Doctor Artemis Hunter

All the way to the restaurant, I couldn't help but think about what just happened. I just met Artemis' counterpart in this world!

'So I am in a parallel world.' I thought.

I was in deep thought that I didn't notice I had already arrived in the meeting place, a Chinese restaurant in downtown Seoul.

"So a Chinese came to South Korea and booked a Chinese restaurant." I mumbled to myself. "What irony."

I lightly shook my head but went inside afterwards. I immediately spotted Chen and my father.

"Lei!" Chen called and immediately hugged me the moment I got closer.

"Hey little brother." I greeted back. "It's been three years."

Chen was still looked the same. His hair got darker though and he had this mature aura around him. But it was probably the suit he was wearing.

'I thought he hated suits?' I thought, but then I caught glimpse of my father. I gave him a bow as acknowledgement and he nodded in return. There was only silence between us and it was becoming really awkward.

For three years, I noticed that nothing really changed about my father.

My father, Zhang Wu Fen, was someone with a youthful face. If someone didn't know his age, that person would assume he was still in his late twenties to early thirties, but in reality he was already approaching forty-three years old. His black hair and fair skin made him look younger, but his aura was very mature.

He was wearing a dark blue suit. It looked like he was going to attend a formal business meeting. And then there I was. I was only wearing a blue-white striped polo, a pair of black denim jeans and rubber shoes. I also had a pair of sunglasses and baseball cap.

I was much under-dressed, but the two didn't comment on it.

The awkward tension in our table only broke when a very familiar person suddenly stepped in my view.

My eyes widened as I looked at the foreign man who just arrived. He held a cold and calculating gaze, just like someone I knew. His black hair was swept to one side and his silver-grey eyes seemed to peer on your very soul.

"Uncle Victor?" I unconsciously called.

I suddenly felt that all eyes were on me which made me embarrassed so I looked away. They seemed not to mind what just happened since dad just greeted him casually.

"Victor, it's been so long." my father said in fluent English.

My father could speak a total of eight languages including English, Mandarin, Cantonese and Filipino. I inherited my language skills from my father.

"Wu Fen, it has been a long time." the two shook hands.

'What is he doing here?' I thought.

"These are my sons, Chen and Lei."

Chen and I stood up straight and gave him a bow. To return our greetings, he shook our hands, with me last.

"I see. So you are Lei?" he stared at me for a few seconds. "You have an interesting gaze Lei. It's the gaze of someone who has seen and experienced many things, including death."

I swallowed the non-existent lump on my throat.

'And your observant personality still scares me.' I wanted to say, but I decided to just not say it, lest I would be sent to an asylum.

"And you seem to know me even though this is the first time we've met."

I gave him a nervous laugh.

'Even in this life and world, he's still a bit… extreme for me to handle.'

I didn't know how to respond to his statement, good thing father immediately changed the subject. We all sat down and started to order food.

"Your daughter seems to not be with you. I thought she and Lei are supposed to meet today."

"Yes, that was the plan. But an emergency came up in the hospital."

"Hospital?" Chen asked.

"Yes. She's a three-year resident doctor in Hyun Jin University Medical Center."

"I see. What a waste." my father said in a low tone. "I thought they'll finally meet today."

"Wait a minute." Chen interrupted. "Mister Hunter, isn't your daughter supposed to be nineteen? How come she's already a three-year resident in a hospital?"

"She's a very willful and smart kid. She skipped a few grades on a whim, but it is what she wants." he said in a proud tone.

'So she's still the same; stubborn, wilful and so damn smart. Artemis sure gets whatever she wants.' was my passing thought.

"Exactly Lei. She is just like that. You seem to know her, my daughter, Artemis."

"I said that out loud, didn't I?" I mumbled, but then I realized something. "Wait, the girl I'm supposed to marry is Artemis?"

"Well, she is my only daughter. How did you-"

"Ah, I met her outside." was my immediate answer. "She seemed to be in a hurry though."

I didn't hear the rest of their conversation. I zoned out because my head was full of thoughts.

