A heavy sigh signaled that the school's library was finally calling it a day. The sound of the rambling key that closed the wooden door was echoing through the hallway, as a feminine hand was letting go of the door knob.

The small frame of the woman turned away slowly, as if time wasn't important, letting her feet take her through the empty corridor which were normally packed with laughing children, scattering books and shutting lockers. Adjusting her belongings while walking felt like a herculean task today and almost made her give up and just leave. But the day wasn't even close to be ending.

The tapping sound of her shoes signaled her that she was the only one left and definetly needed to speed up. If her vision would just not turn blurry all the time... She tried to massage her right temple with one of her hands. It didn't work.

Luckyly she soon found the room she was searching for. A huge sign with the letters teachers room was plastered onto it. Before entering, she took a deep breath. Trying to shook off the nervousness and sickness that seemed to never let go of her body today. Heavy knuckles knocked on the door and waited for a response.

"Come in!" An old and stressed out male voice called.

As soon as she heard those words, she entered the room that was already filled with people. Everyone was sitting on a large table, that was packed with folders, pencil cases and occasionally with notebooks.

"Mrs. Kang, glad to finally see you around. Take a seat so we can continue and get this finished as soon as possible." The same male voice that asked her to enter murmured. It was the voice of a man in his 50's. Face hardened in concentration, crows feet surrounding his eyes which had purple bags beneath them.

With a quick bow, the young teacher found her spot and took her seat.

"Now, that we all gathered here together, I would like to talk with you not only about our students, but also about something some of our children apparently have experienced."

The crowd of teachers began to speculate what the meaning behind those words could have been. And within seconds, the teachers room was filled with loud chatter.

"Silence!" The man called out as his fist was punching the table. Everybody knew the school's principal had a short temper and nobody dared to stress him out even more. And definetly not in a moment like this where it seemed like something bad had happened.

"I know everybody had a long day behind them, so do I, and I know everybody wants to get home as soon as possible, but we need to finish this first." He closed his swollen eyes and waved his hand to indicate that someone should finally start this conference. "Would the teacher of the primary one pupil start, please?"

Folders were opened and as soon as one of the teachers started to give detailed reports of each and every student, everyone else fell into peace and nothing else as the scribling of pencils could be heard.

For Mrs. Kang, who was still fighting against her headache, even this almost not noticible sound was enough to drag her down. With shaky hands, she gulped down a big glass of water in the hopes of feeling better afterwards. But...nothing happened. Maybe she should close her eyes. Just for a split second. Nobody would notice now anyways. A quick look around the group of teachers; nobody was paying attention to her. This was the moment. Everything turned black. Only blurry white stars were dancing around in front of her as the muscles of her forehead seemed to relax a bit with this movement.

Her eyelashes were dark as soot against her fair skin. Leaving a tiny bit of mascara under her eyes as she opened them slowly again and let out a heavy breath.

"Are you alright?"

The brunette turned to the whispering sound of a female teacher.

"Just a headache. That is all." Mrs. Kang tried to force a smile on her face.

"Maybe you should go get some painkillers at the hospital room?" The woman had a sympathetic smile on her face as her warm hand fell onto Mrs. Kang's arm. She seemed to understand the pain the young teacher was going through.

"I am sure you don't miss out much, as you are located in the library most of your working time. And if something important will be discussed, I know where you are." Her dark eyes, which were cupped by fleshy pouches, gave her a warm look that made her understand that she doesn't need to feel sorry for being sick.

Mrs. Kang mouthed a thank you, before she stood up and apologized herself from the teachers conference for a few minutes.

 

Dragging steps were taking Mrs. Kang, weakened by her migraine, through the empty hallway. Again, she thought. To her delight, the hospital room of the school wasn't too far away from the teachers room, which she just left. A sign on the wooden door told her anew where she was.

Dr. Woo – hospital room

Hopefully he could help her. She only met him back as he started his work at this school, which is not that long ago. He seemed to be pretty nice. And pretty young. A sting in her head forced her to finally move on and forget about her thoughts.

Right before entering the small room, the loud sound of a door being closed could be heard. If her co-teacher was already on her way to find her, she had to hurry and get inside. Quickly she turned around, but there was noone to be seen. She shrugged it off and was about to knock onto the door, as said one opened and a young boy left the room. A huge plaster on one of his knees.

