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It had started like any other day.
Dusik woke up extra early and got ready for the drive he had planned — and not for his own amusement.
Gamri halmeoni had asked him to accompany her to Seoul, a week or so earlier, because she had her yearly routine check-up at the hospital. “Nothing to worry about”, she had brushed it off nonchalantly when he’d rightfully shown concern, “it’s just old age. Other than that, I’m perfectly healthy”.
So Dusik stopped by her house, then by Lee Matyi’s, and then by Park Sookja’s — because of course, they had decided to tag along with the excuse of visiting their children in the city. After filling the trunk of his car with way more food than necessary, they were ready to leave Gongjin.
It should’ve been a three-hour ride… in theory. But in reality, it took them at least an hour longer because of a dozen bathroom and snack breaks at rest stops along the road.
Dusik dropped Matyi in front of her son’s house, then Sookja in front of her daughter’s. Then he finally headed to the hospital, the car suddenly too quiet without the other two grandmas keeping the atmosphere as lively.
«Gamri-ssi», Dusik called out to her and glanced in her direction for a split second. «Are you scared?».
«What, me? “Scared”? My goodness…», Gamri replied with a click of her tongue, side-eyeing him from the passenger seat. «There’s nothing to be scared of».
«Right? That’s the spirit», Dusik snickered, peering at the road ahead, reminding himself to be careful. Driving in Seoul was a hassle — he definitely didn’t miss it one bit. «We should be there soon».
They arrived at the ‘Jongno Yulje Medical Center’ shortly after, perfectly punctual for Gamri’s 11 AM appointment. Dusik helped her hop out of the car and offered his arm, walking her to the entrance.
The place looked like a labyrinth, buzzing with people, all of them in a rush — typical Seoulites. Dusik didn’t miss them, either.
«Alright, where are we going?».
«I have no idea».
Dusik’s head snapped towards Gamri at that statement. «Wait, you’ve never been here?».
She shook her head in response. «It’s my first time», she explained, «after my previous doctor retired earlier this year. She suggested this place. My goodness… looks expensive. It’s a good thing my Wonsokie didn’t come with».
Dusik couldn’t help but scoff. She was always worrying about her son like he was still a child who needed to be coddled, and not a grown ass man.
«Let’s ask a nurse».
He stopped the first nurse he could find, bowing apologetically, and asked her where they could find Doctor Ryu Jaehwi. She redirected them to a different floor, explaining how they could reach the right ward in the simplest way possible — it was a good thing that Dusik had a great memory and that he could orient himself well.
Doctor Ryu looked like a fun fellow. He welcomed them in his office and told them all about how the gynaecology exam was gonna go, despite having a young resident right by his side, assisting him. The exam itself was relatively fast, he said, it took 10 minutes at best — but in Gamri’s case, it could take around 30-45 minutes because he suggested to get lab work done.
«Since it’s the first time you and I meet, Mrs. Kim, I’d like to make sure that your medical history review is accurate. The extra lab work is to exclude health issues of any kind».
Gamri nodded in understanding, signing all the necessary paperwork under Dusik’s attentive supervision. The doctor probably noticed how tense he was and let out a chuckle.
«Your son is very protective of you, Mrs. Kim».
Dusik glanced up at him at once, a frown flickering across his face. «I’m not—».
«I’m aware», Gamri cut in, huffing a little laugh and giving back the paperwork to the young resident, who flashed her a sweet smile. She was very pretty — Doctor Pyo Namkyung, Dusik read on her badge.
«Doctor Pyo will assist Mrs. Kim with the lab work», Doctor Ryu said, staring at him directly, his tone calm and reassuring. «You can wait outside, Mister…?».
«Hong», Dusik concluded for him, feeling like a little kid. Wondering how he’d gone from teasing Gamri about her nerves in the car just twenty minutes prior to that very moment. «Hong Dusik».
«Very well, Mr. Hong. Doctor Pyo will come find you when your mother’s exam is done».
Pyo Namkyung turned to look at him and gave a small nod. «Don’t worry, sir. We’ll take good care of her», she promised, helping Gamri up next. «Let’s go, Mrs. Kim».
The two women left the doctor’s office, and Dusik followed suit, heading back to the waiting room. 30-45 minutes were nothing, he thought, nodding confidently to himself. He could deal with it just fine.
Still, he didn’t like hospitals very much. They evoked one too many bad memories.
Dusik sat down with a sigh, studying his surroundings in religious silence, occasionally fiddling with his hands in his lap.
There were a couple of other people waiting there with him, all of them staring down at their phones to kill time. Nurses kept coming and going, too, amidst the stillness. He never saw the same face twice, though — were they short-staffed? Did they have to cover all the work in multiple wards at once?
