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Daniel hadn't been given the opportunity to see or thank Gun since the night he fainted in the showers. Not that he had been trying to see or meet the male, he was far too busy doing his own things to go looking for the brute but he also didn't like that he couldn't say anything to the other man. It felt wrong that Gun had helped him and Daniel hadn't done anything in return, he didn't want to feel like he owed the elder.

So he made the decision to go and find the founder. Except he had yet to learn where the man could be. Sure he could just message the guy using the number that James and Goo had given him but he felt that would be weird, especially since Gun didn't know that the Doctor had his number. Daniel had never seen Gun outside of the CC, the only time that he had seen the male outside of the days when the CC was running its matches was in the middle of the night at the gym.

So that's what he decided to do. He decided he would visit the gym at an unreasonable hour on a Tuesday night. There was no guarantee that Daniel would find Gun but it was the only option he was going to test. So once the building had been locked up, security and staff had gone home and the moon was up in the sky, the Doctor started heading towards the gym. Compared to the previous time, Daniel didn't feel as exhausted. He was not going to faint this time, the first time was embarrassing enough.

Reaching the door he opens it slightly to peek inside and sees that he had been correct to find Gun using the gym. He might've only just started since he was merely stretching and warming up his muscles at the current moment. Daniel steps inside the room and Gun catches sight of him, staring in his direction for a moment before turning away to stretch his legs.

Empowered by the lack of a negative response, Daniel walks in further before he is mere metres away from the man. Neither of them said anything, with only Daniel watching silently and Gun ignoring him in favour of concentrating.

Should he interrupt the elder or would that piss him off? Daniel's objective wasn't to piss the man off, it was to talk. After several moments of hesitance, Gun finally breaks the silence.

"Are you going to stand there and watch me all night, Doc? Or was there something you wanted to do?" He asks slight annoyance tinged on the edge of Gun's voice which causes Daniel to reply immediately.

"Sorry, I just wanted to talk to you" Daniel states, staring at the floor. "Well, mainly I just wanted to say sorry for the hassle I must've caused you the other night as well as thank you for taking care of me" He blurts, playing at the sleeves of his coat.

A moment goes by before eventually there was a low chuckle from Gun.

"Like I said in my note, a sick Doctor isn't of any use to us" Gun shrugs as he goes back to stretching. "Although your words are appreciated" He hums noncommittally.

That was it. Daniel had apologised and thanked the man, he could move on and leave now. Except he didn't leave and Gun seems to notice.

"Gym's open for anyone in the CC to use which includes you Doc, I'm not gonna stop you if you start working out or something" Gun calls and Daniel nods.

"I'm not wearing the appropriate clothes for a gym session" Daniel replies as he looks down at his slacks.

"I've worked out in a suit before, what you're wearing may not be practical but it's not the worst in the world" Gun snickers and Daniel sighs before complying. Perhaps a gym session was what he needed to relieve the tension from his body, he had been skipping for a while now.

Shrugging off his coat and taking a corner of the gym that was furthest away from Gun, Daniel gets to work. Starting with a couple of simple cardio warm-ups and dynamic moves he attempts to not focus on Gun who was several metres away doing his own thing. Working out in mutual silence goes by surprisingly better than Daniel would have presumed, especially since every couple of minutes or so he would feel his eyes glide towards the other figure in the room. Yet Gun didn't seem to notice nor did he seem to care.

Daniel did notice that the way in which Gun moved was both elegant and brutal. He held back his own strength against the defenceless equipment but despite that with every hit the force seemed to make everything around him tremble. It was almost beautiful in a way.

After several hours Daniel finally calls it a night, he had built up quite a sweat and unluckily for him he hadn't thought to bring a change of clothes or a towel for the showers. So after wiping the sweat from his forehead and frowning at the floor a bag was tossed in front of him.

"Take that, I have another set of clothes in my office I can grab" Gun grunts once he notices his dilemma. Staring blankly at the bag and then towards Gun who looked like he was also finishing up, he couldn't help but give the man a confused look.

"Uh, thanks?" Daniel states in confusion as Gun snorts.

"You look confused, Doc. Is everything okay? You're not going to faint in the showers like a damsel again, are you? Or can I leave to grab my extra clothes without having to rush back?" Gun asks and Daniel flushes red.

"I'm not going to faint. '' He hisses out. "At least not again" He mutters under his breath as Gun laughs at him before turning to leave yet Daniel calls out to him one last time.

"Um…is it alright if I use the gym with you again during this time? I'm always busy during the day and this is the only time I have free so If it doesn't bother you I'd like to share the gym again…unless of course, you'd prefer being here by yourself then just let me know what days you're using it and I won't show up" He adds the last part in a hurry.

Gun pauses by the door before turning around to raise a cocky brow.

"You know for a Doctor you really seem to be a bundle of nerves" Gun scoffs as he crosses his arms. "I hate nervous people" He adds and Daniel feels his shoulders slump.

How could someone be so kind and then become so rude the next? Just as Daniel was thinking there was more to the founder than his sour attitude and people's hate towards him he goes and opens his mouth.

"Ah, sorry but that's just how I am" Daniel huffs, anger flaring slightly.

There was an awkward pause between them before Daniel hears Gun sucking in a breath and speaking again.

"But, you didn't bother me so I guess it's fine if we share the gym. Can't be helped if this is the only time the both of us are free" He calls before pushing himself off the doorway and leaving. "See you around Miracle Doctor" was the last thing Gun said and Daniel couldn't help the embarrassment flare through his body at the nickname.

"Don't call me that!" Daniel shouts before grabbing the bag and heading towards the shower.

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.

.