Mrs. Kang turned her eyes on one of her students as he happyly high-fived someone.

"Mrs. Kang!" He excitely called her as he saw her standing right in front of him. "Look what plaster Dr. Woo gave me! It has dinosaurs on it!"

"Wow, Daewon-ah, dinosaurs! Only the bravest students get those ones." She assured him as she took a look at the red plaster with green dinosaurs. The bright colours only making it harder for her to focus.

He beamed up to her, but soon remembered that his mother was waiting outside for him to go back home. He waved a goodbye with his small hands and ran out of the school with his huge backpack.

"So..." A tall frame appeared next to the young woman. "How can I help you? Do you need a dinosaur plaster, too?"

Her eyes tried to fixate the face next to her.

"No. No plaster. But some painkillers." A weak smile appeared on her face as another sting behind her eyes made it hard to see clear.

"Please, come inside."

The both of them stepped into the white room and a heavy scent of antiseptics greeted them. Mrs. Kang inhaled deeply and took a quick glimpse of the room.

A desk with a telephone and a computer for receiving and writing down all the important information about the student was inside. Additionally, for students who felt sick, two beds which were seperated by a windbreak could be found. Overall most of the furniture was white and just packed and filled with medication and dressing material. Hopefully painkillers would hide somewhere inside.

"So, how can I help you, Mrs. Kang?" Dr. Woo took a seat on the rolling step stool and turned into her direction. "You said something about painkillers, right?" He put on his spectacles and turned his gaze back at her.

"Yes...I do have migraine, but no medicine with me..." She trailed off. It was getting more and more difficult for her to stay focused while her eyes tried to mix up everything they saw.

"I see...please, take a seat. I will search some pills for you." His slender legs put him back onto the floor and took him to one of the wall-cupboards. It seemed pretty elegant how his long fingers were searching for the right box of pills. They were in complete contrast with his broad shoulders, that were hidden beneath the white coat he was wearing for work.

While the young man was searching, Mrs. Kang took a seat on one of the beds, closing her eyes.

"Do you happen to have these migraine attacks often?"

"They do come regularly." She answered with still closed eyes. "But it is always so suddenly, that I can't do anything against it."

Dr. Woo felt remorseful.

"I guess I can only give you this for of now." His big hands were holding a package of headache tablets and a glass of sparkling water in front of her.

Under heavy lids, she tried to adjust to the dazzling lights inside, thanking the doctor for his help before she took the pills and swallowed them whole. Her brows knit under the bitter taste of the white drops.

"If this happens more often, like you said, please consult a doctor in a special clinic." His words felt soft and pure over the hammering pain she still felt.

All of a sudden she felt his hands on her temples. His thumbs resting on top of her eyebrows, applying just the smallest amount of pressure onto them. At the same time his index finger and middle finger were moving in small circles around her temples.

Mrs. Kang escaped a little groan of delight at his touch.

"Does it ease the pain?"

"It...does."

"Good." Fingers still moving, his gaze was focused on the round face just barely away from him.

"If you want to, you can lay down and wait until the painkillers work. I still have some paperwork to do. So if you need anything, just call out for Dr. Woo and I will be there to your rescue...Mrs. Kang." A heartfelt laugh filled the room with warmth and sincerety. This time, the young woman did not even feel the typical pain that appeared with every sound louder than a mouse.

"I guess I can't say no to this offer then." Her small mouth agreed in a weak smile.

Dr. Woo stopped his little massage and seemed to feel satisfied with the just spoken agreement. His black marble eyes were dancing as he spun his stool around in the direction of his desk to scribble something down on an index card.

In this moment it became just as silent as it always was in the library Mrs. Kang worked all the time. Only the sound of a pen and the steady breathing of people could be detected. She felt somewhat home. Letting herself fall into a comfortable position on the small bed and closing her eyes. Just for a few moments...

 

The tall man tried his best to be as quiet as possible as he prepared a little box with medication for his patient. Writing down which pills had to be taken at what times and whom she could contact if it all got worse. Just in case, he thought.

The last number had just been written down, as Mrs. Kang slowly opened her eyes again. The throbbing headache she felt for the last couple of hours seemed to have faded away. Only a light feeling of being extremely tired was left.

