The ward was bustling when Jihyo took over the shift at 7am in the morning. With school exams just round the corner, there was a surge in the number of adolescent hospital admissions. She had heard that nurses on shift tended to have a full workload during this period, with all hands on deck, and for some reason, Jihyo had been rostered every single day of the week. 

The streaks of morning sunlight pierced through the hospital windows and she winced at the glare. The throbbing against her temples grew more insistent, like a war drummer headed to its first battle. For the umpteenth time today, Jihyo longed for her bed waiting for her at home. She would do anything to be all tucked in under her fluffy cocoon of duvet covers.

Jihyo had woken up with a stuffy nose and scratchy throat this morning. She had thought that her allergies were acting up again, especially with the recent hazy weather, and had hoped that it would go away once she stepped into the fully air-conditioned institution. At least that was the case for the past few days. Yet, with every passing minute, Jihyo was increasingly aware of just how sore her bones felt, the weakness in her knees and deepening numbness in her toes.

Allergies go away after a few hours, as long as there is an absence of allergens. Allergies are not contagious. She willl not be able to pass on her allergies to her patients. 

Jihyo bit her lip, praying hard that this was just a more severe episode of allergies. Yep, that's right. She willed herself not to dwell too much on it. 

Just get through this day, and you'll be fine.

She cannot afford to go on medical leave now, it just did not feel right. Her fellow colleagues were equally overworked and it did not seem fair to simply pass on her duties to them.

The idea of crawling back into her dim, cosy bedroom was extremely tempting though. She sighed. 

"Song Jihyo! Stop blanking out and pass me two packets of Resource Plus!" Hyemi's shrill voice rang out as she gestured wildly at the junior nurse from Hani's bed. "Just how many times do you need me to repeat myself?!"

Urgh. 

Jihyo looked at the digital clock hanging from the ceiling. 

7:30am.

She shuffled resignedly to the cupboard next to the nurses' counter, reaching for the packets of nutritional supplements. She could see the red blinking light of an activated call button, beseeching for her to attend to it. Across the aisle, were the beginnings of a tantrum.  

Only eight more hours to go. 

Jongkook strolled through the hospital hallway at the start of his shift. He was in great spirits today. It was a gorgeous day out and driving into work was a breeze, with green lights every step of the way. He had just returned from a week long training in Australia and was looking forward to spending time on shift with his favourite Dongsaeng. 

With one Song Jihyo.

After Jongkook allowed himself to acknowledge his feelings for her, he was increasingly aware that his eyes seemed to move on autopilot, constantly searching for her presence.

Is it merely a schoolboy crush? 

Jongkook also developed a compulsion to look up from whatever he was doing, just to check if she was around, once every few minutes. And when he's not on the same shift as her, he found himself hoping to bump into her at the lift or the stairwells, the carpark or the staff lounge. It made no sense at all, considering that she shouldn't even be at the hospital if she's not at work. Even so, he yearned for a glimpse of her. 

Or perhaps, something more? 

This constant desire to be around her seemed exceptionally silly considering that Jongkook was with her almost every other day. He smiled to himself, feeling foolish. And when he did go on shift with Jihyo, work seemed to be a wonderful place. Ward processes seemed smoother, patient management was easier,  and the day passed a lot quicker.

Way too quickly for his liking, actually.

"Morning, Jongkook-ssi!" 

Jongkook paused, mid stride, at the sound of his name and Hyemi bounced over to him. "Eo, Hyemi-ssi, morning. How's everyone doing?" His eyes met hers briefly and he gave her a friendly smile. He tried to focus on the female nurse as she started to rattle off, giving him the latest updates about the patients under their care. He nodded, when she paused, to acknowledge the information given to him, his eyes scanning the ward.

"So we should give her the NG tube?" Hyemi asked, one perfectly drawn eyebrow arched. "You sure?" She asked as she pursed her brightly painted lips. 

Ah. 

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that question again?" Jongkook asked, suddenly embarrassed by his lack of attentiveness. He could feel his ears turning hot as he rubbed them absentmindedly.

Hyemi responded with a stutter, "Eo, Jongkook-ssi," she fluttered her eyes closed and patted his arm. Did she think that he was