“Please, please, please, please just help me make sure I don’t burn our apartment down.”

“You’re a surgeon, but you can’t even bake a cake?”

SinB’s face scrunched up in a pout as she clung to her best friend’s arm. “You know I’m hopeless in the kitchen,” SinB whined. “I’m just looking out for you. Imagine how much rent will costs without me.”

“Right, because you’re bringing in so much money in with that intern salary,” Umji snorted. 

SinB’s mouth dropped in playful outrage, but before she could reply, Yuju called out from the living room, “Umji, will you please just help her bake the cake? We have tickets for that movie in a few hours.” 

“Fine,” Umji sighed dramatically but softened the blow by smiling brightly at SinB after. “Let’s bake your dumb cake.”

Yerin had been in the hospital for almost two weeks now, and SinB had visited her every one of those fourteen days. Sometimes, it had just been a quick stop to say hi before she went on rounds, and other times she visited before or after her shifts. During those, SinB would curl up in that crappy chair by Yerin’s bed and just talk to the other woman for hours.

It was strange sometimes, how easy it was to talk to Yerin. Some days, SinB would leave without a clue of what they talked about, simply because they talked about everything. They talked about the weather, SinB’s internship, movies, their school years. What they talked about was an endless list, and SinB couldn’t remember the last time she clicked so easily with someone. Maybe Umji.

Kyulkyung was still a good friend, of course. They always talked in the morning before they were given their assignments and had lunch together whenever their schedules matched up. However, the casual comraderie SinB had with Kyulkyung was so much different than whatever SinB had with Yerin.

SinB was afraid to name whatever was happening between her and Yerin. They called it being friends, mainly because SinB was skittish about calling it anything else, but friends felt all too light of a word. One day, SinB had talked about how stressful medical school had been, admitting how tired and lost and confused she’d been as she questioned her career path. Yerin had held her hand and listened before telling SinB in the softest voice that she hoped SinB was happy because she was already an amazing doctor. 

You don’t just tell someone things like that and only call them a friend. At least, SinB didn’t. 

Completely unsure of what their relationship was didn’t deter SinB from becoming closer to Yerin though. She merely enjoyed what they had. If things got more complicated later, she would deal with it then. For now, SinB was going to focus on this cake.

Yerin was due to be released from the hospital soon, allowed to go home but still required to come back every day for physical therapy. It didn’t matter to Yerin that she had to come back though. She’d been so excited when she told SinB the news.

“I can’t wait to sleep in my own bed,” Yerin had told her with a wide grin. “I’m never taking it for granted ever again. This hospital bed .”

To celebrate Yerin’s release from the hospital, SinB decided to bake her a cake. It was the perfect thing for a celebration, not to mention one of Yerin’s favorite foods. This was why SinB had to beg Umji on one of their few mutual days off to help her because, even if her and Yerin were just friends, friends didn’t poison each other with ty cakes.

“Just mix,” Umji told SinB, startling her from her thoughts. She handed her a whisk and moved about the kitchen to finish getting out all the ingredients. SinB started sarcastically mixing the air in the bowl, only for Umji to cuff her upside the head when she came back with everything. “Okay, smarty pants, you have to wait because some of us actually have to do the hard part of baking,” Umji said.

“I’m just trying to help,” SinB tried to protest, only to laugh at the look Umji gave her. 

“You can help by not messing anything up,” Umji replied. She gently pushed SinB out of the way and started carefully measuring everything while SinB looked on. As she measured, Umji asked casually, “Are you taking this to her today?” 

SinB shrugged and said, “I’ll probably text her and see if anyone else is keeping her company. If not today, I’ll bring it to her tomorrow since she’s released on Monday.”

“That’s good,” Umji nodded. Then she bit her lip and said, “You know, ever since you let yourself talk to her more, you’re a lot happier now. Less stressed.”

SinB took the eggshells to throw away, staring down at them shyly. “Yeah?” SinB murmured. She looked up when Umji playfully elbowed her and said, “Yeah.”

