For crying out loud! The Alarm had been ringing for another eternity again. After spending the entire night scrolling and stalking through web pages, searching more about Yeom Tae, Haneul wasn't sure if she would be able to leave her bed and go to work today. When did she become so indulged in someone after just the first meeting? Plus there was nothing special about the first meeting either!
Haneul snuggled inside her sheets, pushing herself to sit up and slam the alarm shut which had been ringing on her nightstand since forever. Her housekeeper had come twice to inform her about breakfast but the dread of the sleepless night kept her eyes shut.
She forced herself out of bed to freshen up and get ready for work. Thankfully, she wasn't late even after stalling so much time because she used to wake up 3 hours before work. She had a productive routine after all, as someone who only studied her entire life.
Haneul quickly wore her everyday makeup and made her way downstairs where her parents had already been seated for breakfast. She said her greetings and took her seat.
"How was my choice?" Her father, Changmin, said as he hoarsely chuckled.
Haneul kept her eyes on the table. A wooden spoon in one hand, scooping a spoonful of white rice, and chopsticks in the other hand, picking up on seared beef and placing it on top of the white rice with a bit of kimchi for the ultimate bite.
"He was nice." Haneul said, still keeping her eyes on her little tower, devouring her ultimate bite, chewing it like a squirrel chewing on a nut.
Soomin laughed and patted her daughter's head while stretching it from the other side of the long dining table.
"Eat more." Soomin said while keeping the smile embedded on her face for as long as Haneul ate.
Haneul's parents were loving. There wasn't a thing Haneul looked at and didn't achieve right away. Not just materialistically, her parents made sure that Haneul was provided a healthy environment. Even after growing 30 years old, she was still treated like a baby.
Marriage was the only issue, the only contradiction. But after meeting Yeom Tae, Haneul was considering it wholeheartedly.
After breakfast, Haneul bid farewell to her mother and accompanied her father to the hospital. Changmin was a cardiac surgeon at his hospital. He had a separate board of directors to look after the hospital while he attended to his duties.
The two drove to the hospital and changed their ways at the main hall, where Changmin went to the cardiology department and Haneul went to the pediatrics department.
She had two surgeries to attend to today so her day was busy right off the bat. She was still at the 2nd number in the operating theater hierarchy. The professor of her department was a 58 year old pediatrician, unmatched and unrivaled ever since the making of this hospital.
She envied Haru for being the 4th number in the operating theater hierarchy. Neurosurgeons were rather less in number but strict in hierarchy, hence Haru was still an assistant surgeon. The 2nd number was already nerve wrecking in the pediatrics department but Haneul was thankful for what she had. At least it wasn't like her school days where all they did was stand at the corner of the operating theater, hoping to even touch the patient, just like the med students standing in her operating theater now.
It was astonishing, the hierarchy in the operating theater. Once she was so far from her patients, and now so close. Soon she would be the closest. But she wasn't ready for that yet.
After finishing her successful surgeries, Haneul made her way to her room to look at outpatients. She had dinner plans with her friends tonight; they needed detailed explanations of her most recent blind date. But before that, she had a bunch of outpatients to see.
Fortunately, today's patients were filled with quiet and easy kids. Haneul had always been bad with children. She sometimes wondered why the specialty of her choice had to be pediatrics.
"Where does it hurt?" Haneul politely approached the little girl sitting on the chair in front of her.
Not a single word out of the animated doll-like girl, so still she was sitting. Haneul repressed an irritated smile and tried to reach her hands out towards the girl. She pulled away, squeezing her dinosaur plushie in her arms harder than before.
Just then, Haru barged inside the doctor's room, coming to the rescue. The mother of the girl confusedly looked at the wavy, short and brown haired short heighted doctor approaching the pediatrician with her brown eyes narrowed in what seemed to be, disgust?
"Sorry I interrupted, last patient?" Haru muttered at the mother before looking back at Haneul.
"Help." Haneul smiled painfully.
Haru looked at the 4 year old girl, moody and lost. Haru too, was moody and lost about children. But her actions contradicted her hatred immensely.
"Awwww!" Haru exclaimed to the girl enthusiastically, "Who's the good girl?" She sat down on her knees to match the height of the girl, holding her tiny arms right away. "Say, say, What's your name gorgeous?"
The girl cracked a small smile, "Go Chaeyoung." She said politely afterwards.
"Chaeyoung-ah!" Haru chuckled playfully, "Such a cute name you have!" She added, "Come on, Chaeyoung, tell our doctor who's hurting you."
Chaeyoung pressed her lips together while looking at Haru then shifted her eyes to the grim Haneul.
"My stomach." She whispered.
Haru gasped loudly before striking her elbow to Haneul's knee, making her gasp loudly as well. It allowed the child to be extra comfortable with Haneul and thus let her continue the checkup and treatment.
Finishing up with a small prescription, the child and her mother were sent back home, concluding Haneul's day at work at last.
Haneul stood up and stretched one last time.
"Youngsoo is waiting." Haru said with striking excitement in her eyes.