Byulyi does more reading up on DID while she has her lunch, which consists of another cup of coffee and the promised kimchi fried rice. She knows the caffeine is probably killing her slowly from the inside, considering the copious amounts of it that she intakes daily - but eh, whatever.

She finds it hard to concentrate on her task, every train of thought trailing away to something new and just as worth thinking about, until she goes from thinking about DID to whether she should eat Subway or sushi for dinner. She realises what she's doing with a disgruntled snort.

Wow, Byulyi, wow. Way to stay on track. Amazing.

She's set on her course of action, at least for now. She still isn't sure when the right time to say anything to Solar is, because she's still too fragile, but Byulyi has some things to find out first. Starting from the roots up.

The minute hand of her clock ticks to fifty-eight, signaling the imminent arrival of two pm.

She disposes of her empty food carton and plastic utensils, plodding back to her sofa just as a knock sounds on the door. Byulyi blanks out for a second. Then the door opens, and Solar peeks in, and Byulyi unfreezes.

“Oh, hi there, Solar.”

“Afternoon, Byulyi. Your office smells like kimchi,” Solar says, closing the door quietly behind her. Byulyi sits down on her sofa and hurriedly closes her Chrome page, getting rid of any evidence of DID searches. The corners of feel heavy, for some reason, but she manages to lift them slightly anyway.

“Sharp nose. I had kimchi fried rice for lunch. So, how's your week been?” Byulyi snaps her laptop shut.

Solar sets her bag down on the ground and swings her legs onto the recliner, crossing her bare ankles over one another. Byulyi looks at her dinosaur-patterned socks before looking at Solar's face. Solar looks tired, as usual, but her eyes sparkle with amusement. “I saw you judging my socks. Don't judge the socks.”

“Okay.” Byulyi looks at her socks again, and Solar aims an air smack at her head.

“Work was a little better this week, I suppose. Not as bad. But - ah - my mood swings are getting worse.” Solar frowns, and Byulyi leans forward slightly, her elbows on her thighs, listening. “I don't know. One moment I'll be happy and the next I'll be depressed or angry. Basically it's PMS but more severe. I think I've been stressing Jaehyuk a lot lately.”

The corners of her lips turn up in a lifeless smile. Byulyi regards her cautiously. Her brain takes Solar's response and dissects it with utmost precision, storing away important information. Mood swings. Stressing Jaehyuk out? Is their relationship straining?

“Some more psychotherapy will do you good. And - ah, I almost forgot to ask. Any more blackouts the past week?” Byulyi asks this question every time she can, and she always gets a negative answer. She'd expected nothing to be different, either.

“I've been having blackouts too, the past week. It's not just confined to your office space now, it's happening at home too. But only for a few minutes at a time.” Solar blinks, and Byulyi freezes, her hands suddenly turning very cold.

She's been having blackouts during the week too? What is Yongsun doing?

Outwardly she hopes that she's not expressing her confusion. “I see. Um. How long do they last, usually?”

“The last one was just for a few seconds. But that day - Monday? Sunday? Perhaps it was just my mind doing things, but I'm pretty sure I had a blackout from around eleven something at night until morning. It's sort of a weird feeling - it’s like I'm dissociating, you know? I'm just very vaguely aware of things at times, like how comatose patients are aware of certain things in their surroundings. When I regained full ‘consciousness’ it was already six thirty and I had to get up for work. It was strange. That's the first time it's ever happened to me.”

Solar's voice trembles with trepidation. Byulyi, who'd normally be wanting to cry when she sees Solar upset, feels her stomach turning to lead.

Like she's dissociating. So I'm right, aren't I? It's DID. She has DID. But what would Yongsun be doing, taking over at night? Wouldn't she be close to sleeping by then? Gods, I really don't want to talk to Yongsun, but I think I have to. I have to.

Then Byulyi remembers - the drunken painting, then the horrifyingly unsavoury thoughts, and that - that kiss. And she berates herself, because she's straying away. Again.

I vowed to myself that I would do my utmost best to treat all my patients. Solar is my patient. Gods, why am I spending more time with her alter ego than her herself?

The suspicion broils in her stomach again, and she takes a glance at Solar. It's a wild, stupid, unwieldy thought, but now that she's thought of it she can't get it out of her head. She'd never really know unless she suddenly becomes a psychologist who's really experienced with DID patients. She'd never confirmed it. But Gods, now that she thinks about it, it could happen. It could.

Oh, for Gods sake, stop thinking such ludicrous things and get on with the session. It'll do you no good to…to what? She loses focus for a moment, but hops back on her train of thought quickly. To make such stupid assumptions.

She blanches, and Solar sees.

“What's wrong?”

“No - it’s nothing. Solar, I know this is a sensitive topic, but I just really need to know. About - you know, your past.” She'd been trying to avoid talking about it for the longest time, but she doesn't even need webmd to tell her that the first step to diagnosis and proper treatment is knowing the trigger for the disease, which is something that Byulyi still does not know.

