“Mind if I pop in?”

Nayeon beamed when her favorite mommy stepped into the room. The girl in the loose, pink dress bounced over to Sana and gave her a huge hug around the waist, all while screaming excitedly. She scowled back to the mean woman and stuck her tongue out. Jeongyeon rolled her eyes before she leaned back in her seat, massaging her temples.

“Go ahead.” Jeongyeon sighed. “I was about to call for a break anyways.”

“Oh, don’t be so grumpy,” Sana said as she picked up Nayeon a few inches for only for a few seconds. “Dis widdwe baby didn’t do nuffin wong, now did she? Did she now?”

“Nuh uh, Missus Sana!” Nayeon nuzzled the other doctor’s cheek. “I was good all day!”

“That’s a good little girl!” Sana nuzzled the older (younger?) girl’s cheek back. “Now gimme a kiss!”

“Where do you want it, Miss Sana?” Nayeon placed a finger on the young doctor’s forehead. “Here?”

“Here, Na-chan!” Sana poked her cheek. “Like this!”

Sana pecked the girl’s cheek, lingering the kiss as she shover her whole face into the patient’s. She smushed their faces together and ruffled the girl’s hair causing both to whine loudly. Sana let go of the kiss with loud, “Muah!” as she smushed Nayeon with another hug.

“Like that, okay?” Sana kissed Nayeon’s cheek once more. “Now kiss here.”

Nayeon pecked Sana’s cheek.

“And here.”

The girl kissed the other side of her face.

“And here.”

Sana screwed her eyes adorably when Nayeon gave a particularly wet kiss on the tip of her nose.

“And who’s the adorable girl?” Sana squished Nayeon’s cheeks together. “Who’s the best princess in the world?”

“I am!” The patient raised her hand, which Sana high-fived. “I’m a wonderful princess!”

“Then where’s your unicorn?”

“Right there!”

Jeongyeon groaned when she watched Nayeon point at her.

“I shall not be a party to this.” The short-haired girl muttered as she rubbed her temples. “Just another half hour.”

“Aww, only half an hour?” Sana dragged out each word to grate Jeongyeon’s nerves. “But that’s not enough time to find a carriage for the princess?”

“A carriage?” Nayeon grinned excitedly. “What for?”

“Well, to meet your prince, of course!” Sana sat Nayeon down on the sofa. “Remember that boy you keep talking about?”

The girl gasped.

“You mean-?!”

“Well we also need to get you a pretty dress, some glitter, some bodyguards so no witch poisons you.” Sana squealed as she remembered the final piece. “We need to get you a tiara!”

“Yay!” Nayeon hopped on the chair with a wide smile. “I get to be a princess!”

“Sana,” Jeongyeon growled. “You’re supposed to help me stop this, not make it worse.”

“Well, I’m trying something new today,” Sana explained. “Nayeon you know where the cafeteria is, right?”

“Yep!”

“Be a big girl and get us some strawberry milk, okay?” The doctor patted the older girl’s head. “One for you and one for me.”

“Yes, mommy!”

Nayeon skipped out of the room, but waved at Sana before farting at Jeongyeon with her tongue. The short-haired doctor had enough and sat up with a fist raised but by the time she took a step, her patient had disappeared into the hallway. Jeongyeon sighed, her body weakened from restricting her annoyance.

“How do you even tolerate her?” The older girl groaned. “I despise children, especially adults that are children.”

“Well, she’s just really nice to play with.” Sana walked over and knelt beside her friend. “It’s relaxing to act like a mother, like it is to watch Mina in the central garden.”

“I don’t get it.” Jeongyeon rubbed her eyes. “I’ve read countless articles and books about being a mother but it’s not coming to me. I don’t have that maternal instinct or the protective feeling to others.”

“Well, maybe you just need a child of your own.” Sana Jeongyeon’s soft hair. “Most women who don’t feel the maternal instinct until they experience childbirth firsthand, or even from a spectator’s perspective in the case of births done by close friends or family.”

Jeongyeon roared as she sprawled back on the carpeted floor.

“30. More. Minutes.”

“Mommy, I’m back!” Nayeon bounched in with two cool cartons of strawberry milk beside her cheeks. “I have the drinks!”

“Oh, thank you, Princess!” Sana took one of the cartons gently from the girl, before she finally looked to the wall clock. “Oh no, I need to go to Jihyo!”

“Aww, you can’t stay?” Nayeon looked to the doctor wide, puppy eyes. “Please don’t leave me with her…”

The girl’s eyes weren’t cute anymore. They were erratic, switching quickly between Sana and the disgruntled Jeongyeon as she tried to sit back in her chair. Sana even felt the little shaking against her coat, and the bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. The doctor gave Nayeon a quick hug, making sure that it gave a lasting impression on her back.

“I’ll be back soon, okay?” Sana reassured the patient. “I promise.”

“Pinky promise?” Nayeon pointed a pinky at Sana.

“Pinky promise.” Sana wrapped her pinky around Nayeon’s. “I’ll be back, just sit tight, okay?”

“Okay…”

Sana kissed Nayeon’s cheek for the last time before she hesitantly left the room.

“Both of you play nice now, okay?” Sana pointed at both of the women, but glared at her friend. “I’m not kidding, I don’t want to bring Chaeyoung into this, but I will if things go bad. Clear?”

The older women nodded silently.

“Good.”

Sana left the room, only to bump into a small figure. The figure was pushed away, but recovered quickly from the bump. Sana froze at the contact, but immediately went to apologize to the colleague.

“Dahyun-chan!” Sana helped the genius straighten her coat. “I’m so sorry, are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine, unnie.” The genius merely brushed off some dust from her shoulder. “Actually, perfect timing I have a question for you.”

“Oh, Jeongyeon still doesn’t get it.” Sana pouted. “She’s still having difficulty dealing with the boss’s cousin.”

“Ah, just as I thought.” Dahyun nodded as she placed a finger to her chin. “Well, technically Jeongyeon can just let her go but I think she’s too fond of her for that.”

“You think so?” After seeing the fear in Nayeon’s eyes, she was less sure about that theory. “I don’t think- “

“No, I’m just indulging in some wishful thinking.” Dahyun chuckled a bit. “Jeongyeon’s just trying to get on the boss’s good side through her cousin.”

“Ah…?”

“Learn to watch closely, Sana.” Dahyun eyes widened. “I almost forgot.”

Dahyun pulled out a thin rod from her pocket and showed it to Sana. It was a simple black pen, but what made Sana gasped was the plastic monarch butterfly attached to the clip of the pen. The older doctor took it and marveled at the bug, her finger trailing over the black skeleton of its wings. Dahyun smiled at Sana’s excitement, but didn’t expect the tight hug from the older.

“Thank you!” Sana pulled back to examine the pen again. “You didn’t need to!”

“Well, you’re the f-friendliest here,” Dahyun lamely reasoned. “Just a little something for it I guess…”

“Thank you, Da-chan!” Sana placed the tie in the chest pocket of her coat. “It’s wonderful!”

“Yeah, well, um.” Dahyun looked around the hallways. “I should leave; the secret clients are calling.”

Before she could hear the older’s farewells though, Dahyun briskly jogged away from Sana. The small doctor never turned back as she ducked into a left. Sana sighed, the confusion making her tired as she yawned. She looked back to Jeongyeon’s room one last time to make sure her little princess was doing alright, but her heart stopped.

Nayeon sat on the sofa with a bloody puncture to her neck.