Thoughts like; 'Artemis is my fiancée?' 'That's amazing!' 'If I agree to this, it'll only seem like I'm marrying her because of my past life, because she is the Artemis Hunter of this world.' 'Damn parallel worlds!' and many more.

"I don't agree!" I said all of a sudden and slammed my hands to the table.

"Lei!" father called in an angry tone,

"Father, I don't want to marry her."

They all gave me a confused look.

"And why are you refusing to marry my daughter Lei?" asked Uncle – no, Mister Hunter.

'He's not the same person you know.' I reminded myself.

"For reasons I can't tell you without sounding mad, but what I can tell you is that, I am a trainee of MM Entertainment." I said confidently. "My current contract forbids me from having a romantic relationship for now. I haven't even started my career yet you know?"

"Xiao Lei'er!" my father called out angrily in Mandarin.

"That is my decision father! And that is final!"

My father just sighed in disbelief and Chen was trying to make me take back my words, but I didn't budge.

I probably sounded unreasonable to them, but I knew what I was doing. I loved the Artemis in my past life dearly, but I didn't want to have an instant relationship with her counterpart when I still have lingering feelings for her. I didn't want the Artemis of this world be just her replacement. I once thought that if I was going to love someone in my current life, it would be because I really did love her.

Mister Hunter looked at me in the eyes, and I didn't back down. Then he suddenly laughed heartily.

"I like the look in your eyes kid." he said after laughing. "I honestly do. Only a few would actually speak what's in their mind and heart whenever I'm around."

"Artemis is probably one of them." I muttered.

"Wu Fen, I'm afraid we'll have to cancel the engagement."

"What? Victor that's – if it's what he said, I'll go talk to him. I'll get him to agree." father insisted.

"That's not it old friend. In fact, even my daughter is against this engagement."

I was taken aback by his statement.

'But then again, I am a total stranger to her.'

In the end, the engagement got cancelled with both sides in agreement. But dad and Mister Hunter were both insistent I meet Artemis and have dinner with her,

"Let's see." was my response.

My father gave me an earful once Mister Hunter had left, but the matter was already settled. It seemed like Mister Hunter – oh right, he asked me to call him something else – Uncle Victor was the one who gets to decide about the engagement.

"You do realize I still don't approve of you becoming a celebrity." he said once he had calmed down.

"I know, but please don't stop me. This is my dream."

"Do what you want. Let's go Xiao Chen."

He left the restaurant. Chen gave me a down-five and signaled to call him later before he followed our father out.

***

"So, how was lunch with your family?" asked Seven. We were in the middle of having dinner.

"Well, I pissed off my dad even more but I succeeded in getting my engagement cancelled. I guess that's a plus."

"Wah, being born in prominent families is not really easy huh." commented Calvin and stuffed a piece of meat in his mouth.

"Tell me about it."

My days as a trainee went back to normal after that incident. I would stick to my trainee schedule and attend classes at S University whenever I had the time. It was hard to balance the two sometimes, but I did my best to do so.

Not to brag, but I was a diligent trainee and student. I made sure my performance on both was above-average, if not excellent. But just like what Grandpa Xue Fe said, everything has a consequence.

Ten months before we were supposed to debut, I met an accident.

I was already having a hard time with my aching waist when I suddenly slipped on the floor of one of the practice rooms while training. I landed quite hard and dislocated my right foot and shoulder.

My friends immediately came to my aid and I was rushed to the hospital. I was in so much pain that time that I wasn't fully aware of what was happening. I could only remember a few.

I remembered Seven and Kyle with me in the ambulance with the former telling me I would be fine. I also remembered being rushed to the emergency room with the frantic voices of the people around me.

I was in so much pain I couldn't tell what they were saying, but then I remembered a familiar voice telling me to clench my teeth. This person's face was blurry, but I remembered her words;

"This will hurt a lot."

I felt hands on my right arm and shoulder then it was suddenly twisted. I was so sure I let out a scream.

