a face like stone || open
[ open ]
Being an unofficial apprentice under his grandmother has taught Jin many important skills. One of those being the key talent of remaining stony face against any and all stress. He remembered fondly enduring training sessions with Irene where she tested his resolve to study against all sorts of distractions. How many things was that woman willing to break to prove a point, Jin would never know. Yet, her teachings proved useful as no matter the amount of gore or bloodshed he had witness, he could manage to keep a calm expression. Much to the confusion and displeasure to his colleagues back in his residency. Yet this talent would prove to be even useful as his first patient since arriving here would come into the clinic. It would do no good if a patient could tell their doctor was anxious beyond all belief. A patient should be able to feel relaxed under a confident doctor, Jin would remind himself.
It wasn’t that Jin didn’t believe in his own abilities. The man did not go through years of schooling and even more years of lectures from his family to have any doubts of what he could accomplish. Yet, his previous failure still weighed heavy on his mind from time to time, as much as he tried to push it out of his mind. This was meant to be a fresh start for him but still there was the fear that he couldn’t escape what plagued him for years. But now was not the dwell on that. He was still a good doctor, no matter what fear had told him he was. He walked into the room where his new patient was staying, pulling his eyes from the patient chart in his hands and looking nothing like a doctor who had to remind himself of his own accolades.
What was unfortunate was that Irene never taught him how to have a proper bedside manner. “So, would you like to explain how exactly this happened to you? I can’t imagine the story being so simple.” He could have at least started by introducing himself, huh.