thing Seonghwa heard before his Sunbae dragged him off, was the soft laughter of the other. As he looked back, he saw the doctor raise and wave, a slightly sassy looking movement that confused Seonghwa for a moment. But he soon gave Hwa the thumbs up, before disappearing back into his office.

Wow.

Just wow.

~~~