I was probably thrashing around, because I felt being pushed down. But then I felt a burning pain on my foot. I probably screamed louder but I didn't find out because I passed out.

When I woke up, I was in an unfamiliar room. I looked around and saw the IV drip by my side.

"Lei! You're awake!" I heard Seven's voice call.

I turned to the side and saw Seven.

"Hey." I greeted in a hoarse voice.

"Are you okay? Do you need anything?" he asked.

"Shui." [shwey] I unconsciously muttered in Mandarin. My throat felt like sandpaper.

"Shui? Water? Okay, wait a minute."

He reached out to the pitcher of water and poured some on an empty glass which he then handed on me.

"Are you okay now? How do you feel?" he asked again.

"I'm fine Seven. I was just unlucky to slip on the floor, and twisted a few joints."

"Are you kidding me? You were screaming like you got stabbed or something. Everyone was very worried. They wanted to visit but that lady doctor won't let everyone in the room."

"Lady doctor?" I asked.

"Yeah, the one who treated you. She was also the one who insisted to move you in a private room."

I looked around once more. I was wondering why there were furniture inside the room instead of beds and curtains.

'So that's why.'

"So, what's the name of the lady –"

The door suddenly opened and a familiar honey-colored head came in. She looked furious and briskly walked to our direction. She suddenly threw something and Seven caught it. It was a phone, his phone to be exact.

"Uhm, doc?"

"Your CEO's a – " she held her breath then took a sigh. "Anyway your shoulder and ankle is already back in place. You should only feel lingering pain, but it should be completely okay in two weeks, if you have proper rest."

I nodded.

"Your waist on the other hand, is a whole other problem."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm not a specialist yet, but I can tell your waist is in a bad condition. And it's probably caused by excessive use." she sighed. "You dance a lot don't you? You love dancing so much that even if it's hurting, you still continue to dance."

"Lei." Seven called in a scary and angry tone.

"Is it wrong to do what I love?" I said with my fists clenched.

"No, but you should always remember to take care of your body. Love your health and body as much as you love dancing. Only then can you continue doing what you love." she gave me a pointed look. "Don't you think so?"

I looked away from her gaze.

"So even in this world, you're still like that." I whispered.

"Pardon?"

"Nothing."

"Anyway, I suggested to your CEO to let you have at least a month's worth of rest. Not just you, but also to the rest of your group. I could tell they're tired and stressed, especially that guy." she pointed at Seven. "I suppose you're the leader?"

"Err… Yeah? How did you know?"

"I can tell with how you kept the others in line last night." she gave him a wink.

'And why am I jealous when she did that? I shouldn't be affected right? She's not the Artemis I know.'

I shook my head to flush those thoughts out then asked; "So, what's the problem?"

"That fish-looking CEO of yours, no offense, wouldn't agree. He said something about the schedule of your debut. You're already behind schedule and that if you guys take a break for a month, you'll be even more behind." she sighed in disbelief and puffed air from her mouth which hit a stray hair on her face. "If you guys don't take a break, forget about being able to perform for a long time. Your body will break down and you'll be sick. But of course, it's just my opinion and it's up to you what to do. Well, except for Lei."

"Me? What are you talking about?"

"I told your father about what happened and he told me to do what I think is right. So, you are going to rest and undergo therapy for a month mister. You're not going back to that company unless your waist gets better."

I was very confused and a little bit angry at the same time.

"That's not up to you to decide! It's up to me and the company!" I exclaimed.

"Oh yeah? Let's see about that."

"Who do you think you are? That you could just make decisions for me like that, huh?"

"Lei, calm down." said Seven.

"I am Doctor Artemis Hunter, your doctor. And if you want to be able to perform and make it to your debut, I suggest you listen to me, Mister Lei Zhang."

And just like that, she went out of the room.

There was one thing I noticed Doctor Hunter and the Artemis I knew were similar, it was that they were really both stubborn and willful. Once she sets her mind on something, she will go with it, no matter what.

'A smart brain with the attitude and mouth of a teenager.'