“Volleyball time!” Nayeon’s shrill voice rang out clearly despite the noisy chatter and sounds of soft waves crashing against the shore. The group of doctors and nurses turned to find the petite woman taking off towards a nearby sand court with a yellow and blue volleyball tucked under her arm. Mark and the gossiping trio bounded after her like ants to candy while the rest leisurely made their way over.

As Mina and Sana weaved past the surrounding beachgoers, a child dashed out of nowhere, crossing their path and bumping into Mina. The little boy rebounded and fell flat on his bottom from the impact. Despite breathing in sharply as his old wound exploded in pain, Mina crouched down in reflex to help the boy up.

“Are you okay?” he offered his hand to the child who appeared to be around five years old. The moment the boy raised his head and saw Mina, he burst into tears, startling the couple.

“What did I do?” a perplexed Mina whispered to his girlfriend who gave an equally clueless shrug. The loud wails from the boy were starting to attract a small crowd around them.

“Hey! What are you doing to my son?” a woman pushed past the curious onlookers and swiftly scooped the crying boy up in her arms, glaring accusingly at Mina.

“M-Mummy… Monster!” the boy buried his frightened face in his mother’s shoulder and pointed haphazardly at the doctor. The mother took a good look at Mina and her eyes widened at the numerous scars on his body.

“S-Stay away from my child, you hooligan!” she spat and hurriedly made off with her son, leaving a stunned doctor and nurse among the finger-pointing crowd. Soon, hushed whispers of “gangster” and “battle scars” reached their ears as people shot them dirty looks.

“How dare that woman…” a furious scowl distorted Sana’s pretty features while her hand clenched into a tight fist. Anger boiled within her as she locked her sights on the gossiping crowd.

“My boyfriend is not a gangster!” she lashed out at them, eyes flashing dangerously. “You people don’t even know him!”

“It’s alright, Sana,” Mina gripped his fuming girlfriend’s hand. “Help me up?” His question snapped Sana out of her fury and she was about to bend down to take his arm when someone else beat her to it. A young man with shaggy black hair grabbed Mina’s left hand and easily pulled him to his feet.

“I saw what happened,” the newcomer dressed in a bright green Hawaiian shirt said. “People can be pretty nasty, huh?”

Mina nodded dumbly, realizing something odd about the stranger’s hand as he withdrew his own. “Thank you,” he uttered, taking note of the good-looking man’s sharp eyes and high cheekbones. He was a tad taller than the slight doctor.

“I’ve seen a lot of gangsters and you certainly don’t exude the air of one. Plus, your face is too cute,” he winked.

The outlandish compliment sent a shiver down the couple’s spines. Mina felt Sana wrap her hands tightly around his arm while the stranger grinned in amusement at her possessive action.

“I should get going. See you around,” the man turned to leave but not before ing an icy can of Coke that he had been holding all along to Mina. “You can use this to alleviate the pain on your y stomach.”

With that, he disappeared as quickly as he came.

“You did not just get hit on by a guy!” Sana half-screamed, her voice breaking like a chicken about to be slaughtered till Mina had to suppress the laughter bubbling in his throat. “Tell me this hasn’t happened before, Mina.”

He scratched his cheek sheepishly, “I did have a few male patients who expressed their interest in me.”

Sana’s jaw almost hit the ground.

“But that was some time ago and I always made it clear to them that I wasn’t interested,” he added quickly before Sana fainted from shock.

“Now I have to worry about men making a move on my boyfriend too,” Sana lamented, feeling a headache coming on. “You are too handsome for your own good.”

“That makes us even, doesn’t it?” Mina jested with a wry smile.

“No!” Sana objected loudly. “At least I don’t have girls trying to pick me up!”

The tickled doctor chuckled at her response and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Don’t worry. No other man or woman can take me away. My heart has already been stolen by you.”

She slapped his chest. “Cheesy!”

“Not there!” he winced in pain.

