"doctor bae, good morning." one of the nurses you told her about greets you right after you arrive at the emergency section.

you pause on your steps, gathering your courage. with a small, shy smile, you return her greeting. "good morning, nurse son. i hope you'll have a great day."

you don't wait to see her reaction, but you can tell you've rendered her speechless. you don't usually greet back, a small, acknowledging nod has always been your only answer before.

baby steps, you repeat in your head like a magical mantra, baby steps, juhyun.

-----

it is a rather busy day in the emergency ward, and now you are finally getting some time to rest after your fourth surgery, all of them considered successful - so it is a rather miraculous day.

you are just leaving the surgical room when you chance upon a child with a bloody shirt, sitting by herself at the waiting bench outside.

you sit beside her, you're never really good with children, but you can always try. "hi there."

the young girl look up at you shyly, seemingly conscious about her ruined shirt, trying to wipe the blood away with her small hands. "h-hi."

"those aren't your blood, right?" you ask, pointing at her shirt.

she shakes her head no, swinging her legs, a nervous fidget that you recognise immediately, before she answers. "no. it's my daddy's."

"he's here somewhere?"

she points to the surgical room next to where you came from. "they took him there."

"is it okay if i ask what happened?"

"un," she answers softly. "a car ran the red light and crash into ours. i was wearing my seatbelt and sitting at the back... the car crashed in front..."

"your father was driving you all by himself?"

she shakes her head, looking down and avoiding your gaze. "the men in orange... they couldn't get mummy out..."

the men in orange... firefighters? you guess it could also be the rescue team or the paramedics. you gently hold the child's hand, squeezing it slightly in reassurance. "it's going to be okay, my friends will do their best to help your father."

the girl give you a nod. you are about to try and comfort her further, when the door to the surgical room suddenly bursts open, and the other nurse that is always nice to you runs out frantically, heading to the nurse station.

"do we have the exact arrival time for when the new supply of blood is coming in?" she asks the older nurses at the counter, almost yelling.

"no, last we check the van was making a detour to another hospital because they were short of type o." one of the senior nurses provides.

"and we're short of type a now, gods, please, we don't have much time! i can't let that kid lose her dad!"

"use mine," you interrupt, your voice loud and confident as you approach the nurse station. the nurses all look at you in a bit of shock, especially the young nurse. "my blood type is a."

"follow me," the young nurse just about drag you into an empty examination room, helping you settle on the bed and whipping out her tools at great speed. "thanks for doing this, doctor bae."

"juhyun," you say, wincing a bit when the large needle tears your skin. "feel free to call me juhyun, nurse park."

she looks surprised again at your boldness, gently fixing the syringe before drawing your blood. "if that's the case, please call me sooyoung."

"it's a deal," you say, clenching and easing your fist so your blood could get drawn faster. "i just thought it was right. she's too young to lose her father too."

"yeah," sooyoung agrees. "we've already received words from the paramedics that her mother died on the scene."

"gods," you mutter, too broken to think about what would happen to the young girl if they couldn't save her father. passed from one relative to another for forced custody? thrown carelessly to an orphanage? fostered in terrible homes? there is far too many horrifying possibilities. "please save him."

sooyoung draws the syringe back when the bag reaches its full capacity, making you jump and hiss. she packs the bag away after stopping the blood flow on your arm, then she shows you her own bandaged hand. "i gave mine too, but it wasn't enough. you made it possible now, doctor juhyun, thank you so much."

you give her a small but urgent nod. "go, sooyoung, you must give it your all so that child can hope again."

-----

you hear a bit later that the father made it out of the surgery alive, though he is still in semi-critical condition, placed under close scrutiny in the intensive care unit. 

you figure that being in the icu is so much better than being announced dead. you could only hope that he would keep fighting to live - for his daughter.

to think that you had a hand in that... 

you stumble out of the emergency ward at the end of your shift, rather proud of what you have managed to do the whole day. you've saved a few people, and it has never felt so good not having to tell the terrible news of lost lives to your patient's next of kin.

however, you have truly misjudged the effect of a bag's worth of blood lost from your body. add that to your whole working day exhaustion, it is no wonder you're feeling so faint, and that the floor, no, the roof, well, whatever it is, it is suddenly spinning in your eyes.

"steady now," you hear her voice, and you're pretty sure you're being held by her now, her arms keeping you upright. "geez, juhyun, what happened to you?"

you feel her supporting you by your side, pulling you somewhere and then making you sit down. she gives your cheeks a few gentle slaps, maybe trying to get you back to your senses. "oi, juhyun, hey... come back to me."

"seulgi..." you murmur softly, blinking your eyes tiredly to focus on her.

"good, you're still alive."

"...someone will throw the biggest tantrum if i'm not."

"you know i would. so don't be an ."

you hum, evening out your breath and blinking the little spots of light in your sight away, all the while leaning heavily on your seat, extremely tired but satisfied.

"you look so out of it... are you going to nap? right here?" she asks, squeezing your thigh as she tries to keep you awake.

it fails. 

the next day every single employee in the hospital - be it janitors, pharmacists or nurses - they all know how there was a really hot woman in suits carrying you out of the hospital on piggyback.

you've never quite felt so happy and mortified all at the same time.

-----

"do you always get knocked out in my arms?" she asks when she notices that you've come to your consciousness, wrapped up in blankets on your comfortable couch, in your humble little house.

"sorry," you try, getting up groggily. "i didn't think i would feel so out of it."

she turns to you, and you notice the cuts and bruises on her face has healed a little, no longer as red nor purple. "what happened?"

"we were short on blood, so i donated mine. i was supposed to rest a bit or get a meal later on but i went back to work instead. pushed myself a bit too much, i think."

