Chapter 1 (1/2)

2014; March 03.

Sehun walked into the auditorium and straight to where he could see a bunch of nervous-looking people wearing light blue scrubs. He was very nervous himself, not knowing who’d he be teamed up with; he hoped they’d at least be smart people. Taking his time to walk up to them, he made his way down the large steps, focusing on his matching dark blue crocs. He thought sheepishly of Zitao, alumni from the university and a year one resident in this very hospital, who was also known all around campus because of his eclectic fashion sense. Sehun was sure he must’ve thrown a tantrum when he was told he had to wear such hideous shoes to work.

“Well, well, weeell, look who’s here. I knew we were fated to be together forever!”

Sehun heard a strangely familiar voice sing-sang mock sweetly from his left side, whose owner was none other than Kim Jongdae. He snorted.

“I’m on team 12, you’re in my team?”

He asked, not believing his luck. Jongdae was incredibly capable, despite his odd antics and incapability of being serious for more than it was strictly necessary.

“As a matter of fact, I am. Chanyeol and Baekhyun, too!”

Sehun’s eyes opened dramatically. “You must be kidding. That can’t be possible.”

Jongdae just grinned at him.

Chanyeol and Baekhyun were not exactly friends with Sehun, but they were Jongdae’s best friends. They had all met once or twice at some fancy party with paid DJs, caviar canapés and expensive alcohol. The ‘woes’ of being a medicine student and all that. If he remembered correctly, they had been dating since forever, and were just as cheeky as Jongdae. This would be fun.

“There are two more team members, but they won’t reveal any name till said people are in this room,” Jongdae informed him.

“Well, let’s just hope they’re not stupid,” Sehun sighed.

Jongdae gave him his best ‘are you freaking kidding me’ face. “Someone stupid wouldn’t really put up with us. They would quit.”

He had a point.

A few minutes later, a short man with light brown hair walked into the room and right up to Jongdae and Sehun.

“Is this team 12?” he asked them, giving them a blinding, yet very, very beautiful smile. Sehun heard Jongdae gasp loudly.

“Uh… yeah, it is. Are you part of the team?” He asked the man, who hummed in response.

“I’m Kim Junmyeon, it’s nice to meet both of you, but… aren’t there any more members in this team?” He asked, still smiling, as he held out a hand first to Sehun, then to Jongdae.

Sehun shook his head. “There are, those two you see at the end of the row of seats, plus another mystery member who has yet to arrive.”

“Oh.”

As Junmyeon went to introduce himself to Chanyeol and Baekhyun, Sehun turned to look at Jongdae and raised an eyebrow at him, “did the cat get your tongue?” Jongdae rolled his eyes at him.

“No. But that man was wow. Beautiful, Sehun, didn’t you see him? Didn’t you?” He clasped both of his hands over his mouth.

“You have a crush on your teammate already? Damn, that was fast.”

Their sixth member had yet to come when the director stood up on stage to introduce himself and talk about the place they’d be jailed in for the next year and a half. He then made each team nominate a member to pick each team’s monthly schedule. All schedules were thickly covered so no one would pick what they wanted best. Oh how Sehun wished he could have seen that.

As he revealed month by month, his team, with exception of Junmyeon, groaned loudly:

March: E.R.

April: E.R.

May: E.R.

June: E.R.

July: Radiology

August: I.C.U.

“That’s nice. Apparently, the E.R. chief eats interns for breakfast,” Jongdae joked half-heartedly.

“We’re dead, you hear me? Dead. It’s not the chief, but the place itself,” Chanyeol sighed.

“I don’t see why,” everyone turned to look at Junmyeon. “What? It’s true. Don’t you think it’ll be good? We’ll be working under pressure, yes, but I think it’s better to start like this, than have to spend four months working in the Radiology department and then be thrown to the wolves only knowing how to develop and examine x-rays,” he finished, smiling at them before he started walking in the direction of the door.

“He’s got some spirit, but I can see where he’s coming from. Let’s do our best,” Baekhyun whispered dejectedly, as if trying to cheer himself up.

“Are you the team designated to the E.R. all through March?” A man much taller than them asked, face expressionless. A timid Jongdae –which was rare in itself– replied an airy ‘yes’.

“Are you all mute? Why aren’t you answering? Are you the team that will be working in the E.R. during this month?” He asked again.

“Yes!” Junmyeon, Chanyeol and Baekhyun shouted, Sehun joining them belatedly.

“Good. I’m sure Director Choi already instructed you, so I’ll be clear and concise,” the man, who they were pretty sure was the E.R. chief, told them. His voice was husky and would almost be soothing, weren’t it for that dangerous lack of expression permanently etched onto his face.

“I’m Wu Yifan, Chief Wu for you. There are only two things to know before working in my E.R.; 1. If one of you gets a bad grade, the whole team will suffer for it. It’s only fair and it’ll also help you watch out so you don’t fuck up. 2. If I decide something in the E.R., it becomes the truth, the life and the law. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes!”

“Now I’ll check which ones of you are here, since I’m only seeing five faces instead of six. I think there’s been enough time for that sixth team member to show up. There are three things I can’t stand: slackers, interns who think they know everything just because they read it in a book, and people who are late.“

He shuffled some papers until he found what he was looking for: the sheet of paper with the interns’ information.

