SEVEN.

It had been a week since Sumin heard from Sehun, and she knew better.

He was absent for nearly 2 days when she finally built up the guts to approach Minseok and ask how he was doing; however, he merely brushed her off by saying Sehun was an adult and he could take care of himself (which she found really ironic of him to say).

The day after, Sehun finally showed up but the strange thing was, he always occupied himself with work and instead of Sumin, he asked Kento to accompany him during rounds. It was as if she was moving forward and he was moving back, when Sumin finally came to a conclusion. He was avoiding her.

Whenever he gathered his interns, he avoided going to her direction and every time she tried to talk, Sehun would brush her off like it was nothing. She did not know what hurt more - getting stood up by Oh Sehun or being ignored by Oh Sehun.

"Maybe he's experiencing andropause!" Taehyung concluded after Sumin told them her problem over lunch. "It's the male version of a woman's period! That means he could be moody right?"

"You're an idiot," Hana sighed. "Andropause isn't even proven. It lacks study!"

Taehyung pouted. "Do you have any other explanation to why Dr. Oh's avoiding Sumin then?"

Everyone else in the lunch table turned to Sumin with Misuk asking, "When did this start happening?"

Sumin shrugged. "Since the day we were supposed to have dinner together..."

With Sumin's no-filter mouth, she spared no details on her narrative from when she asked Sehun to dinner, to meeting that strange woman, to seeing him upset and to him standing her up that night when he said he was on the way. Now it felt like they were back to square one - she never thought the day would come when she would be getting a cold shoulder from the one and only Oh Sehun whom she grew attached to.

"Y-You don't think it had something to do with the woman right?" Sumin asked her friends.

"Possibly," Misuk responded. "We can't rule that out but there could be other reasons too."

"Like what?" Sumin raised an eyebrow.

"Umm, bad day at work?" Kento responded. "Dr. Oh is stressed and moody lately."

"But it's been going on for days!" Sumin responded. "It has to be something else. Dr. Oh doesn't even know what stress is!"

"Well, Su, just like in every relationship, try talking to him about it," Hana said.

Sumin sighed. "If only 'relationship' was an actual label. Besides, he might just ignore me like he has been doing. I already tried talking to him and-"

"Me know what to do!" Kento raised his hand.

"Really?" Everyone looked at him making Kento nod timidly.

"Small plan to make Sumin and Dr. Oh talk," Kento spoke. "But could cause me my death."

Rounds - it is normally done when a doctor, accompanied by an intern, checks on his patients to see how well they are doing, usually before or after lunch.

Sumin stood in front of Sehun's office, glancing at Kento who was at the side and giving her a thumbs up.

"Just as we practiced," he whispered. Sumin nodded and took a deep breath before knocking on Sehun's door.

Here goes nothing, She thought to herself.

"Come in," She heard Sehun respond from the other end. She slowly pulled the door and went inside his office.

Sehun did not expect to see Sumin enter instead of Kento and as much as he could, he tried not to let it show. From the looks of it, Sumin was nervous by how she was fidgeting her hands from behind and she tried to plaster on a bright smile which often times, just made her lips crooked. It was one of the things Sehun noticed about her and he hated himself for it.

"What are you doing here?" Sehun asked coldly.

"I-I came here to accompany you in making rounds," Sumin responded slowly, looking at her hands.

"That's Yamazaki's job," Sehun stood up. "Call him. I don't need you here."

I don't need you here.

Those words were enough to make Sumin go weak, but she could not give up, not after Kento placed himself in a dangerous position of skipping rounds, not after everything she and Sehun has been through. Sumin had to right to know why he was acting as if nothing had happened in the last few months.

"K-Kento said there was an emergency at home," She lied. "He asked me to take over."

"What about Dr. Kim Taehyung or Dr. Yoo?" Sehun asked.

"They're both out seeing patients," Sumin responded. "I'm the only one who was available."

"Unfortunately," Sehun rolled his eyes and grabbed a clipboard from his table, tossing it to Sumin. "Whatever. Let's go."

If Sumin hoped for progress, then she had hoped too much. The whole time they were making rounds, Sehun did not even acknowledge her. It was almost as if he was doing everything alone and she was just following him like a lost puppy.

What did she do? Why was he so angry? It was the most agonizing hour of her life and she did not know whether to breathe a sigh of relief or cry by the time it was over.  When they both returned to his office, Sumin gently set Sehun's clipboard on his desk and was about to leave when Sehun called her out.

"Sumin-ssi," Sehun spoke monotonously.

"Y-Yes?" Sumin turned.

"Let's talk," He said.

He walked out of his office and Sumin silently followed, afraid that if she said something, it might anger Sehun more. The latter glanced around before heading to the rooftop.  It was twilight when they arrived at outside and Sumin smiled to herself, remembering that it was the exact time Sehun kissed her the first time. She would have had happy thoughts, if it was not for Sehun wanting to talk and she had no idea why.

He stopped by the handrail that overlooked the city, back turned to her as if he was gazing at the sunset. Sehun took a deep breath and looked straight ahead, knowing Sumin was right behind and waiting.

"I can't do this anymore," He spoke out.

