The next day, Kang Seo-Jin woke up to the sound of her phone ringing. It was Min-ci.
"Hello," she mumbled sleepily, barely opening her eyes.
"I'm here to pick you up," came Min-ci's energetic voice. " Wait…..what! are you still seeping?"
Seo-Jin was still half-asleep, the phone resting limply in her hand. Through the fog of her drowsiness, she vaguely heard Min-ci making noise outside her apartment door.
She knew perfectly well Min-ci was being dramatic just to force her out of bed.
"Hey, you know the password, don't you? Just open the door already," Seo-Jin mumbled.
"What password? Ah, it slipped my mind when I was out drinking with friends," Min-ci replied cheekily.
"Friends? You have friends other than me? I'm going to kill you today."
Still in her pajamas, Seo-Jin lazily shuffled to the door and opened it.
"Come on, hurry up. We're running late, okay? We're already 50 minutes late," Min-ci said, stepping inside and flopping down on the sofa. She started rummaging through her white designer handbag.
"You forgot something?" Seo-Jin asked.
"Nope. I've got a gift for you," Min-ci said with a mischievous smile.
"A gift? How thoughtful of you," Seo-Jin replied, eyeing her curiously, her voice laced with teasing.
"Here it is. Consider this an early birthday gift."
Min-ci handed over the autograph book which Seo-Jin had given her to take to the fan meeting. Seo-Jin's eyes widened. She was stunned and absolutely over the moon when she saw the band members' signatures inside.
Min-ci smiled as she watched Seo-Jin grin from ear to ear.
But that smile quickly faded.
"What? What's wrong?" Min-ci asked.
"This." Seo-Jin turned the page towards Minci.
"That's Taeha's autograph. You… don't recognize it?"
"That's not what I'm talking about. Of course I know it's his signature. I'm talking about my name."
"Your name? But I saw him writing it correctly…" Min-ci scratched her head, trying to remember.
Seo-Jin's heart sank.
This is a disaster.
How did he know this was my book?
Her mind raced back to the night before, to when Taeha had asked if she'd received a gift from a friend. The memory struck her like lightning. Oh my god, how am I supposed to face him now?
She stared at Taeha's autograph again and that's when she noticed it. A small, smiling face drawn right next to her name.
Seo-Jin covered her mouth in disbelief.
"What am I seeing right now…?"
She spoke loudly enough for Min-ci to hear.
"I knew you'd be happy! That's why I asked him to write your name," Min-ci said, clearly proud of herself.
"Sorry…what?"
"Yeah, I told him your name so he could write it for you. Aren't you happy? I know you're happy."
Seo-Jin forced a smile as Min-ci returned to scrolling her phone.
He must've recognized me.
She glanced at Min-ci who had absolutely no idea what she'd done.
Seo-Jin couldn't help but chuckle. "She's the true definition of a best friend," she whispered under her breath.
A little while later, Seo-Jin emerged from her room, fully dressed.
"You know what? I fixed your car," Min-ci announced.
"I knew I could always count on you," Seo-Jin replied warmly.
"You should be more careful next time, especially at night. You could've just called me! What am I, a god? I can't sense whenever you're in trouble. You've got to tell me so I can help. What if something had happened to you?!"
Min-ci's voice rose with emotion as she finally finished her rant.
Seo-Jin didn't reply right away. She'd never seen Min-ci so serious. She knew now wasn't the time to joke.
"I'll be good from now on….Okay, calm down unless you want that frown of yours permanently glued to your face," Seojin teased, and Minci let out a chuckle. Seo-Jin knew her best friend couldn't stay mad for long.
"Now here comes the real problem," Seo-Jin said playfully. "Didn't you say you had drinks with your other friends?"
"Did I?" Min-ci tilted her head, pretending to be clueless.
"You're not getting away with this."Seo-Jin sat beside her and gave her a knowing look.
"What is that look? Ugh….fine, fine. I'll treat you to dinner today, okay? It's on me."
*************************************
By the time they reached the hospital entrance, they were stunned to see a huge crowd gathered outside.
Security guards were doing their best to control the chaos.
"What the hell is going on?" Seo-Jin asked.
"How would I know?" Min-ci replied, steering the car toward the parking lot only to be blocked by aggressive groups of people shouting loudly.
Seo-Jin couldn't make out what they were saying from inside the car. All she could hear were their shrill voices.
Min-ci honked several times, but the crowd didn't budge. Seo-Jin could tell her friend was getting seriously annoyed because of that.
