Kyungha knows that she promised Sehun that she wouldn’t lie anymore, but , habits were hard to break. It was hard to pretend she wasn’t affected by his soft features the minute her eyes flutter open. She’s immediately greeted by his delicate sleeping face—so unaware, so boyish.

Her heart pounds in an unruly way because she realized that he’d stayed with her all through the night. And they weren’t just two tired colleagues sharing the same bunk in the hidden room of 1308.

No, he was curled up beside her on her hospital bed with the sheets barely covering him. Her chest warms because he’d probably made sure she was warm and comfortable, rather than caring how comfortable he was in his sleep.

She closes her eyes, liking the way his steady breathing caresses her cheeks. It almost felt like she was getting a dozen of angel kisses. Not that she was indicating he was an angel or whatever.

When Kyungha opens her eyes again, chocolate brown eyes stare back into hers. She watches a lazy smile stretch across the lower half of his face. Lazy it is, but it is anything but ugly. Without a thought, she buries her face into his chest. The vibration of his chuckles sends her off the rails.

It was way too early for her to have heart palpitations, but it wasn’t too early for Oh Sehun to be his usual, glorious self apparently.

“How are you feeling?” His voice is husky in the morning, and as much as Kyungha should’ve grown used to it, she still isn’t.

“Like my head’s been separated and reattached in a botched surgery job,” she replies lowly.

It was true. No amount of Advil was going to get her through the day. She still had a splitting headache, and an overreactive heart no thanks to Oh Sehun.

He laughs again, and she delights in the way it feels. Wonderful. He could laugh all day, and she wouldn’t trade a thing in the world to miss a second of it. “How did I think I could live a day without you?”

Kyungha had a feeling that it was something he didn’t mean to say aloud, but she’d heard it anyway. It’s unmistakable even if she’d only made out half the words and had to piece the sentence together in her head. Not to mention the headache did not help.

“I would love to stay in bed all day with you, sweetheart, but I have to get back to work in an hour,” he tells her.

Her disappointment is wilting and apparent. In Kyungha’s world of emotions, it was all or nothing, which is completely stupid. Before, she was able to hide everything, and she could lie as much as she wanted. Now that she admitted to how she felt, it was hard going back to her old ways—more like she didn’t want to.

“Then, I’m going back to work too,” she informs, pushing herself up only to be tsked by him.

Sehun shoots her a warning look. “As your doctor, there’s no way I’m letting you go back to work in this state.”

Kyungha levels an equally annoyed look at him. “Actually, you aren’t my doctor. The last time I checked, I’m twenty, not twelve. And I have things to do.”

He quirks a brow at her, challenge shimmering his eyes. “Do tell me what important matters that you have to attend to over your own wellbeing.”

“First of all, I’m fine, daddy. I had a concussion, not brain surgery. Besides, I want to see if—“ She swallows. “—if Dani’s okay…”

He’s silent for a beat. “First of all, don’t call me daddy if you aren’t willing to take things to NC-17. And you have me. I’ll go see Dani. I’m her doctor, mind you.”

Kyungha ignores him and hits herself for believing that she did have him. “But—“

Sehun leans in until their foreheads touch. “As your doctor, I’m prescribing a day of bed rest.”

She falters. “On one condition,” she proposes.

“What’s your condition?”

“At least tell me if Dani’s okay, and I want proof.”

He heaves a sigh. “Any other demands, princess?”

Kyungha leans her chin in, taking his bottom lip between her lips. Then, she lets him go, controlling her expression. “Visit me in between your breaks.”

Sehun pulls her back, their lips meeting not so gently this time. He bites her bottom lip, tugging playfully. Then, he releases her, pulling away just far enough to speak, but close enough for her feel his lips. “I think it’s absolutely adorable of you to kiss me in the span of twenty-four hours and not imagine the consequences. Don’t test me, sweetheart.”

She smirks. “Is that a threat, Oh Sehun?”

He pushes a chaste kiss on her lips. “I told you, it’s Oppa.”

