By six in the morning Jinhee was in her scrubs and making her first round in the newborn area. A few of them had grown sick over the night so she was busy adjusting their medications and making sure that their parents were able to see them as soon as possible. It was hard being a young woman talking to parents about their child's health because the parents always grew defensive, as if Jinhee had no idea what she was talking about. But, she would take the harsh judgment and let it roll off her back because the parents were her patients, the children were and they were her main concern. Her main cellphone was back in her locker because she only carried around her work phone and pager during her shifts.

 

A coworker of hers asked if she could pick up her last few hours because she wanted to go home and take care of her mother who had recently had a bad fall. Jinhee didn't have the heart to say no but asked if she could wait ten minutes before she left because she had to make a phone call. So Jinhee rushed to her locker and grabbed her phone, hitting Chanyeol's number which was on speed dial since she called him so often and he was one of her only friends. He picked up within the first few rings.

 

"Hey, what's up? Your shift is almost done right, want me to come grab you now?" Chanyeol worked a fairly flexible schedule as a clothing store owner. He had a trendy urban store in downtown gangnam that always hard celebrities coming in and out of it and shouting out his brand.

 

"Actually I am going to pick up a few hours so can you pick me up around ten tonight?" Jinhee searched through her locker for some food and she found a protein bar that had been in there a while and figured it would be fine to eat it. She hadn't had anything to eat since lunch and now she had four more hours to pick up so she needed the energy.

 

"You're going to be working over twelve hours again?" She could hear Chanyeol sigh and lean back in his squeaky chair that he refused to get rid of in his office. "You always make yourself sick when you work too hard." He commented and Jinhee just laughed and ripped open the bar wrapper with her teeth.

 

"I'll be fine. So you'll be here for ten?" She asked again and he agreed. Jinhee hung up and finished the bar in two bites before running back out onto the floor and letting her coworker leave for the night. She made it back into a room with a child that had been there for a month already and was finally starting to show some progress. It laid asleep in its incubator and on the side of it were some gloves she could slip her hands into. She rested her gloved hand on the babies chest and felt its heart beating strong against its chest, fighting to get healthy.

 

"You're doing a great job, I'm proud of you." Jinhee muttered to the child before taking her hand out and filling out its clipboard with the readings coming off of the readout on the side of the incubator. When it was finally time for Jinhee to clock out, she made sure to shower and change out of her scrubs. In the elevator she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and almost let out a scream as she saw her wet hair pulled into a tight bun on the top of her head and no makeup anywhere. With a few other doctors and patients in there with her, she dropped to her knees and dug through her bag and pulled out her old mascara and eyebrow pencil that was a tiny nub by that point. She rushed to get it all done by the next floor and as she walked out the front doors she pulled her hair out of the bun and ran her fingers through the wet, wavy mess. Sitting out front was Chanyeol's car and she opened the back seat and threw her bag with her scrubs into the back before sliding into the front seat. As per usual, Chanyeol was wearing the flashiest clothing he could afford and looked like a model with his long limbs and charming smile. He whistled as the car roared to life. Chanyeol lifted his sunglasses off and looked her over from head to toe.

 

"You look great." He said in a semi-mocking tone and Jinhee just rolled her eyes and jokingly nudged him before he sped off down the road which caused people all down the street to turn and look at the car. "So where do you want to eat?" Chanyeol asked as he expertly weaved in and out of the small streets that surrounded the hospital. The two of them would go out for dinner almost once a week since she had come back to Korea and they would always go somewhere different. They had been childhood friends and it seemed as if they would never run out of things to say to each other. Things flowed so naturally between the two of them that the thought of dating Chanyeol had flashed through her mind a few times, but every time it came up he would always have a new girlfriend. It got to the point where she had given up because all of the women he dated had one thing in common; they were incredibly gorgeous. The exact opposite of Jinhee. So she forced her feelings for him down and now only saw him as a brother in the loosest sense of the word.

 

"I'm not that hungry." She lied but her stomach rumbled loudly in protest causing Chanyeol to mock her and pull up to one of her favourite barbecue places that had endless beef and soju.