I was also surprised when I saw the doctor’s gown and the name tag on the table.

‘Lee Han Byeol.’

The doctor’s name was also ‘Han Byeol’, exactly the same as my child’s.

I immediately understood why the doctor smiled brightly when he saw me.

The doctor, who looked to be in his mid-thirties, had a face that gave off an exotic feeling.

Under thick black eyebrows, double-lidded eyes harmonized well, and a straight, sharp nose stood prominently above his red lips.

His moderately sun-tanned skin matched well with the white doctor’s gown, and his shiny, neat hair behind his bright smile seemed to give patients confidence.

“Welcome. Guardian of Kim Han Byeol. Is this your first time at our hospital?”

“Yes, it’s my first time.”

“The baby’s name is the same as mine?”

“I was also surprised when I saw your name, doctor.”

The doctor, like his good impression, explained the history of his name in detail.

The doctor’s father was an astronomer obsessed with the sky.

Influenced by his father, the hospital was named ‘Rainbow Pediatrics’, and all of his siblings’ names were related to the sky.

‘Han Byeol, Du Byeol, Se Byeol 3 sons, Haneul 1 daughter!’

He said he was ‘Han Byeol’ as the first among the male siblings, his younger brothers were ‘Du Byeol’ and ‘Se Byeol’, and the youngest sister, whom his father insisted on having a daughter, was named ‘Haneul’.

Although the hospital had only been open for 2 years, he was excited to see a child named ‘Han Byeol’ for the first time.

“Who gave the name Han Byeol?”

“My mother did. She said it means ‘one star’ in Korean.”

“Ah… My name is also in Korean. It’s the first infant check-up today, but the father didn’t come together?”

“I’m a single parent.”

“…Oh, yes. I’m sorry.”

When I mentioned I was a single parent, the doctor seemed flustered or felt sorry, as his white ears turned red.

The doctor explained that infant health check-ups are conducted at 0 months, 4 months, 9 months, and 18 months after birth, and measured the child’s height, weight, and head circumference.

“The child takes after the mother and is tall. The percentile is 97, and the weight and head circumference are perfectly normal.”

Born to parents with superior height, my child had good growth compared to peers.

I hoped that Han Byeol would only inherit good genes and not the bad fate of poverty, wishing for him to grow up to be upright and excellent like Doctor Lee Han Byeol sitting in front of me.

Perhaps feeling my gaze on him, the doctor’s earlobes turned red again.

“I hope to see the child only for regular check-ups and not when sick, but if there’s ever an emergency, please call anytime regardless of the hour. I feel more interested because we share the same name.”

“Yes, thank you. I’m a nurse so I can do basic emergency care, but I’ll contact you if a situation arises where we need to come to the hospital.”

“Ah… You’re a nurse. If I may ask, which hospital?”

“I’m at S University Hospital, but I’m currently on maternity leave.”

“Then, you graduated from S University’s nursing department?”

“Yes.”

“You must have studied extremely well. Haha.”

The doctor said he was from a regional national university medical school, and expressed regret that nowadays all regional universities are undervalued.

He said he dreamed of entering S University’s medical school but his grades weren’t quite good enough.

The doctor printed out the health check-up results and gave them to me along with a brochure containing the health check-up schedule and vaccination information.

As I was about to leave after saying goodbye, the doctor gave me his business card, saying he would take special care of the child as it was his first encounter with a child named ‘Han Byeol’.

The business card had the name ‘Rainbow Pediatrics’ along with the doctor’s name ‘Lee Han Byeol’ and his hospital phone number and mobile number.

When I returned home, I lay down again, but I couldn’t continue resting with Han Byeol whimpering.

Mother, who was close to reaching her goal of settling the debt left by father, couldn’t quit her job and compromised with me by reducing her evening work.

Mother came home with her tired body but couldn’t rest, making seaweed soup, bone broth, and side dishes for me.

When mother returned from work, she was equally surprised to see the doctor’s business card along with the health check-up results on the table.

“So Hee, the doctor’s name is ‘Lee Han Byeol’?”

“Yes, mom. I was surprised too, and so was the doctor.”

“What a coincidence!”

“I know. The doctor said he’d give special care because the name is the same as his, and gave me his business card.”

Mother showed interest, asking about the doctor’s age and appearance, saying it might not be a coincidence but could become a connection.

Although I had a good impression of the doctor who shared the same name as the child, I drew a line at mother’s interest, saying we just met as a guardian and doctor at the hospital.

*****

Han Byeol returned home and told his father about the child named ‘Han Byeol’ and the mother who came to the hospital today.

His father, a retired professor of astronomy at Y University, showed great interest in the appearance of a child named ‘Han Byeol’.

“Han Byeol is such a warm and good name. Take good care of that child so they can grow up to be as upright and good as you.”

“Yes, father.”

Although he didn’t tell his father, he was surprised that the child was also from a single-parent family like himself.

It had already been 10 years since Han Byeol’s mother passed away at the age of 40 after battling breast cancer.

