Chapter Text
Taking a sip from her first cocktail of the day, Songhwa’s eyes wandered around the atrium of the fancy hotel. Intricate chandeliers falling from the ceiling, exquisite paintings gracing the walls, soft carpeted floors, and god, probably the coziest sofas on the planet.
She always thought medical conferences are lame. All she wishes to do here is to sit down and listen to the most talented doctors explain their genius medical innovations. She just wants all the professionalism, she knows these things can be filled with some sort of weird tension. She is just here for all the smart people to talk, the delectable room service, and probably the free multiple cocktails and alcohol.
“Professor Chae?” Speaking of fake socialization, there goes the first one. She rolls her eyes before gathering herself into composure, sunshine, and rainbows. Songhwa turns to the direction of the doctor who called her name. She expelled a sigh of relief while also mentally cursing herself; has she had too much a drink already for it to tamper her ability to recognize a colleague’s voice? Approaching her is Professor Heo Seonbin, one of the new professors from the neurosurgery department of Yulje Medical Centre.
“Oh, it’s you, Professor Heo! It’s nice to see familiar faces at things like this! Let me get you a drink.” She signals the bartender for a drink. “How are you finding the panels, Seonbin? Goodness, you’re a professor now, I feel like I’m going to cry.” Songhwa gets a little sentimental with her colleague. Seonbin is a few years her junior, as a matter of fact, she was one of her residents. Though she did her fellowship at a different hospital, Seonbin recently returned to Yulje as a professor which makes Songhwa feel a bit old.
“This is my first time attending a medical conference, as you may know, Professor Chae, so it’s really nice to see you here. It kinda takes the nervousness away. How about you? You’re quite used to this now. Have you spotted anyone familiar?” Seonbin’s drink arrives, nodding to both Songhwa and the bartender in thanks as she takes a sip.
“I actually haven’t which… honestly is fine. I’m here to witness in person the medical genuises not to make small talk with doctors… unless they’re the hotshot doctor who's got a procedure named after them.” Seonbin laughs at her usual antics. She’d always known Songhwa to be like this: really focused on the work and has little to no time for her social life. She is curious if Songhwa knows about that thing about medical conferences, so she decides to crack her shell open a bit more.
“I’m enjoying it so far, Professor Chae… But the other professors told me…” Songhwa notices a flush growing on Seonbin’s cheeks. The young neurosurgeon leans into her and whispers “You know… people meet their acquaintances from med school, acts like they are complete professionals and just talk because of the medicine but then the next morning, they walk into the breakfast hall together?” Seonbin’s hand flies to her face, in an attempt to hide the embarrassment of having to ask that question. But she’s really curious though, is that what really happens at medical conferences?
Songhwa lets out a silly giggle. She gets exactly what Seonbin is conveying. She’s heard stories of medical conferences hook-ups and she even has a story of her own, even though it was just a one-time thing. After that one experience, she decided she is just going to be in things like these to talk about medicine. “Well… I’ve heard of that kind of story multiple times. I kinda had a bad experience with those so I never really ventured in that territory again.” Now it’s Songhwa’s turn to hide her embarrassment, doing so by sipping from her cocktail.
“Is that what you are thinking of right now, Seonbin-ah? Yah, now that’s a way to attend your first medical conference. I’d say go for it.” She teases while Seonbin just denies her colleague’s allegations. But then Songhwa just watched Seonbin’s eyes widen, looking in some direction.
Almost immediately, Seonbin slams her cocktail glass into the bar. Songhwa quickly deduces, based on what they were just talking about. Seonbin probably saw someone from her med school. Oh, what a hilarious turn of events, she thinks to herself. “What is it, Seonbin? Did you see someone you know?” Songhwa teasingly asks a completely flustered Seonbin.
“Songhwa, I think I am seeing my med school crush. Oh my God, I think I am going to pass out.” Songhwa lets out a laugh when Seonbin dropped the honorifics and is probably internally screaming. “Why don’t you go say hi, Seonbin? Talk about the medicine, you know? I’ll just see you two tomorrow at the breakfast hall.” She gives Seonbin a small push, plus a little wink. Seonbin shyly smiles back at her and heads toward her med school crush, Yong Seokmin.
Songhwa turns back into the bar and asks the bartender for a second glass. She’s getting kind of bored now that Seonbin went to ‘talk’ with her med school friend. She feels a pang of nostalgia hit her. She kinda misses some of her med school friends. She had this one circle whom she met in a storage closet. Funny, they all just wanted to escape the boring freshmen orientation and they all ended up in the same cramped room.
The five of them became friends, with her being the only female in the group. They later on decided to form a band, and spent most of their time in med school together. As any other group of close friends would, they never planned to fall out, though it became inevitable when they were matched into different hospitals for their residency. But is even a virtual connection that hard to maintain? She’s never heard from them since graduation.
Being buried deeper into the nostalgia, she then wonders why she never crossed paths with any of them ever again. Do those punks never set foot in Seoul? Or attend any medical convention? Maybe they moved to a different country? And don’t they have social media? Hell, do they even still practice medicine? She smiles at the thought. God, she misses those punks.
She sensed a person come up to the bar, just beside her. “A glass of somaek please... Oh, and another one for this lady here.” A somewhat familiar voice talks to the bartender. Songhwa looks up to the guy that just bought her a drink. She swears a chill went down her spine when she saw the male doctor standing beside her.
Songhwa could not believe her eyes, that one of the people she was just thinking about, is now here in the flesh, buying her a drink.