“Doctor Kim, a new patient has just arrived. Room 801.”

Taeyeon turned her head to the clock hanging on the wall. It was there for a reason—to tell her how long it would be before her shift would end. Time seemed to go slower the more she looked at it.

11:11P.M. Damn. Only forty-nine minutes and she would have been able to escape to her three-story complex after having done an all-nighter shift. The pay was good, but the work was damn hard. Sometimes she just wanted to run away from this place.

Obligated to see to her duties, Taeyeon buttoned up her white coat and sluggishly walked over to the elevator.

“Where is she? I’m about to pass out from all this blood loss!” Tiffany dramatically whined, lying on the bed with her hand holding a bloodied cloth over her wound.

“Fany?” Taeyeon had quickened her pace over to her friend the second she heard the loud megaphone’s voice in the hallway.

“Hey, Tae. You sure took your sweet time.” Tiffany said, her pained expression smoothing out to make a smile.

“What happened to your head? I thought you were out on a date?”

Shrugging, Tiffany sipped her banana milk as if she were shooting a commercial for it.

Taeyeon gulped. She was suddenly craving for some banana milk.

“Yeah. The girl was an absolute compulsive liar though. I knew something was up when she took us to some abandoned warehouse. Turns out she was just trying to ambush me to steal my organs.”

“Um, what the ?” Taeyeon cursed, immediately dropping the pair of gloves to reach over the bed and lift up Tiffany’s shirt. No stitches, no blood. Good. But just a whole lot of smooth skin and tight girl abs. Bad. So bad for Taeyeon’s heart.

“I’m fine. She chose the wrong girl to mess with.” Tiffany chuckled softly as the vibrations would just make her wound hurt more. “Thank god for the pepper spray that you gave me. I managed to use it on her to give myself some time to knock her out with a piece of wood I found nearby.”

“This is insane.”

“I know right! The lying ! I hadn’t eaten all day since she told me we were going to this really good buffet place. At least feed me first before taking my organs!” Tiffany huffed before reaching over to shove a grape into .

Taeyeon shook her head, exasperated. Leave it to Tiffany to be upset over the wrong things.

“Did you call the cops? How did you injure yourself?” Taeyeon dabbed a piece of cotton with water and shortly wrestled with Tiffany, who refused to remove her hand.

Wincing as Taeyeon wiped the cotton over the cut, Tiffany said, “I tripped on a crack while I was running away and then hit my head on a sharp rock. Never run in the dark while calling the cops.” Tiffany’s cheeks flushed. “Seriously, it could happen to anyone.”

“Nah,” Taeyeon grinned and cleaned up the rest of the blood off of Tiffany’s pretty forehead. Poor forehead. There was definitely going to be a scar. “It could only happen to you or paid actors in movies.”

“Shut up.” Tiffany tossed a grape at Taeyeon.

“Sorry, I’m not the kind of doctor that quietly works on their patients and then leaves. I like to engage with my patients, and right now, I have a lot to say. Like how the hell did you even meet this chick?”

“At a concert. You know the one that you refused to go to even though I bought us tickets months in advance. Just so you know, I’m still salty about it.”

“You’re making it sound as if it’s my fault that you met her.”

Tiffany raised a brow and leaned in a bit. “Isn’t it though? If you had come along I wouldn’t have paid any attention to her.”

Taeyeon’s neck suddenly felt hot. “So you’re saying you wouldn’t have given her the time of day because your attention would be on me instead?”

Naturally, Tiffany leaned in further as she noticed Taeyeon’s eyelids dip a bit. What are you expecting, Kim Taeyeon?

“Of course not. I’d be too busy jamming at the concert. You’re the one she’d probably hit on instead.” Tiffany pulled away to laugh heartily.

Wow. Classic troll.

“So you’d rather I be in your place?! Wow, some friend you are!” Taeyeon accidentally put too much pressure onto Tiffany’s cut, making the girl whimper as she continued to laugh.

“Dammit, Tae! That hurt!” Tiffany half-cried and half-giggled.

“Put your own damn bandaid on.”

“Is that any way for a doctor to speak to her patient? Jokes aside, I’m not wishing you to experience what I just did. I just know you. You’d cut off her advances the instant she tried to make a move on you since you’re too much of a house fairy slash workaholic to agree to a date with her.”

“Err, thanks, I guess?” It sounded more like an insult though, but since this was Tiffany talking, it was probably the nicest compliment she was going to get.

“Now can you patch me up?” Tiffany propped her forehead up and waited as Taeyeon sighed and finished the job. “I gotta heal quickly and get back to the dating scene.”

“Already? Shouldn’t you be traumatized by now? No offense, but you tend to meet the tiest human beings that have ever walked the planet.”

Tiffany rolled her eyes. “Okay, no offense, but I am definitely offended, but I guess I can see what you’re saying. Still, I’m almost turning thirty. I don’t want to be alone for the rest of my life, Tae. Being scared to put myself out there isn’t how I want to live my life.”

“Even though you know there’s a possibility that you’d get hurt? Even though it might ruin whatever relationship you built with that person if it doesn’t work out?” Where the hell was she going with this? She couldn’t stop talking, which was surprising since the only one who could never stop talking was Tiffany.

“Yes.” Tiffany shrugged her shoulders. “If that happens and I’m already thirty, I’ll just date you then.”

It was definitely a joke, but it still made Taeyeon’s heart skip a beat. Trying to play it off coolly, Taeyeon gave a lopsided smirk and crossed her arms over her chest. “Is this the best deal you can make, Counselor Hwang? Sorry, I’m not that desperate, no matter how single and old you get.”

“Ow, ow, it hurts.” Tiffany suddenly grimaced as she gingerly touched her bandaged forehead.

“What? What’s wrong?” Taeyeon asked, rushing over to inspect Tiffany’s wound. She was in the process of lifting up the bandage when she felt an arm snake around her waist.

“You’re not that desperate, huh, Taetae? That’s fine with me. I’m desperate enough for the both of us.” Without so much as a warning, Tiffany pressed her lips to Taeyeon, letting it linger there for a brief second before pulling back. Smiling shamelessly, Tiffany said as she tapped her watch, “Oh, would you look at the time. It’s past midnight, which means I’ve officially turned the big three-oh.”

“Happy birthday, Fany,” was all Taeyeon could mumble as she crawled onto the bed, curled her fingers into Tiffany’s hair and kissed her back, unable to stop kissing her and no longer wanting to escape this place as she had wanted to forty-nine minutes ago.

Tick tock, tick tock.

Edit: HOW CAN YOU NOT BE DESPERATE FOR TIFFANY?! SKLDFJAWUIFOUWJFLAAKDFJKEWOVEJRK >_<