4 How it began.

"Chae-Won..I think it was Hyunki who I bumped into earlier.." Hye Jin speaks timidly as she watches Chae-Won dig into her bowl, chomping down on some salad.

Chae-Won stops immediately.

"Girl.." She swallows.

"Didn't you say the guy was really rude and even wiped down the coffee on your arm?"

Hye Jin nods, picking at her own sub.

"I looked at the photos of him clicked by some of his fans this morning and…the outfit's the same..all black.."

Chad-Won lets out a loud sigh, continuing her meal.

"Hyejin-ah, every man dresses in all black, these days…something about looking like they belong to a cool biker gang." She continues.

"No, trust me…his eyes. They belong to Min Hyunki. Wasn't he like known for his dragon-like eyes?" Hyejin asks.

Chae-Won scrolls through her twitter, looking up photos of Hyunki.

"That and his gummy smile..Girl, he's even known for being the perfect gentleman. Women he's worked with have always stressed upon how lovely and respectful he'd been to them..How could he manhandle you over spilt coffee? My fantasies of him refuse to believe he could've done something of this sort.."

Hyejin rolls her sub back into the wrapping paper as she stands up, abruptly.

"Where are you going? Is it because I refused to believe it was Min Hyunki?" Chae-Won teases.

"I've lost my appetite.. I'd been debriding a pus filled ulcer all morning, anyway. I'd rather take a 20 minute nap." Hyejin says as pulls in the chair she was seated on, minutes ago.

"Okay, ew and yeah, you need all the sleep you can get when you're posted at the Emergency Department aka the gates of Hell. I'll catch you for our ritual midnight coffee though, right?" Chae-Won shouts.

Hyejin throws her heart guns and walks out of the Doctor's Canteen.

As she's walking towards the sleeping station, she meets eyes with her twin, who's chatting up the nurse at the Paediatric Department.

Hyejin rolls her eyes as she swipes her card and enters the room.

She spots Jung Jo Seok, the hyperactive resident from her class, passed out in the corner bunk and hears him snore, subtly.

"Dear God, please keep me sane.." She prays, hoping he leaves before she wakes up.

His positive energy often leaves her feeling miserable.

Just as she closes her eyes and snuggles into the blanket, she feels her pager buzzing uncontrollably.

Hyejin brings it before her eyes and it flashes 'DR.CHOI' in big bold letters.

Only when she'd felt at ease for once.

Life was tough for a first year resident and especially so when the programme incharge was satan himself aka Dr. Choi.

"Oh..Hi Hyejin.." Jo Seok mumbles, out of his sleepy daze, smiling at Hyejin who scrambles out of her bunk, throwing the blankets aside, irritatedly.

"Bye, Jo Seok..talk later!" She exclaims, slumping her shoulders as she combs through her hair, pushing back her side bangs.

———————

Hyejin walks into Dr. Choi's office and is met by a group of 6 interns.

She's even joined by Ho Jin, who welcomes her with a side hug.

"You've been called by Dr. Choi as well?" Hyejin asks him.

He nods in response.

"Know what it's about? I never see Dr. Choi twice a day, it's too much for me Jinnie…" Hyejin whines.

"Stop sulking..I literally stirred you awake today but you wouldn't budge. Also, I think it's a Case Discussion..I'm so excited to see what he has to share with us today! Oncology is the best. I'm so envious of Chae-Won, who gets to work here everyday. 2 more months for my turn…" Jin celebrates as he babbles, excitedly.

[A/N : Oncology = Department that manages patients with cancer.]

Hyejin rolls her eyes as she scoffs at her brother's words.

"You're such a dweeb..If you love working so much, I'd love to change spots with you.. Please cover my shifts at the ED and maybe you'll then not be as enthusiastic as you are."

Jin pinches Hyejin's arm, causing her to wince.

"Maybe if you looked at your work in the ED as a learning experience, you'd be feeling a lot different.."

"Okay number one, you need to stop pinching my arm, it's sensitive and number two, I spent all morning draining blood and pus of a gangrenous ulcer out of an old man's leg and I swear to god, I can still smell the rotting flesh so cut me some slack, today.." She breathes out, rubbing her arm.

"At least you didn't get peed on by an infant twice in the same day.." He mumbles.

"Well, I'm sorry you got peed on. Anyway, where's Dr. Choi? Isn't he always preaching us on punctuality? What a hypocrite." Hyejin comments, a little too loudly.

"Ah, Dr. Kim Hye Jin..this is your first time being on time right? Unlike you, I was looking over some paperwork. Nevertheless, we'll hear about your problems later." Dr. Choi walks in from the back, hearing Hyejin's rant.

Jin stifles a laughter.

"You've the worst timing.." He whispers, stopping himself from busting a lung.

"Sorry, Dr. Choi.." Hyejin apologises.

Dr. Choi ignores the apology as he ushers the interns inside his cabin.

"Alright, take a seat. I've called one of you from every department available for a detailed discussion of a very peculiar case I was passed on today by a fellow Oncologist earlier this morning…" He rambles.

Hyejin seats herself towards the back, avoiding any direct eye contact with Dr. Choi.

"Alright so, a 28 year-old Male reported to us with a gaping wound over his right elbow. The bleeding time was 14 minutes, which obviously exceeds the normal limit. He also complains of fatigue, breathlessness and recurrent infections over a span of 3 months. His extremities are paler than normal.. Upon inspection of his elbow wound, the recovery was rather slow with granulation tissue repair being just sub-par. Which means, it took his wound a longer time to heal than a normal person his age would have healed. Our patient even has 3 to 4 nosebleeds every week, on an average. In addition to this, he has no other medical history. No family history or drug history. Now based upon this, what might you preclude?"