The next few hours saw Umji and SinB baking then decorating the cake. It was a simple white cake that Umji made fancier by putting strawberries in between the layers and decorating it nicely. In all honesty, it was more Umji’s cake than SinB’s, who only really contributed by cutting up the strawberries, but SinB felt proud all the same.

“Remember, keep the cake in the fridge until right before you leave,” Umji instructed as she tugged on her jacket to leave for her movie with Yuju. “If you leave it out too long, the icing won’t be as good.”

SinB rolled her eyes from where she was now sprawled out on the couch and waved her hand in acknowledgement. “Yes, I heard you the first twenty times.”

“I’m just trying to make sure all of my hard work doesn’t go to waste,” Umji retorted. She blew SinB a mocking kiss and said, “Have fun.”

“You too.”

After aimlessly flipping through some TV channels, SinB glanced at her phone and saw it was already almost dinner time. She sighed a little to herself and looked around her empty apartment. Maybe she should call Yerin and see if she was free for dinner.

Yerin picked up just after two rings, with a cheerful, “Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me,” SinB replied as she absent-mindedly kicked her sock-clad feet in the air. “Whatcha doing?”

“Oh, you know, wasting away in this awful hospital bed and hoping tonight’s dinner isn’t dry chicken and mushy peas again.”

SinB laughed and asked, “Sowon and Eunha aren’t visiting for dinner?”

“No,” Yerin said, and SinB could hear the disappointment through the phone. “Sowon has a shoot and Eunha has a late meeting. Plus, my dad is out of town for a conference or something, so I’ve been all by myself today.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” SinB frowned. “I could’ve come to visit.” Well, after she baked the cake, of course.

“It’s your one day off, SinB. I’m not about to make you spend it with me after you’ve been stuck at this hospital for like two weeks straight between keeping me company and working. You deserve a break.”

“I wouldn't have minded,” SinB told her. Then she thought for a moment and asked, “Your mom couldn’t come visit either?”

There’s a brief silence before Yerin replies shortly, “No.”

Sensing she just stepped on an undetonated landmine, SinB quickly backtracked and said, “Okay, well I’ll come now. I’m not doing anything tonight anyways. I’ll bring dinner too.”

“Are you sure?” Yerin asks, voice all small and hopeful.

“Yes, I’m sure. What do you want to eat?”

Yerin hummed as she thought then replied, “I’ve really been craving jajangmyeon. Is that okay with you?”

“Yeah, sounds good. I’ll grab it then be on my way.”

“Okay, see you soon!”

“Bye,” SinB said before hanging up. 

She got off the couch and stretched with a small groan. She was feeling extra lazy, but she figured she could at least make herself a little bit less of a mess than she was. She went and changed from her pajamas into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, throwing her hair up into a ponytail so it wasn’t hanging greasily around her face. 

SinB decided she would get the jajangmyeon from her favorite place not far from here then stop by the apartment real quick to grab the cake from the fridge. Umji’s warning rang in her mind clearly, and SinB really did not want to prove Umji right by somehow messing up the cake this close to giving it to Yerin.

By the time SinB made it to the hospital, it was already half past six, and visiting hours were over. However, there were perks to working at the hospital, and the nurses didn’t bat an eyelash at her when she stepped out of the elevator. Part of that probably had to do with the fact that SinB had been visiting every day, but either way, no one stopped her as she walked over to Yerin’s room.

SinB gave the door a quick knock before poking her head in.

“Hey!” Yerin greeted her happily from the bed. She wore a pink pajama set with little cartoon chicks on them, and her hair was in braids to keep it from her face. She looked unfairly cute, especially when she smiled and said, “I’ve missed you.”

SinB smiled despite herself and replied, “You saw me less than twenty-four hours ago.’

“And?” Yerin retorted with a smile of her own. She noticed the box SinB was holding along with the bag of food and asked curiously, “What’s that?”

“A surprise,” SinB told her before placing the cake in the fridge for later. “You have to eat dinner first.”

Yerin pouted at her. “Why can’t I know now?”

