Dr. Wook is out to rattle Ji Sang’s cage and good. After attacking Ji Sang in the vacant hospital ward the two vampires flee. Ji Sang staggers outside and collapses. Dr. Yoo sees him and runs over to check his vitals. He is very cold. She gets him to the ER where he is hooked up to monitors that give alarming readings. Just as Dr. Yoo is about to draw blood he wakes up startled, brushes her aside, and leaves. She asks what happened and he plays it down. “You’re unwell, aren’t you?” she replies.
While Hyun Woo analyzes the syringe contents, Ji Sang takes an ice cube bath to lower his body temperature. Hyun Woo thinks the compound injected in Ji Sang is the same one that killed his mother. Ji Sang suspects the same pack has lured him back to Korea. But, he says, at least they’ve saved him the trouble of tracking them down. Before he leaves, Hyun Woo hands Ji Sang a box and tells him it is a present.
Uncle Chairman and Director Wook meet to discuss the Free Clinic (referred to as Ward 21A) and the drug research lab, which have simultaneously opened for business. There is tension in the air when Uncle Chairman mentions that any leak to the public could mean trouble. This is met with stern words from Dr. Wook who hopes any doubts will turn to faith. I get the uncomfortable feeling that the Ward 21A patients may be used as guinea pigs for the drug research lab.
Dr. Yoo researches low body temperature (abnormal hypothermia) and tests the ER equipment for malfunctions. She and Dr. Park can’t seem to avoid each other in the hospital halls and it is another energy-wasting war of words between them. She wants a thank you for the ER incident and he wants her to stop getting in his way.
Suh Hye Ri, the head of the new drug research team, coolly approaches the head nurse in Ward 21A and informs her that all patient data will be collected. Hye Ri asks that station passwords be given to her team. Assistant Director Choi observes this exchange and approaches Dr. Jung who had expressed his disagreement about the drug lab and hospital merger. She asks him to monitor their research. He interprets that to mean that she wants him to spy and report to her. She says it is something like that. He is not interested in cooperating. She offers approval for his grant as an incentive. He turns her down. As Dr. Jung passes the lab, he gives a barely detectable nod to Shu Hye Ri. U2 Dr. Jung? Was all that fuss in the conference room a red herring?
Director Wook prepares the less than enthusiastic doctors and staff for Ward 21A patient assignments. Sister Sylvia prays with the male patient who Dr. Park reluctantly admitted. The patient’s young daughter begs Dr. Park to help her father live a long time. He says he will do his best, but tells her promises should only be made when they can be kept. Another critical patient arrives by ambulance. She desperately needs a liver transplant. When Dr. Wook assigns Dr. Park to the complicated surgery, his star surgeon status provokes the ire of the other doctors. Dr. Park offers for Dr. Yoo to join him as co-surgeon because of her sharp diagnosis of the patient’s condition. She agrees, although she accuses him of not wanting to go down (fail) alone. After the meeting, Director Wook asks about the ER incident and Dr. Park’s health. Dr. Yoo covers and says he was drunk and simply sleeping it off. (Of course Director Wook knows she is lying.)
At his mother’s hospital bedside, the son weeps and tells her that she can’t die and to hang on. Dr. Park recalls his own words to his dying mother. Later in the hallway, the son pours out his grief to Dr. Park and regrets that he can do nothing. Dr. Park comforts him and tells him to live for the present, and even places a hand on his shoulder. From a distance, Director Wook observes this display of warm-hearted humanity. A liver becomes available at another hospital. Everyone moves stat. Dr. Yoo is about to leave with the retrieval team when Dr. Park jumps in the ambulance. She is surprised; he was to stay and prep the patient. Director Wook has asked that, as a favor to him, Dr. Park go in his stead and give proper honor and respect to the donor’s family. En route Dr. Park receives a cryptic text:Congratulations. You’re the first to survive it. They arrive at the hospital, there is a brief, solemn moment of prayer for the donor, and the liver is removed and packed for transport. But when the team hops in the ambulance, Dr. Park tells them to go on without him. Hyun Woo calls to let him know the compound in the syringe is indeed the exact same as what killed his mother. Whoever is after him are the same ones who killed his parents.
Someone is lurking in the shadows, baiting him. Another rooftop chase ensues. Ji Sang has to decide between a showdown with the vampires who can tell him who killed his mother, or the surgery. Hyun Woo’s present: contact lenses that block UV rays. This time when the vampires shine a light, Ji Sang is protected. He is hot on the pursuit since he is closer to finding out what he has wanted to know for the last 20 years. His cell phone rings; Min Ga Yeon tries to reach him from the surgery room, but in that split second he follows his most basic instinct and fights vampire to vampire. As he strangles one of them with all of his vampire strength for information, police cars surround them. The vampires take off. The police threaten to shoot and Dr. Park raises his hands above his head. He is in a pickle.
Director Wook calmly allows the chaos he has created to build to a climax. He ignores the frantic calls being made to him from ER. With Dr. Park preoccupied, it appears that neither one will show up in time to perform the difficult transplant. Dr. Yoo announces she will be the attending surgeon. Director Wook sends someone ahead to announce his arrival in surgery in 30 minutes and meticulously scrubs up to step in at the very last minute as the savior. He is pleased with the outcome of today’s planned confrontation and says, “Ji Sang, you have made the right choice. You haven’t disappointed me.” With not a minute to waste, the surgery begins, but there is a shocking twist as Dr. Park enters a step ahead of Director Wook.
