“And that concludes our shareholders meeting today.”, the presenter announced and the shareholders gave a small applause before packing up.

“Arrgh~”, Yujin gave a loud yawn while stretching her arms., “Ouch!”, someone behind her smacked a clipboard on her head.

“Why did you do that?”, Yujin complained to the person behind her.

“Could you at least cover your mouth? We’re still in a meeting.”, Chaewon said.

“But I stayed up really late last night.”, Yujin reasoned.

“At an auction that you had no business being there.”, Chaewon countered sternly, “Do you have any idea how hard it is to tell your parents that you’re asleep when you weren’t even in the house?”

“But you managed in the end.”, Yujin patted Chaewon’s shoulder. Before she can doze off again, Chaewon grabbed her arm and pulled her up.

“You can skip out on the formality today but we should make our way to the scheduled hospital tour.”, Chaewon said.

“Why do you have to schedule in so much stuff~”

“Because if I don’t, you would be lazing around all day.”
---
“Hey Minjoo, this is Hyewon, a friend of mine.”, Sakura introduced Hyewon as the two of them walked back toward the table

“Oh, hello Ms Hyewon.”, Minjoo slowly stood up and slightly bowed.

“Oh you don’t have to be so polite.”, Hyewon waved her hands, “Just call me Hyewon.”

“OK, Hyewon.”, Minjoo bowed again before sitting back down. Sakura sat back at the head of the table and Hyewon took a seat across from Minjoo.

“What are you doing there, Minjoo?”, Hyewon asked.

“I’m organising and stapling some contracts for Sakura.”, Minjoo answered. Everything was finished by then, the contracts were all organised by types and months.

“Thank you for finishing these up Minjoo.”, the three of them talked for a while. It was mostly between Hyewon and Minjoo while Sakura was busy replying emails. Hyewon asked if Sakura had leftovers from breakfast and was disappointed to hear that there was none. She instead fangirled over Minjoo’s healing ability and asked a bunch of questions.

“Did you dye your hair or was it a result of your power?”, Hyewon asked.

“Um,I think that this was from a carotenoid experiment.”, Minjoo tried to recall.

“What’s carotenoid?”

“It’s a pigment in shrimp and crustacean that flamingo eats. That’s what make them pink.”

“Woah. Does that mean that you have to eat a lot of seafood that has that in it?”

“They thought I had to before the experiment but the regenerative gene also took on the carotenoid and now my hair is just naturally turn pink.”, Hyewon gasped in awe. Hyewon reached out her hand and asked:“Can I touch it?”

“Sure.”, Minjoo answered. Hyewon proceed to touch a lock of Minjoo’s hair. Hyewon threaded her hand through Minjoo’s hair, her fingers got caught in some knots. 

“It’s soft like cotton candy but a little frizzy. Minjoo, have you brushed your hair?”

“No I haven’t.”

“Let me find a brush. I’ll be right back.”, Hyewon stood up and headed toward the bathroom. Minjoo turned to Sakura:

“Do you have to do anything else today, Sakura?”, Minjoo asked. Sakura looked down at her calendar and said: “Nope, I don’t think so.”

“You should go visit her today then.”, the two of them turned to see Hyewon coming back from the hallway with a hairbrush in hand. Sakura thought for a moment and then turned to Minjoo:

“Would you like to go out with me?”

“Um…”, Minjoo glanced outside the window, shadows of the curtains became shorter as it approach noon.

“Oh right, you should’t be out in the sun.”, Sakura just remembered.

“Wait, you’re also a vampire?”, Hyewon exclaimed.

“No. Just like how my hair took on and regenerate carotenoid, if cancerous cells develop, they can proliferate on their own…indefinitely.”, Minjoo explained to Hyewon. The three of them try to think of a way for Minjoo to go out.

“Wait, I got it.”, Hyewon stood up and ran back to Sakura’s office.

“Wait, why are you going in there?”, Sakura ran after Hyewon. 

“I found it!”, Hyewon came running back holding a parasol.

“Give that back, Hyewon!”, Sakura shouted. 

“I knew you still kept your cosplaying stuff.”, Hyewon snickered as she handed Minjoo the parasol. Minjoo gave the parasol a spin, shadows of the silk patterns danced across the floor. 

“I think this will do.”, Minjoo said.
---
The two of them got out of the car and stood in front of the front entrance as Nako drove away. Sakura walked inside while Minjoo silently followed behind. They walked by rows of waiting chairs, seated with visitors anxiously waiting or talking with the patients. Sakura headed toward the front desk:

“Hi. I’m here to visit patient MYK0023?”, Sakura handed the receptionist a piece of paper with the patient’s code written on it. The receptionist typed on the code and checked the visitor list. There was only one name.

“Ms Miyawaki, is it?”, Sakura nodded, “I’ll notify the staff that you’re coming. Please head up.”

“Thank you.”, Sakura lightly bowed to the receptionist and motioned Minjoo to follow her to the lift.

It was a short trip up the lift and when it reached the 4th floor, Sakura and Minjoo got off along with the remaining people. Instead of following along the hallway like everyone else, Sakura turned at a corner and arrived at another elevator. Minjoo watched as Sakura punched in a pin to open the elevator. Once inside, Minjoo could see that this lift only went between the 4th to the 7th floor.

