Chapter 1: Doctor Park Dowook(1)

2:00 PM Saturday

The Millenium Hotel cafe lounge was full of men and women dressed to the nines.

These people, who were here on blind dates or meetings with prospective marriage partners, were busy trying to judge each other awkwardly.

'This hotel was the meeting point.'

Dowook felt the weird atmosphere in the cafe and looked around until his eyes landed on his blind date.

The woman in her late-twenties looked at his face carefully and asked.

"They said you're a neurologist?"

"I'm a surgeon. A neurosurgeon to be more specific."

"Anyway. Your job sounds okay, you're good-looking enough at that level, and diligent enough that you've almost paid off your student loan..."

A blind date he'd attended after being pushed into it by an acquaintance felt more like an interview about his standing in society.

"You're very honest, aren't you?"

"It's part of my personality. If it's not much of a problem, I'll continue to be frank."

"Whatever makes you comfortable."

His blind date seemed like a man-made beauty though you could hardly infer that she had surgery, but her first impression left much to be desired. Furthermore, she was far from Dowook's ideal type.

"I was just wondering. Why do you keep lifting your cup of coffee and put it back down without drinking it?"

For the first time, she showed interest in something that wouldn't be considered as an interview. Dowook put down the cup of coffee he had been appreciating the scent of and answered.

"I don't have a sense of taste. It's a type of neurological dystrophy. So I enjoy food with its scent."

Usually when people would first hear about this, they would pity him. Then they would ask if that was the reason he became a doctor and the conversation would proceed in that direction.

"Wow, you even have an appropriate weakness. You seem pretty good."

"....What?"

"Good, Mr. Park Dowook. You have piqued my interest."

Dowook swallowed wrong and started coughing. Five minutes after meeting, he'd just been answering questions and putting on an air of not wanting to be here. So what interest was she talking about?

"We both have pretty good conditions. We can talk about love as we keep meeting. Let's quickly decide and start dating."

Since it was his first blind date in 10 years, he wasn't sure how things were done lately. But this was way too fast.

"Right. Where do you want to live? I personally prefer the suburbs. What about you, Dowook? Gangnam? The New Town District?"

"If I really had to choose, somewhere close to the hospital ...."

Just why was he replying to her questions? Dowook's mind stopped for a moment due to his blind date's fast paced mindset.

"Myeong Sae University Hospital is in Sinchon, right? There would probably exist only 99㎡ apartments in that area. Well, I guess we can sell it later and get a bigger place."

"Just a second. What are we selling?"

"The house. The place we'll live after we get married."

Dowook thought he'd misheard and asked again.

"Ms. You Jihae, I heard your father is a real estate agent...."

"That's right. Real-estate. He has about 100 apartments. Didn't you come here knowing that? I figured you knew since you didn't ask any questions about me."

That was when Dowook realized why everyone he knew had so forcefully said that he should go on this blind date.

"What would you like to buy for the wedding? Men like to buy cars, right? Ferrari? Lamborghini? If you want a limited edition, I can ask a favor from one of my dad's friends."

Dowook didn't even notice how he'd sat back down from his half-standing position.

Her identity as a daughter of a real-estate chaebol family was enough to change the bad first impression he had of her.

"It's a bit overdue, but before we talk about marriage expenses, I'd like to know more about you Ms. Ji Hae ......"

"Oh my. Isn't it that woman?"

"What?"

Just a moment had passed but the conversation topic had changed once again.

"Who is it that you mean?"

"The one who stole my VIP parking spot."

His blind date raised her hand and pointed at the entrance.

"Look, look. She isn't even all that pretty. She probably got stood up by her blind date."

Dowook turned his head to look. But he couldn't find a woman who wasn't that pretty and was rejected.

That was because the woman standing at the entrance suddenly dropped into a faint.

"Please let me through! I'm a doctor!"

Dowook made it through the murmuring crowd and stood in front of the unconscious VIP before he knew it.

