the truth about monsters (Chaennie)

Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Colonel

Rosie would be lying, if she had told anyone that work was her sole focus on this particular evening. It wasn't every evening that she felt this detached. Rosie loved her job. She did. This residency was her final step to becoming a surgeon, to making something of the miserable choices that constituted much of her childhood life. She hadn't known her own potential. The Jeons did. They always saw the persistent, intelligent girl, behind fiery blue eyes that could ignite wars. She snapped back to attention, feeling guilty for having wasted any of the precious time she was given to learn.

"Rosie?" A deeper voice sounded from behind her, making her jump.

"Dr. Oh." Rosie whipped around, feeling a hand on her shoulder, clad in a white coat.

"Please, Rosie, how many times have I told you? It's Sehun. You insisted I call you Rosie rather than Roseanne, so it's only fair you call me by my name." His voice was warm, welcoming. Sehun was like sitting by the fire after a day out in the snow. Rosie found him endearing, a source of great friendship...but more? Rosie wasn't quite done braving the blizzard. To settle down with someone like Sehun? Not after Mark.

"Sehun." Rosie examined his warm chocolate eyes with some sense of embarrassment. How long had she been gazing out the window?

"Eyeing the famous Azure Hospital view huh?" Sehun leaned against the wall, arms crossed. He watched Rosie's previous spot, by her favorite windowsill on the highest story. Before Rosie could answer, he seemed to soften up a bit. "I mean, not that I blame you....DC is a place of beauty. Well, besides the monsters that lurk around at night and all that..." He jerked his head toward the general direction of Capitol Hill, and Rosie couldn't help the little laugh that escaped her lips.

"It's Friday night, Rosie. The night is young. Go home. Go out. Get away from here." Sehun finally broke, and Rosie could tell that he had caught on to her reverie. She needed a break. She was tired.

"Sehun..." Rosie ran a hand through her hair absently. "I love this job."

"No one works harder to save these people, Rosie. You don't have to tell me."

"But...sometimes I feel as if...maybe I'm in the wrong line of work." Rosie admitted, sucking in a breath. She'd never really said that out loud before. The icy feeling in her chest was both painful and liberating all at once.

Sehun treated her confession quizzically, raising a brow. "Uh." Was the first incoherent form of communication that spilled from his lips. "What do you mean? Wasn't your mother-"

Rosie abruptly cut him off, unwilling to delve into her personal affairs any further. "Sometimes I think...if we had more power, more initiative to do something.....we wouldn't have to heal all these people."

Sehun looked as if he'd been struck by understanding. He began nodding slowly. "Power...like the Jeons?"

Rosie hadn't even realized what she'd been implying. "Well...now that you mention it...I guess."

Sehun's brow furrowed and suddenly he was shaking his head. He looked around, ducking his head quickly so that they were mere inches apart. "Rosie!" He hissed, vigilant eyes watching the lit hallway outside their enclosed break room. "What they do...it's not safe. It's a dangerous game they play. People like you and I.... we clean up the messes. We fix things. They are the reason people come to us shot up, Rosie. They're all bad- the Jeons, that Kim girl...the 'colonel' or whatever the hell her street name is..."

Rosie couldn't help it. She burst out laughing. Maybe it was the irony of it all, the fact that she'd grown up with all the illegal escapades of the Jeons and their underground gang wars, contraband raids, their less than savory methods of...pushing their product to the streets. She watched Sehun's horrified expression with one of pity. How little he really knew.