Irene had just finished a craniotomy and was dying for a very belated lunch. She wandered into the attendings’ lounge to grab the food she’d left in the fridge and was surprised to find a small gathering of attendings crowded around the small table in there. Irene paused in the doorway, trying to figure out what was going on.

Sowon, Seulgi, and Nayoung were crowded around a sheet of paper, whispering to each other.

“Am I interrupting something?” Irene finally asked.

All three of the attendings jumped and turned around guiltily.

Instead of denying anything, she was surprised to hear Seulgi say, “Irene, just who we needed! Come here.”

Amused and curious, Irene walked over to them and peered over Seulgi’s shoulder to see what they were talking about. She blinked when she realized it was a roughly drawn out web of all of the romantic relationships happening in the surgery wing at the moment.

“I don’t want to be involved,” Irene said and tried to leave, but Seulgi caught her wrist and kept her there. “This sounds like trouble.”

“What’s life without a little trouble?” Seulgi asked teasingly, smiling wide.

“It’s not even as bad as you probably think,” Sowon reassured her. “We’re just starting a betting pool.”

Irene opened then closed it. She pressed her lips together in disapproval before cuffing Seulgi over the head. When Seulgi cried out and looked at her in betrayal, Irene scolded her, “What do you think you’re doing? This is a terrible idea.”

“It was a nurse’s idea!” Seulgi whined.

“It’s not a bad idea,” Nayoung spoke up.

Irene didn’t know the other attending very well, but she knew Nayoung was said to be a very practical person. Where was that practicality now?

“People make money and we stay caught up on everyone’s drama,” Nayoung shrugged. She softened her curt words by adding, “We’re surgeons, Irene. No one cares about the money. We just care about seeing our friends do smart things about their love lives.”

“Then why involve the money in the first place?” Irene countered.

Nayoung smiled wryly. “In case you haven’t noticed, surgeons are pretty bad at expressing feelings. If you add money to the deal, it makes it easier for them to care without appearing like they care.”

Irene hadn’t thought of it that way. She sighed and cuffed Seulgi again, gentler this time. “I still say this is a bad idea.”

Seulgi noticed the softer hit and read between the lines. She grinned up at Irene like a kid at Christmas and hugged her around her waist enthusiastically. “It’ll work out,” Seulgi promised her. “We’re gonna let the nurses take over. They seemed the best suited for keeping track of how everything is going.”

“Meaning you’ll be harassing Joy into taking over for you,” Irene said with a roll of her eyes.

“Joy loves this sort of stuff!” Seulgi said. “Besides, I would’ve asked Chaeyeon or Umji, but they’re part of the web.”

Irene threw her hands up and said, “I don’t want to know.” She walked over to the fridge to grab her food and walked out of the lounge, not being stopped this time, but she heard someone walking after her. She stopped and waited for Seulgi to catch up before walking again.

“Are you really that upset about the betting thing?” Seulgi asked nervously. “We figured it be fun, like stress relief. None of us are actually going to meddle, I think. Nayoung just meant that we’ll be observing and that might be enough. I actually am not completely sure how it works, but if you think it’s that bad, I can try to convince them not to do it. I didn’t mean to upset you. I even thought you might like it because you’re so competitive.”

“Seulgi,” Irene said, cutting off her rambling, “you’re betting on your co-workers’ love lives. What part of that sounds like a good idea?”

“We’re just seeing who’s the most perceptive,” Seulgi replied meekly. “I would’ve bet on you to make the most correct predictions, but if you aren’t going to do it, I’ll vote Nayoung.”

Irene rolled her eyes. “Do what you want, but I reserve the right to say I told you so.”

“Deal!” Seulgi nodded, beaming at Irene’s vague approval. She looped their arms together and asked, “Now, why don’t we get you a real meal?”

“Since when does salad not count as a real meal?” Irene asked dryly.

“Since you’ve been on your feet for hours doing a craniotomy,” Seulgi retorted smartly. At Irene’s look of surprise, she grinned. “What, you didn’t think I wouldn’t have noticed you were in surgery?”

“Most surgeons can barely keep track of when they’re supposed to be in surgery, let alone keep track of when their friends are,” Irene said, blushing.

Seulgi smirked triumphantly. “Good thing I’m not most surgeons then. Now come on, we’re grabbing you a burger and fries.”

“That’s so unhealthy.”

“I’ll let you get a cookie too.”

Irene bit her lip, letting her sweet tooth get the better of her. “Fine, but you owe me drinks this Friday.”

Suddenly, Seulgi stumbled a bit and stammered, “Uh, well…”

“Do you have plans?” Irene asked in surprise. She loved Seulgi with all her heart, but the other woman had become a bit of a homebody since becoming an attending. The only time she ever went out nowadays was with Irene.

Seulgi shrugged bashfully. “Wendy asked me out for drinks, and I said yes.”

“So, like a date?” Irene asked curiously, keeping her tone light to hide the turmoil inside of her. Seulgi was perfectly allowed to go out to drinks with Wendy, except for the fact that it used to always just be her thing with Irene. It’s fine.

Seulgi shrugged again. “I don’t know, maybe. We’re meeting at eight, so why don’t you join us at nine? I’m sure Wendy wouldn’t mind.”

“Maybe,” Irene said vaguely. First, she needed to get her mind wrapped around her jealousy toward Wendy and why. “For now, you owe me a cookie.”