SinB was walking down the hall to go check on a patient when Kyulkyung stumbled right into her. She managed to catch her friend before they could go toppling over, but SinB wrinkled her nose when she realized Kyulkyung had just come from an on-call room with a way too happy smile on her face. It wasn’t that SinB judged people for sleeping around the hospital, but she did become highly aware of the fact that she was touching scrubs that had who knows what on them.

“I don’t want to know,” SinB told Kyulkyung immediately as she let her go.

“Are you sure?” Kyulkyung teased. “He was pretty good.”

“He?” SinB repeated without bothering to hide her disgust. “Then I definitely don’t want to know.”

Kyulkyung laughed and said, “Right, I forgot you’re strictly interested in the ladies.” She slung an arm around SinB’s neck and added, “Well, if I meet a nice woman, I’ll let you know.”

“Sure, if you manage to do that before sleeping with her yourself,” SinB smirked.

It’d been four months since SinB started her internship and met Kyulkyung. The two of them had become close friends because they saw each other so often at work. It would’ve been hard not to become friends. While not perfectly compatible, they got along well. Since becoming friends, SinB had quickly learned that Kyulkyung was a bit of a free spirit, keen on keeping things casual in her love life as she partied. While not SinB’s thing, she admired Kyulkyung’s self-confidence and spunk. However, she didn’t appreciate it when Kyulkyung tried to drag her into her mischief.

“I think it’d do you some good to find a hot doctor to sleep with,” Kyulkyung told her as they walked down the hall together. “It’s been months since we started our internship, and I’m ninety percent sure you haven’t been with anyone.”

SinB was definitely not going to add fuel to fire and tell Kyulkyung it’d been even longer, so she merely rolled her eyes and said, “Sweet of you to worry, but I’m fine. I don’t mind focusing on work.”

“But that’s all you do,” Kyulkyung pointed out. “You’ve already made yourself out to be one of the best interns of our class, so why don’t you take a break?”

“Taking a break means I’m letting myself fall behind,” SinB replied, but she was pleased that her rank among the interns was well known. She shrugged off Kyulkyung’s arm, ignoring her friend’s dramatic huff. “It’s not like I’m rotting inside my apartment or anything. I go out whenever I’m off. I even go out with you sometimes.” It was true too. At least twice, SinB had let Kyulkyung drag her out to the hottest clubs to dance and drink the night away. It had always ended with SinB almost unfunctional the next day with a monstrous hangover, but she had to admit it’d been fun.

“Friends are different,” Kyulkyung argued. “Friends can’t give you that healthy dose of oxytocin every so often.”

“I get enough oxytocin without having to spend the night with some stranger,” SinB said.

Kyulkyung sighed but raised her hands in surrender nonetheless. “Fine, but if you ever change your mind, I am here as your personal wingman.”

“Thanks,” SinB said with a roll of her eyes but also a slight smile.

As they rounded the corner, they nearly bumped into some people. Without looking at who they were, SinB and Kyulkyung immediately took a step back and apologized with slight bows. When SinB looked up from her bow, she almost had a heart attack. Of all the people to almost run into, SinB found herself standing in front of Director Jung and his daughter, Yerin.

“H-hello, sir,” SinB stammered, eyes wide with surprise. She only faintly heard Kyulkyung echo her words, too focused on Yerin.

Yerin had her hair up in a bun today, giving her a refined and expensive feel. Her dress was white with a little red pattern, falling almost to her ankles but still almost regal. If not for the bright smile Yerin was wearing, SinB would’ve felt unworthy to be in her presence in her wrinkled scrubs. Even with the smile, SinB was feeling like a mess in front of her.

“Hello,” Director Jung greeted with a smile that mirrored his daughter’s. “You must be our latest batch of surgical interns.”

“Yes, sir,” SinB nodded, forcing a smile despite her nervousness. Not to mention, she could feel her eyes being drawn to Yerin. SinB mentally hit herself. So not the time. “It’s nice to meet you, sir.”

“It’s a pleasure!” Director Jung cheered, enthusiastically shaking both SinB and Kyulkyung’s hands. “Tell me, what are your names? It’s impossible to keep up with you kids these days. There are so many of you.”

“This is Hwang Eunbi, dad.”

There was a brief pause, and SinB wasn’t sure if she had just imagined what she heard. Had Jung Yerin just referred to her by name to her very important director father? Not to mention, SinB was kind of really swooning over just how good her name had sounded on Yerin’s lips. SinB blinked a few times, staring blankly as she processed that it really happened. 

