“Time’s up. Put down your pencils and hand your test to the front!” The professor loudly exclaimed as he looked down at his watch.

“How did it go?” Minah looked at Hana.

“I think it went fine,” Hana nervously bit her lip. “I’m unsure of a few answers though.”

“Me too, but I think it was a fair test,” Minah responded back.

“I’m just glad finals are over,” Hana gave a sigh of relief and stretched.

It had been a long and laborious week, but the two girls had made it through their finals for that semester.

“Only two more school years to go!” Minah consoled before standing up. “Want to go out to celebrate?”

“Definitely,” Hana nodded. “But can we meet later tonight? I’m going to the hospital for a short shift.”

“No problem” Minah smiled. “I need time to get all dolled up anyway. Makeup and hair is not my forte and it takes me forever to fill in my eyebrows. How am I supposed to make them look identical? It’s impossible!”

“Such a problem,” Hana sarcastically shot back and laughed.

“Hey, it’s been a year since my last relationship. I need to look good night. What if I meet someone?” Minah pouted.

“Arasseo,” Hana gave in and stood up as well. “Text me where you’d like to meet!”

~=~

Hana smiled as she walked through the doors of the children’s hospital. It was her favorite place and she couldn’t wait to see all the patients.

“Thank you for coming in today, you must be exhausted now that finals are over,” Choi Chaehyun, Hana’s supervisor and mentor apologetically smiled as she greeted her pupil.

“I’m glad to come in,” Hana waved off the apology and bowed in respect to the established doctor. “How are the children today?”

“Most of them are as bright as ever. You know how children are, they’re so much more resilient than adults are,” Chaehyun flipped through her records as the two walked down the hallway. “Son Daehyun hasn’t been feeling well though. He’s been down ever since we talked to his parents about his terminal cancer. It’s metastasized to the point where it’s reaching his brain and it could kill him at any moment. We’d go ahead with the surgery to remove it but his parents don’t have the money for it and the insurance company won’t pay for the majority of the procedure.”

“Could I see him?” Hana asked.

“Sure, but don’t be too long. There are a few tasks I’d like to do with you today a bit later,” Chaehyun nodded before knocking on a door. “I’ll meet you back in my office in about 30 minutes. I have to check up on this patient first.”

“I’ll be there,” Hana gave another bow as the woman entered the room and then firmly shut the door behind her.

“Son Daehyun…” Hana studied the board in Chaehyun’s office to find his room number. “Room 304, okay.”

~=~

“Nae, enter,” the nurse’s voice came from the room after Hana knocked on the door of room 304.

“I’m here to see Son Daehyun. My name is Shin Hana and I’m a volunteer with the hospital. I was wondering if I could give him some company for a few minutes.”

“We weren’t expecting visitors today, but as long as Daehyun doesn’t mind,” the nurse worriedly glanced at the boy who gave no response. “He’s been like this for the past few days,” she elaborated and shook her head sadly before exiting the room.

“Daehyun?” Hana softly called the boy’s name.

No response.

“I’m going to come and sit next to you okay?”

Again, no response from the boy.

Hana carefully moved away from the door’s entrance and settled in the chair to the left of the hospital bed.

Daehyun emptily gazed out the window.

Following his gaze, Hana realized the boy was intensely watching a game of baseball that a few other children were playing outside.

“Do you like baseball?” She softly asked.

Daehyun slowly nodded.

“I want to play,” he finally spoke. “But I can’t play. I’m going to die and Umma and Appa are both sad.”

“How do you know you’re going to die?”

“Because the nurse and doctor told Umma and Appa. They think I don’t know. But I do.”

“How old are you?”

“I turned 8 last month.”

“Happy belated birthday, Daehyun,” Hana congratulated.

“It doesn’t matter, I’m going to be gone soon anyway,” Daehyun tore his eyes away from the window and began to cry.

“Shhh,” Hana soothed and pat the boy’s head. “Even if you are going to die, being this way makes it harder for your mother and father. Everyone is sad that you’re going to be gone. But isn’t it better to leave a good memory of you for them before you go?”

“I’m scared,” the boy looked at Hana.

“Everyone is scared too. But when it’s your time you’re going to become an angel for your mother and father. You’ll be able to protect them.”

“You’re sure?” Daehyun asked.

“I’m sure,” Hana gave a gentle smile.

“You’d be a great doctor, noona,” Daehyun settled back into his hospital bed.

“I hope I get to work with boys and girls like you.”

