black coffee | soonhoon

Twenty

But unlike those old romance movies with the stories laid out and played like clockwork, not everything can go perfectly well when it comes to this love story. The characters won't meet and instantly find themselves tangled in inexplicable feeling of love nor will they triumph in every way. That's not how life works.

Jihoon goes to sleep thinking that the next day will be the day he can go home and resume his normal life- with his normal brother and normal passions and normal friends.

So during the night, when he drifts into a deeper unconsciousness in his sleep and the heart monitor screams like a terrified banshee, doctors and nurses crowd him- their eyes are wide with fear. They hurry about with feigned calmness, aware that every single second counts.

Another asthma attack. But this time, lack of oxygen had sent small and fragile Jihoon into cardiac arrest. He didn't breathe. His heart stopped.

And starts again.
Everyone sighs heavily. The nurses' nimble fingers hook new bags of liquid around the teenager while the defibrillator is packed away. The doctor watches carefully, analysing Jihoon's clipboard in his hand with his pen between his teeth. He finally sighs, slotting the neon green board back into the pocket on the footboard of the creaky hospital bed and strolling out. He heads directly to his office, pushing through the door after scanning his fingerprint and slamming it behind him.

His head hurts. For a moment, the doctor has to console himself. He scrunches his eyes shut, willing himself to just finish this last job then he can rest. His bloodshot eyes want nothing more than to sleep...

Yet he forces them to focus with half believable diligence on his computer screen as he leans over his keyboard, sitting hunched over in his chair.

Sit up straight! You look like a punk - he can almost hear his fathers scolding tone.

At the front of his desk sits a glass plaque engraved with his name and his position in proud, bold lettering.

Jeon Wonwoo, known for being one of the best doctors in Seoul at only age 19, the son of Jeon Byungho - the owner of the most prestigious hospital in Korea. Known for how one day, Wonwoo will take his place.

His fingers flash over the keyboard, typing rapidly into Lee Jihoon's file. His mind whirs as it draws imaginary lines, connecting incidences and symptoms but never leading to one thing. Wonwoo groans, dropping his face into his palms. Over the past two days, Wonwoo has poured over Jihoon's strange case of asthma as a child, with unexplainable causes and odd needs for treatment for it to all... disappear for nearly 7 years? And now it's come back. Come back being so severe that Jihoon nearly died.

Finally, Wonwoo finishes the report, although the box supposed to contain his final conclusion is bare and it stands out like a sore thumb.

Nonetheless, he tells his mind to quit stressing; Jihoon is okay, you're doing alright, father isn't coming home for a few days. You're okay.

Leaning back in his chair, the boy scrunches his nose, readjusting the circular glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. His messy brown hair flips forward over his eyes, blocking his view as he reaches for the book lying on his desk.

The lovely smell of the pages greet him as he flicks through the book. The orange glow from the lamp paints the pages with soft flames like peaches and autumn leaves. The silver ring encircling his right pinky finger glints warm and rosily in the dim light.

For the remainder of the long night, until he once again would be called in for a day of caffeine-influenced consulting running on no sleep and anxiety, Wonwoo managed to lose himself in a fairytale, wishing he could one day have his very own.