“You don’t want to contact your mom again, huh?”

Here’s a little catch: Nayeon is always sick, that’s why every nurses on duty knows her, including the Doctor. It’s like the School’s clinic and the Hospital is her second home. Sometimes, it infuriates her that the conclusion is always unexplainable. It leaves her confused and unsatisfied. Why does she get headaches regularly? Don’t even think about this shoulder spasm and back pain she’s been dealing with for 8 years now. Her neck sounds like it’s going to crack in any seconds and she really hates it. Every piece of her want to know why—why these physical pains just suddenly popped out of nowhere and decided to shamelessly rent on Nayeon’s body?

“You know I don’t want to worry her,” Nayeon sighs, scratching her head in annoyance to herself. “I’ll just stay here until dismissal. My friends will come pick me up, as usual.”

“Nayeon, we’re all worried about you. Why don’t you try to appoint with a psychiatrist?”

“Wait, why would I go—“

“Don’t be mad at your friend,” Sowon, one of the nurses Nayeon’s close with, places her hand on her shoulder and pats her gently. “She sent me a voice record a while ago. She’s really intelligent, Nayeon. She sounds like she learned a lot in Psychology—she said you might be having a mental health issue.”

“Tzuyu?” Nayeon questions even though it’s obvious. Nayeon has every right to get mad at Tzuyu, but she chooses not to. She knows that Tzuyu is just trying to help her out. She might be a little devil when it comes to her, but she knows they care for each other.

“Yeah,” the nurse nodded while she takes her phone out to show Tzuyu’s messages.

It’s a long message, Jesus.

“It’s not usual to see things that people can’t see, especially if it’s invading your daily life routine.”

Nayeon furrows her eyebrows at the nurse, looking at her with an upset expression. “What are you trying to tell me, Sowon?”

“I’m not a psychiatrist, Nayeon, but I am a nurse. Who is Sana in your past life?”

“I-I…,” Nayeon starts to stutter. Her stomach suddenly feels like it’s throwing up what Nayeon swallowed a while ago. She wants to puke, but there’s nothing going out. She feels cold out of nowhere, but she’s sweating madly. She can feel her body shaking uncontrollably, but she once again threw that idea that she might be really having issues. “Let’s just… say, uhm, S-Sana protected me… w-when I was uhm…,” She’s choking from her tears. Why is she crying? “when I-I was b-bullied befo-before. I-I was uhm… I was—”

“Nayeon, we can stop talking about your past now,” Sowon tries to comfort her, but Nayeon is dwelling on her overwhelming emotions. Even Sowon is overwhelmed, but she tries not to let it be seen by Nayeon. “You’re having an anxiety attack.”

Nayeon’s eyes are blood shot with a runny nose and puffy cheeks; she can’t control herself suddenly.

“Nayeon, listen to me,” Sowon held Nayeon’s shoulders. “Breathe in, breathe out.”

“Breathe in, breathe out.”

“Breathe in, breathe out.”

“Breathe in, breathe out.”

It lasted for about 4 minutes before Nayeon came back to her senses.

She looks so drained when Sowon carried her back to her bed. This isn’t the first time she handled an anxiety attack. She’s in the same class Nayeon is, and her case is worse. She’s an exchange student—her name’s Lisa, a Thai student. She can’t even fathom how a bubbly and extroverted person can even have Depression, heck, ev