“Ah, sorry, sorry!” she immediately massaged the tender spot. “Better?”

He nodded and raised the cold canned drink in his hand, “We can use this too.”

The sight of the can prompted her nose to scrunch up in disgust and she snatched it from him, tossing it away. “Not this from the weird person!”

“That’s littering, Sana,” he chaffed, glancing at the pitiful can that was resting a few feet away on the sand.

“I don’t care. I just don’t want anything from that man,” she insisted stubbornly. Mina smiled at the adorable pout on her lips. “Fine, fine. I’ll leave you to take care of me then.”

That seemed to satisfy her as she looped her arm around his elbow and they proceeded to the sand court where the rest of their group were waiting.

“You think our child will see me as a monster too?” Mina asked casually, not slowing down his pace.

Heat rushed to Sana’s face at the thought. “Who wants to have a child with you?” she mumbled softly, casting her eyes to the side.

Mina halted in his tracks. “You don’t want a kid?”

The nervousness in his voice nagged at Sana to spare him a glance and she was taken aback by the troubled frown creasing his brow. Twiddling her fingers, she answered in an almost inaudible voice, “Of course I want.”

Mina released a breath that he had been holding unconsciously, making Sana giggle at his show of relief. “I didn’t know you wanted a child that much.”

“It’ll be nice to have a little Sana around the house.”

“I think I’d prefer a little Mina.” Her heart was feeling all warm and fuzzy just by picturing a baby Mina trying to act like his cool dad yet failing horribly because he was simply too cute.

“Hello, no funny thoughts in there,” he knocked lightly against her head, jerking her out of her daydream. Her brown eyes crinkled with mirth as she regarded him from head to toe.

“I was imagining you in a diaper.”

“Hey!” he protested but she stuck out her tongue playfully and sprinted off towards the sand court, leaving him with no choice but to chase after her. By the time he reached the court, Nayeon was tapping her foot impatiently.

“Took you long enough,” his mentor noted dryly.

“Sorry, we got held up by something,” Mina informed.

Nayeon cocked an eyebrow, “You two seem pretty flushed. Would that something be a steamy hot make-out session?”

“Get your head out of the gutter, Im,” Jeongyeon cut in curtly. “If you ever require a brain surgery one day, I’m not going to do it for you. All I will find is stinky sewage.”

“Ha-ha-ha. Very funny, stick,” Nayeon’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “You and I have a score to settle on this court.”

“Are you sure you want to embarrass yourself, midget?” Jeongyeon asked with a smirk.

“I may be small and cute but don’t you dare underestimate my volleyball skills.”

“Small is definitely true but cute, no,” Jeongyeon scoffed. “As for your skills, we’ll see about that.”

Nayeon’s eyes gleamed with excitement at the challenge. “And we’ll see how a stick gets crushed by the ball,” she grinned confidently.

“I want to be captain!” Mark who was growing impatient volunteered, raising his hand ecstatically.

“I want to be in Dr. Tuan’s team!” Joy jumped at the chance to play on the hunky doctor’s side.

“Me too!” Eunha seconded. It was no secret that the sporty man was an ace at all kinds of ball games. Being in his team would almost guarantee an easy victory.

Mark beamed proudly at the spirited show of support. “Thank you, ladies,” he said smoothly, flashing his killer smile and sending the two nurses into a wobbly state. “Can I choose the rest of my team mates?”

“No,” Nayeon denied his request without hesitation. “We’ll do it in a fair manner. I will be the captain of the other team so the rest of you will play rock-aper-scissors against each other. All the winners will join my team and the losers, Mark’s team.”

“Why am I getting the losers?” Mark whined.

“It’s just a way to decide the teams,” Nayeon chided. “Be a man and don’t be so hung up over the petty details.”

The remark incited snickers from the rest and Mark’s ears reddened in embarrassment. Eventually, Jeongyeon, Jihyo, Eunha and Wendy ended up in Nayeon’s team while the others were with Mark.

“You