True to his words, Gun didn't seem to mind when Daniel showed up at the gym at the same time over the next couple of days. Both were left to their own devices, not choosing to interfere with the other in the slightest as they trained. On the third day of their seeing each other, Daniel had finally washed the clothes that he had borrowed from the elder so he dropped the bag in front of the mats that Gun was using.

"I've washed them" Daniel huffs as Gun stares at the bag curiously. "Thanks" He utters as Gun nods.

Just as Daniel was going to turn around and focus on his legs for that night, Gun calls out to him.

"Doc, are you prepared for the tournament?" Gun asks and Daniel turns back around to give him a confused look.

"The tournament? I'm not participating so why would I need to be ready?" Daniel questions as Gun huffs.

"I know you're not competing, Doc. It would be counterproductive to have our medical staff be involved in the actual fights and risk getting injured. What I mean is are you and the other medical staff ready for what's to come? The first round on Friday is the preliminaries and essentially it's an all-out fight between dozens of fighters. There's gonna be a lot of injuries, the previous tournaments had several broken bones and internal bleeding. Are you equipped for handling those sorts of injuries?" Gun questions as he stands and heads over to where Daniel was. "I know you're a young genius of a Doctor but you're still young. Can you handle the pressure?"

Daniel was deep in thought, silently thinking about the situation.

"Have the previous Doctors had to perform surgery?" Daniel asks, raising his eyes to meet Gun.

"Usually the room next door to your medical bay is turned into a sterile operating room. No complicated surgeries yet, just stitches and broken bones to care for but you can never be too sure of what could happen. You don't need to look that scared" Gun pats his shoulder. "You are a Doctor after all, isn't this what you do all the time?" He asks and Daniel could feel his breath quicken.

"O-Of course" Daniel stutters out before smiling sweetly. "I'll make sure everything is okay…that being said" He grabs his water bottle and chucks it at the founder, the man dodges the flying object letting it hit the wall behind him.

"What the hell?!" Gun calls.

"Why is it that none of you people tell me this stuff in advance?! Do you think I can prepare that much a day before the event happens? What the hell is wrong with you all?!" Daniel shouts at the man much to his shock and surprise.

"Hey, where did the shy and meek Doctor go all of a sudden? What's with your mood swings" Gun grunts with a glare yet he could see where the Doctor was coming from.

"Ugh, and you've had several nights in a row to tell me this, if something big happens do you think I alone can do anything? I've got a bunch of rookies, not even interns, around me who aren't qualified to do much more than assist in basic first aid. As for me I can't even-" Daniel cuts himself off, taking in deep breaths before letting out an aggravated growl. "I have to go check out this 'operating' room you have. Let's hope it even meets the legal standards since the medical bay itself was in shit condition. No wonder Doctors keep leaving if this is how you treat all of them" He grabs his stuff and leaves the room.

Gun watches the male go with an irritated look before shaking his head.

"Miracle Doctor? More like crazy Doctor" He huffs before turning to grab his bottle of water only to notice the large indent in the wall. His brows raise upwards at the damage, it had been thrown quite a distance and apparently with some force if it made such a large hole in the wall. Gun's own curiosity at the Doctor's strength was piqued.

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.

.

Daniel thanked any God or deity that might have been looking down and listening to his prayers. The operating room was slightly dusty but apart from that everything about the equipment looked brand new. So after some serious dusting and cleaning, Daniel could use and check over all the tech including the heart monitors, operating tables, surgical lights and displays. It seemed like a legit operating room but apparently had yet to be used.

Daniel was able to do all this before eventually going to sleep. The following day Daniel sought out the list of fighters participating and made sure to note anything medically concerning which was a bit hard considering there were over 50 individuals competing that day alone. He couldn't even inform any of the volunteers of what he wanted to do until around 4 pm when they got out of school or other work they were doing.

Instead, he called the one reliable individual he could trust.

"They're crazy, Jinyoung. I'm lucky that most things are already in order but still, shouldn't they have told me sooner?" Daniel complains as his uncle listens to him over the phone.

"Well there's not much I can do from over here, let's just appreciate the fact that you were given any notice at all" The older man huffs. "What happened to there being no trouble at all?" He hums and Daniel pauses.

"Well, it's not really that big of a problem" Daniel sighs.

"But it annoyed you enough for you to call me and complain," Jinyoung replies in amusement.

Daniel pauses before facepalming.

"Sorry, you must be busy. I should get going since my volunteers are coming by soon and I need to get my stuff together" Daniel tells the elder who hums in response.

"Alright, be safe Daniel" Jinyoung replies almost gently before the call ends.

Daniel pockets his phone and turns back to the monitor and more heavy-duty equipment he had brought to the forefront just in case anything went wrong. It would be better to have the equipment around and not need to use it than not have it but need it.

Soon enough the volunteers arrived and Daniel began lecturing them about what was to come and what was needed. Quite a couple of them looked rather annoyed with Daniel about the sudden increase in workload.

"Come on Doc, it's not going to be that serious" Someone calls out. "We've been through several tournaments before and the worst that we've really gotten is a broken leg" He snickers.

"Yeah, you're overthinking things" Another individual chimed in which had both Daniel and Mira glaring at them.

"Can't you see that Doctor Park is doing all this for the sake of not only the fighters but for us as well?" She calls back, reprimanding their words. There was a resounding grumble of disgruntlement but Daniel didn't have time for any of that.

"I don't care if you all find this annoying, you are here as volunteers and thus just do what the hell you're told" He shouts at the group, raising his tone slightly.

Some individuals fall into place whereas others seem to get even more annoyed. Luckily no one retorted his words, all of them seemed to go quiet.

