The Surgery
472 Words
The operation lasted nearly four hours.
Outside the operating room, Eunwoo's mother clasped her hands together so tightly that her knuckles had turned white. Every few minutes, she stood up, only to sit back down again.
Finally...
The operating room doors opened.
Kyunmin stepped out first, removing his surgical mask.
The moment Eunwoo's mother saw him, she rushed over.
"Doctor?"
Kyunmin looked exhausted, beads of sweat still visible on his forehead.
"The surgery was successful."
The woman burst into tears before repeatedly bowing.
"Thank you... Thank you so much, Doctor."
Kyunmin smiled weakly.
"He's still asleep. We'll keep him under observation for now, but the difficult part is over."
The nurses wheeled Eunwoo toward the recovery room.
Watching the little boy sleep peacefully, Kyunmin finally allowed himself to breathe.
His phone vibrated.
Ayan: Your work has been delivered. Hope the operation went well.
A tired smile appeared on his face.
Kyunmin: It was successful. Thank you, sister.
---
### Ward 12...
Chang Wook stared at the hospital room in silence.
Flowers surrounded him.
The room was beautiful.
Yet somehow...
It still felt empty.
His eyes landed on the spoon resting inside the empty cup of ice cream.
He remembered the girl who had walked in talking nonstop.
"Angel, so you can talk."
"I write stories online."
"Please read them when you're free."
He sighed.
"So noisy..."
But for the first time in days...
The room no longer felt lonely.
He picked up his phone.
Instead of opening the novel he had been reading earlier...
His fingers paused over the search bar.
He slowly typed:
DTK_22
Nothing happened for a few seconds.
Then...
Several stories appeared.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"So... she wasn't lying."
He tapped on the first story.
Not because he was interested...
Or so he told himself.
---
Meanwhile...
Ayan had just reached home.
She threw herself dramatically onto her bed.
"I'm so tired."
Her phone buzzed.
It was Kyunmin.
She answered immediately.
"Brother! How did it go?"
"It was successful."
Ayan's face instantly brightened as she sat upright.
"I knew you'd do well."
"Thank you for taking the cake to him."
"Don't mention it."
A brief silence followed.
Then Kyunmin chuckled.
"You didn't force him to listen to your story, did you?"
Ayan froze.
"..."
"Knew it."
"I only recommended it!"
"You scared the poor patient."
"I did not!"
The siblings continued bickering until laughter filled both ends of the call.
---
Far away...
Chang Wook was already reading the first chapter.
Without realizing it...
He reached the second.
Then the third.
Only then did he stop.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
"...Interesting."
He leaned back against the headboard and looked at the title on the screen once more.
For the first time in a long while...
He found himself becoming someone else's listener.
- Writer