'Oh my God'

Maybe it was because of the remarkable skyview but an exclamation slipped out without his notice when he saw the VIP's face which sparkled due to the sunlight.

Dowook was certain.

If his blind date had been this woman, he would have confessed to her within 5 seconds. She was the very definition of his ideal type.

A woman in formal attire standing beside the patient asked Dowook.

"Are you a doctor?"

Dowook remembered why he ran over so quickly.

"Yes, are you the patient's family?"

"I'm her secretary."

"Please lay her down with her head straight. I'm a neurosurgeon from Myeong Sae hospital."

The secretary displayed relief at the fact that there was a doctor nearby at this moment.

Dowook placed the back of his hand under the patient's nose. She was breathing evenly. He checked the pulse under her chin. Her pulse rate was a bit high.

"Did she say she was in pain before she fainted? Or did she point at somewhere in particular?"

"She said she had a bit of a headache since this morning."

Dowook habitually looked for the penlight he used to check patients' pupils in his right chest pocket and realized he wasn't at the hospital so he took out his phone from his inner pocket.

"Miss. Can you hear what I'm saying?"

He turned on the flashlight and shined the light on the patient's eyes. He then saw that her pupil was dilated and not moving.

"Hmmmm....."

"What is it?"

This was a sign that things were very bad.

"I presume it is nerve damage. Please tell me if the patient has any history of illness or medicine she is taking right away."

"I'm not so sure about her medical history.... But she doesn't take any medicine. I was also not informed of any."

Dowook asked while dialing on his phone.

"Have you already called an ambulance?"

"Yes. the hall manager did."

Click

The signal stopped, and he heard a familiar voice.

-Why are you calling at this time? Didn't you say you were going on a blind date?

"I went, but there's an emergency patient at the hotel."

-There? You really bring your patients everywhere, don't you?

"Prepare to meet us. And make sure there's some Setriaxon, Empotericin, and Acyclovir available."

-Why do you need such a variety of antibiotics? Do you know the patient? Is it your blind date?

"It's not my blind date."

This guy who was currently working at the emergency center was someone who knew him pretty well. That was why he said something like this:

-She's pretty, isn't she?

"It's not like that."

-Your answer's pretty insincere. Try to get her personal information.

"It's just ...."

Dowook looked at her pale face for a second time. She was really very beautiful.

"The patient is a woman in her mid-twenties. There are abnormalities in her trigeminal nerve, and she's lost all consciousness."

-Not info like that!

"Make sure to inform people so we can take a CT scan right away."

-It's more suspicious since you keep speaking so seriously. Hey, Myeong Deok! Make sure to clean a bed properly! And put a flower beside it.

-Huh? A flower?

-Apparently a flower-like person will be arriving.

Dowook clicked his tongue at his colleague's chatty behavior and turned to the secretary.

"The preparations over at the hospital are finished. Her life doesn't seem to be in any danger, so I don't think there's a lot to worry about ..."

"Dowook! Here, here!"

Dowook turned his head at the sudden call. His blind date shoved a fork and steak knife in his direction.

"What's this for?"

"I saw it in a movie. They performed emergency surgery with something like this. Oh, I have a ballpen. To make a hole for breathing."

Dowook couldn't say a single word.

-What nonsense is that? Does she want you to wake an unconscious patient by stabbing them with a pen?

"She gave me something else to stab with."

-Wow. That's legit.

"Please prepare everything. I'm hanging up."

Some of the people watching started to chuckle so Dowook first helped his blind date stand up.

"The hotel has a properly stocked first-aid kit. It isn't needed."

"Oh, really?"

Mid-conversation, the unconscious patient suddenly rolled once.

Stiff neck muscles

The surprised Dowook stretched out his hand and pressed behind the patient's neck.

'Neck stiffness?'

Following that, her breathing became uneven. She started becoming feverish and her condition suddenly took a turn for the worse.