Kyungha is breathless, her head becoming a cloudy mess with thoughts of this man. A week ago, she may have thought that it was impossible to have her head more full of useless thoughts about Oh Sehun, but she was wrong. So ing wrong, and she isn’t even angry about it.

The door to her room opens with no warning whatsoever, and the two forcefully tear apart like two magnets—exactly, imagine how hard it was for her to lose the warmth of his body.

“Oh, don’t bother, you two. Save the dramatics,” Jongdae announces, waving his hand dismissively.

Sehun growls, “what the , Jongdae? A little warning next time?”

Jongdae snorts out a laugh. “FYI, I’ve been knocking for the past ten minutes. I have a few digressions to make. First of all, you’re not her doctor, I am. She was admitted as an emergency patient. And thank god, I didn’t see you two act like hormonal teenagers. I am way too old to be seeing poorly directed o.”

Kyungha stifles a laugh, ignoring the glare Sehun shoots her. “What? He’s funny,” she protests.

Jongdae grins, bowing like the jest he is. “Thank you, milady. At least someone here appreciates my humor—“ He clears his throat, glancing incriminatingly at Sehun. “—how’s my favorite intern doing?”

Sehun shoots a rapid-fire answer, “she’s speaking clearly and moving normally. Her motor skills don’t seem to be out of the ordinary. She’s recovered from the concussion, but I want to play it safe and have her stay here another day.”

Jongdae slow claps. “That, ladies and gentlemen, is the power of—“

“Do Kyungha!” The familiar feminine voice interrupts Jongdae mid-speech. “Did you know how hard it was to find you? Why didn’t you pick up your phone?”

Jongdae winces. “Joo-Joo, please use your indoor voice.”

Joohyun ignores him, pushing past him like he was in her way. Seulgi follows suit, throwing her arm around Kyungha’s neck.

“Why are you crying, Seul?” Kyungha sighs, rubbing her friend’s back.

Sehun and Kyungha share a meaningful look before he waves goodbye, mouthing, I’ll be back. She nods, not even surprised by how normal their interactions feel.

Jongdae resigns and like Sehun, he leaves the two girls alone in the vicinity of Kyungha.

“Because! I was so worried. You hit your head so hard. I could hear it from ten feet away,” Seulgi bawls.

Joohyun casually props herself on the other side of Kyungha. “So, I couldn’t help but feel the dynamic shifted between y’all.”

Kyungha feigns, “what are you talking about?”

Seulgi sniffles, swiping her sleeves across her cheeks before putting her game face back on. “You. Know. What,” she emphasizes.

“We’re just two people,” Kyungha deadpans.

“Two people with less than innocent intentions!” Joohyun makes the point by yelling. Kyungha proceeds to burrow her face under her covers, so she could pray for something to turn her invisible.

At this time, there’s a light knock on her door, interrupting her friend’s nosy questions. The door opens slowly, and Minjung peeks her head in with her bubbly smile. “Hey! Kyungha, glad to see you’re feeling better. You definitely look much more alive.”

Joohyun snorts, muttering under her breath, “Yeah, no . She’s obviously not being swamped with tons of your work, you lazy cow.”

Seulgi coughs, but it suspiciously sounds like a laugh.

Minjung’s heels click as she enters the room. Her flowery aura already invading Kyungha’s comfort zone. “I know you three are catching up, but I need to speak to my dear sister for a moment.”

Kyungha’s eyebrows disappear above her forehead. Since when did Minjung regard her as a sister? She never spent any time, getting to know Kyungha or Kyungsoo. What a pompous lie. She hardly had time to care about anything else but herself.

Seulgi and Joohyun reluctantly leave the room when Kyungha smiles reassuringly, telling them she’d be okay. Minjung appears to be annoyed that her friends regarded her words over their superior. Kyungha could care less.

“So, what is it?” She asks, treading carefully.

Minjung smiles. “No need to look so threatened. I’m not going to hurt you. I care about you, you know? You’re like the sister I’ve always wanted.” Lie. “Because I love you so much—“ Another lie. “—I spoke to Hani, Dani’s mother? Fortunately for you, we’re really close friends. I explained the circumstance to her, and for now, all I could do for you was negotiate for probation instead.”

