THE WHITE COAT

Chapter 0

"What do you want to be when you grow up, Hyun-woo?"
A woman's voice. Soft. Warm. Safe.
I didn't know how old I was in this memory, but I was small. Sitting on a plush rug, gripping a crayon too tightly, coloring something-a sky, maybe? The blue was smudged across the page.
I looked up. She was smiling. Her face blurred, her features indistinct. But I knew.
"I want to be an astronaut," I had said, beaming.
She laughed. "An astronaut?"
I nodded eagerly. "Or a firefighter. Or maybe an artist! But I also want to be a scientist. And a baker!"
Her laughter was light, like wind chimes. "That's a lot of things, my love."
"I can do all of them!"
She leaned down, brushing a gentle hand over my hair. "You can be anything you want. Whatever makes you happy. Just be a good human being."
I held onto those words.
For years, I held onto them.
Until she was gone.

The memory shifted.
Another voice.
Deep. Familiar.
"You're going to be someone great, Hyun-woo."
My father.
He wasn't like how he was now. His voice back then-it wasn't cold, sharp, or suffocating. It was filled with pride.
"You can do anything, son."
He meant it. I knew he did. Back then, he believed in me, just like she did.
But then-
Then she died.
And everything changed.