«I’m coming, hold on!», a woman’s voice pierced through the quiet at some point, making him flinch. Dusik didn’t get to see her face properly because she ran faster than lightning, disappearing down the hallway that led to the emergency room as quickly as she’d appeared — he only caught a glimpse of her blue scrubs and her brown hair pulled into a messy ponytail. Another resident, he guessed. She was talking on the phone with someone else. «I’ll try to get a hold of Professor Seo…».
She left a fruity ambery-fresh scent behind.
Rose. Jasmine. And…
Dusik squinted his eyes.
Lychees? It smelt like lychees.
Which was way better than disinfectant, by the way.
It disappeared much too soon.
Ten more minutes went by.
Not like Dusik was counting (except, he absolutely was).
He heard that woman’s voice again. The other resident.
«Why isn’t Anaesthesiology picking up?».
It was approaching. An annoyed huff followed. Then the rhythmic sound of footsteps.
Dusik glanced up. This time he got to see her face, and he was mesmerised — full lips, big brown eyes, elegant nose, porcelain skin. She was easily the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
He watched her hang up her phone and run a hand through her hair, visibly frustrated. She scrolled down her phone for a second, bringing it close to her ear while pacing down the hallway nearby. She came so close that he got a whiff of her perfume again.
«Come on, pick up…», she mumbled, her irritation turning into something that sounded a lot like desperation as her phone call went unanswered for the second time around. «Come on! God, give me a break!», her voice jumped an octave, and more people turned to look at her… other than Dusik. But she didn’t seem to mind and kept rambling on, «As if the Russian speaking patient wasn’t enough. Where do I even find someone who speaks Russian?!».
Russian?
Dusik rubbed at the side of his neck. Well… he knew Russian.
«Excuse me», he said before he could rethink it. The resident turned around, her eyes widening with surprise. «Did you just say you’re looking for someone who speaks Russian?».
«Yes», the resident nodded, furrowing her eyebrows slightly. «Why?».
«I speak Russian», Dusik told her, rubbing his brow. «What’s going on?».
«Wait—», the resident took a few steps towards him. Dusik’s eyes ticked down to her badge — Doctor Oh Yiyoung, first year resident at ‘Jongno Yulje Medical Center’ — and then up to meet her gaze. «You really do?».
Dusik hummed in assent. «Do you need help?».
«Yes», Doctor Oh Yiyoung rushed to answer, tilting her head sharply to gesture at him to follow her. He rose to his feet and complied with her request. «There’s this woman— she’s not our patient, but she came here with her amniotic sac ruptured—», Yiyoung paused, blinking rapidly. «That means, she needs emergency surgery as soon as possible. But she doesn’t understand Korean, and she doesn’t speak English either, so I cannot communicate with her. I need to know her name, her weight, and a bunch of other formalities to help her».
Dusik nodded. «I can help you with that».
Yiyoung led him towards one of the beds in the emergency room, the curtains drawn for privacy. A young woman was waiting there, concern written all over her face.
«Hello», Dusik told her in Russian, watching her sigh in relief. «My name is Dusik. I’m gonna help you communicate with the doctor», he added, to which she nodded. Only then he turned to Yiyoung and switched back to Korean. «What do you wanna know?».
«Her name. She told me before but…», Yiyoung pressed her lips together with embarrassment. «It was too long».
Dusik held back laughter, clearing his throat. Turning to the patient again, he asked, «What’s your name?».
«Margarita Kalashnikova».
«Okay», Dusik looked at Yiyoung. «Pen? I’ll write it down for you».
«Oh?», Yiyoung looked down at his hand, then up at him. «Oh… yes. A pen. Wait—», she retrieved one from her pocket and gave it to him.
Dusik wrote down the patient’s name, providing the Korean spelling as well. «What else?».
«I need you to explain the situation to her», Yiyoung murmured, trying not to look too worried so as not to scare the mom-to-be in front of them. «Her water broke, she needs surgery. I need to know if she’s been fasting… and I need to know her husband’s contact information».
Dusik proceeded to translate it all to poor Margarita, who certainly wasn’t expecting to be brought in for emergency surgery.
«My hospital said there were no problems», she said. «I lost my phone, so I couldn’t call».
«That’s okay, the doctor here will help you», Dusik replied. «She wants to know if you’ve been fasting», when she nodded, he told Yiyoung. «And we need your husband’s number», when she gave it to him, he wrote it down for Yiyoung. «What else do you—».
He couldn’t finish the question because Margarita winced, alarming Yiyoung.
«What’s wrong? Does her stomach hurt?», she asked, moving to check in between her patient’s legs to make sure she wasn’t bleeding — or so Dusik thought.
«Miss— Miss!», he tried to get her attention. «What’s wrong? Is your stomach hurting?».
«Oh my God», he heard Yiyoung’s voice behind him and jerked his head sideways to look at her. «The baby’s foot is already out. Damn it. We need to move now», Yiyoung looked around frantically, calling out for extra assistance. «Someone help! We need to get to the OR right now!».
