Time passed and soon they all entered their 3^rd year of university. Yixing and Jongin were starting on a choreography project together, Jaein was starting to learn hands-on with patients at the university hospital, and the rest of the boys were preparing for the end-of-the-year festival they were chosen to be a part of. Although it was still the beginning of September, Korea has already started to get really chilly. As a matter of fact, the whole year has been breezier than it should have been. This is not good for Jaein because of her anemia condition so most of her summer was spent staying over at a hospital in the UK as she got treated to prepare her body for the harshest winter that’s about to come.

The boys are currently hanging out at a nearby coffee shop after classes.

“Why does the PA department director wants us to prepare for the end-of-the-year festival when it’s still 3 months away!” Baekhyun complained out loud as he took a bit of his cookie.

“Maybe because last year’s festival was a complete disaster due to it being so last minute?” Jongdae replied.

Everyone nodded along. Last year’s festival was claimed to be the worst one yet since most of the performers weren’t prepared. Because the boys are now juniors, they can participate in the festival. On the other hand, seniors have the privilege to organize the full event.

“Oh look who’s finally here,” Chanyeol said as he looked at the person who just entered the coffee shop.

Everyone turned their eyes to her as she happily walked towards them.

“Song Jaein, how is it possible that you got even prettier?”Jongdae said as he stood up and gave her a big hug as the others followed along.

They haven’t seen Jaein in a while after the last semester ended since she was treated in the hospital. She told them she was going overseas for vacation so they have no clue whatsoever about her condition. Even when the new semester started, they couldn’t meet her due to her busy schedule.

“We ordered you your favorite warm vanilla hazelnut latte,” Yixing said as he pulled out a seat for her to sit.

“Wow, it’s been long hasn’t it?” she said, chuckling.

“Very long. Do you know how much we- I missed you?” Baekhyun exclaimed, making her giggle.

“I’ve missed you all very much as well. And I especially thank all of you for forcing me to come here right now because I have been trying to avoid this new transfer student who keeps following me for some apparent reason,” Jaein explained.

“Do we need to beat him up for you?” Sehun asked.

“When the time is right, I will call you,” she answered jokingly. 

“How was your vacation?” Junmyeon asked.

“Um, it was alright. I got to spend some time with my brothers,” she kind of lied.

“You look a bit paler than usual though. Is something wrong?” Minseok looked a bit worried.

“I caught a fever a couple days ago. The weather hasn’t been kind to me this year,” she said, pouting a little.

“It hasn’t been kind to us too. For me, I just got better from a cold that I’ve been trying to shake off for the past 3 weeks,” Jongin pointed out.

♦♦♦

Their conversation lasted for another hour or two before they all needed to head back.

“Hey, I’ll walk you to your building,” Kyungsoo said as he opened the door for her.

“Thanks, but I think I’ll be fine on my own. You look tired anyways,” she replied.

“It’s already dark and if I didn’t walk you back, one of the others probably will,” he said, “besides, we have a lot of catching up to do.”

Oh how she missed his charming smile. Ever since their small date last winter, they both couldn’t stop thinking of each other; especially Kyungsoo. His small crush on her grew to something a bit bigger than what he expected. Just being able to see her smile made his heart want to burst out of its cage. For Jaein, she was pretty sure that she was slowly falling for him. She was to how far her feeling would grow for him. They kept in touch throughout the summer, but not as much as he would like. Kyungsoo was hoping that this year would be the year that he would be brave enough to tell her how he truly feels about her.  

“I agree with Minseok hyung. You do look quite fatigued,” Kyungsoo said as they walked towards her dorm building.

“I think I haven’t fully recovered yet. You might even get sick for being near me,” she replied jokingly.

“For your information, I don’t get sick easily. My immune system is bulletproof,” he said proudly. Making her chuckle.

After walking her back in one piece, Kyungsoo headed back to his dorm.

♦♦♦

“Please prep the patient then page me when the OR is ready,” Dr. Park told the nurse. “For the rest of you, please do study for tomorrow’s exam. It’s your last exam for this block and it will affect your term grades immensely. Class dismissed.”

Dr. Park walked out of the room followed by the rest of the students. They had just finished the final ward rounds for the neurology block. Jaein was a bit nervous for tomorrow’s exam because it’s going to be a case-to-case analysis. She has to master diagnosis and also treatment options. This will be sort of like a practice for the final exam in her senior year.

“Which case do you think he’s going to give us tomorrow?” Minah, one of the students in her group asked.

“Probably the easy brain aneurysm one that we studied in class. We all know Dr. Park hates neurology,” Yujin, another student answered.

“We looked over multiple brain aneurysm cases ; 15 to be exact. He can choose from any one of those,” Baekho replied.

“Jaein-ah, you’re usually good at guessing which case that devil incarnate will throw out. Which one do you think he’ll use?” Solhee asked.

Everyone’s attention turned to her. Jaein wasn’t feeling really well for the whole class so she didn’t really pay attention to their conversation. She has a massive headache and feels extremely fatigued.

“I-I agree with Yujin. He will probably use one out of the 15 aneurysm cases,” she answered while holding onto Solhee.

“Hey, you alright? You seem out of it,” Baekho asked her worriedly, to which she nods in reply.

“Well, we’re definitely screwed… Those 15 cases are so similar with each other! Only minor details separate the from each other,” Jaebom exclaimed.

“Good thing we’ll be moving to pediatrics after tomorrow. The graduates say that Dr. Park is nicer when he’s teaching the block that he’s in charge of,” Baekho muttered.

Dr. Park is the head of the pediatrics department. So he’s known to teach cases that are close to his heart, meaning that he’ll be stricter on the details but easygoing on the workload.

