our crossed paths | jww.

eleven.

After finishing her shift, Jiwoo hurried out of the hospital, her eyes scanning the nearby café for a familiar face. She sighed in relief when she spotted the tall, honey-skinned figure of Mingyu.

Once she reached him, she found herself skeptically rolling a pill in her hand before sighing and dropping it back into the container. "It's crazy how people blindly trust these products these days. I'm sorry to burden you with this."

"No worries, Ji," Mingyu reassured her. "I'll run some tests on the samples and see what comes up. Give me a day or two."

"Thanks, Gyu. I knew I could count on you," Jiwoo replied, a grin spreading across her face.

"But it's not for free!" Mingyu teased, raising his voice playfully.

"What?"

"Treat me to beer, soju, and pork belly, and we'll call it a deal," he grinned back.

"You want me to treat you? Weren't you the one who just got promoted to associate professor, not me?" Jiwoo pouted.

"Exactly! Since I got promoted, my friends should celebrate with me, don't you think?" Mingyu pouted back, mimicking her expression.

"You're so annoying!" Jiwoo laughed, giving Mingyu a light shove, though he barely moved, his muscular frame unyielding.

"But seriously, we should all go out and celebrate sometime. It's been too long since we hung out and caught up," Jiwoo continued.

"Agreed, agreed."

"So, who's the lucky guy you're helping out?" Mingyu asked, raising an eyebrow with a smirk.

"Damn, why did I end up with gossipy friends? You and Min gossip like old ladies sometimes," Jiwoo rolled her eyes.

"So there is someone!" Mingyu assumed, his smirk widening.

Jiwoo's thoughts drifted to Wonwoo, recalling their recent encounters. Unbeknownst to her, a faint blush crept up her cheeks—something that didn't go unnoticed by Mingyu.

"Fine, if you won't tell me, I'll figure it out myself!"

•••

A week later...

"How's his blood work looking?" Jiwoo asked as she entered the ICU ward, pulling on gloves to assess the unconscious boy lying in the bed.

"The infection levels keep fluctuating. It's neither improving nor worsening at this point," Eunji sighed.

Jiwoo, Eunji, and a few other doctors were baffled by the boy's rare condition. It was the first time Jiwoo had encountered something like this, especially being relatively new to the department.

On one hand, this case presented an opportunity for significant research, but after experiencing loss firsthand, Jiwoo's focus had shifted entirely to saving lives rather than climbing the hospital ranks.

This particular case had consumed her for days, as she searched for ways to reduce the infection without resorting to too many risky blood transfusions.

Her meals were spent with books thicker than her fist, and even her bedtime was occupied by medical texts. While others might have partners to hold them as they slept, Jiwoo's bed was crowded with her medical books instead.

Time flew by without her noticing.

"Dr. Jiwoo..." A small voice tugged at her coat, and she turned to see a little girl in a hospital gown looking up at her.