"You woke up." Stated a kind of happy male voice.

The brunette tried to locate where the sound was coming from and found Dr. Woo standing at a small white locker near the door, hands inside the pocket of a jacket.

"I prepared some pills for you. Against your headache and if you should feel naseous from your migraine, too." His long and slim legs braught him back fast to the young teacher, who finally sat up on the bed.

"Do you feel any better now?"

"Yes, thank you." Mrs. Kang felt that the young doctor must have been concerned, but shook this thought off of her mind.

"Well, then if you don't mind, I would like to say this is the ending of my working day then." Another hearty laugh left his lips, "And you still have some work going on right now, I guess."

"The conference!" Mrs. Kang jumped up in realisation that she must have missed the whole discussion and had a scared expression on her face.

"Don't worry. You only missed about 20 minutes." His arm was straddling to get into the sleeve of his jacket. "That is the average time for medicaments to start helping."

This man was doing a really good job, the teacher thought as she tried to push the mere thought about a missed conference aside. Although he was still so young. She felt a blush rushing to her ears and tried to cover them with her long hair.

"Mrs. Kang?" Question marks were falling out of his eyes as he held the door open for the young woman.

"On my way!" Her hands were fixing her blue skirt before she made her way up to meet the young man on the exit and slip by his body to get into the corridor.

The doctor's keys made a rustling sound as he locked the door the both of them just came out from. With a content smile he made eye contact with the teacher in front of him, "I am glad I could help out a bit." A relieved sigh escaped his full lips, "And don't forget about your medicine. Okay?"

A small nod was made into his direction.

"Great. So, Mrs. Kang, if you start to feel bad again tomorrow...simply knock on my door and let me know... Have a successful conference and a safe trip home." He slightly bowed, before he started walking away. Leaving the head of the library behind.

The brunette was taken aback. He was leaving so fast. She still had some questions left. Maybe some other time... Her eyes darted to the pills in her hands. Or maybe she should just reconsider her plan.

"Dr. Woo?" She wanted to take a step further, but stopped midway.

"Yes?" The tall doctor turned around with a hint of hope in his eyes as he glanced down to the brunette teacher.

"May I ask you something? I mean...something personal?"Mrs. Kang tried avoiding eye contact with the man in front of her, which seemed harder to achieve as she thought. Her fingers were playing nervously with the packaging of the medicament.

"...sure."An eased smile creeped on his plump lips. "What is it?"

"How..." The small box crushed under her fidgeting fingers. "How old are you?" Her ears started burning like fire, the heat reaching out to touch her cheeks and turn her face into a crimson blush. There was nothing else despite her heartbeat that could be heard in the hallway.

"Ah, Mrs. Kang. You surprise me. Something so bold coming from you. Maybe I gave you the wrong pills?" He joked as his hand lightly tried to cover the growing smile on his lips. "But I will tell you anyways." He bend his long body down to her, trying to catch her gaze. "I am 24." His eyes studying her face in anticipation of her reaction.

The young teacher didn't dare to move. The mixed smell of disinfectant spray and cologne had a heady effect on her. Making her unable to think straight.

Her spirit of surviving this situation sank with every second she was being eyed by the man in front of her. There was no chance of getting sick at work ever again.

"Oh!" Her eyes darted upwards, starring right into the flat eyes of the doctor. "The conference is waiting on me." The words just bubbled out of and seemed to be a slight mistake during their rather awkward going conversation.

Dr. Woo's smile dissapeared as he straightened up his position and broke off their eye contact.

"I understand..." He placed his hands into the pockets of his beige jacket he put on earlier while his lips where turning into a rather thin line as a slight puff left his nostrils.

"I am really sorry." Mrs. Kang mumbled and bowed her head in apology. The plastic inside the medication packaging must have been broken now, too. The grip around it still tightening.

Before turning around and leaving Dr. Woo behind, she bit her lip, her eyes fixating the ground again. She could have cursed at herself for being so dumb. But there would be enough chances to do so. At least every time these two would meet in the hallway.

With a dry mouth she continued to get back to the conference room, but was stopped from doing so halfway.

"Mrs. Kang!"His voice echoed through her head and made her stop in her tracks, but not turning around.

"I still enjoy talking to you!"

The grip around the small box softened as her feet finally directed her back to work.