An intern raises their arm to answer and Hyejin rolls her eyes.

"Sir, I believe he has Anaemia..That could explain the breathlessness and the paling of limbs?"

"Good observation however, it doesn't explain his poor wound healing and uncontrollable bleeding..Anyone else? hmmm..Dr.Hyejin?"

Hyejin knew this would happen.

Obviously, it was a scheme to make her feel like an idiot and an incompetent Doctor.

"Uh, I-I think it's um..Leukemia. You mentioned reoccurring infections and poor blood clotting..Moreover, fatigue and paling are also symptoms of the same.."

Dr. Choi claps his hand.

"Good, very good..thorough answer." He praises and Hyejin's eyes widen, pumping fists with a proud looking Jin.

"Alright so as Dr. Hyejin explained, it is very much Leukemia..However, it's not just the normal one..It's a rare variety. Can anyone tell me the exact diagnosis..I'll be passing out pictures of his blood profile..Scan through it and tell me all you know about this!"

Hyejin was pumped.

She was going to get this right and she was going to resurrect her shabby image before Dr. Choi, by all means.

She greedily grabs the sheet from Jin and jumps in her seat, standing up rather hastily.

"DR.CHOI, it's CHRONIC LYMPHOCYTIC LEUKEMIA!!!" Hyejin screams.

Everyone looks back at Hyejin, with disapproving looks.

Jin lets out a defeated sigh from the side and Hyejin reads the room, sitting back down.

"Hyejin-ssi, this isn't a matter to celebrate..it's a patient's life..besides, it's not CLL. Perhaps you're forgetting, the patient is a 28 year old male..CLL is prominent only in patients aged 60 and over.." Dr. Choi explains.

"The answer is in the picture. Use all your knowledge and think out of the box…the one who gets this right, will get to work with me on this case, exclusively."

Hyejin slumps back in her seat, scratching her scalp as she recounts all she's ever red about Leukemia.

Just as she's analysing the different types, Jin rises from the seat beside her.

"Yes Dr. Kim Ho Jin?" Dr. Choi smiles.

"Sir, I believe it's Acute Myeloid Leukemia.." Jin answers, eyes running over the 4th type of abnormal cell.

"Support your conclusion with 3 strong reasonings." Dr. Choi responds and he other interns turn back to look at Jin.

"Alright. One, AML or Acute Myeloid Leukemia affects the younger population.

Two, the abnormal myeloblast cells mimic not only the white blood cells but also the red blood cells and platelets, as is evident in this picture..

Third, all his symptoms align with the effect that the myeloblasts have on the 3 cells that mediate blood flow, breathing, infection control and blood clotting. Hence, the diagnosis is Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia.." He concludes, placing the sheet back down on Dr. Choi's table.

Dr. Choi runs a hand over his face.

"Just when I think you couldn't surprise me any further, you always one up yourself, Dr. Jin. Congratulations, you will be assisting me on this case, hence on." He comments and Jin looks at Hyejin, all smiles.

"Thank you, sir." He bows down, respectfully.

"Now, everyone else. What do you know about AML?" Dr. Choi asks.

Hyejin pats Jin on the arm showing him a thumbs up.

Jin was a genius and this was a fact well known by all.

If only God would've been kind enough to share some of Jin's genius with Hyejin, she often thought to herself.

"Sir, it's a rare kind of Cancer…accounts for only 1% of all cancers.." One intern comments.

"Recovery rates are rather low..I'd say at best 25%.."

"Life expectancy is 5 years.."

"Depending upon the extent of spread of the myeloblast cells, treatment plan can be devised. However, prognosis is not too good."

Dr. Choi nods at all the facts.

"In short, treatment must be started at once! Meeting adjourned!" He speaks as he gets up from his seat, checking on his pager.

"Please return to your usual rounds and Dr. Jin, please see me at 6pm later today to discuss the case as we call in the patient for a further assessment." He comments.

Jin bows his head and shakes his hand, gleefully.

As Dr. Choi leaves, Jin lets out a loud shaky breath.

"That was intense.." He breathes out.

"Tell me about it…I envy your intelligence at times. I wonder how it'd be like if the tables were turned and I got all the share of Dad's genius genes.." Hyejin wonders.

Jin wraps an arm around her shoulder, walking her to the ED.

"Hyejin-ah. You can beat me, too if you just learn to develop an interest in what you do. Seriously, I know your potential and you're just slacking..You need to develop the fire, the hunger towards this profession and you'll be so motivated that nothing would ever stop you.."

Hyejin smiles at Jin.

"Ah, the good old lecture. Yeah, I know what you mean..I wish I had a reason to be invested in this field again. I need to find the motivation. I need to find the wood to my fire and I'll be unstoppable, Jin..I mean it." She responds, adjusting the stethoscope that wraps around her neck and ties her down, heavy.

Jin pokes her cheek.

"Of course and you know I'm just a pager ping away! Also, text me when you're leaving for home..I'll hand you the car keys. Don't take a taxi at midnight, it's not safe." He pats her back and leaves.

Hyejin stares at the gates of the ED.

The words in red, printed bold.

'EMERGENCY' It reads.

She sucks in a breath and wears the practiced smile.

Jin always gave her the motivation to want to be better.

But, she needed something more than Jin to make her regain the love she once had for Medicine.

What Hyejin didn't know was, the biggest reason had already stepped foot into her life.

That's where the nightmare began.