When he was in his 4th year of medical school, he took the national exam under difficult circumstances due to his mother’s death, and Han Byeol had a tough 10 years going through public health service, internship, residency, and specialist exams.

Although he had opened his hospital and seen dozens of patients every day for 2 years, it was the first time he had seen a child named ‘Han Byeol’.

As the computer medical record showed a first visit mark along with the name ‘Kim Han Byeol’, he was curious about what kind of child would come in, and smiled as he saw the child and mother.

The child’s mother with long straight hair was an extraordinary beauty.

Her bright eyes harmonized well with her high nose bridge and pretty red lips, giving a graceful impression.

Although he had seen many newborns since opening the practice, he had never seen a child as handsome as ‘Han Byeol’.

Han Byeol inwardly smiled, thinking the child was so handsome because it resembled his name, as he greeted the child and mother.

He felt she was smart like her impression, being a graduate of S University’s nursing department and working at that university hospital, but when she revealed she was a ‘single parent’, Han Byeol felt sorry.

Being a ‘single parent’ is not a sin, but the fate of raising a child alone at the young age of 20 somehow felt harsh for her.

Han Byeol had never given his business card to a guardian except in urgent cases.

But somehow he felt an inexplicable interest in her and her child.

Although his father nagged Han Byeol and his siblings every day to get married, Han Byeol found it difficult to love someone again due to the big wound left by one romance and breakup.

His siblings, two years apart each, pressured Han Byeol to get married first while enjoying their own free romance.

Although he told his siblings to go ahead, saying order doesn’t matter in today’s world, his siblings didn’t seem to want the constraints of marriage right away either.

Lying in bed, Han Byeol felt his earlobes redden as he recalled the child with the same name and the beautiful mother who appeared in his life like fate.

His earlobes would turn particularly red when flustered, and he felt embarrassed wondering if she had noticed his earlobes today.

Realizing he would have to wait 3 months until the next regular infant check-up at 4 months to see her again, he felt a sense of regret.

Han Byeol found his sudden interest in the opposite sex strange, and pictured her expression in his mind as he thought about their brief 10-minute encounter.

*****

The end of the year in Boston was exciting for everyone, and Ha Yeon’s heart was fluttering with anticipation for tomorrow’s trip with Hyun Woo.

Although she had seen countless tutors for her younger sister Do Yeon in Korea since childhood, there was no man with as strong a first impression as Hyun Woo.

Ha Yeon had dismissed her friends in love saying things like ‘love at first sight’ or ‘he was shining when I saw him’ as exaggerations, but she really felt a flash like a full moon the moment she saw Hyun Woo’s face.

He was a quiet type, and an elder brother who didn’t start speaking on his own unless Ha Yeon asked, but Ha Yeon liked him that way.

Although there was no chance to see Hyun Woo at school as S University’s College of Humanities and Medical School were on different campuses, she was happy just having simple conversations with him when they occasionally met at home.

When her mother said they would have a party at S Hotel to celebrate Do Yeon’s admission and her own graduation, Ha Yeon begged her mother to prepare a graduation gift for Hyun Woo as well.

Ha Yeon personally chose a luxury watch from C company and had her mother give Hyun Woo a watch of the same design as hers.

As she headed to America, she hoped to have something she shared with her elder brother, and was content with the small happiness of recalling him daily through the identical watch on their wrists.

Even when she was in Korea, she had told her elder brother to come to Boston, America, and she was overjoyed to hear that he actually came to HaXd Medical School.

Although Ha Yeon was short, the appearance of a tall elder brother who was her ideal type gave her daily vitality in her Boston life.

Hyun Woo, as understood by her mother, had lost his father early and had an unfortunate childhood, but he was a genius who never lost first place in middle and high school, and was showing good grades at S University Medical School.

Above all, he was a good person.

There were social gatherings of children from chaebol families during university, and approaches from men aiming for the only daughter of S Group’s chairman, but Ha Yeon didn’t see those people blinded by conditions as human.

Every time she conversed with Hyun Woo who came to Boston and saw his expressions of wonder at new things, Ha Yeon felt a sense of motherly love.

She was genuinely happy and pleased to do anything for him.

The evening when she kissed Hyun Woo’s cheek and shared their first kiss while watching the Boston Symphony performance on Independence Day was the happiest time in her life so far.

The moment Hyun Woo’s lips touched Ha Yeon’s lips, Ha Yeon felt dizzy and felt a sweet handful of sugar spread throughout her mouth.

There was a time when she wondered why lovers closed their eyes while kissing in movies, but Ha Yeon solved that curiosity in her first kiss.

It wasn’t that they deliberately closed their eyes, but that their eyes just closed.

Ha Yeon still had one question left when she thought about that day.

When she revealed it was her first kiss, Hyun Woo was silent.

Hyun Woo might have dating experience and might have had his first kiss given his age, but she wanted to ask someday what exactly the meaning of his silence was.

‘Why didn’t he say anything?’