“Tzuyu noona!! Noona!! Where is noona??”, a young boy of about five jumped on his bed his glucose drip precariously on the verge of becoming dislodged from his arm.
 

“Joo hyuk! Come down right now!”. Myoui Mina had a horrified expression on her usually serene visage. Joo Hyuk was about to take a tumble onto some painful tiles if he lost his footing. 
 

The little boy oblivious to her warnings continued jumping on the bed merrily calling out Tzuyu’s name. The springs creaked under the constant pressure and before Mina could act Joo Hyuk had lost his footing and tumbled onto the side of the bed. 
 

“HYUK!”, Mina shrieked and reached out to grab him before it was too late. However before the child hit the floor a pair of slender arms had caught him.
 

“Noona!”, Joo Hyuk gave a toothy grin as he caught sight of Tzuyu but quickly looked down when he realized that she was furious.
“What is going on here?”, Tzuyu’s voice was gentle yet Joo Hyuk could sense that the young woman was mad. Mina heaved a deep sigh and related the tale of Joo Hyuk refusing to eat his lunch and medications after that because Tzuyu was nowhere to be seen.
 

“Joo Hyuk. Come sit here.”, Tzuyu patted the mattress. The little boy who was standing a couple of feet away his face contorted into a painful guilty expression. He shuffled over to her still not daring to look at Tzuyu who was staring at him exasperatedly. 
 

“Noona I’m sorry.”, he apologized before Tzuyu could speak. Sighing once again Tzuyu grabbed the bowl of chicken stew and started mixing with rice in Joo Hyuk’s favourite Mickey Mouse plastic bowl. She knew that Joo Hyuk adored her endlessly but she did not miss feeding him his meal that day on purpose.
 

A pileup involving more than fourteen vehicles on Seoul’s biggest and most central highway had flooded the hospital with injured from all different walks of life. Unable to cope with the influx of patients flowing in Tzuyu had been requested by the Chief Doctor Jin Young to assist with the duties at the emergency room while Mina tended to the children’s ward alone as a temporary arrangement. 
 

Tzuyu had been working for nearly ten hours when Mina had texted her that Joo Hyuk was being fussy about his meals. Despite her exhaustion Tzuyu knew that she had to return to feed Joo Hyuk his lunch. Without his lunch It would be impossible for him to keep down the medicine he was being given for his digestive tract health issue.
 

“Joo Hyuk you will not get well if you do not eat your lunch on time. You must not be so stubborn.”, Tzuyu admonished the boy softly as he happily ate the chicken stew with rice she was feeding him.
 

“But I want noona to feed me..”, he took another big mouthful of rice his eyes widenining as he chewed it slowly just the way Tzuyu had taught him to do to avoid irritating his sensitive esophagus and stomach lining.
 

“Noona is not always going to be here Joo Hyuk. What if I go away one day? Will you not listen to Mina noona?”, Tzuyu pointed at the pretty young nurse standing behind Joo Hyuk . Mina grinned at Tzuyu already guessing and anticipating Joo Hyuk’s answer before the boy even said it.
“I will follow Tzuyu noona.,” he smiled cheekily at Tzuyu and she saw Mina chuckling to herself. Unable to hid her own smile Tzuyu patted Joo Hyuk’s head lovingly.
 

“Do you love me that much?”, she asked her eyes smiling down at Joo Hyuk. “Yes.”, he reached out and gave her a warm hug. Grateful for the unconditional love the children showered upon her all day long Tzuyu continued feeding Joo Hyuk her tiredness melting away almost instantly. 
Though she was thousands of miles away from where she was born Tzuyu truly felt at home in Korea. Spending more than half of her teenage years in Korea since her foster parents had decided to send her away for further studies Tzuyu had grown to love the country as if it was her own.
 

Being in Korea had been a challenge for Tzuyu at the beginning. She had no relatives, no friends and no connections. Struggling with her daily expenses Tzuyu had to take up odd jobs to get by and though time were hard she never found the need to complain. Working hard at both her studies and her part time jobs led to her graduating with top honors in nursing which in turn gave her opportunities to reap monetary rewards and finding a little flat of hers to call home.
 

Another matter Tzuyu was grateful for was the presence of Myoui Mina in her life. The older woman had been one of Tzuyu’s trainers at nursing school and they both had been drawn to each other the instant they had met. Mina was the only person who knew of Tzuyu’s past and was trusted with the secrets of her hardships among other things. Mina agreed to live with Tzuyu as her roommate after much coercion from Tzuyu. However Mina insisted on paying rent something that Tzuyu could not argue with. As an agreement between them they agreed to save the money Mina set aside for rent to plan for a vacation that they both could enjoy.
 

“Here is your Nesturm. What are you thinking so deeply about?”, Mina asked setting down Tzuyu’s favourite yellow mug in front of her. A hot brown liquid was bubbling inside and the loveliest fragrance emanating from the mug. Nestum was always one of Tzuyu’s favourite comfort food whenever she was feeling down or exhausted. Being as thoughtful as ever Mina had made a cup for Tzuyu. That was Tzuyu’s favourite things about her best friend. Her needs were fulfilled without even Tzuyu asking for it. 
 

“I was thinking of you unnie.”, Tzuyu grinned when Mina’s eyebrows rose slightly. She returned Tzuyu’s smile as she took a seat beside her on their favourite beat up couch in the hospital’s resting room.
 

“You should be thinking of handsome young men instead of thinking of me yah Tzuyu. How about Doctor Jeon?”, Mina winked at Tzuyu who was sipping her Nestum and then proceeded to help pat Tzuyu’s back when she choked on her drink.
 

“Why would you mention him?”, Tzuyu glared at Mina who threw back her head and laughed out loud in an uncharacteristic manner.
 

“Well maybe because he is smitten with you. He’s a young and really handsome doctor. He wins every single marathon or competition that our hospital organizes. All the young nurses and quite a few older ones all have a huge crush on him yet you are just oblivious to his affections.”, Mina shook her head
 

“Love is not a competition unnie.”, Tzuyu answered simply. As much as she appreciated the affection from the handsome doctor Jeon he did not make her feel the way she would have liked to feel when she finally fell in love.
 

“Well don’t underestimate him. That guy has the hots for you and will do anything to make you fall for him.”, Mina at the annoyed expression on Tzuyu’s face.
 

“We’ll see.”, she shrugged as she signalled at the clock above Mina’s head. Their shift was almost over and Tzuyu could not wait to get home and crash on her favourite fluffy pillow. Her every limb was aching and screaming with pain.
 

“Unnie are you leaving now or should I leave first?”, Tzuyu let out a huge yawn as she emerged from the changing room. Mina let out a gasp and then a sigh. She turned to Tzuyu apologetically.
 

“I think you are probably going to kill someone but we may need to go back to work for at least an hour more. There has been an emergency case and a police officer was shot during a sting operation. His injuries are not life threatening but he does need some medical attention. Our emergency room is full due to the pileup. They have arranged for him to be temporarily placed at our ward since there are many empty beds. It is a request from our Dean so we cannot refuse it.”, Mina gave Tzuyu an apologetic smile.
 

Though she was exhausted Tzuyu nodded in agreement. She might have been tired but if someone needed help she would be willing to help. One of the basic foundations of nursing was to serve with a selfless attitude.
 

“Let’s go unnie.”, she smiled back at Mina and placed her bag back into her open locker.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Author's Note : Pardon the long pauses between the updates. I have been busy and I do not want to write something half-assed so I would rather take my time to write it out patiently. Thank you for the comments and to those who have subscribed to my story. Please continue to support me! :D

- Leena