Jieun was super happy today. Mr. Park, the professor she was working with, absolutely loved her thesis and in addition to a great mark, he offered her a job. He was translating an encyclopedia and he needed an assistant. Mr. Park told her that she was her best student and he was waiting till her thesis come to an end so he could offer her the job. Jieun wanted to scream in joy. It was her dream job. No more working part-time in the university’s library but working as a real translator. Plus, she didn’t have to work rough offers since she was going to work from home and only having meetings with Mr. Park and his crew once or twice a week.

Jieun grinned widely in the thought of how Wonho would react to this. He would be happy, of course, and also proud of her. She adjusted her bag on her shoulder and tiptoed to see if Wonho was anywhere around or not. He promised to pick her at 7 p.m from her college but he was nowhere to be seen.

Maybe he forgot… Jieun pulled her phone out her bag to call him but someone cleared his voice near her and she raised up her head.

Jieun frowned as she saw a tall, all black, model-like figure standing in front of her. His face was hidden with cap and mask and only two eyes were shown.

“H-Hyungwon…?” Jieun called. He lowered his mask and gave Jieun an awkward smile.

“Hey.”

“Hi. What are you doing here?” Jieun asked him surprised.

“Hyung couldn’t come, you know, album preparations. He asked me to come.” Hyungwon explained. To be honest, deep down, he didn’t hate the idea of meeting Jieun and more than that meeting her while there were only two of them. They became closer through texting often about random things but Hyungwon had always longed for seeing her.

“Ah… he is working hard on producing songs.” Jieun nodded, disappointed but she tried to hide it. “I could have gone by myself.” Jieun pointed at her cast. The reason for their meeting was to visit the hospital to remove her cast.

“I had nothing to do.” Hyungwon smiled before wearing up his mask again. “Let’s go.”

Hyungwon was sitting outside the hospital room holding into Jieun’s bag who went in earlier to remove her cast. He wanted to accompany her but she assured she could go by herself.

Inside the room, Jieun was frightened. With wide open eyes, she was staring at the doctor who was preparing the cast saw. The doctor explained that it’s not dangerous and she just had to keep still but Jieun was about to cry. She wasn’t a fan of drilling things.

“I’ll start.” The doctor approached her but before he could press the on button, a light scream escaped Jieun’s mouth.

“W… wait p… please… I need to… prepare myself …” Jieun pleaded while trembling.

“You look pale, miss.” The nurse stated. “I assure you it’ll be just fine.”

Jieun was embarrassed but more scared. “I… I know I’m acting like a baby… but it’s just…”

“That’s fine. Many other adults act like this… wait a minute here.” She exited the room with a smile.

Jieun dropped her head low. If only Wonho were here… Jieun cried inwardly. Suddenly she was missing her mom.

After a minute the nurse was back with Hyungwon.

“I asked your boyfriend to come here. Believe me, it’s a big help.” She winked at Jieun and guided Hyungwon. Jieun wanted to explain he is not her boyfriend but Hyungwon wrapped his warm hand around her cold one and suddenly Jieun didn’t want the comfort go away.

“I’ll start then.” The doctor stated and Jieun nodded a bit unsure. As he the cast saw another scream escaped and Hyungwon tried hard to hide his laughter. As the doctor approached her, Jieun turned toward Hyungwon, not seeing the courage in herself to watch. Hyungwon let her hide her face on his chest and hugged her naturally. He watched as the cast being removed. He wished it would end quickly since he was afraid that Jieun would hear his racing heartbeat.

Hyungwon accompanied Jieun home. They were walking on the street freely. Hyungwon was making fun of how Jieun looked all tough from outside but inside she was scared like a little kid and Jieun was trying to convince him that the cast saw was scary. They were so immersed in chatting and having fun that they didn’t notice the group of girls following them.