"Good, now let me run you through some of the stuff I've brought out. I expect you all to at least remember their places if you can't memorise their functions" And whilst it may have come off a bit arrogant, Daniel needed them all to know their purposes for being there tonight.

As usual, the crowd seemed to file in, the only difference this time was that every seat was taken, and there were even hoards of people standing by the railing so they could get a view of the events of the night. Furthermore, the upper levels seem to fill up as well, whereas before there were seats left in between groups now they had to sit together due to the sheer number of people that showed up.

"This is kind of amazing, I've never seen so many people show up to something like this" Daniel hums as he adjusts the collar of his coat.

"There seem to be more and more people every time, I'm surprised the founders haven't started selling ticket seats. The amount of money they would make from that alone would be astronomical" Mira whispers.

"Why haven't they?" Daniel asks, turning to her. It was weird, for people who seemed slightly money hungry, why wouldn't they capitalise on making money from seat tickets?

"I'm not quite sure, I can't ever really tell what those three are thinking" Mira nods towards the VIP booth where Gun, Goo and James were sitting, watching over the crowds and talking to each other in hushed tones.

Daniel zones in on their expensive clothes and suits, the way they are associated with other people that were sitting in their booths as well as their mannerisms. For people who were running such a place and watching such an event, they were quite refined.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, the tournament is about to begin!" Goo's voice rings through the gigantic arena, spotlights are going crazy and the roar of the crowd makes Daniel clutch his ears. He really needed to get headphones or something for the noise level or else he was going to go deaf.

"We have many competitors who are participating in the 17th tournament of the CC, many of whom are returnees whereas some are quite new to this show. Let's give them all a warm welcome as they enter the arena!" Goo shouts as the door at the other end of the arena opens.

Dozens of men walk out, all with determined yet excited looks on their faces. There were even a couple of people that Daniel himself seemed to recognise from Jake, Samuel and a couple of others from his crew to Vasco and Jace who were a little further down the line.

"Quite a lot of Big Deal is here to participate today, I'm sure they still believe that there's strength in their numbers" Goo muses.

"Well from previous tournaments we do know that it does work out the majority of the time, Big Deal has entered the final rounds more than a handful of times at this point. It does seem that the group gets stronger and stronger each time which I will say is impressive" James replies.

"The power of romance and passion will do that to anyone" Gun adds his two cents in.

Daniel looks up to the crowd of Big Deal members that were cheering on their leaders and members. Jerry seemed to be leading their cheers having had to sit out of this tournament due to his injuries but he didn't look too upset.

"Gun, you betting your money on anyone?" Goo asks, poking his partner repeatedly only to have his hand get slapped away.

"How many times do I have to tell you that we can't bet on them?" Gun frowns at the blonde before shrugging. "If I was to say who I'm interested in seeing compete I would say all the Hostel B members. Big Daddy Eli really brought out all the uncles for today" He calls as the cheering for Hostel increases.

Daniel was surprised to see that Warren was a part of that group, he seemed to be doing well despite what happened a couple of weeks ago, the only visible injury was his slowly healing yet still bruised nose.

"Warren Chae is a tough guy," James adds.

"Let's ask some of the other VIPs what they think about the lineup for this tourney" Goo quips before shoving the microphone into someone else's face. A male dressed in a grey suit, with circular glasses on his face that he pushes further into his nose gives Goo a passive look. "Eugene, any thoughts?" Goo prompts.

"If I had to say, just from seeing the lineup I can already say that I am excited about everything that is about to come. Yet as a member of Workers, I can only say that I have faith in my own fighter that is participating" Eugene answers simply.

"You've only got one person in the ring today, Mandeok isn't it? One of your own personal bodyguards? Where the hell did you even get a guy that big, Eugene? He's as big as Jerry and I thought Jerry was just an abnormal one" Goo laughs.

"Where I found him is a secret that belongs to me" Eugene replies lightly but from watching the large screen, Daniel couldn't help there was more to meet the eye with the handsome male.

"Moving on, how about you ladies?" James turns passively to the two females on the other side of the booth.

"I've got a couple of fighters down there which I believe in!" The brunette calls as she bounces in her seat excitedly. "Although I'm sure Neko's own fighters are quite strong too" She shakes the other female's shoulder in a frenzy.

The masked woman only rolls her eyes before nodding.

"Don't let me down, boys," Neko states.

As the group continue monologuing and explaining the premise of the preliminary rounds to new viewers and fighters, Daniel noticed that Mira's eyes were fixed on one form that was in the arena, a hand clenched around her phone as worry coursed through her small frame.

"You know him?" Daniel asks, nodding towards the brunette that was dressed head to toe in black.

"He's a friend," Mira whispers. "And the sole reason I decided to volunteer here" She adds in a hushed tone before she looks down and starts messaging someone again.

Daniel didn't know the drama or connection between the two but as he stared at the brunette he couldn't help but feel that there was something off. He didn't look as intimidating as the other fighters and no one had really introduced him yet. Despite not looking like a fighter, the anger-filled look in his eyes told a different story.

Daniel was startled by the loud sirens, signalling the start of the tournament. The start of the free for all war.

"I'm so glad they removed the use of weapons in the preliminary rounds" Someone calls and Daniel's eyebrows shoot up.

Did they previously allow weapons in the free for all battle? Ignoring the thought of that, Daniel merely watches on in awe at the fights that were taking place. Only a couple of minutes had gone by and everyone was holding their own in the tense atmosphere. From an outsider's perspective, you could tell which crew held animosity for another crew by how vicious they were targeting each other. If Daniel was in awe at seeing so many martial arts in the previous one on one fights then he was currently astonished seeing all of them mesh together in one large chaotic movement.