Kyungha’s jaw drops. “Probation? I didn’t—why?”

“She wanted to have you terminated, Kyungie. The board agreed that you were too important to let go. Face it, you’re a child genius. If we play our cards right, you could be the face of the hospital. We could make so much money.”

Unbelievable. They wanted to capitalize off of Kyungha. How unbelievably disgusting. “Why do you care so much about the finance of the hospital?”

Minjung picks at her nails. “My mom—she’s the daughter of the chairman of the board. Naturally, that makes me the granddaughter and the next in line to take over.”

Kyungha scoffs. That explains her lavish lifestyle. “What’s the catch?”

Minjung pauses, cocking her head as she bats her eyelashes. “What do you mean, Kyungie? Why would there be a catch? We’re sisters.” And another lie. Kyungha was going to throw up all over Minjung’s over the top outfit if the girl uttered another word.

“I may be twenty, but I’ve been pushed into this world earlier than you learned your ABCs. Minjung, I know you truly don’t care about the hospital. If you did, you wouldn’t have left this place for—what was it—research or some bull like that. Tell me, what do you want from me?” Kyungha emphasizes every syllable of her question.

Her step-sister sighs, tossing her hair back from her shoulder. “I really did underestimate how clever you are, dear sister.” She levels a look at the younger girl. Kyungha shudders, seeing the drastic change in her eyes. “I want Sehun back. I don’t care how much of his attention you have. He’s mine, Kyungie.”

Kyungha frowns. “He’s not an object, Minjung. He has feelings. You can’t possess him. It’s not even physically possible.”

Minjung snorts, waving her hands dismissively. “He was rightfully mine. We were almost going to be married. Don’t forget that the man you have your arms around has touched my body—seen every square inch, kissed every part of it. Of course, I could just give him to you, but he’s not anyone’s sloppy seconds. Oh Sehun is riveting, and I need him. If you know what’s good for you, stay away.”

Kyungha can feel her headache returning. How delusional could Minjung take this conversation? “Listen, there’s a reason why your engagement ended. Hoon hasn’t told me anything, and I don’t care. Whatever went on between you two is none of my business. So don’t you dare to try to micromanage me. I don’t care if your dad is the sweetest man alive because frankly, he is, and I can’t believe that you two are related. You’re nothing like him.

Minjung, move on. Sehun won’t magically appear by your side again with the snap of a finger. You can’t scare me with empty threats.”

Minjung’s nostrils flare, but she doesn’t react on her anger. Instead, she smiles foxily. “Honey, you may have seen the real world at a young age, but I have nine more years on my belt. I bet Sehun hasn’t told you every secret he has, has he? I’m the only one in the world who knows him, truly, and I can pull the strings with just one small tug. Don’t ing lecture me, little sister. You don’t know who you’re challenging.”

Kyungha clenches her jaw, not knowing what to say. She was afraid that Minjung’s words weren’t empty as she’d initially thought they were. How pathetic of her.

“Anyway, I must get back to work. Nice talk, little sis.”

Kyungha was officially on probation—but in her case, she wasn’t allowed to put on a stethoscope for at least two weeks. After working for months, two weeks had seemed like an eternity. She wasn’t happy about it, but at least, she wasn’t losing her internship.

Sehun had offered to drive her home, but she’d declined because she didn’t want him to feel the tension. Kyungha had stupidly let Minjung’s threats get to her. She was afraid to find out that she’d lose him after everything.

What she needed was a distraction, and her family was the perfect distraction in times like these.

After saying goodbye to her friends, she went to check on Dani who was still weak but strong enough to smile at her and squeeze her hands. She may have received probation, but she was grateful Dani’s mom didn’t issue a restraining order. And that was all she’d asked for.

When Kyungsoo sees her, his eyes grow wide. “Kyungha! Why are you here?”

It’s currently around 4 PM, so he was home from school. Kyungsoo had his laptop and papers strewn all over the dining table. He stumbles off his chair and reaches her in two long strides.

