“So you’re telling me, like, your mother’s on her hospital bed and Baekhyun just decides ‘oh, nows the time to call her my girlfriend?’” Sehun says, rolling his eyes a little as I sit opposite him. We're in a cafe close to our university. It’s been a while since I’d seen Sehun, about a week and a half since my mom had been admitted into the hospital, the last time being there. I’d been so busy recently, with my own university work, caring for my mom and making sure that my dad is okay too, that I hadn’t really spoken to anybody --  Sehun included.

As it has been for a while, our main topic of interest is a certain doctor. Sehun, who's decided he's my own, personal relationship advisor, has spent the last ten minutes trying to argue about how unnecessary Baekhyun was for calling me his girlfriend without asking. Honestly, I didn't mind as much as everybody else seems to, but I can see why it might come across as a little inappropriate. 

“It wasn’t like that,” I try to argue Sehun but he stares pointedly, raising a brow as if it would add some sort of emphasis to what he’s saying. It usually does. Sehun's not facially expressive - until you look at his brows. He doesn't judge you with his eyes, but his brows.

“Oh, honey, I was right there. I know exactly how it went,” he counters when I add no explanation to what I’d debated. “He might not have meant anything by it, but there is a time and a place. I just don’t think it was right of him.” He shrugs his shoulders a little, stretching forward for his iced americano cup,  sipping on it noisily. This time, I roll my eyes at him.

“Good thing he apologised then, isn’t it?”

“He did?” Sehun stops on his straw and leans forward towards me, leaning his forearms on the top of the table. Flickering his eyes across my features, I can see him analysing the situation to tell if I'm lying, or trying to move on from this topic. Once he ultimately decides I'm not actually twisting the truth, he sighs, “you could've said so.”

“Maybe if you stopped ranting for like, five seconds, then I could’ve, .”

“Shut up.”

“I haven’t seen him in, like, a week…” I sigh, twirling my straw around the iced tea I ordered. The ice jingles against the side of the ceramic cup and I sulk unconsciously, now imagining about Baekhyun. He’s busy - we both have a lot going on - I try to reason with myself, but that doesn’t stop me from missing him. He’s a source of comfort for me, and with everything going on around me, as selfish as it might seem -- I want him around. A while ago, I would’ve thought that a week wasn’t even a long time with his schedule, but now, I find myself longing for him more than I would’ve thought.

“Then just go and visit him?” Sehun counters, straightforward as ever. He loudly on his own straw, unaware of how annoying it is. 

“But my mom says she doesn’t even see him as much anymore. What if he’s like… sick? Or quit?” My eyes widen at the passing thought.

“You think Baekhyun would quit his job for you?” Sehun laughs, followed by a condescending slurp of his coffee.  When I scowl at him, he laughs, “Stupid girl. Just talk to him. This isn’t high school.”

“But he’s busy, Sehun,” I whine again, and this time, it’s his turn to scowl. He hates it when I do this, drone on - but I know it pisses him off, so I like to complain.

“And so am I, but you’re still sat here complaining to me.”

“You made these plans!”

The day of my meeting with Sehun, my mom is discharged from the hospital. I met with my dad, who was already at the hospital, to help him bring all of her things home. It’s nice, to see my mom so much better. How she belongs to be. Though deep inside, I know she’s not truly better, even though I try to push that thought to the back of my brain.

Presently, I’m laying on the sofa with her, as we watch a random drama together. My head lightly rests against her thigh as she twirls her hand through my hair. It’s so calming, so homely, that I find myself almost falling asleep, the stress of the last two weeks catching up to me. It stays silent for a while, save for my mom mumbling something under her breath at how stupid the protagonist is being. Which is why when my phone buzzes loudly on the coffee table, I almost jump out of my skin. My mum cackles as I sit up straight, hand to my chest as I try to calm myself from the shock. However, she peers over to the caller ID before I do, and looks at me with a small smirk. I already know what’s coming and internally prepare myself. We've been through this situation before.

Before the ringing stops, I quickly reach forward to grab the phone and swipe to answer. I put it to my ear, but seeing the smug smile on my mom's face, I feel too awkward to begin the conversation. Hearing breathing on the other end, I know Baekhyun is there, probably waiting for me to say something, though I'm never the one to really start the conversations with him. When my mom notices that I'm not saying anything to him, she purses her lips as though trying to hide her smile, and looks away.

"Hello...?" He stiffly begins, the confusion in his voice evident. Even if it sounds different, I am weirdly happy to hear his voice. It's low, breathy, and it brings feelings I didn't even know I felt towards Baekhyun around. Missing him, the comfort of his presence, the happiness of being with him, or even so much as hearing him, after a long time. Fleetingly, I realise how quickly I am feeling such deep feelings for him. The thought doesn't scare me as much as I thought it might. 

"Hi," I reply breathily, quickly jumping off the sofa to go to my room. I almost trip over the rug on the floor, causing my mom to burst into another fit of giggles. I turn to stare pointedly at her, and she purses her lips, bringing her pointer and thumb to slide against them, as though she is zipping shut. I sigh fondly at her as I walk to the stairs.

"How are you, sweetheart?" Instead of awkwardness, this time, there's mirth in his voice, and I knew he definitely heard that altercation. I decide to not point anything out, instead quickly making my way up the stairs. Maybe two at a time. Maybe I'm too happy about this.

"I'm good, Baekhyun, how are you?" I politely reply as I make it into my room, trying to not sound too out of breath from running up the stairs so quickly, or seem too excited to talk to him.

"I'm okay...I miss you, though." My breath hitches in my throat at how bluntly he said it, but I feel my stomach flutter. So he does feel the same. Pulling out my desk chair, I settle down on it before I respond to him, needing to calm myself down a little. He can probably hear the thump of my heart if he listened close enough. From his side of the call, I can hear a door slam, and the clash of him seemingly settling his things onto a table.

"Me too," I respond shyly, my voice soft, a little embarrassed to put it as straightforwardly as he did. "Where are you? At home?" It sounds too quiet from his side of the call to be at the hospital. 

"No, I'm working," his voice sounds a little distant, and I assume he's put on the speaker to sort out his stuff. "I'm on call, now. I'm in the room behind my office. I told you about it before, didn't I?"

"You did," I hum. Before I can get to reply, however, Baekhyun asks, "Have you eaten yet?" 

"No, but I'm pretty hungry, actually," I pout, suddenly realising my appetite. "Have you?"

"I can't go out to eat but you... maybe you could come here and we can eat together? I'll order something. If you want." 

At that, my heart drops a little. As much as I want too, I would feel bad for leaving my mom when she's only just gotten home, though I'm sure she wouldn't