Up till recently, Solar has just been a woman who over stresses herself, has mood swings, depression, and some weird magical alter personality. Byulyi doesn't really know why she'd never tried asking Solar about her past more than once. She'd had a lot on her mind, granted, but still. Just thinking about it now makes her feel confused about herself. Why didn't she ask Solar about it again? Stupid of her.

It's Solar's turn to blanch.

“I-”

“Yeah, it's hard to talk about it. I,” Byulyi swallows unconsciously. “I know. But - it’s important. I need to know.” Byulyi applies more pressure on her words, making them firm and unwavering. No more beating around the bush - she's vowed to herself to get Solar treated, and she's damn well going to do it.

“I - yeah, yeah, okay,” Solar breathes. “Okay.”

“I need you to tell me everything. Anything,” Byulyi presses, picking up her laptop and placing it upon her lap. The heat from the base of the appliance seeps through her jeans and warms her thighs, though not uncomfortably so. She opens up a blank word document, fingers tapping the keyboard keys, though not hard enough to actually type the letters.

Solar takes a deep breath, her voice coming out quiet and monotonous. “I was bullied when I was a kid, about eight or nine ish. It was this boy, always this boy. Tall. Annoying. He took money and beat me until I was black and blue, and repeated it. On and on and on. Always - always.” She pauses, her brows furrowing, and Byulyi sees her tongue dart out to moisten her dry lips.

“Always?” Byulyi prompts, her fingers deftly tapping the keys, inputting bullet point after bullet point onto the document. Hearing Solar describing the bullying makes her anger swell.

“He didn't stop. They - they were so much bigger than me. My mom and dad didn't really know, they were always away at work, and I had no one to confide in. The boys…they broke me. They called me names, they beat me up, it was…a lot for my young self to take.” Solar breathes in again sharply, and Byulyi thinks that she's going to cry, but Solar merely brushes the hair away from her face. “It continued all the way until middle school. You know how bad it can get for young kids. It scarred me. Irreparably. I fell into depression.”

Byulyi sees the sparkling moisture in her eyes, and her heart clenches. So, it was bullying that dulled her. If I could find those boys, I'd strangle them on the spot.

“Thank you for sharing with me, Solar,” Byulyi says gently, aware that Solar isn't in the best of states at the moment.

Solar blinks, and just like that, she looks just as normal as she does every day. Byulyi’s a little surprised; with her other patients, it's always an emotional ride, but she supposes that Solar's come to terms with the bullying? Has she ever? Or is she putting on a facade?

“Well, it wasn't a very pleasant recount, but there you are.” Solar puffs out a breath. Byulyi sees the hints of pain in her eyes, and she's sure that it's a facade.

“Have you come to terms with it?”

“The bullying?” Solar asks wryly. “No, not really.”

“I commend your ability to handle it, then. Even until now, I can't-” Byulyi stops, her eyes darting up to meet Solar's, before she her lips and looks back down at her laptop, her fingers typing even more furiously. Solar didn't miss it, but she doesn't say anything, because it isn't any of her problem. But she wonders.

The silence reigns for a few minutes while Byulyi types, her lower lip caught between her teeth, gnawing it slowly.

“Are trying to seduce me, Moon Byulyi? Because if you are, it's totally working.”

Solar's voice sounds deeper. And completely disorienting, because that isn't something she'd say at all. Byulyi looks up and curses when she sees Yongsun's acid yellow eyes regarding her from a mere fifteen centimetres away.

Yongsun guffaws, sitting back down on her recliner.

“Your face, my Gods,” Yongsun slaps her thigh amiably.

“Holy stickers, you scared the living hell out of me. Gods, Yongsun,” Byulyi places a hand over her hammering heart, her other slamming her laptop shut. She takes a deep breath, glaring at Yongsun, her cheeks warm and pink. “You're an .”

“As you've said about a hundred times before,” Yongsun waves her hand dismissively. Then she winks lasciviously. “Then again, this also probably makes your heart rate increase, eh?”

Byulyi immediately thinks about that kiss, and the blush on her face blows up so quickly she's sure she looks like a tomato. She closes her eyes and counts to ten, clearing her mind of any of such unwarranted and offensive thoughts. How dare her brain think of such…such things! For the entire week!

“Oh, your face has taken on a delightfully red shade. I assume I'm right, aren't I?” Yongsun grins. “I bet you're thinking about last week, because I ki-”

“Please shut up,” Byulyi groans, holding up a hand to make her stop talking, because now she can't stop thinking about it, and that really, really isn't good for her.

“You enjoyed it, didn't you? Don't lie to me, Psych. You liked it.”

“It's equivalent to me kissing Solar too, so that's the only reason why. You're still despicable, annoying, and an extreme