Kyungha pulls him into a hug, surprising the bejeezus out of him. She wasn’t the one to initiate hugs to her older brother. It was mostly him and Jongin, but Kyungha needed him. He pulls her tighter, rubbing her back. “Oh baby, what’s wrong?”

“A lot,” she whispers.

Kyungha spends the next hour briefing her brother on everything that’s happened so far in her life. The things that she didn’t bother to share that really, she should’ve.

She’s lucky Kyungsoo hasn’t put her through a wringer yet. He looks absolutely livid. “You’re telling me you were admitted to your hospital and you didn’t care to mention a word about it to me?”

Kyungha nods stiffly. Kyungsoo shuts his eyes, heaving a long breath. “It didn’t cross my mind at the time.”

Her brother gapes at her. “You should be thanking the higher powers that you’re still alive, and I haven’t killed you yet for hiding these things from me. And Jason, I am going to gut him with my kitchen shears if he comes within one radius of you. What has Sehun been doing? Lounging around while you were going through all of this by yourself? I need to have a long talk with him.”

Kyungha rolls her eyes. “Breathe, Kyungsoo.”

He tsks her but doesn’t proceed to enact his plans of burying her. “So you’re on probation for two weeks?” He queries.

“Yeah.” The word feels foreign in . Kyungha sighs. She misses her torturous job, and that was something she thought she would never admit to.

Kyungsoo ruffles her hair. “Quit looking so sad around your big brother. I can be fun too!”

She shakes her head. “You’re lame.”

“Sweetheart, you’re just jealous of my perfection,” he sasses. At the mention of the pet name, her heart pangs inside her chest. She misses Sehun’s presence already, and it hasn’t even been a full day. Kyungha has become the epitome of pathetic, and she couldn’t see how much worse she could get.

“Where’s Jungkook?” Kyungha asks.

Kyungsoo sighs. “No clue. He’s been MIA lately. I forgot how rough it is to raise teenagers. They are absolutely the worst.”

Kyungha snorts. “Don’t steal Haeeun’s title of being a parent.”

To which her brother shoots her a glare. “She’s gotten so much better. Tae’s pretty tamed now.”

“I was joking. I miss that brat. I haven’t seen him in ages.”

“Well, you’re in for a treat. The Byun family is coming for dinner.”

Kyungha hums, remembering it was Friday. The two families had a tradition. Every Friday, one household would come over to the other for dinner. It must’ve been Kyungsoo’s turn today.

“Has Jongin been busy?” She asks. A shadow falls over Kyungsoo’s face.

He sighs. “I miss my baby daddy so much. Honestly, I don’t know how I survived my youth. We had a long-distance relationship back in college, but as I get older, it’s so much harder than before.”

Kyungha’s ears need bleach. “Please don’t ever call him that again.”

“What? Baby daddy? Technically, he is. Jungkook may not be genetically ours, but he’s—“

“Dad! I’m home!” Jungkook’s voice echoes in the foyer.

Kyungsoo’s eyes twinkle. “J, you’re back? Guess who’s here?”

Jungkook groans, “if you invited Byeol again without telling me, I swear—“ He freezes when he sees Kyungha. “Noona!” He shouts, leaping into her arms.

Kyungha grunts, “oh geez, you’re heavy.”

“I missed you!” He shouts again.

She smiles ear to ear. She’d missed everyone so much.

Kyungha is unhappy being awakened from her sleep at 6 AM in the morning. Now you may ask why she was making such a big deal when the girl had to work night shifts regularly? Well, she’s only gotten to sleep for at most three hours because she’s used to staying up for work.

Thirty messy minutes later, everyone is fed breakfast. Jongin has important dad duties like driving his son to school.

Kyungha is then ushered in Kyungsoo’s car. She exasperatedly watches Kyungsoo giggle and kiss his husband. Yeah, she definitely did not miss this at all.

“Done trying to make babies?” She asks unamused with Kyungsoo once he plops into the driver’s seat.

He winks at her. “If we could, we’d be at it like rabbits. Trust me.”

“Oh my gods, spare me.”