"'a bit' sounds like the understatement of the year," she comments, chuckling a little. "go change your clothes and let's go get that meal you skipped. which, by the way, is what an idiot would do, especially if that idiot is actually a doctor. you of all people should know better than to skip a meal."

"in my defense, i was paged for another surgery before i could even think of eating."

"come on, come on," she urges you, pulling you to stand up. "take a shower, you stink of blood and other things i don't care enough to know. we're going to eat the best thing in the world!"

-----

"this is delicious." you say before you take another bite into the shredded beef and cheese sandwich she got you.

the both of you are at the han river, sitting on one of the many benches provided for visitors, watching people jog or cycle by and munching on your sandwiches rather sloppily.

she looks at you with a smug smile after hearing your praise. "and it's filling too, you seriously have no idea what you've missed all these years."

you don't say anything in rebuttal, because you know she is correct. you've lived in this city for years as a resident, and now, even as a full fledged surgeon you still haven't explored even five percent of the city.

"you're right," you finally say after finishing another bite of the delightful sandwich. "i seriously have no idea what i've missed."

there is an eager twinkle in her eyes as she gives you a once over. she looks quite like an excited puppy. "i can show you around if you'd like, just tell me when."

"you know what..."

"hm?"

"i think i'll take you up on that offer."

"yes!" she yells happily, pumping her fist. "you won't be dissapointed, that i can promise."

"okay, i trust you."

she reaches out to your hand, holding her pinky out. "bring it in."

despite the silliness of it all, you manage a small smile. "what are you, eight?"

"never doubt the power of pinky promises, juhyun!"

even with all your protests, you still link your pinky with hers, sealing the promise with the mysterious potent power of pinky promises.

-----

"i told one of the nurses to have a good day," you tell her, your voice ranging out of your usual tone to one of excitement. "and i helped the other with her patient by donating my blood."

"sounds like you had a really productive day." she laughs happily, proud of your little achievements.

"we have the same blood type," you recall, looking at the cotton bud still taped on your arm. "she donated her blood too, but apparently it was not enough."

"she sounds like a kind and giving person."

"i think they both are. they always leave snacks in the pantry for other staffs to eat."

she nods, urging you to do more. "i hope you'll get closer to them soon."

"me too."

you are walking back to her car, parked a little ways away from the park beside the river, passing by multiple shops and a bus station, where you paused a bit, thinking of the first time the two of you met.

you think it's a rather strange first meeting, but you are incredibly glad that fate wills for you to cross each others' path, and to continue doing so.

you could not ponder on it for much too long because there is suddenly a force barreling into you, pushing you forward, and in your shock your assailant cuts off the strap to your handbag, then runs off with it.

she gives chase almost immediately. "hey!"

"seulgi!" you cry, trying to stop her. there isn't much inside the handbag, only your staff id, vitamins and a bit of cash, so you don't think it's worth endangering her life by giving chase to the purse snatcher.

you run after her, hearing her commands for the man to stop. she is far too quick, you think, breathing a little heavily. it does not take long for her to close her distance, darting forward and grabbing the thief by his waist, taking him down.

you arrive to the scene with her on top of that man, throwing in a mean punch that lands with a loud thunk, making him loosen his grip on your bag.

"you messed with the wrong woman, kid," she spits, taking away the handbag from his hand. while still holding him down, she rummages inside the thief's pocket with her free hand, and you're only then realising that he is indeed just a kid, taking out the contents inside. credit cards, large bills and jewelries all pour out, and she scoffs. "just because you're a juvenile and the court will never send you to jail does not mean you get to terrorize women like this. find a ing job or something."

she whispers a bit more close to his ears, words that are spoken too low for you to hear, but the teenager immediately paled. when you look at her face, darkened and vicious, the twinkle in her eyes gone, you too feel a chill going down your spine. he struggles to get out of her tight grip, and she finally lets him go.

he wastes no time to run away, not sparing another glance behind. 

she sighs after the two of you lose sight of the thief, collecting the things he has stolen, then handing you your handbag. "sorry about that, i should have been more alert."

you take it gingerly, looking at her eyes again, relieved to find it accompanied with that constant glimmer. "it's okay, it isn't your fault. i've heard that purse snatching occurs quite often here. i should've known better to not bring one..."

"it's not okay, if this happened while i'm at work, it would've been a massive disaster." she mutters, looking incredibly upset.

"do you work as a bodyguard or something?" you ask, you don't think she's ever talked about her job.

now that you think about it, she's still incredibly mysterious as a person. but you figure allowing her to tell you what she wants to share by herself is much better than mindlessly probing around. you owe her at least that.

"close, it's pretty much just like that now," she answers, hugging her body with crossed arms, still angry at herself. "every time i'm with you, i always feel like i let my guard down too much."

you don't really know the context behind her 'always be on guard' state, but she needs some reassurance right now, and that you shall give. "but isn't it good that you feel that way? doesn't that mean you're very comfortable with me?"

she looks at you with a surprised gaze, taking in your words slowly. "you might be right, but it doesn't feel good to me when it poses some danger to you."

"seulgi," you try again. "you're not on the job, you're not required to protect me when you're by my side. you're my friend, not my personal bodyguard."

and now she looks cheeky. you don't have a very good feeling about this. "i did say i'll keep you alive, so i've decided that i'm going to be both."

"just..." you sigh, defeated. you always let her win, you realise. "just do whatever you want."

this time, she pulls you close by your waist, letting her hand rest on your hips. you guess it's some sort of a protective gesture. you don't really complain because her warmth pressed on you feels wonderful in the cold night. "come on, let's drop his haul at the police station before i send you home."

-----