“She’s the brightest intern of her class,” Yerin continued with a proud smile that SinB didn't understand in the slightest. “All the attendings talk about her.” At this, SinB blushed and looked down at her shoes.

“Brightest intern of her class, huh?” Director Jung chortled as he clapped SinB on the shoulder. “That’s quite the name you’ve made for yourself already.” Then, he glanced at his watch and smiled apologetically. “I’d love to talk more, ladies, but I’m afraid I have a meeting soon. It was great to meet you.” Patting SinB once more on the shoulder, Director Jung walked away. Yerin followed him, giving a quick wave and a sweet smile to them as she did.

As soon as they are out of earshot, Kyulkyung punched SinB so hard in the arm that SinB recoiled and hissed a swear word. SinB glared at her, rubbing her abused arm gingerly.

“What the hell was that?” Kyulkyung said, whisper-shouting so she didn’t attract any unwanted attention. “Why does Jung Yerin know your name?”

“I don’t know!” SinB replied angrily, still rubbing her arm. “I talked to her once, is that a crime? I haven’t spoken to her since. Maybe the attendings really do talk about me that much.”

Kyulkyung rolled her eyes and tugged SinB’s arm to start walking again. She led them over to a vending machine and paid for a chocolate bar. With a semi-apologetic look, she handed the candy over to SinB before sitting down in a nearby chair. SinB sat down next to her hesitantly, holding the chocolate bar awkwardly.

“Listen,” Kyulkyung began, sounding far more serious than SinB had ever heard her outside of work matters, “you need to be careful. The first rule when it comes to Jung Yerin is don’t fall in love with her. Don’t give me that look,” Kyulkyung said sharply when SinB rolled her eyes. “You’ve got Yerin interested in you, even if it’s just for work, and that makes you vulnerable to her advances.”

“You make her sound like some creep,” SinB said as she opened up her candy.

“She isn’t a creep but she also isn’t as innocent as she seems.”

SinB paused, chocolate halfway to her lips. She lowered the candy and asked carefully, “What do you mean by that?”

“It’s really no one’s business, but it got around anyways,” Kyulkyung said with a low sigh. She grimaced before continuing, “A few years back, Yerin apparently dated one of the doctors here. They got really serious, engaged even, but then it was suddenly over. The doctor got fired and anyone who got caught talking about the failed engagement met the same fate. No one knows what really happened to get the engagement to be cancelled, but Yerin’s gotten a bit of a bad name since. People blame her for the doctor getting fired.”

“But we don’t know for sure if it was her fault,” SinB said, knowing how naive she must have sounded.

Kyulkyung sighed again and stood up. She looked down at SinB with pitying eyes and said, “I’m just trying to let you know all the facts before you do something stupid.” When SinB said nothing, Kyulkyung shrugged and said she’d see her later.

After she left, SinB moodily ate her chocolate bar and then went to do her job. In between consults and getting labs, SinB thought about what Kyulkyung said. Despite what Kyulkyung thought, SinB had heard what she said, but she hadn’t liked hearing it at all. It cheapened SinB’s feelings, making her feel even more pathetic for her crush on Yerin than she did before.

Maybe it was for the best. It’d be better for SinB to get over the dumb crush now than to let it fester and grow, allowing for SinB to get hurt. Right. It was for the best.

Toward the end of her shift, SinB was grabbing a late night tea to calm herself down before she went home. As she turned to walk away from the cart, SinB nearly collided with Yerin. SinB mumbled an apology, even as her mind cursed her luck. Honestly, there was no way SinB could run into Yerin this often in a hospital this big.

“Hi there,” Yerin said cheerfully, far too perky when it was nearly one in the morning. When SinB didn’t reply immediately, Yerin’s smile faltered and SinB’s heart ached just a little when it did. “I hope it wasn’t too forward of me to introduce you to my father earlier. I’ve just heard a lot about you.”

The words should’ve been flattering, but all SinB could think of was Kyulkyung’s warning. Had Yerin just asked around about her? Had she asked so she could date her then dump her, get her fired? It felt all too dramatic and heinous for someone as pretty and seemingly sweet as Yerin, but SinB knew looks could be deceiving.

“It’s fine,” SinB said curtly. She smiled awkwardly and said, “I have to go do charts now. It was nice to see you.” Turning on her heel, SinB walked away with a sinking heart, ears straining to hear Yerin’s quiet goodbye.

It was for the best.