Chapter 39 - The Memory of the Lobby

Two days after her visit to Uncle Sangsu’s house, Yiyoung stood staring at the mirror in the hospital’s bathroom. The woman in the reflection did not look like her. Her freckles were gone, the nose bridge looked sharper, and her eyes suddenly had a depth to them. ‘Who’s this woman… She’s so beautiful.’

“How does it look?” Dr. Park looked at her excitedly. The momentous day had come earlier than expected; today was D-Day.

Yiyoung smiled shyly. “I look like a different person. If I sat in the hospital lobby, nobody would be able to recognize me.” 

“Yeah, only because you never dress up or put on any make-up! Today’s your chance to blow everyone away.”

“Should I?” Yiyoung looked at the red hue of her lips, it made her stand out even more. She really did look different. But suddenly, she sighed and tried to comfort herself. “Okay, I’ll just take Dr. Kang being invited to the seminar as a good thing.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?” Dr. Park was scheduled for a night shift at the hospital, so she had no idea what her friend was talking about.

“You didn’t know? For the seminar today… Professor Jung seemed hesitant at first, but he eventually did invite Dr. Kang to it,” said Yiyoung lightly. 

Dr. Kang and Yiyoung were rivals; they were competing to become a professor at the hospital. Professor Jung—a well-known expert in his field—was the one in charge of appointing the new professor. When it came to being considered for a promotion, a doctor’s assessments and performance records were important, but… Dr. Kang and Professor Jung were close family friends.

Yiyoung had assumed that she would be invited because she was outperforming Dr. Kang. However, now that she knew her rival had been invited… She was probably losing the competition.

It would have been an understatement to say that Dr. Park was astonished. “What? Really?”

“It put me in a bad mood earlier, but I’ll just let it go. Seeing myself look like this… I can’t be bothered to hold a grudge now.” Yiyoung was irritated and upset. She was confident she would have won had the playing field been fair. However, Professor Jung was only pretending as if he was debating his options; in truth, he had already made his choice. She had heard that Dr. Kang’s entire family worked in the medical field, and it always helped him have an edge over the others in situations like these. 

Dr. Park frowned. “Dr. Kang is so disappointing. He always claims he’s a fair player, but then stabs people in the back like this. In front of your performance, he can’t even be considered a competitor!”

“What can I say about a guy who can’t even compete unless his entire family gets involved?”

“You already know the hospital staff recognizes you as the best doctor here, right?”

“Of course. That’s why my confidence is overflowing now.”

“Yes, you should be confident. But what upsets me is the fact that the president is going to attend the seminar as well.”

“The president, too?”

“He’s never shown up at these events before, but I heard he’ll definitely come this time. Dr. Kang’s such a coward… He might accidentally do something to upset the president. I heard he’s really strict.”

Yiyoung smiled as her friend ranted about Muyeol’s personality. There was no one at this hospital who knew about him more than she did. After all, they’d been in the same class from elementary school till junior high school. In high school, they had been separated into different classes, but still hung out together after bumping into each other in the hallways. “Yeah, I know. He’s something else.”

Dr. Park ran Yiyoung’s mane-like hair. “You’re talking as if you know him personally.”

“I do know him personally. We went to the same school,” Yiyoung admitted. She did not feel the need to hide it.

“Really? Then, what if—”

Yiyoung already knew what Dr. Park was going to say. “We’re not that close. And I don’t need his support to be promoted.”

“Everyone does it!” Dr. Park grew agitated. “They bribe their superiors, flaunt their family backgrounds, or use their parents’ support to get promoted. Why can’t you ask for his support?” 

“He and I are not close like that, and even if we were, my pride won’t allow it.”

“I love you for it, but this is too sad!”

“Me too…”

“That damned Dr. Kang. That biased professor Jung.” Yiyoung laughed out loud before she changed the topic. 

“Anyway, do I just wait for my date in the lobby?”

“Yes.”

“Hey, what did you tell your boyfriend? How did he find someone so quickly?” Dr. Park had asked her boyfriend to introduce someone to Yiyoung, so he found a plastic surgeon at Y University for her.

“What do you think I said? I honestly told him how you’re a gifted doctor—the savior of ER—and a funny person, and so on. Jungho talked to a guy about you, and the guy immediately said he wanted to meet you.”

Yiyoung chuckled. “Darn it, he might change his mind when he sees me then.”

“Don’t say that. You look great!”

“It’s weird,” Yiyoung suddenly trailed off.

“What is?”

“With the way you talk about me, I should have definitely been in a relationship by now, but no one’s ever asked me out.”  

“That’s because your standards are too high. Anyway, he’ll meet you at the cafeteria in the lobby later. I hope your date goes well.” Dr. Park patted Yiyoung on the back when she let out a deep sigh.