“Doctor Wu, your 12 o’clock appointment is here,” Secretary Hong informed Kris.

Kris sipped his coffee and nodded, he had no idea who his 12 o’clock appointment was anyways. “Send them in, please.”

Soon after, the door of his office opened and a small head popped in, “Hello!” A sweet voice chimed.

A smile unknowingly came onto Kris’ lips as he looked up upon hearing the cheerful voice, “Come in, Miss Kwon.”

Hye Mi ignored the formality as she sat down and handed him a folder, “Secretary Hong handed me this outside.”

Kris opened it and took the CT results out; he placed the sheet on the light box and studied the picture. Hye Mi stared at it intensely too, even though she didn’t understand anything on there.

“So… Am I going to die?” She asked, as if it was a normal question.

Kris blinked at her like she wasn’t human, “Umm actually, compared to your last results, the tumor isn’t getting worse…”

“But it’s not going better either,” Hye Mi quietly muttered.

“What was that?” Kris didn’t catch what she said.

“Oh nothing!” She grinned.

“So are you really… not going to take the operation?” Kris asked, he remembered reading through her files the other night.

Hye Mi stopped smiling and started playing with her nails, “Yeah, I’m not.”

Kris wanted to ask why, but as a doctor he knew it was none of his business and kept quiet.

“Besides… I’m already taking all the treatments,” Hye Mi continued, “That’s enough isn’t it?” She laughed.

Kris stayed quiet. Hye Mi was no doubt the first person to say such positive comments about her decreasing health. She is so unique that he has no idea how to respond to her comments. After a few moment of silence, Hye Mi sighed and stood up, “Well, I better get back to the café now. Ahjumma won’t be able to cope with all the customers.”

“Oh okay, you remember the date for your next treatment right? If you don’t I can ask Secretary Hong to-”

“First one is on the 1^st of next month, the next one is 2 weeks after that, the third one is 14^th of May and the fourth one is in exactly 2 months from now isn’t it?” Hye Mi grinned, “I have it on my calendar.”

“Umm… yeah…” Kris nodded, “And you have it in your brain too…” He added quietly in the end.

“Well then, good bye. I’ll see you in 10 days Doctor Wu.” Hye Mi gave him an eye smile before walking to the door.

Kris looked at the closed door after she left; another smile came onto his lips as he shook his head and got out the next patient’s. When he sat down he blinked to himself and sighed. Why am I smiling so much recently?

-----------

Around 8:30pm that day, Kris finally finished all his appointments and went home. He walked down to the car park with a box of files in his hands as he headed over to his black BMW. After a few minutes of packing things around, he started the engine and zoomed off.

While driving, Kris felt his phone vibrating and placed his Bluetooth in his ear, “Hello?”

“Kris oppa, did you hear?! Gucci’s new autumn season just came out!” A squeaky but manly voice squealed.

Kris sighed and rolled his eyes, “You know Tao, if one day we find out that you are actually gay, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“What do you mean find out? I already know I’m gay, for you…” Tao whispered the last 2 words out loud enough so Kris could still hear it.

“Why are we even friends?” Kris chuckled at his best friend’s crazy personality.

Tao rolled his eyes dramatically, “Puh lease, you should be honoured to have such a fashionable friend like moi.”

“Yeah, very proud to have a gay friend like you,” Kris smirked as he switched lanes.

“HEY!” Tao squealed, “I am not gay!”

Kris laughed in response and Tao blew a raspberry, “Urghhh anyways, I was wondering if you’re free now, Gina just came back from New York with a new clothing season and we want you to help us choose which ones she should send to the company.”

“I thought you said I have no sense in fashion and deserved to be banned out of Seoul?” Kris mused jokingly.

He could imagine Tao flick his hand carelessly as he said, “When did I say that? Gosh Kris, how many times have I told you not to make up such ridiculous things about yourself?”

Kris shook his head with a smile, “So whose house is it? Gina’s or yours?”

“How can you ask such a nuisanical question?!” Tao gasped.

“Nuisanical?” Kris asked, slightly amused. His best friend always had ways of creating his own unique words.

“Do you think Gina even has a house?” Tao said and suddenly yelped as Gina pinched his arm.

“DON’T LISTEN TO THE BRAT KRIS! TAO BEGGED ME TO STAY AT HIS PLACE BECAUSE WE JUST WATCHED MAMA BEFORE AND NOW HE CAN’T EVEN GO TO THE TOILET WITHOUT HAVING TO TURN ON ALL THE LIGHTS IN THE HOUSE FIRST!” Kris heard Gina holler loudly in the background and chuckled.

“Okay, I’ll be there in about 20-” Kris froze when he spotted a familiar figure walking out of the supermarket with what looked like too many grocery bags in her hands. “Actually… I don’t think I can make it tonight, I’ll come over tomorrow!”

“WHAT?! Yah Wu Yi Fa-” Tao was about to throw a tantrum when Kris hung up and turned into an empty parking slot. Once he got out he locked his car doors and headed over to the struggling figure.