“Oh Sehun.”

“Here,” he said, loud enough to make a few heads turn around.

“Park Chanyeol.”

“Park Chanyeol is here, too.”

“Byun Baekhyun.”

“Yes!” He shouted so energetically, the chief shot him a glare that made him recoil. Chanyeol reached out sneakily and patted him on the back.

“Kim Jongdae.”

“Yes, chief, I’m here.”

“Kim Junmyeon.”

“Here.”

“Lu Han.” Sehun choked. “Is Lu Han not here?”

“Excuse me, Lu Han?” Sehun asked, kicking himself mentally for even opening his mouth. Yifan hummed.

“Lu Han, born in 1987. Why, do you know him?” Sehun almost faints. It couldn’t be.

“No, I do not.”

At that exact moment, a tiny, very familiar frame –to Sehun– came running into the E.R. Sehun cursed as he inwardly laughed bitterly at his luck, of course the timing was this shitty, of course his life had to happen like those cliché dramas the man currently in front of him loved. Of course. He wanted to scream.

“Oh, my god, I am so, so sorry! Please forgive me. There was a car wreck on the way here,” Lu Han frantically explained himself to the chief. “Are you the chief? You must be. I’m really sorry! I’m sorry!” He turned to bow to his teammates, 90 degrees. That was until he saw Sehun and his face went completely white, lips and all.

Sehun had never witnessed Lu Han be that polite, but that was the least of his worries at the moment. It was Lu Han he was seeing in front of him. Anime-like Lu Han, I-can-eat-three-times-more-than-you Lu Han, drama-obsessed Lu Han. His fucking ex-husband: Lu Han. Everything seemed to move in slow motion when their eyes met; while Sehun wanted to scream at everyone and ask the universe why it was so cruel to him, Lu Han wanted to run, but not without punching Sehun’s face first.

“Do you think I care why you’re late? I don’t care if you had to fight Godzilla on your way here, or if Choi Young came back from year 1300 and kidnapped you, how are you so irresponsible to be late on your first day as an intern?!” Yifan raised his voice, which had been mostly emotionless and serene, as he asked Lu Han.

“Why are you here? Did you think you could just come here late and have all your benefits waiting for you? You’ve got nerve,” Yifan chewed him off while pacing back and forth in front of the interns. No one dared break the silence.

“You’re all dismissed, go get your coats and IDs, and get your lazy asses to work. As for you,” he turned to Lu Han and glared at him, “go change into your scrubs and get your coat and ID, too. Then come to my office. We’ll have a chat.”

Sehun snickered when Yifan was out of hearing range. He walked away, completely ignoring Lu Han and his annoyed face, before he could ask him why he was here. Sehun had been born a doctor; he didn’t have to deal with mediocre things like Lu Han and his questions.

Lu Han waited until the rest of the team were done in the men’s locker to change his clothes. He was both grateful and on the verge of having a mental breakdown. He’d always had bad luck, but this was a new level. He was sure fate was working against him; first, he’d been late, and then he’d seen the last person he could ever want to see, not only in his same place of work, but also, working in his team. He wondered what wrong he’d done in his life to deserve this.

“Endure,” he told himself, “you have to endure this. It’s just a year and a half, not your whole life, like it could have been. Men don’t cry nor do they quit when things get ugly. Endure it. Man the fuck up, Lu Han.”

He splashed his face with water and left the room before making his way to nurse station. He asked one of them –the one who looked less likely to punch him if he asked her– where to find the office; she explained easily. He thanked her and made his way, hoping the chief wouldn’t be too hard on him, not literally. He chuckled to himself before knocking three times on his door.

“Come in,” Lu Han did. “Oh, it’s you. Have a seat.”

Lu Han hardly ever felt threatened or intimidated by people, so he wasn’t really worried about having to deal with the chief; he was more worried about losing his job on the first day. It’d taken him a lot of effort to pass the internship test.

“Since I was worried you’d slept in on your first day, I checked the news. You didn’t lie; there was an accident on the main road here from where you live, so it was blocked until 10 minutes before you came into the E.R.” Yifan told him. “I will let you go this once, but if you’re late again, I won’t listen to your reasons. Doctors have to be available at any time of day, and always on time” he looked at Lu Han expectantly.

“Yes, chief. I won’t be late again.”

Yifan nodded, satisfied, “you may leave.”

As he walked out of the room, he saw Sehun walking towards the stairs that led to the rooftop. Against his every principle, he followed him, partly because he was curious, but mostly because whatever Sehun did there, Lu Han could use to his benefit later.

“This has got to be a nightmare,” Lu Han saw Sehun pinch himself. “Why am I not waking up, huh? What could I have possibly done so wrong that now you are punishing me this badly, huh? HUH!?” he screamed at what Lu Han supposed was the sky.

“I still remember a very poorly made pork belly; that might help you start your list of things you’ve just not excelled at,” Sehun turned around bewildered, only to scowl at Lu Han.

“Did you follow me?”

Lu Han snorted, as if it was his second nature, “I don’t make the same mistakes twice, Hunnie.” With that, he smirked at Sehun and turned on his heels, going back into the building, very aware of having lied and used an old pet name to just to rile Sehun up.