Απεβίωσε ο «πατέρας» του καρδιακού απινιδωτή Bernard Lown
Απεβίωσε ο «πατέρας» του καρδιακού απινιδωτή Bernard Lown
Σε ηλκία 99 ετών έσβησε ο δρ Bernard Lown, καρδιολόγος της Μασαχουσέτης, ο οποίος επινόησε τον πρώτο αξιόπιστο απινιδωτή της καρδιάς και αργότερα συν-ίδρυσε ομάδα κατά του πολέμου και των πυρηνικών που έλαβε βραβείο Νόμπελ Ειρήνης. Ο γιατρός που γεννήθηκε στη Λιθουανία πέθανε στο σπίτι του στην περιοχή της Βοστώνης. Ο δρ Lown ακολούθησε τα χνάρια του Ιπποκράτη, διδάσκοντας την ιδιαίτερη σημασία…
Believe it or not, I’ve just realized another shocking fact and that made me freeze on the spot. My head was ringing as if I have been hit with a hammer on the back of my head.
Slowly my face brightened. That’s it! I clenched my fists and shouted towards Ban Yeo Ryung.
“Why did you confuse me like this!”
“Huh?”
Dumbfounded, Ban Yeo Ryung just agape her mouth. I pointed towards the school and spoke with enthusiasm.
“No wonder my uniform was totally different! This school isn’t the school I’m supposed to attend!”
“W-what?”
“The school I am supposed to attend is called ‘Dae Dam Middle School’! I’ve never even heard of Ji Jon Middle School. Even the buildings are completely different. This isn’t my school!”
“Huh?”
Ban Yeo Ryung stared at me with confusion. I made a refreshing face as I saw students marching in to the Ji Jon school gate like colony of white ants.
Of course, this was not my school! No wonder the uniform is different, this is not my middle school!
My mom probably got confused on the school and that’s probably why she brought back the wrong uniform. And this girl in front of my eyes, Ban Yeo Ryung, probably thought I would go to the same school as her because of my uniform. I turned my gaze to Ban Yeo Ryung and spoke.
“Alright then, I’m going to go to my school! Since we’re neighbors let’s greet each other once in a while!”
“Huh, D-Dani! Where are you going!?”
Startled Ban Yeo Rang grabbed my arms. What does she mean where am I going? Telling her straight off would be the best answer.
“I’m going to my school, Dae Dam Middle School. This isn’t the place I should be attending.”
“What? What are you talking about. We already had our class placement together just a month ago!”
When I heard that I froze for a moment. What? But I came back to my senses and laughed it off.
“No way. I think you are mistaken me for someone else. The entrance exam I took was for Dae Dam Middle School.”
“What? There is no such school named that around here!”
“Yes, there is. You are probably just not aware of it.”
Ban Yeo Ryung, just because you don’t know that does not mean it doesn’t exist.
I firmly told myself in thoughts and patted Ban Yeo Ryung’s shoulders. I felt as if I’ve became the most understanding person right now. Realizing that I do not need to attend to this school for the next 3 years of my life with these pure white uniforms filled my heart with relief.
After patting Ban Yeo Ryung’s shoulders I smiled and turned away.
“Bye! I will be going to my school now!”
“Dani, wait!”
Whether there was the sound of desperation coming from Ban Yeo Ryung’s voice or not, I walked away from the school as if I was in the clouds. Might of been Ban Yeo Ryung’s shout becoming more desperate, I felt some stinging gaze coming towards me. However I did not mind. Because they are not students from my school! It was then, while in my thoughts.
Bump, I bumped my head into something hard. I staggered back two steps.
Because my gaze was on the ground, the first thing that came into my vision was a pair of shoes. If they were middle school students, it was pretty normal for them to wear sneakers. However, the shoes that I saw looked like student loafers¹. By the look of the feet size, it must be a male student.
Compared to the girl’s uniform which was bright white from head to toes, boy’s uniform were dark. I slowly raise my gaze pass the dark uniform, then when I saw his face, oh my gosh, my mouth was agape.
I don’t usually pay attention to people’s face. No matter how good looking a celebrity was, I was never speechless or anything. However, besides when I first saw Ban Yeo Ryung, this is the second time being speechless due to someone’s looks.
When I came to my senses, I stepped back.
Why, why so early in the morning, am I keep seeing people like this? Just today, it was my second time looking at someone with such rare beauty.
Dark hair like Ban Yeo Ryung’s, however the place where the sunlight touched gave off bluish hue. It was normal for Koreans to give off brownish hue when the hair reflected in the light, however Ban Yeo Ryung’s is purple and this person gave off bluish hue. They both have unusual color. Dark blue-black color is not a color that suits people well, but he was different. And his skin looked as if frozen and clear.
His distinct eyes that was gazing low… I took a deep breath.
Blue. Not even bluish-black. It was a clear blue like a deep ocean treasure or something. His nose stood tall, and looked as if I would get a cut if I touched them.
Overall, he gave off a clean and neat image. He was like a still life drawn from oil painting, or maybe a black and white painting drawn from ink. While I was thinking such things, he squinted his eyes. I got startled.
“Oh, my ba-, no wait, I’m sorry.”
“No.”²
Reply came straight back. Just like his looks a cold reply, but did not sound offensive.
He looked like the type who did not speak much. After glancing at me once, he turned around and disappeared from my view.
Before he turned, I got the glance of his name tag that came in clear view due to the light reflecting on it. Yu Chun Young. The name sounded bit androgynous, but I thought it suited him well.