Daniel catches sight of a body flying over the line that designated the arena, it meant that the person was out of the tournament. Three ways you could get out of the preliminaries, either get thrown out of the arena or get knocked out, there was of course the option of surrendering but no one's pride would allow that.

Daniel and a couple of volunteers edge around the line of the arena to collect their first patient. He was a bit delirious from being thrown out and hitting the floor violently but after a simple check up there was no concussion to be found. Only minor bruises and scratches. The Doctor sent the man on his way with nothing more than some bruised pride from being the first out.

After that, more and more people seemed to be getting out left and right. Daniel instructed the volunteers to help grab and direct the fighters towards their medical set-up. Most fighters of course only had similar injuries to the first person. There were a couple who were bleeding quite a bit but other than providing ice packs and cleaning and dressing their wounds they were told to move on.

Once the first half of the fighters had been weeded out after over half an hour, the fights started getting more serious. Daniel couldn't help but be in awe at the stamina they all had. It truly was a gruelling environment, not just having to fight other people but also always be on alert and fight your own exhaustion.

By the hour mark, a couple more individuals seemed to drop their guards which meant they were easy targets to pick off. There was a moment when Vasco left his back unprotected and someone from Hostel attempted to attack him. Luckily Jace was able to notice and tackled the guy to the ground, except he tackled them out of bounds, signalling the end of their run.

Daniel couldn't tell if it was from the light or not but Vasco seemed to shed a tear.

"Attacking from behind isn't really a good move, Chuck" Jace quips as he and the Hostel member come hobbling over to the medics.

"Well it's not really about fighting fair, is it?" The Hostel A member snorts in return.

"Good work you two, I'm impressed you manage to hold out for so long" Daniel smiles at the two. "God knows that I'm not strong enough to do what you both do" He compliments as Jace snorts.

"Come on Doc, it wasn't that great. Compared to those monsters out there we were bound to get out eventually" Jace shrugs.

"Yeah, those monsters are on a different level" Chuck hisses as someone wipes down the cuts on his arms.

At this point, hours might've gone by but Daniel was so absorbed in his duties and the fights to notice. At one point in the fight, there was a commotion that caused a couple of shocked gasps and screams. Daniel snaps his head up from the unconscious individual he was helping in time to see someone go flying across the room and hit their back against the railing. It was enough force to break some of the metal and concrete apart. That meant there were nine people left, one more to go.

Daniel let out a wince but was surprised to see the individual stagger upright with a furious glare directed at Big Deal specifically. Jake had stood tall and proud, fist outstretched as he gave the person who was now out of bounds a stern look.

"You God Dog members need more training" Jake announces and there were some 'Oohs' in the crowd.

Jake turns back around to face off against other people but the infuriated God Dog member must have taken it as a challenge as in his next moment of blind rage he grabs a fallen metal pole with concrete debris at the end and runs charging at the leader with a war cry. Daniel gapes, too far away to do anything and his voice too small in comparison to the crowd to say anything. Jake at the very least heard the commotion and war cry as he turned around but not in time to block or dodge the attack.

Instead, as the person lunges with their weapon in their hand, another body intercepts the fight.

A scream rings out around the arena and silence befalls the crowd. The God Dog member draws backwards, letting go of the metal pole to stare in shock at what he had done. His eyes had grown wide as it flickers to the hunched-over body and towards his bloodied hands.

"O-Oh God" He utters before stumbling back onto the floor.

The hunched-over body straightens slightly and the male's head turns towards Jake who was just as appalled by the situation.

"L-Lineman?" Jake whispers as the male gives a tired smile.

"I-it didn't get you, did it?" He asks and as the leader shakes his head, Lineman falls to the floor with only Jake to catch him.

"LINEMAN!" Jake shouts and suddenly the sound is back.

Everyone was watching the horror that had occurred, hands over their mouths as they were gaping and gasping. Daniel feels his body move, manoeuvring around the people but not before calling out to a couple of volunteers.

"Get the stretcher, now" He hissed as he bolts for the body, a couple of footsteps follow after him but Daniel doesn't turn back to look at them. He focuses on the body that lays limply on the floor in Jake's arms, as Samuel crowds him and was shouting curses at the God Dog member.

"ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE? ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL HIM YOU SON OF A BITCH?!"

Daniel passes by Samuel to kneel next to Lineman and Jake.

"Doc…you can do something right, there's something that can be done…right?" Jake asks urgently, blankly staring at the body in his arms that was staring up in a daze of pain.

Daniel rips open the shirt, tearing everything but doing his best to not touch or move the pole. Once everything is gone he assesses the injury. The metal pole had gone through Lineman's lower back and was now exiting his upper stomach, cement was attached to the end of the pole which weighed it down, threatening to pull the entire object out of the body. It was cleanly impaled into the body and it looked even more gruesome than it seemed. So far, Lineman wasn't bleeding out much.

"We need to get him on the stretcher, where the hell is the stretcher?!" Daniel shouts as he checks over the body, taking note of the male's heartbeat, whether his eyes were dilated and other things before eventually the stretcher was rolled over. "Jake, I need to get him on this stretcher" Daniel states and the leader nods.

"SAMUEL! Stop dicking around and help me" Jake calls and Samuel turns from the beyond-scared assailant to Jake. Within a couple of steps, he was at Jake's side and helping lift Lineman.

"Be careful of his head, make sure that pole doesn't fall out" Daniel hisses the warnings and orders. In the background of all the commotion, Daniel could hear Goo make an announcement that the Tournament would end there and that the livestream had stopped. There were a bunch of other things being said but Daniel couldn't hear it, not with his heart beating so loudly.

"Doctor, he's going to be okay, right?" Jason and Brad, who had followed Daniel from the medical set-up area asked him but Daniel couldn't answer. He couldn't give anything, not right now.

