Krystal loved the feeling of doing rounds in the pediatric ward. Yes, she knows that her patients were sick, but she loves helping them bounce back to health and they also love her. Whenever she would walk along the corridors, kids who had their doors open would smile at the sight of her and she would smile and wave at them, even stopping at times to play a short game of hide and seek.

As soon as she got back to her clinic, she squealed when she saw one of her favorite patients. It was her own niece, Baby Hwayoung. She’s already 4 years old and refuses to be called a baby, but her parents and her doctor aunt, who is also her godmother reasoned that she will always be their baby. When her niece first arrived, she even got jealous because she will no longer be her eldest cousin and cousin-in-law’s baby. Everything changed when she saw the little girl and she became her closest aunt and godmother. Krystal thought that she was done for the day, but her surprise final patient suddenly arrived just a minute before her assistants could say that she was done for the day.

Hwayoung launched herself quickly to her aunt at the sight of her and the doctor bent to her level just to hug her. “I missed you, baby girl!” She gave her niece a long kiss on the cheek before hugging her again.

“Auntie, I already told you that I’m not a baby anymore!” The little girl said to her before pulling away from the tight embrace that she gave her aunt.

“Sure, go ahead and believe that,” said Yunho, Krystal’s cousin and Hwayoung’s dad. “How are you, kiddo?” He was about to reach for Krystal’s hair, but his younger cousin’s hands were quicker than him.

“No!” She swatted her cousin’s hand away, then looked at her cousin-in-law who was pulling her husband’s hand to keep her in-law’s hair safe.

“Don’t ruin her hair!” She hit her husband’s arm before going to Krystal to hug her. “How’s our big baby?”

“My feet are a bit tired, but they’re relaxing now. What would I do without Ara unnie to protect my hair.” Her statement made her cousin chuckle. “So, why did my baby Hwayoung decide to visit me tonight?” She sat on her chair and motioned for her niece to sit on her lap.

“Umma and appa said that I need to get my shot today!”

“You’re very much like me when I was a kid. Getting vaccines were my favorite.” Unlike all kids her age who were afraid of going to the pediatrician, she enjoyed it because she loved getting cute band-aids and her pediatrician was also her idol. She thanks her for being such a big influence on her. Thankfully, just like her, her niece was enthusiastic about it. “Okay, I’m just going to prepare what we’ll need. Can you tell auntie about what you did in school?”

“I got a star earlier! I wanted to show you, but it was erased when I washed up. It was on my left hand. Umma said that it was okay for us to erase it because she took a picture so you can see it.”

“Really? I’d really love to see it in a bit. Alright, are you ready?”

Hwayoung nodded with a smile and stood up straight in front of her aunt. Krystal smiled in return before preparing to inject the needle into her niece’s arm. After a few seconds, they were finished. “There we go,” she said as she applied the Cinderella band-aid on her arm. She gave her niece a kiss on the cheek and complemented her for being a brave girl.

“Here’s her picture earlier," said Ara before handing her the phone. While looking at the picture, Hwayoung explained that she got a star for getting a perfect score in their writing exercise and for listening to her teacher. Soon after that, they heard a knock on her clinic door that was opened.

“Uncle!” Hwayoung jumped off of her aunt’s lap to greet his uncle. They became close during a family gathering, along with Krystal’s twin younger cousins who were just three years older than her niece. Minho was surprised to his in-laws and greeted them politely before carrying Hwayoung. Krystal asked him to be careful to avoid the injected part.

“I’m guessing you visited your aunt today to get a shot?”

Hwayoung nodded with a s mile. “I was also telling auntie that I got a star earlier in school.” She pointed to the phone on the table with the picture still on the screen. “Auntie, can you please bring it here so uncle can see?”

Krystal stood up and brought the phone with her, then showed it to Minho. “There, it was on her hand,” she told him.

“Wow! You must have done a great job in school today,” Minho said excitedly to her.

“She sure did,” Krystal said with pride while looking at Hwayoung.

Minho put the little girl down and told her that it would be best because he might accidentally press on her arm. The little girl agreed and went to her mom to sit on her lap. The doctor couple caught up with the family and had a chat before leaving the clinic all at the same time to have dinner together. Hwayoung held hands with both Krystal and Minho as they walked to the car.

“It looks like she’s riding with them,” Yunho said to his wife before taking a picture of the trio.

“I think so, too.” Ara looked at them with a smile before taking a picture as well.

Later at home, the pair was watching TV in the living room when Krystal received a message from her cousin-in-law.

“Thank you for catching up with us tonight despite your schedule. We really had a great time, especially Hwayoung. Get a lot of rest, baby doctor! Good night! :)” 

She smiled as she read the message. Just a few seconds before she sent her reply, another message from her appeared and it was a picture of her and her husband earlier while they were walking with her niece between them. She didn’t know what else to add to her message, so she just hit send, then looked for a heart sticker to send to her. She stared at the picture for some time, then saved it.

Minho’s phone beeped and it made them both look at the table where it’s currently resting. He grabbed his phone to read the message and it was Yunho.

“Thank you for the spontaneous dinner tonight, Minho! We were really glad that we were able to spend time with you two because of how busy you guys are. Looking forward to seeing you kids soon! Good night :)”

Before he could type his reply, his cousin-in-law sent a picture that he took earlier. It was a picture of him with his wife holding hands with Hwayoung. He smiled at the picture and saved it.

“Thank you as well for spending time with us, hyung. We know that you’re also busy and it means a lot to us. Thank you for this great picture as well and good night!”

He replied to him before looking over at Krystal who was already yawning. “You don’t wanna sleep yet?”

She stood up to stretch before yawning again. “I think I’m gonna head up first. What about you?”

“I’ll finish this first. You better sleep now because you always pass out on the couch. Good night.”

“You too,” she replied as she made her way to the stairs. She halted in her steps because looking at him. You’ll be fine here by yourself?”

“I’ll be fine, no worries.” He smiled slightly at her. “Just go and sleep.”

“Alright, then. See you tomorrow.”

Author's note: Hi everyone!! It's been a while, right? I sincerely apologize for not being able to update right away. I really no longer have the luxury of time, but I still try my best to write during my free time and allow the creative juices to flow out, which usuallu happens at night/midnight after I'm done with all the stuff I gotta do (leaving me with only a blink of sleep, but nvm hahahaha). Sorry for this short update, but I promise I'll make it up to everyone! Thank you! :D