Dr. Yoo expresses concern when Dr. Park’s face is cut by the patient wielding a scalpel. She stares as he puts his hand over his cheek, realizing it is already beginning to heal. Did she see anything? Inside his office he places a bandage over the area where he was cut.
Director Wook reprimands New Drug Team Leader Suh for not screening the alcoholic patient. Since alcoholics have an adverse reaction and were supposed to be excluded, he is angry that he has to deal with the situation. Leader Suh apologizes and says that information was not in his record. Director Wook wants her to get rid of the patient, but she reminds him that if he goes to another hospital they will detect what was injected into him. Director Wook arranges with security to force-ably discharge the patient. Let’s talk about the security for a minute. With high surveillance in Ward 21A and all the coming in and going out that Leader Suh and Director Wook are up to after midnight, I am curious when the CCTV footage will be asked for by the others. The hefty lead security guard is definitely in cahoots with Director Wook and can certainly cover or delete footage, so I am counting on there not being a big hole in the story over the unrestricted access and the big deal that was made over the high security measures.
Hyun Woo now knows the medication is not lasting and is affecting Ji Sang’s senses and physical capabilities. The dosage cannot be increased. Ji Sang’s mother’s research determined that Atisan weakens the body and affects the nerves. Dr. Park’s surgeries will definitely be affected if he takes any more medicine. There are other problems, too: shattering the bathroom mirror was an out-of-control moment not to mention that Dr. Yoo saw his wound start to heal. Although Ji Sang seems surprised when Hyun Woo not only suggests he quit the hospital but that they leave Korea altogether, he perks up when Hyun Woo mentions that, in doing so, they can focus their efforts on the VTH-16 project. LUUVY contributes, “This is a complete disaster.”
Dr. Park walks down a corridor and sees an apparition of a woman singing and stroking her hair – his vampire instincts kick in. Just as he lunges for her, he awakes, startled, from a nightmare. Poor Ji Sang leads such an uncertain, lonely, and stressful existence.
Hyun Woo tells him not to perform surgeries for now and to avoid blood. His blood tests show that Atisan can no longer control his craving for blood, and he can only depend on his own will. His mother discovered Atisan, but the side effects of long-term use are unknown. Hyun Woo suspects it is affecting Ji Sang’s cerebral cortex which is causing issues with emotion control and that’s why he smashed the mirror. Unlike other infected people who become strong and aggressive when they encounter blood, Ji Sang becomes weak. Again, Hyun Woo speculates that it is the result of long-term use of Atisan. Before Ji Sang heads to the hospital for the day, Hyun Woo makes a fake scar on his cheek under the bandage.
Dr. Yoo confides in her friend, Dr. Choi, about Dr. Park’s wound and how it began to heal right before her eyes. Dr. Choi tries to dissuade her from following up on her crazy ideas, but when they run into Dr. Park in the hall, Dr. Yoo rips the bandage from his cheek. The fake scar works and she lets it go, even though she is sure of what she saw.
As Director Wook concludes a prayerful moment in the hospital chapel, Sister Sylvia enters and hopes she isn’t disturbing him. He refers to her as the Asian Mother Theresa. They exchange comments that indeed, both have much to take up with him. It is a disturbing, foreboding encounter of good and evil in an highly uncomfortable location.
Dr. Park consults with Dr. Jung who has discovered the blood samples from Ward 21A do not go to the hospital lab, but to a lab set up by the New Drug Development team. Neither likes the sound of it and suspect the patients in Ward 21A are the New Drug Team’s guinea pigs. Also, concerning the patient with marks on his arm, Dr. Jung suspects he was given medications that were not recorded on his chart. Dr. Jung suggests they investigate the lab together, but Dr. Park declines, knowing he should stay away from blood for the time being. He does, however, hint that he can help out if the burden gets too heavy. Dr. Jung meets with Assistant Director Choi and decides after all to look into what the New Drug Team is all about. He tells her, however, that he will not get involved in the politics, and she will have to find a way for him to be an observer and be able to access the data. She assures him that she will solve the access problems.
A few doors down, Director Wook sets Dr. Woo up as the one who will follow in his footsteps. Dr. Woo cannot hide how pleased he is. In addition to more status, Dr. Woo will help manage Ward 21A. Director Wook has successfully brought Dr. Woo around to his side. Flattery will indeed get you everywhere.
Even for something as minor as a vending machine malfunction, Ji Sang cannot hold back his emotion and frustration and pounds a dent in it with his fist. Min Cha Yeon happens to witness this. The staff is upset as security guards roughly escort the semi-conscious alcoholic patient out of the hospital. The head guard has a signed a release and claims he is authorized to discharge him. Dr. Woo steps in to question the situation, but Dr. Yoo pulls her aside and informs her that any commotion will be perceived as negative for the (free clinic) ward. He reminds her that her uncle would agree to avoiding any problems. There are many unanswered questions that don’t set well with Dr. Yoo. The discharged patient is thrown out on the street. That night, as he lay drunk in a dark alley gutter, a vampire goon approaches him. He clearly has orders to get rid of him. As if strangling isn’t enough – and in full kdrama fashion, the truck of doom does him in.
