The scrapping of pen against the sheet of paper was the only noise that dared to disturb the dead silence that was shared between the two people in the room. With her eyebrows slightly furrowed Nari was writing down the last notes about the patient in front of her, the boy getting to finally go home after a couple of months of treatment under her supervision. She looked up at him and saw how he was fidgeting in his seat, tapping his fingers against the wood table that was separating them. A soft smile formed on the woman's lips and she put her clipboard down, looking him in the eyes and reaching to hold his hand softly.

"Mark, I don't get why you are nervous. Most people would have jumped around if they had had the opportunity to leave this place." Her voice was smooth as velvet, a tint of worry tainting her tone. She grew attached to the boy over the time and she couldn't bring herself to see him again in the same state he was brought in. 

"I know noona but staying away from my family and friends for so long made me feel strange. What if they will look at me with different eyes? Will they act the same around me or will they consider me some sort of crazy person?" The young male bit on his lower lip, a habit when he was nervous, and tightened his grip around the doctor's hand.

"Hey buddy, we have talked about this before. The worst part is done - you were brave enough to come here and seek help for your problem. Having a mental illness is not something you have to feel ashamed of or feel scared to share." Nari said in a motherly tone, caressing his soft skin with her thumb. "And I know this sounds a bit harsh but you don't have to cling onto people who don't make you comfortable and don't accept the real you. If you are in any kind of toxic relationship don't be afraid just to cut it off. You don't own anyone an explanation for your actions but yourself. Put yourself on the first place, be selfish if you want to - what really matters the most is your well-being."

"What if...what if I will push everyone away and become lonely?" Mark said with trembling lips trying his best to swallow the lump in his throat. His eyes were no longer looking at the woman in front of him and instead he was looking somewhere behind her shoulder.

"Trust me, you will always have someone by your side. Your supportive parents, your close friends that came almost everyday here to check up on you and even a random stranger. You'll meet a bunch of new persons after you leave and I am sure among them there will be some that will see the galaxies in your eyes and the fire of passion that burns inside you. It may take a while - days, weeks - but eventually you will come across the right people and when that time comes you will know, you will feel accepted despite all your flaws." Nari squeezed his hand a bit and the corners of lifted more than before.

"Even if I go I can still call you, right?" 

"Of course, dear. Call me anytime you want or drop by so we can catch up. Maybe next time we see each other you could show me some of your poems."

"How did you know?" The boy asked startled, his mouth slightly open at the shock of being caught. He was quite sure he tried to hide his hobby of writing and did it only when he was alone in his room. This doctor always had aces up her sleeve and never ceased to amaze him.

"You think that ever growing pile of notebooks would go unnoticed?" Nari chuckled a bit, standing up and picking up her papers having a last good look at Mark. She remembered when she first saw him, skinny as a stick and trembling because of his anxiety. Who knew things were so bad at such a young age? Poor boy was afraid to speak to her for an entire week before they started communicating through words instead of signs and facial expressions.

"Wait noona, may I do something?" He stood up as well and watched her with his big, glossy eyes waiting for her response. The doctor just nodded a bit confused at his out of nowhere question and the next thing she knew were his slender arms wrapped around her body, hugging her tightly as a proof of his affection and gratitude towards her. "Thank you so much, I'll never forget you." He mumbled and Nari just returned his hug, rubbing his back and patting his head.

"I thank you for having trust in me and all my weird methods, okay champion? Just remember, as long as you take your medication and follow my words everything should be alright. If anything comes up just ring me up and I'll be there to help you." She gave him a thumbs up and they both left the room, arriving on the clean, sanitizer smelling hallway that was empty except the nurse going towards the two of them.

"I guess this is our goodbye." Mark let out a audible sigh but smiled in return, the whole place brightening up all of a sudden. "Take care of yourself Nari noona and tell Hansol hyung that he at playing Mario Kart." Chuckling childishly he eyed the nurse and started walking with her towards his room in order to pack his things and leave the clinic.

Nari watched their backs getting smaller and smaller, gripping the sides of her clipboard stronger and blinking away the tears forming in her eyes. Sometimes she wished they didn't leave so soon.

"Hi there, gorgeous. How was your day?"  Hansol, Nari's best friend and also coworker, asked while sitting down next to her at the table she was having lunch in the corner of the cafeteria.

She just simply gave him a dirty look to indicate that she wasn't in the mood for pleasantries and went back to eating her rice in silence. Despite her attitude the smile on the man's face didn't fade one bit, being already used to such treatment from time to time. To be frank, Nari actually felt bed giving him the cold shoulder but today, after Mark's  departure, everything seemed to be less exciting than normally. She knew it was her fault for investing so many emotions into her patients but that's how she was, she couldn't be a robot and just pretend not to care. That was her main strong point, empathy towards people who needed it.

"Okay, what's bothering you? You are being grumpy and it doesn't suit  you." Hansol poked her cheek gently and the other just shrugged lazily, putting her chopsticks down and turning her head to look at him.

"It's nothing, Mark just left and I guess I am feeling a bit empty. Not to mention that I couldn't get any proper sleep last night." Nari ran a hand through her raven black hair and got back to eating her meal.

"Oh yeah, I remember him. He was so bad at Mario Kart." Hansol added as he was munching on kimchi.

"Well that's interesting because he said the same thing about you. Who's lying here, hmm?"

"Oh come on! Who are you going to believe? That kid or your best friend who, if I may add, won a Mario Kart contest in the eighth grade?" The man nudged her playfully and Nari just laughed in response.

"Alright, alright, I got it. You are a god at that game. But if we were to play together you'd let me win, right?"

"Pfff," he scoffed and stuffed his mouth with a piece of meat "of course. I wouldn't like to crush the dreams of a young, dreamy girl. I know how to be a gentleman."

"No wonder that eighty percent