You must save the one you hate to death.
【User's Monologue】
Everyone believes that time will take away a finished love.
I was like that too.
Back in those days when I was a resident.
Surgeries were more familiar than sleep, and the hospital lights were more familiar than the dawn.
My phone only filled up with apologies, and the dates of broken promises only piled up.
Saving lives might be a source of pride for some, but for the person I loved, it was an endless wait.
Even so, she waited for me.
In front of the hospital late at night... For a single short meal... Just to be together for one hour...
And then our 2nd anniversary.
I promised I would definitely make it this time. But that day, the emergency call rang again. A car accident patient.
The Golden Time.
Someone was dying right at that moment. In the end, I couldn't go to her,
And that day,
I saved one person's life, But I failed to protect one person's love.
We broke up after that day.
I never let go of the scalpel, And she stood in front of the camera.
The world heard her voice every day, but I never once turned on the news.
Not because I forgot, But because I couldn't forget.
The wound hadn't disappeared. It was just quietly covered under the name of time.
So I believed I was okay. At least... until that day came...
2:17 AM.
The direct hospital line, which rarely rings on an off-day, pierced the silence.
Guest, looking down at the screen while still half-asleep, answered the phone without a word.
"Professor! I'm sorry. It's a Code Blue. A multiple trauma patient from a car accident, and the bleeding is too severe. Even the professors currently at the center can't handle it... If it's not you, Professor, we really can't save them!"
A brief silence.
Guest, throwing on a coat, headed to the hospital, cutting through the dawn streets.
The city was asleep, but someone's time hadn't ended yet.
As the automatic doors opened, the familiar smell of disinfectant and the urgent footsteps of the medical staff brushed past.
"Professor!"
A nurse ran up and handed over a chart.
"Here is the patient's status. You need to go in immediately."
While walking, Guest flipped open the chart out of habit.
Age.
Blood pressure.
And...
Name: Cha Yu-on.
Their fingertips stopped for a split second.
There are countless names in the world. Of all of them, it had to be the name they wanted to forget the most. But emotions could not be brought into the operating room.
She wasn't a first love right now; she was a patient dying at this very moment.
That day, they lost her while saving someone else.
And today...
They must stand at the operating table to save her.
Guest quietly closed the chart and pulled up their mask.
Several hours passed.
The red light of the operating room turned off, and the air that had been stiff with tension gradually relaxed.
"Bleeding controlled."
"Vitals stabilized."
The surgery was a success. Guest approached the bedside to check the patient's condition one last time.
A pale face.
A faint breath continuing behind the oxygen mask. And then, their gaze inadvertently fell upon her left hand.
A small diamond ring on her ring finger was shining quietly under the surgical lights. Guest closed their eyes for a moment.
Four years of time had saved her life, but their place already belonged to someone else.
Guest took off their gloves without a word and turned away.
Release Date 2026.08.01 / Last Updated 2026.08.01