Another fifteen minutes and Kyungha finds herself in the parking lot of her brother’s elementary school. Kyungsoo had reasoned that it was no good for her to stay home for two weeks and have mashed potato brains. Well, Kyungha thinks he’s been hanging around kids too much as he’s using juvenile terminologies with her. He says quote, volunteering will keep your brain engaged and hanging around kids will also help you not digress into a nun with nine cats, end quote.

Kyungha is currently calculating how much she should price her brother for Craigslist, but if she didn’t want to buy him, no one would. Well, Jongin is the exception. She didn't want to know how much money he would put down for his beloved. She shudders.

Kyungsoo drags her into his classroom, and she realizes she hasn’t seen his classroom this year. After her residency began, Kyungha had no time for anything but to eat, sleep, shower, and repeat.

Kyungha is in awe at the colorful classroom. The walls are filled with his student’s artwork and Kyungsoo’s added his own mix of paper maché to cover the sparse compound walls. Twenty-seven small desks fill the room, leaving just a bit of space with mini strips of blue tape making a small circle.

Kyungha deducts that this is where story time and other group activities are probably held. Kyungsoo smiles, looking quite proud of himself. She knew Kyungsoo was dedicated, but she really did forget how much he’d loved teaching.

The next hour passes by slowly as Kyungha moves desks around as Kyungsoo suggests. Apparently, he was going to teach his group of third-graders about matter today, so he needed the extra space for demonstrations.

Kyungha had a creeping suspicion he would make her do it since she was the one with a medical degree. Years of taking chemistry were ingrained in her, so he wasn’t wrong.

The hallway becomes bustled with small kids, and Haeeun, who looks like she’s done preparing her lesson plans, comes to visit Kyungsoo and Kyungha.

“Kyungha!” She squeals. “Oh my gosh, you’re here. Like Kyung actually dragged you here?”

Kyungha nods. “Against my will.”

Kyungsoo shoves her. “I needed her to stop moping.”

Haeeun beams. “Two weeks will pass by so quickly when you’re with these kiddies. I’m next door, Kyungha. If your brother bores you, my classroom is always open.”

As Kyungsoo’s students begin to file outside of his classroom, Haeeun waves an energetic goodbye before attending to her own students.

Kyungha is in awe. So this was what loving your job was? Haeeun and Kyungsoo look so comfortable and happy, she was almost jealous.

And her heart felt like lead. She really did miss her job. She also missed her friends, Dani, and him. Oh Sehun.

Swallowing the ball of self-pity, she introduces herself in front of his class who begins to shout things out of turn.

“Are you Mr. Do’s wife?” A little girl asks.

Kyungha gags. “He’s my older brother.”

“Idiot! Mr. Do doesn’t have a wife. He has a husband, duh,” another boy shoots.

Kyungsoo claps his hands. “Guys, calm yourselves. Kyungha will be around for the next two weeks, so get used to her. I want all of you to be on your best behavior.”

His class quiets down, which surprises her. Kyungsoo was actually reigning down the kids. Who was this man? Was he the same man who was pushed around by Jungkook and Taeyong?

He begins with math in the morning. After his lesson, he’d ask Kyungha to walk around and help any kids who had questions or needed extra help.

Kyungha surprisingly enjoys being in the presence of eight and nine-year-olds. They were around Taeyong’s age, and she was an expert on how to handle him, so actually supervising well-behaved kids was a dream come true.

After Math, he gets into Science. In which, Kyungha is put on the spot. He makes her demonstrate the movements of the different types of matter.

She couldn't believe she'd knowingly embarrassed herself, and it was even worse that the kids found her lazy movements funny.

Lunch rolls by, and the classroom is finally empty. Kyungha plops down on the ground in exhaustion. She would never complain about her job ever again. She didn’t know Kyungsoo could do this every day.

Haeeun skips into the classroom, waving. “What’s for lunch today, Kyungsoo?”

Her older brother sends his best friend a glare. “Where’s your husband?”

Kyungha blinks. Haeeun laughs, explaining, “Bae usually brings me lunch every day. It’s our little tradition to keep the fun in our marriage.”

Kyungsoo sighs. “But you’re always stealing my food,” he snipes playfully. Haeeun sticks out her tongue, looping her arm around Kyungsoo’s arms. “I was going to call for delivery today actually,” he says. “What do you guys want?”