"As long as that thing stays in him, he'll need emergency surgery which is something I can't provide alone, here at the CC" Daniel remarks as he thinks to the operating room he had set up. He couldn't perform surgery regularly, how was he supposed to fix something like this by himself without any other licensed professionals?

"Mira, call an ambulance, we need one stat" Daniel shouts and the female nods, shock still evident on her face as he reaches for a phone and dials a number.

The volunteers started moving Lineman, one of them specifically carrying the concrete so that gravity wouldn't pull the pole out of the body.

"Dr Park, everything has to be ok, right?…please just give me anything" Jake insists and Daniel turns back to him.

"As long as that pole is in him it'll mean that he won't bleed out. It should mean that he'll be ok until the ambulance arrives and takes over. I'm sorry but I can't do anything else for now" Daniel states when he feels his pocket vibrating. Fumbling for his phone, Daniel takes it out and answers it.

"Hello?"

"How's the situation? Is the patient stable for now?" Jinyoung's voice filters through the phone.

"U-Uncle? You were watching the stream?" Daniel blurts out.

"No shit, Kid. Saw about as much as I could before the broadcast ended, so tell me, what's going on?" Jinyoung insists and Daniel takes a deep breath.

"Patient is stable for now. He's a young adult aged 19 perhaps 20. The obstruction, a metre-long pole, went through his lower back and exited out of his upper stomach, hanging on one end is a block of cement" Daniel relays as the volunteers were reaching the edge of the arena. "His blood pressure seems to be alright for the moment, he's hooked up to the monitors right now" He adds and there was an aggravated sound coming from his uncles' side of the phone.

"Director…do you think the ambulance will get here on time?" Daniel asks in a smaller voice as he watches and rushes towards the volunteers and starts hooking the cords and monitors to the body.

"If everything remains stable" Jinyoung replies with a hum. "I'm coming over there, I'll be there as soon as I can" His uncle states and Daniel pales.

His uncle was coming. His uncle didn't think he could handle this. He was a disappointment, a failure, he was scared and his uncle could hear it from all the way from the other side of Seoul. He didn't trust Daniel and that was why he had been watching the stream. He was waiting for him to hit a wall and not be able to do anything about it.

"Shit!" The volunteer that had been holding the concrete curses as he stumbles into someone as he was walking by, he trips over his feet and as if in slow motion, everyone including Daniel could only watch as the pole started shifting.

"NO!" Daniel shouts as he drops his phone and makes a dive but it is too late. His fingers miss catching it and the pole and concrete fall to the floor with a thud. Blood spurts out, some of it hitting Daniel's face but he didn't make any moves to rub it off. Instead, his hands go straight to trying to stop the bleeding, applying as much pressure as he could as Lineman's body gasps in pain. The worst thing that could've happened actually occurred and he hadn't been cautious enough to stop it.

The monitors were beeping and from what Daniel could tell, Lineman's pulse rate was dropping by the second.

"Bandages!" Daniel shouts and a couple of volunteers rush forward to help.

Daniel lets them take over, his hands dripping wet with blood as he stares at the body. Lineman wasn't going to make it, not in this condition even with bandages trying to stop the flow of blood. It was already soaking through. The paramedics were too far away and he couldn't do anything.

Daniel could only stare blankly. Despite the pounding sound in his ear, he didn't react or know what else to do or say in this situation.

"Dr Park!" Mira grabs him by the shoulder, startling him out of his thoughts and shock. "Your phone" She hisses, holding the device to his ear.

Through the chaos of the arena, Jinyoung's voice cuts through sharply.

"HEY DANIEL PARK, GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER!" Jinyoung reprimands and Daniel blinks.

"Sorry, I'm here" Daniel replies in a shaky voice.

"What's the situation, what happened?" Jinyoung asks.

"The volunteer tripped and now the pole is gone. The patient is bleeding out…he's losing a lot of blood, he'll need emergency surgery right away and the ambulance is…" He looks at Mira.

"20 minutes" She offers up and Daniel nods.

"20 minutes away" Daniel restates.

Jinyoung sucks in a breath before letting out an aggravated grunt.

"I'll be there in 10 minutes, do whatever you can to keep the patient alive, is that understood?" Jinyoung orders and Daniel nods.

"Yes, sir" The call ends and Daniel is turned back to reality.

People were watching, shouting and panicking. Jake and his crew were present, watching their member and friend suffer and something kickstarted in Daniel's heart. Sucking in a deep breath he turns away from the group, briskly walking off the field despite people's cries of shock and bewilderment, marching over to the medical station he orders a couple of volunteers that were standing around him to help.

"Help me with the surgical gown" he calls after changing gloves and they clamber over to help. "You, bring me a drap, the antiseptic and scalpel" He calls and the other person does so.

Once done, Daniel turns back to the arena and marches right back with a pair of surgical scissors. The room was far from sterile or correct but he didn't have any other option. There wasn't any other way to go about doing this. He reaches the stretcher and begins cutting the bandages and gauze the volunteers had been using.

"D-Doctor?" They cry out and Daniel could only reply in a shaky voice.

"His aorta might be damaged, he's bleeding out faster than we can stop it, he won't make it till the paramedics get here, much less by the time he reaches the hospital. I'm making an incision" Daniel explains as horror dawns in their eyes but the Doctor didn't have time to take in their opinion.

He didn't need their input anyways.

"If we don't do anything then the blood is going to fill up in his stomach and by that point, it really will be too late" He states as he grabs the povidone-iodine passed to him by a volunteer, using it to clean and disinfect the skin as best as he could before passing it back and putting the drapes in place. "I need more gauze" He hisses and some do as they are told, going to grab the materials.