Anyways, I felt a sudden fluster and rubbed by face. He looked really handsome. At least Ban Yeo Ryung was a girl, but this Yu Chun Young. He was a guy and tall at that too. He’s only in middle school, yet his height seemed to be around 175cm. When I bumped into him earlier, I definitely felt the height difference.
This is my first time seeing a boy this handsome. I felt my heart beating fast. As I was reminiscing this feeling and try to get the last glimpse of him, that moment I heard a voice.
“Hey, did you see that? That girl bumping into him!”
“No way, did she do that on purpose!?”
“Hey, you, come here!”
W-What? I turned my gaze towards the voices. The voices belong to the girls in the same uniform as me. By the looks there was some 2nd and 3rd years too. What, why. I opened my mouth by this absurd situation. Are they really calling me out because I bumped into someone? What is this, some kind of novel? The most absurd thing about this situation was, it was not just two or three girls. It was about twenty female students.
I held on to my backpack straps tightly as swarm of angry female students increased. One with a sharp eyes came closer to me and said,
“Hey, you want to know what happens if you covet him?”
I never thought one can ruin their life by bumping into someone, but considering this situation, I thought that may be possible after all.
Suddenly, this situation reminded me of a scene. When you read web novels it’s common. You know, during the first day of school, female protagonist bumping into a handsome boy. And next thing you know, that boy is really popular within the school and that’s when the ordeal starts for the female protagonist!
I almost let out a laugh and stopped thinking about this. Just by pure coincidence this was that similar situation. However, this is not a novel, nor am I a protagonist. Most importantly, compared to female protagonists, I have common sense.
I held my backpack strap tightly once more and dashed at full speed to the bus stop. Unlike the female protagonist I have common sense and know how to take care of myself! First I need to get to Dae Dam Middle School, then I will think what to do afterwards! I dashed with all my might and the voices and the shouts were becoming further away.
* * *
After running until my breaths ran out, the pretty girl I met this morning, Ban Yeo Ryung, was gone from my thoughts. Even the breathtakingly handsome boy Yu Chun Young was fading away from my mind too.
Alright! I took a deep breath and stood in front of the bus stop. Maybe because I ran too fast too sudden, I had a slight headache. I placed one of my hand on my forehead and squinted my gaze at the bus routes directory.
There usually are bus stops in front of the most middle schools. Even the current bus stop is named “Ji Jon Middle School”. This was weird. From the moment I was born and up to 14 years of living in this town, I have never seen this bus stop name before-- was a thought that soon passed by. It already exists, what am I going to do about it. Anyways, I tried to search for the station of my middle school. Hmm. I stopped searching for a moment and the students of Ji Jon Middle School came to my trace of thought again.
What’s going to happen for them in the future. For example, when they go to high school and the teacher asks what middle school they came from.
“Which middle school did you come from?”
“J-Ji Jon Middle School!”
“Ah-HAHA! Ji, Ji, Ji… … Jon!! Did you say Ji Jon Middle School!?”
Just the name of that middle school is to die from embarrassment. A name you probably want to erase from your life later on.
Is what I thought. I shook my head. It’s not my problem, I’m not the one going there!
I kept searching through the bus route directory, however there was no “Dae Dam Middle School” stop. This this weird. I squinted my eyes and took a step back from the directory and looked around my surroundings.
The surroundings were strange yet quiet. The shadows of the green trees planted on the sidewalk were stretching. I took out my cell phone from my pocket and checked the time.
9am. Surely if you were normal student, it was a time where all the students probably arrived at school. Students and not even any business employees were to be found on the streets. It’s been a while since I've seen the street so quiet. I felt a strange feeling and took a look around the streets and tirelessly walked away.
I should go out to the street where there are more people and ask where Dae Dam Middle School is. I adjusted my backpack straps. Suddenly, the words of desperation Ban Yeo Ryung shouted at me lingered in my ear.
“There is no such school named that around here!”
There no way there isn’t! Just a month ago there was and I was even there for the class arrangement. It wasn’t a weird building like the one I saw earlier, it was a normal building. I know I am forgetful sometimes, but there is no way I will confuse my own middle school name.
However, the one thing that’s on my mind. In a place where ‘Dae Dam Middle School’ should be, there is ‘Ji Jon Middle School’ out of the blue.
Whatever, I scratched the back of my head. I feel a bit insecure, but surely… but.
While thoughts in my head, I unwillingly stomp my way to Ji Jon Middle School. When I took a turn on the corner, suddenly a car parked on the sidewalk. As the quiet the street was, even the car moved quietly, not even the engine can be heard. Casually I turned my head towards the car, and I was in a shock to realize the car was a black limousine that I rarely saw in my life.
The dark tinted windows of the limousine slid down slowly. A man with shades suddenly appeared between the gap.
Surprisingly, he called out to me in a soft and courteous voice. Like the tone of someone in a customer service.
“Are you happen to be a student of Ji Jon Middle School?”
“Yes, yes?”
The question caught me off guard. I immediately wanted to say I was not, however I think he confirmed his answer as he saw my uniform.
“Oh, then could I ask for guidance? It's the first time our young master is attending school by himself.”
“What do you mean, who’s first time? Also, Joo In is with me.”
A firm voice that came from the back seat interrupted the man’s voice. The voice was quiet, but I clearly heard it. Not because my ears were bright. The voice that came from the back seat left an impact.
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1. https://image.rakuten.co.jp/washington/cabinet/haruta/haruta4514.jpg
2. When he said “No” -- it meant like: “No worries”.