“Mmm…” the boy murmured before closing his eyes and drifting off into a sleep.

~=~

Minah:

9:14 PM

Let’s meet at 10 PM at our favorite café!

It was already 10:15 PM and the girl hadn’t even arrived yet when Hana showed up to the café.

Hana lazily checked her phone again to see if Minah had texted an update but no new messages had come through yet.

Suddenly the phone rang and Hana jumped to answer it.

“YAH! YOU’RE LATE! WHERE ARE YOU?” she shouted into the phone.

“Ah, I’m sorry,” an unknown voice responded on the other line. “Is this Shin Hana?”

“Uhm, yes? I’m sorry…who is this?” Hana, taken aback by the mysterious voice, awkwardly asked.

“Forgive me, is this a bad time? My name is Kim Jaehyun and I’m one of the casting directors for ‘We Got Married’ the show.”

“Excuse me?” Hana furrowed her brow and completely ignored answering the question that had been asked.

“We received your application for being cast in ‘We Got Married’ for the new couple starring BTS members. After reviewing all your information we think that you’d be a good fit for the show and the members but we’d like to offer you an interview as we still are considering a select number of other girls for the position.”

“I’m sorry but I think there’s been a mistake,” Hana shook her head and ignored the offer at hand. 

“I can assure you that it isn’t a mistake. Your name IS Shin Hana right? 21-years-old, currently studying to become a pediatrician in graduate school and volunteers at a children’s hospital?”

“That is correct, but I didn’t apply…”

“Well either you did apply and don’t remember or someone who knows you very well filled out the application for you.”

‘MINAH!’ Hana inwardly groaned as it all finally started to make sense.

“Miss Shin? Are you interested in this opportunity? Would you like to come in for the interview? If you’re not interested than that’s okay and we apologize for the inconvenience.”

“Uhm, I mean. I love BTS and this sounds like a great opportunity,” Hana began.

“Great. We’ll see you tomorrow at 2 PM at Big Hit Entertainment to proceed with the interview.”

And with that the phone line went dead.

“Sorry I’m late!” Minah finally showed up and approached the table Hana was saving for the two of them. “I tried calling you but it said your phone line was busy.”

“PARK MINAH!”

Hana yelled and made a lunge for her best friend.

“YAH! LOOK I’M SORRY FOR BEING LATE!” Minah got ready to defend herself.

“Why the did you put in my application for ‘We Got Married?” The other cursed.

“Omo, did they actually call back about that?” Minah blinked as she calmed down.

“You have no idea how shocked I was. I have an interview tomorrow,” Hana mumbled as she slouched back into her seat.

“WHAT?!?!?! OMG YOU ACTUALLY GOT PICKED!” Now it was Minah’s turn to yell.

“SHHHHHH!” Hana flailed her arms and covered Minah’s mouth to shut her up.

“No I didn’t get picked! I said I got an interview. Let’s not get carried away here.”

“Pssh,” Minah finally sat down across from her friend. “Aren’t you excited?”

“I’m too overwhelmed right now.”

“Well what are we doing sitting here in this café? We need to go buy you a great outfit for tomorrow!”

“Minah it’s almost 11 PM! There aren’t any clothing shops open!” Hana protested.

“Well then we’re going back to your place. I may not be good at makeup and hair, but I am good at styling.”

Minah didn’t say anything more but proceeded to abruptly stand up and walk out of the café doors.

‘All that waiting for that girl and we’re not even here for more than 10 minutes together and she’s already left,’ Hana rolled her eyes and eventually followed the other out.

~=~

‘I can’t believe Minah got me into this,’ Hana gulped as she stared at the Big Hit Entertainment building the next day. ‘Well, here goes nothing.’

“Welcome to Big Hit Entertainment. How may I help you?” The main building secretary greeted Hana as she entered.

“I’m here for the ‘We Got Married’ interview?”

“I see, one moment,” the secretary entered something into the computer. “Your name, please?”

“Shin Hana.”

“Right. Okay Miss Shin, here is a temporary pass for your interview to enter the building. Please head toward the back and take the elevator to the 3^rd floor. The interview is being held in room 304. It will be right to the left after you reach the 3^rd floor.”

‘Room 304? That’s Daehyun’s room number at the hospital…how interesting.’

Hana bowed in thanks to the secretary and followed her instructions.

‘I wonder how he is,’ she thought as she entered the elevator and pushed the button for the 3^rd floor. ‘Is he okay?’