A male doctor and a nurse rushed to each side of the bed, and Dusik took a step back so that they could move along. He stood there, watching the scene unfold, when Yiyoung shot him a murderous glance.
«Ya!», she screamed in a panic. «What are you doing there? Didn’t you hear what I just said? We need to go!».
Dusik pointed to himself, uncomprehending. «Me too?».
«Yes, you too, Mr. Russian Interpreter! How am I supposed to communicate with her without you? Hurry up!».
Dusik collapsed on the nearest chair as soon as he got to leave the operating room. He couldn’t believe the last half hour of his life had really happened.
Someone touched his shoulder. He looked up, meeting Oh Yiyoung’s now familiar eyes. She took off her surgical mask, smiling down at him.
«You did well, Mr. Interpreter. I’m sure having an actual human being she could communicate with instead of a translating app was much better for Ms. Margarita», she told him, furrowing her eyebrows with concern. «Are you alright? You look like you’re about to faint».
Well, he had just seen a complete stranger give birth, reassuring her in a foreign language all the while, before getting kicked out upon her husband’s arrival.
So, «I think I might», Dusik admitted, to which Yiyoung chuckled. He scowled at her, and she turned serious all of a sudden, clearing her throat.
«Anyway…», she trailed off, diverting her gaze with feigned nonchalance. «Thank you so much for helping in there».
«Of course», Dusik sighed out, straightening up on the chair. «So, my hourly fee is…».
Yiyoung sucked in a breath. «Wait, what?».
It was Dusik’s turn to snicker. «I was just kidding», he said with a little shrug. «Although I do a bit of everything for minimum wage, and one might argue that playing interpreter in there was work, I’ll let it slide this once».
«Great», Yiyoung scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest and staring at him curiously. «Now I feel like I took advantage of you».
Was it really fair to talk about taking advantage if he’d let her? Dusik didn’t say. He just smiled, his dimples peeking out. «Relax».
Yiyoung broke into a beam of her own, and Dusik’s heart stuttered. God, she was really beautiful. «What were you doing here at the hospital, by the way?».
«I was—», the rest of his sentence died in his throat. «Oh my God».
Yiyoung blinked, confused. «What? What happened?».
Hah. Dusik had completely forgotten about Gamri. «What time is it?».
Yiyoung got a hold of her phone, checking the time. «11:55».
Her gynaecology exam was probably over. Dusik grabbed his own phone, noticing a bunch of missed calls from Gamri herself. He was about to call her back, but she was quicker. He picked up immediately this time.
«Halmeoni, are you done?», he asked, glancing at Yiyoung. She kept quiet, observing him, her eyes sparkling with genuine interest. «I’m still at the hospital. Stay where you are, I’ll be right there», that said, he hung up. Exhaled deeply. «I need to—».
«Go, yes», Yiyoung finished for him with a small nod. «I heard that. Your grandma is here?».
Dusik hummed. He didn’t bother to explain how Kim Gamri wasn’t actually related to him by blood. «A routine checkup».
«Oh», Yiyoung gave yet another nod. «I see».
«Yeah», Dusik was aware he was purposefully stretching the moment as long as possible. He told himself to get a grip. «Doctor Oh, I really need to—».
«Go», Yiyoung repeated — this time urging him to leave already. «Thank you again».
Dusik bowed his head slightly as he stood up from the chair and got ready to leave. Then, just when he turned his back on her—
«Wait».
His head snapped back to look at her. «Yes?».
«Your name», Yiyoung bit out, a faint pink tinge spreading across her cheeks. «You didn’t tell me what’s your name».
«Hong Dusik».
«I’m Oh Yiyoung», she said, as if he wasn’t aware of it already. But at least that made it official. «Would you like to go out sometime, Hong Dusik-ssi?».
That caught him completely off guard. Was she asking him out? Dusik’s expression morphed into one of surprise, and he forced himself to swallow.
«I don’t live around here, though».
Yiyoung pursed her lips for a moment, processing that information. «Where do you live, then?».
«Gongjin», he answered, and he didn’t even know what was prompting him to share all of that with a stranger. A beautiful stranger he’d just shared a once-in-a-lifetime experience with, but a stranger nonetheless. «It’s a three-hour drive from here».
«Gongjin…», Yiyoung repeated it, nodding to herself. «Fine, I’ll keep that in mind. I’ll come see you, one of these days», she added, and she sounded confident.
So confident that Dusik almost believed her. No, worse. He almost wanted to believe her. Which was why, «Sure», he played along, deciding to indulge her. «I’ll be waiting».
The last thing he saw was her smile — warm, bright, lingering stubbornly in his mind even some time later, as he got back into his car with Gamri and started driving back to Gongjin.