Salmon Bagel and a Hot Chocolate

1 - Casual Café Chats

From pickpockets to psychopaths, from victims to murderers, she had seen it all. Exposed to the grim details of everything, exposed to crime scene photos, exposed to court hearings that don't always end well– Minjeong had experienced the whole nine yards.

"Dr. Kim. Your client is here."

"Send them in."

Pursuing psychiatry was not something Minjeong regretted. It had always been her dream to dig deeper into the human mind and it had always been her family's dream that she'd be a doctor; she managed to satisfy everyone this way.

She knew the risks that came with her job. Dealing with criminals was one thing, but dealing with the victims was on a whole new level.

Desensitisation was the only way she found she could navigate her way around it. She had become so devoid of emotion just to keep an unbiased perspective for all her clients.

Her job was not to solve anyone's problems, her job was simply to guide them. She had to guide them without letting her own feelings take over. That was something that was not easy to accomplish.

But she was trained to do that. She was very well trained and one of the best– if not the best– in her area of work. Which was also why the more difficult cases were sent to her. Minjeong had learned that feelings would get her nowhere, because pouncing on a murderer during a session would never fare to end well.

Minjeong was well able to sympathise. She sympathised with every single victim that came to her, but she still could not let her feelings take over.

All this made it hard for her to form connections outside of her workplace. She had many friends, but only one she could really just talk to. Relationships had never worked out for her– either they couldn't understand each other, or she was just unable to feel in a normal setting.

Apart from being exhausting, the solidarity her work led to didn't bother her. She was making good money, her family was proud of her, and she had at least one pillar to support her. Minjeong had found comfort within the chaos.

It was a long day for her today. She had three sessions– one of the three was couples therapy.

She ended her day dealing with a narcissist. An uncooperative, loud, narcissist with some serious anger issues. It was hard for her to remain professional, having to hold back from saying something like 'no wonder your wife wants a divorce!'.

Like most of her days, Minjeong never went straight home, always heading to a café to destress. She didn't want to bring negativity back into her home.

There was always one café she frequented, which, in line with her luck, closed down a couple of weeks prior. Minjeong had to take the time to find a new one, which she deemed as her go-to... for the time being.

"Thank you, Yerim. I'll see you tomorrow," Minjeong waved at the woman who occupied the front desk. She was the best person for the job and always lifted everyone's mood with her smile. Yerim made Minjeong's days tolerable. "Tell Yunjin I'll see her tomorrow as well."

"I will pass that message to her," Yerim smiled, contagious enough to make Minjeong smile as well. "I'll see you tomorrow, Dr. Kim. Have a great night."

Minjeong only let out another smile before making her way out and towards her car. She was just in time for dinner which she had already planned to grab in the café.

She would usually go with Yizhuo, her best (and only) friend, but the latter was busy this night, so Minjeong went alone and a little later than usual.

Again, never something she was against. She liked being alone, she liked having time to herself. She wasn't lonely, at least she didn't think that was what it was.