When they reach the hall, Wendy finds herself caught in the glow of light spilling from the living room, where a manly figure, whom Wendy assumes is Irene’s father, sits on a large black sofa. A table stands in front of the dignified white-haired man, level with his knees, bearing a half-finished jigsaw puzzle on a board. The rest of the pieces are in the box beside him on the floor, inches away from his feet. He turns around and looks Wendy full in the face. The first thing that catches her attention is his eyes - brown and gentle, much like Irene's.

“Hello,” he says, giving her a warm, inviting smile, “nice to meet you, Seungwan.” Seungwan. Him calling Wendy by her Korean name makes her wonder how much Irene has talked about her to the Bae family. He motions her to sit on the sofa. The nervous brunette looks at Irene, waiting for some sort of cue from the psychiatrist. Irene mouths a ‘go’, and Wendy proceeds on making her way. Then Irene heads to the kitchen.

Wendy perches on the farthest sofa and places her backpack beside her. She lays her hands on her lap, her fingers curling and uncurling, as she looks around the hall. It’s tastefully done, with lots of inventive little touches - hideaway stools that slide into the wood of the table and a dismantled chandelier overhead, all bare bulbs and shards of metal. It reminds her of an exquisite furniture exhibition.

“Want to help me with this puzzle?” the man asks, eyes fixed on Wendy. The brunette inwardly squirms under the attention. "Ah,” he lightly slaps his forehead, “I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself to you. I’m Irene’s father, you can call me Eric.” He outstretches his arm, and Wendy edges closer, gracefully extending hers as well, to give him a meek handshake.

“Your hand is cold,” Eric comments, and Wendy notices the flicker of amusement in his eyes. “But fret not, with all the warmth this house is radiating, you’ll be feeling cozy in no time,” he adds with a ray of smile painted on his lips. “And Seungwan, I wasn’t joking about helping me out with this puzzle. Here young lady,” he pats on the space beside him, “an old man needs your help.”

Wendy does as told. She loves jigsaw puzzles. Fitting together the different pieces into one frame to complete the picture - being able to solve a puzzle gives her a sense of satisfaction. It makes up for her lack of ability to fix her real problems.

But she's been trying. And she holds onto Irene's promise to be there for her.

"Think we can complete this before the ladies in the kitchen are done?" he asks as soon as Wendy parks herself beside him.

"I like puzzles," Wendy mutters as she stares at the incomplete puzzle. Her brain starts moving in gears and she makes a mental calculation. "Maybe," she speaks quietly as she looks at Eric, "we can complete only three quarters of it."

Eric hums. "Well, that's more progress than I've made the past two days," he chuckles. He takes the box and passes it to Wendy. "Lead the way, Seungwan."

In the kitchen, Irene is busy helping her mother with the food. As she transfers the rice cake soup from the pot to the bowl, she catches sight of her nosy younger sister, hiding behind the kitchen wall, peeking out at the people in the living room. “Hey rascal,” Irene calls out, “mind helping us instead of spying on dad and my friend?”

The younger girl spins round and purses her lips. “Mom, unnie called me a rascal.”

Their mother, Victoria, laughs and shakes her head. The two sisters are always bickering and she has grown immune to it. She would rather stay out of it. “Girls, less talk and more work. We have a guest tonight.”

Smugly, the corner of Irene's lips tugs upward, earning a scoff from her younger sister. The psychiatrist decides to aggravate her sister even more by sticking out her tongue. The younger one’s brows rally in a scowl. She grits her teeth and trudges over to the kitchen counter, ignoring Irene’s attempt to fuel her irritation.

A sudden idea strikes the younger and she snickers, "Your high school girlfriend's hot." Two can play the game.

Irene shoots an angry glare at her sister. "She's graduating this February!" The age difference between her and Wendy has always been a touchy subject for her. She doesn’t need to be reminded that she is crushing on her own patient, who also happens to be seven years younger than her.

"Doesn't change the fact you're crushing on a girl my age, you nasty predator!" Krystal cackles, wiggling her eyebrows.

"You little-" Irene would have no qualms killing this brat of a sister if it weren't for her mother's intervention.

"Drop it, Krystal," their mother warns as she gives Krystal a look of disapproval. "Stop disturbing your sister."

The younger crosses her arms, disgruntled that their mother has once again defended Irene. "I wouldn't have if that overachieving daughter of yours didn't start it first," she huffs in annoyance.

"Not my fault you're slower than me, numb skull."

"Language, Joohyun," Victoria admonishes the older one.

Krystal suppresses a laugh. Witnessing her sister getting reprimanded is a sight to marvel at, especially since Irene is an adult. In her view, adults are supposed to be wiser. And seeing how unwise Irene is at home, she frequently wonders if it is that hard for Irene to bring back home a piece of her brain and a part of her heart instead of leaving everything at her doctor's office. "This is what happens when you take the accelerated path. You become emotionally stunted... And vertically challenged. Just look at your height. Makes me wonder why you're even a psychiatrist," she ends her string of verbal assaults with a dramatic sigh.

If there is one thing Krystal excels in, it would be provoking Irene, pushing all the right buttons. Some people are master button-pushers, and Krystal sickeningly happens to be one. It frustrates Irene to acknowledge the fact that she can never win an argument against her sly little sister. "I'm going-"

"Enough," Victoria raises her voice slightly. She draws out a sigh. "Girls, just, please. I don't want to keep reminding you that we have a guest with us."

That instantly ends the squabble between the sisters, and they shuffle to their feet to get their tasks done, both donning sour looks on their faces.

"Wow," Eric clasps his hands together, lips curling into a proud smile. "You're really accurate, Seungwan."

Within that short span, both Wendy and Eric had managed to complete three-fourth of the 500-pieces puzzle, just as what she had predicted. Eric had noted how focused the girl was at picking out the fitting pieces. She didn't look elsewhere, her eyes only alternated between the box and the board. Sometimes, when he spoke to her, she wouldn't respond. She seemed to have fully immersed herself in the solving the puzzle. Her persistence and high level of patience, amazed and surprised Eric.

To Eric, this is a positive sign that Wendy is on the right track. With that same amount of determination she puts in to solve the puzzle, that could also help her to live, not just survive. Eric knows a fighter when he sees one, and he definitely sees Wendy as one.

"Seungwan," Eric speaks again, and this time, Wendy has her attention on him. "You should come over often. I have many puzzle sets that need to be completed, your company would be greatly appreciated. And I’m sure my wife would love having you around."

"W-well-" the brunette stutters. Spending time at the Bae residence, completing jigsaw puzzles with Irene's father and holding conversations with Irene’s mother? The idea doesn't scare her, she just isn't sure if it's a good one.

"We're done!" Krystal hollers as she saunters into the living room from the kitchen, carrying a tray of food. "Wen-wen! Come here, cutie!" Krystal exclaims, grinning, with excitement dancing in her eyes.

Irene wants to dig a hole and hide in it. Krystal is embarrassing her, giving Wendy nicknames, as if they were bestfriends since young. She sees the look of confusion crossing Wendy's face, and the psychiatrist mentally facepalms herself.

It takes a while for Wendy to register Krystal's words before she feels a hand lightly tugging on her wrist. Her gaze travels up, and she meets the girl's friendly eyes, the glint of mischief evident as well. "Hi, I'm Krystal, Irene's underachieving little sister," the girl introduces herself brightly. "And we're the same age! So I'll call you Wendy, and you can call me Krystal, or gorgeous, your pick," she winks, causing a blush to crawl up the brunette's cheeks.

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