Daniel turns and reaches for the scalpel before turning back to the window of skin that was under him. There wasn't any time to double back and think it through so with another breath in, he leans forward and brings the scalpel down. Making sure his hands weren't shaking he made the incision.

Blood comes forward and Daniel could only wordlessly usher for gauze before hands were helping him. There was nothing to suction the blood, nothing that could help give him a better view of what he was doing so he had to rely on only his own medical knowledge and experience.

Making sure the gauze was in place, Daniel sinks his own gloved hand into the body, earning several more gasps of horror at the scene. Blood streams out around them, some even spraying onto Daniel's already blood-covered face but he didn't care. He focused on carefully manoeuvring his hand around the body, attempting to find what he was looking for as people were shouting, begging him to stop.

"Dr Park! Please just-" "Shut up" Daniel interrupts as his eyes flicker over to their dread-filled gazes. "Just…be quiet" He orders despite knowing that he couldn't ask for silence.

Turning back to the task, Daniel tunes out the voices and the beeping monitor. All he could repeat in his head was 'please' as his hand moved around for several minutes but found no avail. The longer this went on the more blood was lost and the higher the chance for death. The burden of everyone's eyes was too much, Daniel wanted nothing more than to rip his hands away, run, curl up into a ball and cry yet he couldn't. There was no one else that could do anything. This was his job. His duty.

Suddenly as he twists his fingers he comes to a full-body stop, tensing as his eyes widened. The blood stops and the atmosphere changes.

"I found it" Daniel lets out in the faintest whisper.

"Doctor? Did you get it?" Daniel could hear Mira call and he nodded.

"Yes…I did…based on the location it's not the aorta i-its the splenic artery" Daniel recounts despite knowing that most wouldn't understand him. He turns his head to look at the monitor to feel his heart sigh in slight relief.

"The patient's pulse is becoming normal" Someone calls and Daniel's shoulders sink slightly, shutting his eyes tight to make any water disappear before opening them again. There were a couple more gasps and cries of victory but Daniel doesn't pay it any mind.

"How's the patient's condition?" A voice calls and Daniel didn't even need to look to answer the man.

"He's becoming stable, the bleeding was coming from the splenic artery and not an aorta but I've managed to stop it for now" Daniel relays with a gasp. "I'm using my forefinger" He admits a little breathlessly before looking up to meet his uncle's gaze which was filled with disbelief.

"You crazy son of a bitch" Jinyoung hisses before nodding, "Alright, you set up the operating room didn't you? Let's go, I'll operate on him now and you'll be my assistant" the middle-aged man states openly, waiting a moment before frowning.

"Get your goddamn asses in gear and move the patient and Dr Park to the operating room now!" He barks and people get moving.

Staying as still as possible on the stretcher he was wheeled out quickly. The rest of the night was a blur, all he remembers faintly was helping his uncle in the surgery room with the injury, keeping only Mira and two others inside to help but eventually Lineman's condition became stable and soon he was resting under intensive care. The ambulance came but found that it would be better not to move the patient for now and seeing as one of the most renowned surgeons was on the case they were slightly more reassured by the situation.

Daniel found himself sitting outside, properly cleaned from any blood but his body still felt the exhaustion of the night's events. People had long gone home and now it was only him and a couple of others lingering around the CC.

Jake and his Big Deal members had come around to try and visit Lineman but Daniel had insisted on waiting since the male was still not in the condition for visitors so reluctantly they had left but not before thanking him profusely.

"How you holding up, kiddo" Jinyoung calls, making Daniel turn to him with wide eyes.

"Uncle? What about the patient?" Daniel panics and the man snorts.

"That pretty girl said she'd watch over him for a bit" He waves off before taking a seat next to Daniel on the bench. "So? Are you going to answer my question?" He asks and Daniel sighs.

"I'm fine…it's been a while since I was given the opportunity to observe and help you in surgery" Daniel replies and Jinyoung huffs.

"You don't get to do much surgery as the director, something I both loathe but also cherish." Jinyoung hums before nudging Daniel's shoulder. "You did good kid, don't look so beaten up over everything. You handled the situation as calmly as possible and because of your quick thinking it meant that the patient survived" He explains and Daniel runs a hand through his hair.

"And yet if I had been paying more attention then perhaps I wouldn't have needed to do all that to begin with" Daniel sighs.

"That isn't your fault, no one knew that the idiot was going to trip and do that. If anything I can see why you dislike being surrounded by so many incompetent people" His uncle looked deep in thought before he nodded. "You'll need help, you certainly can't rely on those guys for everything, you need someone else, a nurse perhaps to have your back" Jinyoung chuckles and Daniel gives him a tired look.

"And which nurse would be crazy enough to come down here with me?" Daniel retorts and Jinyoung's smirk grows.

"You'll just have to wait and see, I've already gotten a request since your last heroic endeavour here but was going to reject it since you weren't asking for help but after today I'm officially giving you someone to assist you" He crosses his arms before growing serious. "Today you proved to me that you're a step closer to overcoming whatever mental block you have for yourself. In fact, I didn't see you so much as back away during the surgery, sure there was some wavering and shaking but overall you were composed" his uncle states.

"Only because you were present, it's the only reason I didn't freak out," Daniel replied sheepishly.

"Well, I can't be here with you all the time so you're going to have to adapt. Anyways, I wasn't here for the start yet you did perfectly fine, give yourself more credit" Jinyoung flicks his nephew's forehead before standing up. "I should get back to the office, you should go inside before you catch a cold. Will you be coming home tonight or are you going to sleep here again? Actually, where do you even sleep? I only saw the operating room and medical room" His uncle inquired and Daniel could only helplessly shrug.