“It’s a surprise,” SinB emphasized the word. “Pretty sure a smart person like you knows what that word means?”

“Don’t be mean.”

SinB grinned and handed Yerin her bowl of noodles. “I won’t be mean if you eat the dinner I went through all the trouble to smuggle in for you.”

“I bet the nurses didn’t even stop and ask you,” Yerin rolled her eyes, and even though she is completely correct, SinB wasn’t going to let her know that.

“I’ll have you know that I had three nurses stop and question me about my intentions with the jajangmyeon,” SinB said with a straight face. She almost laughed when Yerin squinted suspiciously at her. “Fine, don’t believe me. Don’t appreciate all my struggles.” SinB smirked. “That just means I get to pick what we watch while we eat.”

“No way,” Yerin protested immediately. “You always make us watch obscure sci-fi shows with really bad special effects.”

SinB shrugged, “Well, you make us watch really cringey soap operas. It doesn’t matter though because I get to pick this time.”

“It’s my turn!” Yerin whined.

SinB ignored her and picked up the remote from the side table. She settled down in the crappy chair she’d grown used to with her food in her lap. She pretended not to hear Yerin’s pleading and whining as she flipped through the channels. SinB eventually settled on some movie where the guy was turning into a bug but trying to hide it from his wife and kids. Perfect.

“You ,” Yerin grumbled before shoving a mouthful of noodles into , but she notably did not change the channel.

SinB just smiled and ate her own food. It only took about five minutes for Yerin to cave and start making absurd comments on the movie. It was mainly her pointing out plot flaws and the awful make-up and special effects, but they made SinB laugh, sometimes even hard enough that she thought she would choke on her food. She joined in on the commenting, and it quickly became them making up ridiculous side stories for the random collection of poorly written characters.

Yerin waited until the movie was over before she asked, “Okay, can I know what’s inside the box now?”

SinB made a big show of peering into Yerin’s bowl to check if it was empty, earning herself a swat in the arm. She grinned and said, “Yeah, hold on.” SinB grabbed their bowls and tossed them in the trash before getting the box from the fridge. For a moment, SinB felt incredibly nervous as she presented Yerin the box.

Yerin just accepted the box with a quick, curious smile before gently opening it. For a moment, Yerin’s face faded into a carefully blank look as she looked back up at SinB. “A cake?”

“To celebrate your release on Monday,” SinB explained shyly. “I helped Umji bake it this afternoon.”

“You baked this?”

SinB blushed and admitted, “Well, Umji mainly did, but I cut the strawberries.”

“SinB, come here.”

SinB watched as Yerin set aside the box. She hesitantly stepped forward and suddenly found herself pulled into a tight hug. She gasped a little before hugging her back.

“Thank you so much,” Yerin whispered. “I’m not sure when’s the last time someone other than Sowon or Eunha did this for me.” She pulled back a little, and SinB was shocked to see tears in her eyes. “Thank you,” Yerin repeated. “I love it.”

“You’re welcome,” SinB murmured back.

Yerin smiled at her with so much warmth and affection that SinB had to look away. It was a moment later when she felt something cold on her cheek. SinB jolted away and raised a hand to her face, staring at the missing chunk on the cake and the glob of white icing on Yerin’s finger.

“Hey! I bring you a homemade cake, and this is what you do?” SinB faked outrage. She lunged forward and scooped up some icing, smearing it across Yerin’s face. She laughed at Yerin’s surprise. “That’s what you deserve, woman.”

“Oh, it’s on!” Yerin yelled. 

SinB tried to dodge, but more icing made it onto her face, making both her and Yerin laugh. Besides making sure not to accidentally Yerin’s still healing arm, SinB didn’t hold back in trying to get more icing on Yerin’s face. 

They eventually had to call a truce when a nurse came in to scold them ten minutes later, and after they settled down, SinB cut the cake and served herself and Yerin each a slice.

As they ate, winding down from their impromptu icing war, Yerin murmured, “Thanks for coming today, SinB.”

SinB smiled as she took another bite of cake. “Anytime, Yerin.”