Hye Mi had just came out of the local supermarket, she had 4 full plastic bags in each hand and was no doubt, having trouble. Shouldn’t have bought so many… Aish. She muttered as she let go of the bags to have a break. Suddenly, she saw two feet in front of her and looked up, “Ehh?”

Kris blinked at her, “Hello to you too?”

“Doctor Wu!” Hye Mi gasped. “What are you doing here?”

Kris was about to open his mouth but had second thoughts. How could he just say that he was driving pass when he saw her and couldn’t help but stop and help her without freaking her out? Awkwardly, he scratched the back of his neck, “Umm I was just walking along here. Do you… Need help with that?”

Hye Mi’s eyes travelled down to the 8 heavy bags on the floor and gulped, of course she needed help, but she didn’t want to seem weak in front of Kris. “Umm… I don’t think so… You must be really busy. I’ll get going now!” Hurriedly, she bent down to grab all her bags. “Good bye, Doctor Wu,” she bowed before waddling off.

Kris frowned as she stumbled her way forward. He didn’t want her to think he was some creepy old stalker man who wanted to be near her, but yet his gut was telling him that he shouldn’t let her walk with all those bags alone. Sighing, he ran after her.

Hye Mi shrieked again when she felt someone taking the bags off her, “Oh my god! You scared me!” She sighed when she realised it was only Kris.

Kris held firmly onto the bags and gave her a small crooked smile, “I’ll help you take these to your car.”

“Umm…” Hye Mi scratched her head awkwardly, “I don’t really have a car…”

Kris’ eyes widened, “You don’t?”

“I don’t really think it’s safe for someone like me… To be driving on the road…” She gave him a meek smile.

Kris thought for a moment before he finally understood what she was talking about. Driving on the road meant paying a lot of attention, and that often lead to bad headaches. “Oh…” His gaze drifted to the floor, “Then do you live near here?”

“Kinda…” Hye Mi trailed off, “About 30 minutes walk?”

Kris’ eyes rounded and he stared at her as if she was speaking gibberish, “30…?”

“Yep,” Hye Mi grinned, “But don’t worry, I’ll manage by myself!” She reached out to take it from him but he jerked back.

“I’ll drive you home then,” Kris warily told her, he was scared she was going to reject his offer again.

“But that’s such a hassle…” Hye Mi lowered her head.

Kris shook his head, “It’s not,” he sincerely told her. “Come on, my car is back there.”

Slowly, Hye Mi followed Kris to his car. When they got to his car, Kris put the bags down and reached for his keys, “You get in first, I’ll put these in the boot.”

Hye Mi nodded and hopped into the passenger side, while Kris put the grocery bags away she took the change to study his glorious car. “Wah… It’s so pretty…” She awed at his glowing music player.

Just as she was about to reach out to touch it, the door opened and Kris hopped in. Startled, she let out a small gasp and pulled her hand back. Kris blinked at her, “What were you about to do?”

“Me? Nothing…” She coughed and started fiddling with her nails.

Kris chuckled at her cuteness, “You wanted to turn music on didn’t you?” Hye Mi bit her lip and he laughed, “Go ahead, I won’t bite.”

Hye Mi turned and stared at him, “Really?”

Kris couldn’t stop smiling at her expression, “Of course.”

Slowly, Hye Mi’s fingers moved towards the buttons. When her fingertips brushed against the buttons, the music started playing. “Wahhh…” Hye Mi awed, “It’s sensitive…”

Kris shook his head at her cluelessness and started the engine. Once the car was on the road, he turned to Hye Mi, “So where’s your house?”

“Just turn right and go straight. I’ll tell you when to turn again when we reach there,” Hye Mi responded, and Kris could hear the nervousness in her tone.

Neither of the two spoke a single word after that. Kris was struggling to come up with a new topic to talk about but seeing Hye Mi stare out the window so calmly made his brain go all fuzzy.

“Turn right at the next block,” Hye Mi finally broke the silence after what felt like a decade.

“I can’t believe you wanted to walk before,” Kris shivered at the thought of himself walking the distance he just drove.

Hye Mi broke into giggles, “I walk every week.”

Kris nodded. “Strong girl,” he commented.

“Why thank you,” Hye Mi responded jokingly and lifted up her hand to reveal her imaginary muscles. “I do like to be strong.”

Kris stared at her for a moment before both of them started laughing.

--

About 10 minutes later, Kris finally arrived in front of a big building.

“Thank you for giving me a lift,” Hye Mi beamed as she unbelted herself.

“Do you want me to help you carry those upstairs?” Kris asked.

Hye Mi bit her lip but responded without hesitation, “No thanks.”

Kris didn’t seem to catch her weird behaviour and nodded, “Well then, I’ll help you take it out of the boot.”

“Thanks, Doctor Wu,” Hye Mi thanked him again once she had too her bags in her hands.

“No problem,” Kris responded and watched her walk into the building. Once she was out of sight, he hopped back into his car and drove off. For once he was glad he had declined Tao.