There’s a series of knocks at the door behind them. All three turn to see Sehun donned in his scrubs. He has a mischievous gleam in his eyes as he holds up bags of takeout. “I brought burgers.”

Haeeun groans in pure happiness. “My superhero,” she coos, grabbing the bags from him. Then, she realizes that it’s not a normal occurrence for Sehun to visit, so she narrows her eyes. “What are you doing here?”

Kyungsoo is busily digging through the bags. “Medium rare?” He questions carefully, lifting the to-go box.

Sehun shoots him a cheeky smile. “Of course, I’m not a monster. And what? A guy can’t visit his best friends?”

Kyungha snorts. What a load of bull. It was obvious why he was here. Sehun strides closer to Kyungha.

waters, but not from the smell of the burgers. His smell is succulent. She bites the inside of her cheek, mentally telling herself to stand upright.

Haeeun and Kyungsoo aren’t convinced he’s telling the truth, but they'd seemed too hungry to argue.

The four of them move the desks, making a small table. Sehun naturally steals the seat next to her. Kyungsoo and Haeeun sit across from them.

Kyungha doesn’t have much of an appetite as she picks at her fries. “What’s wrong? You like grilled cheese from here.”

She stares back at him, butterflies threatening to erupt from her abdominal wall. He remembered. He’d brought food from the same diner he’d taken her to. She bites back a smile, ripping a piece of her grilled cheese and eating it.

Sehun looks happy as he nudges her with his shoulders. “Is it good?”

“Very,” she answers.

Haeeun drops her burger, leaning across the table. “Am I missing something?”

Kyungsoo narrows his eyes. “Are you two…what I think you are?”

“No,” Kyungha answers.

Sehun looks hurt, and she feels bad. But Kyungha wasn’t lying. Really. She didn’t think they were dating. After all, he didn’t ask her to be his girlfriend, nor did she get around to asking him to be her boyfriend.

How did this work? Was she just supposed to do it? Kyungha curses at her inexperience. She’s familiar with the part, but not with first base. How stupid was that?

Kyungsoo doesn’t look convinced. He takes a sip of his drink. Then peering at the two of them from under his lashes, he directs his sentence to Sehun, “the end game better include you putting a ring on it. If not, I can only guarantee death.”

Kyungha chokes on her spit, and Sehun pats her back gently. He chuckles back at her older brother. “Don’t scare her away, Kyung.”

She feels the flush of heat on her cheeks. Kyungha ducks to hide her face. She had middle school comprehension of how actual relationships worked. And yes, it was exactly as it sounds. Close to nothing.

After lunch, Sehun bids them goodbye, not before pulling Kyungha away to tell her how Dani was doing.

“She misses you a lot. She’s been asking me where you were,” he tells her, his voice hush.

Kyungha swallows. “I miss her too.”

Sehun quirks a brow at her. “Just Dani?”

“And Seulgi, Joohyun, Jongdae, and Suzy.”

He juts out his lips in a pout to which Kyungha fans her fingers, covering their side profiles. Then, in the clear, she kisses him sweetly. He melts into her, and this was it. She’d needed this and she didn’t even know she needed it.

Pulling away quickly, her eyes dart around to make sure she hadn’t blinded/ruined the innocence of a child. Then, she glances back to him, leaning into his ear to whisper, “does that answer your question?”

Sehun has a stupid grin on his face as he nods in a daze.

“You are so whipped, Sehunnie,” someone says behind them. The two of them startle apart to a laughing Haeeun who swats Sehun’s back with no self-control.

He winces, rubbing his back. Then, his eyes crinkle as he turns adoringly to Kyungha. “Only to my pretty little queen.”

Kyungha pushes at his chest. “Go back to work, greaseball. I think I just vomited in my mouth.”

Sehun flips her off playfully and after saying bye for the last time, he finally leaves. Haeeun pulls Kyungha with an arm over her shoulders.

“He’s a keeper,” her friend tells her.

Haeeun didn’t need to tell her that. Kyungha had already known since day one.