"The office I've been given" Daniel answers and Jinyoung could feel his brow twitch.

"You mean one of the medical room beds?" He further interrogates.

"Well that was one time but I don't like messing up the sheets. It means I have to clean and renew everything" Daniel sighs.

"Please don't tell me you've been sleeping at your desk" Jinyoung begs but at Daniel's lack of answer, he was given everything he needed to know. "Damn it, Daniel"

.

.

.

Daniel didn't go to sleep after he dismissed Mira to go home. He'd rather be awake and watch his patient than go to bed and be unaware of things that could happen. It felt like too much of a risk, especially since Lineman had yet to wake up yet.

There was a knock on the door and Daniel turned in time to see it open up and in walked the last person he thought he would be seeing in person that night.

"How's the patient?" Gun asks, he was still wearing the suit from earlier, meaning that he probably hadn't gone home.

Daniel's eyes flicker towards the clock to see it was 3 AM.

"Lineman's stable" Daniel replies as he watches the man with a sceptical look.

"That's good" The man replies as he turns to stare at the mechanics that were hooked onto the patient's body. From IV drips to monitors. It looked more scary and intimidating than it should have been.

"Gun, why are you here?" Daniel sighs after a couple more minutes of tense silence.

"I've been busy since the sudden end of the preliminaries, dealing with the uproar of the people and making amends to certain people but I was able to take a two-hour power nap a little while ago. When I woke up I remembered that you'd still be down here with the patient and here you are" He grumbled and Daniel was still watching him with confusion. "What I'm trying to say is that I came down here to help keep an eye on the condition of the patient whilst I give you a few hours of rest. You look like you could use the sleep, Doc" Gun explains and the frown on Daniel's face fades.

"You don't need to do that, I've pulled several all-nighters before" Daniel replies but Gun snorts.

"Still, it would be better if our Miracle Doctor was at full capacity for the next part of the tournament" Gun relays and this time Daniel's heart does hammer in his ribcage.

"It's still continuing after what happened today?" He hisses and Gun stares back in amusement.

"You didn't think a setback like this would be enough to cancel the whole show, right? If anything the revenue and views will climb even higher, and people will want to know what happened" Gun grinned and Daniel couldn't help but feel sick at the thought of it all.

A person almost dying leading to desirable outcomes? It was disgusting.

Daniel must've been making a face as Gun suddenly laughs.

"You don't understand it now but the brutality of the CC and what it offers in comparison to tamer places is what makes it stand out. This incident is just like a car crash, people can't help but stop and watch even if it's watching something so gruesome. It's just how we humans are" Gun walks over and pats Daniel on the shoulder before pushing him to the bed. "Now go to sleep, I promise I won't do anything to you" He vouches which seems to make Daniel's alarm flare even more.

The predatory grin, the delight in Gun's eyes as well as how he talked about what happened. He was crazy.

Daniel sighs before moving towards the free bed, reaching out the curtain that divided the room apart before turning to speak his mind.

"Don't you think showing some compassion is warranted? Screw the revenue and views, a person almost died today because of your poor planning and if I hadn't been around then the blood wouldn't just be on that offender's hands it would be on your hands and your consciousness. Now I don't know how many people you've killed before but as a person that has spent and will continue spending their life, saving people, this just seems like a kick in the face to me. Take some responsibility and initiative, you're not just a gangster or delinquent, the world is watching you" He rants before letting out a huff of annoyance.

Gun was watching him blankly, an eyebrow twitching in annoyance but his mouth unmoving.

"Also I'd like to be informed of things earlier than just the night before. So if you have any common sense and decency left inside of that dark, shrivelled-up heart of yours you'd tell me if I need to do certain shit not at the last minute" With that, he closed the curtains. If they had been doors he would have slammed them.

Daniel falls face-first into the bed and shifts until he is in a comfortable position. It takes a moment of straining his ears but eventually, the Doctor hears Gun let out a soft scoff before he was taking a seat.

Daniel didn't trust Gun, he was never given a situation to trust the man and everything that happened over the last couple of hours seemed to solidify that. Scrunching his eyes shut, Daniel hoped that the founder had enough sense to actually keep watch over Lineman.

Listening to the beeps of the monitors, Daniel is eventually lulled to sleep.

.

.

.

'Beep'

'Beep'

'Beep'

Daniel cracks his eyes open and lets out a deep yawn, stretching out his body over the soft covers he sits up. Blinking lethargically before gasping.

Throwing the sheets that had been placed on him, he stumbles out of bed.

"Jong Gun Park you ass! Why the hell didn't you wake me up?!" He exclaims as he draws back the curtains. "Just because I lectured and probably injured your pride doesn't mean you can pull shit…like..that" Daniel comes to a stop as he notes that Gun wasn't in the room anymore, instead someone else was sitting in a chair.

Blonde. That was the first thing that Daniel noted as he stared at the individual. The next thing he noticed was how that blonde hair on his head seemed to hide his eyes.

"Um…" Daniel says before the person is standing up and taking a few tentative steps towards him, an envelope in his hands.

Daniel takes it gingerly, eyes flickering up and down before eventually he concedes and opens the envelope. Reading its content he feels the tension in his shoulder leaves.

"Oh, you're the nurse Director Park was telling me about" Daniel states. "Jay Hong" He reads and the blonde nods before holding out a hand for him to take. Daniel accepts and notes that the male's hand seemed soft yet firm. He took care of his hands well.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Daniel Park. I must say I wasn't expecting the director to send someone so soon, especially someone who looks so young not that I can say anything since I'm also pretty young in comparison to others" He chuckles nervously and Jay lets out a soft smile.

