EIGHT.

Another snot-filled tissue was thrown somewhere in the room as Sumin fished for another piece from the box that laid on her bed. Once she was able to grab a piece of the fabric, she drew it close to her nose and repeated the process of throwing it around in her messy bedroom.

There was a gentle knock on her door, making Sumin bury herself under her covers quickly, and the door opened and footsteps became louder.

"Sugoo?" Her Mother, Cho Seul, called out.

If she wasn't so weak, Sumin would have cringed at her mother's nickname for her but her body made her refuse. She remained unmoved under her covers.

Seul looked around and sighed, noticing all the trash thrown around Sumin's childhood bedroom. She sighed and slowly started picking up all the crumpled tissues. "Oh my, Sumin, you're not supposed to throw trash everywhere! It's not going to help with your fever."

Sumin remained under and Seul took that as a sign that she wasn't feeling any better. Everything seemed so sudden, just the day before, Sumin came running and knocking on her door looking pale and exhausted. Seul immediately took her to her room and realized that the girl was having a mild fever. It had been a while since Sumin came to visit her and she was glad; however, she did not expect the fever at all. 

"Alright," Seul spoke out, glancing at the lump under the bed which was obviously Sumin. "Get some sleep. I'll make some soup."

Seul left the room. A few minutes later, Sumin removed the covers off of her and slowly sat up. She did not know what was worse - being heartbroken or being sick but nonetheless, she decided her mom shouldn't know. She didn't want Seul to get worried, especially at her age. Sumin sighed and laid back down, feeling herself rest for the first time in nearly months. She didn't realize how tired she was until she felt emotionally and physically defeated. She shook her head, suddenly remembering the events that had perspired in the past few days.

Han Sumin was already hitting as it was after everything that had happened that day. She had a 90% chance of losing her internship, especially after ing up yet another surgery (even Taehyung saying that it was a dummy was not comforting at all) and walking out on Oh Sehun after he basically screamed at her. She immediately ran to the break room and it wasn't long before the fellow interns arrived as well and Taehyung volunteered to cover for her.

Bless Kim Taehyung's soul for he had helped her escape the realms of Hades that day but it was not over yet. When she was already walking out of the hospital, a woman probably in her early thirties was waiting by the entrance. She had her golden-brown hair, baby face and doll like features - the same woman that gave Sumin the bad feeling she had days prior.

When their eyes met, Sumin immediately looked away and began to walk in the opposite direction. The woman was probably looking for Sehun again but right when she was about to make a complete step, a tug on her arm made her turn back and it was the same woman, who this time, had a cold look on her face that did not seem to match up with her innocent face.

"Are you Han Sumin?" She asked.

"Uhhh, yes," Sumin responded weakly, not feeling the mood to talk.

The woman eyed her from head to toe then scoffed. "Well, my name is Bae Joohyun and I think we need to talk."

And that was how Sumin found herself sitting in one of the nearby coffee shops in the hospital. Joohyun was sitting right across her, looking at her as if she was a dagger about to stab her eye. Sumin, on the other hand, just tried her best to be amused by window where little droplets of water were starting to drop, not paying any attention to the lazer beams that were burning holes in her head.

"Sumin-ssi," Joohyun spoke up, making Sumin look up.

The girl nodded. "Y-Yes?"

"I think you and I both know the reason why you're here," Joohyun went straight to the point. "I'm sure you've heard about me from Sehun."

Sumin nodded wordlessly.

"Good," Joohyun continued. "Then I'm sure you know what happened between me and him, what we went through and how in love we were."

Sumin nodded without a word once more, much to Joohyun's frustration.

"Damn it, answer me!" Joohyun slammed the table, making passerby's look at them and Sumin to shrink down her seat.

"I'm sorry," Sumin mumbled.

"I don't know what Sehun sees in you," Joohyun sneered. "Looking at you, you just seem so average. You're not someone Sehun would fall in love with. He loved me before and I'm sure he still does. I may have made a few mistakes but you don't know what we went through together. No one can ever replace what we had, even you, so don't even think about it."

Joohyun smiled in victory when she saw Sumin flinch at her choice of her words. The only way to break 2 people apart was to hurt them both or at least one of them, and that's exactly what she was doing. All for him.

"Do you really think Sehun would actually fall for you?" Joohyun scoffed. "You're just an intern and from what I've heard in the hospital, you're not even that good. You're probably just throwing yourself at Sehun so you would get a good job once you finish your internship."

"Oh, honey," She mocked. "Believe me, you're nothing. Don't even waste your time chasing after Sehun because he's never going to come to you. He'll keep coming back to me and only me. He'll just with your feelings, just he like he does with every other girl so don't bother hoping that he's going to love you back."

With those final words, Joohyun stood up and tossed some cash onto the table before heading for the exit but right when she was about to step out, she realized she was not even finished. She walked back to Sumin's table and tossed more cash.

"By the way, since I paid for your coffee," Joohyun grabbed the cup from the table and spilled it all over Sumin's head much to the shock of the latter and everyone else in the room. "That's for trying to steal my man. Karma is a , baby."

With that, Joohyun flung her hair and finally headed to the exit with a feeling of accomplishment.

Sumin shook her head at herself before hearing her phone ring for the nth time. Finally getting fed up, she pressed the red button and turned her phone off. She wondered why he would even bother calling after everything he had done.

Joohyun was right. Maybe she was not and will never be enough for Sehun, so might as well give up. Sehun even said that nothing was ever going to happen between them so it was pointless to hope shamelessly.

Sumin let out a choked sob, letting the tears flow again as she surrendered herself to her mild fever and into the pit of dreamless sleep.

"Hi! You've reached Han Sumin. I can't take your call but please leave a message!!"

*beep*

Sehun sighed and tossed his phone back onto his desk before leaning back and rubbing his head. What on earth had happened to Sumin for her to disappear for two days? He had already asked Minseok, even his interns (much to their suspicion) and the receptionist if Sumin ever showed up but all they gave him was a negative.

He knew he crossed the line the other day but flooding her phone with messages and missed calls - wasn't that enough to let her know that he was trying to reach out to her?

And that was when Oh Sehun found himself worrying. What if something happened to her? What if she did something stupid out of everything, and Sehun will only have himself to blame for it?

It wasn't until a knock on his door when the questions that Sehun had in mind were finally answered.

"Come in," He called out.

"Dr. Oh?" Kim Taehyung appeared with a clipboard and a white envelope in hand. "Do you have a minute?"

"What is it?" Sehun asked.

Taehyung approached him with caution as he set down the white envelope across Sehun, making the latter raise his eyebrows at him.

"What is this?"

"It was sent by Sumin's Mom," Taehyung answered. "She made Sumin file for a sick leave. Director Kim Junmyeon approved it and wanted to give you this as a notice in case you start wondering where she is."

"Ahhh," Sehun slumped down. "Is Sumin sick?"

"From the looks of it," Taehyung nodded. "Yes. Her Mom said she couldn't even move around so much so she went home to her Mother's."

"I see," Sehun nodded, attempting to hide his disappointment. "That can't be helped right? I should pay her a visit, just give her a check up to see her condition. Do you happen to know where her Mother lives?"

"No, sir," Taehyung shook his head. "But don't worry, Dr. Oh, Sumin will be fine."

Liar.

If there was one thing Sehun had observed from his minions, they moved like a school of fish. None of them gets left behind and they would cover for one another. Sehun gave them props for that, but he was not pleased with the idea of Taehyung knowing something about Sumin that he didn't.

"Dr. Oh, permission to speak freely for a m