This was going to be a long day.
I knew that the moment I entered my office. I grabbed a clean set of surgical clothes, changed quickly, and swallowed a pill.
Then I headed to the operating room.
When I walked in, everything was already prepared. The assisting doctors stood beside the patient, waiting.
A heart transplant.
The patient was in critical condition. There was no way to save him. He only had a few days left, so he chose to donate his heart and let someone else live.
I got into position.
"Scalpel," I said.
A nurse placed it into my hand.
The surgery began.
Hours passed.
Everything went smoothly.
When it was over, the heart was carefully placed into a transport box.
Our next destination was another hospital in a nearby city. The recipient was waiting there.
I left with three other doctors, carrying the heart with us.
During the ride, a female doctor looked at me.
"Are you the new doctor? Doctor Kim Min-yeong?"
Her eyes had a hint of curiosity. Maybe even admiration.
"Yes. And you are?"
"Han Seo-yeon. Nice to meet you, Doctor Kim."
She smiled slightly. She seemed more approachable than the others.
The rest of the doctors stayed quiet, focused on their own thoughts.
Then her phone rang.
She answered, and her expression changed almost instantly.
"Oh… I have to go," she said quietly.
She walked up to the driver and asked him to stop. The ambulance slowed down, and she got out.
The door shut.
Now it was just me and the two other doctors.
And the driver.
The ambulance came to a sudden stop.
The driver turned around slowly.
"You're not getting out," he said.
The two doctors frowned, confused.
"What do you mean?" one of them asked.
The driver smiled faintly.
"You're trapped here."
Silence filled the ambulance.
Then he spoke again.
"I'm going to kill you."
The two doctors froze. Their faces drained of color.
I didn't move.
A strange calm settled over me.
At least I took the pill earlier.
The driver reached into his pocket and pulled out a blade.
I recognized it immediately.
The same one.
The serial killer.
So he came back.
Was I the target?
He pointed the blade at us.
"Stand up. Hands where I can see them."
We obeyed. None of us had a choice.
The heart.
The patient.
There was no time for this.
The two doctors exchanged a quick glance. Then they grabbed the box and rushed out of the ambulance.
I heard them outside, talking about getting a taxi.
The killer clicked his tongue in annoyance.
He forgot to lock the doors.
Before I could move, he shut them and locked them.
Now it was just the two of us.
I quickly calculated.
The surgery took around four and a half hours.
Which means…
The pill's effect should be ending about now.
If he gets injured…
If there's blood…
I clenched my fists.
I don't want to kill him.
Even if he is a murderer.
No one deserves that kind of death.
Not like this.
I forced myself to stay calm.
Maybe I could talk my way out.
He already showed his face. That meant he had no intention of letting me go.
"I'm going to kill you," he said. "Aren't you scared?"
I met his eyes.
"Why should I be?"
My voice was steady.
My body was not.
"You're confident," he said, narrowing his eyes.
"I could kill you," I replied.
I wouldn't.
But he didn't need to know that.
I held his gaze, forcing myself not to look away.
Then I smelled it.
Blood.
My head snapped to the side.
A drop had leaked from the box earlier.
How did I miss that?
My focus had been somewhere else.
My breathing grew uneven.
No.
Not now.
My vision blurred for a second.
Then everything sharpened.
My eyes changed.
I could feel it.
Before I realized it, I had already moved.
I dropped to the floor and licked the blood.
Silence.
The killer stared at me, frozen.
I slowly turned my head toward him.
His expression shifted from confusion to shock.
He raised the blade and swung.
I dodged it.
Too easily.
My body moved on its own.
I lunged at him.
My teeth sank into his neck.
Warm blood filled my mouth.
Sweet.
Metallic.
It had been years.
My mind screamed at me to stop.
But my body wouldn't listen.
He struggled.
He managed to slash my arm. Pain shot through it, sharp and burning.
But it didn't last.
The wound closed within seconds thanks to my regeneration.
I kept drinking.
I hated it.
But I couldn't stop.
After a while, his movements slowed.
Then stopped.
I let go.
His body collapsed.
I stood there, breathing heavily.
Then I checked his pulse.
Nothing.
He was dead.
I stared at my hands.
Then I looked at the mirror in the front.
Blood covered my mouth.
My eyes were still green.
I didn't recognize myself.
I grabbed a mask from my bag and covered my face.
Then I ran.
I didn't look back.
I didn't even try to hide the body.
I just ran.
When I got home, I washed the blood off my face.
Again and again.
But it didn't feel clean yet.
I looked at my reflection as I was shaking.
What have I become?
I really need to find a cure.
As fast as I can.
The next day, I returned to the hospital.
The other doctors told me the transplant was successful. Turns out another surgeon completed it.
I nodded and went to my office.
I turned on the TV.
The news was on.
"Earlier today, at around 2 AM, a body was found inside an ambulance from a local hospital. There aren't any more information yet,"
My heart sank.
"But witnesses report seeing a man in a doctor's uniform attacking the victim."
A clip played.
"I couldn't see clearly," a witness said. "But I saw someone getting closer to him, he didn't look human. I got scared and ran."
I turned off the TV.
I leaned back in my chair.
I'm in real trouble.
Han Seo-yeon left early, but the two other doctors…
They know I was the only one left with the victim.
I could go to prison...
What do I even say?
That someone took my uniform?
That I wasn't there?
My thoughts spiraled.
Then there was a knock on the door.
My body went still.
"This is the police department. Please open the door, Doctor Kim."
I stood still for a moment, then forced myself to move. I opened the door to find two officers waiting, one older with a sharp gaze, the other younger with a notebook in hand.
"Doctor Kim Min-yeong?" the older one asked.
"Yes."
"We need to ask you a few questions."
I stepped aside and let them in, closing the door behind them. They sat across from me while I tried to keep my expression calm.
"You were involved in the heart transplant last night?" the younger officer asked.
"Yes," I replied. "I performed the first stage of the surgery."
"And the transport?"
"I didn't go. I wasn't feeling well, so I stayed behind."
The older officer watched me closely. "That's strange. The report says you were seen entering the ambulance."
"I stepped in briefly, then got off before it left."
He didn't look convinced, but he didn't push further. Instead, he glanced around the room before his eyes landed on my bag.
"May I check that?"
"It's just medical supplies," I said, but I nodded.
He opened it and searched through the contents. My pulse quickened, but I kept still. After a moment, he closed it and looked back at me.
"Two doctors who transported the heart confirmed they left without you and completed the surgery successfully," he said. "The patient is stable."
A quiet relief passed through me.
"However," he continued, "we are investigating a homicide connected to that ambulance. A witness claims someone in a doctor's uniform attacked the victim."
"I heard," I said. "But that wasn't me."
The younger officer wrote something down. The older one stepped closer, his voice lowering slightly.
"If you remember anything unusual, you will inform us."
"I will."
He studied me for a second longer, then nodded.
"We'll be in touch."
They left the room, and the door clicked shut behind them.
Then, a piercing scream echoed from one of the hospital rooms.