Assistant Director Choi directly tells Uncle Chairman that the new Drug Team has too much authority. He makes it clear there is nothing to discuss. He reminds her to follow through with the Hanche Hotel acquisition, the first medic-hotel in Korea, and she must see it through.
Dr. Lee overhears some residents chewing out Ga Yeon for sloppy work. Alone, she reviews her notes in the hall and chows down a piece of bread. Dr. Lee brings her coffee and offers words of encouragement to keep working hard no matter how many times she gets pushed down. He understands being on the sidelines and tells her not to end up like him. Ga Yeon remains somewhat of a mystery, still. She seems to appear whenever and wherever there is an incident involving Dr. Park, but her intentions are unclear. Is she good or evil? That is the question.
Director Wook holds a picture of him and a young patient. He recalls his conversation with Sister Sylvia in the hospital. Flashback: 1979 UCSF Medical Center – A pretty girl in a hospital ward flashes a big smile when Dr. Wook appears at her bedside. Fast forward to a rooftop where people are looking over the building side, shocked. In the pouring rain on the ground below lies the young girl’s body in a pool of blood. In a voiceover we are told that her adoptive parents abandoned her due to high hospital costs and she was discharged to protective services. Grief stricken, Dr. Wook looks heavenward.
The doctors meet for a briefing. So far, no one has volunteered for the Jeju Island seminar, but Dr Park says he will attend. As his co-team colleague, Dr. Yoo also decides to attend. They arrive at the seminar and Dr. Park’s popularity and recognition surprise, perhaps even impress, Dr. Yoo. His presentation on the Appleby Operation is well received. With some free time, Dr. Park tells Dr. Yoo he has somewhere to go. They part ways. He heads to the forest and walks along the path, recalling the girl he saved years ago. Unknowingly, Dr. Yoo, has also gone to the forest, when suddenly, he approaches and scares her. They have both returned to the place of their past shared experience. When she says she was nearly killed by a pack of dogs when she was young, he is startled. He asks what happened. She simply tells him that someone saved her, a boy who lived in the area. So the boy fought off the dogs, he asks? She doesn’t know, it just happened. Ji Sang realizes Yoo Ri Ta is Yoo Chae Yeon.
After a business dinner there is drinking and games. Dr. Park excuses himself, but Dr. Yoo and the others insist he stay. Dr. Yoo gets a penalty shot and they call for Dr. Park to be the black knight (and drink it for her). He declines. When he only gets stares from around the table, he says that he is allergic to alcohol and can’t even have one drink. Dr. Yoo chugs the shot herself and says who needs a black knight, anyway? After several rounds she is drunk and throws up on the sidewalk. She staggers over to the bench where Dr. Park sits and mumbles, “If that boy who saved me were here he would have consumed the alcohol for me. He rescued me with no expectations. He could have died that day.” She passes out and leans on his shoulder. He gives her a piggyback to the hotel room. She tells him that, by the way, she lied to the Director that time about him being drunk because while he was unconscious in ER, he was calling for his mom and told her not to leave. “Just like my mom,” she adds. She says the saddest thing of all is not wanting to let go and not expecting it but having to anyway. Then she is out, cold. As she sleeps, he watches over her and, in his mind, he sees her as the young girl who thanked him for saving her in the forest that day.
There is a fire alarm in the hotel late at night. Everyone rushes to the hall, but it is a false alarm. In the room across from hers, Dr. Park steps out. Dr. Yoo sees his cheek – there is no bandage and no wound. Back in his room, he notices the bandage on the bedside table and realizes she saw his face.
The Set-up
Director Wook puts his sinister plan into action. He is ready to make a major reveal and do away with some expendable riffraff. He tells the leader of the pack to go ahead and let the boys take Ji Sang out. It is time to get rid of him. The vampire boys have been dying for this moment. Bait #1.
Ji Sang receives a text message: You said you wanted to know who killed your mother. If you want to know, show up here tonight. Prepare to die. Bait #2.
Everyone congregates in the old, abandoned lab for the showdown. The vampires are loaded up with bags of blood and splash it everywhere to set off Ji Sang and get his vampire juices flowing. He is weakened and they attack him in full force, eager to kill him. He is no match for the pack; it looks bad. But Dr. Wook has something else in mind. He has gotten everything he needs from the pack and now they are in his way. It’s been nice knowing you, boys. A shadowy hooded figure appears in strong force and battles the vampire pack. They are brutally killed, one by one, by this monstrously powerful figure. Just as the last vampire pack member tries to fight off the hooded figure, he looks up, and sputters in horror, “Doc?” before he is impaled. In a vampire battle to the death, Ji Sang and the powerful hooded vampire go at each other for the kill. Holding Ji Sang by the neck in a stranglehold, the mysterious figure pulls back his hood to reveal a fanged Dr. Wook: the vampire mastermind.