“So where are we going for today’s study group?” Yujin asked.

“My place is empty. We can’t go to the library because it’ll probably be filled with the other groups. We can order food in too,” Baekho said as they walked towards the exit.  

Jaein’s group was different from the rest. They liked helping each other out rather than seeing the whole thing as a competition. Other groups would try to tear down the members just so they can end up getting first place on the exam. Not to mention the others were such kiss-ups. Her group would normally have study sessions twice a week and would rotate the place they will study at.

Just as they were returning their nametags to the receptionist, a familiar voice called out Jaein’s name.

“Oh my. Your fanboy is here again,” Minah teased.

“Not again,” Jaein mumbled under her breath. Her fanboy (or stalker), Choi Daehan or Daniel Choi, has been following her since the semester started. He is intrigued by the fact that she is able to communicate in perfect English with him and thinks that she’s doing that just to impress him. His dad does own the city hospital in Seoul. One can say that he has a small crush on Jaein.

“My group’s meeting at the campus coffee shop to study. Do you want to tag along? Our notes are better than yours anyways,” he asked once he was near her.

“Of course not! Jaein is coming to study with us, her group. She doesn’t like hanging around snobby foie gras eating pricks like the people in your group,” Baekhyo exclaimed furiously.

He was right. Jaein doesn’t like hanging around the people in Daehan’s group because they’re all so prissy. Just because their parents own half of Seoul doesn’t mean they get to on other people.

“Thanks for the offer Daehan-shi, but she would like to study with her group only. We don’t sabotage our group mate’s notes here,” Solhee added, referring to the sabotaging incident that happened a couple weeks ago. Her friends started chuckling.

Jaein was also smiling, but she didn’t have the energy in her to say anything.

“Does it look like I was talking to you assheads? My invitation was directed towards Jaein. I’m pretty sure she can speak for herself,” Daehan angrily replied.

“Can’t you see that your presence is making her not feel well? I think you should go before she vomits on your stupid face,” Yujin spit back.

“Whatever. Don’t blame me if you fail babe,” Daehan said in English before walking away.

“What a creep. You should file a restraining order on him. It looks as if he’s not going to stop bugging you anytime soon,” Minah said as they walked out of the hospital and towards Jaebom’s place.

♦♦♦

They all decided to stay at Jaebom’s place till the morning so that they can be as productive as possible without wasting time. At 1am, they decided that they should take turns in taking 30 minute naps. Jaebom, Solhee, and Yujin were the first to take their naps.

“This is impossible. I’ve only done 7 cases AND THERE ARE STILL 8 MORE TO GO!” Baekho yelled while throwing his pencil case to the wall.

“Some of us are trying to take a nap,” Solhee muttered loudly.

Jaein chuckled. She was feeling a lot better after taking her iron supplements and getting warmed up. She knew she had to visit her doctor tomorrow after exams to make sure she was okay.

Suddenly, there was a ‘PING’ coming from her phone. It turned out to be a message from someone she’s been wanting to talk to.

I’m assuming you’re still awake because you have that exam thing tomorrow. – Kyungsoo

Spot on. I’m actually thinking of giving up. There’s too much to study and my head hurts. Plus, I feel like I’m going to catch a cold soon. – Jaein.

I think you should take a break. Can I call you? – Kyungsoo.

Jaein smiled at her phone.

Sure. – Jaein

She stood up from the couch and headed towards Jaebom’s patio. She closed the sliding door before answering the call.

“Hey,” his voice was low and velvety. It sounded a bit hoarse as well.

“Hey. Have you been singing a lot? Your voice is huskier than normal,” she asked.

“Yeah. Other than preparing for the festival, I have this composition and vocal exam coming up. My professor is freaking crazy,” he explained.

“Aww, you must be tired. I guess both of our professors are out of their minds these days,” she replied.

“I hear car honks and busses. Are you not at home?” he asked.

“Nope. I’m at Baekho’s apartment. We’re having our study group session now. I’m probably staying till the morning,” she answered.

Kyungsoo frowned at her answer. Baekho sounded like a guy’s name and she was sleeping over there. The place wasn’t on campus so that made him a bit more worried.

“You shouldn’t be sleeping at other guys’ places. That’s not good,” he replied in a dark tone.

“It’s not like I’m gonna sleep with him tonight. Besides, my other friends are here too.”

He was taken aback by her first sentence, but felt relieved when she told him her other friends were there too.

“Haha, alright. By the way, you should quickly treat that incoming cold. I can already hear it in your voice.”

“Yes sir,” she said jokingly, making him chuckle.

“I think I should let you get back to your studying. The other guys miss you by the way. I had to lock my room so that they won’t interrupt this call,” he told her as she chuckled.

“Tell them I miss them too. Goodnight Soo.”

“Goodnight Jaein. Study well,” he said before ending the call.

Jaein smiled to herself before heading back to the couch.

“Was that your boyfriend?” Minah asked when she sat down.

“Please tell me you told him about Daehan. You need protection from that creep,” Baekho added.

“That was a friend of mine. And I didn’t tell him or anyone about Daehan. That problem will resolve by itself,” Jaein replied a bit flusterred.

“Are you sure that wasn’t your boyfriend? There was a lot of giggling and smiling involved,” Baekho teased as a pillow landed on his face.

“Maybe she just likes him or something. That’s what I did to my boyfriend before I dated him,” Minah said, making Jaein role her eyes.

“Please introduce us to him. I wanna approve of him before you confess,” Baekho teased again, earning a glare from Jaein.

“My relationship status or whatsoever is none of your damn business,” Jaein said, her face red.

“It is now~” Minah sang in a sing-song voice.

Soon, the others woke up and it was their turn to take a nap.