Finally, Min-ci rolled down the window and shouted, her voice cutting sharply through the noise:
"Oi! Step aside unless you want to die at my hands!"
The crowd scattered almost instantly.
"Looks like they really don't want to die like that," Seo-Jin chuckled.
"Humans are always like that". Saying that Minci leaned back in her seat, watching the hospital building as if it annoyed her mere existence. Seojin glanced at her, eyebrows slightly raised. That line was oddly dramatic but then again, Minci said things like that all the time. Seojin didn't let it bother her anymore.
Minci parked beside Seojin's car with a soft screech. "Grab anything you want from the car," she said casually.
"I don't think I'll have to. I've got all I need," Seojin replied coolly, opening the door for Minci. She stood waiting as Minci applied her signature lipstick in the side mirror like she was prepping for a magazine cover.
After the quick makeup touch-up, the two made their way inside the hospital.
"I'll go to the director's office first," Seojin sighed.
"What for?"
"To apologize for being late?" Seojin teased, raising an eyebrow.
"Don't be so sarcastic, okay? I'll deal with that good-for-nothing director myself. You go do your usual work." Reassured Minci.
Since they were from different departments, the two friends split up at the hallway intersection.
But something was definitely off. As Seojin headed to her ward, she noticed patients weren't in their rooms. Instead, they had gathered in clumps along the corridors, whispering with animated excitement. Some were pressed like sardines around the Emergency Care Unit.
Strangely, almost all of them were women.
Her confusion grew when she spotted a familiar face. Kim Jiyeon- her patient with digestive issues was standing with wide eyes, half-hovering near the ECU door.
"Unni! I thought you weren't coming today," Jiyeon said coming towards Seojin.
"Uh, I overslept a bit," Seojin admitted, rubbing her temple. "By the way... what is going on here?"
She gestured toward the girl cluster by the ECU. ( Emergency Care Unit)
"We're on the same page, unni. I just got here, too. I tried to sneak a peek, but those mean girls blocked me." Jiyeon huffed, glaring at them. "But I heard them whispering about a celebrity."
"A celebrity?" Seojin blinked. "Ugh... another charity stunt?"
She rolled her eyes. She had read one too many fluff articles about celebrities doing hospital rounds for PR points. It wouldn't be shocking if another one showed up. But even she couldn't deny her curiosity was now itching.
But in the emergency care unit? That didn't make sense.
She frowned. "I am pretty sure that the director isn't dumb enough to let them host a celebrity event in there of all places. But I doubt that because he is a no brainer…" Seojin ended up chuckling at the way her monologue ended, just as Jiyeon caught her mid-smirk.
"Unni... are you okay?"
"Huh? Of course!" she said quickly, snapping out of it.
"Okay.... I'll be going then."
Before Jiyeon could say more, Seojin swept past her, stomping toward the ECU like she was on a mission. The other girls didn't look thrilled to see her, but Seojin didn't need much effort to slide past them. Being a doctor had its privileges.
The moment she stepped into the ECU, chaos greeted her.
Voices bounced off the walls. A crowd of people stood around a hospital bed, and in the middle of it, Seojin spotted Dr. Park Jihoon red in the face and gesturing like he was two seconds away from throwing hands. He was mid-argument with someone whose back was turned to her.
Next to Jihoon stood another man, just as intense. From the way he was talking, it was clear he was siding with Jihoon.
Seojin narrowed her eyes.
She couldn't see the man Jihoon was arguing with, but she did spot someone instantly recognizable: Woo-hyun from 5- GANG.
Her eyes widened slightly. And then the other members started to click in one by one like pieces of a puzzle.
But... where was Taeha?
Her eyes scanned the room like a laser, but the most important face was missing.
Okay... let me get this straight. 5-GANG is apparently doing some kind of charity gig here. In the emergency care unit. That already sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen. Her mind whirled. Why are they all circled around that bed? Are they giving a pep talk to a fan? Feeding her grapes? Singing lullabies?
She tried to sneak a look at the patient, but the fangirl blockade was solid. Her view was totally blocked. Seojin's brain was spinning.
Wait, where the hell is Taeha? There's no way he'd skip a public appearance like this. He's either running late or... something else is going on.
She took one last glance at Jihoon's furious expression.
No wonder doctor Park jihoon is angry. The emergency care unit is not place to host a charity gig…..and who is that man next to him. No no...it is out of my business. Time to sneak out before anyone sees me.
She slowly turned, her hand grabbing the doorknob, ready to escape….
"Dr. Kang!"
Her name cut through the noise like a needle through glass.
She froze.