What was I to do? I had to find somewhere for Princess. She couldn’t just be left on her own.

As I walked, I saw the man who came in with his sister. He looked at me and then made his way to me, “I don’t suppose that you have found a cure for whatever has been going around.”

“Not at the moment. Honestly, we’re not sure what we are up against and we suspect that patients will soon die. We just can’t get them to wake up. They reach a comatose state even before arriving.”

He opened his mouth – “Dr. Uhm!” a voice called.

I turned to see Professor Ji coming towards me. “Sorry please excuse me,” I said to the other man.

“Yes Professor?”

“The little girl needs to go. We need that bed and she is healthy,” he said pointedly.

“I know but – “

“No buts Nari. We can’t be social services and a medical facility.” Professor Ji walked away.

I looked down and sighed in worry. I turned back to Xiumin only to see his eyes looking at me with pity before a fire appeared.

“I’ll take the kid,” he said.

I was shocked, “But you already said that you and your sister were struggling.”

“Well after this whole thing my sister was paid so I have a bit and there is a chance for a job opening for me. I live in a community where children are fed so the kid will be okay,” he continued trying to persuade me.

 “Give me a chance Nari,” he pleaded with his finger stretched out to indicate and emphasise the one chance that he wanted.

I rolled my eyes and replied, “Dr. Kim I am not interested in going out with you.” I tried to walk around him but he blocked my way again.

“I promise to be the perfect gentleman and I will not bother you again if it turns out to be a disaster,” he negotiated.

I looked at him, his demeanour screamed that his interest was genuine and his persistence supported this. I my dry lips and said, “Fine. One dinner and that’s it. No strings attached or anything.”

He nodded and confirmed, “Friday night after work for some meat or something?”

“Yes, we can see on Friday what we want,” I said with a small smile. It was clear that he was trying to suppress his excitement.

As I walked away I heard behind me an excited, “YES!!”, which made me laugh.

I was speaking to a nurse when I noticed that Jongin was with his patients. Watching him do his ward rounds and interacting with children made me realise that perhaps he wasn’t such a bad guy after all. A dinner shouldn’t be too difficult to get through as long as he kept his cocky part of himself away for the night.

The week passed by quickly and Friday came upon us. I chose to wear a simple navy dress that didn’t look too casual or formal. I wore a pair of flat shoes and carried a small purse. I had applied a bit of eyeshadow and mascara. It wasn’t like I had a lot of time to get ready, we were meeting as soon as work was done.

I walked out and saw Jongin waiting by the reception area. “Dr. Kim,” I called out to gain his attention.

“You look really beautiful,” he complimented with a sunshine smile. “Please call me Jongin, Nari.”

I raised my eyebrows at him and replied, “We’ll see about that. What would you like to eat?”

“I believe that that was what I should ask you,” he said as he held his arm out for me to hook onto.

I took his arm and replied, “I’m not a picky person. You can choose.” We walked out the hospital.

“I see we are playing the You-can-choose game,” he bent his head a little and looked into my eyes, “How about ramen? I happen to know that you are a fan of spicy, soup and noodles.”

I looked down blushing slightly, his eyes were too intense for me. I swallowed trying to find my confidence which had all but left me on my own and looked up at him, “I see you have been stalking me somewhat.”

He tapped his nose with a finger and said, “I like to know about the girl I like. There’s a really good place that I know of and I think you’ll like it. It’s a short walk.”

I nodded my assent and let him lead the way.