Sumin looked from the ground just in time for Sehun to turn to her with his empty face and cold eyes. Sumin felt her heart leap, hoping that she and Sehun were thinking of differnt things the moment he said those words.

"W-What?" Sumin stuttered out.

Sehun rolled his eyes. "This. Us. Whatever we are, let's put an end to it."

Sumin felt her heart drop to the ground. Sehun's words were a blow to her.

"W-Why?" Sumin croaked, attempting to resist the urge of weeping like a baby. "D-Did I do something bad?"

Sehun nodded and glared at her. "I'm tired of you."

"That's your excuse?" Sumin could not help but blurt out as tears started to stream down her face. "You're tired of me?"

"Tsk," Sehun scoffed. "You're not even my girlfriend to begin with, why are you crying? Of course I'd be tired of you, why else do you think I would be doing this?"

So he never thought of her that way, but part of Sumin still refuses to believe it.

"I don't believe you," Sumin sobbed and shook her head. "Oppa, there has to be another reason."

"Don't call me that," Sehun snapped. "It's Dr. Oh to you, you delusional brat. There is no other reason. I am just tired of you, I was bored and now that I'm entertained, I'm done. So off, Sumin."

With those final words, Sehun brushed past her and was slowly heading to the exit when Sumin turned and reached for his shoulder.

"Oppa.." Sumin wailed. "Don't do this, please.. let's talk."

Sehun flung Sumin's arm away. "There is nothing to talk about, Sumini. We are nothing more than doctor-intern now and if you do as little as try to bring this up to me, I will make sure you get fired and you could never set foot in this hospital ever again."

Sumin fell to the ground and started sobbing. Sehun was about to leave when he was still not satisfied with how much pain he has caused the poor girl, he turned to her once more and gave her a look filled with daggers.

"Nothing was real about us, Sumin," He said. "If you thought something was, you were wrong. There was never an us and there will never be."

With that Sehun left and that was when Sumin let out a loud scream, hugging her knees to her chest as she just cried and cried with all that she could. It almost felt like her heart fell off and was stepped on over and over again.

The sun set down and twilight disappeared and just like that, it was over.

Sumin would have chosen to disappear for the next few days if it was not for her annoying friends who made sure she was not doing anything stupid.

If it wasn't for Misuk, Sumin would have just stayed home and eat a gaint tub of ice cream, but she went by her place that morning to make sure she was still alive and that was how she ended up in the surgery room for a demo. lecture by Dr. Oh Sehun himself.

It was as if everything was back to zero, the moment Sehun entered the room, he just brushed past her and headed to the operating table. Kento and Hana dressed him up and after preparations, all the interns gathered to the front.

"This is not like any of our typical lectures," Sehun spoke up. "Even if this patient is a dummy, it will simulate different instances that could happen in a real surgery. If the patient lives, good. If the patient dies, congratulations, you just killed your first patient. Now, what would you do in an emergency? What if the patient needed immediate attention?"

He pointed at the dummy then back at his interns. "For this situation, think of a middle-aged man walking on a hot, summer day when he suddenly felt chest pains. Immediately, he rushed here on an emergency. What do we do first?"

Taehyung raised his hand. "Check his medical history, age, other conditions and contact family members."

"Very smart, Dr. Kim. For now, we say he has coronary artery disease," Sehun responded. "We rush him to the emergency room but what kind of surgery do we perform?"

"A bypass," Kento replied.

"Good," Sehun nodded. "For this demo, I'm going to show you how to perform a bypass surgery and what to do when unexpected situations happen."

Everyone nodded at Sehun before he turned to Sumin and for the first time that day, he looked at her. However, her lifeless eyes nothing compared to his cold ones and it made Sumin realize how much of a bad idea it was to show up that day.

"Assist me," He demanded. "Stop looking stupid."

In a different situation, it would have been flattering to be chosen as an assistant. He chose her, yet he still treats her as if she were nothing. Sumin slowly approached Sehun's side, feeling anxious, which would have been bad if it were an actual surgery.

She only read little about bypass surgeries before, so it made her nervous coming unprepared. She also wasn't in the right mind state to perform a surgery.

"Taehyung, vitals," Sehun called out and nodded once Taehyung called out that everything was stable. "I will now begin the surgery."

Everyone gathered as Sehun started working on the dummy. The body looked too realistic, not the plastic life-sized doll Sumin expected. It was an actual human anatomy figure with realistic organs, nerves, and vessels. Sumin was in awe and she had to remind herself that it was a high class hospital; therefore, they had high class equipment.

"Scalpel," He called out.

Sumin handed him the scalpel and everyone watched as he cut through the 'flesh' with so much ease. It was always a pleasure to watch Oh Sehun perform a surgery even when he was doing it not on an actual person. It still had the same impact as an actual surgery to see him work.

"When you perform a bypass surgery, do you look for a vein or an artery?" Sehun asked.

"An artery?" Hana responded. Though the look on Sehun's face was so dark, she retreated. "A-A vein?"

"No, it's an artery," Sehun snapped. "It's called coronary artery disease for a reason, Dr. Ban. Your first answer was right but you hesita