The Odd Doctor Out | A Drama | S. 2

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Yeosang scuffed his feet lazily along the floor as he walked out of the operating theatre, pulling off his mask and binning it on his way out. Yawning, he rubbed the back of his neck tiredly.

'Good job everyone,' one of the assistants chirped on his way past.

Yeosang nodded. 'You too,' he murmured, significantly less enthusiastically. Yawning again, he rounded the corner to find Kim Sa Bu standing by a window looking out into the city, hands in pockets.

'I thought you would have disappeared to start your rounds,' Yeosang said, walking up to him. Standing beside him, he too gazed out into the morning sun spilling across the city.

Kim Sa Bu sighed a contented sound. 'I like to take a moment before jumping straight into it,' he said, and it spooked Yeosang to hear his language suddenly switch to a slightly more casual tone.

'How is Wooyoung doing?'

Yeosang's lips fell into a small smile, reminded of his brother. 'He's doing very well. He's back at work now doing half days.'

Dr. Kim nodded. Turning, he leant against the corner of the window so that he could look at Yeosang. 'I used to have a little sister, you know,' he said, nodding slowly before glancing over his shoulder out the window.

Yeosang frowned, confused as to why he was suddenly being so open...

'She was such a beautiful young thing.'

Yeosang's lips parted in shock for a moment as he recognised something in his voice that reminded him of how Wooyoung talked about his parents... 'What happened...?'

The man took a deep breath, tapping one heel of his shoe over the toe of the other. 'She lost her battle with leukaemia when she was twelve.'

Yeosang gulped, glancing down. 'I'm sorry...'

Kim Sa Bu nodded. 'It's okay. This was a long time ago.'

'Oh... Well... I see... But... I'm sorry if this sounds rude, but... why... would you tell me...?'

Dr. Kim nodded as thoughit were a perfectly normal question, before turning his gaze to him and watching him with those wise, intelligent eyes. But despite his confidence and demeanour, the words that came from his lips were not ones Yeosang had expected.

'I don't actually know why...' He looked him up and down before gazing back out the window, yet likely seeing some place far away that Yeosang could not see. 'I suppose you just remind me a lot of myself, and my sister...'

Yeosang bit into his lip, waiting for an explanation as he gently put his hands in his pockets and leant against the other side of the window. It was the first time Dr. Kim had been so casual with him, and it felt wrong, but also somehow right... Suddenly, it felt like they almost understood each other on a seperate level, other than work...

'My sister was my driving force to become a doctor. She was the one who wanted to study medicine. She was so excited to save lives...

But then of course she got really ill and at some point, I took on her dreams t,o live them for her... I wanted so badly to become a cancer doctor and make sure no one ever had to experience what our family went through... They were the dreams of a young boy, but alas, I was so driven...

I see that in you, for your brother. You are living the dreams of an even younger boy than I was, holding onto a memory that you have clutched onto so dearly for almost two decades....' He took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. 'I read Wooyoung's archived file from when he came in with his parents, and then the psychiatry notes from after his grandparents...'