The Time When Our Path Someday Cross Again

Chapter 2

Sunjae night shift had passed from hours ago. The resident who supposed to be on duty after his shift was pretty late, but Sunjae didn't seem to care. In normal condition, Sunjae would have scolded him with no mercy. This puzzled almost everyone. Senior Ryu Sunjae, who was very strict about their scheduling, had refused to go home after his shift was over.

When Im Sol was here, why he would want to go home?

"Hey, Ryu Sunjae, I think you should head home now. You've been awake for... what, 18 hours now?" Lee Hyunsoo, his fellow resident from the same year, gently patted his shoulder. Hyunsoo must had noticed that Sunjae had been checking the same paper over and over again for only God knows how many times. Hyunsoo looked a little bit worry. "The patient over there, was she someone you know?"

Sunjae was ready to reply but something hold him back. He, of course, knew her. In fact, more half of his life, the time she spent on his mind was more often than when she was not. She sometimes came as sweet memories, but also came as nightmares in the other times.

But did she remember him? Would she want to remember him?

"No, I..." Sunjae's voice was hoarse. "... I don't know her." Sunjae replied heavily.

"Really? I thought you did." Hyunsoo replied nonchalantly, he scrunched his nose while checking something in the PC in front of him. "The nurses said that you put extra care to her. Like, extra-extra. You visited her once like every five minutes and spent so much time on her ward. They're kind of thinking she is your girlfriend or what,"

His girlfriend? Oh, if only they knew how desperately Sunjae wished that were true—how he wished he could claim the girl as his.

"She might now remember me, but I kinda.... Know her. I used to, yeah." Sunjae finally confessed awkwardly.

"Huh? So, you do know her."

He had no answer to that. It stung his heart that 'someone you know' was the only definition that could explain his relationship with her. It was, in some way, a fact he could not deny.

"Please keep your eyes on her for me, okay? If something happened to her..." Sunjae paused, he shook his head, would not dare to think if something really happened to her. "Please call me right away."

He wanted to stay longer here, but Hyunsoo was right. He was up for almost 20 hours now, his body needed some sleep. Two or three hours of sleep would be enough for his next shift. Im Sol had passed her critical time, she was just still under anaesthesia. Sunjae has made sure to check her vitals like once in every ten minutes. She should be fine.

"Are you sure she's not your girlfriend? You look sus," Hyunsoo gave Sunjae a mischievous smile, teasing him, to which Sunjae did not respond. Realizing the awkward situation, Hyunsoo cleared his throat, his smile was slowly vanished.

Hyunsoo's eyes back to the computer in front of him, while Sunjae eyes were still fixated on Im Sol's ward. He was thinking to visit her ward one last time, before he head home. But maybe that was not a very good idea. So, starring at the curtain of her ward with a yearning heart was the only thing he could do.

"She is... the reason why I am here today." Sunjae lips went tight, after he blurted out those words just like that. He was thinking for a while, maybe this bit of information was a TMI for Hyunsoo, but screw it. In the chaotic ICU situation, he knew the information would likely be forgotten soon. "She was my first love."

Memories flooded Sunjae's mind—her radiant smile, her cheerful voice, the lively way she walked down the stairs of her old home with a loud thumping sounds. But then, those sweet memories darkened, it became a force that pull Sunjae back to reality. "And she still is."