The 7th floor was different from the previous floors. The hallway was wider and there were fewer rooms. The whole floor seemed quieter, opposite of the hustling and bustling atmosphere at the rest of the hospital. Their footsteps echoed across the empty hallway. They walked pass another reception and the nurse behind it gave a light bow as they walked by. Sakura stopped in front of a door with ‘Miyawaki’ written on it. Before walking inside, Sakura said to Minjoo:

“When we come inside, I’ll introduce you as my new secretary. And…don’t let her know of your power. “, Minjoo nodded. Sakura pushed the sliding door aside. Instead of the antiseptic smell of cleaning supplies that lingers in the air, the room was wafted with the scent of sakura. A humidifier hummed silently next to a bed, swirls of mist twirled around a sleeping figure. At the sound of the door opening, the figure slowly fluttered her eyes opened. Her face lit up at the sight of Sakura.

“Sakura, you’re here.”, the old woman on the bed slowly rose up.

“Don’t push yourself, grandma.”, Sakura came to help the old woman sit up and propped her pillows behind her back.

“I can’t help it since you rarely visit.”

“I’ll try to come more often.”

“And who’s that?”, the woman motioned at Minjoo. Minjoo slightly bowed at the woman and let Sakura do the introduction:

“This is Minjoo, my new secretary. Nako needs someone to help out so I hired her.”, the woman nodded at Minjoo.

“I didn’t realise you allow your staff to dye their hair.”, Minjoo’s eyes widen and slumped her head down while shuffling behind Sakura.

“Grandma, I used to dye my hair too. I’m not that strict on my staff.”

“I didn’t mean to criticise your secretary. I actually think the pink suits her very well.”, both the younger women were surprise by the older’s reaction. Sakura phone suddenly buzzed from inside her pocket. Sakura checked the caller ID and her lips drew into a thin line.

“I have to take this. I’ll be right back. Minjoo, you stay right here.”, Minjoo nodded as Sakura headed back into the corridor to answer her phone. When the door was fully closed, Sakura’s grandma asked:

“Could you be a dear and help me bring my sewing kits on that table over there?”

“Of course.”, Minjoo turned to see a coffee table near a corner of the room. As she walked closer to the table, the more arrays of knitting and sewing projects. Minjoo picked up the sewing kit with a half finished embroidery piece on top of it. Minjoo brought the whole set back to the old woman.
“Thank you, dear.”, Minjoo found a chair near the bed and sat in it while the old woman rummaged through the threads that hanging off the embroidery.

“Do you need anything else, ma’am?”

“Actually, could you help me thread this new colour through a needle? My eyes are not as good as they used to be.”, the old woman handed Minjoo a new roll of thread and a needle. Minjoo took the two and tried to thread the needle. She nibbled the end of the thread to make it finer before trying to loop it through the hole. Minjoo was too focused on the current task to notice how she was pushing the pointy end closer and closer to her thumb until it broke skin.

“Oh! Your thumb is bleeding!”, the old woman exclaimed but Minjoo showed no reaction, just mindlessly trying to thread the needle. Minjoo finally snapped out of it when the old woman grabbed her hand to inspect it. The old woman was at a lost for word when she saw the small hole slowly closed up and blood stopped trickling out. Minjoo was too afraid to speak since she had broken Sakura’s order.

“I…”, Minjoo tried to explain what happened when the old woman placed a finger on her lips.

“Shhh. Let’s keep this a secret between the two of us.”, Minjoo quietly nodded. The glint in the old woman’s eyes told Minjoo that the old woman had already had a hunch of what Sakura was trying to hide. Just at that moment, Sakura came back.

“Sorry about that.”, Sakura closed the door behind her, “So. Did I miss anything?”

Minjoo glanced back at the old woman who casual answered: “Minjoo was helping me with my sewing.”, Sakura nodded at the answer.

The two continued to catch up while Minjoo quietly sat at the visitor area outside. Unlike the main foyer downstairs, there were fewer seats in this visitor area and Minjoo was currently the only person siting there. Minjoo glanced at the clock on top of the receptionist’s desk. The nurse behind the desk gave her a small smile and said:

“Ms Miyawaki usually stay for a really long time. Would you like me to show you where the cafe is?”, Minjoo shook her head and said:”It’s OK, I can wait.”

Another hour had passed since the nurse suggested Minjoo to go to a cafe. The only sound was the quiet humming of the air conditioning and the occasional keyboards clicks from the nurse. Minjoo was about to fall asleep when she heard a ding from the elevator. Multiple footsteps reverberated across the floor. It turned out to be a group of people; multiple people in suits surrounding two people in the centre.

“This is the VIP ICU where we have our most important and serious cases.”, a man in a navy suit was giving a tour. One figure was jotting down notes on her phone while the other figure was nodding absentmindedly. Their eyes started wandering around when they caught the sight of Minjoo.

“Oh! It’s the pretty lady from the night before.”, the other figure took a quick glance at Minjoo while the tour guide wasn’t sure who she was. The figure walked toward Minjoo:

“Do you remember me?”

“I’m sorry but were you number 22?”, the person beamed at Minjoo’s answer.

“You do remember me!”, the person put our their hand to Minjoo.

“Let me properly introduced myself. My name is Ahn Yujin. What’s your name?”

“I’m…”, Minjoo was cut off when another hand cut in the middle of her and Yujin.

“What are you doing here?”, Sakura growled at Yujin.

“Oh, hello there Ms Miyawaki. Are you here visiting someone?”, Yujin calmly replied.

“Yes but we must be going now. Let’s go, Minjoo.”, Sakura grabbed Minjoo’s hand and started walking away. As the two of them walked away, the tour guide said:

“I’m terribly sorry for that, Ms Ahn. I should have organised the tour at a more appropriate time. “

“That’s fine. You wouldn’t have known. “, Yujin looked back at where Minjoo was sitting and picked up a strand of pink hair. She turned back to motion at Chaewon to come forward. Chaewon picked the strand of hair and put it inside a handkerchief. Yujin continued:

“I was hoping to run into them anyway.”