It was 7 am as a figure clad in a heavy but comfortable looking red scarf entered the elevator of the living complex. He pressed the parking button, watching as the glass elevator descended, a thoughtful expression on his face. His own reflection stared back at him- A 6 feet tall, slender man, with soft pale blonde hair, and dull grey eyes. His hair were tied in a low bun at the back of his head with a silk scrunchie as some locks fell around his face, framing it. He had a round, boyish face. Many people even found it hard to believe he's in his 30s.

He couldn't help but chuckle as he remembered a rumour he'd heard from one of the interns, regarding his 'eternal youth'- either his skincare was working really well, or he's secretly a vampire.

Elias gave a mental shrug at that. He'd always looked younger than his age. Even when he was 20, people would ask if he was of legal age- that was probably why he dated mostly older men. With a shake of his head, he shoved his hands in his pockets, the cold biting. He was pretty blessed when it came to looks, though. High cheekbones, an angular jaw, and a sharp nose. He was pretty tall too, and had a good, slender build- all the exercise and running he used to do in his teens paying off.

Elias pulled up his scarf, burying his chin in the soft and warm fabric, and turned around, walking out of the elevator. He was wearing a black turtleneck, paired with dark brown slacks and a beige coat. No, he was not going for the 'all too well' look. That's a coincidence. Totally.

A soothing blast of warm air hit him as he slid inside the driver's seat of his car. The AI assistant came to life, as a robotic female voice sounded.

"Good morning, Elias. It is 7:06 right now. Date, 24th October. Happy birthday, may the next year of life being you happiness and prosperity. Would you like to check out your messages-"

He cut it off. "Show the traffic in various routes."

There was a beep sound as the artificial voice replied. "On it. On your screen are the various routes."

He hummed as he selected the least congested one, driving to his destination and tapping on the screen to open Spotify. A low hum of a calming melody filled the air as  he drove. There was only light traffic this early in the morning.

He sighed as his mind began to wander. 32, huh. He's 32 now. On the surface, he seems to have it all. An excellent career, no major illnesses, and impressive finances. He works  as a senior cardiologist at a prestigious hospital, and is also the newly appointed HoD, after the previous one and his mentor, retired. Various research papers published- he's got no shortage of academic achievements. But still...he feels empty.

Maybe it's a midlife crisis. Who knows.
He reached the hospital, parking in the private spot. A rush of freezing air hits him as he gets out, walking inside.

The hospital smelt of strong disinfectant and medication, the air thick with exhaustion and tension. As he entered, he received several greetings from the nurses, to which he gave them a nod and a polite smile. Almost everyone knew him as Dr Kang. He'd worked here for nearly a decade.

Before he could even make his way out of the main building onto his department's, he was pulled towards the ER by someone. Someone by the name of Dr Maximilian waters, to be exact, or as he liked to be called, Max. A general surgery resident.
He could faintly hear him saying something along the lines of 'thank god you're here, kang-' as various noises of the ER assaulted his ears.

"So noisy..." He mumbled as he allowed himself to be led away by the other doctor, to an emergency room.

His previous nonchalance vanished when he assessed the situation as he quickly removed his coat. There was someone on the examination table. The face wasn't visible to him as a nurse unknowingly stood in the field of his vision, but that didn't matter. He glanced at the vitals as max spoke fast, in between his orders to the other residents.
Elias nodded, listening to him as he quickly washed up and put on his scrubs. He walked to the table and looked over the patient, before nodding and putting his gloves on. He then looked at max and spoke, his voice calm and collected.

"What's happening to the patient?"

"Massive heart attack," Max said, passing Elias the patient's scans report, "35 years old, no previous heart issues, and was in seemingly good health."

He glanced at the file, before his eyes moved to the ECG, which showed clear signs of a myocardial infarction. He nodded slowly, his eyes moving back to the patient who was starting to show signs of going into cardiac arrest. His focus was on the monitors and the chest area, and didn't notice the patient's face.

He looked at the resident, who was holding defibrillator paddles and quickly gave the patient a shock, and the patient returned to sinus rhythm. He then looked at the residents and nurses and said, "Prepare for an emergency coronary angiography."

They immediately jumped into action, one of them moving to prepare the catheterisation lab for the procedure. Meanwhile, Max, approached Elias and said with a tone that sounded almost nervous and hushed. "Dr Kang-"

He looked up, a little annoyed at being interrupted, "Yes? What is it?"

Max spoke quietly, looking around to make sure the others weren't listening to them.
"Dr kang, the patient-" He paused, like he was struggling to say what he wanted to say. "Just...be careful, okay? I know you don't care about things like this, but, it's a high profile lawyer. Very well known in the media."

Elias inwardly rolled his eyes. Max was right, he didn't. He didn't care who was on his operating table- his only priority was that the patient is alright. He hummed. "....Okay?"

Max nodded and smiled slightly, knowing that Elias didn't care about the fame of the patient, and just needed to focus on the procedure. However, a nurse interrupted them.

"Dr Kang," she said quickly, "The catheterisation lab is set up. We're ready to go." He looked at her and nodded.
He turned and walked out of the ER OT room and made his way to the cath lab, slipping on a new, sterile pair of gloves. The nurses and technicians quickly got everything ready- the X-ray fluoroscopy, the injector, and other equipment were all set up. He quickly got settled in his chair and nodded. "Okay, we can start."

The nurse nodded, and the patient was rolled in and connected to the heart monitor. The resident on standby quickly shaved the patient's groin area before sterilising him. Max walked in and stood beside Elias, his eyes locked onto the monitor.

Elias...suddenly had a bad premonition. And his bad premonitions were more often than not right. The premonition wasn't 'the patient's gonna die' type of bad. No, it was more like- 'the universe is going to give me a big 'fuck you' like always' bad. And that got him thinking...lawyer, huh. He knew a lawyer once.

A nurse checked the patient's heart rate and spoke up. "Normal sinus rhythm. The patient is ready, sir."

"Perfect," Elias said as he glanced down at the patient's leg. Words died in his throat. Because dammit... He knew that... Thing. Unfortunately.

He was looking down at his 20s ex's nether regions.

(That's how our pretty doctor looks~ (the cover is a lil different because 1, I am an amateur artist and don't have a consistent art style, 2, i'm always trying out new colouring brushes, techniques, etc)