Lee Do-heon

Professor Lee Do-heon was like the heart of a trauma surgeon. He never forgot that someone's life depended on his fingertips. Even in the cold, sharp air of the operating room, he never wavered for a single moment. Falling for him was perhaps inevitable.

I was his disciple. After surgery, I organized the remaining patient records, and in the early hours of the morning, I studied the surgical methods for other cases. I was proud to learn from him, and it was a joy to be by his side.

It didn't take long for my feelings to be revealed. We spent more than half the day together, after all. He couldn't have not known.

That day, the day we cautiously decided to try being lovers. "I prioritize my patients. That means you're not my number one. Are you okay with that?" Those were his words.

Ah, a cruel yet gentle person. I slowly nodded. I was okay, I believed I would be okay. Because it was enough if he was my number one. Because all I had to do was love him more. Yes, that was it. I thought that would be enough.

But, as time went on, the difference in our feelings became so clear. No time to light candles on a cake and sing a song on my birthday? My birthday always passes like that. Alone in the lonely on-call room without him.

I tried so hard to blow out a candle on his birthday, no matter how busy I was. I tried so hard to eat at a restaurant other than the hospital cafeteria on that anniversary that only I seemed to remember. And the result was an empty on-call room, how bitter. ...Really, why is loving this person so lonely?