Suho had been a bit shocked by what Baekhyun had told him. He realised that Sur had filled a gap that Taeyeon had unknowingly put in Baekhyun. He knew though that another scandal for Baekhyun would definitely be bad. He wondered what he could do to help him. He thought of calling Taeyeon and asking her to make more time for her boyfriend. In the end, he decided not to get that much involved. Baekhyun had not asked him to help him like that, he had just needed a listening ear and non-judgemental advice.

Suho had left early the next morning and Baekhyun was really grateful to him. Baekhyun spent yet another day, racking his brain about what he had done. It didn’t occur to him that all he thought about was Sur. He scrolled through their conversations together over and over again. He played the video he had taken of her as she cooked over and over again. He sometimes caught himself smiling at the memories and he would immediately want to cry. He had almost called her many times too. Despite everything, Sur was definitely an amazing friend and he still hoped for her presence in his life.

*

Sur had not slept so peacefully after the call with Baekhyun. She kept tossing back and forth till the morning. She was so tired in the morning that she didn’t wake up to see the others off. Rather, they came to her and said their goodbyes after promising them she wouldn’t miss her breakfast for anything. BoYoung had kissed her on her forehead and Sur had found such great comfort in that. As soon as they left, she fell into a deep slumber, her mind now occupied with thoughts of how fortunate she was to be with this loving family.

JoongKi kept thinking about Sur whilst he was at work. His mind couldn’t let go of that sad look she had hid behind her cheery voice as she narrated her story during supper the previous night. Her eyes had not reflected the same excitement as her voice. He decided that he had to talk to Sur privately. He found himself driving back home a few minutes before lunch hour. When he got to the house, he headed straight to the girl’s room and knocked softly on the door.

Sur was still sleeping when JoongKi got home. She heard the knock on her door distantly while still in dreamland. She woke up slowly, taking time to fully come to before she heard the knock again, clearer this time around. She looked at her phone to check the time. It had just struck lunch hour so she assumed it was BoYoung. But then BoYoung wouldn’t have waited so long for her to come in.

“Come in.” she shouted towards the door and in came JoongKi. Sur immediately sat up straight and brushed her hair with her hands to look a bit more presentable. “Sir? Good afternoon.” She felt a bit nervous about this visit. This was the first time that JoongKi had visited her in her room alone without his wife or sister.

“Afternoon Sur.” JoongKi replied as he grabbed a chair from her window desk and set it closer to her bed before he sat down on it. “How are you feeling?”

Sur knew the question came from a good place, even though she was not a morning person, she never slept till this late unless she was sick. “I am fine. I just had a restless night.”

He could see from her cheeks that Sur had cried at some point, dried tear stains serving as enough evidence. “What made you restless? What was on your mind?”

Sur bit her lower lip and started rubbing her temples as she contemplated on what to tell JoongKi. “Nothing much.” Came the hesitant reply to the doctor.

“Sur, look at me…” JoongKi held the wrist of the hand that had been rubbing circles onto her temples and waited for her to look at him. “I know you’re not fine. What happened?”

Her lower lip trembled as she closed her eyes, taking deep breaths to try and will away the avalanche of tears that was threatening to flow down. “I can’t…I…” Then it broke free and she shook as she cried her eyeballs out. JoongKi moved to the bed and held her, her head on his shoulder as he rubbed her back and allowed her to cry while whispering encouraging words to her. He knew he had to be patient and allow her to let it all out. At least she was talking to someone.

After some time, she finally calmed down a bit. “It’s okay Sur. Everything will be alright.” She started hiccupping and he went downstairs to get her some water to drink. “You didn’t eat your breakfast.” He stated when he came back.

“I was sleeping the whole morning.” She explained as she took several gulps of the water. “Thank you.”

“Okay.” He settled into his old spot. “Now talk to me.”

“I did something silly,” she began. “My breakup with Vic really messed up my mind and I umm…”

“You..?”

“I had a one night stand yesterday night and I feel really bad about it.” A fresh bout of tears escaped from her eyes and JoongKi lay a comforting hand on hers. “It was my first time with a man and he didn’t force me or anything but I feel really bad.”

JoongKi felt a rush of rage he didn’t quite understand. He balled his knuckles into a fist. “Do you know each other well with this guy?”

“Not really. I might have developed some feelings for him but he has made it clear that he doesn’t feel the same way, I’m just being a baby about it” Sur was no longer crying but that hand was back on her temples again. “I did take contraception though.” She said as an afterthought since that would probably be a concern to him, being a doctor and all.

“Well, I don’t know what to say. If you used contraception then great. I know you’re feeling under the blue now but what’s happened has happened. Don’t let one mistake strip you of your