"..."

Despite his lips not moving to speak, the words come across clearly through his body. Daniel found himself understanding the quiet boy without a single sound.

"I see, one of the many establishments and businesses your family owns is a private hospital and along with the many business endeavours your father is making you pick up you're also doing stuff in the medical field" Daniel translates. "You ended up really liking this side and have decided to study and take up university units to be a nurse" Daniel muses before nodding.

Jay smiles even brighter, looking fairly relieved that Daniel seemed to understand him.

"So, have you already taken the GED? You said you were taking university units, what year are you up to?" Daniel inquires before nodding along at Jay's gestures. "You're doing a couple of second and third-year units at Korea University" He hums before smiling brightly at the male.

"Have you done any placements and interned anywhere?" He continues to interrogate to which the answer was 'yes' and only at his father's hospital.

Nodding at the information, Daniel didn't feel that all the burden on his shoulders had disappeared but the thought of someone who had some considerable medical knowledge joining his team and helping out was a slight relief. Furthermore, if his uncle had been confident enough to send the male to help him out then surely it was a good thing.

Jay moves away from Daniel and nods over to Lineman with a concerned look.

"I'm not sure if you watched yesterday's stream but something horrible went down. Poor guy was impaled with a pole after saving his friend" Daniel states as he makes note that the patient's condition and vitals were still stable. "Once he wakes up we'll be sending him on his way to an actual hospital" he explains and Jay nods before showcasing his surprise over the fact that they were allowed to perform surgery here.

"Well it's not recommended but the only reason we had to was that the obstruction fell out, if we waited then he would have bled out" Daniel shrugs.

Jay nods, looking like he wants to say other things before his head snaps to the patient. Confused by the movement, Daniel then hears a soft groan. Surprised, the Doctor immediately heads to Lineman's side.

"Lineman? How are we feeling? Do you remember where you are and what happened?" Daniel inquired gently as he moved to observe the male waking up.

Lineman looked about as fine as anyone who was impaled and about to die the previous night. After a thorough check, the male was sent on his merry way to the closest hospital. Throughout the ordeal, Jay had been kind enough to let Daniel have some space but also step up to assist whenever he voiced it aloud. Once everything was taken care of, Daniel turned back to Jay who was watching expectantly.

"How about I give you a tour of the facility? Although I'm not too confident just yet it might give me the practice I need to figure out where everything is, then afterwards we could probably go for lunch" He pipes up in a chipper tone and Jay nods.

Compared to everyone else he had worked with since he had come to the CC, Jay was by far the more agreeable and he could hold up a conversation quite well. Even when it came to working with Mira, there were some things that she didn't understand like retrieving certain tools with unique names and not understanding the procedure. When it came to Jay, Daniel didn't need to hold back which was great.

"They're still holding the tournament later tonight and I'm pretty sure they're just following the motto 'the show must go on' which is dumb" Daniel had been ranting to the poor blonde for the last half an hour as they ate a meal they grabbed from a convenience store. "Yet I guess with Lineman and that other guys out of the run, there are the perfect number of participants left for the second round" he sighs.

"You're correct about that" Daniel yelps at the sudden voice right beside his ear. "Hey Doc, I heard you really let Gun have it last night…this morning?" Goo laughs as he drags a chair over to sit next to the two.

"Only because he deserved it" Daniel shrugs.

"Well not many people have lectured Gun and lived to tell the story, you must be really special" Goo muses before nodding at Jay. "So who's this? Your boyfriend comes to visit you at work and lets you rant at him?" He teases and Daniel rolls his eyes as Jay's ears go pink before he's shaking his head.

"Aren't you supposed to be the employer? Don't you know who you're paying and employing? Jay here is the nurse that's come to give me a helping hand" Daniel responds.

"Oh, James is the one who manages all the admin stuff but I guess I did hear from him that a nurse was coming to work here, I just expected a woman…and someone probably older. Hey, how come you medical professionals are getting so young? Was there an increase in prodigies or something?" he huffs, looking fairly intrigued.

"Perhaps" Daniel shrugs before taking a sip of his coffee. "Goo are you here to annoy me or are you actually here for something?" He calls the blonde out to which he just grins.

"You're getting the hang of being around here, look at you" He pokes Daniel's side before handing something over to him. "We've finalised the rounds that are taking place today. This is the table of fighters, Gun said you'd throw a hissy fit if you weren't told things in advance and then he said something along the lines of 'I should tell that pushy Doctor my shit schedule in advance just so he doesn't get pissy at me again' or something like that" Goo laughs and Daniel throws a disgusted face at the founder.

"Tell him if he wants to be a childish brat he should enrol himself in a preschool" Daniel relays before accepting the list.

Goo lets out another howl of laughter as Daniel reads the matchups as well as who made it through.

Jake Kim, Samuel Seo, Euntae (Vasco) Lee, Mandeok Bang, Eli Jang, Warren Chae, Johan Seong and Ryohei (Nomen) Kurodai. An interesting lineup.

"So apart from the final round, what else will be happening tomorrow? That match alone won't take the entire night and I know how much you like your money and time" Daniel narrows his gaze.

"The finals will take place near the end of the tournament but in terms of the time we have before that, regular challenge fights will be taking place but the list for that will be updated and posted to our site within the hour. Usually, after yesterday's typical debacle, renewed fire and vigour would reignite and people will want to face off against each other again. The only ones who can't participate are the final eight" Goo rattles off before standing. "I should head off, welcome to the CC nurse Hong, I do hope you enjoy your time here and hopefully you last longer" With that, the male was skipping out of the room.

Daniel turns back to Jay to see his confused yet amused look.

"Yeah, that's one of our nutcase bosses"