DING! The elevator doors opened on the 3^rd floor and Hana, in a daze, stepped out before taking a left.

“Hello,” a familiar voice interrupted Hana’s thoughts. “I’m assuming you’re here for the ‘We Got Married’ interview. You are?”

“Shin Hana.”

“Ah Miss Shin, pleased to finally meet you. I’m Kim Jaehyun, we spoke on the phone last night.”

Hana looked to meet the smiling face of a kind, elderly gentleman.

“Pleased to meet you as well,” she finally remembered her manners and gave a bow.

“This way,” Jaehyun gave an ‘after you’ gesture that lead to the door of room 304.

Hana nodded and nervously approached the door before softly knocking and entering the room to a panel of 3 more interviewers.

“Thank you for coming,” a kind-looking woman greeted her. “Please give us your name, age, and occupation to start.”

Hana gave a 90-degree bow to start.

“Hello and thank you for having me. My name is Shin Hana and I am 21-years-old. I am currently a student.”

“We appreciate you taking the time to meet with all of us,” the woman spoke again before introducing herself and the other two interviewers. “I am Son Inhwa, producer for ‘We Got Married.’ To the left of me is Nam Minho, director for ‘We Got Married.’ To the right of me is Seo Dongun, another casting director for ‘We Got Married.’ We have invited you after reviewing your application with Mr. Park to get to know you more and see how you would potentially work with the BTS members.”

“For starters, we want to take the direction of this show in a different way than the traditional pairings of two celebrities,” Mr. Nam began. “We’re looking to change the format a bit in hopes of getting more views and better ratings.”

“Fans are what keep idols going in their careers and offer the most support,” Mr. Seo added. “We thought having a regular fan participating in this show would gain a lot of interest and bring a fresh perspective to it.”

Hana nodded as she tried to focus on the information.

“Have you chosen who will be the ‘husband’ for the show?” She asked, to show engagement.

“Great question,” Mrs. Son nodded in approval. “As I’m sure you know since you are a fan, all members have unique and different qualities. Any one of them would be suited for the role.”

“We couldn’t decide,” Mr. Nam shook his head.

“So we decided, why don’t all of them participate?” Mr. Seo finished.

“They’re all cast as the ‘husband’?” Hana tried to keep her composure.

“Correct.”

“That being said,” Mrs. Son began. “Since they’re all cast, we want to make sure whoever we chose as the ‘wife’ will be able to interact and communicate with different types of people. What makes you suited for this role and what can you contribute to this show?”

“Although I am inexperienced with men,” Hana bit her lip a bit as she tried to come up with an answer. “I am not inexperienced in dealing with different people. I volunteer at a local children’s hospital during my free time and I interact with a variety of people. I communicate with the doctors and medical professionals on one level, but then on another I have to be able to connect with the patients, and sympathize with the parents of the patients. Emotions are very real and raw in the hospital setting that I think I can bring that to the show. I believe you viewers want to see something real and unscriped.”

“I have to pause for a moment,” Mrs. Son interrupted Hana.

‘Great,’ Hana panicked. ‘They didn’t like that answer. I guess I’m not a good fit.’

“Are you the Hana that visited a little boy named Son Daehyun yesterday? You said you worked for a children’s hospital and that boy is my son. I went to visit him this morning and he was talking about how a pretty ‘Hana-noona’ came to visit him the other night.”

“You’re Daehyun’s mother?” Hana couldn’t believe it.

Taking a closer look, Hana could definitely see the similarities between the two. They had the same nose and eyes.

“I can’t thank you enough for your kind words,” Mrs. Son stood and gave a small bow of gratitude. “Ever since we found out about his terminal cancer a few days ago he hasn’t been lively. My husband and I make enough money to live a comfortable lifestyle, but the surgery required to take out his tumor is way out of our price range. We have learned to cope with the fact that he will be gone soon but nothing seemed to be cheering him up. Your visit helped him.”

“It was nothing,” Hana replied. “How is he today?”

“Better,” Mrs. Son smiled. “Although he’s still sad, he’s beginning to eat again and he’s drawing a lot of pictures in his spare time.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“I don’t mean to interrupt an interview like this, but what are the chances?”

“Looks like we found our ‘wife’ for the show,” Mr. Nam laughed and high-fived Mr. Seo.

“Indeed” Mr. Seo agreed before clapping.

“Welcome to the ‘We Got Married’ family, Miss Shin.”